Here is chapter 4! It's 9/12/2011 9:15 am central time. I will come back and edit this later, but I wanted to post it before I went to classes. It's short, but it's important!

Chapter 5

The rest of the week passes in a blurry routine: get up, put on clothes, do hair and make-up, go to school, avoid Maria, play the role as if my heart is broken. When Friday arrives, I can’t do it anymore. My façade cracks and I give up the effort I had been putting into acting like everything is a-okay. Today I wear my uniform, since it is a game, but my hair is back in a messy pony-tail with no make-up accentuating my pretty face.

The school is reacting to my appearance in a drastic way. People are pointing and whispering about me as I walk by. Luckily, they are owning up my raggedy ways to my recent break-up with Johnny, and since he is such an awesome person, he says he dumped me, thus giving me a reason to look like crap today.

I could take the stares and whispers, but what I cannot take is having to look my best friend in the face and lie to her about what’s wrong. That’s why I have been avoiding her, and it has been going really great for me thus far. However, all good things must come to an end. Barreling down the hallway, straight at me, is one very determined and pissed of Maria. Trying to make a run for it, I make it as far as the next set of lockers before she horse collars me, throwing me into the nearest classroom.

“What the hell is going on with you?” I forgot how piercing her screams can get when she is a little upset, but when she is pissed, they are lethal. My ears might be bleeding, so I go with the safest route and stay silent.

“Amanda! You hear what I said! Answer me dammit! You have been avoiding me like I have the black freaking plague, and now you show up to school like this! What in the hell happened Monday?” Looking at Maria, I can see the hurt plain in her eyes. She isn’t just mad that I have been avoiding her. She is mad that I haven’t seeked refuge in her friendship to solve my problems. If she only knew that going over to her house and sitting in front of the tv eating ice cream would only make everything worse, she would understand, but I can’t make her understand because she would kill me or Cameron. My bet is on Cameron though. Sometimes I think she loves me more.

“I, I uh. I can’t tell you.” Not willing to look her in the eye, I find a very interesting tile on the floor and study it.

“Don’t pull that ‘can’t tell you’ bit with me missy. I don’t care what you have done. Tell me what happened on Monday because you were fine with the break up with Johnny, but now you are acting all weird. What happened? Did he hit you? Rape you? Seek revenge on you for dumping him? What? Tell me!”

“No! Johnny didn’t do anything! This has nothing to do with Johnny!” Shaking my head, I get some courage to look at her. Her pale skin has returned to its normal alabaster white. I might be safe to tell her the truth. I need to tell her the truth because what I really need right now is to form an “I Hate Cameron” club.

“It has to do with Cameron.” Maria is off the desk so fast that I blinked and now she is in front of me. Who is she, Superwoman?

“What has he done now? Is he teasing you again?” I shake my head no and tell her everything from that restless night to him walking out of the mill after our kiss. Surprisingly, Maria stays calm through it all. There is no yelling, fuming, stomping, storming, cursing, muttering, or threatening. Well that is until I finish with my story; then there is all of that and then some.

Finally, I calm her down enough to get her to breathe at a normal rate. On the plus side, she isn’t made on me. On the down side, it might not be safe for Cameron in his own home anymore.

“The nerve of that little bastard! How dare he do this to you? I have made it very clear to him that you are way more innocent than you look, and he is to not play his stupid little games with you. Does he listen? No!”

Shaking my head, I begin to laugh at Maria. The worst part is over. She knows the truth, and she isn’t mad at me. I was so scared she was going to hate me for my stupid little mistake that I would lose my best friend. Silly me should have known it would take a lot more than getting my heart broken by her brother for her to disown me.

“Look Amanda, I get that he made you feel really shitty, but sweetie that doesn’t mean you have to look shitty. Can I please fix your hair and do your make-up? Please, you look like crap.” With those wonderful words of comfort, not, Maria begins to attack my face and hair with a vengeance like no other. After about twenty minutes of torture, she steps back with a happy look on her face.

“There, you look hawt! This will definitely make Cameron think twice about what he has done to you! If nothing else, he will regret not sticking with it longer to try and tap that!” Maria’s comment has me bent over laughing. God, I love this girl. Thank you for sending her to me.

Not sparing myself a glance in the mirror, I jump off the desk, following Maria to the cafeteria. I’m not really sure what is coming over me, but I decide to switch up my normal behavior. Instead of walking my normal gait into the large filled cafeteria, I stop Maria and try out a new walk, waiting for her opinion of how I’m swinging my hips in a hopefully seductive manner.

“If I wasn’t straight, I would totally do you!” Laughing, I lead Maria into the lunch room which goes silent as we enter. Everyone is staring at us, but I don’t let it get to me. I know I look hot because of whatever Maria did to my face and hair on top of my newly found seductive walk. Coming to a stop in the cafeteria, I twirl around looking for that head of black hair who so wonderfully made me feel like shit. Maria with her sixth sense, figured out who I was looking for and helped in my search. Finally, we find him sitting at a long table on the far end of the cafeteria. His eyes are glued to me as I begin to slowly make my way over to him. Unfortunately, there are no empty seats at his table. What to do? I don’t want to talk to him standing over him, but then again, he would get a nice view of my awesome legs if they are at his eye level.

“His lap. Sit in his lap.” Maria’s suggestion catches me off guard, but I love it for everything that it is. This will be perfect. He wants to play me, but he is the one who is about to get played.