Camille: After school the next day, I made my way to a store to buy earplugs. I was tired of deafening my ears every night with noise canceling headphones because of my roommate’s brother. If Daniel planned to bring more girls over, I would have to find a better way to block my ears every night since his room was right next to mine. I arrived ten minutes late to the bookstore and snuck in from the back just in case Miss Winston caught me and decided to lecture me. However, that backfired, because when I made it to the cashier counter, she was already standing there with Reggie, apparently waiting for me. “My favorite employee is here,” she squealed when she saw me and came to hug me. I tensed a little, wondering why she was so excited to see me. “You remember Reggie, don’t you?” She asked, pointing at her son. He waved at me with a smile on his face. “Hi.” “Hey,” I responded, unable to meet his gaze for some reason. “Reggie just came over and he won’t stop talki
Camille: When Daniel yelled at me to get in, the guilt I had felt disappeared immediately. What right did he have to yell at me? Was I his responsibility? He was the last person to lecture me on the right way to behave. “Don’t raise your voice at me,” I said in a small but steady voice. I staggered a little, but fortunately, Reggie held me. Daniel’s eyes darkened with rage. “You’re drunk,” he accused me. “You’re fucking drunk.” “And what’s that to you?” I asked, equally raising my voice. “You get drunk everyday and you and your drunk disgusting friends mess up my house. If anyone should yell at me for this, it shouldn’t be you.” Daniel opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t. He leaned against the door and crossed his arm, turning his gaze on Reggie. “Get in,” he repeated to me, still looking at Reggie. “Don’t tell me what to do,” I slurred. “If you don’t get in in ten seconds, get ready to sleep outside,” he warned me. “What the hell is wrong with y
Camille: When I woke up the next morning, I felt like shit. It felt like someone was throwing the loudest party in my head. It was already bright so I knew it was morning. As I sat up, I began to remember some of the events from last night. I remembered coming back with Reggie and being yelled at by Daniel. I frowned. However, I also recalled him rubbing my back and holding my hair while I threw up. He also gave me some water and a drug that was supposed to help with my condition. I shuddered. At least I was still alive so that meant he hadn’t poisoned me. This was not my first time being hungover, but for some reason, this one was the toughest one I’d ever dealt with. I couldn’t miss school again. Groaning, I picked myself off the bed and managed to change my clothes and tie my towel around my chest. My legs still felt wobbly, but at least it was not as bad as yesterday. There was a knock on my door and I hesitated before opening it. “Hey,” Daniel said, coming i
Camille:Ezekiel, my weird class stalker kept giving me the side eye while we were in class, so I made up my mind to leave even before our last professor came in. I didn’t want to be ambushed by him or have to listen to whatever crap he would come up with. Some people just couldn’t take hints, and he was obviously one of them. I couldn’t have been any clearer about not wanting him the last time he approached me, yet he still didn’t give up. He had sent me several texts which I had ignored, and had even tried calling me. I didn’t answer those either. On my way to the bookstore after school, coupled with my sickness and hunger, I felt nervous. I wondered if Reggie would be there. I had called him over and over that day, but the automated voice kept saying the number was unavailable. I really hoped to see him, at least to apologize for Daniel being such a d!ck, although a part of me was certain he was already used to it. I walked past a couple kissing passionately in the park, and wh
Camille: "Uh...what's happening, Cam?" Lucia asked, her voice breaking me out of my spell. I blinked, finally looking away from her brother, whose expression I had still been unable to read. "Nothing. I'm just tired," I replied with a sigh, a little embarassed by the fact that I had been caught staring. "I'll just be in my room..." "Won't you eat something before you go?" Daniel asked me when I started to walk away and I stopped in my tracks. "I'm sure she just wants to be left alone, Dan," Lucia said to him in a sharp tone. "Her eyes are sunken, her face looks puffy and she's practically dragging herself. Can't you tell she needs something to eat?" He spoke back to her. I swallowed. I hadn't even been able to tell what his expression had been while I watched him, yet he somehow noticed all those things about me. Did I really look that bad? I slowly turned back to face them. They were glaring at each other, probably still mad at each other after the argument they ha
Camille: “Oh my god,” I whispered as a grateful smile slowly spread across my cheeks when Daniel’s words finally made sense to me. If he was right, then that meant Miss Winston wouldn’t have to go out of business and I would be able to get my job back. “I have to tell her right away!” I squealed, getting out of the chair with the mind to run down to the bookstore to share the news with Miss Winston. “Can’t you just call her?” He asked me, holding back a chuckle. “Oh, sure,” I mumbled and got back in my seat. Miss Winston was surprised to hear that the son of the man who had defended her years ago was around and knew a lot about her case. She agreed to meet up with him the next day, since she had gone out to run some errands and wouldn’t be back in the bookstore anytime soon. “I really hope this works out,” I mumbled. “It will,” he assured me. “But if this matter has already been resolved before, why did she become so scared and dejected, especially if she has pap
Camille: Although my eyes were still watery after my coughing fit, I felt much better. I still kept gulping down more water though, just to distract myself from the Daniel’s intense stare. That faraway look was on his face again, but I couldn’t be fooled by that. That had been the same way he had watched me those days ago and somehow managed to learn an entire recipe without me even realizing it. I kept drinking more water, because I knew every single action of mine was being imprinted in his mind and at that point, it was the least embarrassing thing I could do. Okay, maybe I was making an overstatement, probably even exaggerating my worth in his eyes above other women he had been with, but when he looked at me like that, I knew he wasn’t thinking about anyone else at the moment but me. I eventually dropped the big glass of water on the table when my stomach began to feel like it would tear open if I didn’t stop over hydrating myself. I looked back at him, trying to
Camille: I swallowed, trying my hardest to look as innocent as possible but failing. "I forgot my keys," she said, going to the room divider and picking up the godforsaken keys that had made her return and disrupt what had been going on between her brother and me. "Why do you look like you want to throw up?" she asked me with a raised brow after studying me for some seconds. Despite my fear of being caught, I felt a bit insulted. Was that how I looked to her? I had just had the best make-out session of my life and she thought I looked like I wanted to throw up? Seriously? Deep down, I wished I could tell her the truth about what had happened. I pursed my lips and looked away, torn between feeling bad about myself after what had just happened and angry at my roommate for coming back when she did. “I was just going to my room,” I said and left the dining without sparing one last glance at either of them. The first thing I did when I entered my room was lock the door