Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
In the first round, Lila got the joker.
She groaned. “Of course it’s me.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Lila, truth or dare?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Dare.”
Tyler glanced at Calder and said, “Alright then, give Calder a hug.”
Lila stared at him. “Seriously?”
Sienna blushed. “Are we really going that far right away?”
Amelia added, “Lila, you picked dare. No backing out.”
“I didn’t say I was,” Lila huffed, standing up.
“Do it! Hug! Hug!” Tyler led the chant, clearly loving the chaos.
The whole point of this get-together was to create some sparks. Games like this helped people get a little closer.
Lila’s cheeks flushed pink as she looked at Calder.
His ears were already red. He stood up awkwardly, clearly bracing himself for impact.
He cleared his throat. “You don’t have to go all in. Just a quick one is fine.”
Lila shut her eyes and threw her arms around him, quick, clumsy, and over in a second. She bounced away almost immediately.
Still, even that split-second of contact left both of them bright red, avoiding each other’s gaze.
Everyone around the table burst out laughing. They played a few more rounds, and eventually, Cameron drew the joker.
The round before, Amelia had drawn it.
Now it was her turn to ask. “Truth or dare?” Amelia asked.
“Dare,” Cameron replied without hesitation.
Amelia blinked. She hadn’t expected that.
She’d been hoping Cameron would pick truth-she already had the perfect question in mind. ‘Do you like Bradley?’
“Dare, huh?” Amelia thought for a second and said, “Go give Tyler a slap.”
Cameron was stunned for a moment. She could tell Amelia wasn’t a fan of Tyler, but asking someone to slap him was a bit much.
Tyler was stunned, too. “Amelia, aren’t you being a little too savage?”
Amelia grinned, “Relax, just kidding.”
Tyler let out a sigh of relief.
Then Amelia added, “Cameron, just go find any three girls and tell them you’re a girl.”
Cameron remained silent. Since Amelia asked, of course, she went along with it.
Cameron found three girls and told each of them the exact same thing. “Hi, I’m a girl.”
Seeing the stunned looks on their faces, Cameron just turned around and walked away.
The game continued.
Finally, it was Elijah’s turn. Elijah had been quiet the whole time, but his heart was pounding like a drum. He could even feel sweat gathering in his palms.
When he finally drew the King, his pupils contracted ever so slightly.
The last round was Calder’s turn. Calder immediately caught on. He looked over at Elijah. “Hey Elijah, truth or dare?”
Elijah took a deep breath. “Truth.”
“Wow. Not bad, Elijah. That takes guts.” Tyler egged him on.
Lila clapped. “Now that’s bold.”
Amelia shot a few glances at Elijah, then at Cameron, but kept quiet, while Sienna watched Elijah expectantly.
Like Amelia, Elijah was good-looking but didn’t talk much, always giving off that aloof, untouchable vibe.
Cameron also turned to look at Elijah.
Elijah could feel Cameron’s gaze on him, but he didn’t even dare to look back.
When you really like someone, you just can’t bring yourself to meet her eyes, Elijah thought, heart pounding.
Calder saw that the mood was just right. He finally spoke up. “Hey Elijah, I’ve got three questions for you. First-do you like someone?”
“Yes,” Elijah replied.
“Wow, seriously? Elijah, you really kept that under wraps. No wonder you’ve turned down so many girls since the semester started-you’ve already got your eye on someone.” Tyler said, looking genuinely surprised and excited.
Cameron wasn’t surprised at all.
The Moore family’s butler had even called Cameron once, asking her to encourage Elijah to be brave and go after the girl he liked.
Cameron had known all along that Elijah had feelings for someone.
Calder continued, “Second question-Is the girl you like here with us right now?”
Elijah nodded. “Yeah, she is.”
“No way. She’s here? So it’s one of these four girls? This is getting good.” Tyler was practically bouncing with excitement.
He was really selling it.
“With us right now?” Sienna was getting excited too. She glanced over at Amelia.
Amelia and Elijah were both good-looking-they really looked good together. Cameron also turned to look at Amelia. ‘Could it be that Elijah likes Amelia?’ Cameron thought.
Back then, Elijah had insisted he could never end up with the person he liked. ‘Is it because Amelia likes Bradley that Elijah decided to back off?’ Cameron wondered.
“Why are you all looking at me?” Amelia asked, looking genuinely puzzled. ‘Do they really think Elijah likes me?’ Amelia wondered to herself. ‘No way, that’s impossible.’
‘You can usually feel it when someone has a crush on you, right?’ Amelia wondered, ‘Like the way Tyler looks at me-now that’s what it looks like when someone likes you.’
There was nothing warm in the way Elijah looked at her-his gaze was always distant,
Cameron and Sienna didn’t say anything.
Lila turned to look at Cameron. ‘So, is this whole game just a setup for Elijah to confess his feelings to Cameron?’ Lila wondered. ‘Will Cameron say yes?’
Cameron always dressed in a more androgynous style at school, and it wasn’t uncommon for girls to ask for her WhatsApp, but no guys had ever confessed their feelings to her.
Calder leaned in and asked the third question, “So, who do you have a crush on?”
As Calder’s words hung in the air, the atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze.
‘That was way too blunt,’ someone thought. Seven pairs of eyes turned to Elijah.
Elijah’s heart was actually trembling. After eighteen years, this was the first time he’d ever liked a girl. And it was also his first time confessing to a girl.
He could feel his heart racing with excitement and nerves.
Everyone was waiting for Elijah’s answer.
Cameron and Sienna were both convinced that Elijah liked Amelia.
But in the very next moment, Elijah spoke up, his voice steady but soft. “The girl I like is Cameron.”
Sienna’s mind went completely blank. She stared at Elijah, utterly stunned. ‘Wait, it’s Cameron?’ Sienna thought, completely floored. She’d been so sure it was Amelia all along.
But Amelia had seen it coming. “I knew it-you really do like Cameron,” she said, sounding totally unfazed.
Amelia was well aware of just how popular Cameron was. However, she honestly hadn’t expected Cameron to be this popular.
Even with her tomboyish style, Cameron had somehow managed to make Elijah, Bradley, and even Austin all fall for her at the same time.
‘If she ever put on a dress, I bet she’d drive half the guys on campus crazy,’ Amelia thought.
