Time Shift (Camren)

Chapter 1: New Old Faces

"Who the hell are you?"

Cameron stood up straight and ran a hand through his hair, nervously, "I-uhm," he cleared his throat, trying to organize the thoughts in his head, "I am looking for James Daniels. I'm his friend."

Lauren raised an eyebrow and scanned him from head to toes. Cameron shifted in his spot. He had always hated when her mom did that because he knew she was analyzing him, but this was different. This was a younger version of his mom and she didn't even know who he was.

"Okay," Lauren said, still staring at him suspiciously, "What's your name?"

"I'm Cameron," he answered quickly.

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows and Cameron wanted to slam his head against the wall. Was he supposed to say his real name? The professor had never mentioned that.

"Well, Cameron," the young woman repeated his name slowly, almost amused by it, "how did you end up in a dark dressing room?"

"Is this your dressing room?" Cameron looked around, "I'm so sorry, I was lost and I started opening doors randomly. I couldn't find the light switch."

Cameron congratulated himself. He had come up with that lie faster than he expected.  And just when Lauren was about to reply, someone appeared at the door, next to her.

"Lauren, we ne- wait, who's that?" the newly arrived girl asked, "I didn't know your relatives were visiting you."

The green-eyed girl turned to look at her friend with a confused expression on her face and Cameron felt a blush creeping on his face.

"Mani, he's not my relative," Lauren said, confirming the information Cameron had guessed the moment he saw the other girl. She was Normani, his aunt Mani, "He was looking for Jamie and got lost."

"Oh, okay, sorry," Normani laughed, "You look so much alike."

Cameron hadn't thought about people noticing his resemblance to his mother but he knew it was going to happen eventually. He just didn't expect that to happen so soon.

"Yeah, it's okay," he intervened quickly to take the attention away from the topic, "I should get going. I'm supposed to find my friend."

Lauren and Normani stepped aside to give him space to leave the room but Cameron froze when he felt a hand grabbing his arm.

"Wait, you're going to get lost again. Let me take you with him," Lauren offered.

"Don't worry," Cameron faked a smile, tense because of the sudden contact, "Just point me in the right direction and I'll make sure I don't get lost."

Lauren let go of his arm and pointed down the hallway, telling him how to get to the room he was looking for. Cameron thanked her and walked away quickly, overwhelmed by the meeting. Was her mom worrying about him without even knowing who he was?