Something Ends, Another Begins

I quickly jumped out of the shower, wrapped at towel around myself, and ran to my phone that started ringing a few seconds ago. When I looked at the caller ID, I was kind of surprised to see who it was.

"Hello?"

"I'm bored," the person on the other line whined.

I rolled my eyes as I made my way back to the bathroom. "Hello to you, too, Cameron."

He sighed and I could just tell he rolled his eyes too when he replied, "Hello, Aliana." I almost cringed at the sound of my full name but realized that he wasn't making fun of me while saying it.

I put the phone on speaker so I could start getting dressed. "How could you be bored on a Saturday afternoon? Don't you have a group of friends you spend time with or something?"

"Yeah. I don't really feel like hanging out with them today, though." I decided against asking him why. "Anyway," he continued, "what are you up to?"

"Nothing much. I was actually on my way to the mall to get some stuff."

"Oh, can I come?" I actually thought he was being sarcastic at first since (even though we started being civil towards each other) I wouldn't think he would want to spend time with me.

"Are you being serious?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Unless you don't want me to."

"No, you can come if you want to. I just didn't think you would want to."

"Well, I do. What time were you planning on leaving?"

"In about an hour." I still needed to get ready and fix my hair.

"Okay, I'll pick you up then. See you later." Before I had a chance to reply, he hung up. He was probably thinking I was going to change my mind. I just pressed the 'End' button on my phone and continued getting ready.

***

About an hour and a half later, Cameron and I walk into the mall and the first thing that catches Cameron's eye is a group of girls who look about our age. They are laughing, drinking Starbucks, and all of them carrying a handful of shopping bags. One of the girls happens to turn her head and lock eyes with Cameron. I see Cameron actually wink at her (yes, wink) and her cheeks all of a sudden turn crimson red and she smiles while biting her lower lip. There's so much a guy can do to a girl by a single wink.

"Oh, so this is why you wanted to come to the mall with me," I told him which made him snap his head back at me.

"Yeah, pretty much." He nods his head while smiling and looks at the girl again.

"You know, you can go over and talk to them if you want. I'll just meet you later." I start to walk away when I hear him jogging up behind me.

"No, it's okay. I told you I was going to spend time with you and that's what I'm going to do. Besides, this is the first time we're hanging out, willingly." I laugh at his last comment, which was completely true.

***

"Damn, why do you girls take forever just to get some shoes." Cameron was sitting on a chair with his legs stretched out while I was checking out some cute ankle boots. We've only been in here for fifteen minutes and he was already complaining.

I sat on the chair across from him to try on the boots. "Cameron, I told you could go check out the shoes in the Mens' section."

"Yeah, but unlike some people I don't need a thousand pairs of shoes. I already have all the shoes I need."

It makes me wonder why he even came with me today since he should know that girls tend to look at everything when we're at the mall. Instead of telling him this, I just ignored his last comment. I stood up to see how the boots looked on me in the mirror.

"What do you think?" I asked Cameron.

"Yeah, they're nice. They're the most amazing shoes in the world. Can we go now?" He stood up and started walking towards the cash register.

I giggled and rolled my eyes as I put my other shoes back on. I decided to get the boots since they were cute and only cost twenty dollars.

"Finally! I thought we would never leave," Cameron said as we walked out of the shoe store.

"Will you stop being such a drama queen?" After I said that, something in particular caught my eye. I heard myself gasp as I almost ran towards the glass window of a jewelry shop. "Oh my gosh," I breathed as I stared at a real diamond white gold heart necklace that had a sale tag on it.

"It's a necklace," Cameron said flatly with a bored expression on his face. So oblivious.

"Yes, a necklace that I've been wanting for forever and it's on sale." Just when I was thinking it was too good to be true, I looked at the price tag. I automatically groaned and stomped my foot out of frustration. "They call two hundred fifty dollars on sale?"

"Well, they are real diamonds and it is white gold," Cameron commented as he got a closer look.

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Oh well, you can't always get what you want." I turned around and spotted a certain store. "Oh, Cameron, do you mind if we stop in here for a few minutes?" I pointed to a clothing store and Cameron groaned.

"Do we have to?" He honestly sounded like a ten year old boy.

"Please it'll only be about ten minutes tops."

He rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Yeah, that's what you said when we went into the shoe place."

I just grabbed his forearm and dragged him into the store. When we walked in, I immediately walked over to a shirt rack. About twenty seconds later, I hear Cameron mumble beside me, "Oh, great." He sounded annoyed.

"Will you calm down, we haven't even been in here for three minutes."

"No," he said in a low voice, "It's not you."

I turned to him. "Then what is it?"

He made a gesture over to a girl that was not very far from us looking through some jeans. I took a lucky guess and asked, "Your ex?"

"Well, Bethany and I were together but I definitely would not call her my girlfriend. Ever since I ended it, she's just been calling me out randomly whenever she gets a chance and she just doesn't want to get over it." I could tell he was trying his hardest not to make himself seen.

"Okay, I'll tell you what," I whispered, "You go to the food court or something and when I'm done here, I'll meet you."

"Alright, thanks," he started to walk away but it was a second too late.

"Cam?" A voice called out near us. The voice sounded both surprised and angry.

Cameron just stood where he was for two seconds and then turned around and slowly walked back over to me. The girl was doing the same. "Bethany," he said.

Bethany sighed and put her hands on her hips. "How come you've never text me back? I've been trying to get a hold of you."

"Okay, Bethany," Cameron said calmly, "We broke up. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. But that doesn't mean we can't talk anymore." Bethany suddenly looked at me and her eyes scanned me up and down. "Who the hell is this?" She actually pointed at me, as if she thought Cameron wouldn't know who she was talking about.

I really did not want to get into this. "This is my friend Ali." Cameron said as he loosely put his arm around my shoulder.

Bethany looked confused. "What are you doing here with her?" Okay, who was this girl? His parole officer?

"We're just hanging out," Cameron replied calmly. I didn't really know how he could stay this calm.

"Is she your...girlfriend?"

"Is it really your damn business?" I snapped. I really didn't intend for that to come out. I also didn't intend for me to sound like a bitch.

Bethany's jaw dropped and Cameron started snickering. Bethany just stood there with the same expression for a few seconds (probably trying to figure out a comeback). However, she just rolled her eyes and said, "See you later, Cam." Then, she turned on her heel and walked away.

By the time she was gone, Cameron just burst out laughing. "Oh my God, Ali. That was hilarious. I'm impressed."

I let out a breath and said, "I'm sorry but it just had to be said."

"I couldn't agree more."

***

It was around six when Cameron dropped me back off at my house. I thanked him for the ride and he brought up the 'Bethany incident' again. We said goodbye and said we would see each other on Monday before I got out of his car and he drove off.

When I faced my house, I noticed that my dad's car was parked in the driveway next to my mom's which I found extremely strange. My dad hasn't even stepped foot in this house ever since the divorce. Actually, even before the divorce he hasn't come here. And the fact that my mom was here, too was even more weird.

I was hesitant to go inside since I didn't want to walk in on a screaming fight over something irrelevant. However, when I got up to the front door, it was completely quiet. I unlocked the door and walked in.

"Ali, is that you?" My mom's voice called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me." I locked the door behind me and walked towards the kitchen.

My mom and dad were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, obviously talking about something. "Hey, dad," I said, trying not to sound as confused as I really was.

"Hi, sweetie," My dad said as he smiled. "Did you go to the mall today?" He asked, looking at the bags I was holding.

"Yeah, for a few hours with a friend." I knew he was just making small talk, though. "What's going on here?"

Mom and Dad exchanged glances before Mom looked at me and said, "Ali, come and sit down with us. There's something we all need to talk about."