Let Love In

I knew what was coming. Right when I realized my mistake, I could already picture my mom criticizing me. She set her coffee mug on the table and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She eyed me, giving me the look she always gave people whenever they made a mistake.

“Emma, dear, you shouldn’t have left the pizza in the oven for too long. Now it’s burnt.” I glanced at the pizza I had left to cool off. It wasn’t burnt, but I didn’t want to tell my mom that. She was the queen of perfectionism. I looked at the clock, hoping Cameron would appear any minute to pick me up. She shook her head, ashamed at my minor mistake. “You really should learn from your mistakes.”

I winced at her comment as it brought down my confidence more and more. Thankfully, I was saved when I heard a car horn outside. I grabbed my bag and walked away from my mom before she could say any other remarks. When I opened the door and sat down, Cameron automatically knew there was something wrong. That’s the great thing about Cameron. He was always willing to ask what’s wrong and tried his best to fix it your world for you. But right now was not the time.

“Hey, are you okay?” He gave me a worried look.

I half smiled at the fact that he was concerned, but lied to him instead, “I’m fine. My mom is just being a mom.”

He stared at me, trying to look right through the lie, but nodded his head, “Just remember that I’m here if you need someone to talk to, okay?” He pulled out of the driveway and drove off.

I asked, “So, where am I going to meet these wonderful friends of yours?”

“We’re meeting up with the guys at my house,” he replied while inserting a CD into the CD player. A synth-like sound filled the car followed by a voice singing. The song was catchy and the sound was great.

“What band is this?” I asked as I drummed to the beat of the catchy song.

“That, my friend, is my band.” He beamed proudly. I whipped my head around and was surprised.

“No way. You guys sound great!”

“I don’t know if I should appreciate that comment or be offended.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry you took it that way. It was meant to be a positive comment,” I began to sputter.

“Emma, chill. I was kidding,” he rested his hand on my knee, making me tense up a little. His touch was like a lightning bolt, shocking me every time his skin made contact with me. It brought my heart to life, kind of the same way defibrillators do when a doctor tries to restore a person’s heartbeat to a regular pace.

Okay, so I’ll admit it. Maybe I do have a tiny crush on Cameron, but it’s not for sure. I mean, I’m still trying to get over the past and recover. I don’t know, I’m still confused about everything. I don’t think I could ever let love in again.

After listening to a couple of songs which were surprisingly really good, we finally arrived what I presumed was Cameron’s house. When we went inside, no one was there. We entered the backyard and noticed a bucket of water balloons sitting in front of us.

“Why is there a bucket of–”

“Run, Emma!” Cameron yelled and before I could even start running, water balloons were being thrown at me. I shrieked and started running around the yard. I picked up a couple of water balloons and threw them at a boy who had raven-colored hair that peeked out of his hat. He then turned the other way, throwing them at another boy who had dreads and I must say a gorgeous smile. One boy with dark hair saw that I was home free and started to chase me. I hid behind a tree and peeked out from the tree. The boy was waiting for me to start running, throwing the water balloon in his hand in the air and catching it. I threw the only water balloon I had in my hand at him and ran towards a corner. Not the smartest idea. I was surrounded by all four them.

“Now, are we going to let her go?” The boy with dreads asked the guys.

“Nah,” Cameron shook his head and they all began throwing the rest of the water balloons at me. I shrieked every time the cold water hit against my skin.

“Guys, stop.” I said in between laughs.

“Alright, cease fire guys.” The boy with the hat commanded them to do. By now, I was already drenched. I looked at them, each of them smiling at their accomplishment. Cameron stood beside me and pushed me forward to introduce to the hooligans who threw the water balloons at me.

“Emma, this is Zach, Nathan and Michael. Guys, meet Emma.”

Nathan was the first to approach me, giving me hug even though my whole outfit was wet.

“Sorry about ruining your outfit,” he apologized.

“What’s good? I’m Michael.” I received another bear hug from Michael. “Sorry about the water balloons. We had to have a grand introduction.”

I giggled, “Its fine. I thought it was really creative.”

“They can’t take the credit. I was the one who came up with the idea. By the way, I’m Zach.” He told me as I received one last hug and handed me a towel.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Nathan asked while drying himself off.

Cameron threw his towel towards a lounge chair and said, “Jenna’s having a party at her house tonight. I was thinking maybe we could head over to 7-Eleven for slurpees and then head over to her house for the party.”

“Who’s Jenna?” I asked him.

“Jenna is Cameron’s girlfriend,” Zach responded. I knew it was all too good to be true. There was no way that a guy like Cameron could be single.

“Oh, that’s nice,” I lied. For the first time, Cameron wasn’t able to look past the mask I wore. I didn’t have anything against Cameron having a girlfriend. I mean, he was just my best friend that I had a tiny crush on. It would fade away sooner or later…hopefully.

“A party? Sounds like my kind of scene,” Michael said. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” I said. “I can’t go looking like this,” I pointed to my outfit that was drenched in water.

“I’ll see if my sister, Anna, has any clothes that you could borrow for now.” I followed him into the house and up the stairs. He put his hand on the door only to find that it was locked. Then he turned to me, “It’s locked. Is it okay if you wore some of my clothes?”

I nodded my head and followed him to his room. When I went inside, it was surprisingly clean. His desk was spotless and his bed was made. I walked over to his nightstand that had a picture of him and what I assumed was Jenna. She was pretty, alright. I looked at myself in the mirror and back at the picture, my confidence slowly falling.

“I hope these are fine,” he handed me a t-shirt that had “Poway” written across and navy blue basketball shorts.

“Thanks, Cam” I took the clothes and went into the bathroom. The shirt wasn’t too big and the same went for the shorts. I closed my eyes, breathing in his cologne that was smothered on his clothes. It reminded me of how he used to always give me long hugs when I was sad and wouldn’t let go unless I asked him to. I opened my eyes, trying not to fall for him. The last thing I ever wanted to do was to fall for someone and not be caught at all.