[Nail Salon]
"Ugh! Why are we here?" I groan as I sit in the chair
"I know, I'm a monster. If I'm feeling really evil, I'll take you to a fancy lunch after. How you feeling, honey?" Mom asks
"Not bad for a heartless garbage person" I say
"I know. Breakups are so hard. You made a kind and brave choice. I'd like to think I'd make that choice but we both know I'm not that strong" She says
"Mom. I mean, it does really suck. And maybe it was the right thing to do, but...I just can't get the look on his face out of my head. No matter what I do. It sucks" I say
"I know it does. I may have something to make you feel better" She shows me her nails, "Check it our. Camzi rocks. For your track meet. These are gonna look great in fingerless gloves" She says
"Nothing looks good in fingerless gloves" I say
"Uh-huh. Camzi rocks!" She says
I laugh, "Oh my god" I say
"Camzi rocks!" She says
"Calm down" I say as she hoots
[Bedroom]
Izzie and I are in my room, studying, well I should say I'm studying, she's trying to distract me. She puts her foot on my study guide causing me to look at her, "Seriously?" I ask
"Sorry, didn't see you there" She says
She laughs, "Come on, let me study" I push her leg off of me, "I'm not gonna be able to get anything done this weekend, so I gotta..." I say
"You nervous about regionals?" She asks
I look at her, "Yeah, of course. But I'm mostly just..." I trail off
"Sad about Jeremy?" I look at her, "Look, we're friends first. You can talk to me about it if you want" She says
I give her a small smile, "I know" I shake my head, "But not about this. Sorry" I say
"It's okay" She smiles, "I'm biased anyway" She says which causes me to smile
After a bit, I walk her towards the door and open it for her, "Okay, bye" I say
"Bye" She says and hugs me
When we pull away I place a short kiss on her lips which causes her to giggle before she walks out. I smile to myself as I shut the door, "So is sh your girlfriend now?" I hear
I turn to see Sam on the couch, "Jesus, Sam! Warn a person" I say startled
"That I'm sitting on the couch? Okay. I'm sitting on the couch. So are you a couple?" He asks
"I am not having this conversation with you, ever. But..." I sit down next to him, "I mean...if we were, would that...be a problem with you?" I ask
"What? No, why? You'd be like Sphen and Magic" He says
"Who?" I ask
"Sphen and Magic, the two male gentoo penguins at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium" He grabs his phone, "They courted each other and built a nest" He says showing me
"Aww, cuties" I say
"When a negligent heterosexual penguin pair left their egg exposed to the elements, the aquarium staff gave it to Sphen and Magic. They have a baby now. It's name is Sphengic" He says showing me
"Look at him. Hello, you" I say
"I think they could have done better with the name" He says
"Isn't your penguin named Stumpy?" I ask
"Exactly, something good" He says
I nod my head, "Thanks" I say
"For what?" He asks
"For not being weird about this. Or being weird, but in your own way" I say
"You're welcome. Now, can you please leave me alone? I'm kind of busy" He says
I stand up, "I love your bloody penguins" I say
"Thank you" He says and I walk away
[Morning]
I sit down at the table, "Okay, if you need anything, this is a list of emergency numbers" Mom says
"Hmm. Why's animal control on here?" I ask as I flip through the book
"Remember when the raccoon had babies in our basement? This happen" She says
"Ugh. The sounds. I'm never having kids" I say
"Okay, all your meals are in the fridge labeled, of course. And remember, the front left burner knob is..." He doesn't answer, "...tricky, so you gotta push it all the way in then you turn it, okay? Other wise it won't light, but the house will continue to fill up with gas until the whole place is filled up, and then even a tiny little spark, boom. The roof is blown sky high along with my baby boy all the way to heaven" She says
"Or hell. We don't know his life" I say
"Okay, I won't do whatever you just said" Sam says
"Okay, let's go guys. Were' gonna be late to drop Cameron off at the bus. Sure you don't wanna drive there with us?" Dad asks
"No, oddly, I prefer the company of thirty screaming girls to you two lumps" I say standing up
"You wanna walk to the bus? You could walk. Is that what you wanna do?" Dad asks
[Regionals Hotel]
Izzie and I walk to a couch in the lobby and sit down, "I jus hugged or high fives at least 63 people on the way in. Do you have any hand sanitizer?" She asks
"Yeah, nerd, I think Elsa might hav put some in here" I say
I open my bag and hand her some, "Thank you" She says
I look to see a drawing, I grab it out, "Look what Sam made me" I say showing it to her
"Who's Sphen and Magic?" She asks
"Gay penguins in Australia. He told me about them last night" I say
"Wait, did...did you tell Sam about us?" She asks
"Not really" I say
"Not really?" She asks
"No. Well, I didn't tell him anything. He just saw us at the door. So...what would be the big deal? He's my brother" I ask confused
"The big deal is I don't feel like broadcasting my personal business to the world" She says
"Okay, jeez" I say
"No, it's not okay" I look down, "There's Claire. I'm gonna go say hi" She says and gets up, walking away
I put the picture away, sighing as I place my head in my hands, "Hello, beautiful" I hear
I turn to see Sharice, "Hi" I say
"Hi, what's wrong?" She asks causing me to sigh
We head up to my room and I tell her, everything, "Whoa..." She says
"I know" I say
"Poor Jeremy" She says
"Yeah" I say
"Poor you" She says
"Kinda" I say
"Izzie is a villain" She says
"Oh, come on, no she's not" I sigh, "I'm so confused. Cause I miss Jeremy, but when I'm with Izzie, it's so exciting and...kissing her was...amazing. And when it's just the two of us, she acts like she's so into me, but when we're around anyone else, it's like she's afraid to be around me" I explain
"Sounds like my cat" I laugh, "Cameron, whoever you are with should treat you like the precious, precious princess you are" She tells me
"Why am I even having this conversation with you?" I ask as we laugh
Then the door opens and Izzie walks in, "Hey, can we talk?" She asks
"I'm gonna go. I have dinner with the team" Sharice says
"Say hi to them for me" I say
"You can tell them yourself. There is a party tonight in Tanya's room" She looks at Izzie, "You're invited too. You know, if you're cool" She says before leaving
Izzie sits on the bed in front of me, "I'm sorry. This is just...all so new, you know?" She says
"Yeah, it is" I say
"And I don't know what any of this means or who I am" She says
"Look, I'm confused too" I say
"I know. I just think that...I need to take it slow" I nod my head, "But it was really nice hanging out in your room the other night" She smiles, "And I really like hanging out" She says
"Me too" I say as I look at her
"Do you maybe wanna go tot hat party together later?" She asks
"Um...sure" I say
"Okay, cool" She says
[Later On - Party Time]
We walk into the room to see everyone partying, "I don't know, Newton, looks like enemy territory" Izzie says
"Tonight, we dance with them. Tomorrow, we crush them" I tell her
"Does look kind of fun" She says
"Oh, shot, I forgot you hate fun, though. So maybe let's go back tot eh room and we can study something, anything" I joke
She grabs my hand and leads me to the dance flood, "Let's go" She says
We get in the center and start dancing to the music, having a great time. At one point, a slower song comes on, Yoko Ono by Mob Rich. We start dancing closer together to the beat, our bodies close together, our faces inches apart. I get lost in the moment and start to elan in before sh pushes me off, "What are you doing?" She asks
"Nothing. I'm—I'm dancing" I say
"We talked about this. I don't need to advertise my personal business to the world" She says
"I'm not trying—" She cuts me off, "I just...I need water" She says and walks away
Then Tanya and Sharice grab my hand and we start dancing. But after a bit, I look up to see some guy flirting with Izzie and that pisses me off, "Oh, Cam, did you brush your teeth? Cause I think I'm gonna do some flossing" Sharice says
"Yeah, come on, let's see those fancy private school moves, Gardner" Tanya says
I start but then I look over to see some dude kissing Izzie and she kisses him back, "What the fuck?" I whisper
"What?" Sharice follows my eyesight, "That bitch" She says
My anger is boiling, does she even feel the same or was she just stringing me along? I guess Sharice can sense my anger, "Hey, Cam, forget about her right now" I start to walk over there, "Cam, don't" Sharice stops me
I look at her, "I need some air" I tell her and walk out
I make it back to my room and my anger takes over me and I punch the wall, putting a hole through it, "Fuck that hurt" I groan
I didn't know I was that strong, I look down at my hand to see it bloodied, "Shit" I whisper, are my feelings for Izzie this strong?
"Cameron Gardner, you didn't" I turn to see Sharice as she looks at my hand, "Let's get you cleaned up" She tells me
After my hand is bandaged up, we sit on the couch, "I'm an idiot" I say
"You're not" She says
"I am pining after this confusing hot and cold mess of a person. I just never should have done any of this" I say
"You're right. You should have pushed these feelings down, down, down forever and. Never looked at them. That's healthy" She says sarcastically
"Shut up" I tell her
[Day of Regionals]
I'm on the sideline, warming up, looking around at everyone, so happy. Then I look up to see Izzie staring at me with a small smile and gives me a little wave. Then she looks down at my hand and her expression changes. But before I give her a chance to ask, I send her a cold look and walk away.
I get to my starting block as I'm warming up, Izzie only one away from me. I feel her eyes on my but I focus on the race ahead of me, "On your marks" We hear
We get in our positions and wait for the starting pistol, "Set"
The gun fires and I take off, I'm a little behind at first but once we near the end, I get a second wind and take off into first and make it across the finish line. I hear everyone cheering and my teammates come and hug me. My old coach comes up, "She used to be ours!" He hugs me, "Oh, she's got the heart of a Newton Owl" He says
Sharice comes up, "Yes, yes, yes!" She cheers
Then Izzie walks up, "You looked good out there, Newton" She says before Sharice grabs me and leads me away
[Home]
We make it back from regionals to see Sam in the kitchen, "There you are. How was it?" Mom hugs him, "I'm just gonna hold you like this for about 20 minutes" She says
I place my bag down and walk into the kitchen, "It went fine. I finished my art project. I found the missing piece that made it come to life, or I mean, death" Sam says
"Wow, that is cool!" I say
"We missed you, buddy. Your sister crushed her race" Dad says
"Of course she did" He says
I hug him quickly, "Thanks for the drawing" I say
"You're welcome" He says
"What drawing?" Mom asks
"The drawing of you butting out" I say and walk upstairs