Chapter 10: Cameron

If I opened my eyes, the pain from the sun would blind me. I kept them closed tight, the beam from the sunshine burned my lids. My ribs hurt, my jaw tensed and my lower back ached. I unlocked my jaw, did I fall down the stairs. I moaned and winced as I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I saw bruises on my arm and stomach. Plus my mouth was extremely dry. I heard mumbling next to me and then a giggle. Chris must have brought someone last night and I was too tired to notice. "Why are you checking on him?" he asked.

"I'm ensuring my GPA is not at risk." I knew that voice, why was she here?

"You have the same major as Cameron, huh?"

"I'm a Biology major." Caroline answered.

"You don't say."

"I do say."

"So you want to be a scientist or a doctor?"

"Scientist. A biologist actually." Hearing her chortle, I should lay still until she leaves.

"So if we ever meet in the future, would you be able to treat me?"

"Maybe. Biology is the study of life." She giggled.

"Enough." I grunted, I couldn't take more of their flirting, it made my head throb. The taste buds on my tongue had the texture of sandpaper. I turned to my roommate, Chris, he was sitting on his bed, shirtless and in jogger sweatpants. His black hair messy, he scruffed it again, and laughed at my appearance. "Rise and shine, Cam."

"Ugh." I grunted like a caveman. Then I spotted Caroline next to him, with her arms crossed over her chest, staring daggers and withholding a smirk.

"Never thought you drank like a fish." He chuckled, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"What are you implying?" I asked groggily.

"You're straight edged, you prefer non alcoholic drinks."

"I take pride in that. And I drink on occasion. That's the last time." Clearing my throat and blinking fast, nausea filled up in my throat. Oh, shit. I gulped before the bile reached the end of my mouth. I rushed to the bathroom and vomited straight to the toilet. I wiped my mouth as I came back to my room and massaged the bridge of my nose. Caroline was still chatting with him, engaged and maintained her eye contact. I was supposed to meet my parents at noon. I groaned, holding back nausea and sighed. "What time is it?" I asked him.

"11:43," he responded.

"Damn it," I groaned, scrubbing my face. I drank the water from my insulated bottle. I didn't have time to work out, I could squeeze in an afternoon session.

"You left your phone on the floor when Caroline brought you in."

"You two are acquainted already."

"Like we're old friends." He smirked, patting her shoulder.

"The oldest of friends." Her expression was unimpressed. I saw her skin flush and her hands balled in a fist. Their flirting was making me sick. I shook my head and turned to the vibrating machine and grabbed it. It's possibly mom and dad blowing up my phone. It's full of texts from my pledge brothers, two voice messages from my father. I shut my eyes again in frustration. Opening the texts and rereading each of them from friends regarding the fight I had with Nicholas. There's a video sent from Daniel, captioned: for future reference lol. I shook my head and winced. I guessed that was the reason I was in agonizing pain. One crisis at a time. I listened to my dad's voicemail as he scolded me for my behavior last night and he was coming to my room at 1. I had 16 minutes to look sober and throw up again. I headed to the bathroom to do and did just those things, not in that order. When I came back, I assumed she left, she was still here in my room. I was shirtless, in my pants, she didn't seem phased by it. Her expression was comical: vein on her forehead throbbing, bottom lip inside her mouth, jutted chin, flared nostrils. I snorted. She shook her head, "you are unbelievable."

"Good morning to you, too. To what do I owe this impromptu visit?" I asked.

"You look like shit. And it's almost the afternoon.

"I'm aware." Explaining the headache and body pain, I did not need a reminder.

She placed her hands on her hips, spun around. "Is there a reason you acted like a drunk neanderthal last night?"

"So I had a couple of drinks." I held my hands up in defense.

"You were intoxicated, and fighting with Nicholas. You boys don't learn anything. I had to drag you back here by myself to fein embarrassment." She flexed her hand, "is it all muscle you weigh? You're heavy." I walked to my closet, grabbing the closet shirt. A Button down gray shirt.

"You brought me here?"

"With the help of Daniel?"

"And you slept here."

"No," she pulled a disgusted face. "I slept in my own bed, and came here to yell at you."

"How did you get in?" I wore it and buttoned it quickly.

"Your roommate."

"What were we fighting about?"

"Male ego?" She shrugged. My mouth formed a straight line, massaged my frontal lobe. "I hope you have a killer hangover along with that bruise on your cheek."

"And your screeching voice is not helping."

"Good!" She elevated her voice, I closed my eyes. If only there was a superpower to shut her up.

"Will you still be here? I have plans."

"How do you know Nicholas?" She asked.

"My father knows his father. They worked together." I cleared my throat.

"Family friend, or arch-nemesis?"

"You make it sound like I'm a super villain." I chuckled dryly.

"You could be like one of those comic book ones, Thanos."

"Couldn't I be a hero?"

"That would be me, I saved you. I'm Wonder Woman." She smiled, batting her eyelashes proud of herself. "I brought you back instead of leaving you there."

"You don't have the strength of her, clearly."

"Bite me."

"Feisty. Why are you here?" I shut my eyes and sniffed.

"We're project partners. If you fail, I fail and I can't have that. If this behavior is going to continue while we're for the duration of the semester I'm gonna ask the professor to work alone," she demanded.

"So you can take credit for our project?" I scowled, that was her plan wasn't it? She wanted the credit to get a better grade. There's no way in hell.

She placed her hands on her hips, "It's not credit if I'm doing all the work."

"Don't threaten me."

"It's not a threat," she shot back.

"How do you know Nicholas?" I asked.

"We went on one date." She rolled her eyes, running her hands through the ends of her hair.

"Was it that bad for him?" I grimaced.

"He didn't- it doesn't matter. The point of this visit is I don't want any distractions from this project if you're gonna continue your drunken shenanigans."

"There will be no drunken shenanigans, Caroline," I deadpanned.

"Let's hope not." She stared at me with a blank stare.

A knock came at my door, I sighed, readying myself for dad. When I opened it, Dad's stern face was deep with his forehead wrinkles. Mom was nowhere in sight. "Good morning," I said with a small smile.

"What is so good about it exactly? My son embarrassed me in front of my colleagues and brothers, trying to smear the family legacy and name. God knows what you do here." Dad said without taking a breath. His face was beet red but at least he was not yelling.

"I apologize, I was not in my right mind, I was intoxicated," I admitted.

"I assumed so, your friend Daniel told me so. No son of mine that could be sober could pull an act like that. Why were you not in your right mind? Look at yourself. Getting into fights, drinking. It is not like you. Did she influence you?" Caroline's mouth dropped, eyes darting like ping pong.

"God no. She had nothing to do with this," I said. "I make my own decisions."

"Oh, so you chose to act like a drunk fool," dad said in an acid tongue tone.

"Sir, if I may interject," she said with her hand raised. She actually raised her hand. I scoffed. "I just got here and questioned his behavior from last night as well. He made you look like a fool, but it's college." Caroline laughed, shaking her head. I did not need her to defend me. I could fight my argument with my father. "We're finding ourselves." She spoke with gritted teeth.

"I want to have fun here when I'm not studying. Meet other people. You had your share of inebriation," I defended. "You told me all those stories when you went here."

"What good would this be if he cannot settle for his future wife?" I rolled my eyes again with this. Dad's expectation of me meeting and proposing to the girl he introduced me to would be someone I could find annoying. Caroline watched in silence, folding her arms over her stomach, eyes steady, but she seemed nervous. She attempted to excuse herself but dad did not let up.

"Dad, is it a big deal if the girls you introduced me to were not my type?" I settled for the safest answer instead of saying I did not want to date or marry anyone at all.

"And do you know your type?" He asked.

"I do, and it was not them."

"What of Beatrice?"

"Who?" I squinted, rubbing the corners of my eyes.

"Beatrice. The girl I introduced you to last night," he reminded.

"Oh, her." Dad nodded.

"Yes," he pointed out.

"Right." The words out of my mouth felt like sand. She was fun, cute. She left me a voicemail, assuming I gave her my number. Would she want to see me after the display I put on last night? "She wanted to go to the science museum for some sort of exhibit."

"Good. Good. She is the one, the girl in your future. Beatrice will be a significant influence." He turned to Caroline, who continued to stand in silence. She smiled at him, eyes darting to the corner of the room.

"Now, let's get you something to eat. Go get dressed. We'll meet your mother at the cafe," he instructed.

"I am dressed," I told him. He gazed at my ensemble up and down and then sighed.

"I suppose you look sufficient. Caroline, would you like to join us?"

"No, sir. I was leaving. Good day. Cameron." She stride between us. The smell of eucalyptus lingered off her body when she made her exit. I cleared my throat, told dad I needed to grab shoes before we left. I swallowed aspirin with water and followed him out.