“What’s your name?” he asks.
I stick my hand out. “My name is Kamila with a K, but you can call me Kami and yours?”
He gives me an amused look and stares at my hand before taking it into his own. “I’m Cameron with a C, but you can call me Cam.” He smiles, and for some reason, I feel something foreign in my stomach. It’s not a bad feeling, just something new. I decide to ignore it for the time being.
“People usually don’t call you Kam?” he asks.
“My parents have always called me Kamila or Kami growing up, so I got used to it. Kam doesn’t feel like me.” Curiosity dances in his eyes while he nods. “Well,Cam,are you new here? I don’t remember seeing you last year.”
“Hmm. You might’ve seen me and not noticed me. We could’ve had a class together, and you never paid attention to me at all. So what makes you think I’m new?”
“Trust me, I would’ve remembered you.” As soon as the words leave me, my face heats, realizing how they must’ve sounded, and his smile starts to grow. “Um…I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying, I remember faces well, and yours isn’t one I would forget. No, wait, that came out wrong too.”
Cameron’s shoulders shake as he covers his mouth. He’s enjoying this. Screw that.
“I’m going to get back to my book now, and we can pretend that this conversation never happened.”
He finally lets out a choked laugh. “I was messing with you, Kami. Yes, I’m new. I just transferred over from a school in Sunnyside.”
Breathing out a sigh of relief, still feeling slightly embarrassed, I decide to move on from the subject. I told myself I needed to be more social and make friends, I might as well start with the new kid.
“Do you know anybody who goes here?”
“Only you.”
Clearing my throat, straightening my spine, and ignoring that odd feeling in my stomach, I make my voice one of confidence. “Do you have your schedule printed out?”
“Yes,” he answers skeptically.
“Alright, hand it over.” He narrows his eyes yet still reaches into his backpack and gives me the schedule that’s folded in half.
“Okay, let’s see.” I look it over for a minute and block out the sound of students filling the classroom. This guy is smart. Really smart from what’s on here. He’s taking the hardest honor courses like me.
Grabbing my pencil, I circle the same classes we have together: homeroom, English honors, and our lunch period match. I underline hisAlgebra teacher’s name. He’s a hard ass and a douche, a friend would warn him.
He tilts his head when I pass the paper back.
“Can you please explain what all of these marks mean?”
“The classes I circled are the ones we have together, which aren’t too many, but our lunch period matches. You’ll get to meet my sister too. And I underlined Mr. Trist’s class because he sucks. There’s a pop quiz every week even if he says there won’t be.” Cameron frowns, and I give him some advice. “I’m terrible at math, but I take tutoring classes whenever I need them. So, if you need help at any point, let me know. Otherwise, you’re good to go.”
He smiles down at the schedule and then at me. His shoulders drop a bit in what seems to be relief. “Thanks, Kami. I’m glad you were the first person I met here.”
I grin back. “Same here. Look for me when you go to the cafeteria for lunch. I’ll be with my sister. Small warning, she can be a little intense, although I’m sure you’ll get along fine.”
“I’m sure we will.”
The teacher walks in, and she shushes the classroom. I give Cam one last look and turn to the teacher. I just made a friend. One that I can see sticking around for a while. Hopefully, Ana doesn’t mess it up.
My loud alarm scares me awake. Patting the bed to find the source, I see it’s now eight p.m. I overslept.
As my eyes adjust to the bright screen, something catches my attention. An email from Jake was sent fifteen minutes ago. It came from his second personal email account, which is under an alias. I asked once why it was under a different name, and he quickly changed the subject. I’ve learned that when it comes to Jake, knowing less is better.
From:Maria
Subject:Emergency contact info.
Dirk Hall
