Just Making Things Harder

After the little run-in with Oli and Matt, Cameron hadn’t talked to me hardly at all. Even at his house watching movies, he made a point not to converse with me unless it was needed.

Currently I was sitting on one side, stuffing my face with popcorn. He was sitting at the other end, sulking, not having looked at me at all for the past few hours.

Honestly, I didn’t know what his problem was. Oli didn’t do anything wrong, and neither did I. All I did was talk to a new friend, what was so bad about that? He never seemed like the jealous type when it came to who my friends were.

I would have brought it up, but I really didn’t have the guts to.

We had started our Saw marathon, and I think we were on the 3rd or 4th movie by now. I don’t know which.

I was really jumpy, half leaping out of my skin every time something happened suddenly. These movies weren’t even scary, they just made me jumpy.

Then something end jumped out, and I flinched, throwing myself at Cam. He looked at me for a second before looking back at the screen again. I could tell just by looking at him he couldn't even tell what was going on in the movie. He was submerged in his own head.

“Cam” I said, putting my hand on his arm. He shook it off. I groaned in annoyance.

“Cameron” I tried again, grabbing his wrist this time. He just pulled it away. At this point, he should know he was pissing me off.

“Cameron Finnegan Clarke-Thompson” I growled his entire name, grabbing his face and turning it towards me. He looked shocked for a second, probably at the fact that I used his hyphenated name.

“What?” He asked, quietly. Like nothing had happened. I was tempted to punch him in the face, he was getting under my skin that badly.

“What the fuck is your problem? You’ve been ignoring me and sulky since I saw Oli. What the fuck is going on?” I almost yelled. My voice was getting higher, but I wasn’t there yet. I watched his eyes narrow on me and I knew I had said something wrong.

“I don’t have a fucking problem, Candice” He hissed at me. I let go of his face, shocked that he used my real name.

“You obviously have a fucking problem! You never call me by my real name, you never ignore me, and you are never mean to me. What’s going on?” I yelled. I felt like crying, honestly. I never had arguments with him. Ever.

“Well, sorry that I don’t meet your expectations” He spat at me, getting up and leaving the room. “You’re such a fucking bitch sometimes” I heard him mumble as he left.

I sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what just happened. It took me a few seconds to realize I had started crying in the first place. Why was he being like this? He was my best friend, why did he call me a bitch?

Without thinking, I jumped up and grabbed my shoes and left, slamming his front door behind me. As I was getting in my car, he ran out after me.

“No! Evvie, I didn’t mean that. Please don’t leave” He yelled after me. I just gave him the finger and tore out of his driveway, rapidly wiping my face.

My phone was going off non-stop, so I just turned it off. I didn’t want to deal with anyone.

When I finally got home, I just went to my room. No alcohol, no nothing. I wasn’t in the mood for anything. I just passed out, knowing that work tomorrow would get my mind off everything.



Everything was dark. I could hear a faint dripping noise, but nothing else was particularly evident.

I slowly pulled myself from my bed, looking around. I was in a room I didn’t recognize. There were clothes everywhere, clothes that weren’t mine. I was almost naked, my underwear being the only thing left on my body.

I stood up and looked around, finding a pair of pants and a shirt to cover myself with.

Slowly opening the door, I stepped out of the strange room into an unknown house. It was small, more homey than my own. It was dirty, though. In need of cleaning really badly.

Then I heard snoring from another room, but I was too afraid to go and see who was there. Afraid of who I’d find.

I slowly descended down the stairs, taking in the sight.

There were jackets, shoes, and other articles of clothing everywhere. Nothing looked familiar. I heard someone talking and made my way to the source. What I found, instead of people, was the TV. Turned on to the news.

It talked about some robberies happening, and then went over to other news. It brought up the story of some boy trying to commit suicide and being saved. When the picture popped up, I heard myself gasp.

It was Cameron.

Then I heard a door slam and yelling. I had no idea who it was or what was going on. A shadowed body came in the room, and upon seeing me, started yelling even more.

I felt my body being beaten. It was the only thing I was aware of.

Then the words being yelled at me.

I jolted awake, scared out of my mind. I had no idea what that dream was about at all. I couldn't even focus enough to remember details or what it was being yelled.

Nothing.

I quickly found my phone and turned it back on, being greeted to 32 missed calls, 15 voice mails, and I don’t even know how many text messages.

They were all from Cam.

“Kyle, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that”

“Evvie please, answer your phone. I’m sorry”

“Baby, I was being a douche, please just let me explain”

“Please, don’t do this”

They were all basically the same, not much different. I checked the time and it was only seven. I figured I could use a little more sleep.

I quickly typed out a short message to him before turning over and trying to head back asleep, hoping I wouldn’t be terrorized by those nightmares again.

“I’ll call you in the morning, just..don’t do anything stupid, Cam”