Unexpected

When I woke up in the morning, I didn’t regret it. Not at all. Maybe the circumstances were a little rushed and not-well-thought-out, but I didn’t care.

“Good morning,” Cam murmured. I jumped, not knowing that he had even woken up.

“’Morning,” I gasped. “You could have told me that you weren’t sleeping. Or at least had your eyes open, you sneak.”

The front door opened and closed, Tory calling out that she was home. “Oh my God,” I muttered, jumping out of bed and throwing on clothes. “She’s going to kill me.”

“I’m sure she’s done the same thing with her boyfriend,” Cam said as he got up, starting to get dressed himself.

“Actually, she has the class to go to his house.”

“Well, she wasn’t home. She can’t get angry at you.”

“Still, I feel kind of badly… she’s probably going to feel awkward.”

Cam took it upon himself to make sure the situation was as uncomfortable as possible, walking out of my room in just his jeans. “Hey there, Tory.”

Tory cleared her throat. “Um…hi.”

I brushed by the both of them into the bathroom, not even glancing at Tory. The last thing I wanted was an interrogation session right there.

Of course, that was what I got when I exited the bathroom. “Got something to tell me?” she whispered quickly.

Glancing over her shoulder, I saw Cam standing over the stove, watching something or other cook. What a strange guy. “Um…I think you can kind of figure out what happened on your own.”

A grin spread across her face. “So it is what I think? You finally lost your virginity? And to him? Aw…that’s so sweet…”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, feeling my face blush. What was I thinking, getting a roommate? There were no secrets.

Cam seemed to feel my eyes on him, so he looked over and grinned at me. “You guys have the best food here!”

I sighed and shook my head before making my way over to the stove. “You’re going to singe off your eyebrows.”

“Is that possible? And ew, what if they land in the food?” He scrunched up his nose dramatically, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“C’mon,” I enticed, pulling him away from the stove. “Back away. You watching it is just going to make it cook slower.”

He grumbled but followed me, knowing that time was definitely going to pass by way more slowly if he watched the food as it sizzled.

* * *

For the remaining week and a half that Cam was in New York, we hung out every day. We watched movies, talked…whatever we felt like. I just had to make sure that I spent as much time with him as possible. After all, the time was limited. Greatly limited.

When the day came for him to go off to North Carolina to start training, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what to think about the boy that was about to move hundreds of miles away, just when we were figuring out how we really felt about each other.

As we stood inches away from each other at the airport, the reality hit me. The waterworks started, and I couldn’t contain them.

“Stop,” Cam begged in a whisper, running his thumb along the top of my cheek. “Please.”

“I can’t help it. What if you’re gone forever?”

“I won’t be. I’m going to come back. I promise.”

“Don’t do anything dangerous, okay?” I laughed through my sobs.

“I’ll see how that works,” he joked back. His flight got called loudly, and my stomach clenched. More than anything, I hoped that I wouldn’t vomit right there, in front of everyone. The nausea was overwhelming.

“Goodbye, Layla. I love you,” he mumbled into my ear.

“Love you, too,” I responded automatically. At the time, I was too wrapped up with all the sadness that was going on to realize that he had finally said the three words that I’d been waiting all my adolescence and more to hear.

Then, he was gone, disappearing into the terminal and on the plane.