Chapter 23
“Where are you-?”
“-Out.” Camie cut her mother off before she could finish her sentence. She quickly made her way over to the door and slipped out, trying to escape the follow up questions her mom was bound to have.
“There she goes again,” her mother complained after the door had slammed shut.
“She’s spending the weekend with her friend, dear.”
“That’s not the point. This is the third time she has gone out without any explanation and she never talks to me anymore.”
“Sounds like a normal teenager to me.”
As Camie approached the park, she headed for the bench that her and Toga used to meet up at. A boy who looked around the same age as her sat on the bench. He had slightly messy brown hair that fell into his eyes every so often and he would brush it back each time it did. He sat, hunched over, fiddling with something at his wrist. Once Camie saw the glint of silver that reflected the sun, she sat approached the boy who she now knew was Toga.
“Did I keep you waiting long?” Camie asked Toga as she sat down.
“Nope,” Toga smiled sweetly at Camie, “I just got here a few minutes ago.”
“Who are you today?” Camie knew that it would be impossible for Toga to know all the people she transformed into but sometimes she knew small details and was happy to share them with Camie.
This time Toga shrugged, “Just some random person; I took a blood pack from the hospital.”
Camie nodded to let Toga know that she had heard her, before changing the topic. “What did you have planned for today?”
“Well I had originally planned for a picnic but you did that last time so I thought we could go to this new cafe. Apparently they sell really good parfaits.”
“Lead the way.” Camie replied with a grin.
They were seated at the cafe and the waitress had just placed their parfaits in front of them when a small group of friends walked in and sat at the booth behind Toga.
The girls ordered and will waiting for their food, they started whispering amongst themselves.
“She’s so lucky.”
“My boyfriend would never come with me to a place like this.”
“Maybe they have been dating a really long time?”
As the girls continued to whisper, Toga started to blush slightly. Both Toga and Camie could hear the entire conversation despite the girls whispers.
They finished the rest of their time at the cafe in a slightly awkward silence.
“Sorry about that,” Toga apologised as they exited the cafe. “I should have maybe swapped to a girl or something instead of this.”
Camie shook her head, “Don’t let what they say get to you.”
“I can’t,” Toga whispered.
“You can’t?”
Toga shook her head, she looked down at the side walk, refusing to meet Camie’s eyes. The light blush was returning to her cheeks.
“Why not?” Camie asked, genuinely confused. When she was met with no response she pushed a little further. “Toga?”
Toga sighed and looked Camie in the eye. Movement over Camie’s shoulder drew Toga’s attention away after only a few seconds. Remembering where they were Toga shook her head again and ran her hands down her face. “This is not how I wanted to tell you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was going to invite you to the festival that is happening at the end of the month and I had planned to confess during the fireworks like how they do in those manga you like. Not just blurt it out on the side of the street because I got flustered by a couple of comments. I also wanted to do it as me; not some other random person.”
Camie tried but failed to hide the smile that had forced its way onto her face.
“No,” Toga stopped Camie from saying the words that were already forming. “I have a plan and I am going to stick to it. You can use this time to think and decide what your answer will be. You can also weigh out the pros and cons of starting something between the two of us. A hero dating a villain is not a good mix...”
“Hero in training,” Camie corrected her.
“Still! Think about it carefully and in depth and you can give me your answer when I ask again at the end of the month.
“Why is it taking so long?” Camie complained, slouching at her desk.
“Care to explain?” Inasa asked.
“Today; it’s going by so slowly,” Camie groaned as she lay her head on her desk.
She had been fidgeting the whole day and had even checked her phone a few times during class. While this wasn’t unusual behaviour for Camie, the complaining was.
“Do you have plans tonight?” Inasa asked, trying to guess why Camie was so impatient.
“No, not today, but I do tomorrow.” Camie’s tone was curt. She seemed to be getting agitated by how long she had to wait.
The bell signalling the start of the next class interrupted their conversation and the day passed with Camie complaining and Inasa trying to support her.
Eventually school ended and Camie bid goodbye to Inasa before rushing home. She flung her stuff down on her bedroom floor and got dressed. Once she was finished, she took a seat at her desk and dug through the bottom drawer until she found a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and read through the contents.
After Toga had told her to think over her answer a month ago, Camie had come home and immediately written out a list. She had turned the list into a speech of some kind and after writing it out fully she had taken the main points to use as her answer.
Camie knew that tomorrow night wasn’t going to be easy; butterflies were already forming in her stomach. Toga was the person who kept a level head in their friendship, she was always thinking of how things could impact their future. Camie expected that Toga would want solid reasons for Camie’s answer as well as proof that Camie had given it some thought.
Camie folded the paper up again and placed it back in the drawer before walking over to her bed and lying down on it.
Stop stressing Camie! You’ve got this. Just let what happens tomorrow happen.
A notification sound interrupted her thoughts. She lifted up her phone from beside her and read the message from Toga.
‘I can’t wait for tomorrow :)’