Camilla: Let’s be a temporary team

“If we think about it realistically, wait did you listen to anything I just told you?” Christian asks. Truth be told, I wasn’t really listening to most of what he was saying. Not just because I couldn’t stand him, it was also because I can’t really focus on his rambling. I know a lot about Christian, but I never saw this side of him before. The side of him that took out a notebook and started writing out plans while explaining them at the same time.

Then again, it could just be a trick for him to try and insult my intelligence. You never know with somebody like him. “I’ll go over this again then, and try to pay attention this time. Chamomile” he sighs. I hate that nickname so much. He’s like a thousand times more boring than I am but he’s convinced I’m the boring one who puts him to sleep. Even though I hate it, and him, I know that I should just hear him out. He’s seems to have put a ton of thought into this.

He had kept any little piece of paper or pamphlet we were given during assemblies about the program, and all of them had something circled or highlighted. “As I said the first time, they’re pushing for us to interact in school more than anything else. Mainly because it’s when they have the most resources to actually observe us and control where we go, but they can’t just switch around students to any class. For example, Josh and Scott. Scott is in an honors lit class but Josh is stupid, they can’t put them in the same english. But they’re both freshman and both bad at math. All freshman have to take a health and gym course so those classes are where we’re gonna be put together. Gym and math. Which means the best time for us to get the points necessary to be considered to drop out of the UAB program is in gym. But gym takes a lot more coordination and focus than any other class we would have so we need to have a plan, luckily I’ll do all of that” he explains.

I’m a little surprised by how much thought he actually put into this. I haven’t thought about any of this because I was too busy crying and watching romcoms because I was so devastated about getting paired up with him. Okay, I wasn’t devastated per say, but I was still very busy. And by busy I mean watching romcoms for the rest of the weekend. He’s pretty smart for such a mean guy. “The only issue is that this plan hinges on you being obedient and not holding any grudges” He says. I hate the way he uses the word “obedient”. He could’ve just said ‘you have to listen to me’ but nooo he has to be all annoying about it.

“I can tell you’re mad that I said obedient and I don’t care. If you keep fuming like this we’ll never get taken out of the program and you’ll end up with wrinkles when you’re twenty” he says bluntly.

“How did you–”

“We’ve known each other for twelve years. That’s why I built the plan around you.”

Something clicked in my brain when he said that. We knew each other for twelve years. That’s longer than some people have been alive. We have a huge advantage over most, maybe even all, the other students. Still, it wasn’t that helpful because I hate him and he’s been antagonizing me for over a decade now.

“Camilla, I know you don’t want to do this, but I need you to do this. If not for yourself, than me at least. My parents are already bothering me about this. They don’t want me around a girl like you any longer and I don’t know what happens if that keeps up. You’re a very smart girl when you want to be. Please be smart for me.” He puts his hand on mine when he says this. For the first time in years I’m not pulling away or antagonizing him. It feels genuine. For the first time he calls me a girl. He acknowledges it. “Y-You really see me as a girl now? I-I thought….” I start stuttering and I feel like an idiot.

A smile spreads across Christian’s face and he gets a little closer. He places his hand on my cheek. Everything is going way too fast for me and my head feels all fuzzy. Am I dreaming? I think I am. More like a nightmare. Did Christian have a crush on me the entire time?

He stops getting closer once he’s right across from my face. “Nah. I just wanted to see what you would do I finally called you a girl.” He snickers. That’s how I know I’m not dreaming. Christian will always be christian. He can’t stop himself from being, well, himself. He gently pats my head like I’m a dog. “But I was being honest about most of it. My parents are annoying as hell and you can be smart when you can be, key word being can” He says, while gently poking me in the forehead with his finger. I hate the fact he’s right about that. I think I’m pretty smart, but when I get frustrated I kinda lose focus.

One time I was playing a video game, as a healer character, and I kept getting killed by one person. I kinda sorta forgot the whole point of my character, didn’t listen to any of my friends, ended up dying more, and threw the whole match just to get one kill on one person. I know video games aren’t one to one with real life, but it’s a pretty fair way to look at my not-so-great track record with being patient and focusing on a goal. I’m not the most fit person in the world either. I’m thin, sure, but thin and in-shape are very different things.

Christian, he’s in shape. He’s a five foot six football player. I wouldn’t go as far to say he’s movie star hot or as hot as any of my favorite anime characters, but he’s definitely in better shape than I am. The two of us being put on the same team means I’m probably just gonna be dead weight. I can’t even handle the planning because he’s already done that. I don’t feel like I have anything I can do. “I want to hang out with you after school today, preferably at the mall” he blurts out. All I can think is huh? I know a part of the grading are activities in and out of school, but this just came out of nowhere. “Hey Camilla, girl I have been bullying for over a decade now, how about we both go hang out at the mall together” is essentially what he just said to me.

“Uh what?”

“I don’t have too much money but I think if we both came together to buy some stuff we’d get a decent haul”.

What does getting a decent haul have to do with what he said to me at all!? Why is he stupid all of a sudden!? “Camilla, for once in your life don’t overthink or overcomplicate something you’re being told to do” He says.

“Told? I thought you were asking me”

“I was, but now I’m telling you. Come to the mall with me after school today.” He stares into my eyes when he speaks, there’s no lightheartedness in his tone anymore. It’s not playful teasing or a gentle statement. He is dead serious. More serious than I’ve seen him be in awhile.

All I can do is nod my head. I know I should be stronger or more willful, but I’m weak. Not just physically, but mentally too. He glares at me for a few more seconds, before resting his face and smiling at me. “Good. You’re finally learning.” He pats me on the head AGAIN, like I’m some dog. I hate him so so much. Still, I can tell he’s actually serious this time. He actually wants to take me to the mall and he actually wants to win. I don’t know how going to the mall helps with his plan to win, but it has to be a part of it somehow. Unless…. “Why would you go on a date with something like that?” a familiar voice asks. I freeze up when I hear his voice. Kyle Lauter, the least annoying of Christian’s friends. Which is like being the tallest amongst a group of dwarves, but it’s still an accomplishment.

He ruffles my hair like I’m some animal. Why is everybody petting me today? I’m so focused on the constant contact I almost forget about what said. ‘A date with something like that’. A date. That couldn’t be the reason. He’s Christian. He’s too self absorbed to go on a date with anybody, let alone me. Isn’t he? “It’s not a date” Christian responds. I knew it. Honestly that was the easiest conclusion to come to, considering what he was asking and how he was asking it. “Yeah yeah. Your lucky you got such a pushover, Angela has been getting on my fucking nerves.” He scoffs, pointing to angela. Angela is literally right behind him. I can’t help but feel a little bad for her, I mean, she’s literally right there.

She’s a chubby pale-skinned girl with medium-length brown hair she keeps in a ponytail. She looks familiar, but I can’t place where exactly I know her from. Aside from that, there’s nothing to really say about her appearance. I think the right word for her is frumpy? She’s dressed in some old orange sweater, which have clearly seen some better days, and a grey pair of sweats, with a pair of green sneakers and white socks with blue polka-dots. It feels very random, like she just threw together whatever she saw. Her actual facial structure though? It’s very generic. Brown hair, almond-shape brown eyes, some freckles, and some acne.

“You just can’t stand seeing women being in power, it’s why you’d rather be around a fake woman” Anegla says. Normally, all my pity for her would’ve left my body instantaneously, but something about Angela feels different. Like she didn’t truly believe what she was saying. I don’t know why I feel this, but I just can’t help but think there’s something deeper to her. Either that, or what Kyle did was so disrespectful I can’t help but feel a little bad and this is me trying to justify why I feel this way, who knows.

“Yeah I’m a sexist man who thinks women belong in the kitchen, I’m the evil man you say I am. That’s why I think Camilla is less annoying than you are” He sarcastically retorts. They both glare at each other and it doesn’t take long before a hurl of insults starts flying out of both of their mouths. I expected some light jabs to come out first, but they skipped the jabs and went straight to verbal punches. I can barely understand what they’re saying because they keep talking over each other but a few insults stuck.

“The stench of celibacy is gonna follow you to death!” –Angela

“You look like you don’t make a first impression because nobody will remember you!” –Kyle (That one was just uncalled for)

“At least my dad doesn’t have a youtube channel where he attacks the school board!” –Angela (Also uncalled for)

“At least I didn’t do it myself! You attack the school board by yourself!” – Kyke

The rest of the fight kept going down the same track of who was or wasn’t the most annoying. It didn’t feel like that long of an argument, but it must’ve been, because the argument finally ended and the bell had started ringing. Christian looks really annoyed about the whole thing, and I can kind of understand why. He clearly has a plan and intent behind everything he tells me. What it is? I don’t know and I won’t pretend know. I do know that his plan was interrupted by their little diversion. We both get out of our seats and grab our backpacks. I can’t help but wonder whatever his long-winded plan is.

When I walked the halls, I felt a little bit lucky. Some of the other partners looked like they were about to start fighting each other. Christian is a selfish piece of shit, to say the least, but that selfishness makes him think about his best interest all the time. Since he’s so preoccupied with that he doesn’t have the energy to get mad at me. He has the energy to mock me, but in his eyes I’m not something to be worried about. He knows cursing me out won’t help anything, but these kids are different. There’s no sense of self preservation.

As odd as it sounds, even to myself, I started to feel more and more appreciative of his selfishness throughout the day. He was actually planning a way for both of us to get out of this program together. Maybe he isn’t the worst person–my train is interrupted by somebody shoving their hand into my backpack. I glance over and it’s Christian holding my phone!

“Why do you have my phone!?”

“I needed to convince your parents to talk to mine, couldn’t do that without their number”

I can’t tell if he’s messing with me or if he genuinely sees nothing wrong with this. I don’t know which is worse. “You could’ve just asked me–” “You wouldn’t have given me what I wanted if I did ask you” he interrupts in a very blunt way. Another thing I hate about Christian, it’s hard to deny when he has a point. Granted, that’s no excuse to just steal my phone like a creep!

Whenever Christian mentions or talks about his parents he gets this look on his face. It’s not sadness, it’s more like a mixture of disgust and embarrassment. It’s like he’s ashamed of both of them, which was kinda odd because only his mom embarrassed him most of the time. At least from what I heard. “I hope your dad ends up chaperoning because if not I might just beat my mom and drag her back on my own” he says with a shrug.

“H-How many times have you thought about doing that for you to say it that casually!?”

“It has to be at least a thousand times by now.”

My mind wanders off to the last time his mom showed up at the school. How angry he seemed, the look in his eyes, the way people whispered, and the laughter. Everybody was laughing about what she allegedly did. Apparently, she had stormed into the building and demanded that he’d be taken out of the class for some reason. The story was told through what’s essentially a game of telephone so I couldn’t be sure about why it happened, all I know is that it happened and Christian is pissed about it to this day.

“I know you don’t trust me with anything. Considering our background, but I need you to be agreeable for once. I can’t stand the way my mother is acting right now, and the only way to stop her is if I get out of this program. Can we a team, temporarily?” The way he asks me the question, it sounds so genuine. I can see the hint of desperation in his eyes. He grabs onto my hands and I freeze. It looks like he’s about to get on his knees and beg me to help him with whatever it is he needs. I look up at him and nod my head.

This time the genuine look doesn’t leave his face. There’s no trick or joke he’s–PETTING ME AGAIN! “Good girl Camilla, I knew I could count on you” He smiles. UGH! I trust him to be genuine once and this is how he repays me.

Out of everybody who could’ve been my UAB, it just had to be him.