Tame

by India Marshall

  "Why would it? I thought you enjoyed my different-ness?" I teased.

  "Yeah, yeah." Cameron rolled his eyes. "Want a hug to keep you warm?"

  Want to lay in my new boyfriend's arms to keep warm and be able to see his six pack properly?

  I'm totally going to say no.

  "Yes please." I chirped, clambering into his section, laying in front of the fire.

  "You didn't want my hug- you just wanted the fire! I feel used!" Cameron faked hurt.

  "Farrah! Stop using him- it's keeping us all awake!" Hayley called to me from the other tent.

  "Oh my God." I face palmed at her choice of words. Cameron smirked and I hit his chest.

  "Getting a nice feel of this, are we?" He winked.

  "I'll make you sleep outside." I threatened.

  "God, you sound like my wife."

  "Bitch please, I am your wife." I joked, snuggling into his side. Forget only dating for a few hours- he was warm, and I was happy.

  ***

  My nose tingled. I smelt the air, liking what I smelt. I blinked open my eyes and sat up, staring around at my surroundings. I was in a tent, laying by the electric camping fire, which was off, and it all came back to me.

  Woah, what a great day yesterday was. I unzipped the tent and poked my head outside. Riley, Hayley, Cameron and Jason were outside, eating marshmallows.

  "Oooh marshmallows!" I grinned.

  "For breakfast!" Jason added, flicking one at me. I caught it with my mouth open, chewing happily.

  "Save me some, I'm just going to get changed." I told them. I quickly dressed in a green top and some flared blue jeans. I slipped on my shoes from the previous day, dragged a brush through my hair, and stepped out into the morning air.

  "Yum, yum, I like marshmallows." I grinned. After stuffing my face for five minutes, we decided to get all our stuff ready and pack up. As much as I wanted to spend the whole day with all of my friends, I knew I had to get home. I wasn't that stupid as to avoid my Mother for another day.

  "I've had a really nice time, girlfriend." Cameron teased, bumping my hip as we trudged down the mountain.

  "So have I, boyfriend." I returned the hip-bump.

  "Oh God, were we that bad?" Riley groaned loudly.

  "I hope not." Hayley looked horrified.

  "You were." I told them over my shoulder. "Now we just have to corrupt Jason in the ways of a relationship."

  "Hey guys, I know you are together now and that...but isn't it a bit early for a threesome?" Jason made fun of us and my bad phrasing.

  "I meant we're going to get you a girlfriend." I swatted him.

  "Yeah good luck Farrah-"

  "Is exactly what she'll need." Someone interrupted.

  Gulp.

  That 'someone' was my Mom.

  ***

  "I cannot believe you! You disappeared, no text, no call- oh except from the principal! How could you be so stupid? Why were you skipping school anyway! Why did you do all of that Farrah? Why?" Mom raged. I was sat on the couch of our living room, with my Mom in front of me, screaming her head. Apparently, she had sent out a search party of friends and family for me, before receiving the call from my principal. Troy and Rayne were here, both looking worried. They were next to me, and even Dad was here. It was fairly awkward as David was here too- but I was glad to have all of my family in one place.

  "I was-"

  "You could have been raped, murdered, dying somewhere, kidnapped or anything else! Do you not understand how scared I was? How scared we all were?" Mom continued, cutting me off.

  "I wasn't alone." I mumbled.

  "I wasn't to know! You can't just disappear off to some mountain without telling me, Farrah! I'm so upset with you!" Mom began to lower her voice, which only made me feel worse.

  "I'm sorry."

  "Well sorry isn't good enough!" Mom cried.

  "Why are you acting this way Farrah? Sneaking off to God knows where, getting suspended- it's not at all like you." Dad frowned.

  "It's ever since she's started hanging out with Cameron Carter and Jason Evans." Mom butted in. "Now I know they're nice boys and everything-"

  "Clearly they're terrible influences." Dad interjected.

  "Maybe Farrah is just trying to have fun for once?" Troy put in.

  "Whatever it is...Farrah, you're grounded. For the rest of the month. And I don't want you seeing Cameron or Jason for that time either." Mom sighed.

  "What?" I shrieked. "Mom you can't! They're my friends! And..."

  "And what?" Dad narrowed his eyes.

  "Well...me and Cameron...we're dating." I finished.

  "WHAT?" Mom, Dad, David and Troy all cried together. David looked fairly happy for me, but the other three looked shocked. Rayne smiled at me sadly, though there was a little glint in her eye.

  "Um, yeah. He asked me out when we went camping."

  "You're still grounded." Mom told me.

  "And you're still not seeing that boy. Either of them." Dad snapped. He picked up his keys and stormed out of the house, leaving me shell-shocked.

  "I need to cool down. Troy, talk to your sister." Mom ordered him. She bustled into the kitchen, David following.

  I didn't know what to do, how to react. So I did what I had always done as a child. I bawled my eys out.

  "Oh my God Farrah, don't cry!" Troy begged, hugging me from the side.

  "How can they do that?" I wailed.

  "You have to understand how worried we were!" Troy tried.

  "B-but I'm here now! Why not let me see the friends that make me happy?" I cried, hugging my big brother even more.

  "Farrah, if you want this to go your way, you're the one that has to do something." Troy told me, sighing.

  "I-I don't know what to do though!" I sobbed.

  "I don't know either." Troy sighed. "I warned you to stay away from my kind of friends right at the start. But...I guess you bring out a side in them I haven't seen. Jason is like your twin, you're both a pain, weird, clumsy..."

  I stared at him, not believing how he could be so calm.

  "-and you have clearly hypnotised Cameron. Or maybe the other way around, I don't know. Just...ugh, I don't know what to do! Do what you want, I guess. Asking me won't help, will it? I'm a guy!"

  "Gee, thanks Troy. My mind is so much clearer." I sniffed.

  "Sorry." Troy apologised. "Why don't you ask Rayne? She's a girl."

  Rayne looked up mischeviously.

  "Help?" I asked her.

  "I think it's best to do nothing right now, Farrah. In time, and I know this sounds so Disney-like, but in time, things will get better. Let your Mom cool off, have some space from Cameron. You don't need to be at each other's side every minute, do you? And you can still text him, right? Try and cheer up, it'll work out." Rayne explained her thoughts on my situation, and I nodded.

  "Yeah, yeah, you're right. Okay. I'll leave it. Thanks, Rayne." I smiled through my tears.

  "Anytime." She grinned.

  ***

  A week. A week had passed. Two weeks. Two and half weeks. I had sent a text to Cameron, explaining everything my Mom said, and what Rayne had said. He said he understood, and left me to it. My Mom and teachers had been working together to keep me and Cameron apart. Unfortunately, I'd 'lost' my phone, and couldn't text him either. I still sent him Facebook messages, and he always replied with, 'can't wait until we can freely talk again, girlfriend'. I wanted that time to come too. But time was becoming more and more limited. Graduation was coming up, and Mom wasn't letting me go to the party afterwards. I knew I could sneak out, but I wasn't going to try it. I'd also gotten a job, I was trying to raise money to get my own place. Cameron even suggested us putting money together and Jason wanted to come with us too. I think he was just hoping for a threesome, though. With only school hours free, and with the teachers, CCTV and other students monitoring us, I never got the chance to be alone with Cameron. And I felt like we were slowly drifting apart.

  I guess I'd never get the
chance to tame my bad boy.

  Epilogue

  I flicked my graduation hat and smiled. I could not believe I was finally graduating! It was so exciting! I smoothed down my blue robe and slipped my feet into little blue shoes that matched. I had my hair down, now it was beginning to get long again. It was just above my elbow- my hair grew very quickly.

  "Farrah!" Mom called from downstairs. "Are you ready to go?"

  I grinned at myself in the mirror. I was more than ready. It was graduation! I was free!

  "Yep! Coming!" I called. I bounded down the stairs, passing Rolo who was barking excitedly.

  "Roo! Roo!" He chirped.

  "I'm graduating Rolo!" I cheered. He licked my hand and I smiled. "I wish you could come to the ceremony, buddy."

  Milly, clearly awoken by Rolo's barking, slinked past, smirking evilly. I knew Mom would have a hell of a lot to deal with when it came to those two when she came back from watching me graduate. But it wouldn't matter to me- Mom was letting me go to the party afterwards!

  As excited as I was, I was also very nervous. Graduating was the end of my school time, the end of my childhood. I was eighteen, and officially an adult. I had told Mom this when she first banned me from seeing Cameron, but she insisted a little time away from him would be good. I think she had overheard Rayne when she spoke to me a few weeks before.

  The main reason I was nervous though, was because I was going to see Cameron. We hadn't seen each other in a while, even though we talked on Facebook every other night. Leaving school would be the start of both of our freedom, and it just made me wonder if we'd stay together after school. Would he really go through with the idea of living with me if we moved out? I smiled to myself as I thought about it. If we did move out, it wouldn't be much different. Jason would be over all the time, Troy would come to 'protect' me from Cameron in case he wanted to take our relationship further.

  Woah, that was a weird thought.

  "Earth to Farrah!" My brother clicked his fingers in front of my face. "We're getting in the car, come on!"

  I giggled and slapped his hand away, leading the way to our new car. When I say new, I meant that it was David's car. He had moved in with us, and it made Mom so much happier. I didn't mind, though having them kiss while trying to watch TV was pretty gross. The car was bigger than Mom's one- with seven seats. Mom and David sat in the front, Mom driving. She had always wanted a bigger car. Me, and my Dad sat in the back- yes he was coming to my graduation too. He actually got along fairly well with David now. My Dad was getting a lot better, he had been to counselling sessions, and sometimes me and Mom went with him, to work things out as a family. Troy still wasn't happy him being more in our lives, but their relationship was getting better. Troy would actually go and visit him now when I went. Troy and Rayne sat in the back of the car, with Troy kicking my seat. Rayne had become like a sister to me, it was strange how quickly she fitted into our family. Mom loved her, and so did Aunt Tessie.

  "I can't believe my baby girl is graduating!" Mom cheered from the steering wheel. "This is so great! But now all my children are leaving me."

  "You have David and the pets, you know." I reminded her. She smiled at David lovingly.

  "Yeah, I guess so. But Farrah, promise me you won't randomly move out the minute you come back from the party. I'm not ready to lose you yet." She told me.

  "You won't lose me, Mom." I smiled.

  "You haven't lost me either!" Troy called from the back. "You come round pretty much every week with food!"

  "Though your cheesecake is to die for." Rayne put in. We all murmured in agreement.

  "So, are you going to college, Farrah?" Dad asked from next to me.

  "Yep." I grinned. "I sent out my applications a few weeks ago. I got accepted to a college right here in California."

  "Great! That's my girl, doing something with your life." Dad nodded to himself.

  Troy scowled, but Rayne poked him and he smiled instantly. Those two were so cute.

  "We're nearly there." Mom informed us all. I froze in my seat- was I ready for this? To graduate from my school- from the life I've known, to go to a college and grow up?

  Of course you are! Everyone grows up, stupid.

  What if I make a fool of myself when I get my diploma?

  Oh please, I always make a fool of myself.

  "I'm ready." I announced to no one in particular. My family looked at me with amused faces, and I realised we were parked, and everyone had gotten out of the car.

  I hopped out of the car and walked into the school building. Everywhere there were twelfth graders, talking and crying. There were swarms of girls swapping numbers with people, begging to stay in touch. Some were crying because they were happy- they couldn't wait to leave school. But most people were smiling and laughing, parents and kids alike. I saw people's younger siblings running around, exploring the high school they would soon be coming up to. I remembered when I had first came to this school, I had been just like them. Troy was so embarrassed by me.

  "Farrah!" Someone shrieked. I turned around to only be wrapped in my best friend's arms, smothered by Hayley's brown hair.

  "Hayley! Oh my God, can you believe we're graduating?" I asked her.

  "No way! This all seems to be going too fast! We're going to be working and marrying and having kids before we know it!" She gabbled.

  My Dad coughed uncertainly. I laughed at him, then turned back to Hayley.

  "Hey, have you got your braces off?" I asked her, finally realising the metal that usually covered her teeth wasn't there.

  "Yep! Got them off last night! Just in time, right?" She giggled. We stood around and talked, and Hayley's parents conversed with mine. Troy waltzed off with Rayne to show her the high school he had grown up in- she was probably more excited than him to be at my graduation.

  "Farrah! Hayley- over here!" Another familiar voice called. We spun on our heels and beamed.

  "Riley!" We screamed. We hugged him as if we hadn't seen him in years, and he laughed, his blue eyes twinkling.

  "Wow, do I get that kind of greeting?" Jason's voice floated over.

  "J!" I cried, wrapping my arms around him. "Hi!"

  The boys laughed at us girls' enthusiasm, both telling us about how they couldn't believe we were leaving school.

  "To think, just a few months ago, I wouldn't have even known you existed. I do thank Mr Lopez for putting us together. You've certainly changed everything around." Jason grinned, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

  "And now we're hugging and graduating together! God, I'm so happy." I smiled widely, feeling happier than I had ever been. Seeing my friends had cheered me up to no end.

  "Did you hear about Mr Lopez?" Riley cut in.

  "What about him?" I asked.

  "He got arrested!" Hayley squealed.

  "What? What for?" I gasped.

  "You were right all along." Jason told me. "He was a pedophile. Police caught him the other day, advancing on some girl our age from another school."

  "I told you all! Wow, this is an unexpected turn of events, huh?" I laughed.

  "Kids, come on!" A voice I recognised as Helen's called. "The ceremony is starting, get your asses inside the gym!"

  "Hi Helen!" I waved excitedly.

  "Hey, honey, I'll be sat with your parents. You guys have to wave at us!" She ordered.

  "Yeah, yeah, sure Mom." Jason rolled his eyes. "Come on guys, we have to go!"

  Helen was telling the truth. As we lined up to get our diplomas, we saw that my family, Hayley's family, Riley's family, Jason's family and even Cameron's family were all sat together. I wondered where Cameron was. I was eager to see him. We were lined up in alphabetical order, he should have been near me. I guess I was just too short to see him.

  "Connie Bowler!" Our principal called. A white haired girl ran on stage, nearly tripping over her blue robes, shook his hand, grabbed her diploma and rushed off stage, blushing like mad. I hoped I wouldn't look quite that weird.

&
nbsp; "Isabelle Camel!" He called next. A dark, curly haired girl stepped onto the stage, beaming and waving at her parents. I swallowed, now they were onto the letter C. That meant it was nearly time for me to go up. Surely Cameron would be next? Where was he?

  "George Camel!" Our Principal boomed. I rolled my eyes-I forgot Isabelle and George were twins. But Cameron should have been after them.

  "Cameron Carter!" The Principal barked, perhaps a little too fiercely. I get that he didn't like Cameron because of the chaos he caused in his school years, but surely graduation was the time to put it behind him?

  As if in slow motion, I finally saw Cameron's gorgeous, blonde head, and his confident smirk as he strolled across the stage. He shook the principal's hand, his eyes gleaming with amusement. It made me smile to see him, and see him so happy. Even when he was wearing that signature smirk, I saw the smile that lay underneath. Cameron took his diploma, and saluted his parents as he walked off stage. He joined the other graduates, and his eyes searched our side of the stage, looking for someone.

  "William Chalice!" The principal called next. I watched Cameron's perfect features frown slightly- obviously he wasn't looking for this William kid. Was it bad I didn't know him- even though he'd been in my grade for the past five years?

  "Farrah Chambers!" The principal cried out, smiling. I completely shut down, my body not moving at all. I saw Cameron's eyes light up, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But not warm enough to move.

  "Farrah?" The principal repeated, looking right at me. All eyes were on me, making me go red. I heard a loud whooping and clapping from the back, and saw Troy standing up.

  "That's my sister! Woo! Go Farrah!" He cheered. I mentally face-palmed. He promised me at his graduation last year he would embarrass me at mine. I may have clapped dramatically last year at his- and shouted out I was surprised he was graduating.