by Tifani Clark
CHAPTER 5
“Hey, look at that. You are alive. Would it hurt you to answer a call or a text once in a while?” Camille said as she strolled by me into the house and plopped down on the sofa.
I felt my pockets and realized I hadn’t grabbed my cell phone off my dresser when I’d gotten dressed that morning. I’d been so preoccupied with Sophia all day that I hadn’t even noticed it was missing.
“Sorry. I left my cell upstairs, I guess. I’ve been hanging out down here all morning. How was the dance last night?” I knew that if I redirected the conversation towards Camille, she would do most of the talking and forget that she was supposed to be mad.
“The dance was a-maze-ing.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Well, first let me say that I looked stunning in the red dress you helped me pick out. You were right about the color. It definitely made me stand out in the crowd. And, I’m not going to lie—Travis looked pretty darn good in his tux.”
Camille handed me her phone so that I could see a picture of the smiling couple standing on her parent’s front porch. The pair wore matching white roses pinned to their chests. She did look amazing and I was happy for her. Maybe someday I would go to a dance . . .
“Trav picked me up at six and took me to dinner before the dance. We went to a place that had candles on every table and those fancy cloth napkins. I felt so mature.” Camille giggled.
“Anyway, we got to the dance around 8:30. Trav’s a pretty good dancer—for a football player. I could totally tell that some of the other girls were jealous because they kept watching us all night. I think their own dates were starting to get mad.”
“If I know you, Cam, you loved that part of it.”
“Of course. That goes without saying. The best part of the night, though, was when he took me home.” Camille blushed.
“Let me guess, he kissed you?”
“Well, duh.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
“I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each . . .” Camille’s words trailed off as she stared past me toward the kitchen with an odd expression.
I turned to see Sophia standing in the doorway.
“Oh. Umm . . . Camille, this is my . . . uh . . . my . . . umm . . .” I didn’t know what to call her.
“Hi. I’m Sophia. I’m Jamie’s friend.” Sophia walked into the room and stuck her hand out to Camille.
“Uh, nice to meet you,” Camille said slowly as she shot me a quizzical look.
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t exactly give up Sophia’s secret to Camille on their first meeting.
Sophia saved me again. “I’m new in town and I met Jamie at the library yesterday. We started talking and I invited myself over today.”
This appeased Camille who I think chose to just ignore Sophia for the time being. She turned back to me. “If you would have been answering your texts, you’d know that I was trying to invite you to go to a late lunch this afternoon.”
“You know that normally I would, but I kind of already made plans with Sophia. I’m sorry. Maybe we can go for ice cream after school tomorrow?”
“Sure. Whatever. I guess I better be getting back home. You guys have fun.” Camille began walking to the door. I could tell her feelings were hurt.
I felt bad, but I didn’t think she would enjoy an afternoon spent at the library researching one random subject. If I told her of Sophia’s true identity, she would probably freak out and stop talking to me anyway.
“Goodbye. I’m glad you had fun last night,” I yelled after her. She didn’t respond as she quietly shut the door behind herself.
“Have you always let her run your life?” Sophia asked.
“What?”
“Camille. She always decides what the two of you will be doing. In all the weeks I was watching you, I don’t think I ever saw the two of you do something because you wanted to.”
It gave me the creeps to think of Sophia watching me for weeks, but I was even more stunned that she’d picked up on the inner workings of our relationship so quickly. Truthfully, Camille did usually make all the major choices in our friendship, but it was also true that I didn’t really care. When something really mattered to me, I stepped in and said something. Camille was good enough to let me get my way on those rare occasions, but I didn’t know how to explain all of this to Sophia who hadn’t been with us since the first grade. I probably should have defended Camille, but I didn’t.
“Let’s get going if we’re going to get any work done today. The library opens late and closes early on Sundays. I’m going to have to ride my bike since not all of us can fly.” I paused. “Can you fly?”
Sophia didn’t say anything, but rose up and slowly floated across the room. I rolled my eyes. “Show off.”