Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
Still, Elijah had no reason to make this up. A pang of hurt hit Austin hard. His life had been hell, but hearing the truth made his chest ache.
Elijah’s glare pinned Xander in place. “You have no clue how much he suffered in that house. He finally escaped, and what do you do? Keep rubbing the Wallaces in his face, call him heartless. He can’t stand the sight of you right now.”
Xander bristled at the accusations. “Well, he didn’t tell me!”
“Did you ever think of asking?” Elijah shot back.
Xander scoffed. “Sure, and I bet he just spilled his guts to you guys without you having to pry?”
Dead silence. Austin stared at the floor, while Elijah’s jaw was set in a hard line.
“Seriously?” Xander exploded. “You two knew, and Brad did too? I’m the only idiot in the dark? That little jerk…”
Elijah cut him off. “You’re impossible.” What was the point? Xander wasn’t sorry-just mad he’d been left out.
Without another word, Elijah started to leave, then spun back. “Listen. This stays between us. Cam’s business is his own.” His eyes bored into Xander “Got it?”
Once Elijah was gone, Xander scoffed. “As if I’d blab.”
Austin stepped forward. “Xan, this can’t get out. Promise me.” He jogged after Elijah, leaving Xander alone.
Fuming, Xander flopped onto the steps. He kicked a pebble so hard it skittered across the hallway.
He thought, ‘No wonder Cameron is always broke-cutting ties with the Wallaces meant no more safety net. And his mood swings about Milena make sense now. Suicide? Pathetic.’
But then he remembered what he had done, and a sick feeling twisted in his gut. He thought, ‘What kind of hell would drive someone tough like him to jump? Last night, the brat must’ve snapped and knocked me out.’
“Damn it,” Xander groaned, burying his face in his hands. “What a mess I made.”
Truth be told, Xander genuinely liked Cameron-once you forgot he was Milena’s brother. Cameron was seriously talented, and let’s face it-everyone gravitates toward winners. Xander was no different.
But now, realizing he’d hurt Cameron without meaning to, he didn’t know how he could ever look him in the eye again.
“Xander, what’s going on?” Bradley pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.
He and Cameron had just left the cafeteria when they spotted Xander slumped on the steps, hands over his face, groaning.
Xander’s head shot up. Stunned at the sight of Cameron and Bradley, he was on his feet, bolting like he had a pack of wolves on his tail. He couldn’t bear the thought of facing Cameron.
Cameron just stared.
Bradley snorted. “Guess that smack you gave him last night really messed with his head, huh?”
Cameron shrugged, thinking, ‘Good. Maybe Xander will finally leave me alone.’
Tiana happened to walk by. Taking in the scene, she smiled, thinking, ‘Finally, that troublemaker Xander got the message. This is perfect. He should run at the sight of Cameron, avoiding distracting Cameron from studying.’
Cameron and Bradley headed to the library for some reading. They rushed back to class right before the bell rang and found a huge bag of snacks on Cameron’s desk. It was stuffed with every kind of treat imaginable.
“Who dropped this off?” Cameron asked Elijah.
“Xander,” he replied.
It must’ve been those words at lunch that did the trick. It looked like Xander was trying to make amends with the snacks.
Cameron furrowed her brows. “What’s he doing buying me snacks?”
This wasn’t his first stunt like this,
Elijah shrugged. “He probably finally realized how out of bounds he was yesterday.”
Cameron gave a quick nod, not really bothered.
She passed out the snacks to their classmates. There was ho point letting them take up space on her desk.
Elijah leaned in. “Xander should back off now,” he murmured.
Cameron twirled her pen and shrugged. “About time.”
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Elijah shuffled closer and whispered, “Listen, Cam, I need to apologize.”
“For what?” Cameron scooted away. He stopped moving closer, knowing better than to push it with her germi phobia.
Sitting upright, Elijah tapped on his phone. Seconds later, Cameron’s screen lit up.
[Sorry, I told Xander you cut ties with the Wallaces.]
“Is that why he sent snacks?” she asked.
Elijah nodded. “My bad.”
Cameron waved it off, thinking, ‘What does it matter? Brad already knows, and the whole world will find out eventually!
Another ping. Elijah: [I also told them about the suicide thing. Really sorry.]
Cameron just stared, thinking, ‘Whatever. Let them believe what they want.’
The bell cut off Elijah’s next words.
That night in the dorm, another mountain of snacks sat on her desk.
“Who left this?” she asked Austin.
“Xan begged me to drop it off.” Austin grinned.
Xander was not allowed in the boys’ dorms anymore.
Austin sauntered over to Cameron and propped his straight fingers on the chairback. “Cam, Xan’s probably dying to say sorry, but he’s too stubborn to actually admit it. Hence, the snack bombs.”
Cameron shoved the snack bag aside, nodded, and whipped out her phone to open WhatsApp. Taking the hint, Austin retreated to his seat.
She fired off a text: [Stop sending snacks. Thanks.]
Xander’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He spent the whole day in a funk. After evening study, he dragged himself back to Tiana’s dorm. Just thinking about facing Cameron frustrated him badly. He sprawled on the couch, joining Tyrell’s gaming session to numb his mind.
Then Cameron’s message pinged. Xander shot up so fast that he toppled right off the couch. Still splayed on the floor, he frantically exited the game and opened their chat.
Xander: [Not into snacks? Just tell me what you want. I’ll grab it now.]
Cameron: [What I’m saying is, cut it out. No more gifts.]
Xander stared at his screen, dumbfounded, He thought, ‘No need? This is my olive branch! How was I supposed to know about your split with the Wallaces? That’s why I kept bugging you about Milena. Well, those days are over.’
Xander: [Name it, I’m buying )
Cameron: Nothing1
Xander: [Quit pushing me, you brat!)
Cameron: (Xander, I don’t need a thing. Just drop the Wallace family topic. That’d be a godsend.}
Xander stared at the screen, his forehead creased. He started typing “sorry,” then backspaced it in a flash. Typed it again, and deleted it again. After the fifth try, his hands shook with frustration.
With a growl, he chucked his phone across the couch and sprawled out. “Freaking hell!” He smothered his face with a pillow, muffling his groan.
Cameron waited for a response, but Xander went radio silent. She chucked her phone onto the bed and headed to the bathroom.
When she returned, her screen was flooded with texts from him.
[So, will you stili tutor me?]
(Hey, answer me! Tutoring or not?]
[Seriously? You’re mad over this? I didn’t know. Cut me some slack.]
[Cameron, I…]
[Cameron, I’m sorry.]
A notification popped up: [The other party recalled a message.]
Cameron watched the apology vanish. ‘Classic. Proud and prickly,’ she thought.
Towel-drying her hair, she typed back: [Pay up, and we have a deal.]
Xander had been pacing the room anxiously, thinking, ‘He probably didn’t see it. When her message finally came through, he scoffed.
