Let Love In

Cameron was right: they were really cool guys. It didn’t take me long for me to get along. In a way, they reminded me of Cameron with how carefree they were. I immediately became comfortable around them and was quickly able to talk a lot with them while being myself.

We all got out of the white van they used when they toured and went inside the 7-Eleven. I zoomed passed them heading straight to the slurpee dispensers while glancing at a guy who was clearly distracted by his phone instead of working. While in high school, I would always stop by 7-Eleven after school to grab a slurpee. It was kind of my daily routine.

“Somebody must really love slurpees,” Nathan acknowledged as he filled his cup with Fanta Kiwi Strawberry.

“I used to always get slurpees after school so I guess you could say I do love them,” I replied while filling my cup with three different flavours: Mountain Dew, Fanta Blue Rasberry and Goji Berry Cherry.

“Whoa there, three flavours?” Zach questioned my odd mixture. He took out a bunch of bills out of his pocket, handing it to the guy who was once on his cell phone.

“Ugh, that doesn’t look too good,” Michael opened the lid of my slurpee, looking at the odd color that had been created from the three flavours.

“I beg to differ,” Cameron disagreed with the guys, taking a sip from my slurpee.

“Hey, you have your own slurpee,” I grabbed my slurpee from his hands and placed my money on the counter and went outside. I sat down on the curb, stretched my feet out and took a sip from my slurpee. The guys followed and we watched as the cars passed by. I opened the bag of Skittles I bought and poured some into my hand.

“Can I have some?” Michael extended his arm towards me.

I stuffed a couple in my mouth, thinking for a moment. “You’ll have to catch it in your mouth.”

Michael narrowed his eyes, preparing for the challenge. “Bring it.”

I set the bag of Skittles on the ground, picked up a single Skittle and threw it towards Michael. He opened his mouth, only to completely miss it and let it hit against his forehead. I tried not to laugh as he frowned at the Skittle that was now on the pavement.

“You’re horrible at aiming,” he accused.

“No, you’re just really bad at catching things,” Zach defended me.

“She aimed it at my forehead!” Michael exclaimed.

“Watch and learn, my friend,” Nathan said. I threw a Skittle towards Nathan and watched it land in his mouth. He threw his hands up in the air and high-fived me.

“That,” Cameron pointed to us, “is how you catch a Skittle.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I meant to do that, anyway,” Michael lied through his teeth. I handed him a bunch of Skittles anyway, feeling bad for him.

After finishing our slurpees and walking around San Diego for a while, we headed over to the party. That is, after we stopped by Cameron’s house so I could change my clothes. Did you really think I was going to a party wearing basketball shorts? I didn’t think so.

Parties. It’s what every typical teenager attends on weekends. I’m not like the typical teenager. Why? Because I don’t go to parties due to the fact that I’m socially awkward. I’ll be honest, there was a certain period of time I did go to parties but that was when I was with him.

I wasn’t really surprised when I walked in. The atmosphere suddenly became familiar to me: people talking in the hallways, eating food, dancing provocatively in the living room where a DJ would play music, and drinking alcohol in those red cups. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a voice over the loud music booming through the house.

“You guys came!” Jenna, Cameron’s girlfriend, cheered. I watched Cameron wrap his arms around her as they kissed each other. I turned away, unable to even glance at them for one second. Maybe I was falling for him. Or maybe, it was just a crush that would end up going away. Yeah, that’s it. Just a crush.

“Jenna, I want you to meet one of my good friends since I was a kid. This is Emma Love. Emma, meet Jenna Gray.” Cameron introduced us to each other.

“Oh, so you’re the girl Cameron was talking about last night. It’s nice to meet you,” she smiled at me. I was taken aback by her words and sincere smile. Was this girl actually…being nice to me? You’d think that if a girl was good friends with a guy who has a girlfriend, his girlfriend would get all catty with her. Well, isn’t that surprising?

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I shook her hand, returning the friendly gesture.

“Alright, you guys just go ahead and have fun.” Jenna waved with her free hand and walked away with Cameron.

“You gonna be okay by yourself, Emma?” Zach asked me. I nodded my head, even though I knew I wasn’t. I just wanted the guys to have fun and not worry about me clinging on to them.

“You guys go ahead. I’m going to see if I know anyone around here.” I walked around the house, trying to look as if I fit in. The house was huge, yet somehow it was still really crowded. I tried to make my way through the “dance floor” as people grinded against each other, balancing their cup with their hand in the air. When I finally got through, I found a long table filled with a ton of food and drinks. I knew that the drinks were spiked, that’s how it always was so I decided to munch on chips. Of course, I stood out like an awkward turtle. That was, until a tall, meaty guy approached me.

“Hey,” he yelled over the loud music. “I’m Austin.”

“Emma,” I said in a monotone voice, hoping he’d get the message. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

“So, uh, what’s a pretty lady like you doing here all alone?”

Was this guy serious? If he’s trying to do what I think he’s doing, he’s not getting anything from me.

“I’m not much of a party person.”

“What? You’re crazy.” He looked at me with disbelief. “Oh, and I bet you don’t drink either.” He said in a sarcastic tone.

“I don’t,” I said simply.

“I seriously need to get you a drink then. Here, have mine.” He handed me his cup. I shook his head and crossed my arms, refusing to take the cup. “Just take it, I can always get another one.

“No, thanks. I’d rather have a Cola.”

“Alright, one Cola coming up.” I watched Austin disappear for a moment and later coming back with my Cola.

I don’t know how many Colas I had, but I knew that after the 3rd or 4th cup that it wasn’t just your regular Cola. Of course, I didn’t know that. I was clearly drunk.

“I love this song!” I slurred my words. I began to dance, making myself look like a complete idiot.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs where it’s more quiet,” Austin grabbed my wrist and tugged on me.

“No, I want to stay here and dance.” I got out of his grip only to stumble back.

“We’re going upstairs,” Austin said in a stern voice.

No one had noticed what was going on, but Cameron did. I saw him walk up to us, making it obvious that he was made. Shit was about to go down.

“What do you think you’re doing, Austin?” Cameron said in a furious voice. Hearing the tone of voice sort of scared me considering I’ve never heard him use a tone like that before.

“It’s none of your business, Cameron.” Austin tried to drag me away, but Cameron pulled me back causing me to break free from Austin’s grip.

“It is my business. She’s my best friend.”

If that wasn’t enough, Nathan, Michael and Zach came and saw what was happening.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked.

“Austin got Emma drunk and nearly tried to rape her.” Cameron answered furiously.

“Emma, let me smell your breath.” Nathan said in a calm voice.

I breathed out from my mouth and saw Nathan make a face.

“Yeah, she’s definitely had a couple of drinks.”

“We better go,” Zach announced. “Nathan and Michael, hold her.” He directed. Michael and Nathan wrapped both of my arms around their shoulder to support me.

“Stay away from her,” Cameron pointed a finger at Austin before following us.

The car ride was quiet and no one said a single word. Cameron dropped off the guys, but not me. When we got to his house, he picked me up and set me down on the couch.

“Cam, I gotta go home. My mom will freak if I don’t.” I managed to say normally.

“If you go home, you’ll be grounded for life and your parents will never trust me nor will let me hang out with you. I’ll just call them and tell them that you’re going to spend the night at my house.”

“I highly doubt my parents will let me sleepover at your house.”

“Do you want to get grounded?” He asked, holding the phone against his ear. He pressed a button, putting the phone on speaker.

“Hello?” I heard my mom say.

“Hi Mrs. Love. I was just wondering if Emma could spend the night over at my house. We were watching a couple of movies and she ended up falling asleep. I didn’t want to wake her up since she seemed really tired.”

The line was quiet for a moment until my mom spoke, “Alright. It’s fine with us. I trust you, Cameron. Have a good night.”

“You too, Mrs. Love. Bye.” He hung up the phone and placed it on the coffee table. He sighed, pacing back and forth while running a hand through his hair. I felt ashamed and that he had to take care of me.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, fiddling with my shirt.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know what was in your drink.” He placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. “Now I know that I should never take you to a party like that.” He chuckled.

“I still feel bad, though,” I frowned.

“Hey, it’s okay. Like I said, I’m right here.” He pulled me in for a hug and rubbed my back. At that moment, I really felt close to Cameron. Not only that, but somehow he was able to break down a few of my walls. It was nice to know that there were people like him out there in the world.