Cameron. Shoot, I thought he wasn't coming. I turn myself around and go up to Stella and Madi.
"Guys, Cameron is here! What should I do?" I say with worry.
"Bro, chill out, it's not like he's about to bite you or something."Madi said, trying to reassure me that everything would be fine.
"How do you know that? Yesterday he looked like he was about to kill me."
"Just pretend he doesn't exist and enjoy this night!" Stella said with a smile on her face. That's one thing I love about Stella, she always knows how to cheer me up, even in the worst situations possible.
"Yeah you're right. He probably won't even notice that I'm here." I say. Madi and Stella both nod their heads and we all walk over and sit down on the sand.
"So, Madi. I see what you have going on with Shawn. You wanna give us some information about that?" Stella asks. Madi tries not to smile, but we can both see her blushing.
"Well we're not dating or anything. Whats there to talk about?" Madi says in response.
"Oh come on.We can all sense that there's something there. Plus, we see the way you two look at each other. It's like you guys are like married or something." I say. Madi smiles even harder.
"Really?" she says, blushing. Stella and I both respond with a hard "Yes," and Madi buries her face into her hands.
"Okay fine I kinda do like him but it's not like we are going to date or anyth-"
"Bro, are you blind? Do you not see how obsessed he is with you?" I say, a little too loudly I guess, because just then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Shawn making his way over to us. And I guess Stella sees him too because she says:
"Guys, shut up. I think he heard us. Quick pretend we were talking about summer." Shawn comes from behind us and puts his arms around Madi's shoulder.
"Are you guys ready to start the bonfire?" He says to us.
"Yeah! Is everyone else here?" Stella asks.
"Yup, we didn't invite too many people, just the people that are special to me" Shawn says while looking at Madi. Stella and I both look at Madi. Her cheeks are on fire. I'm just wondering who's gonna make the first move.
"Alright so we should probably head up to like, wherever the bonfire is gonna be, right?" I ask
"Yeah, let's go. Oh by the way, did you guys bring towels? You know, to sit on?" Shawn asks
"If we brought towels wouldn't we be sitting on them right now? Besides, you never told us to." Stella says
"Oh I thought I did. It's okay, I'm sure some other people brought towels." he says. We all get up and follow Shawn to the bonfire. He really wasn't lying when he said he didn't invite many people. There were about 10 people there, including Stella, Madi and I. It was going to be very hard to avoid Cameron.
"Um, you guys? Remember how I said that Cameron won't even notice I'm here? Well take a look at the amount of people who are here. I think it'll be very hard for him to not see me." I said to my friends.
"Okay, okay. You're right. But so what if he sees you? It's not like he's going to go out of his way to talk to you. I thought you said he hates you?" Madi said.
"Yeah, but-" I start
"No, no buts. Just sit down next to Flynn and I or Madi and Shawn because I know they'll be sitting together. Don't talk to him and I'm sure he won't talk to you." Stella said. Yeah I guess she has a point. I'll just sit next to one of the two couples and hope for the best. As we are approaching everyone, I see Cameron look over to us to see who was approaching him. As soon as he made eye contact with me, he looked away. There go the stomach knots.
"Syd, come on. Sit with Flynn and I. I'm sure he doesn't mind. And if he does I'll kick him off the towel, not you." Stella says. I give her a slight smile and we walk over to Flynn. I haven't said hello to Flynn yet, so I go over to him and say hello. We all sit down and watch as Shawn starts the bonfire. It was really pretty. The smell of the fire, the mist of the salty ocean water. The crashing of the waves, the crackling of the wood. I loved it. I loved spending the first night of summer with my best friends at the beach. If only I hadn't gotten myself into this situation with Cameron, maybe I'd enjoy being around him too.
We all sat around the fire for a while. Until I saw Cameron get up and tell Britney to follow him. He brought her away from us. Nobody seemed to care, and they all kept talking. But my eyes followed as they walked away. He put his hand into his pocket and reached out with a little black and red box. He slowly handed the box to her with a smile on his face.
"Oh my god Cameron! You shouldn't have." I heard a loud, obnoxious voice say. As I was watching them, I realized that I had been able to avoid talking to both of them for the night. I didn't want to be creepy and keep watching them, so I looked away and started talking with everyone. It was kind of hard not to turn around though, as much as I didn't like Britney, she's a very entertaining person to watch. I got up and pretended I was going to go throw something out, but I really got up so I could hear their conversation. As I was walking to the trash can, I turned around and saw Britney open the box. Her smile immediately turned into a frown.
"Um, Cameron. What the hell is this?" She said, while picking up a red stained tennis bracelet from the box. I saw Cameron's eyebrows furrow and then the realization clicked. For him and me. My eyes widened and I quickly turned around and walked quickly to the trash can.
"Did you just buy me a red bracelet? You know how much I hate that color." she said
"No, no. I swear it wasn't supposed to be red. It was supposed to be gold, since I know you like it better than silver." he said.
"No, you know what? I can't even look at you right now. I'm leaving. Oh and by the way, we're done.You can keep the bracelet." she scoffs while giving him the bracelet, and I hear her say under her breath while she's walking away, "Red? I can't believe him. Out of all colors, red. Unbelievable." I walk as fast as I can back to the bonfire, because I'm pretty sure Cameron is going to go chase after Britney and be all "Yo babe I'm sorry I never meant to hurt you, now, wanna make out?" I sat down and before I could even say one word to Stella or Madi, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Hey. Can we talk?" he asks. Cameron. Of course it was Cameron. Ugh.
"Oh, yeah sure." I say while getting up.
"I'm dying to see how this one ends." I heard Madi say.
"Ooh, Cameron. Don't you have a girlfriend? You trying to double up or something?" Lexi says. And there's another reason why I don't like her. She tries to be one of the boys or something. Like girl, your boyfriend literally apologizes for your behavior, NOBODY LIKES YOU. Cameron rolled his eyes at that comment and waits for me to walk away.
"So, what's up?" I ask him.
"What's up?" he shakes his head, "Your little spilled paint incident ruined my relationship, and a $3,000 bracelet. I don't care about your little apologies."
"But I'm really sorry Cameron, I am. I'll do anything to make it up to you. The only thing I want to do is make it up to you."
"Anything, huh?" he says. I nod my head without hesitation.
"I'll repurchase all of your stuff if that's what it takes for you to forgive me." I say
"Okay. But you don't have to repurchase all of my stuff. I was kind of exaggerating when I said all of it was important. All I need is the tennis bracelet and a new backpack ." he said.
"All you need? That tennis bracelet was $3,000. I can't afford that." I said. there was no way I was going to get him a new bracelet for him. "I can't spend that crazy amount of money, that means I have to take money out of my summer savings"
"Oh. Well then I guess we're just gonna have to end this on bad terms. I mean, if that's what you want." he said. Although it would cost half of my summer savings, I was the one who caused this mess to happen in the first place so I should be the one to clean it, right?
"Okay fine I'll repurchase the bracelet and the bag. I mean I do kinda owe you." I say to him.
"Yeah, you do owe me. I need the items by Saturday, no excuses." he says stiffly while walking away from me. I stood there in utter shock. I needed to get him those items by Saturday?! That means I have one day to get him his items. I stand there thinking for a while and then quickly snap out of it when I hear my name being called.
"Sydney! Come over here! We're playing truth or dare!" Madi says. I turn around and start walking over to them. I sit down next to Stella and we start playing.
"Um, Flynn, truth or dare." Madi asks. Flynn gives a smile and then says truth.
"Whats your favorite thing about Stella?" Madi asks. Flynn think about it for a bit and the finally answers.
"I like everything about Stella. It's very hard for me to choose my favorite. I can't pick one favorite thing about Stella, but if I had to, it would be her personality." Flynn responds. I have to admit, they are a very cute couple. Stella makes a pouty face and everyone says "Awww," and she gives him a kiss on the cheek.
"Alright, I'm happy for you guys, I really am, but enough of that lovey dovey crap, whose next?" Madi asks.
"I'll go." Brady says, "Shawn, truth or dare."
"Dare. Obviously." Shawn says.
"I was hoping you'd pick dare," he says, "I dare you to...kiss Madi."
"Oooh," everyone said collectively. Madi was definitely blushing and I think Shawn was too.
"I mean, are you okay with that?" Shawn asked. Madi whispered something into his ear, and he smiled.
"Yeah, I'm okay with it." she said. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
"Oh, come on dude! I meant like a real kiss!" Brady said
"Well, you never said that." Shawn said. Brady rolled his eyes and leaned his head onto Lexi's shoulder.
"Sydney! Truth or dare." Lexi asks. Ugh.
"Truth, I guess." I say. She doesn't even think about what she's gonna say. It's like whatever she's gonna say was marinating in her brain before she even asked it.
"So like, what did you and Cameron talk about back there?" Lexi asks. I take a deep breath and try not to explode. It's none of her business. I don't have to tell her what we talked about.
"Um, I don't really wanna say. Can I have another question, or maybe skip my turn?" I ask, politely. I don't wanna be rude, but also, it was kind of rude of her to ask that question.
"No, you have to answer. It's truth or dare." Lexi says in response. Who is she to tell me what to do?
"I really don't want to answer that. Just skip my turn." I say.
"Ugh, why do you have to be so defensive? Just tell us what you talked about! Everyone is dying to know." Lexi said. Literally nobody agreed with her. I looked around for a second and then got up.
"You know what I really don't want to answer this and deal with you right now so I'm gonna leave. Brady, get your girlfriend under control." I say, and walk away. As I leave the beach, I start walking on the sidewalk and quickly pull out my phone. I didn't say goodbye to Madi and Stella, or thank Shawn for inviting me, so I texted them. "Hey, sorry for leaving like that. I didn't want to put up with her anymore. I'll call you guys tonight and tell you what happened. Oh and can you guys thank Shawn for me for inviting me?" And as I was sending the message, I got interrupted by a loud honk.
"Hey, you need a ride?" a boy asked. It was Cameron. Why is he asking me if I need a ride? Wasn't he supposed to hate me?
"God, you scared me. And no thanks, my house is just a couple blocks down." I said. I see him roll his eyes from inside of the car. It was a black jeep and the windows were opened, so I could see pretty clearly into the car. There were a bunch of scrunchies tossed all over the car. I assumed they were Britney's.
"Come on. It's late, who knows whose out here? Just get in the car. It's a two minute drive."
"No. I'm fine walking." I say. I continue walking, but he slowly follows behind me.
"Would you just get in the car?" he asks. Why does he want me to get in his car so badly? Maybe he's trying to kidnap me.
"No! I already sai-" I started, but got cut off.
"Get in the car, Sydney." he said, firmly. I sigh, look over at him and cross the street to get into his car.
"What are you doing driving around, anyways?" I ask him, "I thought you went home."
"I never said that" he answered. I didn't say anything after that. I looked through the windshield, and out the window. Well, out the door I guess. I hated that I got myself into this mess. I should have just stayed in my 8th period class. I look at the street names until we reach President Avenue. AKA, where I live.
"Hey, this is my street." I say, "I can just walk to my house from here."
"Okay." he says, as he stops the car. I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car. It's weird walking out of a car with no doors. I'm not used to it.
"Well, thanks for driving me home." I say. He gives me a slight smile.
"What made you want to go home anyway?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Nothing. I'm just tired." I lied. I didn't need to tell him what actually made me want to go home.
"K. Well, goodnight. I'll see you on Saturday" he says. I nod and walk home. I try to open the door, but it's locked. Shoot. It's already 10:45. I don't know if my parents are awake. I knock on the door and wait for about a minute before it opens. It wasn't my parents, it was my little brother.
"Hi Sydney. How was your little beach thing?" my brother asks. I walk inside and take off my shoes.
"It was fine." I say, going into the kitchen to get something to eat. I didn't eat dinner before I went to the bonfire, so I was starving.
"Why are you in such a bad mood? Are you on your period or something?" he asks. I roll my eyes and say no. I take a frozen pizza out of the freezer and preheat the oven.
"Was John there?" he asks, walking up to the other side of the counter.
"No, thankfully." I said. He nods.
"That's good." he said. We sat quietly for a while until the awkward silence got interrupted by the oven beeping. I put the pizza in the oven and sat at the table and waited. I scrolled on my phone for a while, and realized that I had gotten a text.
Madi: "Omg, don't even worry about it, Lexi was being annoying you're so valid for leaving. Oh and Shawn said that you're welcome to hang with them anytime."
Stella: "Call us when you have a chance, I wanna hear about what you talked about!"
I started to type back to them, but then the oven beeped again, so I got up to take the pizza, got a plate, and turned off the oven. I looked over to Charlie.
"You want some?" I ask him. He widens his eyes, and nods his head. I go back into the cabinet and get another plate.
"How many slices are you going to have?" I ask.
"Like, four maybe?" He says.
"Four?? That's like half of the pie," I say, "How about you start with two and see if you eat them?" He rolls his eyes but agrees. I let the pizza cool for a couple minutes, and then put two slices on one plate, and one on the other. I brought his plate to him and sat down on the other side of the table, across from him.
"So who was that who dropped you off at the curb?" my brother asks. I almost choke on my food. What did he just say?
"Um, what do you mean?" I asked him, trying to act innocent.
"Don't be stupid, Sydney. I saw. It was a Jeep. You don't know anybody who has a Jeep." he says.
"Lots of people have Jeeps. You just don't know them." I said.
"Okay, whatever," he says, rolling his eyes while taking another bite of his pizza. He gets sauce all over his face.
"It was a boy in the car, by the way. I saw." he said. "Are you dating someone?"
"Charlie, I'm not talking about this right now. Just eat your food." I said. He groans.
"No need to be rude." he said.
"I wasn't!" I say. I take a bite of my pizza. He looks at me and raises his eyebrows. I go back on my phone and finish sending them the text.
Me: Of course I will. I'm eating right now but I'll call you as soon as I'm done."
I finish my dinner and head upstairs. I get in my room, close my door and call my friends. When they both pick up, I tell them what happened.
"Yeah, and then he said that I need to get him his stuff by Saturday. Saturday! How am I supposed to do that?" I ask, annoyed.
"Oh man, that sucks. It's his fault for leaving his bag open. Plus, Britney shouldn't be wanting him back only for a bracelet." Stella says.
"Yeah, I know. And he didn't even tell me if he was coming with me to buy his stuff or if I'm going by myself." I said, while looking at the time.
"Maybe he'll text you in the morning." Madi says. I sigh.
"Yeah, maybe. But hey, it's getting kinda late and I'm tired. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow and let you know what happens. Goodnight!" I say.
"Goodnight!" Stella and Madi say together. I hang up the phone, turn off my light, and get into bed. Ugh. I am not looking forward to tomorrow. I close my eyes, and fall asleep...
••••••••••
An interesting day for Sydney, don't you think?
Thoughts?