Cameron
"Hey mom, I'm home." I shout as I enter the house. Rick's loaded and we've got an amazing house just on the outskirts of town. Rick owns a huge engineering company, one of the leading ones in California I think, and he dotes on mom. We've been here for three years now and I love it. When we left the UK we moved to Massachusetts because mom has a cousin there, but it never felt like home.
"Hi darling, how are you?" Mom comes strolling down the stairs and gives me a kiss. "How was your day?"
Yeah right, like I can possibly tell her Annie and Simon are here. Stock answer it is.
"Fine thanks. I'm going to go do some homework." I say heading up to my room.
I felt awful all afternoon thinking about what I did to Annie. I didn't even think about her stage fright. Although, to be honest, I thought she might've gotten over it by now.
And what was all that with Anderson? Why was he talking to her? Should I say something to him to tell him to stay away? No, I lost my right to be protective over her a long time ago.
Kayleigh was driving me crazy all afternoon, hanging off me and asking me questions about Annie. I really need to cut her loose. I don't know why I'm having sex with her. Surely there's someone less...annoying that I could do that with?
But she insists this is how its meant to be. Head cheerleader and, well, quarterback but its not as if Anderson will give her the time of day, so I'm next in line, apparently. Lucky me.
I log onto Facebook and search for her. There she is, Anya Blakeman. Should I add her? Of course I should, she won't mind.
I click 'add as a friend' and within minutes she accepts so I head onto chat with her.
-Hey Annie, how was your first day?
-Well, apart from some jackass making a fool of me at lunch, not bad thanks. How was your afternoon?
-Haha, sorry Annie, I do feel bad about that.
-No worries, it's done now.
-You kicked ass though. Even better than I remembered!
-Thanks. Keeps me busy.
-So, you know Anderson?
-Oh, Devan? No, not really. Spoken to him a few times but that's about it. Not sure what to think of him.
-???
-Well, one minute he's an arse, then he's nice to me, then he's an arse again.
-Stop saying arse. It's ass.
-No, it's arse to me.
"Cameron, dinners ready!" I can hear mom shouting from downstairs and groan.
-Got to go Annie. Need a ride to school 2moro?
-No thanks, I'm good. See you tomorrow xx
I shut down and head downstairs to collect my plate of lasagna and sit at the dining table listening to mom babble on about the ladies she has tea with. This may well be a long night.
*****
Anya
I finish washing the dishes and putting everything away and lean back against the counters, sighing. Even though it was my first day I have a ton of homework in order to play catch up with the curriculum.
Just as I'm getting stuck into my music theory essay I hear the front door swing open and dad saunter in. As always I wait expectantly for a greeting and wind up disappointed. Eventually dad walks past my room and stops in the open doorway.
"Is there any food left?" Great, is that all I get?
"Yep. There's chicken cacciatore in the microwave for you."
"Thanks," he mumbles. "I have a date Friday." And he walks off.
That's all he has to say. I know what it means. Dad doesn't have dates, he hires hookers. That means that a hooker is coming to our place so either I have to stay out the night or I get to stay in and listen to them. No thanks.
Surely he could have given me more than one day at school to make some friends before he kicked me out for the night? I idly wonder if I have enough money for a motel. Probably not. Maybe I can ask Suzy if I can stay at hers. She seemed nice and was the only girl who was friendly with me today. Even Michelle was a bit off with me. Heck I would even think about asking Jackson if it wasn't for the fact that he was staying at Devans.
After a couple of hours of finishing off my homework I check my emails before getting into bed. Just as I'm getting comfortable and my lids are getting heavy my phone rings. I curse as I roll over and pick it up, smiling to see its Jason.
"Hey Jase, what's up?"
"Just wanted to see how your first day was."
"And you had to wait until quarter to midnight to find out, did you?"
"Shit, sorry, I didn't realise it was so late. I've just got out of the studio."
"That's okay. My day was fine thanks. How was the session?"
"Mediocre at best. It's going to take a lot of work to get this album up to scratch. They'd better be worth it in the long run."
"I'm sure they will be Jase," I yawn and I can hear him snickering at the other end of the line.
"Get some sleep. I'll speak to you soon."
"Night Jase."
I put my phone on charge before falling asleep.
*****
The week goes by quite uneventfully and Friday morning I arrive at school half an hour early and decide to sit outside and read on the benches. I very rarely got the chance to do this back home so want to take advantage of the warmth. Before I know it there's a shadow over my book and I look up to see Jackson smiling down at me.
"Hey Anya, how's it going?"
"Good thanks," I close my book, put it away and stand up. "You?" We head in the direction of class.
"Not bad. So I was wondering if you knew when you were free to have a look at that song?"
"Oh, um, I'm free tonight if that's any good?" I ask hopefully, looking for something to kill some time this evening.
"No can do, there's a huge party at Kade's tonight. Aren't you going?"
"Uh, I didn't know anything about it so guess I'm not invited." To my utter embarrassment he bursts out laughing.
"Everyone's invited Anya. Most people just crash there too." Really? Maybe this is the answer to my prayers. "I don't know for certain that we're going yet but I'll definitely be doing something with the guys so can't make other plans. How about tomorrow?"
"Sure, I guess I could do tomorrow." I usually spend Saturdays working on music of my own but that's no biggie. I have plenty of time for that.
"Great, well it's a date then." I give him a small smile and am just about to walk into class when he grabs my arm. "I mean, not a date date, just a friends date." Now it's my turn to laugh at him.
"Yes Jackson, don't worry. I didn't think anything other than that." I smile reassuringly.
"Really? Huh, okay, cool. Well, see you in a bit Anya."
*****
As I walk into Biology I catch Suzy's eye and she waves me over to a free seat next to her and Helen, one of the girls I met on Monday at lunch.
"Hey Anya, wanna sit with us?" Suzy gives me a big smile and Helen offers a smaller, timid one.
"Sure, thanks guys. How's things?"
"Great, we were just talking about the party tonight. Are you coming?"
"Hopefully. Where is it?"
"Kade's house. It's on the upper west side. I can pick you up and take you if you fancy it?"
"Oh um, well I wasn't planning on going home this evening..." I trail off. How do I explain? Or rather, what excuse do I use?
"Suzy is coming to mine after school, you're welcome to join us if you like?" Helen offers and I am surprised by it. I guessed she was going to be like Kayleigh and it looks like I was wrong.
"That'd be great, but it means I don't have anything to wear to the party, so I guess I'll have to go home."
"It's okay, between the two of us we'll have something you can wear." She smiles at me again and I am immensely grateful for her generosity. She doesn't understand just how much she is saving me.
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"And..." Suzy gives me a knowing smile, "Hopefully Devan will be there!" She lets out a little squeal and bounces slightly in her seat while I look at her confused before it all clicks into place.
"Oh, right. You like him?"
"What? No! Well, yes, but everybody does. I meant that you like him and I think he likes you."
"What did I say to you about starting rumours Suzy? Besides, you're wrong. I don't like him. He's exceedingly arrogant."
"Well yeah, he is. But he's hot." Helen laughs and I can't help but laugh with her. "Besides, didn't I hear you have a date with Jackson on Saturday?"
"Oh my god what?" Suzy squeals. "Jackson?" She looks a little hurt.
"No no no. I do not have a date with Jackson at all. We're just in music theory together and we're going to work on some songs. That's all. It's completely platonic, I promise. I'm just going over to his for a couple of hours and that's it."
"Isn't he staying with Devan this week?" I groan. That's right, they said that the other day. Well hopefully it won't be a problem. I'll have to remember to ask.
"Wow, maybe you'll get to go to Devan's house!" Helen smiles.
"Uh, is that a good thing?"
"Sure," Suzy answers, "Nobody except the elite has ever been inside Devan's house."
"Well then I'm sure I won't be invited." I dismiss but can't help thinking back to what Devan said.
"Come round at six. Don't be late."
I guess that was an invite? Strange. Maybe Helen and Suzy are wrong. Just because they haven't been invited it doesn't mean nobody has.
When class ends the three of us walk to the dining hall together and I queue for lunch. Helen and Suzy go and sit down insisting that they can't eat anything on the cafeteria menu because it's too fattening. I'm not sure how a salad can be fattening but who am I to question their methods?
I buy a hot dog, an apple and a bottle of water and turn to look for them, taking a sip of my drink straight away. Should I go over to their table again or find somewhere else to sit? Surely I should have asked before they left? Damn, I don't want to get embarrassed when they turf me off a seat. Just then I catch Cammie's eye at the table with the girls and he gestures for me to come over. I feel a weight off my shoulders as I head in their direction.
Everyone smiles and waves at me as I walk through the crowds, just as they have every day this week. I assume this is due to Monday, and I choose to ignore it. Attention is not something I am good at. That's why I compose instead of perform.
Just as I am crossing past the elite table to sit at the table with Cammie I walk straight into a body who was about to sit down, spilling ketchup and my still open bottle of water all over it. Silence ensues and I can hear some giggles and gasps. I feel my cheeks burning as I look up slowly, straight into the furious eyes of Devan Anderson. Crap.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry." I feel like I'm going to cry from shame but make no attempt to move. I'm completely glued in place.
"What the hell was that? Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost?" He shouts looking down at himself and throwing his arms around like a mad person. At this I can't help what happens next. I laugh. I actually laugh at him. Loudly and hysterically.
He cocks an eyebrow at me in disgust and I can't stop, as much as I try.
"You think this is funny?" He snaps, but I can see a sparkle of amusement in his eyes as he looks at me.
*****
Devan
She's actually laughing at me! Who the hell does she think she is? She's laughing so hard I think she's going to drop her tray and I want so much to be furious with her but watching her laugh like this is something I've never seen before. It's beautiful.
I feel a smile tugging at my lips but stop it in its tracks. No time for amusement right now. She just crossed a big, thick line.
"You think this is funny?" I snap at her but it's hard when I am trying to stop myself from laughing.
She looks up at me, trying so hard to contain her laughter.
"I'm so sorry Devan," my heart starts to race when she says my name. What the hell is that about? "I feel awful, but you really did look ridiculous flailing your arms about like that." She snorts again at the memory.
"Right. Okay, so that's funny." I take her tray from her and put it on my table at my place. I turn and pick up Ricky's water. He's the quietest of the group but still goes to snatch it back from me. I turn back to little Miss UK and her eyes widen as she realises what I'm going to do.
"No, no, no. No fair," she puts her hands up to defend herself and backs away, but I put my hand on her waist to hold her in place. "What I did was an accident. You can't be serious." She looks worried but there's still a hint of laughter in her eyes.
"You'd better believe I'm serious. Paybacks a bitch." I raise the bottle above her head and look down at her as I do. She looks up at me with those big green eyes that are thick with worry and I realise I don't have the heart to do it. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood." I state, smirking as I go to move the bottle away.
Suddenly, someone steals it from me and before I can do anything to stop her, that bitch Kayleigh says, "Let me help you Devan", gives me what I can only assume was meant to be a sexy grin but makes my skin crawl, and pours the entire bottle over Miss UK's head.