Chapter Nine: Under Pressure
Cameron really did have strong feelings for Matt. However, lately Cameron had been trying to see as little of Matt as possible. It wasn't that his feelings for Matt were fading; in fact, his feelings for Matt were stronger than ever. Ever since the incident on the boat, Matt had been pressuring Cameron for answers. Cameron understood Matt's curiosity, and actually appreciated his concern, but Matt didn't understand that Cameron would tell him when he was ready.
The pressure from Matt was only minor compared to the greater pressure of the Math fair which was the coming Friday. Cameron and James had been working hard together, but they really weren't that close to being ready.
On Thursday morning, Cameron waited patiently in front of James' locker. He was trying to figure out how they could finish within the 24 hours that they had. As Cameron waited, he saw Marissa Tampa at her locker. Cameron had always been afraid of her, but recently she hadn't been her bitchy self. Then Cameron saw something he had not expected to see. He saw Travis walk up to Marissa and start talking to her. They started arguing but Cameron couldn't hear what it was about. Cameron was so consumed with watching them that he didn't even notice that James was standing behind him.
"Hi..." James said which startled Cameron. Cameron turned around relieved to see it was James.
"Hey," Cameron smiled.
"What's up?" James asked, as Cameron moved aside, allowing James access to his locker. James started to enter the combination in his locker.
"Well, besides us being completely screwed for tomorrow, nothing," Cameron said as he leaned back onto the row of lockers.
"Well, if we just pull an all nighter tonight, then I'm sure we can finish," James nonchalantly stated.
"I don't think you realize how much work we have to do. We have to make the board, build the fractal model, and finish off the report. Is there any way you can get out of practice?" Cameron asked. James thought for a second.
"I can try. But I'll probably still have to go," James started. Cameron looked somewhat annoyed. "Look, I can probably get out early. Meet me in the lacrosse team's locker room at four."
"Okay, sounds good." Cameron smiled. "I have to stop at my locker, but I'll see you after school."
"Yep," James smiled.
Cameron walked past James, excited to see him that afternoon. He walked over to his locker and started to get his books for his first period. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Matt.
"Hey you," Matt smiled.
"Hey," Cameron forced a smile back. He had not expected to see Matt that morning, or rather was hoping that he wouldn't have to see him.
"Are you okay?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cameron smiled back. "I got to get to class, thought. I'll see you later."
"Okay..." Matt said. "I'll pick you up tonight, we can go for a drive."
"I can't. I have that Math fair tomorrow; I'm going to be working like all night." Cameron explained.
"With James," Matt muttered.
"Yeah," Cameron didn't really know what to say. He knew that Matt was jealous, but he was sick of calming Matt's fears. There was nothing going on between him and James. They were just friends. Right?
...
Alexis Lucas had felt a change come over her in the past week. It was brought about by her parents divorce. It wasn't a noticeable change from the outside, but internally she had been thinking a lot. She thought about how ridiculous the institution of marriage was in general. She didn't understand how people were expected to make a commitment to be with someone forever.
Eventually her thoughts led to her current situation with Kevin Trainer. She didn't understand why she was playing this game with him. Part of her had thought that if she kept playing hard to get with him that he would somehow change his ways and become fully committed to her. Now looking back, she felt foolish. Who was she to try and change him? He liked getting with a bunch of different girls, and honestly right now that is exactly what she needed right now. She had given up on any form of commitment. So, when she met him in the library to finish up their project on Thursday, she had a different attitude towards him.
"Hey you," she smiled as she sat down next to him.
"Hey," Kevin smiled, looking up from the computer where he had been typing their report. "I'm almost finished. I think we should actually be done by the end of this period."
"Okay, cool. Good work, Kevin." Alex smiled. Kevin looked at her oddly. He was obviously confused by her change in attitude.
"What's this?" Kevin asked.
"What's what?" Alexis flirtatiously laughed.
"This new act. I don't get it. First you tell me not to talk to you, and that I'm basically an idiot, now you're complimenting me," Kevin stated.
"Well, maybe I misjudged you." Alex smiled.
"Maybe," Kevin muttered then went back to typing on the computer. Alexis went back to the desk where she had been working on the board. Her new attitude had not been as well received as she had expected it to be. However, she felt that he would eventually come around. As she continued construction on the board, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Travis McCarthy.
"What the fuck do you want?" Alexis snapped. Her new attitude only was for Kevin, and the old Alex came back when she saw Travis.
"Woah, you haven't changed much." Travis smiled.
"Yeah, we'll I hope you remember how I had your face beat in. Leave me alone," Alexis warned and then went back to working on her board.
"Look, I need your help." Travis admitted.
"My help?" Alex was surprised. "Why would I ever help you?"
"I dunno," Travis shrugged. "But, you're the only person I can go to for help. Look, if you help me, I promise I'll never bother you again."
"Never?" Alex liked the idea of that.
"Never." Travis agreed.
"Okay, so what do you want?" Alexis begrudgingly asked.
"Okay so I've been dating this girl..." Travis started.
"Did you cheat on her?" Alex asked right away. Travis rolled his eyes.
"No. Just listen, then you can make all the cheap shots you want at me." Travis said. "Okay, so, everything's been going great. Then all of a sudden she's calling me irresponsible, immature, not serious, etc. I have no idea what I did." Alex thought for a moment.
"Well, it sounds like she wanted you to be something you're definitely not." Alex said. Travis didn't understand.
"What?" Travis asked.
"She wanted you to be her...prince charming." Alex explained. "I know, it sound's cheesy, but it's the only way I could explain it. She wanted you to take care of her, and all that shit."
"Why? Can't she take care of herself?" Travis still didn't get it.
"Yeah, but boyfriends take care of girlfriends. It's how it works, ass." Alex said.
"Woah, woah, woah. I'm not her boyfriend. We were just...fooling around. No one every dropped the `boyfriend' bomb." Travis defended himself.
"Well, it seems like that's what she wanted," Alexis explained. "Look, it's not who you are. You're just not capable of that."
"What?" Travis was offended.
"You're not capable of taking care of someone. That's why we never worked." Alex said.
"I got to go." Travis quickly stated then exited the library, leaving Alex to think about her current situation with Kevin.
...
Cameron hung out in the cafeteria for an hour after school. He contemplated going home, but he decided that it wasn't worth going home for an hour and then coming back to school. Besides, he was able to do some more research in the cafeteria. He edited the first half of their report, and cut out some pictures for their board. However, no matter how busy he kept himself, it seemed like it was a year before four o'clock came.
However, four o'clock did come, and Cameron nearly bolted out of the cafeteria. He didn't want to look like he had been waiting for James, so he stopped at his locker to waste a little bit of time before going down to the locker room.
When he arrived at the lacrosse team's locker room, the door was closed. He knocked, but no one answered, so he just opened the door. The room was empty, but he thought he heard James moving around behind the second set of lockers. Cameron peaked around the corner to see if it was James. James was standing there naked, but his back was to Cameron. Cameron felt his breathing get heavier as he looked at James' muscular ass. James was not hairy by any means, and his butt was nearly hairless.
Cameron could not turn away from the sight that was in front of him. James wrapped the towel around his waste and turned around, startled when he saw Cameron. Cameron found his face getting beat red.
"Oh sorry, I, uh, just came in." Cameron tried to get out anything that would delay the awkwardness. He felt extremely embarrassed.
"It's okay," James smiled. "I'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Okay, I'll wait outside," Cameron mumbled as he slowly walked away. He stood outside the locker room and rested his head on the wall. His heart was pounding, and the only thing that entered his mind was James naked body.
The rest of the afternoon was spent putting together their board and research paper. They both worked hard, and didn't talk much, until Mrs. Winters brought up dinner.
"I'm so tired," Cameron said as he took a bite of the pasta that his mother had made them. James leaned back onto the bed, resting the pasta on his stomach.
"Yeah," James agreed. "At least you didn't have to swim sixteen laps in the pool." Cameron was confused.
"What do you mean? I thought you had lacrosse practice." Cameron said.
"We had a pool practice. Coach says it helps certain muscles. I don't know, but those practices are always the hardest. I hate them." James sighed. Cameron thought for a moment before speaking.
"I can't swim," Cameron stated.
"What do you mean?" James smiled.
"Well, I can swim. I just...can't." Cameron found it hard to explain without telling James about the incident that haunted his past.
"Oh, that makes sense." James sarcastically stated.
"Shut up," Cameron laughed. "I used to swim. A lot actually, I really liked it. But when I was twelve...something happened. And I just can't go near water since then."
"What happened?" James asked.
"I...I can't talk about it..." Cameron looked away.
"Okay," James simply said. "So, I am in serious danger of failing English." James changed the subject without hesitation. Cameron was surprised that he wasn't being pressured into explaining himself. He found himself feeling more comfortable around James.
"Why?" Cameron laughed.
"Because Mr. Reilly is a bitter asshole," James rolled his eyes. "I think he thinks that failing me and being a dick to me will make me want to get back together with him. I don't know what logic that is..." Cameron and James both laughed. They soon stopped laughing and Cameron met James' eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and Cameron felt himself drawing closer to James' lips.
"We should get back to work," Cameron smiled.
"Yeah," James smiled back.
...
"I'm sorry," Travis blurted as soon as he saw Marissa Tampa in the hallway on Friday morning.
"What?" Marissa was surprised by Travis' latest statement.
"I said `I'm sorry'." Travis repeated.
"I heard you," Marissa said. "What do you mean `you're sorry'? What are you sorry about?"
"You were looking for a boyfriend, and I wasn't your boyfriend. I'm sorry." Travis had forgotten why exactly he was apologizing.
"Hmm," Marissa thought for a moment, and then walked away. Travis continued to follow her down the long hallway.
"What?" Travis asked.
"You don't get it do you?" Marissa wondered. "You think this is all...I don't know what you think actually. I really have no idea what is going on in your head."
"So, ask me." Travis shrugged.
"Okay, Travis. Here we go, I'm putting it all out here," Marissa took a breath. "I like you Travis. I do. And I honestly don't care if that freaks you out or whatever. And up until last week, I saw us turning into...something."
"Look, I don't know what you're thinking, but..." Travis interrupted her.
"I know, Travis. I know you don't want a relationship, and I know that you'll `only hurt me in the end'. You've told me before." She rolled her eyes.
"Would you listen to me for one second?" Travis raised his voice.
"Fine," Marissa muttered.
"You misunderstood what I said. I've hurt a lot of girls before, and I hate it," Travis spoke strongly. "It's my fatal flaw; I hurt the people I care about. And, Marissa, I was starting to care about you. And I didn't want to hurt you. I make mistakes, a lot of mistakes. And you need to know that's what you're getting yourself into."
Marissa smiled, and acting on impulse alone pinned Travis up against the locker and started to kiss him passionately.
...
Alexis Lucas felt a sting of jealousy when she saw Marissa Tampa kissing Travis that morning. The feeling had not left her all day. She thought she had gotten over him, but as soon as she saw him kissing another girl, everything spilled right back out. She couldn't explain it; she despised Travis McCarthy, she hated everything about him and what he had done to her. Yet part of her wished that it had been her that Travis was kissing in the hallway.
Alex walked into the cafeteria where the Math Fair was being held after school still somewhat distracted by the events that had occurred that morning. She set up her board and laid out her report next to the display board. People were just starting to set up their boards, but Alex assumed that Kevin would come soon. She took a seat and waited.
While she sat there, she recalled a time when her, Travis, and Cameron had been best friends. They used to have three way conference calls on the phone, get lunch together, and they would tell each other everything. But ever since her and Travis' relationship went down in flames, she and Cameron had not spoken that much either.
She found it somewhat ironic that she was now crushing on the typical popular asshole, Travis was making out with Ms. Popular, and Cameron...well, Cameron was still single, but she noticed that he had become awfully friendly with James Winters. She never would've expected them all to be where they were now.
"Hey, the board looks good." Kevin Trainer remarked as he sat down next to her.
"Good?" Alex smiled. "It looks great. If we don't win, I'll be shocked. I just saw Greg Turner's board, and I'm not even kidding, I think he did it on the way to school. His title is hand-written in pencil; he has no diagrams."
"I'm not surprised," Kevin laughed. She smiled at him, and their eyes met.
"Hey, did you print out those handouts?" Alex asked.
"Oh fuck, I forgot. I'll go run and do that now," Kevin jumped out of his chair.
"Okay," Alex smiled. She watched as he left the cafeteria, and went back to thinking about where she, Travis, and Cameron had gone wrong. Her thoughts were distracted by a new occupant in the seat next to her.
"Hey Gorgeous," Ricky Buchanan smiled at her.
"I guess you don't remember that the last time you tried to hit on me, you ended up in the nurse's office. So seriously, why don't you just got back to your table," Alex warned.
"What? Come on, I wasn't hitting on you," Ricky smiled. "This would be hitting on you." Ricky put his hand on Alex's leg. Alex quickly pushed his hand off of her and Ricky laughed. "How come you let Kevin touch you like that and not me?"
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
"Kevin told me that later tonight, you guys were going back to his place. And you guys were gonna...you know..." Ricky had an annoying smirk on his face that made what came out of his mouth worse than it already was.
"What?" Alex was shocked.
"Aren't you going back to his place? He said his parents were out, and that he was going to seal the deal," Ricky said.
"Did he now..." Alex felt embarrassed. She had been tricked by someone she never thought she'd fall for. She got up from her chair, only to bump into Kevin, who had d just entered the cafeteria. Their collision ended up spilling the handouts he was holding to the floor.
"Shit, I'm sorry..." Kevin laughed.
"Yeah," Alex muttered then kept on walking. Kevin noticed her change in attitude and turned to Ricky.
"What did you do?" Kevin asked. Ricky shrugged and got up from the table. Kevin rushed out the door to try and find Alex.
"Alex, wait!" Kevin called from down the hallway. Alex stopped and turned around.
"Look, Kevin. I'm not mad at you. I'm really not. I'm more upset with myself. I should've expected this," Alexis explained.
"Expected what?" Kevin asked.
"You to be...you," She said and then turned around and continued down the hallway, leaving Kevin wondering what she was talking about.
...
Cameron sat in the cafeteria looking at his third place prize for the Math fair. It was all that he could've expected under the circumstances. He didn't really care about the prize, as long as he got the A. He started to unfold his display board when he saw Matt appear behind him.
"Hey you," Matt smiled.
"Hey," Cameron smiled back.
"I'll go get my car and bring it around back," Matt suggested. Cameron thought about it for a moment then smiled.
"Yeah, sure," Cameron said. "I'll just finish cleaning this up and then meet you."
Matt left to get his car, and Cameron was left by himself. He was happy that all of the stress of the project was over, but he was also upset that he wouldn't be seeing James as much. In fact, not at all really besides in Math class. Cameron knew he shouldn't be having these feelings, but he couldn't control them.
"Third place, not too shabby," A voice said from behind Cameron. He swung around to see James smirking.
"Yeah, well I had a good partner." Cameron smiled.
"Really now?" James asked.
"Well, he actually wasn't all that good..." Cameron joked. James mockingly made an offended face but couldn't suppress his laughter.
"So, this is it?" James asked.
"What?" Cameron didn't understand what James was referring to.
"The project, this is the end," James explained. "It's weird. I feel like we've been working so hard on this and now that it's over it seems...kind of upsetting."
"Yeah," Cameron admitted. They both stood there, feeling somewhat awkward, but they both were thinking about how upset they were that they wouldn't be seeing much of each other anymore.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around." James smiled.
"Yeah," Cameron forced a smile back. James turned around and started to walk away.
It was in that moment that Cameron wanted to do something to stop him. He knew that he would regret letting James walk way from him. Cameron stopped cleaning up and started to walk after James.
"James! Wait!" Cameron called. James swung around to face Cameron. Once Cameron reached James, he realized that he had absolutely nothing to say to him. He looked for anything to say, anything that would keep James in his life. Finally, after standing there not saying anything he said: "Can you teach me to swim?"
Thank you so much for reading my story. Please e-mail me at Ryanwest25@yahoo.com with any comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions. Thanks again for reading!