Hey Romeo, Don't You Think You're Just a Tad Overrated?

Just Hormones

'"The ocean's always going to be there for you," she said. "It doesn't matter where you are or how far away, it'll always be right here, in this shell."'

'He placed the soft conch of the pearly shell against the side of his head, the silent hissing of the gentle, lapping, waves reaching his ear. "And you, Mommy?" the little boy asked.'

She smiled. "I'll always be there for you too," she said, bending down so she looked at the little boy straight in the eyes. Her finger lightly prodded his chest. "Right in here," she whispered.'

-Excerpt from Camaxtli Gallagher's blue notebook

Reagan's Dorm for boys, Common Room, the basement

"You're watching TV," Max said, surprised, as he crashed down into the loveseat across from his best friend. "I thought you'd be in your room, writing or studying or something."

"It's the weekend, Max," Cam intoned, bored. He raised the remote and flipped the channel.

Max raised his eyebrows. "There's no such thing as weekends for you, Cam," he said, half laughing. "So? How was math team?"

Cam shrugged, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Good. We got a few new players." There was a pause. "And Mr. Harbing wants me to tutor Aurelie during study halls." He turned and looked expectantly at Max.

Max grinned. "She's not catching on? Well, you're the Einstein, Cam. I'll probably swing by your first meet to see how you guys do." He stood up and stretched. "See ya later; I have to go finish my already late essay before Ms. Keating throws another chickenfit."

Cam nodded. "We're in the weight room this afternoon, don't forget," he reminded his buddy.

"I know, Mom," Max taunted as he skipped up the stairs.

Cam listened as Max's steps retreated. He reached up and with a small click, switched the TV off. He remained on the couch, staring at the black, silent, screen.

______________

Eisenhower Dorm, (a.k.a Dorm #2) for girls, Room #124

"He kissed you?" Alyssa repeated, her green eyes growing wide. "He kissed you! Oh my gosh!"

Beth, Alyssa, and I had all decided we needed some girl time after dinner, so we had all gathered in Beth's room. She was on lying on the bed, and Alyssa and I were sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor.

"Lyss, that's kind of old news," I stated.

"It only happened yesterday," Beth pointed out, rolling on her back on the bright bedspread, holding an old issue of Seventeen over her head. "This is cute," she mused, observing a skirt on the glossy magazine page.

I groaned. "You're not helping, Bethany!" I accused.

Alyssa squealed. "So? What was it like? Was he a good kisser? Did you two like, make out?"

I slapped her playfully. "You're being immature!" I laughed as she squeaked and dodged out of the way.

"So, do you like, really like him?" Beth rolled over again so she was facing us.

I hesitated. "Yes," I answered, "of course I do."

________________

I sighed as the bell finally rang, signaling the end of Lit. class. Mrs. Jameson pursed her lips, giving the clock a dirty look as if it had interrupted her long speech on the tragic heroes of "Julius Caesar" on purpose. I bolted out of her room along with everyone else, breathing in relief.

Yes, I have free afternoon study hall now! I thought joyously. Maybe I could go bug Beth to see if we could finish watching the movie The Breakfast Club that we started Saturday night and never finished.

"Going somewhere, Chevalier?"

I inhaled through my nose as my visions of a perfect hour before P.E. class was shattered like thin glass. I turned around. "Hi, Cam," I muttered.

Cam Gallagher rolled his eyes. He was leaning against the hallway, his white shirt sleeves rolled up, exposing his lacrosse-toned forearm muscles and his short, dark hair sticking up in random directions that still made him look incredibly hot. I fought the blush that was rising to my cheeks.

"Come on, you have a math tutoring session with me now," he stated as he pushed himself off the wall. "Let's go to the library."

"Is this really necessary?" I asked him as I caught up with his long strides as we exited Phillips Hall and into the sunlight. A few other juniors with free study hall lounged underneath the shade of a large tree, chatting and laughing together.

"Of course. You're a failure in the area of mathematics, and currently a sizable flaw to our varsity team," Cam answered bluntly as he yanked open the library door and stepped inside himself, letting go and nearly allowing the heavy glass door to crash into my face.

I scowled as I pushed my way inside after him. What a perfect gentleman. Not. "I'm not a failure!" I protested as I followed him up to the second floor, where there were small tables set up for silent studying.

"What's a complex conjugate?"

"I—"

"Thought so."

I clenched my teeth as we set our bags down at an empty table by the window. This was going to be a long hour.

_____________

Twenty Minutes Later

"That's wrong," Cam said lazily as he watched me tackle a complicated problem.

"I barely started the problem!"

"Are you defying me?"

"Yes, I'm defying you and your stupid, blown-up, extremely disproportionate head!" I snapped.

"Do you want a detention?" he threatened.

I cowered. "No," I said meekly.

"Then that's wrong," Cam insisted. I sighed as we came back full circle. This had been going on for twenty minutes, but surprisingly, I was getting somewhere. It was really annoying, but at least I was learning. Cam leaned over, plucking the pencil out of my hands. "Here, you do this step first, then you divide it out to get the answer," he said, scribbling numbers and variables down on the paper in his immaculate handwriting.

He squinted hard at the paper, leaning closer. "Oh wait, I read it wrong, you're supposed to multiply, not divide. Sorry."

"Uh-huh," I managed. Cam's face was less than a foot away from mine, and I could smell his peppermint breath as he spoke. It didn't even register in my mind that I had been right all along, and Cam had been wrong, for once.

"Here," he finally said, leaning back into his chair again, tossing the pencil at me.

I fumbled and dropped it on the ground. I dived under the desk, using my dropped pencil as a good excuse to hide my red cheeks.

"Honestly, one of these days, you're going to get run over by a truck," Cam commented as I emerged from beneath the table, clutching my pencil.

My cheeks burned. "Sorry," I muttered.

He shook his head minimally and gazed outside the window, completely oblivious. I glanced down at the paper and attacked the problem again, my mind running. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I had a boyfriend already! It must be just hormones. Raging, stupid, teenage, hormones. Sure, I admit, Cam Gallagher was equivalent to one of those male models in those Abercrombie & Fitch advertisements, and everyone else agreed with me too. It's just the hormones talking. Just hormones, I managed to convince myself.

The bell rang shrilly again, and I jumped in surprise. Cam immediately stood up. "I guess you did okay today. You got the basic idea of solving complex equations down," he mused as he shouldered his bag.

I quickly gathered up all my papers and shoved them into my binder. "Yeah, thanks," I muttered, keeping my head low.

"Eh, just keep doing the homework. See you in P.E," he said, leaving the library.

I packed the rest of my books in silence, the heat never fading completely from my face.

It's just hormones, Aurelie. Just hormones.