A/N: Don't hate me because it is short! I'm so sorry! I will try and upload soon! Votes would be a great motivator, just saying! Because it is only three pages when I said I would shoot for ten last chapter, I gave you a special little something something at the end!

Chapter 7

I push Cameron away with such force that he loses his balance, and since I wasn’t smart enough to take my leg down from his waist, so I fall down right on top of him. For a girl who is supposed to be a graceful cheerleader, I do some pretty clumsy stuff sometimes. Managing to gain my composure, I roll off of Cameron and stand quickly, but he remains on the floor, covering his face with his hands.

“Answer me! What in the world did I just walk in on?” Me kissing your brother with a fiery passion? Foreplay? Hot make out session? Well, I’m not sure those are the answers she is looking for, so I just sit there with my mouth shut and wait for something to come to me or for her to disappear. I’m personally leaning towards the second one as my favorite, but lucky for us all, Cameron finds his voice.

“Timothy dared me to kiss her. He said that after that stunt in the lunchroom that I wouldn’t have the balls to put her in her place. However, he was wrong.” With that, he stood up and walked out of the room without a second glance at me. The words freeze me in my place and a pit grows in my stomach. Please, don’t let it be true.

“Amanda?” Sitting on the couch, I just shake my head in silence. Why do I have to be in love with an asshole? It isn’t fair. I mean, why can’t I just hook up with one like Maria. At least she doesn’t get hurt all the time. She just performs a hit and run, and she is good to go!

“Oh, Amanda.” Maria wraps me into a large hug, but her words are drowned out. Stupid boy made my heart cry so loud that my ears no longer work.

Where God is that boy that I fell in love with all those years ago? I want him back. Please, give him back to me.

Sunday is a sacred time for most Americans, even those who aren’t religious. Some people spend the day decked out in their team’s colors, sitting in front of the largest television they can find in order to watch their team toss around the ole pigskin. Others spend the day resting up to prepare themselves for the week, so that when the ball gets rolling they will have the energy to keep pace with it. Some spend the day devoted to catching up with the family they so unwittingly neglect the other six days of the week. Others spend the day in worship and praise of the Lord, rejoicing in his name.

Today, I do none of those things. Instead, I opt out to lie in bed, basking in the misery that is my heart. The pain is constant and unmoving, even a pint of ice cream couldn’t ease this ache. Maria tried to get me to stay, so she could comfort me. I just couldn’t stand to be in the same house as him. It hurt too much, and it still does.

Someone once told me that you should cry your tears, and then just forget about them, forget about the people have caused them, forget about the events that bring them to your eye, and most of all, forget about the sadness in your heart. Tears should cleanse you of your pain and give you a fresh start. They wash away your past pains, giving you a fresh start on the day.

That mindset had always worked well for me, but I just can’t manage to crawl out of this bed. I try, don’t get me wrong. I pull the covers back, move into a sitting position, slide my feet on the ground, but when I go to put my weight on my feet, my knees go out, sending me spiraling back down right to where I started.

My whole body aches, and my head has gone into a fuzzy state from all this crying. I’ve never felt like this before, and I just want it to end. Rolling over, I notice someone entering my room, but I can’t make them out—my tears are that thick. The unknown places a cold hand on my head before pulling it back as if I burned them.

“Oh, Amanda, you are on fire!” Maria? Oh, thank goodness it is you! Please make the pain stop. Please beautiful friend, make your brother’s pull on my heart end, and with that my world goes black.

***Two days later***

“Amanda! Wake up!” Maria’s voice is far off, so I’m ignoring it. This sleep is too good to miss out on. She’ll understand.

“Amanda! I said, wake up!”

“uhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

A fluffy object connects harshly with my face, causing me to sit upright which in turn makes my head spin from the quick action.

“About time! You have been out of it for two days!” I look at her curiously as I lay back down in the soft wonderfulness that is my bed.

“Why are you talking crazy Maria?” She shakes her finger at me while sitting down next to me. Oh joy, story time!

“Crazy? You have been asleep for two whole days Amanda! It’s Wednesday. You’ve missed two whole days of school because you have been so sick. I came over Sunday because I hadn’t heard from you in a while, and I find you lying in bed crying. Thinking that you were just balling over my idiot good for nothing brother, I went to put a comforting hand on your head, but you were so hot that it shocked me. Now, don’t be mad—.” Mad? Why in the world would I be mad? She came over to find me lying in bed with a fever so high that it nearly burned her?

“Don’t be mad, but I called Cameron to come over. He is downstairs now actually.”

“You did what?” I scream it so loud that it hurts my own ears, but I believe the reaction to be completely worthy of the statement! She better have a really good explanation for this behavior!

“I didn’t know what to do, and he volunteers at the hospital sometimes! I didn’t know who else to call! Please believe me! When I told him, he was really worried, and he came straight over! This is the first time he has left your side? I know that doesn’t count for anything—believe me, I don’t think it does either. It is just that—can’t we let him have a little slack?”

“Slack? You want me to give him some slack? Do you realize that I have been in love with your brother for years? There is no slack here Maria!” Oh shit, did I just tell her that I’m in love with her brother? Risking a glance at Maria, I look up to find her giving me this great look of pity.

“I’ve known about your feelings for my brother. Why do you think I’ve been so adamant about you guys not getting together? Why do you think I only tell you about the bad stuff he does? I knew he would break your heart Amanda, and I didn’t want to lose my best friend because my brother is an idiot who doesn’t know how to have a girlfriend.”

Maria gives me one last look of pure pity before standing up and leaving me alone in my thoughts. She has known about my feelings and has purposefully tried to deter me off my path, but I persisted. She was right though, he broke my heart. She was wrong though, too. She will never—I mean never—lose me as a best friend even if that means dealing with that wretch that she shares DNA with.

**Cameron’s POV**

The scream sends chills down my body, forcing me drop the soup I was making and run upstairs. However, the scream has turned into heated words when I reach the door. Not being one to barge in on a private conversation, I turn to leave, but stop dead in my tracks when I hear Amanda’s voice.

“Slack? You want me to give him some slack? Do you realize that I have been in love with your brother for years? There is no slack here Maria!”

The words are as sharp as the edge of a sword, and they sting just as bad. She has been in love with me for years, and I just did what I did. I was her first real kiss and love, and all I managed to do was break her heart. Like she said, there is no slack here. I have no excuse.

For her, it will be best if I just stay away. She deserves so much better than a delinquent kid who has had more experience than is good for him. I will make sure she moves on and finds someone who deserves her love because right now I don’t. Even if I do love her back.