No Strings Attached, Please?

I stood ten feet away from her while she was listening to a doctor. The doctor said something about her dad and it only made her sink into her seat while she sobbed. She sat between her mom and Garretson; her mom looked horrified and shocked when the doctor told them something I didn’t really know since I was far from the earshot.

I could see Ms. Connor was lining down some of her tears while her beautiful daughter quickly hugged Cam on her side and then cried on his shoulder.

Clenching my teeth was the only thing I could do. How I wish I were the one who could hold her there, soothe her with assuring sweet words that could send her into tranquillity. Unlike that asshole that didn’t do anything, only being a statue and put a kiss on her lips.

What the fuck. He sure had the way to exploit the circumstances. Stupid prick.

Reluctantly, I walked up to them and sat next to Ms. Connor, saying how sorry I am to her without knowing anything about what the doctor said. Ms. Connor nodded and then hugged me briefly. Before she pulled away, she whispered something I didn’t really catch, but I caught a few lines...

“I’m going, don’t leave her alone with this kid because I only trust you…” she whispered and then got up. She whimpered as she covered her mouth to hold back her tears. She said her goodbyes to her daughter and left with Mike who was pacing back and forth outside.

I turned to Savannah who was making herself comfortable on Cam’s chest as she kept tearing her eyes out. Cam stroked her head in such disgustingly yet lovingly way that I really despised him. Telling her that what the doctor said was some crappy bullshit because actually her dad was recovering from his illness.

What I could sum up was Jake wouldn’t make it much longer so that sent Savannah into this hopeless cries.

“I love him, I love him really really much… I can’t lose him now…” Savannah said in her hoarse voice that sounded so tormented. I clenched my fist hard, damn she’s tortured.

“Babe, please... he’s going to be alright. I swear… he’s just sleeping there...” Cam tried with his candy coated sweet words. I rolled my eyes; the donkey didn’t know how to calm the chick down.

Suddenly Cam pulled away and apologized that he needs to go to the bathroom, leaving Savannah sunk down on her seat, hugging her body tightly, looking all vulnerable.

I scooted nearer to her and watched her broken-hearted eyes that still looked beautiful. Some of her tears glistened on her glowing pink cheeks, her nose was really red and her red hair fell down but she looked so perfect. She was sobbing and looking lost in this state. I had never in my life seen her broken like this before.

How could God give sadness to this beauty? She didn’t deserve any of it.

I took in a deep breath and exhaled lightly as I took her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“Whatever the doctor said, don’t listen to him… he doesn’t believe in miracles…”

Savannah shifted her eyes to mine and shook her head frantically.

“The doctor said he won’t make it until next week… can you believe it?” She said hoarsely with pure sadness flooding her pretty eyes.

“You don’t need to believe what the doctors said, but you have to believe in what your father is doing in there. He was battling his sickness, and you have to help him through it…” I came closer to her and wrapped her shoulder with my arm.

Savannah gave her sorrow laugh, “How can I help him if they never even let me see him in his room? I can barely touch him,”

“Help him by praying and being an optimistic, I promise that optimism can make something more powerful… you have to believe in your dad…”

“But—“ she lost her breath when she sobbed. God, how I wanted to hold her tiny body tightly and kiss her softly. “But I love him, Nat… It’s not fair for me, I didn’t see him for fifteen years, I missed him and just met him a month ago. I don’t have much time with him… then now, God decided to take him away from me again…” she shook her head and cried again, this time more breathlessly. I could only swallow the lump inside my throat, I couldn’t feel what she felt right now, but I know how it felt like.

“He knows you love him really much, Sav… and… if only he left, maybe God knows what’s best for you, the best for him… I know you’re tough enough to go through this, I know you will… just keep your head up and keep praying for him…”

I stroked her head, putting her bangs to the back of her tiny ear and kissed her temple softly. I could sniff her strawberry shampoo here, she smelled so good and I swear if Cam didn’t interrupt us, I could have kissed her properly right there, even I know it’s not the best moment for me to do it.

“You’re done here?” Cam said curtly when he popped out in front of us with annoyed look on his face. Oh God, could he just stop acting like a jealous boyfriend for a moment? I quickly pulled away from Savannah without trying to apologize to the guy who claimed to be Sava’s boyfriend.

“You’re okay?” Cam asked while replacing my hand with his on Sava’s shoulder. Pfft... he was asking her as if I just hurt her. Prick. Savannah nodded as she glanced to me, giving her swift smile as if she’s saying thanks to me.

“I’m better, if you’re asking… Nat was only trying to help here…”

“Yeah, by putting his strong arm, and kissing your temple so you feel safe” he snorted cynically and gave me a glare. Savannah instantly turned to Cam and pushed him away lightly.

“Don’t say it like that… he’s just trying to calm me down…”

“Sure, I saw it, I saw it… no need to be offensive like that, babe. Well, what could I say? I’m jealous here as your real boyfriend. And, you don’t need him… I’m always here right beside you… so, you don’t need to rely on some people who might take advantage of you…”

I could feel my blood boiling up to my brain. Did this fucker just say that I only took advantage of Savannah? Did he need a mirror or something? Because, fuck, apparently he’s the one who did it. Stupid son of a bitch!

I held back my shaky fist on my lap, ready to hit him and it drew Savannah’s attention. She turned to me again and saw how angry I was. I just realized Savannah stopped crying since I soothed her. Savannah turned back to her asshole boyfriend and kissed his cheek. I wished it was my cheek that she kissed. Wait... wait...what? No, I didn’t wish for it. Never mind, I was just joking. Ha.

“I’m sure I only need you, Cam… and Nat is only a good friend of mine, nothing more, you can trust me…”

My mouth gaped.

………………………what?

What did she just SAY?

Damn it, damn it…. Why did it hurt to hear her saying that thing?

Fuck, of course I didn’t like her… but oh fuck!! What if I started to like her? Shit! That ain’t happening! That’s why I didn’t feel really well when I saw her with Garretson or even when she ignored me, or when I couldn’t get a hold of her. What if I actually liked her? Oh no. No, the only girl I ever liked was Lynn, and I was sure enough that I loved Lynn with my entire soul.

I liked Savannah? You must be joking. Ha.

I didn’t realize that after she said that, I only stared into empty space. Well, you could say I just spaced out; trying to regain my composure, trying to digest what she said couldn’t put a lot effect on me. And the next moment, she saw it and nudged my side.

“Nat? Are you there?”

I quickly snapped out my thoughts and turned my head to her.

“Sorry, what is it?”

“I said, would you mind getting me a drink?” she said weakly with a smile.

I shook my head too quickly, “No, of course not… I could get you some,” I said as I got off from my seat. “What would you like to drink?” I put my biggest smile on my face with my gentleman tone, ignoring the glare that Cam was shooting me.

Savannah chuckled lightly, “Although I like coffee more, but I love the chocolate you made for me, so… hot chocolate would be fine.”

My heart skipped a beat when she said that. She liked the chocolate I made for her. It made me smile and forget my anger for a moment. So then, I walked away from her to where the coffee slash tea slash chocolate maker whatever machine it was called, sat.

“Oi nerd-face McGregor,” but Cam voice stopped my track, I turned my head over my shoulder and found Cam smirked to me.

“Don’t forget to get me some coffee, no sugar, a crème, and don’t make it too hot” I was stunned for a slight moment to hear him. What the actual fuck did he just say? Before I could object, I saw Savannah gave me her weak nod and I just sighed there before I walked to the coffee machine.

I couldn’t believe that tool just ordered me to get him something!

Punching some buttons on the vending machine angrily, I turned my head just to see Cam was stroking Sava’s head and kissing her again. That asshole! Can he ever keep his hands to himself?

How many times have I told Savannah that Cam wasn’t the right guy for her? He’s a bad news and damn, he had a rep for being a cheater. I bet behind Savannah he cheated on somebody.

Maybe Sava was no better, she also had a reputation being a school slut, jumping around from dick to another dick every week, but what I saw now, she’s not that person anymore. Ever since I had a fake relationship with her, she seemed to be getting out from there. She stopped it; she wasn’t that wild slut I knew before. That made me think that I was the one who changed her.

And, I wouldn’t let Cam ruin her again.

The hot chocolate for Sava was ready and I put it on the table next to the vending machine. I grabbed a few more coins and got a cup of coffee that the pansy boy asked for. I put three cubes of sugar in it, a crème and a cherry on top. I mean, I secretly collected all my strength to spit on Cam’s cup. I swear I just put some thick nasty liquid on it. I turned to check on him and saw he didn’t notice what I was doing with his cup.

With a wide grin, I grabbed two ready cups and then walked back to where Savannah and the donkey sat. I sat next to Savannah and gave her chocolate cup and the other way Cam snatched his cup from my hand. He said his low meaningless thanks to me and then gulped down his nasty coffee. Yuck.

I wonder how it tastes to drink someone else’s spit. Yuck.

The next moment, he suddenly burst the content from his mouth, purging it onto the floor.

“FFFFFUUUCCKK!” he screamed and glared to me, “What the fuck is this, McGregor?! I told you no sugar!!” I swore his voice drew too much attention in the waiting room. Everyone’s eyes were on him. Most of them were glaring at him.

“No? Oh wait, I’m sorry… I thought people love sugar?” I replied innocently as Garretson got off from his seat and came to my side. He grabbed my collar and lifted me up.

“You fucking—“

“Cam!” Savannah got off and stood in between me and Cam.

“Babe, he fucking did it on purpose! You know that I can’t consume sugar! My blood sugar level is already high!”

“Cameron! Enough!” Sava pushed Cam away from me and glared to him “I believe he didn’t know anything about your blood sugar and he probably forgot about your coffee. Chill the fuck out because this is a fucking hospital and my dad is dying in there! Pull yourself together!”

Cam was silent when Sava burst out in front of him like that. His eyes shifted to mine as he sent his death glare to me.

“I’m sorry, babe... I... uhh.. I guess I need to go to the bathroom…” Cam said at last and then left us. I saw he kicked a trashcan on his way in fury and then turned to the men’s restroom. Sava and I sat back to our seat and I heard she mustered a sigh.

“You did it on purpose didn’t you?” Sava whispered to me while she fisted her tiny hands on her lap.

“I didn’t…” I denied but she quickly bought it as a denial when she glared at me. Wow, she knew me too well. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know about his blood sugar…”

“Well, he has potential for diabetes. So, in this mean time, he can’t consume sugar, especially lots of sugar”

“Wow, I guess I was close to killing him?”

“Fortunately, not so close…” she replied. Well, I was waiting for the day when I was able to kill Garretson.

We fell in pregnant silence and then I decided to apologize. I didn’t mean to send Cam to the death, it’s just he’s too much annoying to handle.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know about it…” I apologized half honest. “I didn’t mean to...uh… hurt your uhh...boyfriend” Whoa did I just accept Cam as Sava’s boyfriend? God, it sounded so wrong and weird. It’s obvious to see that Sava didn’t have anything with Cam, they only fucked. Shit, yes they fucked.

“Cam doesn’t need to know if you did it on purpose though. Unless you want him to beat the shit out of you,” she shrugged and let out a light chuckle.

I smiled to her and we fell to another awkward silence. Damn, why did it keep happening to me? Lately I lost my ability to hold a long conversation with Savannah because I usually got nervous around her. What the hell was happening?

“So… it’s three weeks to go to the final exam. How’s your study?” I asked randomly.

Sava shook her head, “Haven’t prepared anything yet, especially with these circumstances. However, I was thinking about your offer for the study date. I know you have some AP classes and probably you can help me with some of the subjects?”

“Of course, we can have a study date together. You know I failed Spanish and Latin class, I was wondering if you can help me with those since you nailed them” I crooked a smile. Sava spoke Spanish like she spoke in English.

“Nice! So when will we start?” She asked brightly. I was happy that I could put a smile on Sava’s face back again though she knew her dad was dying there. Like I said before, a real gentleman knew how to soothe and comfort girls.

“Anytime you like?”

“How about tomorrow? I know it’s too soon, but we only have three weeks left… y’know…” she said.

“It’s on” I grinned and ruffled the top of her head. But soon, my grin faded when I saw Cam’s figure came back from the business he was up to. He had the smug grin on his face and then slid to the seat next Savannah. Savannah turned to Cam and showed her concern to her lovely boyfriend.

“You’re alright?” she asked full of concern.

“As strong as the Zeus” Cam replied with a smirk and then he kissed Sava on the mouth that made me roll my eyes.

Suddenly my cell phone vibrated inside my pocket, it rang loudly and so I quickly pulled it out just to find Lynn was calling. Wow, great, she’s calling. She probably wanted me to keep her a company to some boutiques again or some shitty place. It felt like Lynn knew I was with Savannah, so she tried her hardest to drag me away.

“Hey babe…” I said through the phone.

Instead of whining immaturely or made some flirtatious sound, Lynn sounded serious.

“Nathan, where are you?” she asked right away.

Uh-oh. She must not know I was in the hospital with Savannah.

“Umm...I uhh I’m at the Central Library…. Why?”

Lynn scoffed, “Where are you, seriously…?”

“Babe, I’m at the Central Library…I told you…”

“Nathan, where exactly are you at? You are with that slut, aren’t you? ”

My breath hitched in my throat, startled, “What? What are you talking about?”

“I know you’re with that slutty Savannah. What the hell, Nathan? Why did you lie to me? I’ve told you to stay away from her…”

How did she know I was with Savannah???

“Lynn—babe... I’m really sorry... it’s just I feel bad about her father, and I guess she needs somebody... y’know.” oh shit, wrong answer!

“She has Cam, for crying out loud! And what he told me was something that you shouldn’t have done. What’s with the hugging, clingy, and even kissing part? You’re not her boyfriend, Nathan! Are you cheating on me with her? ” I could hear that Lynn was shrieking on the other line.

Whoa, fucking great, so that prick told her that I was here? I turned my head to Cam who was smirking to me and wiggling his eyebrows on me. Fuck. This asshole fucking ruined it!

“No! Of course not, babe. I was just—“

“Just get the hell out of there right now!”

“What? No... I can’t, Savannah needs—“

“Stop it! I can’t believe you, Nathan! You choose her over me! ” Seriously? She always cut me off; she didn’t let me to explain. Damn, I was damned for this.

“Babe, it’s not like that, I only—“

Lynn suddenly whined and cried on the line, “Just get your ass here, we really need to talk…”

“But…”

“If you still want me and love me, you’ll come here right now…” and then the line was dead.

Jesus, what the fuck was that!

Lynn sounded so angry and disappointed. What the fuck, she seriously thought that I was cheating on her with Savannah? She must be nuts. I couldn’t believe she just threw a fit on me over the phone and now she wanted me to get to her house. What was I supposed to say? I knew that Savannah probably didn’t really need me here, but I wanted to be on her side. Was it something wrong to do?

Geez, sometimes Lynn was too stubborn to handle.

I grunted and closed my phone, putting it inside my pocket again and turned to Savannah who was curious.

“I guess I should go now,” I said to her and she nodded briefly. She then leaned to me and engulfed me with a hug.

“Thank you so much, Nat” she whispered in my ear that seriously caused me to have goose bumps. She even rubbed my back softly and then I came to hug her back. I saw Cam on the other side shooting me an annoyed look. Damn, I should know that he wanted to ruin me and Savannah, that’s why he phoned Lynn. I bet he called her when he went to the bathroom.

Sweet revenge, huh, bastard?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, kay?” she said when we pulled away.

“Sure” I crooked a smile and then got up after I gave her a light kiss on her cheek. I swore I saw her blush when I kissed her. Damn, she looked so freaking cute.

“Keep your hopes up high for your dad, will you?” I said to her at last before I went to the door. I turned back to where I saw Cam smiled mischievously at me. I groaned and ignored the irked feeling inside.