Tame

by India Marshall

  "Cameron Carter? Oh no, isn't he that blonde boy that came in here once?" My Aunt frowned.

  "Yeah, that's him." I sighed.

  "And what's the problem with him?"

  "He's a jackass."

  "Farrah!"

  "Sorry. He is the ass of a Jack. I like him but he hates me." I whined.

  "Don't give up, honey. Come on, let's take your mind off of it. You'll never guess what I found!" My Aunt beamed.

  "What?"

  "He's gorgeous!" I cooed, looking at the tiny, green, tortoise in my hands.

  "Isn't he just? He's our first tortoise. Poor thing, his owners left him in a pond to die. He's not a turtle!" My Aunt fumed.

  "How horrible!" I agreed. "Aw, poor little guy. Does he have a name?"

  "When I found him, he was by a tiger lily plant. So I was thinking of calling him Tiger." My Aunt informed me.

  "A tortoise? Called Tiger?" I questioned her.

  "Why not?" She grinned impishly, taking 'Tiger' from my hands. I laughed at her and decided to go and check on the horses outside, I wanted some fresh air. Besides, Linda looked like she was all set to start giving me boy advice from her desk. I shuddered at the thought.

  Riley happened to be by the horses, so I decided to see if he and Hayley had gotten together yet.

  "Hey Riles." I tapped his shoulder. He jumped, his blue eyes darting around, before landing on me. He smiled at his jumpy-ness, and then at me.

  "Hi, Farrah! How're you?" He grinned.

  "Not too bad." I sighed. "How about you?"

  "Great!" He replied, completely unaware I was upset. Well, I was trying to cheer myself up.

  "How come you're in such a good mood?" I winked, getting out a horse brush, beginning to brush one of the youngest horses, who had a lot of mud on her backside.

  "You were right." He said simply.

  "About...?" I teased, all though, of course, I already knew.

  "Me and Hayley. I think I really do like her. We spent all day together." Riley's cheeks burned a faint pink color, making me laugh fondly.

  "See? I was right! Always listen to Farrah." I laughed, flicking my hair over my shoulder. My gut was growling at me, almost telling me that listening to me was not always right.

  "Thanks, Farrah." Riley suddenly hugged me, his once thin arms, which had seemed to grow very muscular. It showed how much time I spent with my friends.

  "That's okay." I mumbled into his shirt. I wrapped my little arms around his neck, trying to pretend he was Cameron.

  I was slowly turning into Bella Swan. Obsessed, weird, and down right clingy.

  "Farrah?" Riley pulled away, looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Is everything all right?"

  "You like Hayley right?" I asked him, not answering his question.

  "Um...yes, I do." Riley nodded.

  "Tell her that everyday." I said simply. I smiled sadly and headed back to the main building- I was going home.

  "Farrah!" Riley called after me. I ignored him, I was being such a drama Queen.

  The guy I liked hated me- I had a reason to be dramatic.

  ***

  "Well maybe he likes you back." My Mom told me at breakfast the next morning.

  "Ro re rates ree." I told her through some yogurt.

  "I'm sure he doesn't. Why would he care so much otherwise?" My Mom raised her eyebrows at me.

  "He's the King of drama." I swallowed my yogurt. My Mom rolled her eyes, taking my empty yogurt pot and dumping it in the bin. Under her breath, I swore I heard her mutter, "You'd be perfect together then."

  I got to school in a foul mood. I had double French, and now that we had finished our exams, we had to move back to our original seats. Jason got to sit with Cameron, at the back of the classroom, but I had to sit on my own, at the front.

  "Farrah, can you tell me the answer?" Mr Lopez interrupted my brooding.

  "No, sir, I didn't understand the question." I replied immediately, thinking that was my best answer.

  "Oh, did I not explain it properly?" He asked.

  "I...don't know sir. I don't really understand, uh..." I trailed off, peering at the board, trying to see what we were supposed to be learning about. "The future tense of verbs."

  "I can give you some extra help if you like?" Mr Lopez flashed me a toothy grin.

  Pedophile.

  "It's fine." I assured him quickly. "I'll pick it up."

  For the rest of the lesson, I returned to my old, geeky self, scribbling the answers to any questions we had, thirty seconds before everyone else. I finished my work and sat, bored. Usually I would talk to Jason, but now he wasn't there. I took a sneaky look at him, to see him and Cameron laughing their heads off like animals. I sighed.

  "Mr Evans, Mr Carter, would you please keep your voices down?" Mr Lopez snapped. They ignored him, laughing harder at whatever their joke was about. I sincerely hoped I wasn't the joke. Everyone was now looking at them, and Cameron glared at everyone in turn.

  "What are you looking at?" He spat. They turned away quickly, but not me. I hadn't seen Cameron that...vicious before. His icy glare landed on me, his green eyes glinting. I faced the front once more, trying to shake the image of him glaring at me out of my head.

  Mr Lopez came over to me when he saw that I wasn't working.

  "Are you finished Farrah?" He asked curiously, as if I couldn't possibly be finished.

  "Yes, Sir." I nodded. He inspected my work, ticking each question with a green pen. I heard another loud laugh, followed by Cameron 'coughing', "Teachers pet!"

  My cheeks flamed, I felt so embarrassed. Why did Cameron have to be so mean?

  "Mr Carter, do you have something to share with the class?"

  "No, Sir, not at all, Sir." Cameron mocked me. I winced, not looking at him.

  "Are you contradicting me?" Mr Lopez demanded.

  "I might be." Cameron replied cockily. I stole a glance at him- he was smirking like a jerk.

  "Mr Carter! How dare you speak to a member of staff that way!" Mr Lopez cried, clearly outraged.

  "I dare, Sir," I cringed. "Because I'm Cameron Carter."

  Mr Lopez didn't seem to think much of this, and sent Cameron out of the room.

  "That is well unfair!" Jason cried.

  "Perhaps you'd best sit with Miss Chambers again, Mr Evans. You aren't as well behaved as you should be with Mr Carter."

  "What? No way!" Jason whined. I felt hurt he didn't want to sit with me.

  "She's a nerd." I heard someone mutter. Why was everyone suddenly so horrible?

  "Then I suggest you sit quietly." Mr Lopez frowned. Jason didn't speak much for the rest of the lesson, and Cameron had to stay outside for the whole time. When I left the classroom when the bell sounded, he scowled at me as we passed each other. I just didn't understand him.

  At lunch, I sat with Hayley and Riley, who were very loved up. Oh, yay.

  "Would you like me to buy you anything, Hayley?" Riley asked sweetly.

  "No thanks, Riles." She beamed. "Hurry back!"

  I wanted to gag.

  "So, you and Riley are together then?" I managed to choke out.

  "Not together, together. He hasn't asked me out yet." Hayley informed me.

  "Why don't you just ask him?" I queried, trying to sound enthusiastic.

  "No way! It is totally the guy's job to do that." Hayley laughed at me.

  "That's kind of sexist." I rolled my eyes.

  "You don't know about this kind of thing." Hayley waved me off. "So, how are you and Cameron?"

  "He hates me." I said flatly.

  "I'm sure he doesn't." Hayley cooed. "Aw, don't worry Farrah."

  "What are we talking about?" Riley asked, joining us again.

  "Farrah thinks Cameron hates her." Hayley filled him in.

  "Oh...well he's stupid, just ignore him." Riley told me, flicking his blonde hair out of his face, revealing his pointy ears.

  "Thanks." I sighed, grateful they were trying to make me feel better. I sat up, re
ady to start a conversation with them, but they were wrapped up in each other's love.

  "You have a cute nose." Hayley squealed to Riley, poking it. He flushed a little, smiling.

  "So do you." Was his amazing- sense the sarcasm- reply. Hayley giggled and flashed her braces at him, smiling broadly.

  This was so weird.

  "I bought you a cookie, because I know you love them." Riley told her.

  "Aww!" Hayley gushed, taking it from him.

  "I thought you didn't want anything?" I asked her.

  "Thank you sooo much, Riles!" Hayley flung her arms around him.

  Kill me.

  "You're very welcome, cupcake."

  Right now.

  I was about to interrupt again, when a massive crash startled me.

  "I-I'm sorry!" A boy wearing a checkered shirt squeaked.

  "Yeah you should be!" Anoher voice roared. I looked up and saw Cameron yelling at the kid. What was going on?

  "It was an accident!"

  "Sure it was." Cameron growled. I noticed his shirt was covered in spaghetti.

  "It was! I'm so sorry, Cameron!" The boy cried painfully.

  "Don't act like you know me!" Cameron snapped. "Get out of here, before I punch your lights out!"

  I gasped. Cameron hated violence! What was wrong with him? Why was he being a bully?

  The kid scampered off. I noticed he was around Brody's age. Why the hell was Cameron so mad?

  "Little brat!" Cameron barked, flicking bits of pasta off of him. Jason was looking on, not really doing anything to restrain Cameron. Jason just looked a little disappointed.

  By then, a crowd had gathered, watching Cameron. His head snapped up, meeting every single person's eyes. He snarled, "Take a picture, it lasts longer!"

  Real original.

  I was brought back to my friends conversation when Hayley muttered, "What an idiot."

  "He's not an idiot!" I jumped to his defence.

  "He was just bullying that kid, Farrah." Riley said to me.

  "I know." I snapped, standing up and walking away. I was being a bad friend, but just then, I couldn't care less.

  I ran out of the cafeteria, and found Jason, who was standing behind Cameron, who was yelling at someone else.

  "J!" I hissed. His black hair bounced as he turned to face me.

  "I know, I know." Jason sighed before I even said anything.

  "Why is he acting like this?" I demanded.

  "He-"

  "Jason! Come on!" Cameron ordered, not looking at me. Jason shrugged at me apologetically, following Cameron out of the hallway.

  "You're such a sheep!" I yelled after him. He didn't turn around, though I knew he had heard me. I saw him pass Brody, who was laughing with his friends at Cameron's actions.

  "Brody!" I called, waving at him. His friends nudged him, and made silly kissy noises, which Brody rolled his eyes at. At a boy.

  "Hey, Farrah." He nodded.

  "Hi." I rushed my words. "Are you sure you didn't mean to send that recording to Cameron?"

  "I didn't, honestly." Brody held up his hands. "You two are next to each other on my contacts. Carter, Chambers?"

  "Right. Thanks." I smiled weakly. I stalked away to my next lesson, five minutes early. Unluckily for me, Cameron was in that too. I wondered if he would act up.

  "Cameron Carter! Get out of my classroom right now!" My math teacher screeched.

  "Yeah, yeah, whatever lady." Cameron laughed, standing up and strolling out of the room. I wanted to slap that stupid smirk off of his face. I'd never seen him so idiotic before. Through all the time I'd begun to be friends with Cameron, he'd been fairly good at school. Even before we met he wasn't that bad.

  I remembered back to a Geography lesson, which Cameron was in with me. We sat on the same row, but at opposite ends. I never spoke to him, and vice versa. I remembered him laughing loudly with a brown haired boy I didn't know, who sat next to him. The teacher told them to be quiet, and Cameron ignored him. The teacher asked them to be quiet again, and that time Cameron started whispering instead. When the teacher told him off a third time, Cameron apologised, finished his work, and then continued his conversation. He wasn't being bad, not really. Just cheeky. I remembered his big grin whenever the teacher told him off, the sparkle in his eyes.

  In the math lesson I was in right at that moment, Cameron didn't have a smile or sparkly eyes. Just a smirk, his eyes filled with anger, annoyance. He sloped out of the door, avoiding my gaze. It was like he had been abducted by aliens, had his brain swapped with someone else. I wanted the old Cameron back.

  But Cameron just got worse over the weeks. I hadn't spoken to him since the incident at his house. It was three weeks later, and all Cameron had done was cause havoc and misery across school. He wasn't being funny, bad-ass or clever. He was being down right mean. It was Thursday, and it was two days before my birthday. I had spoken to Jason, who agreed to come and see me on my birthday. I hadn't asked Cameron- I knew he would say no.

  "What do you want for your birthday?" Hayley asked me for the fifth time. We were sat outside on the school field, though it was only April.

  "I don't really know." I shrugged my shoulders. "You don't have to get me anything."

  "Yes we do!" Riley chuckled. "Think about what you want."

  "I already have a present for you." Jason grinned cockily. He had started hanging out with us for a bit every lunch time, as Cameron was hanging around with a lot of new people that Jason didn't really like. They all seemed to be people he had beaten up in the past.

  "What is it?" I asked curiously.

  "That's not the idea, Farrah." Jason poked his tongue out.

  "Are you doing anything for your birthday?" Riley asked. "It is Saturday, after all."

  "Not that I know of. I'll see you guys for a few hours, and I'll spend the rest of my time with my family I expect." I sighed at my amazing eighteenth birthday plans.

  "It's so annoying you're going to be older than me." Hayley frowned. "I hate being the youngest!"

  Jason and Riley were already eighteen. Riley was born a month and a day before me, and Jason's birthday was in October, on Halloween. Hayley was the youngest of us, her birthday being in July.

  "Haha, I can annoy Troy though. Now he can't use the, 'I'm older than you' excuse." I laughed.

  "For a month anyway." Riley grinned. Troy's birthday was the second to last day of May, and he loved it being close to my birthday, so he always remained older than me for longer.

  "I really need to get you a present." Hayley muttered to herself. "Hey Jason, what are you getting her?"

  Jason whispered it in her ear, and she giggled. I saw Riley tense a bit. Him and Hayley were dating now, I enjoyed calling them, 'Hayles'. They had started dating a week ago, when Hayley finally listened to me and asked Riley out- he was so shy.

  "Tell me what it is, as well." Riley demanded. Jason muttered it to him too, and I tried to listen in. I heard the word shirt, and panicked. What if Jason had bought me a horrible, tight top or something, and I had to wear it around him so he felt good about buying me it? Oh sweet baby Jesus. I imagined a big, pink, poufy shirt with sequins and sparkles.

  Yeuch.

  The bell for the next lesson rang, loud and clear, shaking me out of my thoughts. I sighed irritably, we had French. I set off with Jason, waving goodbye to Hayley and Riley. They were on a school trip the next day, so I would be alone. We trooped to French, just talking about whether we had homework or not, when I bumped into someone. Great.

  "Watch it." Cameron hissed.

  "Cameron." Jason warned. I didn't say anything, I just got up, blushing like mad, and began to walk away. Somehow, even with Cameron being really mean, I liked him. He still made me blush, and the butterflies in my stomach told me to man up when I was around him.

  "C'mon J. Let's skip class." Cameron told Jason. Jason grinned, but then his face fell. Mr Lopez was standing right behind Cameron.

  "I do not suggest that, Mr Cart
er." Mr Lopez said sternly. "Into the classroom, please."

  "Nah, I think Imma go home actually." Cameron winked, strolling off.

  "Cameron!" Jason barked.

  "Come on, loosen up Jason!" He laughed. What was wrong with him? He was acting completely different.

  "Mr Carter-"

  "Mr Carter! Mr Evans! Miss Chambers!" Cameron mimicked him. I had to stiffle a laugh. I swore Cameron grinned at me as I did.

  "Cameron Carter. Go to the Principal's office, right now." Mr Lopez tried again.

  Cameron narrowed his eyes. "Make me."

  The next part happened in what seemed slow motion. Mr Lopez marched over to Cameron, grabbing his arm. Cameron punched Mr Lopez in the stomach, making him double over. Jason ran over and restrained him, and I nearly screamed.

  Cameron wasn't violent! What was he doing?

  "You-you are suspended!" Mr Lopez choked out.

  "Woo freakin' hoo!" Cameron cried sarcastically, punching the air. "Adios!"

  I was as stunned as I was when he kissed me in my dream. Maybe even more. I backed up into our French classroom. Everyone was gathered by the windows- so I joined them, only to see Cameron speeding off in his car.

  ***

  I was hesitant to go to school on Friday. Without Hayley or Riley, or Jason in any of my lessons, I didn't feel it was necessary. I was all set to skip school but my Mom was all too aware of my reasons.

  "You are going to school, Missy." Mom told me, yanking my bed covers off.

  "Nooo Mom!" I moaned. "It's only Friday!"

  "It's only your education!" She tickled me until I got out of bed.

  "Oh fine!" I huffed, going to shower. When I was ready and dressed in an orange top (the one I wore the first time I met Cameron) and some blue jeans, I ran downstairs to have some breakfast.

  "So I heard Cameron got suspended." Mom told me, while munching through her toast.

  "How did you know?" I wondered aloud.

  "Riley was telling Tessie." Mom explained.