TRUE LOVE [Chapter 3: School Dance]

During art class, Cameron sat across from me. He was focused on his sketch pad, slightly hunched over drawing what looked to be a human figure. Cameron was a little taller than me, probably five-ten or five-eleven. It looked like he lifted weights; his arms and chest were toned. He had dark blonde hair, hazel eyes and a killer smile. His ears were pierced, his shirt was fitted, his jeans were boot cut, but they seemed to compliment his backside and…front side. Wait. What the hell was I doing? Was I checking this guy out? Honestly, how could I not? Even the straightest man on earth would have to agree that Cameron Harris was one good looking guy. I continued to analyze his body. “Hey” said a voice that startled me

I looked up to see Cameron looking at me confused and gave a crooked smile, “Are you okay? Don’t space out, not sure if the new teacher is cool enough to give you a warning.” He chuckled

“Oh, it’s okay. She’s my mom.” I admitted

“No. Really?” he asked

“Yeah, why?” I asked

“Oh. I thought you were joking.” He said

“What are you sketching?” I asked, changing the subject in hopes he didn’t think I was staring at him earlier and to remove focus on my mother

“Oh, it’s Hercules.” He said spinning his sketchpad around so I could get a better look

“He’s naked.” I said

It was a sketch of a nude male torso, Greek God like, a leaflet crown on his head and holding what looked to be a disc.

“Well duh,” Cameron laughed, “it’s a sketch of Hercules, the way he’s portrayed as a Greek statue.”

“You drew that from memory?” I asked impressed

“Yeah. I have a photographic memory.” He smiled

“Wow. You are far more talented than…” I paused

He tilted his head, waiting for me to finish my sentence, “you thought?” he guessed

“Than me.” I said honestly

“Well I hope so.” He laughed looking down at my blank sketch pad

I was embarrassed. I hadn’t even sketched I was so busy looking at Cameron. He leaned over and stretched out his arm to grab my sketch pad, as he did I noticed something black on his upper arm. He had switched me sketchpads and began drawing on mine.

“You can have mine, turn it in as yours.” He smiled

“What? I can’t do that. Besides, my mom will know it wasn’t me who did this.”

“Tell her I taught you a little something.” He smiled and winked at me

He winked. The gesture gave me tingles and I felt a warm sensation overcome my body. My stomach began to turn as if I was freefalling. I had to get rid of this feeling quick.

“Do you have a tattoo on your arm?” I panicked

“Um. Yeah.” He whispered caught off guard

“Oh, sorry. Is it a secret?” I asked

“No. Well, not really. Some people just don’t know that I’m 18. I don’t want to explain the fact that…” he paused and looked back down at the table

“You don’t have to tell me it’s okay. I’m sorry; I guess it’s none of my business.” I apologized

“No, it’s okay. You seem cool. I was held back my freshman year.” He admitted

Held back? Holy shit. Was this Natalie’s brother? There were some good genes in this family. I contemplated asking if he was related to Natalie. I’ve already asked too much. But why would that be a secret or bother him? I’m just overanalyzing things at this point.

“Do you have a sister named Natalie?” I asked

“Yeah, how did you know?” he asked curiously

“Oh, we have first period together.” I smiled

“Oh nice. Yeah, she can be a handful sometimes.” He rolled his eyes

“She seems nice. But I mean, so do you.” I said with a chuckle

“I am nice. I try to be at least.”

We chatted back and forth for the rest of the class. As Natalie had mentioned, we had two other classes together and it looked like they were back to back. Our third period was English, followed by History. My fifth and last period was P.E. since I had an open sixth period, being a senior and all. Natalie had a free sixth period as well; Cameron had fifth and sixth open periods which he used to go to water polo practice or cross country practice. During my time with Cameron I got to learn more about him. He had a black Nissan Z, his tattoo was a tribal that he eventually wanted to connect up towards his shoulder, his parents were divorced, he didn’t have a girlfriend and he worked part time at one of the local grocery stores. After P.E., Natalie and I walked through the quad towards my locker. As we walked passed the main office, we noticed a couple students hanging up a painted banner that read, “Sadie Hawkins Dance Friday”.

“Oh, you should go!” Natalie said with excitement

“I just started school. I don’t know. I wouldn’t feel comfortable” I laughed

“Come on. It’ll be fun. You’ll get to meet a bunch of my friends.” She pleaded

“I don’t even have a date.” I said

“Go with me!” she screeched

“What?!” I said in shock

“Yeah. I mean, the girls ask the guys. I don’t have a date; I was just going to go with a group of friends.” Natalie said

“Um.” I hesitated, but the smile on her face just didn’t allow me to deny her, “Okay. Pick me up at 8.” I smiled

“I’ll even bring you flowers.” Natalie joked

            As the week progressed, Natalie, Cameron and I got closer as friends. There were moments of discomfort when Nick would join us, due to his friendship with Cameron. Rumors and gossip spread fast and people began to think I was dating Natalie, which made Nick dislike me even more. Cameron even asked me if I was with his sister. I quickly denied it. Cameron was going to the dance with a friend and even offered to pick me up.

“No, don’t worry about it. My date has to figure that out.” I laughed

He also laughed knowing his sister would somehow have to get herself and me to the dance. The night of the dance was finally upon us and Natalie had come over to my house to help coordinate our look for the evening. My mother and father loved Natalie. Of course, they also thought she was my girlfriend. Natalie and I were wearing blue tie-dye shirts, a red, white and blue stripped sweatband and jeans. Nothing too crazy. My dad had offered to drop us off at the dance, but Natalie asked her friends Phillip and Jasmine to pick us up. Just as we finished getting ready, we heard a car horn honking sporadically. We grabbed our ticket stubs and scurried downstairs. My mother stopped us because she had to do the typical mom thing.

“Say cheese!” she said with glee snapping our photo

We ran outside and I noticed a blue ford explorer with loud music playing. We jumped in the back seat and noticed the driver and passenger turned around staring at us.

“Hey Nat, you guys look great!” said the female passenger

“Thanks!” Natalie squealed, “This is Jasmine.” She gestured with her head

“Hi nice to meet you.” I smiled and shook her hand

“And that is Phillip.” She said pointing to the driver with a bashful smile

“Hey bro, what’s up?” He said shaking my hand

“Thanks for picking us up.” I grinned

“No prob.” He smiled, turned around and sped off into the night

When we got to the school, there were teachers guiding students to the gym where the dance was being held. We handed the teacher at the door our tickets and walked into a semi dark gym with flashing lights, fog and music so loud, my feet were vibrating. Natalie latched onto my arm and pulled me in. We walked through the tight crowd of dancers to make our way to tables and chairs set up.

“Who are you looking for?” Natalie screamed, although I barely heard her over the music

“What?” I screamed back

“It looks like you are looking for someone.” She said

“Oh…Nobody.” I said

We sat down realizing that Jasmine and Phillip weren’t with us. A few minutes after, they suddenly appeared emerging from the thick crowd of dancing students with a cup in each hand.

“Punch?!” screamed Jasmine, handing me a cup before I could answer

“Thanks!” I yelled back

The two had sat down at the table. Natalie was fidgeting in her seat. She looked like she wanted to go dance. I hadn’t really gotten comfortable enough yet. I didn’t want her to have a bad time though.

“Want to go dance?” I asked Nat

“Sure!” she said

Jasmine and Phillip followed us. Just as we entered the crowd a fast beat hip hop song came on. At least it wasn’t a slow song. We staged ourselves next to the deejay booth and began dancing. Mid-way through the dance, I felt someone bump into me. I turned around and saw Cameron with his date.

“Hey!” he said grabbed me by the neck and pulling me in for a hug, he smelled like expensive cologne. He wore a cut off t-shirt with a yellow peanut M&M on it. His date wore a similar shirt with a regular red M&M on it.

“Hey man. Are you drunk?” I asked jokingly

“No, it’s just good to see you here.” He said with a smile

We ended up dancing in a group circle. Natalie was on my left hand side, Cameron was on my right. A different song came on, a remix of “L ’Amour Toujours by Gigi D ’Agostino”.

“I love this song.” Cameron said into my ear

I leaned into respond back and as I did, his arm reached around by lower back as he pulled me in as if he knew I was going to tell him something, “I do too.”

As he released me, he patted me on my ass, which made me jump slightly, but I don’t think he noticed. After a few more songs, Phillip leaned in between me and Natalie.

“You guys want to go outside and get some fresh air for a bit?” he asked

“Sure.” Natalie said, looking at me for agreement, I nodded

“We’re going to head outside for a bit.” I told Cameron

“Okay.” He said continuing to dance

Phillip, Jasmine, Natalie and I headed out towards the back of the gym which leads to the basketball courts. The fresh air felt nice after dancing. The gym was extremely stuffy and claustrophobic.

“Can we go get some refills really quick?” Jasmine pleaded with Natalie

“Sure.” She said. They locked arms and headed back inside

Phillip and I stood against the outside wall of the gym staring out into the field beyond the basketball courts.

“So Natalie is pretty cool.” Phillip said out of the blue

“Yeah. She’s a really good friend. Jasmine seems nice.” I responded

“She is. She’s a good friend too. But, she’s not as cool as Natalie.” He said

“Why would…Oh.” I said, “You have a thing for Nat?” I asked

“No, I mean. She’s…I don’t know. Not if you and her…” he stumbled over his words

“No, no, no. She’s just a friend.” I laughed, “You should go for it. I saw how she smiled at you when we got in the car.” I admitted

“Really?” He asked surprised

“Yeah.”

“Well Jasmine thinks you are really cute. Those are her words by the way.” He giggled

“She does seem nice.” I said plainly

“Not your type?” he asked

“No. I don’t know. I mean, I just met her. I’m not sure what I want. I just moved here.” I said with a little frustration

“Well it seems you have a few people wanting your attention.” He said

What? I said in my head. Who else would be wanting my attention? I didn’t even know Jasmine wanted my attention, let alone think I was cute.

“Like who?” I asked curiously

“Oh come on man. It’s so obvious.” He looked at me hoping I would solve the puzzle.

I shrugged.

“Cameron.” He said loudly

“What?! Dude!” I snapped embarrassed

“You didn’t know?!” He asked with enthusiasm

“No. It’s not even like that man.” I said looking around hoping nobody heard

“Come on, Joey. Didn’t you know Cameron is gay? And I saw how he grabbed you in there. It kind of looked like you didn’t mind.” He laughed

“Dude, he’s just a friend.” I tried to convince him, “And why would you think he’s gay?”

“Everybody knows. When he’s asked about girls, he just brushes the subject off. He hasn’t had a girlfriend, just dates and when people ask him if he’s gay, he doesn’t deny it.” Phillip said

“But does he confirm he is?” I asked

“Well, no, but…”

“But WHAT!?” snapped a deep voice behind Phillip

We both jumped. Phillip turned around and I leaned away from the wall to see who it was. There stood Nick who seemed to be smoking a cigarette.

“You got something to say about my friend?” He shouted

“Dude. Relax. Go smoke another cancer stick.” Phillip said with a grin

Nick slowly walked towards us dropped his cigarette. He got in Phillips face.

“Only a pussy talks shit about other people behind their backs. You need to lay off my friend. He aint gay!” Nick continued to shout

“Nick, back up from him please. We were just talking.” I said calmly

“Fuck off, pretty boy!” he said staring me down

“Nick!” screamed Natalie as she came out of the gym with her cup, Jasmine soon followed

“What?!” he screamed back, not realizing who it was

“Leave him alone!” she yelled back

“Natalie.” He said in a calm voice taking two steps back from Phillip, “These ‘friends’ of yours are fake as hell. Tell her what you said.” He said looking at Phillip

“Go away.” Natalie said shaking her head

“No. Listen to what he has to say.” Nick pleaded

Natalie and Jasmine looked at us with concern in her eyes.

“Phillip?” asked Natalie hoping to hear nothing

“I told Joey that your brother was gay.” He said in a low voice

“She cant hear you!” screamed Nick

“What is going on out here?!” yelled a female voice behind us.

Principle Hawkins came out to investigate.

“Principle Hawkins!” Nick said surprised

“What is the meaning of this?” she asked with a stern voice

“I don’t know. Nick, why don’t you fill in Principle Hawkins?” Natalie said leaning on her right leg and arm on her hip

“Nick.” Waited Principle Hawkins

Nick looked at the principle, then at me, then towards Phillip.

“Nothing. I was just leaving.” He said

“Good. You four,” she said looking at Phillip, Jasmine, Nat and myself, “I expect you wont be any more trouble? I need you to either get back inside or leave the dance.” She said fiercely

We all headed back inside and towards our table. Natalie was quiet. She seemed bothered.

“Natalie,” began Phillip

But Natalie put up her hand in a response that she didn’t want to hear anymore.

After about 30 minutes of silence and watching others dancing, I finally got the courage to speak.

“Natalie, do you want to go home? I can have my parents pick us up.”

“I’ll have my brother take me home. You go ahead.” She said coldly

“Nat. Can we please talk?” Phillip pleaded

“Fine.” She said as they got up and headed to the corner of the gym where there wasn’t anybody around

Jasmine got up and danced with some of her friends. She asked me if I wanted to go, but I wasn’t in the dancing mood anymore. I just watched from a distance. I didn’t see Cameron around. I wonder if Nick told him what we were talking about? The last thing I need is for my two friends to be angry with me. They were all I had so far. After about ten minutes, Phillip and Nat came back and sat down. She turned to me and smiled.

“I’m sorry.” She said

“For what? I should be sorry.” I said with guilt

“No. Phillip told me what happened. You didn’t say anything wrong. Phillip apologized and, well. Everything is okay. I just don’t want you to be like other people who like to spread rumors, or fake, or mean.” She said heavy hearted

“I’m not like that.” I said confidently

“I know. I can tell. Nick is a jerk. He thinks he’s better than a lot of people, but he’s such a hypocrite.” Natalie said

“Yeah.” I nodded

After talking, we decided to stay for a while longer and I ended up seeing Cameron and his date once again. They were gone for a while. They came and stood next to our table.

“Hey.” Cameron said to his sister, he didn’t acknowledge me

“Hey!” she said

“Are you okay?” he asked

“Yeah why?” she responded

“Someone told me you were outside arguing with Nick.”

“Oh. No I’m fine. It’s all over and done with.” She said

“Anything I need to know?” he asked concerned

“No. Old news.” She said softly, but it was loud enough where I could hear

Cameron looked over at me. He shuffled closer.

“You having fun, Bud?” he asked grasping my shoulder

“Yeah.” I smiled

“Good. You take care of my sister!” he said smirking

“Of course.” I said

He looked up towards Phillip, dropped his smile and walked back into the crowd. After a couple more hours of dancing, laughing and hanging out; the dance ended. The four of us gathered outside. Cameron and his date were outside already. They hugged and she got into a waiting car by the curb. Cameron came and joined us.

“That was fun.” He said smiling

“Hey Cameron, I wanted to…” but before Phillip could finish his sentence, Cameron interjected

“Don’t worry about it man. I don’t sweat the small stuff. Just be better than most of the assholes at this school.” He said

That was extremely mature of him, I thought to myself. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t have talked to Phillip anymore or even contemplated kicking his ass.

“So who is hungry?” Jasmine asked

“Yeah, I am.” Phillip said

“Want to go grab a bite?” Natalie asked nudging me

“I’m actually kind of beat. But you guys go ahead. I’ll have my folks come get me.” I said

“I can take you home.” Cameron offered, “I’m actually tired too. I was going to head home.” He looked at Natalie as he spoke

“Really? Well, if you’re sure?” she said

I nodded. We all hugged each other one at a time and they got in Phillips car and drove off, playing his loud music. Cameron and I stood there watching their tail lights vanish into the dark night.

“So. Wanna take off?” I asked

“Yeah, if you’re ready?” he said, digging in his pocket for his keys

As we walked to his car, I saw Nick and his other jock friends standing next to a pick up truck. I turned my head pretending to not see them. We got into Cameron’s Nissan Z. It smelled like a new car. I looked around the black interior with its leather seats and cleanliness. I looked behind my seat to see that this car was only a two-seater.

“Oh.” Cameron said, he reached over my waist and next to my door, he tugged on the seatbelt before I could reach for it, “It gets stuck sometimes.”

I didn’t respond. I just smiled. I grabbed the seatbelt from his hand and buckled myself in. As we pulled out of the parking lot, Cameron honked his horn twice signaling Nick. Through the tinted windows, I could see Nick cocking his head back acknowledging his friend. We began to drive down the lonely road lit by street lanterns.

“Do you like it fast?” Cameron asked

“What?” I questioned him

“Driving. Do you like driving fast?” he smiled

“Um. Sure. Whatever you like.” I said with a grin and uncertainty

Cameron laughed, grabbed the gear shift and said, “That’s what I like to hear.” As we sped down the road.

© 2015 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. Royalty Novels / True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.