Smile.

Cameron moves out of the room without a sound. I take a step, ready to go after him, when the bell suddenly rings. I try moving quickly, but the halls are filled with people and I lost him in the crowd.

Damn it.

“What the hell was that about?” Dale hollers from behind me, rubbing his reddening cheek. He stomps up to me and I actually think he’s going to hit me back, but he doesn’t. “You just stood up for that freak!”

“I did and you deserved it. Cameron isn’t a slut and he is really smart. Stop saying shit about him and I promise I won’t punch you again,” I growl, shoving him to the side and pushing my way through the halls. I try to look for that familiar head of brown, but I can’t seem to find him.

Groaning, I make my way to my next class….

~

“Cameron, you know they were just being stupid earlier, right?” I ask, leaning onto the table to get a better look at the boy, but his hair is blocking his face. I can’t tell if he’s mad about earlier or not.

Cameron shrugs and flips his hair from his face. I sigh in relief when I see the same facial expression he wears everyday, that smug smirk that clearly states he knows he’s a genius. “Yeah…I know.”

I smile and sigh in relief. “Go-”

There’s a loud shrilling sound that has both of us jumping. I chuckle as Cameron sighs and pulls a cell phone from his pocket. I feel my cheeks break at the smile on my face. He has a cell phone! That means he can text me! Holy shit, yes!

“Hello?” He answers and I can hear the worry in his voice. There’s an unfamiliar voice on the other line and I can see him scowling. “Is Emily or Amber there?…No! Where’d they go?”

Cameron scowls and runs his fingers through his hair. I watch carefully as he gets to his feet and begins packing his things. “All right, all right, keep yourself and Cory covered up. I’ll be home in a bit…love you too, bye.”

“Who was that?” I ask, getting to my feet and grabbing my things.

“My little brother.” He has siblings? “He and Cory aren’t feeling well. I need to go home.”

“But…the test,” I whine, because there’s a test tomorrow that I am not ready for. Hearing about it makes Cameron stop in his tracks and stomp his feet childishly, something I’ve never seen him do before. I want to laugh, but I keep it in because then he might stop.

I don’t want him to. It shows me that he still has a bit of fun inside him.

“Damn it!” He curses and runs his fingers through his hair. He taps his chin impatiently and I can tell he’s trying to think of a solution, although there’s only one and it’s obvious.

“How about I go to your house?”

“No!” He shouts immediately. “You can’t.”

“Why not?”

He frowns and shakes his head. “You just…can’t.”

“Come on Cameron, why not?” I laugh, nudging his side. “It’s not like I’m going to make fun of you for not having a golden stair case.”

My little joke has Cameron rolling his eyes. I nearly jump with joy when he sighs, “Ok but…don’t…don’t tell anyone.”

I’m not sure why he doesn’t want people to know, but if that’s the way he wants it that’s the way he gets it. I simply nod and allow Cameron to guide me to a part of town I’ve never been to. There’s apartments on either side of us and to be honest I’ve never been in one before.

I follow him up a set of stairs and to a door where he suddenly stops and warns me, “Don’t be surprised if you get tackled.”

Before I have time to ask what he means, he opens the door as just as he warned, I got tackled. Two boys, who look exactly alike, stare at me with wide eyes that are exactly like Cameron’s. I stare at the two as they ask in unison, “Who you be?”

“Ryan, Cain, get off him!” Cameron scolds, grabbing the little boys by their shirts and lifting them into the air. They both kick rapidly and scream and holler as Cameron stalks inside, scolding them like a mother would for tackling me.

I laugh and walk inside to see that they aren’t the only ones here. There’s two young girls on the couch and a baby on the floor playing with a rattle. The two girls look at Cameron and smile sweetly. “Welcome back, bubby!”

“Where’d Amber and Emily go, Rachel?” Cameron asks and my jaw drops. Shit, there’s more siblings!?!

“To a friends,” the girl I’m assuming to be Rachel replies. “They’re staying the night, I think…”

Cameron rubs his temples and I honestly think he’s going to scream, but when I see his shoulders slump and I hear him sigh I’m in shock. “All right, as long as they’re all right. Trenton and Cory are in their rooms right?”

I throw my hands into the air as I remember those two. Shit! There’s 10 kids all together, in this small ass apartment?

“Wait in the kitchen,” Cameron instructs. “I have to check on my brothers.”

I nod, not really sure what to say because I’m too shocked by this new piece of information.