Where are you? It's Cameron Did he get a new number now? Oh, that's right. He said he lost his phone. I ignored his text, updated his number and changed his name back to SOS, then changed it to Asshole Cameron instead. It had a nicer ring to it. Then I turned my phone off and got ready for school. The mood from this morning followed me all the way to my classes. If someone asked me what the professor discussed, I'd say I didn't even remember going to school today. In my head I was still in my bed and it was my lifeforce they were talking to at the moment. When the class ended, I gathered my things and walked out in the hallway. As usual, I leaned against the wall, waiting for everyone to get the hell out of my way so I didn't have to bump shoulders and smell people I could live my lifetime without smelling. Ten seconds, twenty, thirty. I fished for my phone in my backpack. Biting my lip, I turned it back on. Right away it vibrated with incoming text messages. I bit my lip harder. It was from Tala and Thomas. If I felt disappointment because Cameron didn't text me, I ignored it. You didn't reply to him in the first place. Why did you expect he'll text you again? Because I wanted to see if he meant what he said yesterday. And a text will do that? To start. You wouldn't have replied to him anyway. I wanted him to do more than text. Well, heads up! I raised my head. My heart, feeling droopy earlier, jumped against my ribs. There in the same bench where I saw him before was Cameron. In the same loose limb sprawling position. His massive body looked relaxed. Muscular legs spread, elbows bent and resting on the back of the bench. He looked calm, but when my eyes met the blue of his, there was a storm in them. We looked at each other. Just looked. Taking in all the details. My gaze shifted behind him. He was surrounded by the basketball team, but he ignored everyone. Caleb caught my eye. He pointed at Cameron, grinning at me. "He's back," he mouthed, motioning for me to hang out with them. I glared at him and shook my head, wanting to stuff his mouth with a dirty sock. Be quiet! I wanted to yell. He was like a little kid and it would have been adorable if only I didn't want Cameron to find out I was looking for him. When I saw Cameron look behind him, Caleb stopped moving and tucked his lips together, looking guilty. I rushed out of there. "Damndamndamn," I groaned as I walked to the cafeteria, chose a table. I wondered if Caleb already told him I was looking for him when he was gone for more than two weeks. He probably did. I groaned, feeling sorry for how stupid I was. I shouldn't have asked Caleb. Funny how when I was ready to talk about my feelings, Tala wasn't here. Her text said she was going to miss her classes today because she had to take care of family matters. She sounded busy so I told her we'd catch up sometime this week. It was frustrating how life threw these plot twists at me. Apart from the three students in the far corner and the culinary arts students prepping the buffet table for lunch, the cafeteria was empty. I wasn't sure if part of the culinary arts students' practicum was to serve meals at the cafeteria, but I knew when they were present, the meals were always good. But today I couldn't even sum up the enthusiasm to eat. I dumped my phone and my backpack on the table and laid my head on top of it. "Where were you this morning?" "Shit!" I jumped as Cameron occupied the seat in front of me. He leaned back against it, watching me with temper in his blue eyes. I straightened up in my seat, glaring at him. "I told you I wasn't going to pick you up anymore," I told him wearily. "That's going to be a problem." "The only problem here is that you're still here and—" There is no other woman in this world that could drive me to my fucking knees but you. "And?" he prompted. He looked tired, as if like me he didn't get any sleep last night. But damn why did he still looked so good? "And... and..." My phone lit up. His blue eyes dropped to it, reading the text message. "Who's Thomas?" he asked. His voice sounded cold. For a moment I thought about lying and telling him Thomas was my boyfriend. I was so tempted to. But in the end I decided against it. Lying wouldn't bring me anything but more heartbreak. "He's the guy who doubted that JC had risen from the dead." "What?" I grabbed my phone, sent Thomas a reply. "You can't wait to send him a message when you can't even reply to mine?" I let out an incredulous puff of breath through my nose. "You were gone for two weeks! You left without a word!" I shot back. "You're asking a lot of things from me when you can't give anything back." The muscle in his jaw ticked.