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Being Luke’s ‘girlfriend’ was taking some getting used to. I‘d gone from enjoying my independence to being part of a crowd of people with whom I felt I had nothing in common. I tried to keep my distance, really tried. I was deliberately rude and stand-offish on several occasions, but they didn’t seem bothered or put off. They continued to treat me like I belonged among them. It was totally bizarre to me. Like right now, I'd chosen a table on my own, and within ten seconds, Nick Weathergale had picked up his lunch tray and plonked it down opposite mine.
“Piss off, Nick,” I said, as assertively as I could.
“Somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed again,” he replied cheerfully, squeezing mayonnaise over his green beans, and totally ignoring my suggestion.
“Why aren’t you sitting over there, with your friends?” I asked, still grumpy.
“Because I’m sitting over here with a friend instead.”
“Did Luke ask you to be nice to me?” I narrowed my eyes on him suspiciously. “Why do you always make the effort?”
“Because you’re interesting.” Nick gave me a dazzling smile.
“I’m really not.”
“We think you are, and I’ve always had a soft spot for an angry bitch.”
“This angry bitch is dating your friend. I’m not interested in trading down, thanks.”
It was so weird for me to openly say I was dating someone, but that was the truth now. Luke and I had been ‘going steady’ for three weeks already. Slowly but surely, he had gone from being my first crush to being my first boyfriend.
Nick raised an amused eyebrow. “I’m spoken for, I’m afraid. The interest is purely platonic.”
“What’s platonic?” Damon sat down next to me, apparently oblivious to my glare.
“Rocket science,” Nick quipped.
“Oh right, yeah, of course.” Damon nodded and Nick gave me an eye roll. I couldn’t help reluctantly smiling back.
I don’t know how he always did it, how Nick just breezed straight through my defences with humour. It was similar to how Luke always got around them with sincerity and general adorableness. Then there was Anthony, who now took the seat beside Nick.
“Hey Cami, what music do you like?”
“Why do you care?” I snapped. But he didn’t get the hint either.
“I got tickets to see the Killer Dolphins, it would be good if a group of us could go. Luke isn’t really into music, but he’d go if you wanted to?”
I shrugged non-committally, but actually I'd never seen a live concert, and I did happen to have some Killer Dolphins in my music library. It could be something I'd enjoy.
Then again, it would mean a late night. I was treading very warily around my mother at the moment, trying to see Luke in secret, and never seem too active socially. But it was becoming harder and harder.
Even though Luke thoroughly enjoyed sneaking into my bedroom at night, he also kept inviting me to things. He claimed to have no life except tennis, but he didn’t really get it that there was a big difference between having no life and doing stuff with his friends whenever he felt like it.
But taking it a little at a time was working out. Just last night, I'd tried pushing that boundary a bit and it hadn’t been so bad.
My mum had announced she had another date that Friday and I'd perked up my ears.
“Again? That’s twice this week. Is it still Edward?”
“It is,” she said, looking a little pink in the cheeks.
“Does that mean it’s getting serious?”
“No, I’m also having lunch with Adrian at the club on Sunday.” She gave me a brief glance as though assessing my reaction.
I was doing the same as I said, “I might go out on Friday too, hang out with some friends if that’s okay?” I hated that I sounded so timid asking her, but it was new territory and I had no idea how she might react.
“What time will you be back?” She seemed to be relaxed, but I thought I saw a tension in her jaw.
“What time do you want me to come back?” I asked, aware we’d never set any kind of curfew. In many ways, I didn’t feel I had to have such a thing, not at my age, but she’d laid down the law when I returned home from my six months living with my dad. She’d made it very plain that if I was going to live under her roof, then I had to adhere to her rules. Except, she’d never needed to give me any actual rules because I was a model child. I did nothing, went nowhere, and asked for very little but food. I might be stubborn and angry, but wasn’t going to go and live on the streets; that was just cutting off my nose to spite my face. So, I was genuinely unsure what the boundaries were in the situation.
“I think it would be courteous if you would text me if you won’t be back by ten p.m., so that I don’t worry.”
I gaped at her for probably a full twenty seconds, trying to see the catch. It just seemed too reasonable for words.
“Uh, sure,” I said, finally. “I’ll do that.”
~
SO, I WAS ACTUALLY in a fairly good mood when Luke joined the table too and I didn’t scowl when he took the seat next on my right and slung his arm around my shoulders.
“Hi,” he planted a swift kiss on my lips, before focussing on his food.
“I have news,” I told him in a low tone, but even so, every head at the table swivelled my way. “I can come to the river hangout on Friday night.”
“Excellent.” His eyes held a question and I knew he was wondering if I'd had a conversation with my mother, but I didn’t want to share any of that in front of the others and I knew he’d get it.
“Is Rachel coming on Friday?” I asked Damon.
“Probably,” he said around a mouthful of salmon, “you’d know better than me these days.”
He was joking but I felt a warm glow at his words. It was true my friendship with Rachel had been rekindled and I was revelling in having her back in my life to talk to. The funny thing was Rachel and I were polar opposites these days, but it hadn’t changed anything. She was like a walking, talking Barbie doll, with bouncy ponytail and cute cardigans in baby blue and pink, whereas I still favoured black and red, and my black hair remained in punky spikes with dark blue tips. Yet, when we were together it was like we thought along exactly the same lines.
I looked at Luke, wondering why he’d ever bothered to push past my reserves to dig out the real me. I still couldn’t understand why he’d wanted to get to know me and bring me out of myself again, especially as I'd been so bad tempered with him, and also because he was so good-looking and popular, so I was kind of an odd choice of girl to fall for.
Except for one common ground. Tennis.
Tennis was like a black cloud over our relationship. Sometimes, I thought he was only with me because he knew now who I used to be and wanted me to be her again, on the court. Then I'd always have to remind myself he’d asked me out before he ever remembered.
Luke never stopped gently pressuring me to play again. And I was playing, here at school, giving him some great practice, but that was as far as I was willing to go. He wanted more.
A girl I didn’t really know very well, called Andrea, came and sat down next. I liked Andrea; she had a habit of saying whatever came into her mind without thinking about it first, and I found her quite funny, and refreshingly honest.
“Hi, everyone,” Andrea fixed her eyes on me. “I totally dig your look, Cami, do you think blue would work in my hair?”
I was going to say something nasty, but Luke’s influence was working on me and I aimed for nice instead. I gave her blond highlights a once-over and shook my head. “No, I think it would come out more gross green than blue. You might be better off going for a few purple streaks?”
She gave me a genuine grateful smile and once again, I marvelled in the odd sensation of belonging. I had to wonder if it was too good to last.