Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
For some reason, that single word felt ice cold.
Austin: [How about tomorrow night?]
Cameron: [Can’t.]
Austin: [The day after that?]
Cameron: [Can’t.]
Austin: [??]
All he got was “can’t”-across the board.
‘Did I get it wrong? Is he still mad after all?’
Austin: [Cam, are you still upset about last night?]
Since Xander had already ratted him out, there was no point pretending anymore.
Still, Cameron didn’t respond.
After a while, he sent another message.
Austin: [Cam, can we talk? Please give me a chance to explain.]
Cameron: [I gave you that chance last night.]
She had reached out first, and he’d brushed her off.
Then he’d immediately turned around and called Xander.
That was enough. No need to waste another minute.
Austin stared at her message. His stomach dropped.
So it wasn’t just in his head-Cameron was mad.
‘That idiot Xander… what the hell did he say? Did he twist it somehow? Made things worse? Why else would Cam be this upset?’
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. A nervous chill crept over him.
Austin: [Cam, I messed up. Please give me another chance to explain, okay?]
Austin: [I’m free anytime. Just tell me when and where-I’ll come pick you up from work, if that’s easier.]
Austin: [Cam…]
He fired off over a dozen messages in a row. But not a single reply came back.
His amber eyes flickered with worry.
He hadn’t expected his little stunt to piss Cameron off this much.
Mad enough to ignore him entirely? That had never happened before.
Seeing no response, Austin didn’t dare push it further.
He didn’t even dare show up at her office uninvited.
He’d just have to wait. Wait for her to come back to Noble Vista and then explain everything face-to-face….
Eddie had slept until noon and didn’t get to Viremont until almost 3 PM.
Bradley messaged Cameron.
Bradley: [Eddie’s in Viremont. Want to grab dinner together tonight?]
Cameron: (Sure. Let’s go back to Silvermoss Castle.)
After what happened with Austin, she figured he might try to come find her.
So she decided not to go back to Noble Vista for now.
Bradley: [You off at six? I’ll come pick you up.]
Cameron: [Sounds good.]
At 6 PM sharp, Elijah was already waiting for Cameron in the cafeteria.
For days now, they’d been sticking to the same routine-heading to work together, eating dinner together, walking out together.
As soon as he arrived, his phone buzzed with a message from Cameron. Cameron: [Elijah, I’m not going back to Noble Vista tonight. Just wanted to let you know.]
Elijah was holding his phone in one hand and two empty trays in the other.
He stood there in silence for a few seconds, then slowly returned the trays to the counter, and replied. Elijah: [Got it.]
His deep eyes dimmed a little.
He left the cafeteria and headed home.
It had been a while since he’d been back anyway-today seemed like as good a time as any.
As Elijah stepped out the building’s main entrance, he caught sight of Cameron across the way.
Just as he was about to call out to her, she opened a car door and slid inside.
He recognized the car instantly.
It was Bradley’s.
‘So Cam isn’t going back to Noble Vista-because of Bradley? But doesn’t Brad live at Noble Vista too? If they aren’t going there… then where are they going?’
Elijah watched the car pull away in silence.
His eyes seemed to lose a little more light.
Cameron sat in the back seat.
Eddie turned around from the front, grinning like a peacock in full display. “Hey Cam, long time no see. Did you miss me?”
Cameron gave a small wave. “Eddie, long time no see.”
Eddie fluttered his famously flirty eyes, “So? Did you miss me?”
Cameron didn’t answer right away.
‘Did I miss him or not?
As Bradley drove, he glanced over at Eddie and said flatly, “Has no one ever told you your smile isn’t actually that charming?”
Eddie blinked. “Excuse me?”
He shot Bradley a deadpan look. “Brad, I’m starting to question your entire taste level.”
“My taste is perfectly fine, thanks,” Bradley said without flinching.
Eddie turned quickly back to Cameron and beamed. “Cam, do you think my smile’s ugly? Come on, tell the truth-I’m obviously irresistible, right?”
Some people couldn’t stand being called unattractive-especially the ones who knew they weren’t.
Cameron couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re handsome.”
Eddie really was. When he smiled, those fox-like eyes of his could practically flirt on their own.
“See? I knew it,” Eddie said, raising his brows triumphantly.
Bradley turned the wheel and muttered, “That’s just Cameron being too polite to tell the truth.”
Eddie blinked. “Excuse me?”
Cameron didn’t answer right away.
Eddie narrowed his eyes at Bradley.
Then, slowly, he started to smile again.
‘Is my little brother… jealous? No way. Cut it out. Don’t go there. Brad’s totally straight. Totally.’
