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Chapter Three

Cameron Quiseng's In Love

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“You new here, dude?”

16-year-old Cameron Quiseng blinked and turned to face the brown haired boy that just slid past him and into the class room.

“How could you tell?” he asked, shifting his backpack from one shoulder to the other.

“You just have that presence. Not to mention you have a cross between a scared and ‘I’m-going-to-throw-up’ look on your face,” the boy said with a smile and shrug. “I’m Zach by the way, Zach Porter.”

“Cameron Quiseng,” Cameron said slowly walking over to him. “So, can I just sit anywhere?”

“Yeah, man,” Zach replied, waving his hand. “First day; there are no assigned seats yet. So, where’d you move from?”

“Well, I’ve always lived in California,” Cameron replied, sliding into the seat next to Zach, putting his backpack on the floor. “I moved to Los Angeles from Poway. My dad got a job transfer.”

“What’s he do?” Zach asked pulling a notebook from his backpack.

“He’s a chef,” Cameron replied. “He just opened a new restaurant down here, so we moved.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Zach said with a nod. “What do you like to do for fun?”

Cameron shrugged and scratched his neck, “I like to hang out, go to the beach, but mostly play the bass.”

“You play the bass?” Zach asked, his eyes widening. Cameron slowly nodded. “How long have you been playing?”

“About 3 years now,” Cameron replied. “Why?”

“How would you like to be in my band?” Zach asked slowly. “We need a bass player and we’ve been looking for a while.”

“Are you serious?” Cameron asked with a grin. “I’ve always wanted to be in a band. It’s always been a dream of mine. I don’t have to try out or anything?”

“Dude, we’re so desperate, we’ll take just about anyone,” Zach replied, bouncing with excitement. “Our band name is AllStar and we started last year. We have a kind of a techno/rock type of sound, but our keyboardist just moved away so, we’re kinda in a rut right now, but we’ve been looking for a bass player too and here you are. Anyway-“

“You probably shouldn’t have brought up his band. He’ll talk your ears off about it.”

“Ha ha,” Zach rolled his eyes although he had a small smile on his face. “Cameron this is my best friend, Riley Jackson.”

“Hi,” Cameron said offering his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Riley said sliding into the seat behind Zach. “You’re the new kid we saw this morning.”

“That’s me,” Cameron nodded.

“He just moved here from Poway,” Zach explained twisting in his seat to face Riley. “His dad is a chef and has just opened a new restaurant here and he plays the bass.”

“That explains why you were rambling about your band,” Riley replied with a smirk. She then turned to Cameron. “You could say he’s a little obsessed with music.”

“I would have never guessed it,” Cameron said shaking his head.

“Whoever told you that two against one was fair was a downright liar,” Zach muttered. His eyes then traveled over to the clock. “If your sister doesn’t get here soon, she’s going to be late.”

“Probably lost track of time practicing,” Riley suggested.

“Practicing what?” Cameron asked.

“Drums,” Zach replied. “She’s a part of our school’s jam band.” Seeing the confused look on Cameron’s face, he kept going. “Jam Band is where a group of students get together and perform cover songs and original songs. It’s the closest thing she has to being in an actual band.”

“Awesome,” Cameron exclaimed, a surprised look on his face.

He, and the rest of the students in class, turned towards the door when they heard footsteps rushing down the hall. Seconds later, a girl burst into the room, breathing heavily. Cameron sat straight in his seat as he watched the girl put her hands on her knees to catch her breath before standing up, and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Zach noticed Cameron’s shift and a smirk crossed his face. He gently kicked Cameron’s foot, causing him to jump. “That’s Rhuben, Riley’s younger twin sister.”

“Yeah, you two do look an awful lot alike,” Cameron said turning to glance at Riley.

“Gee, I wonder why,” she shot back sarcastically. Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “You like her?”

“She is beautiful,” Cameron admitted. He paused then gave Riley a sheepish grin. “And so are you.”

“Just because she and I are twins doesn’t mean our feelings get hurt when someone thinks only one of us is pretty,” Riley replied as Rhuben sat down beside her (behind Cameron). She then turned to her sister. “Dad would’ve killed you if you were late.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Rhuben said with a scowl as she dropped her backpack to the floor.

“Rhu, this is Cameron,” Zach said jerking his head in Cameron’s direction. Cameron turned in his seat and gave Rhuben a shy smile.

“Hi,” he muttered.

“Hey,” Rhuben replied with a short nod. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she tilted her head to the side. “I love your eyes.”

“Wha?” Cameron asked, alarmed, his eyebrows rising. Riley and Zach laughed as a blush crept up his face.

“Sorry,” Rhuben replied with a small grin. “I like green eyes on people.”

“Right, thanks,” Cameron said as the teacher walked into the room, loudly clearing their throat. He groaned and placed his head on his desk.

“Normally, people don’t question compliments they get from girls,” Zach said in a stage whisper.

“Oh, shut up,” Cameron muttered, his voice muffled

“Just ask her out already, you’ve been staring at her all day,” Zach said rolling his eyes. He, Riley, and Cameron were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch.

They were sitting at one of the tables near the back of the cafeteria next to one of the large windows. It was one of the only few tables that had booth style seating. It was pretty much a grudge match just to get that table. Seriously, people would fight just to eat at one of those tables. Luckily, Riley had gotten out of her last class early and was able to snag the table.

Now, Cameron was watching Rhuben go through the lunch line before she made her way over to their table. He shot Zach an annoyed look but couldn’t help the blush rise on his cheeks.

“It’s kind of pathetic too,” Riley said biting into her hamburger.

“Gee, thanks for the support,” Cameron said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry,” Riley said after she swallowed. “But, you’ve been giving her this puppy dog look all day. I’m surprised she hasn’t said anything. She’s normally blunt about things like that.”

“I don’t know,” Cameron said slowly. “I’ll admit I’ve never felt this way about any other girl before. What if I mess things up?

“You won’t,” Zach replied.

“How do you know?” Cameron asked, a defeated look on his face. Riley raised an eyebrow at the mischievous look on Zach’s face. He cleared his throat as Rhuben sat down, easily getting her attention. He started talking in a loud voice. “Cameron, you know Rhuben? She’s nice. She’s not bad to look at, right? “

“Thanks, Zach,” Rhuben said sarcastically. “And for a while, I thought I was pretty too.”

Cameron blinked, startled at being put on the spot. He glanced at Rhuben and blushed harder. “Well, of course,” he muttered. Then he added to her, “And you are pretty.”

“Let me cut to the chase here, Cameron, do you want to go out on a date with her?” Zach asked, running his hands over his face.

“Zachary!” Rhuben cried, her eyes widening slightly.

“Absolutely!” Cameron replied, blushing harder. He added in a quieter tone,“Is Friday okay? “

“Friday’s perfect,” Riley replied as Rhuben’s mouth dropped open. “She can’t wait.”

“Cool,” Cameron said with a heavy sigh. He then turned to Zach and Riley. “On the date, I will be able to talk to her directly?”

“Not unless they want to sport fat lips for a week,” Rhuben said, glaring at her friends.

“Yeah, word of advice, don’t get her mad,” Zach said in a stage whisper. He jumped and stuck his tongue out at Rhuben, bending forward to rub his shin. “And that’s partly why.”

A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update this, guys. I have been swamped with homework for a few days. But, I'm getting back into the swing of things. Sorry this chapter is shorter than others.

Thanks to: xXAlexaXx, rubberduckysabc, chaos0marine, Amused Bookworm, ishani , whisper-sweet-nothings, xXx-Green-Tomatoes-xXx, weeeangie, and starbance