Tame

by India Marshall

  At least I wouldn't be alone in this now awkward situation.

  "Okay, I'll stay." I told them, pulling out my phone.

  "Farrah!" Mom snapped. I looked up and saw her giving me a pleading look. I sighed and put my phone away again, turning to David.

  "So what do you work as?" I asked him, trying to make conversation.

  "I'm a builder." He told me.

  "Ah, cool. Is it fun?" I continued.

  "Fairly, except when a hammer gets dropped on my foot!" He grinned, chuckling a little. Mom laughed too, though I personally didn't get the joke.

  Parents.

  My own thoughts struck me as odd. I was thinking of David as my Mom's partner already. Though he techincally was, he still felt like a stranger. I wondered if he'd ever move in with us, if Mom would marry him. I just prayed they wouldn't have a kid.

  "Do you have any kids?" I asked suddenly.

  David jumped a little at my volume. "Uh, yes, actually. I have a little girl called Sam."

  "You do?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "How old is she?"

  "She's fourteen." He told me.

  "Do you have a picture of her?" I demanded.

  "Farrah, what is this, twenty questions?" Mom laughed nervously.

  "It's okay, Lucia." David assured her. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Inside was a picture of a girl- who looked all too familiar. She was the girl that was kissing Brody.

  Small world.

  "Aw, she's cute." I smiled. David agreed with me, before putting his wallet away again. I sank back in my seat, wishing Troy would hurry up and get here. David seemed easy to talk to, but I didn't know what to say.

  "She goes to your school." David informed me.

  "Have you ever seen her about?" Mom asked.

  I thought back to her and Brody.

  I smiled, sickly sweet. "She looks familiar."

  ***

  When Troy finally arrived, it turned out Rayne was at work, and couldn't come. David tried his best to talk to Troy, but my brother was being stubborn.

  "If you hurt my Mom, I'll hurt you." He told David, as soon as he stepped into the living room.

  "Troy!" Mom scolded.

  "It's okay. Hello, son." David brushed it off, trying to carry on normally.

  "I'm not your son. Don't go around calling me that. And don't call Farrah your daughter either." Troy snapped.

  "I actually have my own daughter-"

  "Really? Good. Don't go getting Mom pregnant. You're too old for any more kids." Troy said rudely.

  "Troy!" Mom cried. "I am so sorry, David."

  I had trouble not laughing. It continued on like that, all through the evening. Dinner was positively hysterical for me.

  "Are you going to rely on our Mom to cook all the meals for you? She's not a housewife, you know. She has a job- don't go thinking you're the man of the house or anything." Troy told David, a serious expression on his face.

  "Of course not. I like cooking, myself." David smiled.

  "So does Mom. You let her cook though, don't tell her she can't just because you want to." Troy leant forward, narrowing his eyes at David. I was giggling- there was no pleasing Troy.

  "We can take turns, honestly it's fine if she does or doesn't want to cook. Besides, I don't live here." David tried calming Troy down.

  "Yet." Troy grumbled. He went back to his pizza, tearing it off with his teeth like an animal.

  I tried to change the subject. "Hey, Mom, you know Helen? Jason's Mom?"

  "Yes, she's a lovely woman." Mom smiled, a little forced. She wanted to lighten the situation as much as I did.

  "Well she's a great cook. You two should cook together." I told her, beaming.

  "That'd be great! I don't doubt you kids would scoff the lot."

  "Yeah, we could have a party or something some time..." I trailed off, thinking back to the camping trip. I hadn't told Cameron I couldn't go yet.

  "Yes, that would be nice." Mom agreed, clearly thinking the same thing.

  "You know what would be nice? Letting Farrah do what she wanted instead of controlling her." Troy snarled at mom.

  Troy." I muttered, pushing his arm, but I was secretly pleased. Mom might actually listen to Troy.

  "It's already arranged." Mom sighed.

  "Un-arrange it." Troy said simply, devouring another bit of pizza.

  "It's been paid for." Mom tried something else.

  "If it's any help, I could talk to my boss?" David told Mom randomly.

  "We don't need outside help." Troy growled.

  "Actually, my friend owns the club. I helped arrange this party, with the owner. I could help 'un-arrange' it as you say." David told Troy, smirking a little.

  Troy glared at him for a second, not liking losing. But then his expression changed, to a thoughtful one. He faced our Mom, his lips parted, ready to speak.

  "Okay!" Mom cried, before he even spoke. "Farrah can go! I'll have to pretend you're ill or something. But you're doing the dishes for the rest of the week."

  "Yes!" I cheered.

  "Aren't I amazing?" Troy sat back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head.

  "You are lucky you don't live under my roof anymore." Mom teased, grinning a little. "How about we watch The Simpsons before everyone leaves?"

  "Huh, yeah. We're the kids." Troy and I said together.

  "Don't ever do that again." Troy shivered.

  "Is that too uncool for Troy Chambers?" I laughed at my brother.

  "Being related to you, is uncool." Troy smirked.

  "You know how Mom said you were lucky?" I asked, a smile creeping onto my face.

  "Yeah...?"

  "Well I'm doing the dishes, so I'm lucky really!" I laughed, grabbing the soapy sponge from the kitchen sink, lobbing it at Troy, who looked as if someone just announced he was going to die in twenty four hours.

  "You brat!" Troy cried.

  "I never thought I'd say I was lucky to do the dishes. But to see your face, with that expression again, man, I'd do the dishes everyday." I laughed.

  "Payback!" Troy roared. He charged at me, picked me up, and dunked my head in the washing up bowl.

  "TROY!" I screamed. I heard my new phone clatter to the ground, and saw it flash with a missed call and a few texts, but just then- I was too busy with hitting my brother to care.

  *Cameron's POV*

  I slumped against the headboard of my bed, wondering if Farrah would text me back this time. I had a horrible feeling she'd given me the wrong number. Was that accidental? Or on purpose? Maybe she just didn't want to go camping with me.

  "Dude, will you please stop moping?" Jason groaned from the desk where my computer sat. He was shoving loads of my food into his mouth. After eating McDonalds, not only his own, but half of mine too, he then went on to eat all of my refridgerator.

  "I'm not moping." I grumbled.

  "Farrah will text back when she's freakin' ready." Jason rolled his eyes at me. "You're turning into a girl. You spend so much time with her."

  I was going to ask how he knew what I was thinking about, but instead I chose to snap at him. "You spend more time with her!"

  "Romeone's jealous." Jason teased through some ham.

  "Shut up, I am not."

  "Yeah, you are." Jason told me, in a voice he liked to use when he thought he knew everything.

  "I'm just annoyed that she isn't replying. You know I hate it when people don't text back immediately." I muttered. "Shit. I do sound like a girl."

  "Told you." Jason grinned, turning on my Xbox.

  "Dude, you act like you live here." I laughed at him.

  "I live everywhere." He waved me off, chucking a controller at me. I caught it with ease, and began to slaughter him on Call Of Duty.

  "Do you think she wants to go camping with us?" I asked quietly.

  Jason paused the game, looking at me.

  After thirty seconds, I was beginning to get annoyed.

  "Jason!" I snapped.


  "You like her, don't you?"

  "What?" I blinked.

  "I know I've been messing with you about it, but now I think it's actually true. You like Farrah." Jason repeated.

  "No!" I cried.

  Jason nodded to himself. "Yeah, you do."

  With that, he picked up his controller, and resumed the game. Oh hell no.

  I paused the game from my controller, and glared at him.

  "Why do you think I like her?" I demanded.

  "You sit and wait by your phone, like a girl, for her to text or call you, you actually care if she wants to go with you camping, damn it, you actually invited her to go camping! You're famous in school for not staying with anyone long!" Jason exclaimed.

  "I'm not a player!" I shot out instantly.

  "I never said you were." Jason rolled his eyes. "But you like Farrah."

  "You can't just-"

  "I am right. Do not argue with me." Jason cut me off, grabbing my Xbox controller, unpausing the game and then laughing as I died.

  Did I like Farrah?

  Well if she answered her damn phone then maybe I'd know.

  How would I know?

  I sounded like a freakin' girl.

  "You're even speaking your thoughts out loud like her now." Jason chortled.

  Crap.

  I liked Farrah Chambers.

  *Farrah's POV*

  Troy left an hour after we ate dinner, he'd decided David was not a murderer who would try and kill us when he left, and even gave David a friendly nod on his way out. Talk about change of attitude.

  David left too, a little after Troy. Mom waved and giggled and blushed, closing the door, slumping against it like a school girl.

  "Well someone likes him." I announced as she skipped back into the living room.

  "It's not just that. This has been one of my best nights in a long time. My kids, my..."

  "Boyfriend? Mom, you need to just say it." I rolled my eyes, smirking.

  "Fine, boyfriend. And all of you together, having a nice time, a good meal together- it was wonderful, Farrah. Thank you." Mom beamed, positively glowing.

  "You're welcome- he seems nice." I said honestly.

  "So, how're you and Cameron?" Mom sat down next to me, bumping my hip, grinning. She was more my age than I was sometimes.

  "There's nothing to...shit!" I began, cutting myself off.

  "Language." Mom tutted.

  "I never texted him! I was supposed to tell him I can go after all!" I cried, leaping up.

  "Run and get your phone then, you silly girl!" Mom laughed. "Run for the man you love!"

  "Please never say that again." I cringed as I ran upstairs.

  I collapsed onto my bed, banging my knee on the frame. Cradling my knee with one hand, I grabbed my phone with the other, trying to type out a message to Cameron.

  MOM SID YS.

  I sighed and let go of my knee, re-typing it.

  MOM SAID YES- CANT WAIT TO GO X

  I sent it, clutching my phone, waiting for a reply.

  Come on, Cameron.

  *Cameron's POV*

  My phone bleeped, and I paused Call Of Duty where I was now beating Jason's sorry ass. I checked who the message was from, my face lighting up.

  Farrah.

  "Dude you've got it bad." Jason scoffed, trying to take my controller again.

  I whisked it out of his reach. "I have not- get lost."

  Jason rolled his eyes. "Are you gonna reply to her?"

  I eyed the phone, my thumb hovering over the buttons. "No."

  Jason groaned. "How come? If you text he she's still not gonna know you like her."

  "It's not that." I shook my head. "I'm giving her a taste of her own medicine."

  "You're being stupid." Jason told me.

  "No, I'm being fair." I retaliated.

  "Immature. This is why you guys always fight." Jason sighed.

  "What does she say about me to you?" I asked curiously.

  "You really are a girl." Jason laughed.

  "Answer the damn question." I growled.

  "Nothing, to be honest. Well..." Jason trailed off, his eyes wide.

  "What is it?"

  "It doesn't-"

  "What. Is. It?" I demanded.

  "Cameron, calm down, Christ." Jason laughed, unpausing the game.

  "Jason!" I threw a pillow at his head.

  "Girrrl!" Jason sang.

  What an ass.

  I wondered if Farrah would ever tell Jason if she liked me.

  Would she ever like me?

  That girl was so unpredictable. I just wanted some answers. Well, camping would sort that out. Only five days. Five days. Then we'd see what would happen.

  *Farrah's POV*

  The days flew by- it was Friday before I knew it. Cameron never did reply, but he smiled when I told him in person. I hadn't seen him much that week, but he was in all of my lessons on Friday. We had double French, then double english,- God, I hated doubles, and I had a double double- and finally math.

  Sitting in my French seat, I sighed unhappily. Jason and Cameron were laughing and joking at the back- again. I looked at the front, boring old verbs and connectives jumbled up. I hated French. It didn't help my teacher was a suspected pedophile...in my mind. When he set our tasks, and came over to give me my bit of paper, I debated asking him if I could move.

  "Um, Sir?" I coughed.

  "Yes Farrah?" Mr Lopez nodded, passing out bits of paper to the people next to me.

  "Could I maybe move to the back? To sit with Jason and Cameron?" I mumbled.

  "I thought you didn't like Cameron." Mr Lopez frowned.

  "Oh no, we're friends now." I told him happily.

  Mr Lopez frowned. Obviously he hadn't forgotten Cameron's little episode a few weeks before. And now his favorite little student, was friends with his least favorite!

  Boo hoo.

  "Fine. But I want no disturbances." Mr Lopez warned me, helping me gather my stuff together. His hand held onto mine when passing me my pencil just a little too long. I shivered. I hurried to the back of the classroom and sat with the guys.

  "Hey." I breathed, physically out of breath from practically running away from our strange French teacher.

  "Hi...?" Cameron trailed off, looking at me with a worried expression. "What are you doing?"

  "I was bored and came to join you." I announced, pulling up a seat and plonking myself down onto the desk next to them.

  "Well welcome to the party!" Jason clapped his hands together. "This is where the fun happens, the magic begins, the crushes develop, the animal inside you kicks in, the party in you starts-"

  "Okay Jason, I really don't need to know anymore." I cut him off, pulling a face at Cameron. He laughed at me, prodding Jason.

  "You're scaring our guest." He grinned.

  "That's not scary, this is! ROOOAR!" Jason roared, sending me flying backwards into the wall. My head collided with the hard brick, making me wince in pain.

  "Ow! J!" I cried.

  "Mr Evans, get outside, right now." Mr Lopez snapped from his desk at the front.

  "But I-"

  "Out."

  "Sir, he didn't do anything wrong. We were messing around." Cameron scoffed.

  "Don't cheek me. You don't mess around in classrooms anyway." Mr Lopez frowned.

  "Sir, seriously you need to chill-"

  "Mr Carter, outside."

  "Sir!"

  "Please Mr Lopez, it was me..." I tried.

  "Oh, so we have the sassy three today do we? You all think it's funny to back chat your teachers? Out, Miss Chambers." Mr Lopez interrupted.

  It was clearly somebody's time of the month.

  Everyone gawped at me and I realised I had said it out loud.

  Yay life.

  The three of us stood outside the classroom, waiting for Mr Lopez to come and tell us off. That man was seriously irritating.

  "Hey, I've got an idea." Cameron told us in a low voice.

  "What?" Jaso
n asked, a smile already forming onto his lips. Cameron's eyes gleamed.

  "How about we make our camping trip extra long? Starting from, ooh, I don't know- now?"

  "We can't!" I cried, but I knew I was on board. Miss school? Awesome! Miss having Mr Lopez screaming at us? Check. Spend more time with Cameron? Hell yeah.

  "C'mon Farrah!" Jason whined.

  "What about our stuff? Hayley and Riley?" I asked.

  "We'll get it later. They can still come- tomorrow." Cameron dismissed me. "Come on!"

  Maybe it was his green eyes, staring at me so intensely. Or maybe the thrill of skipping school. Perhaps it was because Jason was chanting, 'go! Let's go! Go! Let's go!' in my ear. Or maybe it was because I just loved Cameron's bad-ass side. Which ever it was, I knew what I was going to do.

  "Okay, let's get out of here." I agreed.

  Chapter 30

  I found it hard to think around Cameron. Just being near him made me blush- but not in a bad way like when I first met him. It was more...comfortable now. Except it was ten times harder to-

  "Ooof!" My face collided with a wall, squishing my cheek completely. I blushed furiously, as Jason cackled maniacally. Cameron peered at me, chuckling a little too. I took a step backwards, and then stood on his foot.

  Yep. It was getting a lot harder to think around him.

  Step, step, step, step, step...

  "Farrah?" Jason asked me suddenly, breaking my train of thought.

  "Uh huh?"

  "Why are you repeating the word, 'step'?" He laughed.

  Damn boys.

  We left the French building, and snuck out to the back gates. The boys jumped over it with ease, leaving me gawping at them. For multiple reasons.

  1) I was actually going to skip school. I was doing something bad ass- with the two school's bad boys.

  2) I was thinking back to the time I tried climbing over Cameron's fence- and failed.

  3) I was wearing a skirt.

  I grabbed the metal bars, gently lifting my leg up and over the cold metal. As it connected with my bare legs, I shivered, making Jason roll his eyes at me. When I got one leg over, I quickly tried dragging my other leg over, so the boys wouldn't see my underwear. I knew I should have worn short shorts underneath. I turned around and grinned at the boys, who looked fairly bored. Jason was actually yawning.