11.

??Excuse me??? I laughed, glancing pointedly at Cam.

He shrugged. ??You heard me.??

??Yes!?? Hailey clapped her hands, ??you heard Cam! He is asking out a girl!?? she let out a squeal. ??Oh my goodness! I can??t believe that Cam just asked out a girl.??

I cleared my throat. ??Uh, he didn??t ask me out. He just stated it. Like it was pre decided,?? I pointed out.

??Patootie,?? Blake came over to me. ??Our poor Cam is shy. Give him some credit. He has never been with a girl before.??

??Blake, shut up,?? Cam deadpanned.

??You are a lucky, lucky girl that he asked you out, in whatever form. Just accept it, please??? Hailey pleaded. ??I mean, it??s totally your choice,?? she said seriously, then, her eyes turned mischievous, ??kidding. You don??t have a choice sweetheart. I built my ship ages ago and it??s going to sail one way or the other.??

I was genuinely scared of Hailey for a second.

Hailey raised her hands in surrender when everyone in the room gave her a disbelieving look. ??I am kidding, okay? Come on, you all know me!??

??Ugh! Stop it!?? Madison exclaimed. ??who the hell do you think you all are? Casting me off like I am invisible??? she let out an ugly laugh. ??Hahaha! I don??t think so. Watch me go with Cam to this party whether you like it or not.??

And, without giving anyone a chance to say anything, she stormed off, or at least started to. Blake came in her way, bringing his fake swear jar forward.

??Pay up,?? he demanded, ??or I will let Millie know how many times the uncensored version of ??heck?? was used here.??

Madison let out a frustrated breath and fished out her wallet. She was about to open it, when Kris took it from her hands and dropped the whole thing in the jar.

??Ten dollars won??t make up for what Stella had to put up with today,?? Kris shrugged in response to Madison??s gaping mouth.

??Whatever,?? Madison said, after a moment of composing herself, ??happy to help your broke asses.?? And, this time she finally walked away.

This girl just??didn??t get it, did she?

Kris turned to Blake, and whispered something in his ear, making his face go pale.

??No,?? Blake whined, ??why do you want me to share it with you???

??Because, if you don??t, then, Millie is gonna hear about this fake swear jar,?? Kris smirked. ??Oh, wait, I have another proposition for you. Either share the money with me or tell me the name of Alexander the great??s shampoo.??

Alex face palmed. ??We are still hung up on it???

??We wouldn??t be, if you had just given me a simple harmless name,?? Kris replied blankly.

??What??s going on??? I asked Hailey.

She sighed. ??Long story, Juliet. Long story.??

***

??Wow, I can??t believe I am doing this,?? I muttered to myself.

??Did you say something??? Cam frowned at me.

I quickly shook my head, and diverted my focus to my boots. Because, boots were so much more intriguing than the guy beside me, who was my so called date to this freshman party.

Yeah, so I was going with Cam. No biggie there. It??s not like I had boys lining up at my door, fighting each other to be my date. But, Cam didn??t have to know that. What he knew was what I told him, that is, ??Consider yourself lucky that you are even breathing the same air as me. I had to reject at least what??fifteen guys tonight, only so that you won??t have to go alone.??

I didn??t have a choice, okay? What other reason could I give as to why I had agreed to go with him? It didn??t help that Hailey was throwing me not so subtle smirks from the sidelines.

But, eh, this was Cam??I mean, Cameron, the all knowing, mind reading persona. He had given me an unconvinced look, and then, replied sarcastically, ??Sure. I feel so elated that you rejected these fifteen non-existent guys to go with me.??

??To go with you? Nah, not to go with you, but, only so that you wouldn??t have to go alone,?? was my very powerful response. So powerful that it caused him to roll his eyes, and shake his head.

And, so, here I was, with Cam walking by my side, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets and his sharp gaze scrutinizing the surroundings as if he expected Blake to come out of nowhere and attack him. Damn, what was I even thinking?

??Listen,?? he said, just as we were about to enter the party. ??I have lots of work to do tonight. So, don??t come following after me or looking for me, if I disappear from your sight.??

I had expected this, so it didn??t really faze me. My mind was running more along the lines of, ??what work does he have in a goddamn party other than enjoying himself???

??Also,?? he continued, ??my advice would be that, stay with my friends at all times. A lot of things go down at parties like these. You don??t want to end up wasted on a sidewalk, by the end of the night.??

??Jeez, okay, mom. I will keep that in mind.?? I replied, rolling my eyes. It felt so good to know that, my date, who already had plans of abandoning for the night, cared about me not getting wasted. Note the sarcasm, please.

We entered through the doors, and boom! We were in a completely different space. The deafening music, already made me miss the quietness and peacefulness of the outside. I scrunched up my nose at the smell of alcohol mingled with the smell of sweat. The blinding party lights were inducing a slow headache into me, and I had to take a deep breath in order to adjust to my claustrophobic surroundings.

??Never been to a party before???

I almost didn??t hear it over the loud music. But, of course, it was Cam??s voice, which was impossible, not to hear, no matter how hard the surrounding noises tried to suppress it. He always had that quiet and captivating tilt to his tone, something which couldn??t be missed or ignored.

I turned to look at him. His eyes were assessing my face, while his body was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed across his chest.

I waved a hand at him. ??I have been to parties. It??s just that??parties were never this wild back in my country.??

He straightened up, giving me a slight nod. ??Well, I hope it turns out to be a good experience for you and you don??t leave here, scarred for your life.??

Sometimes, I couldn??t tell whether he was joking or he genuinely cared.

??There you are,?? Hailey appeared in front of us all of a sudden, and took my and Cam??s hands, dragging us somewhere.

??Hailey, I have to-?? Cam started but was cut off when Hailey raised a hand.

??No excuses. We are going to enjoy today. You are going to enjoy today.?? Hailey said sternly.

??I didn??t come to this trashy party to enjoy,?? Cam replied.

??I don??t care.?? Hailey replied, still dragging us along.

I was about to ask her to teach me her ways in the art of making Cam shut up, but, before I could, she did something??unbelievable.

She brought us to a couch, pushed Cam over to it, and without missing a beat, she shoved me at him, so that my butt landed on his lap, very ungracefully.

Before I could even make sense of the situation, or start hyperventilating, I heard the click of a camera. Cam and I, both stared at Hailey with our mouths wide open.

??Oh come on, don??t give me that look,?? Hailey said, ??you are gonna thank me later. And, for God??s sake, you two are on a fricking date! I did what I had to do! Bye!??

I was left staring after her in shock and disbelief, totally forgetting about my current??position.

I became painfully aware of my reality, when Cam squirmed in his seat.

??Will you???? he cleared his throat, ??can you??please, um, move???

He said please! He fricking said please! Cam, the rudest guy I had ever met in my life, said please to me!

Who was I to refuse when he requested so nicely?

I moved, on his lap, not realizing what I was doing since my mind was so preoccupied with Hailey, camera and ??please.??

??Oh God,?? Cam breathed, ??I asked you to move away. Just??get away from me.??

I blinked once, twice, trying to comprehend what he was saying. He asked me to move??and I moved, then, he got all flustered, and he asked me to move again??

??You want me move again??? I asked him, moving a bit more.

??Move away! Not move again!?? Cam yelled over the loud music, and jostled me to the side, by my shoulders.

As soon as I was on the couch, he quickly got up, looking unsettled. ??I will-I will go now.?? he muttered, running a hand through his hair and then, disappearing from my sight.

I sat there, disoriented for a moment. What just happened? I was not even drunk. Then, why did it feel like I was high on something?

It was the atmosphere. Yup, definitely the wild and crazy atmosphere.

I got to my feet and looked around, searching for a familiar face, when Julia appeared in front of me.

??Hey, have you seen Madi??? she asked urgently.

??Um??no.??

Julia inhaled an exasperated breath. ??This girl is going to drive me to insanity! I am so fed up of her and her antics.??

??Okay, what did she do??? I asked, cautiously.

??She drank. Too much. Then, she disappeared, saying that she was going to ??get cam????

??Ah, this is not good. Cam is going to be pissed. He went to do some important work tonight.?? I mused.

Our conversation was interrupted when an unknown guy walked over to us. Julia smiled at him, and gave him a side hug.

??Hey, I am Sean.?? The guy introduced himself to me, ??also known as noodles?? brother.??

Uh??what?!

??Speaking of which,?? Sean continued, ??have you guys seen noodles???

??Um, you will find it in the kitchen I think.?? I told him, ??Though, I am not sure if they have noodles at this party.??

Sean and Julia started laughing at my response, leaving me confused.

??Omg!?? Julia said, between her laughter, ??He is talking about Kris! Kris Noodles Mendes.?? then, she pinched my cheeks, which I was sure, were red with embarrassment now. ??You are so cute, Juliet, really.??

Before I could reply, we were interrupted again, by none other than my roommate winter.

She grabbed my arm, and brought me to the side. ??Listen, I saw your wacko sister at this party, wearing one of my dresses.??

Oh crap!

??You better find her, take her back and get my dress back to me in one piece.?? Winter warned, then, walked away.

Oh God! Why did my sister have to crash this party? Really, Cherry?! Ugh!

I could already see what kind of night I was going to have??let??s just say it was not a very pretty picture.

A/N: OML! I updated! I can??t believe it! Eeh! Anyway, I hope you all like the chapter, because, well, what can I say, it??s an outcome of pushing very hard through my writer??s block :( Oh, and get ready for a long night, with Cam on a mission, Madison on a bigger mission and Cherry on??God knows what XD