For Now (Forever Book 1) (6 page)

Camden

              Once back on the bus I start putting food away and Elaina gets to work making sandwiches for the guys. Once I’m done with the last of the boxes, I help Elaina take food to the guys, who are all sitting on the couch or in front of it and playing video games. Personally, I think they could all get up off their asses and make their own damn sandwiches, but Elaina insisted that she do it for them and I couldn’t let her do it by herself.

              As Elaina and I sit at the table on opposite sides to eat. There are a few minutes of comfortable silence before she speaks.

              “What is your family like?” she asks me and her face softens. I wonder if she is thinking of her own family.

              “Mom’s a typical mom I guess. She stayed home with us; she cooked dinners and took us to all of our activities.  I have a sister, Isabel, she can be a pain, but we really are close. There weren’t many kids our age in the neighborhood, so we had to entertain each other.  My dad worked a lot, but he made sure he was home every night.  He managed Ryder’s dad’s band, Sinister Dream. Now he manages Line 9.”

              “So that is how you met Ryder?” she tilts her head and is staring at me as if I’m a puzzle that she is trying to piece together. I like that she’s so interested.

              “Yeah, we’ve been friends since we were young. My mom thinks of him as one of her own. His parents were gone a lot, so he would stay with us.” I peek over my shoulder at Ryder, I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate me telling her this much. He isn’t paying attention; he’s too busy trying to kick some zombie ass in his video game.

              “That’s nice of your mom to do so much for him,” she says as she smiles.

              “That is just the kind of person that she is. She likes everyone. I think she would love you.”

              “Maybe I’ll get to meet her someday.” For some reason, I smile at the thought of introducing Elaina to my family.

              “What’s your family like? You said that you moved to Chicago with your Aunt Karen when you were thirteen?” I’m curious why her family didn’t move there too.

              “Well, my mom was a lot like your mom. She stayed home with us, but when I started school, she went back to teaching. She was the kind of mom that made dinner, helped with homework and volunteered at all of our school activities. Dad was a vet in town. He was kind of a big kid. Dad, my brother and I would always play pranks on each other. It drove my mom crazy. My brother, Braden was one of my best friends, even though he was a few years older than I was, he always made time for me. And nobody ever bothered me, because they didn’t want to deal with Braden. He was very protective.” She smiles at the memories, but I can see that her eyes are starting to shimmer with unshed tears.

              “They sound great. What about Karen and Jackson?” I assume that she lost her family since she keeps referring to them in the past tense, but don’t really think she will share anymore about them. She has only known me for a few days; she has no reason to trust me

              “Karen is amazing. She’s fun and crazy, but so caring.”

              “You must’ve gotten that from her,” I tell her. “Can I ask, what happened to Jackson? The crutches, I mean.”

              “A few months ago, he was riding his bike to school and some jerk taxi driver, ran a red light and clipped him. He broke his leg in two places. He’s had to have physical therapy. The crutches have really sucked with all the stairs in our building and no working elevator.”

              “I can imagine, I had to use crutches in high school, it sucked.”

              “What happened?”

              “Football injury.”

              Then I feel something hit me on the back of the head. I look down and see a wadded up paper plate in front of me.

              “Hey,” Ryder says. “I’ve been trying to get your attention. What’s for dinner? We’re starving.”                            

              I grit my teeth and turn around. “You just had lunch an hour ago.”

              “No, it’s okay. I’ll get something started. It might take a while.” Elaina says. “What do you guys want?”

              “Chicken!”

              “Mashed potatoes!”

              “Cake!”

              “Spaghetti!”

              “Um… okay. How about Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti, mashed potatoes and cake for dessert?”             

              “Yes!” Ryder says then turns back to his game.

              “Okay, I guess it’s settled,” I say, “What can I help with?”             

              “You’re going to help? I thought you said that you can’t cook.” She gives me a dubious look.

              “I can’t cook, but I’m sure I can follow simple instructions. How hard can it be?”

              She got to work boiling noodles, preparing the chicken, and mixing the cake batter from scratch. She finished all that in the time it took me to just finish peeling the potatoes. She showed me how to cook the potatoes, drain them and put them in a bowl to mash them. She hands me the mixer and I turn it on. When I think they are done, I remove the mixer to turn it off.

              “Don’t…” she yells, just as the potatoes fly everywhere.

              I look up and she has a big glob of potatoes on her face. “Um….sorry.” I say, but have to bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing.

              She wipes her face and looks at her hand before she flings it right back in my face. I blink before I decide that at least, mine was on accident. Without even cleaning my face, I grab a few of the noodles already covered in sauce and throw them at her.

              She stares at me in shock before she grabs some and flings it back at me. Before I know it, we are both throwing food and covered head to toe.

              We hear someone clearing their throat and turn around to see Ryder standing there. “Dude, now what are we going to have for dinner?”

              Elaina is next to me and out of the corner of my eye, I can see her face turn bright red under all the food. She’s looking down, but I think she’s biting her lip trying not to laugh. It’s cute.

              “Sorry,” she says. “I’m sure that some of it can be salvaged. Just let me get cleaned up first.”

              I follow her back and let her get cleaned up first. I grab a towel and wipe off my hands and face. I go into my bunk and see that I have a missed call from my mom. I decide that I have a few minutes until Elaina is out, so I call her back.

              “Cam! How are you?”

              “Good. How are things there?”             

              “Well, you know your father, he’s a little stressed out, but other than that, things are wonderful. Your father told me about the girl that you found. Sweetie, I really hope that you guys are treating her right. I’m worried about her.”                           

              “Yes, Mom. I’m trying to keep the guys in line and I actually missed your call because I was helping her cook dinner and didn’t hear the phone.”

              “You helped make dinner?” she laughs. “How did that go?”

              “Well, she handed me the mixer and I covered her in mashed potatoes. She got me back and now we are both wearing more food that what was left in the bowls. I think she won the fight.”

              Mom laughs and says, “Well at least she can handle you boys. I think I’m going to like this girl.”

              I hang up soon after that with a promise to call again tomorrow to let her know how things are going.

              Elaina comes out of the bathroom, now in a pair of short cotton shorts and a tight t-shirt, her still damp hair in a braid. I quickly realize that my shower is going to be a cold one.

              After my cold shower, I enter the kitchen area and see Alex and Eric scrubbing the floor. What just happened? I’ve never seen either one of them clean anything.

              Elaina is standing at the counter stirring the potatoes. I walk up behind her and whisper, “What the hell did you do with Alex and Eric and who are these guys?”

              Elaina jumps and turns to look at me. “I just asked them to help clean up while I salvaged dinner. I might have also promised pie tomorrow since the cake batter got ruined tonight.” I look over at the cake batter and there is spaghetti in the bowl.

              We laugh and I help her carry the plates to the table. The food is good, this girl can cook. Eric makes comments the entire meal about stealing her away from Ryder and marrying her. These guys need to back off, or they are going to scare her off.

              Around 9:00, we finally get to Washington DC. “Hey, Ellie, we are going to find a bar, you wanna go along?” Alex asks.

              “No, I think I’ll stay here and get caught up on some sleep,” she says with a yawn and heads back towards her bunk. “Good night guys.”

              “Good night,” we all reply.

              “You going, Cam?” asks Ryder.

              “No, I need to answer some emails. Take Mike with you and remember to keep out of trouble. I’m counting on you Mike and Caleb,” I say looking at the two by the door.

              They nod and they all head out. It is finally quiet and I can get some work done.  About an hour after I get started, I hear a blood-curdling scream coming from the back of the bus and I’m out of my chair running back to Elaina. She is still in her bunk, but she is sitting up and sobbing. She is reaching for me, but I don’t think that she really sees me. I turn on the light, grab her and look her over for injury; not really sure what happened. When I see that she looks uninjured, I breathe a sigh of relief. I shake her a bit trying to get her to snap out of it before I put my arms around her and pull her to me. She is sobbing into me and clutching at my shirt as if she needs me there with her.

              “It’s okay,” I tell her, “It was just a nightmare. I’m here, nothing can happen to you. It’s okay.”

              I rock her back and forth. Her sobs slowly subside and her breathing becomes deep and even. Once I think she is asleep, I try to get up but she is still clutching my shirt, so I give up and reach up to turn off her light. I’m not sure what that was, but I’ve never been so scared in my life. What happened to this girl to give her that kind of nightmare? I lie awake for a few hours because I’m still too wired to sleep.

Elaina

             
Warm.
That’s my first thought when I wake. I’m incredibly warm. I look down and see an arm wrapped around my waist.
Oh my god. What did I do?
I turn my head to look over my shoulder and see a sleeping Cam behind me. I watch him sleeping for a few seconds. I find it oddly fascinating. He is usually so busy that it’s weird seeing him at total peace. It takes me a few seconds to remember that he isn’t supposed to be there.

              I try to think back to what happened last night. The guys went out and Cam and I stayed here, though I went to bed and he stayed up and worked. Why would he have ended up in my bed? I’m freaked out, but probably not as freaked out as I should be. I feel comfortable with him and I don’t think he did anything. I’m sure there’s a good reason.

              I decide I need a shower and some time to think. I slip out of the bunk, trying not to wake Cam. I’m not sure that I’m ready to face him until I know how I feel about him being in here in my bed.

              When I get into the bathroom, I catch my reflection in the mirror out of the corner of my eye and I gasp. I turn to look at myself and see that my eyes are red and swollen. Exactly how I used to look when I woke up in the morning after crying myself to sleep.                That’s when I remember everything. I had a nightmare. I was back in Iowa with my parents and brother, we were driving home after getting my dress and I had to watch from the side of the road as the old rusty sedan passed that truck and struck the front of our SUV. I knew it was going to happen, but I couldn’t do anything but stand there and watch it happen. I screamed. Cam. That’s when Cam came into my cubby and turned on the light. I reached for him. He held me and soothed me. He tried to leave once I calmed down, but I grabbed his shirt and made him stay with me. Oh my God, how am I ever going to face him now? I can’t explain what happened without explaining my guilt that caused the nightmare.

              I quickly jump in the shower and let the scalding hot water try to wash away my embarrassment from last night. Maybe Cam won’t say anything and we can both pretend that it never happened. I wish I could be so lucky.

              After the hot water runs out, I decide I’d better turn the water off since there are five guys that might want to take a shower at some point. Though I take my time getting ready, not wanting to go out there and see Cam.

              Eventually, I realize I can’t prolong it anymore. When I go out into the living area of the bus, I see that no one else is up yet. I decide that the only thing to take my mind off last night is baking and I did promise the boys a pie.

              Around 9:00, as I’m getting the pie out of the oven, I hear someone join me in the room. I know it is Cam before I even turn around. I pretend not to hear him and start cleaning the dishes.

              “Morning,” he says hesitantly.

              I continue doing dishes and mumble, “Good morning.” I just can’t get up enough nerve to look at him yet.

              “Would you like some help? I can dry,” he offers.

              “Sure,” I reply, thinking that if we were both busy doing something, we can postpone questions.

              “Are you doing okay this morning?”

              I know what he means by this question, but I pretend not to understand. “Yeah, doing well.” He looks like he doesn’t know what to say, so we both just work in silence for a few minutes.

              When we finish with the dishes I wipe my hands off, I finally look up at him. He is looking at me intently. “So…umm, does that happen a lot?” he asks me. I play dumb and hope he is talking about some other horribly embarrassing thing that happened. “Well, it seemed like you were having a nightmare last night. Do you want to talk about it?” he continues.

              “Uh, yeah, I guess I had a nightmare. I’m fine, I don’t even remember it anymore,” I lie. “I guess it was because I was in a strange place. Umm… thanks for comforting me last night.” I look down, not able to look him in the eyes anymore. “I know that Ryder left you in charge of me, but that really isn’t in your job description.” I force a laugh.

              “You really think that that is all it was? Of course, I would comfort you. We are friends, aren’t we?” He tips my chin up, so I’ll look at him. I shiver at his touch and his intense gaze.

              I give him a wide smile. “Yes, we are friends,” I say once the fog in my brain clears.

              “Good. Are you sure that you don’t want to talk about your nightmare?” he questions.

              “Yes, I’m sure. Like I said, I don’t even remember it.” He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me, but lets it go.

              “What would you like to do today? Ever been to Washington DC before?”

              “Nope.”

              “Well, what would you like to do? I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. I’ve been to the Smithsonian. That’s interesting.”

              Felling a little more like myself after the subject change, I frown. “I don’t want my first sightseeing experience to be something that you’ve already done. I want it to be something that neither of us has done before. So we both get a new experience.”

              “I really don’t mind going again. But if you insist that we must do something new, what do you have in mind?”

              I shrug. “I don’t really know what there is to do here.”

              “Let me make some calls and I’ll come up with something.”