Caught (Camren)

•4•

I woke up the following day an hour before my alarm even sounded. I wasn't surprised. I'd been tossing and turning all night, intensely bothered by some nagging force deep within my mind, but I couldn't put my finger on what. I was rarely in a bad mood, but when I was, it was intense. I threw my sheets off in frustration and stomped into my bathroom, slamming the door behind me and turning on the sink. I splashed cold water on my face and stared in the mirror, pulling my shirt over my head to examine my tattoos. What would Lauren think of me if I didn't have them? There was always that initial, "oh, you have tattoos, you must be a terrible person," moment when I first met someone, but it never bothered me. Her words lingered in the back of my mind.

"I can only guess you've seen a fair share of white walls in your lifetime," she told me. "Plus, from what I can see, you're covered in tattoos."

Maybe she would have had a different first impression if I didn't look the way I did. Who was I kidding? Maybe my tattoos threw her perception off a bit, but we both knew damn well that my attitude was the aspect that was keeping her away. I shouldn't have cared. It shouldn't have mattered if she liked me or not. We were strangers, and clearly she was determined to keep it that way, so why did her decision bother me so much?

I walked back into my room and threw on clean clothes- a pair of old jeans, a sweatshirt, and my Converse- and swiped my keys off of my dresser, putting my hair in a bun and not even bothering with my makeup as I walked out of the door. I got into my car and cranked the engine, but it just puttered until smoke appeared from under the hood. Of course. Just what I needed. I hit my palm against the steering wheel and climbed out of the car, slamming the door securely behind me and walking around back to the shed. I pulled the door open and located my dirt bike in the back corner, dusty from so many years without use, and wheeled it out of the shed. I turned it on and cranked it up, and to my surprise it still worked. I retrieved my helmet and put it on, hopping back on the bike and riding away from my house before the sun was even over the horizon.

...

I walked past the rickety wooden stairs in front of Andrew's apartment and knocked forcefully on the door, silently thanking him for getting a place of his own so I didn't have to worry about parents. He opened it seconds later, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers with his hair a mess.

"Hey," he said groggily. "Why are you up so early?"

I pushed my way inside and collapsed on the couch, laying my head against the arm rest. He crawled onto the cushions behind me and draped his arm over my body, burying is face in the back of my neck and closing his eyes. I was glad I had him to go to. We'd never been anything more than best friends, yet we were close enough to cuddle on the couch and not crack any jokes about it. Being with him was comforting, mostly because it reminded me that I wasn't the only person in the world that I acted the way I did.

"I haven't been able to sleep all night," I sighed.

"Any particular reason?"

"I don't know," I whined. "Something's bothering me but I don't know what it is."

He nodded and took a deep breath, repositioning himself so that he was sitting up. I laid my legs over his lap and he placed his hands on my knee supportively, looking down at me as I shut my eyes.

"So, what exactly happened with Lauren?" he asked. "I mean...when I walked in you were...you know. Did you win the bet?"

"No," I answered. "We didn't actually have sex. She hates me now anyway, so I doubt I'll get another chance. I might as well pay up."

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed. "I heard what happened at school yesterday. I think you've had enough punishment."

"Please enlighten me, because I don't really know what happened," I laughed. "One second her clothes were on the floor and the next she was begging me to stay away from her."