Chapter 13
Unfortunately for Camie, Toga was busy this weekend as well as the next. The only explanation that the girl offered was that she had made some sort of plans with her family and couldn’t get out of it. However, Toga did promise that they could meet up the following weekend; granted her family didn’t need her for something last minute.
At eleven on the Friday evening before they were supposed to meet, Camie received a message from Toga.
‘I’m so sorry to do this but something has come up and I won’t be able to meet tomorrow as planned.’
Camie’s heart sunk. She had her doubts initially but had cast them aside when Toga had suggested this weekend. They came rushing back as Toga cancelled their plans:
Perhaps she’s using this as an excuse and doesn’t want to meet up. I did sort of pressure her into messaging me... Could she not be interested in me at all? If that was the case then why would she message me? Why not just tell me she’s not interested? She doesn’t seem like the type of person who would be too shy to tell someone off. Argh I hate this feeling of uncertainty!
Without giving it a second thought and probably against her better judgement, Camie grabbed her phone.
‘If you don’t want to meet up at all, we don’t have to...I’d completely understand and would respect your choice and honesty.’
The pain in her chest deepened as she hit send, nerves started to set in as she waited in fear of the answer. For the first time since the two had started speaking, Toga responded almost immediately.
‘No!’
‘I do want to meet up it’s just that I never know when my family needs me there is a lot of behind the scenes things that happen sort of last minute and so they often call me at odd times whenever the need arises I can’t get out of it either. I thought of inviting you out during the week but i have to wait for them to be asleep so that i can leave the base alone and then it would be extremely late on a school night and that would affect your hero studies. I want to meet up I really do but it’s just that our schedules don’t match up often.’
Camie was taken aback by the length of Toga’s message. During the past three weeks, Toga had responded with a word or two and if Camie was lucky she may have gotten a full sentence but that was very rare. More so, than the long message, Toga was seemingly in such a rush that she had neglected to put any punctuation in her message. The blonde’s panic could be felt through the lack of comas and in some cases, full stops. Camie felt responsible for the panic and tried to think of a way to calm the other.
‘Sorry I jumped to conclusions; I started to panic because I got self conscious and stated to think that you may not like me at all.’
‘Well you thought wrong.’
‘I know, I realise that now, I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?’
‘I can sort of see where you got the idea from...’
‘If you’re still up by the time I finish tomorrow we can maybe hang out at a park somewhere near you?’
‘Yes!’
‘Okay, I’ll message you tomorrow.’
Camie fell asleep with a smile on her face. She was happy to be able to meet Toga soon and happy that they had been able to sort the misunderstanding out.
The next morning Camie’s nerves started to set in again. She knew that Toga would be busy the whole day and most likely only finish after ten. She also knew that there was no way her parents would allow her to go out that late especially since the hotel incident. Due to Camie never showing signs of being a problematic child, her parents had never seen the need to cut the tree down that grew along her bedroom window. The branches looked strong enough to Camie.
Okay, I’ll leave my window unlocked and climb down the tree to sneak out. That’s one problem solved, next is what to wear?
Two hours later, the entire contents of Camie’s closet were on her bedroom floor and she still wasn’t satisfied with any of her clothes. She decided to pack the clothes away and after putting on a pair of jeans and a graphic shirt, Camie headed to the mall. She went from shop to shop trying on different articles of clothing until she came across a jacket that she knew would pair well with some clothes she had at home. She paid for it and left the store. Her feet were sore from all the walking she had done and her stomach demanded food. She headed to a cafe for lunch before heading home.
It’s been a while since I came to a cafe. These days I go home from school and take a nap so that I’m able to stay up and speak to Camie a little. Which reminds me, I should probably head home and take a nap so that I am awake when she messages me.
Camie woke up in time to help her mother prepare food for dinner. While they were busy, her phone notified her of a message from Toga. Camie wiped her hands and picked up her phone.
‘I’ll be finished at half past ten tonight. What’s the name of the park you want to meet at?’
Camie typed in the name of the closest park in her neighbourhood before returning to help her mother.
“Who was that dear?”
“It’s just a friend.” Camie shrugged her mother’s question off slightly.
“Oh, that Inasa boy?” Her mother asked with a small smile, “He seems like a nice kid.”
Camie shook her head in response, “No, it’s another friend.”
“What’s their name?”
“Don’t worry mom, you wouldn’t know them.”
The last comment seemed to silence her mother and she thankfully dropped the topic.
Camie ate in a hurry and took a shower before she shut herself in her room and got dressed. Time moved incredibly slow as she sat on her bed in the darkness of her room, waiting for her parents to go to bed. At quarter past tem her parents were in bed and the house was silent. She was originally going to leave at twenty five past as Toga would only get there after half past but soon decided that the extra fresh air might calm her nerves more.
It would be better to wait at the park anyway, just in case Toga is early.
She stood up and opened her bedroom window. Opening her mouth, Camie activated her quirk to create an illusion of a light which helped her get down the tree in the otherwise dark night. The light disappeared as she stepped off her property and into the light of the street. Putting her hands in her pocket, Camie made her way over to the park. She took a seat at one of the park benches, pulling out her phone and slouching back into the backrest as she waited for Toga.