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^ aww, it's Uhu and family. :')
(SORRY GUYS, I JUST HAD TO)
Enjoy the chapter!
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11. Tristan, And Uhu's Dad Give News
Sweat, cheers and Briarwoods' colors poured from the bleachers and blurred the arena as I stood on my usual starting point, trying to get a grip of myself. Outside the swimming complex building, it was a beautiful autumn morning with a faded blue sky and hardly any clouds, and the birds were chirping and leaves brilliant shades of orange; perfect weather to host a swim carnival.
Okay. First round is Rayna. Second Cheryl. Third Paige. Last is me. They put up a good fight just now. If they can do it, you can, Laur. I pictured Cameron as one of the spectators on the bleachers, cheering. That made me feel a little better.
I don't know why they use the term 'butterflies in the stomach'. There weren't butterflies in my stomach. More like a dozen creeping bugs and lizards that made you cringe and tickled your stomach and...
"Okay, that was disturbing." I muttered. I glanced at the other teams' swimmer. She was a blonde, like me, only taller, prettier, and bigger built. If I were a spectator on Briarwoods' side, or on the rival schools' side, I'd be sure that Lauren King was a goner. But how unfortunate it is, that I am Lauren King. And I was sure as heck that I could take her on. So why was I nervous?
A hand was placed on my shoulder, and I turned to see my coach giving me a thumbs up before hurrying away to join the rest of my teammates.
"Swimmers, on your marks..."
I looked over at the bleachers once I heard someone shout my name loudly, but couldn't find anyone standing out from the crowd. Then I spotted Lia, Charlotte, and Matt somewhere toward the edge of the bleachers, grinning and each giving me a thumbs up. It was funny, because I could've sworn that I heard Uhu's voice somewhere.
"Get set..."
I checked that my goggles and swimming cap were in place. Focus, Lauren, focus. I breathed in and out, in and out, in and out. This is the moment you've been waiting for, ever since you got here. Team Briarwoods, remember?
Everything moved so quickly after the word, "Go!" A blank was fired, and, out of instinct, my legs sprung my body into the blue chlorine abyss before me.
That's it, that's it. My arm swung up and went back down, crashing into the water surface as I tilted my head to take a breath. Now repeat the pattern, only on the left side. Then right. Then left again. Before I knew it, I was halfway across the pool. From what I could see through the series of kicks and arm strokes, the other swimmer was no where to be found on the other lane, which was a very good thing indeed.
I could hardly believe how easy it was to turn myself around and head back to the starting point, which was now the finish line. I could make out my teammates' muffled cheers. That's it, Lauren, you're doing it. Nothing to be worried about now...
But, like in all cliché novels and movies, I spoke too soon.
It was strange, really, how some events in movies suddenly move slower than usual, and even stranger that it was happening to me then.
I was in a code red situation. Literally.
The water around me turned red, then, in a blink of an eye, was mixed with orange, and then blue, and more colours. I was so taken aback that I came to a halt. Really, everywhere I looked had turned a bright shade of red. There was orange and blue, but mostly red. It was like someone had dropped a bomb of redness into the water.
Now, I don't know about your school's pools, or any other pool that you've seen in competitions, but in Briarwoods, our pool was about 2.5 meters deep, which was, unfortunately, way past my height. So you know what happens when you begin sputtering and panicking under deep water.
It dawned on me, after a while, that I shouldn't have been worrying about how the redness came about, but more of how I wasn't breaking into the water surface. No matter how much I tried to calm myself down, I couldn't. My stomach was screaming with butterflies now-or insects if that's how you wanna go, and my lungs were compressing as I slowly ran out of oxygen. Suddenly, I found myself being lifted out by a pair of strong arms, who swam back to the finish line with me in tow.
Coach Kory lugged me back onto the edge of the pool, and the other members of the swim team helped me out of the water. Everything around me seemed chaotic and suddenly, the day didn't seem as beautiful as I'd thought it to be. The autumn sun was burning my skin, the birds above were screeching instead of singing their songs, and I suddenly felt sorry for the shrivelling leaves turning orange. The spectators watching had gone silent after someone-I didn't know who-screamed that Lauren was hyperventilating, and everyone was just staring at me. Not like I had the time to care, anyway. Let alone the breath.
And speaking of my breath, I was desperately trying to catch it again, but failing. Maybe it had gotten too scared to return to me. Ha, ha, ha, I was so funny. Even when losing consciousness, I was funny. Woah, calm down, Lauren. You're not losing consciousness. Wait, are you? I didn't want to die! Not at a swim carnival! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh. Was I dying? Was that why everyone was staring?
Calm down, Lauren. You'll be fine.
It was a voice my mind could hardly identify. Soft and calm, but firm at the same time. It could have been someone I knew, or someone I didn't. I didn't know, and frankly I didn't care. I felt myself nodding shakily, aware of how dizzy I was becoming. The world around me was spinning out of control.
"Hey, hey, hey." Now a hand was placed on my shoulder. It didn't feel rough like Coach Kory's, but more tender and filled with concern. The person was whispering in my ear now. "Lauren. Lauren listen to me. Listen to me, Lauren. You're gonna be okay. You're not dead; I'm here for you. You're okay. You're okay. You hear me? Everything's fine-that's it. Deep breath in, and out. In-out. Calm down. Please, Lauren."
The pool before me stopped spinning, and I just sat there, hugging my knees to my chest as I took deep breaths. My feet and hands were erupting with tingles, which was a slight improvement from just now when they were totally numb. Now I could recognise a few sounds. Such as, Coach Kory's voice saying, "Take care of her."
Now I was staggering out of the arena, with someone's shoulder to lean on for support. The person stroked my hair and kept assuring me that it was alright. Everything else that happened was just a blur to me, as if I was constantly falling in and out of consciousness.
The person stayed with me until I was better. When I finally regained my composure, I turned around to see who had been comforting me. But I found myself sitting in the middle of a prickly grassy patch, a few meters away from the arena, with no one else in sight. Now I was sure my comforter was a he, unless Charlotte, Lia or my swim team mates had a male voice they kept hidden in their 'inner male' side or some crap like that.
I had managed on a school jacket and a pair of shorts over my swimsuit, and was grateful for doing so once a gust of wind swept through the area. But I was still wondering who that voice belonged to. I got up shakily, almost collapsing again.
I heard two people call my name from a distance. Charlotte and Lia. They were running up to me, and immediately asked if I was okay the moment they were within earshot.
"Fine, I'm fine." I replied, becoming aware of how parched my throat was. "Who was that who comforted me just now?"
Charlotte shook her head. "We were evacuated out of the building before we could see what became of you."
They looped my arms around their shoulders and brought me back to my dorm, where I showered and changed out of my wet, chlorine-stained clothes, glad that I could finally freshen up after what seemed like hours.
Lia was the only one in the room when I came out and explained that Charlotte had gone to get us some lunch. I looked at the time. 3:24pm. The swim carnival had started at 10:00am. I wondered how long my panic attack had been.
"Do you want me to tell you what happened?" Lia said softly after a while. "Charlotte, Matt, Tristan and I saw it." She added after seeing my confused face.
"What...did you see?" I inquired carefully, taking a seat opposite her.
"I saw a person in a black jacket standing at the side. I'm not sure if the rest saw it-since everyone was so focused on the game-but I did. I pointed him out to Charlotte, and we watched him for the rest of the game. Because-y'know-there were a lot of seats around. And he could've just taken one of them instead of just standing there and watching-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Go on." I waved, wanting ever so desperately to know what he did next.
Lia rolled her eyes but continued. "Okay, so this MannyMacBlackJacket waits until you dive into the water, then reaches into his jacket pocket. He takes out a...well, something that looks like a water gun. Only it shot out paint when he pulled the trigger."
"So that's how the water turned red, blue and orange, but that still doesn't explain why some sicko would decide to crash a swim carnival." I said pointedly. Charlotte came in then and we helped her clear out her desk to make room for lunch. Then we sat on Lia's bed, eating in silence.
"That's the part I still haven't gotten to yet," she spoke suddenly. She gulped down her mouthful of salad and took a sip of water.
"What part?" Charlotte asked. Lia explained and she nodded. "Oh. That part."
"Why do you think it happened?" I asked her. She smiled wryly.
"I don't know, but before we went to find you, I told Tristan about it."
Lia scooted closer to us and put her salad down. "Really? What did he say?"
"He said he had a theory but needed time to think about it." My roommate shrugged and continued eating. "He's a weird guy."
Lia furrowed her eyebrows and said defensively, "He is not. He just knows a lot, Charlotte."
"You know you guys can just call me Charlie, right?"
"That's beside the point! He, in actuality, is a really, really smart guy. Stop trying to act as if you know everything."
"I'm not! I'm just..."
"Seems like Lia's got another boyfriend besides Clayton."
"Shut up, Lauren. What do you know anyway?"
"Why're you so defensive, then? It was a joke; chill out."
"Well, I...what if I called Matt dumb? Huh? How would you feel?"
"Hey, leave Matt out of this!"
"You guys leave Tristan out of this!"
"Lauren, Lia, stop it."
"Well you sure as heck started it!"
"I did not, I just stated-"
We were interrupted by a series of repetitive knocks on our door.
I looked at my two roommates and they shrugged, as if silently saying you're the closest to the door. I got up to open it and was greeted by a tall, dirty blonde boy who wore a black jacket, jeans and boots. His hair was a mess, and he was breathing heavily, as if he had run all the way here.
"Um, I'm sorry, but you are...?" I heard distant voices somewhere down the corridor, and immediately, the strange boy outside leaped into our room before swiftly shutting the door behind him. He didn't speak until the voices had passed, but when he did, his voice sounded hoarse. Black circles surrounded his eyes.
"Lia ever tell you about me?"
The mentioned girl leaped out of her bed and came to join us. "Tristan? What's up?"
I immediately recognised him from newspaper club after she'd said his name. "Oh...Tristan, hi. It's nice to meet you." I held out my hand, and he hesitantly shook it, as if I were something fragile. I knew exactly what he was going to ask about before the words left his mouth.
"Lauren. How...how are you?"
"I'm doing better." I glanced at Lia before turning back to him. "What did you want to talk to us about?"
Tristan snapped out of it and cleared his throat. "Oh. Oh yeah. I have something I wanna share with you girls." He patted something, and that was when I noticed he was carrying a space gray MacBook with him. It was kissed with artsy stickers and inspirational quotes. "But right now I'm waiting for Matt to-"Knock knock.
I opened it again and Matt came in, tipping an invisible hat.
"How is m'lady now?" He asked me, and I couldn't help but think about the tender voice from earlier. And for the third time today, I said I was fine.
"Okay, now that we're all here, down to business." Tristan rubbed his hands together eagerly and opened his laptop on our coffee table. We pushed away all our half-eaten lunch boxes and gathered round him, waiting, the cool air-conditioned air rolling down our hunched backs.
Tristan went to some unknown site online, logged in, and was directed to what looked like a normal school website. What caught my eye was their school crest. It was an orange rectangle with a red circle in the middle of it, and in the circle, was a blue crust with white small words circling it. On the red interior in the middle, was a black and white image of a ferocious roaring lion, and the whole thing was finished off with two crossed shiny, silvery fire torches at the bottom.
"Red, blue, orange," I murmured, recalling the colors that had surrounded me earlier in the pool.
"Who are they?" Charlotte asked from next to me.
Matt spoke up. "This school...I've seen that before...oh wait." His face sunk into deep thought. The rest of us looked at Tristan.
He sighed and turned to us with a solemn expression plastered on his face. "Crest."
"What does that mean?" I demanded. Tristan's look was starting to freak me out, and I'd only just met him. "Yeah. The crest colors. I get it. I've figured that out already."
"That's their name." He emphasised, running a bony hand through his dark locks. "They're Crest Academy."
I realised Matt was staring at me. I met his eye and he nodded to Tristan's laptop. He was trying to tell me something.
"What about this school?" I asked Tristan.
"Uhm," he pursed his lips, "just...yeknow..."
Matt kept nodding over to the laptop screen. What could he be trying to tell me? And why was it so secretive that it kept him from saying it aloud?
I studied the screen's contents. It was just an ordinary school website, you know the kind that most private schools had to advertise and convince students to enroll there. I furrowed my eyebrows at Matt. He shook his head and nodded again to it, this time making sure to bulge his eyes out as his did so. Then I got it: take a closer look.
I pushed Tristan out of the way, despite his many protests and attempts to fight back.
What I read and saw up close on the regular and ordinary school website made me realise, that this was no regular and ordinary school website.
•
"Tristan..." I trailed off. The others leaned forward and gasped at what they read. I glanced back at Matt, who gave me a small thumbs-up.
"What is this?" Charlotte was the first to speak.
Tristan moved to the other side of the coffee table so he was facing the four of us. He brought the laptop closer to him, sighing, "That's Crest Academy. I told you."
"What were those things?" I asked. "The things we saw on the screen?"
"In nineteen eighty-four," he started carefully, "a bunch of students from two different elite academies decided that there could only be one-and I mean only one-best school in the state, country even. Ever since then, they've been rivalling each other for that spot."
"But," Tristan continued after a while, "what one of the schools had no idea about was that the other school cheated their way through. They stole prized possessions, bribed or threatened others, rigged systems, started involuntary school fights, ambushed students with pranks...you name it. They had spies everywhere; the victim school was so big you'd be used to seeing people you never met walking around campus. These spies breached security systems, set up traps for swim carnivals,"-he glanced at me hesitantly-"could have been the supposed 'weakling' who started a fist fight in school. They knew every room and place in school, brick by brick. A few joined clubs. Some even tried for student body president. But at the end of the day, it all came down to this: Bria--I mean, the victim school, would always end up behind the rival one. This tradition has been carried on for the past twenty years, and nobody has ever managed to catch at least one spy, let alone know who the spies were. Until now."
He leaned back, letting that sink in.
"So you're saying," I said slowly, "you know who rigged the swim carnival?"
Tristan laughed without humour. "I could only wish."
"This rival thing..." Lia said now, "don't the teachers know about it?"
"Answer me this: if they knew about it, wouldn't we have at least caught one spy by now?"
There was a blizzard of dead silence in the room. I became aware of the goosebumps on my arms as the four of us just stood there, staring at Tristan who was sitting Japanese-style at our coffee table, looking calmer than ever.
"Uh," Matt came up next to me. "I mean, I get the rivalry-everybody in Briarwoods knows about that-they already suspect them for disrupting the carnival. But I think what we're all confused about is what you said about a spy."
"Spies." Tristan nodded hesitantly. "They're everywhere in the school." It was clear that he was intentionally avoiding Matt's real question.
"No I meant what you said at the end."
"What did I say? Until now?"
"No. I mean yes. Wait no. I don't...you said something about...that we discovered a spy."
"Spy?"
"Yes! A spy-from our school-you said people know who it is. Is he or she someone we know?"
"We don't have any spies from our school." I was really beginning to feel sorry for the exasperated Matt, and irritated at the smart guy who was acting dumb at the moment.
"I meant from the other school. Crest Academy."
"You mean Crest Academy."
"Isn't that what I just--"
"What about them?" Tristan's eyes pierced into his.
"Yeah. Spies. I was talking about spies. Y'know? From Crest Academy. Here in Briarwoods? To spy on us?"
"Oh. Yeah. What about them?"
"We've discovered one, right?"
"Probably."
"What do you mean 'probably'? You mean it isn't confirmed?"
"Oh no, the spy is a spy, if that's what you mean."
"Do we know who it is?"
"Maybe." Tristan got bored of the conversation and began looking out the window. The four of us exchanged looks.
Charlotte spoke. "Who is the spy? It's you, isn't it?"
Tristan raised an eyebrow.
"You know of the secluded places in school, and you're an expert at computer hacking. Plus you're the one who showed us the website and told us the story. Aren't those already major clues?" Lia reasoned.
He stared at us. First Lia, then me, then Matt, then Charlotte. Then he got up to draw the curtains, engulfing the room with a shimmering dimness.
"Technically, you never heard it from me. I'll admit that I used to attend Crest, but that was a long time ago. Either now they're just being their screwed up selves, or are extra harsh on this school because of me leaving." He said.
"So? Don't people graduate from there? That's counted as leaving the school." I said.
"Yeah, but no one's allowed to actually leave because word could get out. Once you're posted to the school, you're in it for the long haul." He glanced down, looking...guilty? Angry? Regretful? I think the rest of us noticed it too.
"So...why'd you leave?"
Tristan's lips pulled upwards, but he didn't smile. "People have their fair share of crazy reasons."
"Yeah? What's yours?" I said.
He opened his mouth but was interrupted by a loud crackling noise at the far corner of the room. I began searching for its source and realised it was a speaker.
Lia muttered what I'd been thinking. "Didn't know that was there."
"Sorry for this interruption; this announcement goes out to these sophomore students, including those who are already aware of their required presence." She read out many, many names. About thirty-ish. To my surprise, all five of our names were read out. So was the name Johnson, Dylan, but I decided to not let it bother me. "--please report to the auditorium for a brief meeting after this announcement. Thank you." The voice was sharp and to the point, the kind of female voice you'd hear at a military academy than a boarding school.
"It's her." Lia said in disgust. I looked at her.
"Who?"
"The secretary."
I tilted my head, recalling the friendly brunette woman sitting outside Mr. Johnson's office on my first day of school. I didn't think someone so sweet could sound like that.
Matt noticed my confused look and explained, "There are two secretaries. One outside the principal's office and another at the reception counter. You probably met the nicer one, Lauren."
"What? There were two of them all this time?" Lia's eyes went wide. "I wish I met the other one."
"Not the point. Didn't she call our names?" He looked at us. "We better get going."
Because boys weren't allowed into the girls' dorm block at all, we let the two of them sneak out first before going out later. I soon realised that letting them go first was a mistake because I had no clue where the auditorium was. Fortunately, Charlotte managed to catch up with her friends and we followed them the rest of the way.
Briarwoods auditorium was a gigantic semi-circle room with a stage filling the curved side of the semi-circle and rows of velvet cinema seats facing it. And when I said rows, I meant rows. About 80 of them, each seating 20 people.
The sophomores were instructed to the first few rows. Altogether, we took up a measly 10 rows.
Lia, Charlotte, me and Charlotte's friends sat toward the front. I looked around for Matt and realised he was sitting somewhere at the back. He caught my eye and smiled.
After fifteen boring minutes, the auditorium was still in chaos. A while later, Uhu's dad took the mic at centre stage. I almost thought he would spontaneously break into song.
"Students, settle down, please." He said. The noise died down to a reasonable volume. Principal Johnson cleared his throat and carried on. "We can settle disciplinary issues later. Right now, I think you've all guessed what I'm about to say."
The auditorium conveniently broke out into cheers and roars. A chant sprang up and played tag-you're-it with the students. Someone sitting in the first row turned around and I realised it was Uhu, looking for me. Luckily I was sitting behind a tall blonde dude who was too busy chanting to notice someone trying to look behind him. I saw Uhu frown and turn back after he couldn't find me anywhere.
"School trip! School trip! School trip!"
"Okay, okay. To all you poor lads who had no idea what I was going announce today, now you know: The two-week annual sophomore school trip, which will take place after spring break next year. Clubs and curriculum will be postponed. All of you are the 200 students the school has picked to go for this. Your locations have been confirmed and sign-up sheets have been placed outside the teacher's office. First-come-first-serve basis."
So that was what was going on. We were part of the 200 students going for this trip; my friends and I, and Charlotte and Lia. And somehow, I felt like Uhu was behind all this.
"This year's program will be the same as the previous years: the entire sophomore class will be split into three groups. And here comes the part you've all been waiting for: the activities. The first, would be a ski trip to the Alps." Mr. Johnson paused to make way for the outburst of chatter. He cleared his throat again after five seconds. "The second, a cruise around America." This earned more cheers and squeals. "...The last, is a-would you let me finish? Thank you. The last is a trip to France."
This made the whole auditorium break into roars and screams. Headmaster Johnson flinched and covered his ears.
"What do you think?" I turned to Lia on my right. "I'm thinking cruise trip."
"What? Since when did we care about each other's decisions?" It sounded harsh but Lia seemed happy about the choices she had anyway. I was too.
I shrugged and turned away. Rival school or not, Briarwoods was one cool school by itself. Maybe I would ask Matt where he was going later. And Rayna. I could just picture it already: a trip with my best friends from my dream school. Awesome.
"...students! Students!" The headmaster put two fingers in his mouth and took a deep breath. Uhu looked behind again and unfortunately managed to catch my eye this time. He didn't smirk; only covered his ears and nodded for me to do the same. Which I did, once Headmaster Johnson blew. For an elephant man, he sure had a strong whistle. The entire assembly silenced after that.
"Thank you. As you can see, there aren't any other teachers in the room apart from me. Remember that I can easily punish you all with more homework for the trip." He cleared his throat. "There is something else I need to add. For the first time, we are combining trips with another school, Crest Academy. They will be joining the groups and going on the trip with us. As part of an arrangement between me and their school principal."
Now the sophomores exploded with groans and irritated protests. Uhu's dad thought nothing of it. I began wondering how much hate Uhu got because of his dad. If his dad was the one enforcing rules and gaining the students' approval and dislike, did Uhu get picked on for being a Daddy's boy? Did they blame him whenever Headmaster made an irrational decision? Did anyone ever let Uhu in on rumours of the school? Did he even know about the rivalry? No wonder he was constantly trying to keep his ego up. I actually felt pity for him, as crazy as that sounded.
"I know your relationship with them hasn't been the best," Headmaster Johnson looked at us sternly, "but this is the time for you to bond with them. Just because we are two top elite schools, we don't have to dislike each other to be the best."
The people around me rolled their eyes and muttered, "Yeah right."
"Okay? Now everyone, back to your dorms." He dismissed us.
Matt and Tristan came up to the three of us as we gathered outside the auditorium.
"I didn't see that coming." Said Tristan.
"Yeah, but it's not like they could attack during the trip, right?" Charlotte asked nervously.
He shook his head. "Don't be too sure."
"I'm not. Believe me."
"But, at least we still have a trip, right?" I said, trying to be the optimistic for once. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"They could go after that guy." Uhu's smug voice came from behind me. I spun around and saw him pointing at Tristan.
"Go away," I groaned.
"Jiminy Junior-hello to you too, Princess. Great swimming today." I would have punched him had the boy next to me not intervened.
Tristan raised an eyebrow. "What were you talking about, Dylan?"
Uhu stepped forward until he was standing next to me. "I don't know, Tristan. What was I talking about?"
Tristan and Uhu had a stare down that lasted half a minute. Then Uhu smirked, "Better get packing." And walked off. The queer thing was that he didn't seem to be talking just about the trip.
I knew I shouldn't have, but I ran after him.
"What is your problem?" I demanded.
"I thought I left that subject hanging. Or have you somehow forgotten about your photo album?"
"You know I haven't. I'm just too mad to care about it anymore."
Uhu turned to face me and blinked. "You...don't care?"
Why was he looking so surprised? I was so done with him. Maybe one day he would come to his senses and realise what a horrible jerk he'd been to me and return it. "I guess I don't. Whatever, do what you want with it." Uhu looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean you don't care?"
I shrugged and looked at him strangely. "I don't."
Hey, maybe I figured out Uhu's problem-anger management. His face was as calm as a stream but his I could almost see flames in his eyes. It was scary to look at. Even scarier when his hand turned into a solid fist and lifted to make a slingshot up in the air before plummeting down at me. But it halted right before the inevitable impact. He shut his eyes and I hoped he was counting from one to one-million instead of formulating new terrifying ways to kill me.
"This problem of mine," he said, dangerously quiet now as he lowered his fist, "...I hope you bother to figure it out someday."
My childhood enemy turned and strode away as if he had not just tried to punch Lauren King in the face.
•
"Howdy partner, this is not Cam. Pleeeaasssseee don't leave a message because I am soooo not busy at the moment. Yeah. I mean no. I mean l...you get the picture. Wait for the beep before streaming that beautiful voice of yours." Beeeeeeeeep.
"Hey Cam, remember me? Your sis, Lauren? You left eight voice messages. What's going on? Also, I have so much to tell you. Please call back, asap. Love you."
•
"Lauren, hey. Call me whenever you get the chance okay?"
"Laur, it's Cameron. In case you didn't get that last one, I need to talk to you. Call me back, okay?"
"Hey Lauren, have something to tell you. I know you're probably busy studying or swimming at the moment but please call back. Love, Cam."
"Laaauuurreeennn? Not funny, okay? I have something to tell you. For the fourth time. This week. I...I hope you can call me back."
"This is my...I lost track of how many messages I've left. I hope you got this voice message. How bad is the cell phone reception there...?"
"You're ignoring my messages, aren't you? Whatever. I get it. But we need to talk. Call back."
"Hi. You know me. It's urgent, so please call back. It's about Mom."
"It's Cameron Lauren please call back."
"Call me please Lauren love Cam."
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HEEEELLOOOOOO EVERYBODY! So sorry for the one million year-late update. School has been getting to me, y'know?
What do you guys think of this chapter? Please drop a comment and a vote and then you can be on your way!
Happy Saturday!