Chapter 5
Chapter Five
KAMILA
“ Y ou did what?!”
I hold a finger up to my left ear. “Jeez, Em, I’m right next to you.”
After hitting Cameron, I went to the nearest bathroom to check on my hand. It seems fine, just some bruising and minor swelling. Nothing Cameron won’t have himself.
Rafael taught me how to throw a decent punch without breaking someone’s nose or breaking anything of my own, but I was shown the moves and strength in the self-defense classes I took in the summer. All Cameron will have is a small bruised eye, which I didn’t find to be a massive deal. In fact, I felt pretty numb towards the whole situation. That was until Emma walked in while I was icing my fist on the couch. She saw the ice pack and immediately panicked. Then, an odd pang of guilt hit, along with a massive wave of anxiety.
“Kami, he could’ve told somebody. A professor or nurse at the health center. He could report you for assault. What were you thinking?”
She’s right. I didn’t think it through. It was over two years of pent-up anger that I was never able to unleash until today. And I am never one for physical violence .
“I know. I know I didn’t think about all of that. It just happened.”
There’s a long pause on each of our ends.
“Em, what do I do if he reports me?” My question comes out just above a whisper. My head feels heavy, full of concern while finally processing what I had done. “I can’t get kicked out, getting this degree means everything to me.” I smack myself. “Shit. Why did I let my emotions take over like that.” I sprint up from the couch and pace the room.
“Babe, I know what he did was wrong and how it affected you and your sister, but you do have some self-control. You’re very expressive, and there’s usually nothing wrong with that, still you can’t resort to violence.”
What did I do?
“I think you’re going to have to speak to him ASAP.” My brows furrow. “As in tonight,” she finishes.
My body stiffens at the thought of being alone with him.
“What? Why tonight? How do I even find him? I don’t have his number anymore, not even in my old cell. I have no idea if he lives on or off campus and even if I did, I can’t go alone. He’s never been violent, but what if he loses his temper like Davi?—”
Em grabs my shoulders. “Okay, Kami, first of all, calm down and take a deep breath. You’re talking faster than me.”
Breathing. Yes, I should do that.
Inhale and exhale. Repeat. Deep inhale and strong exhale.
My head bobs, letting her know that I’ve settled down.
“Okay, secondly, I think you should do it tonight so that you can apologize, even if you don’t mean it , and save your ass from getting reported. Thirdly, you won’t be going alone. I’ll be with you, and we can call Levi or Jake to tag along. And finally, you forgot that we know someone with multiple connections to the higher-ups in Driscoll.” She smiles and takes her phone out of her pocket. From this angle, I can’t see her screen or who she's trying to contact. After a couple of seconds, she dials a number and puts it on speaker. They pick up on the third ring .
“Hey, Em babes, what’s up?” Jake’s voice echoes.
“Ew, don’t call me babes,” Em says disgusted. “Listen, I need a huge favor.”
I chime in so Jake knows that it’s going to be me that’ll owe him one. “ I , Kamila, need a huge favor.”
Jake’s voice lowers. “Are you guys okay?”
We hear someone whining in the background. “Babe, come back to bed. You can talk to your other girls later.” Em and I exchange looks. Jake sighs, sounding muffled when he speaks again.
“I’m talking to my best friends. Give me a minute, I'll be right back.” There’s some shuffling and the sound of a door closing. “Sorry about that.”
“Um, did we interrupt something important?” Em asks awkwardly.
“It’s just a girl I hook up with sometimes, nothing serious. If it were, I would tell you,” he says quickly. “What is it that you need?”
Em speaks up again. “We need some information on a current student, their school address to be precise, and we need it by tonight.”
He goes silent.
“Jake?” I question after a couple of seconds.
“I’m still here.” He clears his throat. “You’re seriously not going to tell me why you need this now ?”
Sighing, I snatch the phone from Emma’s hand. “Jake, I know I’m asking for a huge favor, and I promise one of these days I will sit you and Levi down and explain everything, but right now, it’s extremely important that I have this information by tonight. I’ll owe you one.”
There’s another long pause. “Fine, I’m in. Give me all the information you have on the guy.”
After thanking Jake profusely, I give him Cameron’s full name, the name of our old high school, his major, and finally, his parent’s names .
“If you know so much about this guy, how do you not know where he lives?”
“We said no questions,” Em reminds him.
“Whatever,” he breathes. I can practically hear him rolling his eyes. “You should have the information in your email by nine tonight at the latest.”
“That’s amazing, thank you. Now go have fun with Ms. No Name.”
“Thank you. I plan to make her come multiple times.”
“Ew,” Em and I say in unison.
Jake laughs, and we say our goodbyes before hanging up.
My roommate turns to me. “And now we wait.”
Walking into my room, I decide to take a nap while waiting for the information on Cameron. Right now, I can’t focus on anything else other than that pending email. It’s only six-thirty, meaning it’ll most likely be a couple more hours until it’s received.
Some shut-eye sounds nice, and I need to let my mind rest for a while, or I will drive myself insane. I lay down, hugging my softest blanket, and try to tune out the rest of the world. Sleep drags me in, along with thoughts of the past, particularly a moment that happened during my junior year of high school.
About four years ago
First day of school. I’ve always dreaded it. New classes, new classmates, and new schedules. But my sister, oh, she thrives on it. The social part, that is. We grew apart during our sophomore year but still have lunch together. I miss her, as crazy as that sounds. I don’t really talk to anyone else except for some classmates. I’m not bullied or treated badly in any way, I just don’t know how to socialize well without Ana .
I’m thinking about trying out for the cheerleading squad. Unlike other schools, it’s truly about the talent and not the popularity. There’s no real hierarchy at Green Hills High, and I need something that’s my own without my twin. I need to learn to be an independent person away from her. We’re turning sixteen in less than a month, for Christ’s sake. It’s time for a change.
If I play my cards right, I can make friendships that last a lifetime and pile up on extracurriculars for college.
I make my way to homeroom and sit in the middle row of the classroom. I’m a little earlier than everyone else to ensure that I got to pick a seat I felt comfortable with. Taking out my current read, I open the marked page with anticipation. It’s a murder mystery and highly addicting. I don’t read often, but when I do, I get hooked. I’m entrapped in a scene where one of the characters is about to open the door to a secret passageway when I hear a voice boom next to me.
“I’ve been sitting here for the past five minutes, staring at you, and you haven’t looked up once. That must be one hell of a book.”
Turning ever so slowly, I’m met with the brown eyes of the boy sitting next to me. He’s tall for somebody around my age. He’s thin but not too thin, has brown hair that covers some of his forehead, is white but not pale, and has an angular chin with a strong jaw. He’s smiling at me and raises one of his eyebrows skeptically. It’s then I realize that I haven’t answered him yet.
“Oh, yes…it’s an okay read. I got up to a good part, is all.”
“I see.” His eyes don’t stray as though he’s trying to get a read on me.
“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 his Algebra 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
Room 31 2
Emergency contact info? Knowing less is better. I repeat to myself.
Putting both legs through a pair of leggings and grabbing an oversized t-shirt with the school’s emblem of a wolf, I tell Em the news, and we head out to Dirk Hall.