Chapter Thirty:
Anxious
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My leg wouldn't stop shaking from me being so anxious. I sat here in the front office, waiting for the principal to come out and start telling me I'm kicked out of school.
The funny thing is, I don't feel bad for punching Danielle. Not one but because she deserved it.
I clenched and unclenched my right fist to keep it from going too stiff. It hurt like hell every time I balled it up, but I didn't care. My eyes lifted to stare over at Danielle. She was on the opposite side of the office holding a bloody paper towel to her face. She had a scowl on her face from what I could see and her eyes never left her lap.
I remembered her ear piercing scream after I nailed her. I never smiled, that would be a stupid thing to do. I should've kept my anger under control like usual, but I didn't want to. I just didn't feel like it anymore. Oh well.
The door suddenly opened and squeaked. Cameron peeked in and saw me. I had to hold back a huge smile since Danielle was glancing up at the door to see who it might be.
Cameron suddenly vibrated and I realized he was laughing. He had to cover his mouth and shut the door for a moment. I let the smile break through and I looked down to keep Danielle from seeing it.
"Okay, ladies." Vice principal Sherman came out of no where. I guess the principal wasn't handling this.
"First, go back to class, Danielle. You're not needed here at the moment." Mrs. Sherman said. I waited patiently until Danielle reluctantly left the room without seeing that I got in some big trouble.
Mrs. Sherman looked back at me. "Sophia, what got in to you? You've always been a good kid." She told me. Mrs. Sherman has always been a loving vice principal. Everyone seems to like her.
"I don't know." I told her. Though I really did know. I wanted to show her how I felt.
"Well..." She scratched the back of her neck. "I'm going to let you off easy. You've never gotten in trouble a day in your life. Let this be a lesson. You could have broken her nose and her parents wouldn't be happy."
She stood up. "I'm going to talk to her later. You're not in trouble, just don't let it happen again. Go on to the kitchen and get an ice pack for that hand." I nodded my head and stood up, anxious to get out of there and happy that I wasn't getting in trouble. My parents would not be happy if they got a call from school.
I walked out of the door and saw Cameron propped against the opposite wall. I smiled and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
"So, you punched Danielle, huh?" He laughed and I couldn't help but laugh with him. I pulled Cameron along with me to the kitchen with my good hand.
"I did. That was the worst thing I've ever done." I cringed at my horrible action. Here comes the guilt.
"You're fine. I don't blame you. Emma told me what happened. You did what you had to do." Cameron squeezed my good hand in his.
"I could have just walked away. You know, done the mature thing." I mumbled.
"Sophia, you always do the mature thing. You can slip sometimes-" He stopped after he realized he was about to lecture me like the other day. I kicked him out of the house for less than a minute before I realized I was being dumb.
I looked over and smiled at him. He grinned his crooked grin back at me.
The cook wasn't hesitant at giving me an ice pack after she saw my hand. It wasn't too bad. Just bruised knuckles and some of Danielle's blood. But the ice made it feel better. I thanked her and Cameron and I began walking back towards our classes.
"Um, my mom called me after our basketball meeting." Cameron started. He had his hand pressed to the small of my back.
"And?" I asked, impatiently. Was this good or bad?
"She wants you to have dinner with us tonight. And she wants to ask you something. Suggest it, really. And I agree with her." He had my heart beating out of my chest. After all that happened today, I could have a heart attack right now.
"Is it bad?" I asked him. He chuckled and reached around for my hand.
"No, of course not. Will you come? Right after school?" He asked me hopefully. I didn't have any reason to object.
"Yes. I'll be there." I smiled up at him
*
I thought about the Danielle situation all day. That and the situation of having dinner with Cameron's family. I've met them before and this should be a piece of cake; except they want to suggest a few things to me. I mean, what am I supposed to think to that?
The last bell rang over ten minutes ago and I've been sitting in Cameron's truck that long waiting for him. I finally spotted him sauntering out the doors of the school and towards the truck. Must've forgotten something.
"What took you so long?" I asked him as soon as he got in. He looked at me and shook his head.
"Stupid teacher and her stupid rules." Cameron grumbled under his breath. He put the truck in drive and started to back out of his space.
"Seat belt," I told him. He glanced at me and reluctantly put his seat belt on. More like jerked it on. He was definitely annoyed at something.
"Should I ask?" I asked him cautiously.
"No. I'll probably tell you later." He gave me a small smile to reassure me. It was all I could ask for right now.
"What is it that your mom wants? I've just about chewed my nails all the way down." I chuckled at my actions.
"Don't worry about it. If it was something that I knew you would be uncomfortable with, I wouldn't be taking you to my house right now. I forced it out of my mother after she said she wanted to have dinner with you. She's just being protective." He informed me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Protective? Over me?" I asked him. He smiled proudly at me.
"Sophia, have you ever seen me stick with a girl as long as I have you?" He said a little sheepishly, like he was disappointed in himself. "She thinks of you as her own already."
I felt the blush creeping up my neck and lingering on my cheeks.
"It'll be fine. I promise." He told me.
We arrived at his house not long after and I slowly stepped out of the truck. Cameron was at my side in a second, lacing our fingers together.
He pulled me along with him up the steps of his front porch. We walked right in and the smell of steak and baked potatoes filled my nose. I know that smell so well since my mom makes that meal often. It's my favorite. Cameron must've had a part in that.
Cameron smiled when he saw the grin on my face. We both tore our shoes off and made our way into the living room where his dad was watching a basketball game. His eyes were glued to the TV with a look of concentration on his face. He noticed out presence and his head snapped up with a huge grin spreading across his face.
He stood up and grabbed me up in a bear hug so tight that I thought my head was going to pop off.
"It's great to see you again, kiddo!" He patted my back.
"You too!" I replied just as cheerfully.
"Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes!" I heard Mrs. Bridges say from the kitchen. I looked around at the familiar living room and back to Cameron who was already staring at me.
"Okay, we can go to my room, then." Cameron grabbed my hand again. His dad never protested about it, so I went along willingly.
Once we got to his room, Cameron went straight to his bed. He collapsed on it on his back and put his arms behind his head. He used one hand to pat the free space beside of him.
"I'm not as anxious now." I said to him once I was comfortable beside him.
"Good. You don't need to be." He told me quietly.
I started checking out my knuckles and the weird purplish-blue bruises scattered on them. I didn't think I punched her that hard.
I lifted my fist to Cameron's throat and smiled at him although he wasn't looking. All I could see was his closed eyes short eyelashes.
"We have matching bruises, babe." I blushed at the word I used. It quickly went away, though. He lifted his head just barely to look down at me.
"Huh. Match made in heaven... babe." He smirked at me and laid his head back down and closed his eyes. My nostrils flared.
"You're never going to let that go now, are you?" I asked him with slight humor. I already knew his answer.
"'Course not, babe." He smiled again.
I rolled my eyes at him.
We only laid for what seemed like a minute before Cameron's mom was calling us for dinner.
"Cam..." I whined when he hopped off the bed. I was feeling so awfully lazy today.
"Yes, madame?" He asked with a sarcastic smile hinted with a real one. He knew I didn't feel like walking.
"My hand hurts," I rubbed my knuckles softly and made a puppy dog face, "can you carry me?"
"Your hand hurts so you can't walk?" He asked me. I chuckled at him.
"Of course. Hop on." He backed up to the bed and I stood up. After securing my arms around his neck without choking him, I jumped and wrapped my legs around his waist. Our heads were pressed together and I could hear his breathing really good now. I pressed my lips to his temple as he carried me carefully down the steps.
I made him put me down at the bottom of the stairs and we walked into the dining room. The food was smelling even better now.
"Hi, Sophia!" Mrs. Bridges hugged me tightly before we sat down. I already had an empty plate in front of me. Cameron and his dad had already begun scooping food into their trays before I could get a scoop of corn. Geez.
"Thank you for having me over for dinner," I said to Cam's parents. They both smiled at me while getting their food.
"We love having you over!" She said.
"Cameron, say the blessing?" Cameron nodded at his dad and reached for my hand and his mother's. I took it without hesitation and closed my eyes, bowing my head. Cameron made it short and sweet but he said a way that seemed like he really meant it. It made me love him more that he has a good relationship with god.
In the middle of our dinner, between laughs from funny stories from when Cameron was little, Mrs. Bridges decided to drop the bomb I had been expecting.
"So, Cameron tells us you've been staying at him alone? Well, when he's not there." She smiled at me. I nodded my head, feeling nervous.
"Yeah. My mom and dad are gonna be in Tennessee at least until next week. They'll probably have to go back again." I took a sip of my sweet tea. "They always want the best for Matt, and me, ya know? They go all out. But I'm so happy they do."
She smiled at me. "Yes, you are blessed with amazing parents."
She continued after chewing her bite of steak. "I wanted to ask you something very important. I already called your parents and asked if they would like this more, and they agreed. But I want to ask you too since it involves you mostly." I felt my heartbeat pick up even though it had no reason to.
Cameron's hand squeezed my knee under the table reassuringly.
"We were wondering if you'd like to stay with us while your parents are away? Every time they go away, actually. You're parents think it would be much better to have a home with guardians in it and to be honest, we would too." She gestured to herself and. Her husband. My heartbeat retired to normal.
"Wow..." I whispered to myself, shocked. "I'd love to. If I wouldn't be a bother..." I started worrying again.
"No! No of course not! We have a spare bedroom since Callie no longer lives here. She's coming back tomorrow, though. Only for a few days to visit with her old friends. You can room with Cameron for those days." She gave her son a stern look as if to say "no funny business".
"That's... that's great. I don't know how to thank you guys..."
"You don't have to, honey. We're doing this for you and your family as a favor that doesn't need to be repaid."
I grinned at Cameron then.
"Well, thank you so much." I said to them all.
"If you'd like, you can stay tonight. I'm sure Cameron has clothes you can wear since his sister took all of hers with her when she left." She had a thoughtful look on her face. "And you could stop at your house in the morning. Just a thought." She added sheepishly.
I was genuinely surprised at her eagerness for me to stay. And I was so happy about that.
"Yes, I'd love that. Thank you."
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Wow. Thank you guys so much for all the reads recently! It's making me so happy and more eager to write more!
P.s. I might be writing a sequel! Tell me what you think, if you'd like!
Also: Follow for Follow! And if you have any book suggestions then let me know! I'm always looking for a good book!
Thank you so much!!!
P.p.s. I realize that Cameron's mom's name used to be Emily. I went back and changed in the beginning chapters and hopefully fixed it!