Misery... or attraction
" Spy glasses?" I asked. Shayna bounced and ticked that off the list.
" Check!"
" Binoculars?" Carlizza raised it over her head.
" Check!"
" Crazy disguise sun hats with fins that look like an old woman's fart?"
" That doesn't even remotely make any sense..."
" Check!" Shayna screeched. Dawn rolled her eyes and dropped her
clipboard aside.
" Baton for beating and knocking any intruder senseless?"
" Check... Wait did you say black or pink?" Shayna said, holding it over her
head. I stared and nodded.
" Pink. Goes with girl power. I totally love it"
" You shouldn't hit people Summer" Carlizza who is TOTALLY immune to
violence said. I shrugged.
" Shayna will do the hitting then" I said, handing it down to Shayna's not
so capable hands. She squealed and swung the baton around while we
ducked from being killed through death by club swinging from a psycho.
" Ok guys. So Max's gonna be here in three minutes so that leaves us 2
minutes and 59 seconds of imminent boredom until you guys think of
something to do"
" We could dance?"
" June will notice..."
" Max's here!" Dawn screeched. We ducked into the bush nearby, trying to
squeeze in. Carlizza's hand was in Shayna's chocolatey mouth, Carlizza had
her arms over Dawn's neck, while Shayna's butt was right on my head.
Believe me, I tried SUPER hard NOT to imagine the worse. We were a
literal mess.
" Get your mouth off my hand!" Carlizza screamed.
" CAN'T. BREATHE!!!" Dawn choked. A loud not-so-NOT smelly sound and
smell filled the room...Bush.
" Shayna!!!!"
" Goodness Shayna that is SO disgusting!"
" Did you swallow an entire village of racoons?" She giggled softly and we
screamed at her in turns, turning over to breathe. I shot my head out of
the bush and peered around. And yeah there was definitely a banana peel
on my head. I grabbed my binoculars and peered into the living room.
June's older brother who I'm so NOT crushing on but might threw a cup
of lemon soda right into my face. A bird pooped right on my head and some
weirdo threw tissue right in face. Like seriosly guys? Bushes have feelings!
A bush could be a human as it is now? I'm so sulking the rest of my day
off.
So yeah that's me... Or rather us, a crazy match of weird dorky boozoos
who are nontheless saving the world one love-blind poor girl after the
other.
After school on friday June and Max'd agreed to meet at her place by
4pm sharp and we knew all that cause we were stalking them all over the
school disguised as school plants. A freshman'd tried to pee over Shayna's
plant self and she was so totally grossed out that she took off as fast as
wind. Believe me that kid is so NOT getting over that.
So here we are, hiding out in a skunky neighbourhood trash bush in
lopsided figures that'll definitely guarantees a week's worth of cramps
and body aches. Well, it's all for a good cause. A desperately good cause.
Carlizza, Shayna and Dawn got up well enough to get a good view. Shayna's
arms were unfortunately still wrapped around Dawn's neck. Good luck
taking that one out.
" What do you see?" Dawn huffed, annoyed " Shayna's radius and ulna's
making a mess of my retina"
" Can you speak English Dawn?" I said, peering in. They were laughing and
blushing over a book that they actually find, funny? Yeah those two are
DEFINITELY made for each other " They're talking. And blushing"
" So cute!" Carlizza squealed. June stretched to grab her notes just about
the same time Max reached for it and their hands touched. They reeled
back and blushed and giggled like silly lovebirds.
" Awww" We all cooed together, still aching and lopsided from having to
share a tiny bush.
During the weekend, we watched June and max some more. OMG they're
like SO romantic and perfect for each other, I swear I can hear the
wedding bells ring!. And know what's more? It's so cute seeing them
together. It's like the rainbows and glitters innocence all over again. The
simplest things like holding hands drove them crazy with passion. And of
course we got to we got to watch the lovebirds over at my place with soda
pop and popcorn when we weren't spying on them to get the full real gist. I
forgot to add that Dawn found a way to add cameras around the house at
our last sleepover so we got to watch the full thing on Shayna's laptop.
When they got all sciency and stuff, we went for an intermission break
and watched some funny movie but when they stared at each other and ran
into each other's words and laughed, we sat up and snuggled even closer.
After watching them for like an hour, Dawn, Carlizza and Shayna had to go
meet their partners for their projects on what seemed like dates cause
Harry had asked Shayna to the cheese burgers, Elan to the crabbies
downtown and Carlos asked Carlizza to the paddies. Cameron had only
asked to come over to my house and who cares! Even if he'd asked to take
me to heaven for dinner, hell no!.
I stood up to walk them out, pondering over my misfortune. It should
have been Lysander ( I'll talk about him later. Or NEVER! they're some
THINGS I can't tell a diary too) And I or probably Lewis, not Cameron.
" I really feel sorry that you got Cam Summer"Dawn said when we got to
the door. I squinted at her.
" Cam? You've even given him a nickname?"
" I have a cousin with that name and he's not such a prick. Just try to
tolerate him. He won't get in your way if you just focus on your project"
" Yeah right" I scoffed " Give me an award if I tolerate that brat"
Carlizza gave a light laugh, walking out.
" Well don't miss us too much will ya?"
" I'll try. Good dates guys!" I screamed after them as they walked out.
Shayna grinned willfully.
" It's not a date Summer. We want to talk over our projects"
" Oh yeah?" I winked
" Oh yeah" They winked. I walked in, distraught. Oh poor, poor Summer. I
flopped down on my futon, a place where I can get more miserable than
ever, feeling even more miserable than the poor couch. When the doorbell
rang, I wanted to jump into the atlantic, only that the Atlantic wasn't
there.
" Go get the door Summer and stop looking so miserable. It's your project
partner for goodness sake!" Mom spat. I sighed and dragged my feet to
the door. She'd totally say the opposite when she knows who my 'project
partner' truly is.
" What took you so long?" Cameron said, scowling " I've been knocking here
for ages"
" Oh yeah? Lucky for you that mom's around. Else, you wouldn't have to
exaggerate how long you'd have been standing here"
" Look, I know you don't like me and newsflash, I don't like you too! But you
do realize that this is 20 marks we're talking about don't you?"
" You know fully well that I don't care about figures. I mean I could just
break our miserable egg and save us the headache. 20 marks won't get me
into the best fashion designing college would it?" Cameron sighed.
"And that why I'm a nerd."
" No that's why I'm human and you're a goat"
" Will you let the poor boy in already Summer?" Mom screeched from
within the house. Ok now that's where mom's totally uncool sometimes.
She's supposed to be on my side! I opened the door wide and Cameron
grinned wistfully at me. Brat! Mom welcomed him with a smile and even
handed him a few snacks. Danny just kept staring and staring at this tall
serious guy in awe. Henry gave me dirty looks and chuckled.
"About time you got a boyfriend" He said " Was beginning to think you'd
end up a nun or something"
" Yeah right. About time you reduced the girls you have. Was beginning to
think you'd end up a prostitute or something too" I sneered, leading
Cameron to the living room. We sat down on the same couch and glared at
each other. I pulled out the two misery eggs, the cause of my misery and
Cameron pulled out his Bio textbooks ( I hadn't really thought of that)
And then we began to prepare our report. I frowned when he began to
write an intro. A very BORING looking intro.
" Like seriously? An intro?" I said. He eyed me but I went on " Intro is SO
old school. I think we should delve right in"
" Oh know what I think?" he said sweetly " I think you should delve right
into SHUTTING THE HELL UP!" I gasped, enraged.
" Whoa, whoa, whoa ass! We're partners and we have to work together
else it's no-no and out-out of my house-house for you!"
" Oh I'm so scared!" He mock-shivered at me " Help me somebody!! I like
it here and I really don't want to leave Summer's house" He scoffed
turning back to his work. I had a knife held out to end him already when he
looked up.
" Besides it's called a preamble NOT an intro"
" Says the king of boring Loser-ville" We went on, arguing over everything
like where the eggs should be how we should write the intro and who
should write it.
" My writing's better than yours" He said. I scoffed.
" You call that a writing? To hell! I'm writing the intro so Mrs Zoedvich
won
't have to change her glasses when she reads your writing in the body"
He slammed the laptop shut.
" Why the hell are you so mean?!" I looked at him.
" Ok like seriously? I'm mean now? You can't be kidding Cameron! You'
re
the meanest guy in Heather-ville high!"
" Meanest? You'
re kidding. You are the meanest girl in Heather-ville high."
" Shut your trap you brat! You have no right to compare me to you. You'
re
so mean and full of yourself. You think you know everything, you think you
can snub anybody and look down on everybody when you're nothing!"
" Are you still mad because of your friend"
" My…My friend" I choked " You… You can't be serious"
" yes. You think I'm mean but that's not true"
" Goodness gracious! I'd rather believe the devil's a monk than believe
you!"
" Think whatever you want summer but I'm just not interested in girls. At
least not yet and well, your friend just kept forcing herself on me…"
" Now hold on right there you dumb ass" I said jumping to my feet " My
friend would never even DREAM of ever forcing herself on you not to talk
of doing it. Unlike you some people have dignity"
" Dignity my foot! Dignity's of a bitch" I couldn't help it anymore. I slapped
him right on the face. He looked at me, shocked.
" Don't you ever! Ever say that in your miserable life and your next
miserable life to come!"
" Did you just slap me?"
" I totally did and I'll do it again if you keep running your pipe of a mouth!"
" You must be out of your mind!" He screamed, jumping to his feet. I
clenched my fists, ready for a fight.
" You're the most misjudging person ever! What the hell do you think of
me?"
" I think you''re a liar, a show-off, a proud nerd who's so full of himself and
a ton of other unpronounceable things!"
" Damn you Summer. You don't know how hard I'm holding my fist back in"
I scoffed, laughing at him mockingly.
" Oh yeah? Then don't hold it. Come on! Show me what you've got coward!!"
" In fact! I'm done!!" He said, smashing the table" I can't survive even a
minute standing right next to you ."
" The feeling's mutual. I told you we could break the eggs and end our
misery right from the start but you didn't listen"
" I'm not as unserious as you are" He spat " But right now, I'd rather fail
Biology than spend five more seconds here"
" One…two…three…four…five! Time up. And for the record, no one says
Biology anymore. You can say hi to 1889 for me on your way out " I kicked
the table aside and something crashed to the floor with a splatter. I
didn't really bother cause I was so anxious to see him out of my house.
However when I pushed the door open, Cameron held my hand.
" Wait"
" What?"
" Look. You just broke the egg" We turned round and gasped.
" Oh no" We drawled, wide-eyed. He looked at me and I looked at him.
" You pushed the table away and broke the egg." He said, pointing the
accusing finger at me. I heaved and growled with rage.
" Oh you did not just say that! You pushed the table aside too"
" No I didn't"
" Yes you did"
" No I didn't" I looked at the table and heaved.
'' Ok ok I accept the fault. I broke it. Now what do we do about it?"
"We? You can't be serious. This, is on you. It's all your fault. You handle it
yourself. I'm out of here"
" Coward! Come on!! Run home and cry to mom!" I screamed after him as he
walked down the streets briskly. I sighed and slammed the door shut "
Miserable sissy"
" You need to take it easy with him Summer" Mom said from nowhere. I
shook and turned to look at her.
" Take what easy on who?"
" On Cameron Summer" Mom poured some coffee into her mug " I don't
think he's as bad as you think"
" Have you been eavesdropping on us mom?"
" You two have been screaming on the top of your voices all day.
Eavesdropping's a waste" I scoffed and rolled my eyes, walking to my
futon and feeling even more depressed than I'd been before Cameron
came. I'd just broken our eggs for the project and all mom has to say is
that I take it easy on a guy who'd ran off like the coward that he is and
left me to handle it all by myself. Yeah thanks a lot mom. For nothing.
" You think too bad of him Summer when you don't know who he truly is"
" Oh mom I know a lot" I said, scoffing " And if you knew him, you'd be
cheering me for getting him out of our house."
" Oh Summer." Mom made me an extra cup of her almighty Italian coffee,
cappuncino and sat beside me. " Sometimes what you think about people
might just not be who they truly are. Behind every façade is a person, a
personality. You shouldn't jugde a person based on what you see on the
outside."
" BORING! Mom, Cameron's outside IS cleaner than the inside. believe
me" She placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it fondly, something
she did each time she felt very emotional.
" I'd thought the same about your dad."
" But you've always said that dad was a good man."
" Of course he was. I just didn't realize that from the start"
" Mom you don't know Cameron cause if you did, you'd know he's a bitch"
" Boys aren't bitches summer"
" That's what makes him special"
" Summer what if he's not who you truly think he is?"
" Yeah i'm totally NOT believing that. I can bet you my allowance on that
mom. He made June suffer. She liked him so much and couldn't tell him.
She's always liked him from grad school mom, grad school but he's done
nothing but been a jerk to her. She deserves even more mom. She
deserves more"
" You can't fight June's battles Summer. Only she can"
" I can mom and I will. In fact I already have. I'm trying to get her
together with someone else. Someone better and someone more deserving
than that jerk"
"Alright then Summer, suit yourself. But I can only tell you that you don't
get the best out of people by fighting them, you do by helping" With that
she leaned down and kissed me on the head. " I've gotta take a nap love"
" Happy napping" I whispered. She nodded and walked to her room slowly
then suddenly she stopped and looked at the table with all the messy goo
round it.
" What is that?" I shrugged nonchanlantly.
" A broken egg" Mom looked at me in shock.
" Don't tell me that's your egg for the project?"
" Maybe"
" What do you mean maybe Summer?"
" I solved both our problems mom. We can't stand each other and at least
after this we can beg Mrs Zoedvich for new partners"
" Don't be so unserious Summer. This is your project we're talking about
Summer, a whooping 20 marks and you just want to sit there and relax like
you
've just solved world hunger?"
" Oh mom just forget it…"
" No I won't Summer. You have to be serious with your life and your
education"
" Oh mom you don't really have to make a fuss…"
" Fuss? Call it whatever you want but you're finishing that project, eggs or
no eggs"
" But our eggs are broken!"
" Then find new ones!"
" Mom!"
" I'm serious Summer. No project, no allowance. For one year."
" Mom!!!!"
" And you're grounded. Forever. You'd better find a way to fix this with
Cameron cause whether you like it or not, he's your partner till the
project's complete"
" Oh mom you can't do this to me!"
" Then watch me" With that, she stormed off to her room. My mom can
really get way over board over silly stuffs like this. Oh well, she can say
whatever she can about Cameron but I'm certainly not seeing the best in
someone like him. I've just got to find a way to get myself out of this
mess.
Or get Cameron into it.
******* *******
Ok so I've thought a lot about our eggs and project and I've come to the
conclusion that I can't do it alone and I didn't make this decision just on
my own.
On Monday I'd gone over to beg Mrs Zoedvich to change my partner but
she still had that authoritative look and voice she'd used on us when she'd
said no the first time.
" You two are partners and partners you will be." She'd growled " And
mind you baby girl, your eggs must be complete and intact else, 0 on your
project sheet.!" And believe me, when someone like Mrs Zoedvich calls you
baby girl, she means business so I walked out of the lab, pondering and
terribly thinking of what to do get Cameron involved. Then suddenly a plan
popped up. I could make him break the second egg and that way, he'd have
no choice but to get involved whether he likes or not.
At brunch Shayna, Dawn, and Carlizza chattered endlessly about how
wonderfull their weekends had been with their 'partners' during their
'projects'. Believe me they certainly do NOT know where they're eggs are.
Finally, someone ( Shayna) remembered that I had gotten universal jerk
for a partner and asked me about it. Not that there was much to really
say. I told them about the broken egg.
" You mean he refused to take responsibility?" Carlizza said, making me
cringe. Gosh she makes it sound like I'm pregnant for him or something.
" Yeah but I've figured out a way to make him involved. My allowance is on
this"
" Which is?" Carlizza asked.
" You see, I'll make it look like he'd broken the egg by mistake just like I
did and that brings him in too and he won't have any place to hide or run.
How does that sound?" Dawn nodded.
" Sounds like a solid plan"
" Now all that's left is to think of where to keep it to make it look like I
was actually using it for project-based purposes. I hate to admit it but
that Cameron guy's smart." We looked up in thought and suddenly Shayna
jolted up from her seat.
" I have the perfect place!" I sat up, excited too.
" shoot"
" The Bio lab" Everyone nodded.
" Yeah Shay. Genius! Knew I could count on you guys" I shot up to my feet
and half ran out of the hall to set the ball rolling. No one followed me and
when I ran back, I knew why.
" We don't have a plan!" Dawn folded her arms and sniggered at me.
" Glad to know"
" How do I make him get right to where I want him to sit without having
him suspect anything?" We looked up and brainstormed, lost in thought.
" Cameron is such a show-off." Shayna said, sounding non-pyscho-ish " I'll
just ask him to teach me something in the lab, make him sit on the seat...
Hey see what I did there?... And smash the egg. Bam!"
" Perfect! I love you guys. When are you bringing him in?"
" Lunch"
" Deal" By brunch, Shayna came in with him as promised. I'd placed the egg
on the seat and pretended to course through a Bio text.
" Oh Cameron please sit here" Shayna said excitedly. He sat slowly and
splat! He squirmed and turned out with a gasp and eyes wide-open. I looked
at him in horror( Wink!) And let the textbook slip from my hands, gasping.
" Oh my God! That's the last egg left. And you broke it!"
" Oh no Cameron. That's too bad. Didn't you see the poor egg?"
" No"
" Well, yes or no, you're responsible for the death of the dear poor eggs" I
knelt down beside the gooey stuff and let out a loud cry " Oh dear boo-boo
dear! How have we walked through the mountains all alone and basking in
our new-found love. But now you're gone too soon, too soon to say goodbye" I sniffed and rubbed boo-boo bear the egg. Remind me to puke later
will you?
'' Why do I feel that you had this all planned out Summer?" Cameron said,
scowling at me.
" I won't stoop so low Cameron"
" I don't know. All I do know is that you can be very desperate"
" Well I'm not… In fact why waste time argung with you when we should be
looking a new replacement"
" I thought we'd agreed to beg Mrs Zoedvich to change partners for us?"
I rolled my eyes.
" You think we'd be here if that had actually worked?"
" So you admit that this all a plot to make me responsible to you?"
" Oh yeah whatever. I'm not begging you or anything remotely related to
it... Eww... That's cause you have no choice. You're all in and on the edge of
losing a whooping 20 marks if you don't cooperate" He shook his head at
me.
" You're so bad" I shrugged.
" Being good never helped no one. It's real nice that you're willing to
cooperate Cam"
" Don't call me that"
" Aww! Is that the name of your dog? Bet you named her after you cause
it's really feels bad to be the only one of your kind right? Animal much? "
A muscle flexed in his jaw and he tensed, angered. I smirked. Like I still
cared!
" Summer…" He warned. I laughed and Shayna walked out with some crazy
silly smile on her face ( I still can't believe that she's been right there all
through). Oh well whatever! I turned to Cameron and gave him my most
impish grin.
" So what do we do, partner?"
" We look for new eggs" He mumbled, striding out. I ran to keep up with
him.
" And while you do that, I'm gonna think up ways to make your life
miserable and you bet I will" He huffed and made a quick run away from
me. I doubled over and laughed. Oh la la this is going to be FUN!
***** *****
Drumroll please? Druuuuuu... Drumm!
June and Max are OFFICIALLY in high class candy love kingdom! Yeah I
know it sounds totally unintelligble but I'm too excited to write anything
better. Right now, they're just hanging around her locker, holding hands
and doing mushy couple things like switching hats which I think is SO
gross cause they're way out of style but cute all the same. A lot's
happened between them though, masterfully orchestrated by...
THE EVENT PLANNERS/ MATCHMAKERS CLUB!! ( Which p.s, is headed
by a single leader that's totally STILL searching! seriously, my number's
at the end of this book)
And here's a little recount of how it all went.
1. We made out a fake invite for June from Max and for Max from
June at a small minor club downtown.
Surprisingly, June seemed pretty excited as soon as she saw max's
name signed underneath. When they got to the party, we watched them
from a seat hidden far back in our disguise sunhts that STILL look like
an old woman's fart and black detective pajamas. Yeah you can totally
tell that's something Shayna would do. Max was so thoughtful and kind
and June was all red and blushy even in the dark! Yeah and I'm NOT
exaggerating that fact. They looked real good in the outfits they wore.
For the first time in our whole middle-to-high school friendship, June
looked fashionable! Yeah and I'm NOT kidding. She wore a pretty
thigh-lengthed electric gown and matching high heels( Still TOO hard
to believe and believe me, I'm still trying to process that and it's NOT
working) And Max looked super cool and very handsome in a navy blue
shirt with a matching denim jacket and matching pants. They both
looked so good together that I couldn't resist taking another picture.
For memory sake though. At the concert, they even bonded better. We
fixed a date for them at a small school disco party and from our hiding
place backstage, we watched them give each other silly googley eyes.
At school they spoke even more and June didn't look brain-dead each
time Cameron walked by. But boy she was so caught up in Max that
she'd totally forgotten that we even exist. And that kinda left me
irked. Very irked. I mean we set this thing going, not that we'd want
her to know THAT.
Then the greatest shocker of our lives came when June walked up to us
during brunch today, beaming widely and we totally gave her the we're-soNOT-talking-to-you-look. Shayna folded her arms and huffed.
" What do you want?" I asked in the rudest voice I could muster. We
folded our arms defiantly and she looked really sad. She placed a hand on
my shoulder.
" oh Summer, Dawn, Carliz, Shay, I'm so so very sorry. I didn't mean to
ignore you and I don't really think I have an excuse. Please, please, please
guys. Don't be mad"
" Whatever June" Dawn snorted " You totally forgot about us. I mean, who
does that to her friends?"
" Yeah!!!" Carlizza, Shayna and I chorused.
"Really guys I'm sorry. Very sorry. Please. I'll literally do anything,
anything at all to make it up to you"
" You can't so just go away" I snorted, looking away. Dawn, Shayna and
carlizza did the same and though we were faking it, June was obviously too
sad to notice. She turned to leave with her shoulder slumped.
" Giving up too soon?" I snorted. She froze and I laughed " Don't be such a
sore loser June." She turned back and smiled at us and we smiled back.
" Come on June. You didn't think we're actually going to stay mad at you
forever did you?" Carlizza said.
" Really guys?"
" Really Ju" I said " Come on. Come give mama a big hug" She ran up to us
and jumped into our arms in a super tight bear hug.
" Really guys? You've truly forgiven me?" She cried. Is this what puberty
looks like?
" Totally. But you've got to make it up to us"
" How? I'd do anything"
" Now I like the sound of that" I said thoughtfully, making a quick list of
assignments in my head. Geo, Bio, Math, bingo!. June took her usual seat
beside me and slipped her bag over her seat handle.
" I've treated you guys so bad, I feel terrible. It was wrong and I knew it
but I just couldn't face you after all that'd happened. I've been mean,
selfish, and rude and I'm very sorry." Shayna smiled and slapped her on
the shoulder.
" Come on June. We've totally forgiven you. Now lets dig in and forget that
all this ever happened"
" Yeah I guess." June said, adding " You see, I've been really busy these
days"
" Of course yeah. We know you've been busy. Busy with Max of course"
Dawn said, winking.
" What…" June said, her mouth wide-open. She looked totally dried up of
what to say.
" Of course yeah June. We know all about your secret romance with Max.
We know everything"
" But… But how do you know?"
" The walls have eyes June" I said.
" Ears Summer. The walls have ears" June said. Yeah. June's definitely
back now.
" Anyway, have you asked him to the dance yet?" Just then Cameron
walked past and June didn't even look a bit concerned. Yay me!
" Yeah. And I'm totally over Cameron now"
" What?" Dawn asked, feigning surprise " Over who?"
" Cameron"
" OMG!" We all screeched, hopping around in excitement, not that we
didn't know (Wink!)
" I can't believe this!" I said " So you mean that you like Max now?"
" Yes"
" Why?" Carlizza asked " I thought you liked Cameron. Why Max now?"
June looked straight ahead with a faraway look in her eyes.
" Well, let's say that I can really see the difference now. Max is SUCH a
darling and yesterday, I realized that crushing on Cameron's been a pure
waste of time. Max's the best. He's nice, tacky, cute, cool, gentle. We love
the same music, books, everything. He doesn't even brag about the fact
that his dead was a one time Mayor of New York"
" The Mayor of New York?!!!" We screamed. June stared at the shocked
looks on our faces, smiling.
" I was even more shocked when I found out. He even made me swear that
I tell no one"
" How come no one knew?"
" He's just so humble" June sighed and looked up dreamily. Yeah. love lost.
Not been there and never done that so don't ask me how it feels.
While we were left mystified, and probably trying to process why we
hadn't snagged him for ourselves, nerdy or not, Shayna leaned close and
whispered.
" Does he have a brother?"
" Shayna!" We hollered, laughing. She laughed along.
" Well I have to ask. Cinderella got her stepsisters to the prince's friends,
didn't she?"
" You're cray-cray Shay" June said " But if there is you know where to
find me"
" Yeah" Dawn said, grinning " In Max's broad arms" June shoved her on
the arm playfully and we laughed.
" You're so lucky June" I said, making her blush. Ok now this new girly-cry
baby love struck June's SO freaking me out.
" Well I guess I am" Then she paused and then looked at us watery-eyed "
And it's all because of you guys"
" Us?" I stuttered " How?"
" Oh don't how me! You guys were behind all the dates, the day at the club
and at the disco party" Shayna totally freaked out and held out five bus
passes, a large bag and a ski jacket.
" The truth's all out! Quick guys grab what you can while we make a run
for it. We could live in the mountains and share our urine when we run out
of water!" I grabbed her hand and held out a paper bag.
" Here Shay. Breathe..."
" We could eat each other's thumbs for dinner..."
" Breathe Shay" She did and calmed down.
" Yeah that's right Shay. It's all ok. We're not going to live up in the
mountains or share each other's urine" I shuddered "Whatever that is"
" We could still eat each other's thumbs though..."
" NO!" I screeched " We're also NOT doing that too. Ok?" She nodded
and I went on " We stay here. Got that?" She nodded again and I turned
back to face my impending doom.
" Ok?" June said, staring hard at me. I gulped. Uh-oh
" Who told you that? It...It's not true" Carlizza spluttered.
" I'm not dumb guys I know everything. You guys brought us together"
" But… But how did you find out?" Shayna asked.
" You think I wouldn't notice the hushed silence, or how closed up you
were, or how you were at every corner Max and I turned..."
" Dang it the sun hat with the color of an old woman's fart didn't work!" I
whispered. June looked at me curiously.
" Whatever could that be?" I smiled and laughed nervously.
" Whatever it is, you definitely DON'T want to know"
"Like I said, you were all so easy to read, especially you Summer. You
literally had a permanently anxious idea-breeding look right on your face
all week. Plus, unless you're scheming or plotting something, you'd have
tried to make peace but you looked so laid-back, so at ease that I decided
to watch you and then I discovered all you'd all done to make me realize
how proud and foolish Cameron is and how stupid I'd been to even like him
at all" she held our hands " Thank you so much guys" I nodded to
everything she'd said, except from the part about Cameron cause I've only
realized the true person that he is believe me you don't want to know how
I found out. Things are really complicated between us right now. Terribly
complicated.
Suddenly my phone rang and the picture of June and Max that day at
the cafeteria popped up. I'd used it as my screen saver of course( MwaHa-Ha-Ha!). When June saw it, she gasped, holding her breath.
" Did you take a picture of… Oh my gosh! You've got to be kidding me right
now Summer" She said, reaching out to grab me. I dogded her and she
chased me playfully down the hall. When she caught up with me, she
grabbed me right before I could escape and reached out to grab my
phone.
" You don't have to be so evil Summer. Delete the photo"
" No way!" I screeched.
" And you might as well relieve yourself of the stress June" Shayna said
from behind. Carlizza and Dawn followed from behind as well, holding out
their phones. We all had the same screen saver. June did a mega-groan.
" Come on guys, cut me some slack. Delete the photo"
" It's a memory June. We can't just delete it. When you and Max get
married what the hell would you show your kids on how much we'd helped
you during your silly days of crushing on Cameron?" Dawn said.
" Yeah!" Everyone agreed. June let out a frustrated gasp.
" Ok, ok, ok. You can keep the photo but at least put it out of your phone
screens. For Pete's sake, it's totally embaraassing!"
" And what would you do for us in return?" Shayna asked, stalling.
" You get my lunch?"
" Not enough" Carlizza piped. June sighed, exasperated.
" My food ticket for two weeks?"
"Two months?" I haggled.
" What? I'd grow thinner than Shayna in less than a week!"
" ok, ok confess that you love Max" I said " In his presence"
" What! Hell no!! Never!!!"
" I'll upload the photo and the whole world will see…"
" Come on guys be nice"
" One…Two… Three… Four…"
"Ok ok I'll do it…"
" Come on!" I said, giggling " We're only joking. Just say you love us" She
rolled her eyes and looked away.
" I could shove you guys out the window right now" We laughed and drew
even closer.
" Well, now that everything's back to normal, what's our new resolution?"
June finally asked as soon as we got to class.
" No more secrets and crushing on total mega-assholes" I said in a chant.
" And more talking and hanging out" Carlizza added.
" And eating our thumbs in desperate times?"
" Eww Shayna!"
***** *****
Ok so you remember what I said about things with Cameron and I being
complicated, well here's the full story.
So after school on our very first day of egg hunting, we went to all the
old houses we could find in search of some misery old lizards and probably
eggs but when you live in a neighbourhood filled with people that are
literally allergic to everything, it's a pretty wild goose chase so we decided
to hit the pet's store which Cameron thought was a very bad idea. I didn't
mind. We had to start from somewhere right? The worst thing that could
possibly happen is that we get kicked out and tagged by a shrink as official
psychos after spending a terrific one week in juvenile prison. ok just
kidding. That's EXACTLY what happened ( Without the prison thing
though).
The receptionist eyed us curiously when we walked up to the front desk
and asked if they sold lizard eggs. She nodded no and went on with staring
at her nails boredly. She huffed and looked up at us and then at the door.
Yeah catty lady but we ain't leaving till you throw us out.
" Are you sure cause since you sell pet stuff, you must certainly sell lizard
stuff as well right?" Cameron eyed me amd shook his head. Ok I've got to
admit it. I'm a bit of a nut case when it comes to talking 'nerd'.
" No one keeps lizards as pets" She said curtly. I shrugged
" Well we should definitely have some weirdo who's interested in lizards
and their eggs"
" Uh… The only weirdo we've got like that is you"
" Oh really?" I drawled, feeling extremely silly.
" Yeah" She said, staring down at me and reaching out to her phone just in
case we were a duo of crazy serial killers looking forward to a meal of
cooked lizard eggs and meat.
" Uh you do have some reference places on where we can find…" Cameron
grabbed my hand.
" Thanks a lot mam for your time. We'll take our leave now" With that he
pulled me out of the store and took a deep breath.
" Gosh Summer that was CRAZY! You could have gotten us arrested!" I
shrugged.
" There's no harm in trying. Besides I saw her reaching out for her phone.
She might have been trying to us links on how to find us eggs"
" Or trying to get the police to help throw two weird teenagers out of her
store"
" Then what do you suggest Mr Know-it-all?" I said, plopping down against
the side-walk and resting my head in my palms. Cameron sat down beside
me and a weird stupid tingly feeling zapped through my skin. Weird.
" We should ask Mrs Zoedvich where she got the eggs"
" And you think that she'd listen to us?" I shook my head " Not a chance"
" She might. If we lie" I looked at him strangely.
" Lie?" I nodded, impressed " Seems like being around me has really paid
off. I feel goooood" I said, grinning. The smile he gave me sent stars
shooting out of my eyes. Silly, crazy in fact. This shouldn't be happening.
But it was.
We walked around for a while and finally popped the Bio lab. Mrs
Zoedvich's the only teacher that DOESN'T go home after school. that's
because she doesn't HAVE a home to go to.
Well, she was in one of those nifty moods of hers and wasn't willing to
cooperate so Cameron and I hit the road again. Then he remembered that
google existed and browsed on places around town that sold lizard eggs.
The only reference we got was Connecticut which is like miles and miles
away. We then decided to visit the zoo and probably sneak some eggs from
an unsuspecting lizard mother. No lizards. Damn I felt damn frustrated.
Didn't the zoo keeper realize that they should have lizards in the zoo so
kids like us don't have to walk to the end of the earth all in the name of
finding eggs.
Finally we got tired of walking around and skidded to a stop in front of
starbucks. Cameron flopped back on his butt and rested his head against
the glass display of cinnamon buns and sighed.
" This is harder than I thought"
" I know" I flopped down beside him " I need to catch my breath" I looked
into the café through the dust stained glass panes and savoured at the
mouth-watering hamburgers they sold. My tummy rumbled.
" You sound hungry" Cameron said all of a sudden. OMG I was SO
embarrased, I wanted to DIEEEEEEE!
" H…How do you know?"
" Your tummy's very honest. Like you" I laughed, too shocked to laugh
properly. If anyone had told me that I'd find cameron nice and even
remotely funny ( It still feels weird saying that), I'd have given him a
thanks-but-no-thanks-you fake-stuff Tee and told the loser to get a life.
Who'd have thought that'd ever happen? Not in a million gazillion years.
He tugged my arm.
" Come on. Let's grab a bite"
" Totally" I said happily, jumping to my feet and dancing into the store.
When I turned round to check if Cameron'd ditched me, I caught him
staring at me in amusement.
" What?"
"Nothing. Let's go" We walked in and I took in a deep, deep breath.
Cinnamon, hot dogs, cauliflower, plum… Everything. We walked up to the
counter and a guy or age beamed at us. Well more at me cause I'm the girl
here duh?
" What can I get you?"
" Hamburger and two cans of soda. And anything for her" He said, pointing
at me. I grinned and the damn handsome guy grinned back. My heart did a
crazy flip-flop.
" Hi there!" I waved " I want two of what he's ordering, your lovely
cinnamon rolls and a hot dog." Cameron eyed me and I gave him a crooked
grin. He chuckled and shook his head.
" Oh and pack it up in a bag for us. It's take-out"
" You're ordering take-out on our date?" I said teasingly. Cameron literally
gaped at me. The guy behind the counter gave him a curious look.
" You're ordering take-out on your date? Dude that's just messed up"
" That's not true" He muttered, eyeing me even more and shaking his head.
" Of course it is, don't you think?"
" Yeah"
" What's your name?"
" Dan"
" Nice name Dan"
" What's yours?" "
"Summer." I stretched out a hand to shake his "Nice to meet you Dan"
" Nice to meet you too" He packed our stuff and added an extra shake,
beaming at me.
" On the house" He said, smiling. yeah right. That sounded WAY more like
'It's on me babe. Got a cell number?'.
" Thanks" I said.
"You're welcome"
" Thanks" I said again and he beamed at me.
" You're welcome. We stared at eacn other and burst into a deep
reverbrating laughter.
" I'll see you around then"
" Sure. Goodbye Dan" He gave me a little wave.
" Bye"
" Bye" I joked again and we laughed. Cameron yanked me out of the cafe
and we ate a make-shift dinner under the stars twinkling in the fading
twilight. It felt like the most romantic dinner ever.
" This is really lovely Cam. Thanks" I said.
" You're welcome"
" But you do realize that we still haven't found our eggs."
" Yeah. We're terrible parents" We laughed once more and munched our
hamburgers and Cameron eyed me when I ate my cinnamon rolls.
" Are you always like that?"
" How?" I asked with my mouth full.
" The way you were at the café. You literally flirted with that guy and
then accused me of taking you on a date" I laughed.
" It's just pure fun Cameron. And it's really funny. Imagine the cranky oldfashioned uptight Cameron on a date. I can't even dream of that
happening"
" Maybe it is"
" What?"
" Nah, nothing. Just a passing thought. So what do we do tomorrow? Scout
for more locations?"
" Surely" We got to my porch and stopped beside the patio door. "Thanks a
lot Cameron. I really enjoyed today"
" So did I " He admitted. I grabbed my milkshake and a note slipped.
There was a number on it and a name. Dan. I smiled.
'' Now look at this. Dan gave me his number" Cameron leaned in, confused
" Dan?"
" The cute guy at the café. He's really cute isn't he?"
" I guess" He shrugged. I nudged him on the arm.
"Don't tell me you're jealous already"
" We were supposed to be on a date right? Now imagine that we were and
he knew about it. It's inappropriate"
" You overthink things Cameron. Besides we're not on a date. It was just a
joke. remember?" I watched him, intrigued. Was he jealous. Does he like
me? Mega- Aaaaaaaaaa!
" I've got to go"
" Yeah right. G'night" He leaned close and peered into my face. I
staggered back in discomfort.
" What is it?" I asked, hoping against all hopes that there wasn't some
mucky yucky stuff on my face and NOT thinking through the fact that he
might ACTUALLY be trying to kiss me. I mean, how embarrassing AND
crazy would that be?
" You have some grease on your face" He leaned even closer and swiped it
from my face. His hand lingered a little longer and longer. And even longer.
He stared at me like he'd kiss me right there. He ran his hand across the
curve of my cheek and leaned close, staring into my terribly confused
face. Then slowly he leaned even closer and just when he would have
kissed me on the lips, he bypassed it and gave me the lightest and yet
most affecting kisses ever on my cheek. Then he drew back and stared
into my face longingly.
" G'night Summer. Sweet dreams"
***** *****
Saturday was a very shifty day. Cameron dropped by later in the day,
looking abso-postively normal and un-nerdy which is pretty weird cause
Cameron is usually all casual and normally dressed in crazily unfashionable
clothes. I mean wearing those kind of clothes's got to be banned
somewhere. Today however he looked smart ass sexy in hot sexy denims
and bomber jacket with a black snug shirt ( P.S, have I told you how crazy
I am over guys in denims and jackets) That I just kept staring and staring
at him. I was damn right. Some nerds are actually good looking. He noticed
me staring and looked up at me.
" What?"
" Nothing. I'm just staring at the transformation. I mean, from Cameron
the nerd to Cam the totally cool handsome hunk" He grinned and actually
blushed.
" Really?"
" Yes really. I feel like a high-school cod out with the coolest guy in
school" He laughed.
" Coolest guy? You think I'm a nerd, a self-absorbed nerd."
" Oh really? Well yeah that's actually true..."
" You could pretend though Summer, say something nice like no, you're
actually cool Cameron"
" Yeah where's the gun please?" He laughed and I stepped out, missing my
footing. I slipped and Cameron caught me. We walked out quietly.
" It's really nice out here don't you think?" I started, looking away. What
the heck is wrong with me?
" Yeah"
" Tell me Cameron, did you like June? My friend?"
" No. I'm sorry if that was too subtle or disappointing but I don't like her.
And I was too cowardly to approach her. Or let her approach me" He
flicked the beautiful bright autumn leaf off his shoulder and shrugged "
Guess that brought me the wrath of medussa" He said, glancing at me. I
laughed, remembering that day. who'd have thought that we'd be walking
and talking after all that screaming and hatred? Not me.
" I'm really lucky that I still have my head screwed back on"
" But not for long" I said in a fake menacing voice and we laughed.
" You know, I'd never have dreamed that you'd ever be nice to me, even in
a million years" He looked away and crunched his shoulder in defense " No
Cameron, seriously. Why? Why are you always so mean and standoffish...
No offence meant"
" I don't want to talk about it"
" Please Cameron" I squeezed his arm softly " You can tell me. I won't
jugde, I promise"
" I used to date Cathy"
"Ok yeah I meant what really happened in your past, not your future
fantasy..."
" I'm not lying or making this up. I really used to date Cathy in tenth
grade. At least that was right before she joined the in-crowd and became
queen" Ok if hearing that catty old Cathy, the queen of the ccpiest CCP of
the school'd ACTUALLY dated cameron, the school's nerdiest nerd isn't
the most SHOCKING news ever, then I don't know what is. How the hell is
that even POSSIBLE?!!!
I placed a hand on his shoulder and he stiffened.
" Cameron believe me I'm sorry" I'm really sorry for misunderstanding
you, for thinking the worse about you. You really aren't as bad as I thought
and I made life so difficult for you. I was wrong and I'm very sorry"
" I know. I'm just so closed up. I don't know how to approach or socialize. I
feel like I'm such an ass you know"
" Please don't say that. You're a nice guy, a really nice guy. Always believe
that"
" Why should I if you think the opposite?" I took in a deep breath.
" Ok. I agree I've been mean and always thought the worst of you but
that's so past now" I placed my hand on his arm " Ever since I met the true
you in here" I placed a hand on his chest( Did somebody just say weird?) "
I now know what a great guy that you are. And that's so true" He looked at
me like he was going to cry and then he smiled and leaned close. Then
closer and even closer. So close that I could feel his hot breath on my lips.
And then the craziest thing ever happened. He leaned close and kissed
me. And when I say kiss, I mean KISSED me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean like isn't that
sooooo totally KAY-REE-ZEEEEEEEE.
I'm literally KISSING the NERDIST NERD in the whole of heather-ville
high, June's ex-crush and my former worst enemy.
I mean, can my life get anymore CRAZIER!!!!!!!!!
We kissed for a pretty long time and when he pulled away, he looked damn
nervous. We looked away( Not a good post-kissing sign… Goodness shut up
Summer!) And he ruffled his hair aside and I adjusted my spotless jacket.
" I'm sorry Summer. I just didn't mean to kiss you like that…"
" So you're saying that this is all a mistake?"
" No, no, no! I didn't mean it that way. What… what I was trying to say is
that I… I totally wanted to kiss you… Ok that didn't come out right" He
shook nervously one more time " What I'm trying to say is that I… I" I
placed a hand on his lips.
" Hush Cameron. I like you too" He stared at me for what seemed like
forever and shook his head.
" No Summer, no. I'm… I'm sorry but I can't do this. I'm really sorry" And
just like the totally unexpected kiss, he just up and ran. And left my heart
broken into a zillion gazillion million pieces.
And despite my massive heart-break, the Bio project's STILL undone.