That evening, neither Cami nor I could sit still. We were trying to play a board game, but our attention kept drifting. “Cami, I landed on the treasure box, you’re supposed to read me a card from that pile.”
“Oh, sorry.” She picked up a card distractedly. “Why does…” She didn’t finish. She threw down the card and shuffled her weight so that she was kneeling at eye level with me. “Bryce, do you think I’d have a chance with that guy?”
“Oh my goodness, Cami! Do you mean to tell me that you’ve been thinking about him all night, and not the audition?”
“Of course. Why would I think about the audition? It’s over ancient history. But he’s in the future.”
“Actually, I hate to break it to you, but he’s in your imaginary world. You’re thirteen, there’s no way a guy that old is going to look twice at you.
Cami looked deflated. Then a spark came into her eye. I knew that spark well, it was the “Type-A, go-get-‘um, I have a plan” kind of spark. “Well, Bryce, don’t underestimate me. I have a plan and I go for it. He’s going to be part of my plan.”
***
True to her word, the next day, Cami dragged me to the Hall 30 minutes before the results were supposed to be posted. “We have to make sure we’re here when he comes to check, so that I can bump into him.”
“You are delusional. You’re mad, you’re obsessed!”
“Sure, Bryce, but you’re the one who’s hanging out with a crazy lady!” We laughed. We both knew that she had the guts to do what I would never be able to do, and I had fun just living vicariously.
The fun was wearing off after an hour and a half of watching people check the list. We had stationed ourselves behind a large tree, so that when mystery man appeared, Cami could look like she was just walking up as well. However, we were too far away to actually read the list.
“Cami!” I whined. “I’m dying to know if we made it. Please, I’ll just dash out really quickly and be right back.”
“No!” Cami held my arm. You’re not going anywhere. What if he showed up just as you were running back behind the tree – how immature would we look then?”
“Um, but what if he works till 6 or something? How long do we have to sit here?”
“However long it takes, my dear.” Her jaw was set and I knew that there was absolutely no use arguing with her. It was either wait and follow Cami’s rules or go home to my lonely house by myself. Better an immature stake-out with a crazy woman than cold marble floors and a psychotic rat.
We waited, and waited. It was about 3 pm, and the stream of people checking the names had slowed down to a trickle. I was just about to fall asleep, when Cami clamped her hand on my arm.
“Awwh!” I yelped. I couldn’t help it, Cami had a grip of steel. Then she quickly put her other hand over my mouth and I wished I could have kept quiet.
“It’s him, you silly! Stay here, stay quiet.” And with that she stood up, brushed the dirt and pine needles off her behind, fluffed her hair and got ready to make her entrance. I looked up at her in admiration. She was certainly an actress with discipline and an impeccable sense of timing.
I watched as she slipped out from behind the tree and followed a few steps behind him. Her outfit looked a bit silly to me, but I wouldn’t have dreamed of telling her. She thought it made her look older. She had borrowed her mother’s tallest heels, so she was teetering down the sidewalk more than gliding. She was wearing her blue tights and matching blue skirt, which were way too hot for the August weather. She had topped it off with a black blouse, and her mother’s pearls. She looked, to me, like a little girl playing dress-up; but to Cami, she was playing the role of a 17 year old with grace and pizzazz. And as Cami constantly reminded me, it wasn’t how good you were at something, it was how much confidence you had. Cami certainly exuded confidence.
She wobbled up behind ‘the boy’ and casually brushed his shoulder as she leaned in to read. I was hoping she would flash me a thumbs up or a thumbs down behind her back so that I could stop being in suspense. But the results of our audition were the last thing on Cami’s mind.
I couldn’t hear any of their conversation, although it was recounted to me in detail after we got home. But, from behind that tree, I could pretty much see what was going on. Cami was turning on the charm full-force, and the boy, although taken aback by her clothing, seemed open the conversation. After a few minutes the boy walked away and Cami came teetering back to the tree.
“SO?!” I yelled in a whisper. “Did we get in?”
“Oh, that. I forgot to check. But, his name is Bradley, and he goes by Bradley, not Brad. He’s only 14, he just looks old for our age, and he goes to the same high school we’re going to go too…”
I could tell this was going to be a long recounting, and I just couldn’t take it. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.” I dashed behind her up the sidewalk to the board. They had listed the names of those who had been chosen as members of the troop alphabetically. I scanned down, and came to Camilla Hudsky first. No big surprise. She had been radiant in the audition and had a natural flare for acting. I scanned further down.
Jacob Rutman
Susan Sanders
Meghan Soon
I flipped through the alphabet in my head to double check. No, Scott would definitely be between Sanders and Soon. Well, that was that, I wasn’t in the troupe. I felt disappointment, but not exactly jump off a cliff levels. I had really wanted to get in, but I had always been realistic about my abilities.
“You got it!” I told Cami. She looked excited. “Oh my goodness, is Bradley in too, because then we’ll be in the troupe together!”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, sorry, I forgot to check Bradley’s name, do you want me to go back?”
“Would you?” She asked quickly, before picking up on my dripping sarcasm. “Oh, wait a minute. What about you? You got in, right?”
“No, I did not. Thanks for the afterthought, although it was pretty clear that you cared more about Bradley who you met 5 minutes ago than for your best friend.”
I walked out from behind the tree, and went to get my bike. I watched out of the corner of my eye, expecting Cami to run and check if Bradley was in the troupe, and then to come get her bike. Instead, she ran right after me, not bothering to check the board.
“Bryce, wait. You know you’re my best friend in the world. I would never want to do anything to change that.”
It meant a lot to me that she had come right after me instead of checking on Bradley, but still, I felt I had the moral high ground to stay mad a little longer. I jumped on and started peddling as fast as I could. Unfortunately, it seemed like Cami was better than me at a lot of things, and one of those things was riding our bikes. Soon enough she had caught up and was riding parallel to me, twisting her head to look at where she was going, and then over to my face.
“Bryce, don’t be silly. It doesn’t mean anything; I was just excited about Bradley I didn’t even think. Of course I’m upset that you didn’t get into the troupe. If you want me to quit too, I will?”
“Really?” I asked, looked over at her. Painful self-sacrifice was always an attractive form of penitence. Even if Bradley’s in the troupe and they cast you as Romeo and Juliet.”
We had come to a major crossroad, and our conversation stopped as we had to carefully ride alongside the cars. So, we were back to Winslow Court., where my house was. I peddled right to my driveway, without bothering to try and finish our conversation.
“Even Romeo and Juliet. It doesn’t matter, your friendship is more important.” Cami was only slightly out of breath from the long ride, I was winded.
“Let…me…catch…my…breathe.” We put our bikes in the garage and went into the house. All the time, Cami was staring intently at me, waiting for an answer.
“So, so!?” She nearly squealed as we sat down on the couch. Patience had never been one of Cami’s virtures.
“Well, first I would like it to be clear that I still feel like what you did was very hurtful, and I think it was a mistake. However, you willingness to try and make it right means a lot to me. I still think you should stay in the troupe, it’s a great opportunity, and I wouldn’t want to take that away from you just because I’m jealous that I didn’t get in. And I’m happy that you got to talk to Bradley, but you haven’t told me what he said!”
And with that our fight was over and Cami was passionately retelling ever detail of their encounter. To me it all sounded very casual, but of course Cami saw it as the first step to her first boyfriend. Since Bradley would be at the same school as us in a week, Cami was already working out her game plan in her head. It was very elaborate, and it made my head hurt just listening to all the nuanced ins and outs.
I, of course, pretended to not semi-uninterested. In reality I was hanging on her every word. I could never imagine myself having the courage to just go after a guy like that. Cami’s actions were utterly mysterious to me, and she was exactly what I wished I could be, gutsy, self-confident, brave, and decisive. She was also longwinded. It was quite a few hours later before she finally tired of talking about Bradley and let me go home to bed.
About Us: We're just two friends, off to choose our own adventures!Carole Nickle
Name: Carole
Current Home: Various Locales, You have to choose a country, so..., South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands
Details: I like English, teaching, writing, website design, geeky computer programs and chocolate.
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