Tame

by India Marshall

  "Aww, Jason can be Cammie's date!" I clapped my hands together.

  "I am not gay!" Cameron snapped, standing up. "Not with J, not with Justin Bieber and most definitely not with Riley freakin' Tucker!"

  We were all stunned into silence. Cameron looked pretty damn angry. A small cough from behind him made us all peer around Cameron's muscular body, to reveal one very, very, disturbed Riley.

  Holy Shit. The kind that goes on toast.

  "R-Riles?" I was the first to recover. "What are you doing here?"

  "I'm your waiter for tonight." Riley stammered.

  "You work here?" I gasped.

  "That's why he's our waiter, genius." Cameron scoffed.

  "Dude, stop." Jason nudged him. Cameron shot him a fierce glare. Jason put his hands up in defense, before Cameron sighed and his green eyes landed on me again. I cleared my throat and looked away from him. For some unknown reason, I felt awkward.

  "So...what happened to your job at SAVE-AN-ANIMAL?" I asked Riley.

  "I work there part-time now." Riley explained.

  "Aw no, why?" I questioned. "You're like my best friend!"

  Riley coughed uncomfortably. "Yes, well. I needed a change."

  "Oh, okay. Do we still get to work together?" I inquired.

  "Let's just get on with your order."

  "We have no menus." J raised his eyebrows at Riley.

  Riley blushed. Looking flustered, he said, " Right. Sorry. One minute."

  "What a great job he's doing." Cameron said sarcastically.

  Again, what an ass.

  "I ruv pizza." Jason told us all through his food. Somehow he managed to spit his food at each and every one of us. This was a great date so far.

  "So do I, but I like to keep it in my mouth." I stated.

  "Rorry." Jason splattered me again, right in the face.

  "You sound like Scooby-Doo."

  "You look like him." Jason retorted, spraying me yet again with bits of chewed up pizza.

  "Grrr." I giggled, poking him. "Hey guys?"

  "Hm?" They answered simultaneously. Cameron seemed to have simmered down and was finally responding in the least sarcastic way he could.

  "Why do you think Riley only works part time now?" I sighed.

  "Maybe because you rejected him?" Tanner supplied.

  "I didn't...oh I did." I looked at my hands awkwardly.

  "But it's fine babe, you've got me now." Tanner said smoothly, smiling. I brightened up immediately - he had called me 'babe' again! In front of people!

  "Babe?" Cameron choked.

  "Yes." I said through gritted teeth, giving him a pleading look to not say anything. Being Cameron Carter, he ignored me.

  "Why do you call me a man-whore when you've had two dates already in the past two weeks or so?" Cameron demanded.

  "Cameron!" I squeaked.

  "I'm just saying. 'Babe'? Aren't you rushing into things? I'm sure 'Riles' would hate you even more for that." Cameron pointed out.

  "Hate me?" I echoed, my voice a whisper. "No! We're best friends, nothing more, nothing less."

  "That's not what he thinks."

  "Why do you call him Riles anyway?" Tanner asked, sounding bored. "Does he get you all riled up? 'Cause trust me, I can do more than that." Tanner sent me a wink, but I was too busy gawping at his words to react.

  "More than...okay. I'm...I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Then I'm gonna pee, and when I get back, you're gonna change the topic. Completely. No discussing me, or what gets me...never mind. Got it?" I stood up, stumbling over my words.

  "Feeling uncomfortable?" Cameron asked, quite gently.

  "N-no!" I backed away from the table. "I'm just...gonna pee. Change the topic!"

  I raced away, only to trip over something and land with my chocolalte-smeared butt in the air. When I looked up to see what I tripped over, I saw the blonde waitress smirking down at me.

  "So sorry." She hissed. I got up, blushing, and hurried into the bathroom.

  Once in the bathroom, I had a sense of déjà vu, because I pulled out my phone and dialled Hayley's number.

  "Hey girl! What's going on?"

  "Ew, don't talk like that." I cringed. "Okay, I'm on my date with Tanner-"

  "What? No way! Yay for you!"

  "But Cameron and Jason tagged along-"

  "Huh? I don't think you understand the concept of a date!" She chortled from her end of the phone.

  "I know what a date is!" I huffed. "Just listen. I sat on a candy bar and my butt is covered in chocolate, and now Riley's showed up!"

  She was silent for a minute. "Is Riley on a date too?"

  "What? No." I shook my head, knowing she couldn't see me anyway. "Riley is the waiter! He's only doing part-time at Aunt Tessie's place. Has he said anything to you?" I gabbled.

  "...only that he finds it awkward."

  "Awkward? What's awkward?" I asked quickly.

  "Awkward to be around you, stupid! You rejected him!"

  I couldn't help but feel guilty. This date was not going well.

  "Oh..." I moaned. I trailed off, and then hung up.

  I was a great friend-sense the sarcasm.

  I slumped back to the table where the guys were.

  "You still look a mess." Cameron nodded, as if confirming something.

  "'Scuse me?" I blinked.

  "Girls always fix their hair, make-up and clothes while they're in the bathroom. You however, still look a mess." Cameron explained.

  "Thanks so much, Cammie." I scowled. "I can't fix my hair, I don't have a brush."

  "Use your hands." Jason suggested.

  "Is my appearance that bad?" I huffed.

  "Yes." Jason nodded.

  "Course not." Tanner smiled. I didn't know why, but I wasn't as thrilled to hear that after the disastrous date. My dreams of being Mrs. Farrah West was not in my mind at that particular moment.

  "Fine. I'll just go back to the bathroom then." I spun on my heel and flounced off.

  I was such an idiot. How stupid must that have looked?

  I was just about to go back into the bathroom, when someone caught my arm. I turned around to see Cameron.

  "What do you want?" I groaned. He didn't answer, but moved extra close to me. My breath hitched in my throat, just like it did when he pinned me up against the wall a few weeks ago. He lifted his hand, and it floated through the air to my face. He brushed a loose ringlet from my face, and I started breathing quite heavily- out loud.

  "I'm gonna help you fix your hair." Cameron told me, smiling. He moved us away from view of the others, and turned me so my back faced him. I felt him tug my hair down, so it fell around my waist. He combed his fingers through it, before scooping it up, and putting it back up for me. I wasn't sure if he was done, so I stayed still.

  "Farrah, you can move now." Cameron said. I slowly faced him again, a small smile creeping on to my face.

  "Thank you." I nodded.

  He saluted me, and strolled back to our table.

  I pushed open the door to the bathroom and went over to the sink. There was a small girl around twelve or thirteen, applying make-up badly. I stood next to her, trying not to laugh at her clown-like face. I tried to re-apply my eyeliner, but my hand was shaking. I couldn't stop thinking about what Cameron did. My neck tingled from where his fingers had brushed past it to put my hair back up.

  "Do you want me to do that for you?" The clown girl asked. I bit my lip, not sure what to say. I didn't want to look any worse.

  "Um...sure." I decided I couldn't look any worse (except for my hair) so a little clown make-up wouldn't make a difference. She took my eyeliner from me and began to slick it back on my eyes. When she was done, I actually liked it. "Thanks, kid."

  "You're welcome." She grinned. "And here."

  She handed me a jacket, one long enough to hide my ass.

  "I can't take your jacket!" I cried.

  "It's not mine." The kid shook her head, laughing. "It's my step-Mom's. I hate her- you keep it."
>
  That would be bad.

  But it's a nice jacket.

  And it would cover the stain.

  Hm. Good out-rules bad.

  I walked back to our table confidently.

  "Hey guys." I grinned.

  "Where did that jacket-" Jason began.

  "Doesn't matter." I waved him off. "Hey can we get desserts?"

  "Sure. Let's get a huge ice-cream to share." Tanner told me.

  "Oh...okay." I kinda wanted my own dessert. I was hungry. Damn boys.

  When our desserts arrived, a very hairy waitress brought them, making Cameron and Jason cringe at her appearance. Rude.

  "That girl was..." Cameron started.

  "Hot." Jason cut him off. We all gaped at him.

  "Uh, you feeling okay?" Tanner asked.

  "I said she was hot. I never said how hot." Jason explained. "She's about as hot as this ice-cream."

  We all laughed, and J began to stuff his face. We all ate our desserts, except for Cameron who was flicking some at me on a spoon.

  "Stop it!" I moaned, pushing him away.

  "No, you love ice-cream, don't you?" Cameron teased, pressing his cold spoon on my cheek.

  "Yeeeaaa!" I squealed. "Stop it! That's freezing!"

  "I'll show you freezing." Cameron grinned evilly.

  "Wait what are you-"

  He jumped up from his seat, raced behind my chair, and dumped a spoonful of bitter, cold ice-cream down my back.

  "CA-ME-RON!" I screamed. Everyone looked at me, and I mean everyone. What I did next was enough for them all to start recording. I picked up the dessert Tanner and I were supposed to be sharing, and dumped it on Cameron's head.

  "Oh m-m-my God! H-hell to the n-no!" Cameron shivered. He started throwing Jason's dessert at me. I ducked behind Tanner, who then fell to his knees, letting me get covered in more food.

  "FOOD FIGHT!" Jason roared. Everyone in the entire restaurant stood up, and began chucking food around- not what we expected at all. But we joined in, throwing food around like maniacs. One woman was sat down still, trying to eat a chocolate cake. I noticed the little girl from the bathroom earlier next to her.

  "Is this your step-Mom?" I asked her. She nodded. I smiled sweetly at the lady, and then picked up her cake.

  Splat.

  Now everyone in the room was covered in some sort of food.

  It was mayhem. My hair was splashed with pink and white, my clothes stained with chocolate and jam. There was spaghetti in Jason's hair, a piece of pizza on Cameron's head. Tanner only had minor damage, he was under the table. I was about to throw a glass of water over the blonde waitress' head, when he tugged my ankle. I ducked down to see him.

  "Yeah?" I asked.

  "This night went awful. So I'm gonna make it better for you." He told me.

  "It's actually quite f-" I began. But I didn't get too finish. Tanner pressed his lips to mine, his extremely warm, while mine were probably frozen. I was too shocked to react- but one thing ran through my mind. Wasn't there supposed to be sparks?

  He pulled away, grinning.

  "How was that?" Tanner asked. I was still completely shocked. I did the only thing I could think of.

  I tipped the water over him.

  "It was...nice." I managed to choke out. I got up, running away from him. I just had my first kiss. Holy shit on toast. I ran faster to the thought of that, and bumped into someone.

  "J?" I questioned.

  "I saw you and Tanner." He hissed.

  "S-so?" I quivered, not liking the angry expression on his face.

  "Whatever you do, don't tell Cameron."

  Chapter 23

  I was shaken by Jason's words. Why was he being so cold? And what the hell did he mean, 'don't tell Cameron'? I didn't have time to think it over though, as a man in a suit came and stomped over to us, looking very, very pissed off.

  "Stop!" He yelled. "Stop at once!"

  I wasn't sure what he was yelling about. Why didn't he just join in? I decided to get him involved by squashing a blueberry pie onto his posh suit. His face slowly turned bright red, and he seems to grow, where I shrunk smaller than I already was.

  "How dare you?!" He raged. I took a step back, but he caught my wrist and dragged me closer to him. "I'll have you arrested!"

  My eyes went wide with fear- what was he going on about? Oh sweet Jesus, was he a Mayor? I swallowed and turned my eyes to his suit, where a small silver badge was pinned.

  Manager.

  Good move, Farrah.

  "What's going on?" Jason appeared out of no where, narrowing his eyes at the man holding on to me.

  "He...he's the m-manager." I stammered.

  Jason scoffed, but he put down the bowl of soup in his hands. We stood together, waiting to be arrested- or worse, murdered. The man didn't release me, but instead dragged me around the restuarant, stopping at every person, screaming at them. Soon, the whole restuarant was at stand still. The man finally let go of me, and I stumbled backwards into someone. I looked up to see it was Cameron. His arms were wrapped around me, to stop me falling. I pulled away awkwardly. I had just had my first kiss with Tanner, poured water over him, and been told not to tell Cameron. So what happens? I fall into Cameron's arms.

  Why couldn't I tell him?

  But would I even tell him?

  It was a horrible way to get kissed...

  "I want every single one of you out right now!" The manager practically screeched. "The damage you have made to my restuarant is disgusting! I've never seen such...such-"

  "Disgusting-ness?" Cameron supplied, smirking.

  "OUT!" The manager roared. We all scuttled away feeling the glares on our backs. My cheeks were bright red, I was so ashamed.

  When we emerged from the restuarant, the boys broke into hyena-like laughter. I could barely believe my ears. They were laughing? After what just happened? I felt like fainting.

  "Oh come on, Farrah." Cameron chuckled. "It was...pretty funny!"

  "It. Was. Not. Funny." I cried, waving my arms around in his face. "We could have been-"

  "Arrested?" Jason cackled.

  I nodded my head, feeling so different from them. I felt like an alien next to these bad boys. I was such a goody two-shoes. It kind of bugged me.

  "That was the best night ever!" Cameron cried, punching the air. "Shoving ice cream down Farrah's back was my highlight."

  He winked at me, so I hit him.

  "Stop hitting me!" He jumped away from me like I was some kind of monster.

  "Stop making me!" I snapped. I was cold from being covered in frozen foods and drenched clothing. Tanner looked as hacked off as I did. Maybe I shouldn't have poured water over his head. We headed towards the car, and I stopped right in front of it. Where would I sit? I couldn't sit next to Tanner, that would be way too awkward. I had ruined my chance at happiness with him.

  But for happiness, shouldn't there be sparks?

  Oh shut up brain. Just get in the car.

  The problem was, I didn't know where to sit. I felt like Rebecca Black. Which seat did I take?

  I stood, dithering, for at least a minute. It took me a few seconds to realise everyone else was already in the car. Tanner wasn't looking at me, instead he was looking at the steering wheel.

  Not in the front then.

  I decided to sit in between Cameron and Jason. I'd have to climb over Jason to get in though. I sighed, when a hand caught onto my wrist. I screamed, thinking it was the manager. When I actually looked at the hand, it was all bandaged up. It was just Jason's.

  "Get in the freakin' car!" He cried.

  "Sorry, I was..." I looked at Tanner. "Thinking."

  "Well think faster." J told me, getting out and letting me in first. I slid into the middle seat, bumping my hip against Cameron's. Jason got in next to me, and the body heat coming from both of them made me feel warmer. I just wanted to hug them both. But that would be just wrong. I was supposed to be on a date with Tanner.

  "I'll drop Cameron off
first." Tanner said coolly from the front, his eyes fixed on me from his rearview mirror. I wanted to puke- I felt really nervous for some unknown reason.

  Calm down, he won't murder you.

  I gulped anyway, looking at each boy in turn. Jason was looking out of the window, and Cameron winked at me. I pulled a face, and he leant forward to whisper something in my ear.

  "Try to contain yourself. This date is for you and your dream boy up front." He whispered. He pulled away, chuckling quietly at my confused face. I realised I was holding onto his jacket for warmth. Oops.

  "Oh go away you jerk." I slapped his arm.

  "Feisty, just how I like it." He chortled.

  "Jaaason!" I whined. "Cameron's a-annoying me!"

  "Good job, Cameron." Jason joked.

  "You guys are both j-jackasses!" I shivered.

  "You're cold." Cameron stated.

  "No holy shit sherlock." I rolled my eyes.

  "Holy shit?" Tanner questioned. Oh good, I wasn't in the dog house. "That's not the saying."

  Oh.

  "Aw, come here baby girl." Jason cooed, wrapping his arms around me. He was joking I knew, but he was too warm, and I wasn't going to let go.

  "Uh, Farrah, let go." Cameron prodded me. I snuggled into Jason even more, clutching onto his tight black shirt. He had no ice cream on one little patch, so I decided to cuddle him there.

  "No." I said stubbornly. "J's warm."

  "So am I, babe." Cameron winked, wiggling his eyebrows.

  "Get lost." I poked out my tongue, burying myself in Jason, who had seemed to have gotten used to the idea that I wasn't going to let go. Cameron's face fell. I smirked to myself- he obviously wasn't used to being turned down.

  Man-whore.

  "You're speaking your thoughts out loud again." Jason told me.

  "Ah, geez."

  The car ride seemed to go on forever. The silence sure wasn't helping. Cameron hadn't said a word since I started hugging Jason- he was pouting. I just wanted to slap some sense into these boys. Tanner drove quite fast, breaking the speed limit. But it didn't make time go any faster to me. When we finally drew to a stop outside Cameron's house, he got out of the car and slammed it shut. If we were in the Himalayas, that would've caused an avalanche. What was his problem?