Smile.

“You should have let me hit him.”

“Why?” I ask through a mouth full of food. I rip at my chicken strips and shove them in my mouth while Dale grimaces. I eat the way I want if he has a problem with it then he can bite me.

“Because…he’s a faggot, he sleeps around with the teacher. Didn’t you hear that rumor?”

“Exactly, it’s a rumor and since when were rumors true?” I gulp down my milk and wipe my mustache away. “Besides, why does it matter? Cameron is by far the smartest kid to ever hit Graceson High! You should be happy, because knowing that stubborn mule he’ll do more then half the work so he can get a perfect grade like always.”

“But I have to work with him! What if he tries to get all up in my grill?”

“What, are you saying you wouldn’t hit that because I definitely would?”

Dale stiffens and wrinkles his nose in disgust. “That is…so gross.”

I laugh and pat his shoulder. “I’m just kidding! Gosh, take that stick out of your ass and relax my good friend.”

Ok so maybe I wasn’t kidding, but if I said that out loud who knows what would happen. Cameron is a hot piece of meat and if that kid ever tried to get in my pants I’d say yes without a second thought. The fact that he’s cool and smart only adds to his good looks…I don’t know how, but it just does.

“You get to work with Mary. That’s so unfair,” Dale pouts like a five year old angry with their mother for not getting any candy.

I giggle evilly and glance at said girl across the cafeteria. Mary is one of the prettiest girls in our grade and it is true that most of the guys in our class are jealous that I’m working with her. Personally, I don’t like her that way. She isn’t my type, but hey teasing the guys is always fun!

“It is totally fair.”

“For you.”

I roll my eyes and change the conversation to something more important, like why school even exists. No one likes it. Not even the teachers! So what is the point? I do not see it, but apparently Kylie does because she ends up trying to argue the importance of school. She is such a buzz kill!

~

“Mommy! I’m home!”

“Sage, how was school?”

I smile at the beautiful raven who walks out of the kitchen with her arms open wide just for me. I run into them and snuggle into my beautiful mother who is currently covered in flour. I laugh and poke her cheeks. “What cha makin’?”

“Cookies-”

“Oh my god! Really?”

“Yes. You have to wait though because they aren’t ready yet.”

I pout. “Not cool.”

My mother rolls her eyes and walks back into the kitchen. I follow just behind her and tell her what happened at school today. She smiles and congratulates me on stopping the fight between my friend and Cameron.

“Cameron? I’ve heard you mention that name before…he’s-”

“The smartest kid ever!” I cut her off, throwing my arms in the air to emphasize my point, because it’s true. “He got into our school just by grades!”

“Really? That’s great! Is he a friend of yours?” When she sees the frown on my face she knows my answer. Sighing, she rubs my shoulder. “Aw, why not?”

“Because he’s a stubborn ass,” I reply, allowing my head to crash into the table. I whine and play with my long hair, which my father wants me to cut but I refuse to look like all the muscle heads in my school. Refuse I tell you! Refuse! “He’s not very sociable. He’s quiet, stubborn, and concentrate on his grades. I don’t even see him talking with people at school unless he’s forced! I think he hates me today…because when I touched him he hissed at me like I was diseased or something.”

My mother taps her chin thoughtfully. “That’s odd.” I watch her throw the cookies into the oven and drool just thinking about them. “Maybe he feels like he doesn’t fit in? After all he got in by grades. Everyone else in your school has money.”

“Yeah, I suppose…but wouldn’t he still try to fit in if that’s it?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“Some help you are…”

As I lie in bed that night and stare up at the ceiling I think over today’s events. Really, every day for me seems like so much fun. The days go by in a blur of laughter and stupidity. I laugh, my friends laugh, I smile, and my friends smile but…there’s still one kid that I can’t seem to make happy…

And his name is Cameron Scott.

He’s cold, cruel, and smart. He doesn’t speak to anyone unless they speak to him first. He snaps easily and I swear if we took him to the artic his glare would stop global warming. No one knows anything about him. He’s a mystery. People say he sleeps with the teachers to keep his grades, but he doesn’t do a thing about it. He doesn’t try to stand up to them. He just takes it…

He’s so different…

Why is it that I can make friends with everyone but him? Does he hate me, because it seems like he does? Why does he hate me so much? What did I do to piss him off? What can I do to be his friend? What can I do to make him happy, to make him smile?

I’ve never heard his laugh. I’ve never seen him smile and I’m curious…is he even capable of it?

I guess I’ll have to try tomorrow and find out.