6:59 (13 page)

Olive

I closed my textbook at the same time Cameron did. “Finished,” he said, shoving the books into his bag. “And totally before you, too. Oh yeah!”

I shook my head fervently. “No! We finished at the same time, Cameron,” I said, shoving my book into my backpack. I slid the bag away and stretched out on his bedroom couch.

Cameron did the same, his arm slightly brushing over mine. A brief
zing
ran up and down my arm. “Pssh, please,” he sighed. “Don't be a sore loser. Hand over the money.” He stared at me expectantly with his toe-curling, blue eyes.

Although I was almost certain that we'd finished at the same time, I pulled out the five bucks and slammed the bills into his hand. “That hurts, you know. It really does,” I said, feigning hurt.

Cameron stuffed the money into his pockets and smiled at me. “I wouldn't know — I've never lost before,” he said, grinning at me. As he smiled, his eyes crinkled behind his glasses, taking my breath away. He was so
hot
.

Now, with nothing in between us, we sat there awkwardly. I discreetly looked at the clock. It was just a little after six. That meant that I had technically one hour left until Cameron went all schizophrenic on everyone. My gaze fell back on Cameron who apparently noticed this, too. Then his gaze was on me.

Our eyes locked on each other and it seriously felt as though we were submerged underwater and fifty electric eels had just been dumped in along with us. Tension slammed between the two of us, hitting me hard. There were many times I'd looked at Cameron and many other times I was able to say something in silences like this one. But now, sitting a half a foot away from him on a comfortable couch and in the safety of his bedroom, I was embarrassingly speechless.

“Olive,” Cameron whispered, his eyes slowly traveling to my lips and remaining there for a second before looking back at me.

“Yes?” I answered stupidly, my own gaze glued to his incredible lips.

Then Cameron was taking off his glasses and leaning in. I felt the couch give way underneath his weight as he pushed himself to my side of the couch. I followed his lead, pushing myself closer to him. His eyes danced between my eyes and my lips until finally the gap was filled.

His lips against mine were like pillow cushions and feathers and happiness and bliss and joy and flowerbeds and just everything wonderful in the world. Immediately I felt a high come over me and I intensely deepened the kiss. I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as his hands slid down my back. We remained kissing for maybe two seconds before Cameron suddenly pulled away, leaving me in a flustered haze.

“Cameron?—What?—Huh?” I asked, unable to find words.

“I'm gonna blackout in, like, a second,” he said with a breathy voice. “You have to go home.”

I glanced at the clock and my eyes widened. How was it already five minutes until seven? I could've sworn we'd only been at it for no longer than a breath!

Cameron sighed, pulling himself from my hold. He cursed, running around his room and flinging things back into their drawers. I watched him tear into his closet and rip out a random shirt and pants and flung them onto his desk. Then he bounded into the bathroom. I heard water splash and a few things crash to the floor followed by a stream of curse words. Then Cameron was back out of the bathroom, wiping the water off his face. When he finally saw me sitting there, he rushed to my side.

“Olive, you have to leave,” he said, his voice sounding devastatingly desperate. “I'm gonna blackout and wake up as someone… someone who's not me. You need to leave now.”

“But, you're just schizophrenic, Cameron,” I said, standing up from the couch, surprised that my legs still felt wobbly from the make-out session. “It's not like you're a monster or anything.”

“I could be, that's the thing,” he said, pushing me out of his bedroom door. “I just don't want you to have to witness—”

Then Cameron fell to the floor. His body immediately went limp and he just lay there as if he'd fallen asleep. I stepped back with a shriek. Did Cameron just faint?

Kneeling down slightly on one knee, I observed Cameron carefully. His face was completely blank and his body was completely still. Now on all fours, I crept slowly up to his body. “Cameron?” I asked, pressing my hand to his face. As I gently patted his cheek, I realized that Cameron hadn't fainted He just blacked out like he told me he would. Which meant that once he woke up, he'd be the new him. And I was going to be here waiting for him to wake up.

Cam

I woke up only to see huge, brown, lash-covered eyes peering at me from above my head. Of course, my reflexes suck, so I wasn't surprised when my arm lashed out and socked the pretty girl in the face, sending her catapulting across the room. She crashed into the desk, banging her head onto the hard wood.

“Oh,
no
!” I cried out, scrambling over to her and grasping her moaning body in my arms. I already recognized who she was — that Olive chick. Why was she all of a sudden always in my life? If she weren't so cute, I would've been super annoyed by now. “Are you okay, female?” I asked, giving her soft cheek a few quick pats.

Her lids fluttered open, revealing those brown irises again. My breath caught in my throat. My body seemed to react to those eyes more intensely than it did before. When she finally met my gaze, she croaked, “Cameron?”

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes. “It's Cam,” I automatically corrected. But I couldn't be mad at her; she had just taken a huge blow to the face, so her memory could be shot right about now.

Seeming to have recovered, she quickly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears and cleared her throat, her eyes blinking fast as she struggled to smile at me. “Oh, hey…
Cam
,” she said, and gave me a toothy smile. Something told me that this smile wasn't as friendly as it should have been. It seemed more
frightened
.

But I didn't have any time to ponder the difference. “Hey, are you alright, or not?” I asked, cocking my head to the side with impatience. I had things to do.

She nodded quickly, adding a reassuring smile. “Yeah, yeah, of course,” she said, giggling nervously. “Just a little bump, that's all.” She was staring at my eyes with such wonder; it was as if I had three of them, or something.

Welp, I'm outta here
.

“Okay!” I said, standing up and clapping my hands together. “I've gotta bounce, so…” I began to gather my things, keys, jacket, gel — the sorts, all while trying not to meet the girl's eyes. But she just continued to sit there, doing nothing, saying nothing.

Still, I didn't let her tenacity get to me. “Hey, chick,” I said, facing the mirror and sweeping a few globs of gel into my hair, “if you wanna just hang out in here all day — by all means. But if the father figure comes waltzing in here asking questions, don't say anything that'll get me in trouble, okay?” The last thing I needed was to get grounded or something.

But she didn't respond.

Sighing, I faced her, shrugging on my leather jacket as I eyed her. I could feel my temper flaring, but I didn't want to have to take it out on this poor girl. I'd already done enough damage to her face as it is. “You just going to sit there and stare at me all day?” I asked, with a hint of bite in my voice. She was so big and bad just a few days ago — what was her deal now?

Finally, she stood up slowly, her eyes never leaving mine. “W-where are you going,
Cam
?” she asked me, stressing my name again like she was playing along to some sort of joke.

“Somewhere,” I snapped, lacing up my shoes. I glanced at the clock. It was already five after. I was running late. “Sorry, no time for questions.” I stood up and walked through the door, racing down the large, winding staircase. I could hear her soft footsteps following me down the stairs.

“Cam, wait!” she cried, hurrying to catch up.

I stopped mid-stride and looked up at her. “Don't follow me, okay?” I said, then swiveled back around, racing down the remainder of the steps.

I had almost made it to the front door when two hands grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me away from the door. “You're not going anywhere, Camer—I mean
Cam
,” Father said, leading me to the direction of the kitchen.

“Ah, no, Dad!” I cried out, struggling out of his tenacious grasp. “Let go of me. I have somewhere to be.” First, that Olive girl had to give me trouble, now
Grandpa
over here wanted to cause problems. Was I ever going to get out of here?

“No,
Cam
,” he said, stressing my name, too. Did they think my name was some kind of joke? “You've got a lot of explaining to do, son.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me all I'm-you-father-so-fear-me-like. That just made me angrier.

“Oh, shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes and turning to leave.

But he stopped me once more, grasping my forearm with such force, my arm began to tingle. I spun around, anger in my eyes. “Listen,
Father
,” I sneered between my teeth, glaring at him with as much disgust as humanly possible, “if this is about that ‘stolen' car of yours, then—”

“It's not the car, my boy,” he said, apparently not fazed by my death stare. “We just need to talk. You and me.
Mano y mano
.” He motioned back and forth between the two of us.

Talk
? Yeah, right. I had no time for chit-chat.

I stared at him, contemplating what I should do. Then, finally deciding my next motive, I smiled and said, “Sure,
Daddy
, let's talk.”

His face lit up. “Excellent!” he exclaimed. He gazed at the kitchen. “Right this way, Cam—”

In less than a second, I brought out my foot and kicked it hard into his back, sending him sprawling forward and landing on his face. Mila and Olive barely had the chance to scream by the time I was out the front door, into my car, and speeding down the street.

I was outta there.