AMELIA

Halting at the front of the ongoing class door, I face Cam. He halts too, looking down at me.
"What?" he asks.

"You are not coming with me to the class. You will go to your class now." I shove his chest, not that he budges the slightest.

The corner of his upper lip quirks up, his hair a hot mess, as though he just woke up from sleep, and that, I take full responsibility for-it was from our hug before we got out of the car. Feeling the satisfactory texture of his head is one of the things I realize I do like doing. Believe me, it's a very decent part to reach him compared to the rest of him since even the man's eyes are slutty.

"You sure, I get the feeling you need me." He winks, and I look away before I start blushing like a fool, but he wouldn't let me inhabit my mortification-his finger comes under my chin, lifting my head to meet his eyes.

"You don't want me to leave. I can feel it." He whispers, and all I'm scared of is someone walking in on us.

Earlier he had come to pick me up from the cafe where I was studying with Isaac and Malia, and we went to grab a drive-through lunch, which we ate in the car, singing along to more songs he surprisingly had that I also had on my playlist, and what's even more surprising is him singing them all without fumbling on any lyric as I reckoned he would. Not to mention, his golden voice.

"Cam, I want you to take your school seriously." We had so much time having fun, and I'm not saying I want him away from me-he said it himself; I don't. But I want him to make it through this final school year. "You will graduate, and when your mother comes out she will know you did well. You survived and made a good thing out of nothing." his hand lets go of my face, and his gaze falls briefly, and when he looks up, not at me though, he chuckles.

"Or we can wait and walk together for graduation." he jokes. It's not funny. I know he doesn't want to talk about it, but he can't hide his pain in any depth. Weirdly, I feel it for him. I don't know how because there's no explanation for it, I am sure.

"Cameron, please." I grab his fingers.

"I told you not to pity me." He emphasizes, looking down at our intertwined hands.

"And I don't. You're too jerky to need sympathy. But for your mother. She will need you to take this seriously. And that's all I want for you." I practically beg because he deserves it.

His eyes fly up, meeting me; he has a solemn expression as he searches my face, and his fingers reach over and skim through my hair, slipping down to the tip of the strands.

"I will try then, I promise." He swallows, "You better start planning my graduation gift, I guess. One that's not a bunch of notebooks." he winks and pinches my cheek tenderly. I laugh.

"I agree." Anything to motivate his stubborn head.

"We have a deal. I guess." He smirks, and I nod, holding out my pinky finger, and he locks his with mine, pulling our hands, leaning towards it too, and just like that, his velvet soft lips gently kiss my knuckles. His profound green eyes holding mine. I lose my breath in a sliver of time, my heart thumping faster, likely wanting to come out of my chest and jump onto him.

It's the distant lecture of the professor that knocks on my sanity, and I remember the world hasn't stopped, and it isn't just the two of us left in it.

Pulling my hand back, lacing the two behind me to stop them from trembling, I break our eye contact. He's taken me to a beautiful place in my head, where only glitter is pouring down on me.

"I will go now." I awkwardly announce, my heart beating irrationally fast.

"Hug?" he asks.

I can't take any more of him. "Maybe later?" I suggest, and he hesitates for a couple of seconds, his smile fading. I wonder what he's thinking.

"Okay. Later." he half smiles, and I watch him take a step back. "I will see you when you are out?" he asks, probably some sort of reassurance.

"Yes." I reward him with a smile and push open the door, attracting eyes on myself and a not-very-happy professor for interrupting his class, but he doesn't say anything. I find Malia and Isaac, and right there next to them is the extra seat they saved for me. Situating myself down, I dig through the contents of my bag and grab a pen and book, signaling to curious Malia, that I would feed them the details later.

The class goes on for another hour, only when it's over am I get able to breathe.

"I seriously need to start focusing because I've been behind for a while. This is so unlike me. I used to be ahead of class in high school." I whine, burying my face in my palms.

"If it helps, college and high school are two different things," Isaac says while sitting on the desk, facing us.

"Obviously." I look up. "But you are thriving." I point out, and he playfully reacts to the praise, nodding in agreement.

"Please, keep going." He replies, and I smile at his enthusiasm.

"So where did you go with Cameron?" Malia asks from next to me.

"He took me to get lunch, and he sings James Arthur's songs in a Grammy-worthy voice," I whine, slapping my forehead.

She gasps, "No." her lips pausing in a cute 'o'

"He doesn't look like that type of song kind."

"That's what I said. I just don't even know how everything he effortlessly does turns out good." I frustratingly spell out. If he was bad at something, it would have been easier to not admire him all the time. But then again, he's scoring even in math.

"Talking about the devil," Isaac mumbles and I instinctively look up at him. He's signaling with pursed lips and wide eyes behind us. I follow his gaze and find Cam walking over.

"I am beginning to think he follows you everywhere." Malia whispers, "It is cute but Jake is coming back tomorrow. Remember that." she adds, and my muscles strain at the reminder.

"Princess, you're running late," Cam says when he reaches over and leans, pecking my cheeks before I can react and stop him.

He can't be doing this at school. We talked about it.

Isaac's brows rose but kept his lips sealed.

Embarrassed and looking around, I thank God that all the students have left. I grab my bag and bottle, rising to my feet.
"Okay. Let's go."

"Good." He casually grabs my small hand as if it's okay and leads me out of the row, toward the exit by his side.

The eye contact I make with Malia before leaving the class scolds me with a reminder of my actions.

I swear I am trying to put a limit between whatever this is. I am trying.

We get into Cam's car, and he turns to me, putting on his sunglasses. "Ice cream on our way?"

My smile returns.
"Please."

"Well, there we go," he breathes, taking my hand in his and driving off.

The ice cream shop is on the campus street. I wait in the car while he goes and grabs two cups. When he returns, he hands me one and sets the other untouched in the console.

"Thank you." I beam at him, and he smiles, pinching my cheeks.

"Say no more." He quirks his lip scandalously, making me blush, and I decide to focus on the ice cream rather than his seductive face so as to respect myself. However, between the drive and his phone calls through the AirPods drilling in his ear, he grabs my wrist, directing my hand with a fetch scoop, bringing it to his mouth. I can't stop staring until I get addicted to feeding him more than I am doing myself.

He is talking with someone called Dante when he glances over, and his eyes thin. He gestures for me to move closer.

"What?" I mouth, and he signals at his face.

"I have something there?" My eyes widen, and he nods.

Just great. I grab the wrapper from the console and dap the side of my mouth while Cam faces the road. When he peeks over the second time, he shakes his head and nods for me to lean.

This is embarrassing.