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

The automatic doors of the bus hissed open as it made its stop in Deerfield.

"Let's go," Cam muttered to me, getting up.

We both hopped off the bus, ready for the mile walk ahead of us. The rain had finally stopped, and my comfortable converse low-tops splashed through the shallow puddles lined up on the sidewalks.

"So, how do you like McAllister Academy so far?" Cam said, in effort to start a casual conversation.

I shrugged, concentrating on not stepping into a huge puddle by mistake. "It's really different, in the good way. It's kind of strict," I answered truthfully.

Cam smiled at me warmly. It was a genuine smile. I was slightly surprised. I've never seen Cam Gallagher be this nice to anybody before. And of course, with the big, curious, mouth I possessed, I just had to ask.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

He glanced in my direction, surprised. "What?" he said confused.

I shook my head. "No. It's just that…usually you're so mean to me! You yell at me and you give me detentions, and when you're not doing that, you're making fun of me," I trailed off, looking away.

"Hey," Cam said, suddenly grabbing my arm.

I whirled around to face him, electric sparks running up and down my arm. "What?" I asked, eyeing his hand.

"I didn't mean to be mean," he said, the closest form of an apology that he would give. "I have to keep my prefect status," he muttered, letting go.

I gave a huge, exasperated sigh. "What is with all you people and the stupid prefect status? It's only a name, for heaven's sake!"

Cam looked bewildered. "What are you talking about? Being a prefect is everything!"

"That's what everyone says!" I threw my hands up in the air. "Why can't you just be more like yourself, like you are now? You'd be so much more likable! Take Max, for example. He doesn't have to worry about his stupid status, and everyone likes him since he's so friendly!"

Cam narrowed his dark eyes at me. "Do you like Max?" he asked suspiciously.

I felt my cheeks turn red. "W-what?" I stuttered. "No! Well, I mean, he's really nice and all and I like him but—argh!" I broke off.

"Oh, okay," Cam said quietly.

I blinked. "What's wrong?" I asked, prodding his shoulder.

He turned, flashing me a brilliant smile. "Nothing," he said casually. "We're here," he suddenly spoke up.

I looked up. We were standing at the door of the McAllister house. I was so caught up in our conversation that I hadn't even noticed that we were already on school grounds.

"Oh! Um. Thanks for walking me here," I muttered, suddenly shy. I remembered that I still had his jacket. I quickly shrugged it off my shoulders. "Here's your jacket. Thanks again."

I stepped forward, preparing to open the door when it was jerked open from the inside.

"Aurelie Chevalier-McAllister, where have you been for the past two hours?" David yelled, his face red and angry.

"D-David!" I stumbled backwards, bumping into Cam again. "I accidentally—"

"I don't want to hear it Aurelie! You were supposed to check in two hours ago! Do you know how worried I was? Inside, now!" he demanded.

"Wait, Headmaster McAllister," Cam spoke up, his soothing and deep voice demanding attention immediately.

David seemed to just notice that Cam was standing next to me. The furious look in his eyes softened. "What's the problem, Mr. Gallagher?"

"Please don't blame Aurelie. It was my fault really, I made her wait with me while I was searching for an AP European History textbook at the bookstore, and we lost track of time and just happened to miss the last bus," Cam lied smoothly.

I gulped, quickly glancing at David to see if he bought it.

David sighed, and nodded. "If that's the case then… Just be more careful next time, okay? You're dismissed."

He turned and slowly went back inside the house.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks for the save," I said gratefully to Cam.

He shrugged and turned away. "It's nothing," he muttered.

__________________

Luckily for me, I always have a free period on Tuesdays right after lunch due to the rotation of the schedule. Double lunch, as everyone else on campus would call it. Unluckily, Will, Beth, and Alyssa's double lunch landed on a Thursday. I had an hour before my Advanced Lit. class, so I headed over to the library to finish some work and hopefully waste some time.

It was a beautiful day out for late September; the sun was shining and the weather was relatively warm. It reminded me of summer again. I took my time walking across campus, gazing at the brilliant blue sky and making shapes out of the floating clouds above.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" I yelped in surprise as I bumped into someone on the sidewalk.

"It's no problem."

I looked up, seeing Max Austerlitz. "Max!" I said, smiling.

The blonde boy chuckled. "We always seem to be bumping into each other, huh?" he said, falling into step beside me. "You have double lunch too on Tuesdays?"

I nodded. "I'm heading over to the library now," I said.

"Alright. I'll see you around. Don't crash into anyone else," Max smiled.

I turned, bidding good-bye, when he called my name again.

"Wait, Aurelie!" he said, reaching out for my arm. "Um, I was wondering, are you doing anything Friday night?" he asked, "Because if you're free, do you want to go into town to grab dinner or something after our lacrosse game?" He avoided eye contact.

I blinked. Well, it wasn't like I had plans. And I'm pretty sure Will would be ecstatic to find out that I got a date. "Sure," I agreed.

Max looked up, surprised. "Really? Awesome! I'll pick you up at around…seven-thirty?"

I nodded. "That'd be good."

Max grinned hugely and started walking away. "Oh, and you'd better come to my game! It's the first game of the season!" he yelled.

I laughed. "I'll be there!" I assured him.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I made my way to the library. I got a date! And with one of the cutest and sweetest guys ever.

"Watch it, Chevalier," a very familiar voice said rather harshly as someone's shoulder brushed past my arm.

I turned to see Cam stride past me on the sidewalk, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his head down and a deep scowl etched on his face.

I made a face at his back. What was his problem, honestly? Only a few days ago he was being so nice to me, and now he was being a jerk again. I swear, that boy is bi-polar.

__________________

Thirty Minutes Earlier, Mess Hall

"You study way too much," Max laughed as he plopped down next to one of his best friends, Cam, at the lunch table.

Cam sighed as he looked up from his AP Chemistry book. "I have a test later," Cam mumbled, lifting his fork and shoveling pasta into his mouth.

Max rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Knowing you, you'll probably get a hundred again."

Roger, another one of their friends sat down. He was a fellow teammate on the varsity lacrosse team.

"Captain Cam!" he crowed. "Pumped for the first game of the season on Friday? We're going to beast Lake Forest Academy!"

Cam managed a smirk. "Obviously."

Roger tore his piece of bread in half. "Do you think there's gonna hot girls watching?"

Cam shrugged. "I dunno, maybe."

Roger whistled. "I hope that chick Brynne Albright goes. She's so freakin' hot. Hey, isn't your dad good friends with her parents?" he directed at Cam.

Cam looked back down, concentrating on his book. "Yeah. I had to spend two weeks with their family at our cabin down by Jersey shore during the summer."

Roger shook his head. "You are so lucky, man. Did you score?"

Cam ignored him.

"Speaking of girls, what do you think about the new girl, Aurelie?" Max spoke up.

Roger shrugged. "The headmaster's new daughter? Eh, she's okay, I guess. I'd still go for Brynne. What about you, Cam?"

"Mmmhmm," he replied, pretending to read about molecular conversions.

"I was thinking about asking her out Friday night," Max mused out loud.

"Go for it," Roger answered immediately.

"What do you think, Cam?" Max asked his friend for approval.

"I don't really care," he muttered, snapping his textbook shut. Cam stood up and shoved the book into his bag, dumping the remnants of his lunch into the trash. "I'm going back to the dorm, I have to study."

Max and Roger watched as their friend stalked out of the Mess Hall, silent and moody.

"What got shoved up his ass?" Roger asked through a mouthful of food.

Max shrugged. "Who gives?"