Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
Cameron grabbed a bowl of pasta from the cafeteria and headed straight for the library. She had just settled into a quiet corner when her phone buzzed with a text from Xander.
Xander: [Cameron, where are you? You’re not in the dorm or the classroom. Austin said you’re at school, so where are you?]
Cameron glanced at the message, then shoved her phone back into her pocket without replying.
Moments later, more messages poured in.
Xander: [Cameron, where are you? Say something.]
Xander: [Hello?]
Xander: [Where are you? Reply to me.]
Xander: [Cameron, I have something really important to tell you. I’m ordering you to reply within one minute.]
Xander: [Cameron, answer me!]
Her phone wouldn’t stop buzzing, and she frowned in annoyance. Without hesitation, she blocked him on WhatsApp.
When Xander sent another message, he saw only one tick next to his text. He had a hunch that Cameron had blocked him. His eyes widened in shock. “Damn it, that little punk!”
Xander was still holding a giant bag of snacks he bought just for Cameron. He couldn’t wait until after evening study to give them to him, so he was going to hand them over now.
This was the most he could do to take a step back and reconcile with her. And he had to because Cameron was Milena’s ‘brother.
Xander kept telling himself he needed to keep things, as there was no point in making things so tense-between them. If things got messy, he’d be the one stuck cleaning it up.
But he hadn’t expected Cameron to humiliate him like that. Left with no other option, Xander headed toward Class 35.
Elijah was at his desk, calmly working through a practice test, when Xander called him out. Elijah followed, visibly annoyed. “What now?”
Xander shoved the snack bag forward, glaring at Elijah as he said, “Can you give this to Cameron?*
Elijah glanced down at the big bag of snacks in his hand. “What, are you here to apologize to Cameron?”
Xander instantly exploded. “Apologize? Why should I apologize to him? He was the one who beat me up.”/
Elijah replied, “You threw the first punch. He was just defending himself.”
Xander scoffed; “Elijah, I didn’t think a straight-A student like you would actually take
Cameron’s side. After all, he’s a total slacker in academics.”
Elijah shot back, “Slacker? Xander, maybe you should find out why the principal personally brought Cameron back after expelling him. If he’s a slacker, then everyone at Langford Academy is also one.”
Xander was stunned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Elijah said, “Go ask your aunt.”
Xander grumbled, “I can’t be bothered. Just give this to Cameron.”
Elijah was silent for a few seconds. In the end, he still took the shopping bag. After all, they all lived under the same roof, and it wasn’t like they could avoid bumping into each other forever.
Now that Xander was trying to make peace, there was no point in turning him down.
“Thanks.” Xander let out a breath of relief.
Elijah walked into the classroom with the bag in his hand, which invited questions from his classmates.
“Whoa, Elijah. Is that from Xander for Cameron? Didn’t know you guys in that dorm were so close.”
“I always thought Cameron would have a hard time living with all those campus heartthrobs, but looks like he’s actually pretty popular among them.”
“Cameron’s good-looking too, okay? Living with them is no big deal for him.”
“I agree. Honestly, Cameron could totally be one of the campus heartthrobs. That’d make five at our school.”
Elijah didn’t say much. He just nodded here and there, listening to the conversations around him. He had a few tough problems saved up that he’d been meaning to ask Cameron about when she showed up.
Cameron walked into the classroom right on the dot. Class started at 6:50 PM, and she only strolled in at 6:45 PM.
The first thing she noticed was a massive shopping bag sitting right on her desk.
She blinked, wondering if she was seeing things. Sliding into her seat, she peeked into the bag, confused as she asked Elijah, “What’s this?”
Elijah said, “Xander bought it for you. He felt pretty bad about what happened yesterday, so he sent you this giant bag of snacks and hoped you’ll forgive him.”
She tried to set the snacks aside, but the bag was so huge that no matter where she put it, it took up way too much space.
With no other option, Cameron tapped the shoulder of the classmate in front of her with her textbook. “Hey, want some snacks?”
Cameron ended up sharing the whole bag of snacks from Xander with the entire class.
All the snacks Xander bought were super expensive, and even though everyone here came from pretty well-off families, snacking together beat snacking alone.
The mood lightened, and voices filled the space. “Cameron always looks so cold, but he’s actually really chill.”
“He’s good-looking and kind too. Amelia must be kicking herself for breaking off the engagement.”
Someone coughed, “Yeah, well…doesn’t he come from a pretty weak background? I heard the Wallace family barely scraped into Langford. That’s why Amelia wasn’t interested in him.”
“Dude, you’re literally eating her snacks. Maybe zip it.”
Cameron didn’t react to anything they said. The comments floated around her like wind, heard, but meaningless.
Elijah frowned and said, “Cameron, don’t take what they say to heart. Amelia’s the one who lost out.”
Cameron nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Elijah slid his test paper over to her. “Can you take a look at these two questions?”
Cameron was stunned.
Cameron gave Elijah a mildly exasperated look, but took the test paper anyway and walked him through the two problems.
When he finished, Elijah’s eyes lit up. “So that’s how it works. Cameron, you’re incredible.”
A girl in the front row blinked, thinking she’d misheard. She turned around, and there was Elijah, Langford’s top student, looking at Cameron like she just solved world hunger.
“Wait, Elijah. Are you seriously asking Cameron for help?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Elijah nodded.
The girl was stunned as she thought, ‘Is he serious right now? He’s a top student, and he’s asking a slacker for help?’
But since neither of them seemed interested in talking to her, she could only swallow all her questions.
Just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of evening study. Brody, their homeroom teacher, walked to the podium with a grim look on his face.
He pressed both hands against the lectern and said, “Listen up, everyone. There’s been a string of murders across Viremont. All the victims were high school girls, and so far, the killer is still on the loose.”
“The cops are offering a 350,000-dollar reward for any leads.
This is serious. Starting today, girls who go home after school must be picked up by a parent, preferably your father. Or bring a bodyguard, if possible. If you live on campus, you are not to leave school grounds for any reason.”
After a brief silence, the classroom erupted into a storm of chatter.
“Oh my god. Why are all the victims high school girls? That’s seriously creepy. Who’s this sicko?”
“Well, they said it’s a serial killer, right? Of course he’s a total freak.”
“Ugh, I’m too scared to go home. My family’s bodyguard is basically useless. I doubt he could protect me. Can I apply to stay in the dorms instead?”
“This is way too scary. I want to stay in the dorms too. Are there any rooms left?”
“Quiet.” Brody waved his hand. “If you want to stay in the dorms, give your names to our class monitor, Elijah. Then, I’l’best the rooms for you.”
Successfully unlocked!
Brody’s words left all the girls in class feeling on edge. But in the end, no one actually. moved into the dorms. They were scared, sure, but deep down, everyone was still hoping they wouldn’t be the next unlucky victim.
They believed that stuff like this would always happen to others, but never to themselves
Brody made a point to walk over to Cameron’s desk and knock on it with his knuckle.” Cameron, don’t leave campus for the time being.”
Cameron smiled. ‘Okay. Thank you, Mr. Graham.”
A gari laughed and said, “Mr. Graham, Cameron’s a boy, you know.”
