Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
CAMERON
Graduation night…
K amila stands and saunters to the shore. I have a feeling that I’m the reason she didn’t want to be accompanied by anyone and needed to be alone. I try keeping an eye on her, making sure she’s safe till Ana’s hand tilts my face down to hers.
“Can we go skinny dipping?” she asks enthusiastically.
I smile. “The water might be too cold for that. You could get sick.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s also getting dark out. I don’t think it’s safe.”
It probably isn’t safe for Kami either, but I keep that thought to myself. Ana is already jealous of our friendship, there’s no need to provoke her any further. Even if nothing has happened and never will.
She pouts, and I grin.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, it really is freezing out there.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re probably right. Nobody else is doing it anyways.”
She leans her head back onto my shoulder while we roast marshmallows and drink more beer .
Ever since I’ve been leaning more towards staying in the city and going to community college in Long Island, Ana’s been in a better mood, which has made my life a lot easier. But…Driscoll. Driscoll University. It’s been my dream for years. Ever since my parents took me there on a trip when I was fourteen. The town, the people, the nature, the campus; it's like nothing I’d ever seen.
The acceptance letter is still on top of my desk, staring at me and waiting for me to make a decision. The deadline is this coming week, and it feels like there’s constant ticking in my head.
I love Ana. I really do, and I can’t just let that go. I need to give us a chance. Driscoll can wait. And Kamila being Kamila, will be happy for me no matter what.
Music plays over a speaker, and a group of people get up to dance.
“Come on, join me.” Ana pulls me up, and we press our bodies together.
I’m not the best dancer, but I can hold my own. I’ve been taking lessons recently, but Ana doesn’t know that. Her family teases me endlessly for not knowing how to sway my hips properly, although I’ve gotten better…I think.
Ana pulls me down for a deep kiss and backs me into the wooden wall by the staircase. She reaches for my dick until I quickly stop her.
“Babe, there are too many people around here with cell phones. Everybody is taking videos and pictures for their stories.”
“So?” she says as if being recorded while giving a hand job is an everyday occurrence.
I cock an eyebrow at her. “I don’t want any videos of us doing private things online. I’m sorry, I’m just not comfortable with it. But, we can do some stuff later.”
I lean down to kiss her forehead and instead of letting me, she pushes me away.
“When did you become so boring?”
“Boring?” I mock. “Since when is wanting to keep our sex life private boring?”
She gives me a skeptical look. “This is because of Driscoll, isn’t it?”
“For fucks sake. What does this have to do with Driscoll? Why does everything I do or say go back to that?” I whisper shout. “I already told you, I’m willing to stay here for two years and then transfer happily. For. Us.”
She looks at her nails, disinterested. “You’ll probably end up resenting me, and then you’ll sleep with some random freshman.”
Her words feel like a punch to the gut. “Is that really what you think of me?”
I’m met with silence.
“Ana, look at me.” I grab her chin until our eyes meet. “I love you. I would never do that. How many times do I have to say it? What do I have to do to prove that I will never hurt you?”
She pushes my hand away and sighs. “I’m going to go use the bathroom and maybe take a short walk.”
I shake my head. She’s only had three beers, she’s not drunk, and honestly, I wouldn’t mind some space too. “Okay, can you just send a text letting me know that you’re okay, it’s dark out.”
She’s already walking up the stairs when she assures me that she will.
I’m not spending my graduation night fighting with Ana. We’ll make up later tonight, like always.
After talking to some friends for a bit, I see the time on one of their phones and realize it’s been over thirty minutes since Kamila left and twenty since Ana did. I pull my phone out and see no texts from either of them.
“Did you guys happen to see Kami or Ana?” I ask one of the guys.
“Ana walked out of the bathroom and off the boardwalk earlier. Some people spotted Kami walking close by somewhere.”
That’s odd. “Thanks. I’m going to see where they went.”
“Later, Cam.”
This isn’t normal behavior for either one of them. I dial Ana’s number and it goes straight to voicemail. Fuck. I shouldn’t have let her walk out alone, not at this time of night in a town we barely know.
What if somebody took her?
“Shit. Fuck,” I whisper to myself while jogging to the boardwalk.
Kami has the car keys but maybe Ana came around here hoping we didn’t lock the doors. Whenever she gets stressed, she likes to sit in the car and blast music. She doesn’t have to be in danger, her phone could be on do not disturb.
I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her.
After speed walking, I’m met with the view of her parents’ car and let out a sigh of relief. I’m only a couple of steps away when I see another car shaking.
“At least somebody’s having fun tonight,” I mumble.
Wait, I know that car.
A head shoots up and there he is looking all too happy. I hold in a laugh, planning to spook him and his girl when, instead of seeing dark brown skin and purple highlights, I’m met with a pair of inky brown eyes surrounded by dark auburn hair.
I stop breathing.
My heart stops beating.
This isn’t happening.
This can’t be fucking happening.
Ana’s eyes lock in on mine before she tries covering herself and yells at Jordan to get out of her.
Jordan looks at me and ducks quickly, probably trying to avoid any sort of confrontation. But I didn’t come here to fight, I came here to find out if my cheating girlfriend was okay or not. By the familiar former sounds of her impending orgasm, she seems to be more than okay.
She makes a move to get out of the car and my instincts push me to sprint back towards the beach to find the one person I can talk to about this. Kamila is my best friend, and she needs to know the truth now because I want it to come from me.
As I run, tears roll down my face.
“Fuck!” I yell and run faster.
It feels like my heart has been ripped out and stomped on a thousand times over. All of these years, the fights, the sacrifices I’ve made for her, the times she’s accused me of cheating or flirting when I’ve been nothing but loyal to a fault, to end up finding her getting fucked in the backseat of a car by Jordan; the boy her sister lost her virginity to. It’s sickening .
And from the thirty seconds that I saw them together, I know for a fact this isn’t their first time. No. As someone who’s had sex with her before, I can tell that it’s been going on for a while. They looked far too comfortable with each other.
Maddy. I need to tell Maddy.
When I make it to the beach, I push through the crowd, looking for Kamila, then I bump into somebody. That somebody being Olive. A girl who’s also on the swim team. A girl who Ana has always been jealous of.
“Hey, Cam,” she says with her usual flirtatious smile.
Olive has had a crush on me for a while now, but I never entertained it. In fact I ignored and avoided her at all costs because I didn’t want her. I only wanted Ana.
“Are you okay? It seems like you’ve been crying.”
I relax my shoulders and smile as if the image of Jordan fucking Ana from behind while she makes her O face hasn’t been replaying in my mind since I saw them.
“I’m totally fine. More than fine, actually.” I place my hand on her cheek and her lips part in surprise. I see the questions flickering in her eyes, but I don’t give myself a chance to overthink it. My lips are now on hers.
It’s harsh.
Too harsh.
Yet not harsh enough.
“What about Ana?” she asks out of breath, pulling away for a second.
“It’s over,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady when it threatens to fail me.
Olive grabs my hair. “Then don’t fucking stop.”
We kiss for what feels like hours. I’m taking out all of my anger, all the tension in my body, the stress and the betrayal into this one kiss. But it’s not healing, it’s just a distraction.
Revenge.
It’s not fair to Olive, but it’s as if this tiny little devil has popped up on my shoulder and is yelling at me to keep going. I want Ana to see this, here, in front of everyone, because there’s nothing she hates more than being embarrassed. I want to hurt her as much as she has me.
Part of me hopes she’ll come here to yell at me, slap me, or do anything, but after a while, when nothing happens, I break away from Olive, knowing that I forgot the one innocent person in all of this. Somebody who I also love and who could’ve easily seen us.
Kamila.