Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
*****
On her way back to Class 15, Cameron couldn’t stop smiling. With Xander’s tutoring fees, the basketball prize money, and the exam reward, she was about to become rich.
She didn’t even have to stress about the two million dollars needed to start her own pharmaceutical company more. Still, she had to keep hustling, as she still owed Bradley 15 million dollars, and that was no small amount. When Cameron returned to class, even Elijah could tell that she was happy. He passed her a note: [Did something good happen?]
Cameron: [I got a 300-thousand-dollar reward fr
Elijah was shocked. He thought, ‘300 thousand
Successfully unlocked! nerous.’
Elijah wrote: [Congrats.]
Cameron smiled in response.
After the evening self-study session, Cameron grabbed her phone and slipped out of class, so Elijah could only watch her leave.
Cameron headed straight for the underground parking lot, where Bradley would wait for her. Meanwhile, Xander rushed to Class 15 to catch Cameron, but she was already gone.
“Where’s that little punk?” Xander frowned at Elijah.
Elijah acted like he didn’t hear Xander and walked away, so Xander could only let it go.
Cameron waited for a bit in the underground parking lot before Bradley finally showed up, wearing a gentle smile on his handsome face as he apologized, “Sorry, I’m late,”
“It’s fine.” Cameron slid into the passenger seat, frowning slightly the moment she sat down.
She hadn’t changed her pad all evening, and the moment she sat down, the discomfort hit her hard.
These past few days had been absolute torture for her, and she pondered if she should take tomorrow off. But on second thought, she decided against it.
She would have her third mock exam tomorrow, and she couldn’t skip that. This time, she might jump up a few dozen spots in the rankings again.
“You’re not feeling well?” Bradley was sharp and picked up on her mood right away. “Cameron, I can smell a faint trace of blood in the air. Did you get hurt?”
Cameron was stunned to her core, wondering, ‘Brad can even smell that?’
Cameron’s face dropped for a second, but she kept her cool. “It’s nothing. I just got a little cut. It’ll heal in a couple of days.”
“You didn’t go to the infirmary?” Bradley asked.
“I did.”
Bradley nodded, started the car’s engine, and pulled away from the parking lot.
Cameron stared out the window, watching the night scenery drift by. She kept quiet on purpose, as she didn’t want Bradley picking up that anything was off.
Bradley glanced over at her a few times, but seeing she wasn’t in the mood to talk, he stayed silent too.
The car cruised smoothly into the underground garage at Noble Vista.
Cameron pushed open the door. “Thanks, Brad.”
Bradley smiled. “I’ll wait for you here tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. Good night.” She waved, then made a beeline for the elevator.
Something felt off, and Cameron was praying that she didn’t get anything on her pants.
If she’d stained both her pants and Bradley’s car, she might actually die of embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Bradley watched her take off like a rabbit in a race, and it baffled him.
He had a feeling Cameron was hiding something these past few days. But since she didn’t want to talk, he didn’t ask.
Cameron made it home and luckily, she didn’t stain her pants. Today was the second day of her period, and tomorrow would be the third day, which was always the worst for her.
However, it would get better from the fourth day onwards.
After a hot shower, Cameron flopped onto her bed, put her phone on silent, and drifted off to sleep.
*****
Xander still couldn’t find Cameron and finally gave up. Austin, however, was genuinely surprised Cameron hadn’t come back to the dorm in two days and wondered, ‘Did something happen to him?’
He considered asking Elijah, but one look at that cold face and he bailed on the idea.
Austin popped a vitamin and sent Cameron a text. [Cam, I haven’t seen you in days. Did something happen?]
But there was no reply from the other end.
Right before bed, Austin finally realized that Bradley hadn’t come back either, and his mind started turning again. ‘Is it just a coincidence, or is it something else?’
*****
The next day, as Cameron received her 300-thousand-dollar reward, the school posted the detailed breakdown of the basketball competition rewards on the notice board.
Cameron got 300 thousand dollars, Xander go Successfully unlocked!
Amelia stood before the notice board, staring at when had that “boy” become so dazzling?” other three team members each got 100 thousand. Cito in privio, toy a little surprised as she wondered, “Since
Now, it felt like everyone on campus was talking about Cameron, which was something Amelia hadn’t expected at all. Meanwhile, no one was more furious than Milena.
Milena clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Inside, she furned, Why is that loser getting all the attention? I’m supposed to be the spotlight all the time. All she will ever be is my background prop. But now, Cameron is the star, and I’m nothing at all.”
Milena clenched her fists even tighter. To make matters worse, her classmates were right next to her, swooning over Cameron,
“Oh my goodness, Cameron is so cool. Even his ID photo looks amazing”
“He was even cooler on the basketball court yesterday. My heart was racing when I watched him.”
“Right? I became his fan on the spot yesterday”
Just then, Xander strolled over with his team.
“Whoa, it’s Mr. Murphy” A few girls squealed and covered their faces, practically starstruck. Everyone stepped aside to make way for him, except Milena, who was too lost in her thoughts to move.
Xander stopped right in front of Milena. With his arms crossed, he looked at the photo of himself and Cameron posted together. The sight brought a faint smile to his face.
“Xan, we only won this time thanks to Cam. How about we treat him to dinner tonight?” Tyrell suggested.
Xander rolled his eyes. “You can go ahead and invite him. I doubt he’ll show up though.”
Cameron had been dodging him these past few days.
Today, the seniors were having their third mock exam, and they’d just finished their language test this morning.
Xander went looking for Cameron, but Cameron had already disappeared. He tried calling and texting her, but all he got back was, “I’m busy.”
‘How busy can a student actually be? Those are just excuses, Xander was fuming just thinking about it.
“Milena, come on. Class is starting,” her classmate reminded her.
The bell rang, but Milena was still fuming, so caught up in her own rage that she hadn’t even noticed Xander standing right there.
It wasn’t until her classmate called her name that she snapped out of her daze.
Xander perked up the moment he heard the name. He looked down, and his eyes landed on a plain, ordinary face.
Milena froze, her eyes widened in panic. She thought, ‘When did Xander get here? Why is he standing right in front of me?’
Milena quickly dropped her gaze and bolted.
“Hey, why are you running?” her classmate called after her, but she just sprinted faster.
As she ran, she prayed that Xander would not recognize her.
Xander watched her go and smirked. “Man, there are way too many people with that name.”
And he wondered, ‘When did Milena become such a basic name?’
Tyrell asked, “You know her, Xan?”
Xander shook his head. “Nope.”
Tyrell pressed. “Should I try asking Cameron out tonight?”
