Camille: I could just shut Lucia’s ranting up by saying the words ‘your brother and I already fucked’, but who knew if that would lead her to a cardiac arrest. The old me would have totally agreed with her. The old me would have gotten a stroke if she had somehow managed to see the future, but knowing what I now knew, that wasn’t the case. “What’s the worst that can happen?” I asked Lucia, interrupting her. “If I’m with your brother and he tricked me like you said, that is.” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “What’s the worst that can happen? Have you lost your goddamn mind ?” She shook her head and made a tsk sound as she turned to her brother. “I don’t know what he told you, but now I believe her. You’re the biggest manipulator in the whole damn world.” I sighed. “You didn’t answer my question.” “He leaves you right after you lose your virginity to him and you go the rest of your life remembering that shameful fact,” she said. I smiled weakly. “You lost your virginit
Camille: Looking up at the two siblings, their faces were exactly the way I imagined each would be in reaction to my news. Daniel was biting back a triumphant smirk, while Lucia looked like she had swallowed a poisoned apple. Her arms were crossed over the other with her body half-turned to me, a sign she hadn’t been expecting any words to come out of my mouth, so she couldn’t even be bothered to give me complete attention, only for my news to make her freeze. Now I had brought everything out in the open, my confidence level skyrocketed. What had I even been so afraid of? I mean sure, my best friend hated me now, but when it came to who to please, I had to choose myself. Lucia’s hung open mouth finally closed and she turned to face me fully. Her steely gaze was speckled with something else I couldn’t place. Sure I had caught her off guard with my controversial outburst, but there seemed to be a pleading look behind her eyes. Or maybe I was just imagining what I wanted to s
Camille: “I only called you here so you wouldn’t switch up on me when you saw Lucia,” Daniel said immediately after I entered his room. My heart sank, but I couldn’t blame him. I had brought this upon myself by my past actions. “I’ve already made up my mind to leave. You telling me you love me isn’t going to change that. You and I both know it isn’t true,” he continued. Being in his room after so long felt weird. Everything was still put together, with nothing out of place. If I hadn’t been here at random times and seen how arranged he always was, I would have assumed he had some girl coming over. “It’s true,” I said firmly. I couldn’t believe I had professed my love to him, but there was no going back now. I didn’t even want to go back. Daniel’s jaw tensed. It was as though my words or even my presence agitated him further. “Has anyone told you you’re really annoying?” I shrugged, sitting on the bed even though he hadn’t asked me to. “I’ve been called crazy and childish but
Camille: “Back to London?” I repeated, a pry of me hoping he would correct me and tell me I had misheard. “Yeah,” he answered, his eyes still glued to his phone. I didn’t know which was worse- the reality of what he had just told me or how casually he was treating this news that was threatening to break my entire world apart. “But you…you said…” Where was I even going with this? “What did I say?” He asked. “I always said I would go back to London when I had myself sorted out.” My heart was beating too fast. I felt like I would hyperventilate. This was the worst news I could have possibly heard this morning. “Do you have yourself sorted out now? What have you sorted?” I asked, not caring that I was beginning to sound angry. He must have heard the sharp tone in my voice because he finally looked away from his phone. Good. At least I would feel better if he took this seriously. Daniel shrugged. “I’ve ’sorted out’ the fact that there’s nothing for me here in New York.
Camille: The sound of my phone ringing woke me up. I looked around for a while, momentarily dazed as my brain tried to process all that had happened before now. Daniel. He was the first thought in my head every morning and the last before I went to bed. But why did I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I remembered him this morning? The incessant ringing wouldn’t let me concentrate. “Hello,” I muttered sleepily into the phone. “I’ve been trying to reach you all week!” My mother’s angry voice reverberated through the phone. I had to push my head back a little. “I’m about to board Cami. It’s going to be a couple of hours but I need to know if you’ll be there to pick me up when I land.” I scratched my head while I tried to make sense of what she was talking about. If she hadn’t called my name, I would have assumed she dialed the wrong number. “Cami, you there?” “What are you talking about, mom?” I asked in a tired voice. Pause. “What am I talk
Daniel: Something had to be wrong with me but I couldn’t explain it. Here I was standing in front of my sister, excitedly waiting for her to make a statement so I could tell her exactly what was going on. Maybe it was the rush of rare emotions I had felt knowing Cam would have been crushed into a thousand pieces if I hadn’t gotten to her when I did, or the fact that carrying her and feeling her body heat on mine felt like the most natural, yet fulfilling thing in the world. “Are you sure?” I asked Cam again, just to be sure she understood what I meant, but she didn’t take her eyes off the door. It was as if she was even offended by the fact that I had to ask. She didn’t seem like she had any plans of letting me go. That made me feel awesome. I almost laughed. Something was definitely wrong with me. Since when did I get excited about some girl being proud to show me off, and of all people, to my sister. I couldn’t explain it. Something about Camille was differen