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

I Really Don't Want to be Your Personal Servant

The soft, hazy daylight slanting through the cabin's windows woke me up. I moaned sleepily and rolled over, almost throwing half of my body off the top bunk. With a wild yelp, I woke up completely, scrabbling for the bed post with my hand and swinging my legs and my torso back onto the squeaky mattress. The entire bunk bed shook, waking up Clarisse who was sleeping below me.

"Sorry," I apologized to Clarisse, who yawned. "The stupid bed should at least have some sort of guardrail or something so I don't fall off and kill myself," I muttered, sitting up and almost banging my head on the ceiling above.

"S'okay," Clarisse yawned again, stretching. She got up groggily, messing around in her duffel for clothes.

I managed to descent haphazardly from my top bunk, landing with a muffled thump on the cold cabin floor next to my bags.

"I'm going to use the bathroom first," Clarisse announced softly, taking her bag of toiletries and her choice of clothing for the day inside with her.

I nodded and rummaged around in my own bag, pulling out clean undergarments, a pair of white ski pants, a long sleeve, black Under Armour Cold Gear shirt, my pink and gray ski jacket and tossed them over the back of a chair, waiting for my turn to use the bathroom.

By that time, Cynthia was awake too, and she started getting ready herself after a bleary morning greeting. I glanced at the luminous alarm clock that Clarisse had thoughtfully brought along with her; the digital numbers read eight-thirty. I remember Ms. Larkson distinctly announcing that we would all be meeting in the lodge for breakfast at promptly nine-o'clock.

Clarisse opened the bathroom door with a bang, fully awake and dressed. Her waterproof pants made a swishing sound as she walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. "You can use the bathroom," she told me.

I nodded and got my clothes, shutting the door gently behind me. Twenty minutes later, the three of us were fully dressed and washed, and we quickly jammed our feet into boots as we burst out of the cabin and into the fresh morning air.

"Hurry up, I'm hungry!" Clarisse called to us with a giggle as she rushed ahead of us, her feet sinking into the snow.

We entered the warm lodge, discovering that most of our camp had already arrived, with the exception of the two other girls in cabin four and Ms. Larkson. Around thirty seconds after our arrival, they entered as well.

"Girls," Danny complained, "they're always sooo slow," he said playfully.

"Of course, that explains why we look so great and you guys all look like slobs," Gina O'Malley teased and we all laughed and headed into the small restaurant dining room as a group.

"Good morning, Aurelie," a familiar, deep voice greeted me from the right.

I turned my head to see a grinning Cam Gallagher, his shadowy eyes twinkling with a certain mischief that I was immediately wary of. He was clad in all-black today, enhancing his darkly handsome looks.

"What?" I asked, circumspect.

He looked away, the grin still plastered on his face. "Well," he drawled slowly, "according to your words yesterday, today is the day that you'd do whatever I want, right?" he glanced at me again, his white smile blindingly bright.

I felt my lips twist into a scowl, my suspicions confirmed. "It was unfair, Cam," I griped. "There were complications!"

He shrugged. "A lot of things in life are unfair," he stated mysteriously as his eyes unfocused, clearly recalling an unpleasant memory from the past. "But anyways, can you pass me a chocolate milk?" he suddenly said sharply, pointing to the neat array of small milk cartons to my right, his eyes laughing.

"No," I spat bitterly as I reached over and forcefully pressed the cool carton into his outstretched hand, making sure the edge of the carton dug into his palm.

And so the morning progressed slowly, with Cam, my ski buddy, annoying me every single minute he could get. As simple as his wishes were, they irked me to no end.

"Pass me my poles?"

"They're right next to you!"

And… "Move over, I want to sit on the right side of the lift chair this time."

And… "I want you to give that snowboarding instructor a wink…he seems to like you."

And… "Hmm…I want you to go give K.C. a big hug, I think he looks a bit lonely."

To which I did with a deep scowl, surprising K.C. greatly and leaving him slightly bewildered as I tried to go as threateningly as I could (which was hard with two skis) back to where Cam was standing, laughing his head off. By lunch, I was ready to take him to the top of the mountain and bury him alive in a snow tomb where no one would ever find him…

"Can you get me a glass of juice?"

I growled, resisting the urge to slap that stupid smirk off his face. "Fine," I uttered, pushing my chair back.

He was definitely enjoying this. He always had his way in making me look extremely stupid.

"Satisfied?" I muttered, slamming the glass down on the table and making the liquid inside slosh dangerously.

Cam turned and looked at me straight in the eye. "Not really. There's still something else I want," he said candidly, his gaze lingering.

I quickly looked down at my nearly empty plate. What was that supposed to mean? And the way he said it was so… My thoughts were interrupted as he stood up again.

"Come on, let's go. I want to try the black diamond runs," Cam said, pulling his jacket back on.

I met Clarisse's eye from across the table as I stood up as well. She glanced at Cam, then back at me, and giggled softly behind her hand. I sighed and hastily grabbed my jacket as well and followed Cam back outside into the snow.

______________________

Mountain Summit

I slowed to a stop next to Cam on the edge of the slope. It was like a vertical drop from here; I couldn't even see past the top. Cam had a quirky look on his face.

"Uh…" I started, but before I could finish, he had already pushed off and was making his way down the mountain.

I followed him shortly, keeping my distance and going slowly. He was being cautious and making the wide S-shaped turns down the steep slope. The slope began to level out a bit, and Cam slowed even further, veering off to the right of the mountain. Finally, he came to a stop, using his poles to support his weight. I was perplexed. What was he doing? I skied up behind him, gently sliding to a halt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused.

Cam shrugged, looking out over the mountains. "It's nice up here," he stated simply. He glanced down, and stuck his pole on the small lever that popped the ski off his boot. He did the same to his other leg, pushed his skis aside next to him, and sat down in the snow.

"What the hell, Cam," I muttered, staring down at him.

"Sit," he said without turning around.

"What?"

He twisted his upper body around to look at me. "I said, sit. Is your brain so dysfunctional that you can't even register a simple command?"

Well, that sounded more like the Cam Gallagher I knew. With a sigh, I took off my skis as well and sat down in the snow next to him, hugging my knees to my chest. The first thing I noticed was it was completely silent. Rarely anyone came around these runs. The second thing was it was cold. I could hardly feel the tip of my nose. Out of sheer paranoia, I reached up with a gloved hand and poked myself in the face to make sure that my nose was still on my face.

"What are you doing?" Cam suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

I turned to him, startled. "Nothing," I muttered.

He laughed. "No need to speculate over your nose. It's not going to fall off unless you get severe frostbite."

I was offended and embarrassed. How did he know that I was concerned over my nose? Stupid prudent smart people. "Whatever," I mumbled, looking away.

A few minutes of silence followed. I didn't even know why I had actually complied to go along with Cam's deal. It really did piss me off, having to be his personal servant, but part of me just didn't want to quit. Maybe it was because I had never seen Cam like this before, so open and carefree with actual laughter lighting his dark eyes. Or maybe it was just the joy of being around him and having him always by my side…

"What are we doing here anyway?" I asked again.

Cam didn't reply at first. "It's nice up here," he repeated.

I rolled my eyes. "You already said that before," I said pointedly.

Cam sighed. "It's been awhile since everything's been so peaceful and quiet," He looked up at the cloudy gray sky. "I can finally hear myself think. And there's no one around to bother me."

"I'm here," I said bluntly, pointing at myself.

He looked at me and cracked a small smile. "I like having you around me."

I stared at him, speechless. Why couldn't I say anything? That sentence he just uttered…it was so sincere and so straightforward…

I forced myself to look away, tugging my ski cap lower so it completely covered my ears.

"Are you cold?" Cam asked softly.

"N-no," I stuttered, making the mistake by looking over at him again. I felt my stomach flip. Since when was he sitting so close? Was he always this close? I definitely wasn't cold anymore. In fact, my cheeks and my neck were burning up. And I could most definitely feel my nose again.

"I'll make you a second deal," Cam spoke quietly. I stared at him with wide eyes, not saying anything. "If you just do this one last thing I ask of you, then you'll be free for the rest of the day."

Rest of the day? If it was only about two in the afternoon around now, then I would be completely free for the next ten hours! I nodded. "What do you want?"

A small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. His voice dropped, and he was speaking no more than above a whisper.

"I want you to kiss me."

My heart leapt to my throat. What?! I wanted to say, but for some reason, I just couldn't. My tongue forgot how to form words. Cam was staring straight at me, his dark smoldering eyes coming closer and closer… He reached up and brushed the long stray strands of hair away from my cheek with his gloved hand, and I could feel the electricity spark from where he had touched me, even though he still had his gloves on… And suddenly he was kissing me. I could feel his warm lips on mine, sending a strangely pleasant sensation through me. I could feel the current running from his body to mine, the flaming heat, and I was kissing him back…I was kissing Cam Gallagher…

Realization struck like lightning, and I quickly pulled away with a gasp. The cold mountain air rushed inbetween us, separating us like a wall. Cam was looking at me, his eyes still burning, his face betrayed with a whole range of emotions.

"I—I," I scrambled backwards and forced myself to stand up. I clumsily picked up my poles and shoved my boots in place on the skis. "I have to…I have to…go," I muttered lamely, and I took off, leaving Cam still sitting in the snow.

I raced down the mountain faster than I have ever gone. I didn't even bother to put on my goggles, and the cold harsh wind made my eyes water and bit at my skin, but it still couldn't cool off my flaming cheeks. I blinked hard, and the tears from the wind streaked down my face, instantly drying.

Why was I running from him? Why did it feel so right, being next to him, being with him…

"I like having you around me."

His words echoed numbly around my head. I finally stopped at the bottom of the run, gulping down the cold air like there was no tomorrow. I looked back up towards the slope. There was nobody there. I took off my skis and started running as fast as I could towards my cabin.

There was no denying it. I liked being around him. I wanted to be with him… I slammed the cabin door shut behind me.

"What have you done to me, Cam Gallagher?"