Something Ends, Another Begins

Cameron's P.O.V.

Ali ended up staying at my place for a while. After a couple hours of watching TV and playing video games, she decided to go home. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?" I asked her as she started getting ready to leave.

"Um," she mumbled, "yeah, I might be. If I don't get it done today, I'll be finishing homework and then going grocery shopping before my mom gets back."

"Oh, okay," I replied.

"But I'll call or text you to let you know if we could hang out."

"Sounds good," I said, unintentionally smiling. Ali gave me one more hug before walking out the front door to her car. Once I saw her drive away from my house, I turned away from the window and headed for the stairs.

"Did Ali leave?" I heard Liz ask from the kitchen. I noticed that she changed into her scrubs, indicating that she was going to be leaving for work soon.

"Yeah, she had some stuff to do," I answered, turning back toward the stairs.

"Cam," Liz said quickly, in a tone that I knew all too well. It was the tone she used when she wanted to talk to me about something serious.

I sighed and hesitantly walked over to her. "Uh oh. What did I do now?"

Liz crossed her arms over her chest and just looked at me for a few awkward seconds. "You didn't do anything," she said softly. "I just want to ask you something." I stood in front of her, waiting patiently for her to continue. She took a deep breath before asking me, "Do you have any feelings for Ali? Like, 'more than a friend' type feelings?"

I gave Liz a puzzled look, wondering how the hell a question like that even came across her mind. "What are you talking about? Are you thinking I'm in love with Ali or something? I don't have any feelings for Ali. She's just a good friend."

Liz's facial expression didn't change; as if she was not convinced of my answer. "Alright, if you say so."

"Why would you even ask something like that?" I asked.

She was silent for a while, but I kept on waiting for her to say something. "I don't know," she replied. "It's just that...over the last couple of months, you've seemed to grew very fond of her."

"So? That doesn't mean anything. We've become really good friends. A guy and a girl can be friends without either of them having feelings for the other, you know."

Liz gave me an unconvinced look and shook her head. "Cam, did you ever just stop and think that maybe, possibly there could be the slightest chance that you could be interested in her in more than a friend way?"

"No," I snapped, starting to get a little tired of the subject. "Let's get one thing straight: I don't see Ali in any way other than a friend."

"Yeah, maybe that's what you want yourself to believe."

"Okay, Liz, are you some kind of a psychologist or something?"

"Well, I took two psychology classes in college so I know some stuff about how people act around people they like and how they try to convince themselves they don't like that person."

"Just because you took a couple classes does not make you an expert."

"I'm not saying I am an expert. I'm just making observations," Liz said calmly, apparently she wasn't as bothered or annoyed as I was. "Cam, I see the way you look at her when she's not looking at you."

"You're crazy," I said, shaking my head. "I don't look at her in any certain way."

"Yes, you do," she said, nodding her head. "You look at her like she's the best thing in the entire world and I get it. Ali is super pretty, smart, warm, kind, and I've noticed that she's changed you a bit. You're not the same guy several months ago who would go to parties almost every weekend, sneak a girl here at night, and get in trouble at school. Ever since you've started hanging out with Ali more, you've been doing a lot better in school and less focused on girls and parties."

"That has nothing to do with Ali," I stated. "Maybe I just got tired of all of that crap and decided for myself to change. Ali didn't do anything."

"Cam," Liz sighed, "I've been through this whole situation before. The way you look at Ali is the same way your mother looked at your father when they started dating. She would always tell me how great and special your father was and eventually realized that she had fallen for him. Then, before I knew it, she moved out of the house and eloped with your father at age eighteen and getting pregnant less than a year later."

"Liz," I said, slowly, my voice getting low, "I am not like either of them."

"I know you're not," she replied, giving me a small smile. "I just want you to know that, if you happen to have some kind of feelings for Ali, you need to be careful. I'm pretty sure she's not ready to be in a relationship yet."

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. I have no feelings for Ali whatsoever. I only see her as a friend, that's all. Can I go now?"

Liz just nodded while looking down at her purse. "I'm off to work," she said. "I'll see you later on tonight." By the time I got to my room, she was already pulling out of the driveway.

***

What Liz was talking to me about pretty much bothered me the rest of the day. I just can't understand how the idea of me having feelings for Ali even came into her head. Is it really that difficult for some people to believe that a guy and a girl could be just friends?

I guess I could kind of see why Liz thinks I could like Ali. I mean, Ali is beautiful and insanely smart and is really nice to me even though I've put her through hell since we were thirteen. And yeah, I had this weird dream once or twice where she was my girlfriend. And yeah, I sometimes get a little jealous when I see some guy hitting on her and treating her as if she's some kind of piece of meat, which she is not. But none of that stuff means I have feelings for her. It doesn't mean anything if I think she's really pretty and sweet and funny and super adorable whenever she bites her lip whenever she's frustrated or nervous.

And not only that, but she's also my best friend's girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend, I'm not really sure about that). So, she's basically off limits. It doesn't matter that she makes me really happy whenever she's around or that I feel more comfortable around her than with anyone else or that she's the only person I feel I can talk about anything with.

All of this was going through my mind while I tossed and turned in bed, trying to go to sleep. All of a sudden, the scariest thought came into my mind which made my eyes open widely and made me shoot up from my bed.

Am I actually in love with Ali Pearson?