"Cammie, hurry up its time to go!" Evan called as he packed up his laptop and headphones. "Bye," he lowered his voice and kissed Scarlett as she ran out the door. "Love you."
"Love you too, Eliot, we are gonna be late." She called as Eliot dragged his backpack behind him.
"Ugh I don't want to go to school!" he complained.
"Ugh I don't want to go to the hospital!" Cammie mocked.
"Wanna trade?" Eliot offered more excitedly.
"Yes actually." Cammie informed him. "I would rather be normal like you and able to go to school and live a normal life so stop complaining and go to school with mom." Cammie said as she grabbed her water bottle and moved towards Evans car.
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Scarlett said with a lopsided grin. "Now get going, or else we are going to get a tardy... again."
"FINE!" Eliot groaned. Moving more quickly to the car this time.
"Let me know how it goes." Scarlett called as she pulled out of the driveway. "LOVE YOU BOTH!" She yelled out the window.
"Will do," Evan waved them off.
"Bye mama. Love you." Cammie said as she buckled up. She never took her seatbelt off after that accident. She didn't need to go flying away again.
"For my birthday," Eliot began. "Can I have a sleepover?" He looked up at Scarlett through the review mirror, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.
"I don't know sweetie." He continued to stare up at her.
"Please mommy, I will keep them away from Cammie!" He begged, as if Cameron was a precious china doll that needed to be kept on a shelf, away from prying hands, prying eyes.
"El-" Scarlett was already giving in and planning on giving him the party. He didn't ask for much, he gave up things for Cammie too, a sleepover was the least they could do.
"PLEASE MOMMY!" He howled as they neared school. "PLEASE! PAH-LEASE!" He annunciated.
"Alright, alright," Scarlett said with a smile. "Let me check with Dad first, but I think we can do a sleepover for your birthday."
"Eliot's friends called me a monster. Hideous and they are right, I am and no matter how many surgeries I get done they won't change anything, not really anyway." Cammie crawled into bed with her parents that night. "Eliot was asleep, he didn't hear them." She informed them, the hooligans slept in the family room that night after staying up late playing Fortnight. "They didn't know I was in the kitchen." Cammie explained. "Or else I don't think they would have said it." Cammie lay between them, her shoulders sagged and her eyes swelled with tears that refused to fall down her face. "I think I want to talk to Ann again tomorrow." Cammie said after a long pause of Scarlett rubbing her back. Ann was Cammie's digital therapist, they had video or just audio calls once a week and Cammie had been enjoying telling someone her issues.
The depression of struggling with this new reality kept knocking Cammie down. Every time she thought she had it under control something or someone would come and make her feel small and useless.
Beep, boop, beep.
Cammie's phone went off and she moved to it, toothbrush still in her mouth. Eliot's friends were downstairs and she refused to join them for French toast for breakfast, her mom would bring her up a few once the boys were fed. She picked up her phone to see a message from Colton.
