Chapter 17
Elijah lay in bed, his chiseled face clouded with irritation from being woken up, his brows slightly furrowed.
Xander shot him a glance over his shoulder. “If it’s too loud for you, then you leave. Why the hell should we?”
Elijah didn’t respond. His brooding eyes flashed with a flicker of disdain, but he didn’t bother arguing. Not because he couldn’t–but because he didn’t see the point.
He was at the top of the class. And Xander, just like Cameron, ranked at the very bottom and failed every test. To an overachiever like Elijah, dealing with academic slackers wasn’t worth his time,
He thought. Trying to reason with them is like shouting into the void. He then got up and walked straight into the bathroom.
‘I really do need to request a room change, Elijah pondered. It was bad enough when those two were going at it last night, but now they’re at it again first thing in the morning. How the hell am I supposed to study like this?‘
With Elijah cutting in like that, Cameron headed straight to the sink and started brushing her teeth.
Xander followed. He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed, his eyes locked on her like a challenge.
“Are you into watching people brush their teeth or something!” Cameron shot him a look, toothpaste foaming in her mouth,
Xander scoffed, “You seriously think I’m just gonna let that slide? You crossed me, punk. You get that?”
Cameron spit out the foam, wiped her mouth, and said coolly, “Sounds like a delusion. You should get that checked.”
Xander froze. For a second, he looked like he was trying to find the words, but rage got there first. He lunged, grabbing Cameron by the collar, ready to make her pay.
But the next second, she twisted out of his grip like it was nothing, flipped his arm behind his back, and shoved him hard against the wall. The slam echoed as his sculpted features twisted from the pain.
“Ow!” Xander cried out in pain.
Cameron let go immediately. Her movements had been so fast, Xander was left wondering if he imagined the whole thing. He stared at lus hand, stunned.
Cameron picked up her uniform jacket and sat on the chair, waiting for Elijah to come out so she could change. She grabbed sanitizing wipe from the table and began carefully cleaning the fingers that had just touched Xander’s arm.
“What the hell did you just do to me? Xander stormed over, seething, and got right up in Cameron’s face.
Cameron looked up, clearly annoyed. “You really gonna keep clinging to this?”
“Youre the one who crossed me, got it?” Xander jabbed a finger toward her shoulder.
Cameron leaned back slightly, letting his finger miss its mark. She didn’t like being touched.
She gave him a cold glance. Vanna settle this the way real men do?
“Oh yeale. The way real men do?” Xander’s eyes fixed on her gorgeous, flawless face, and he let out a cocky laugh. “Pretty boy, you you can throw hands? You think that skinny little frame of yours can take one punch from me?”
Cameron said flatly. “Hate to break it to you, but I don’t do brawls.”
She didn’t trust herself not to main him if she actually fought back. She rarely ever threw the first punch
Xander lifted his chin. Then how do you wanna settle this?”
At that moment, Elijah died out of the bathroom
Cameron stood up, brushing past Xander without a glance. Ten tonight. School held.”
Xander scoffed, “Whoever cluckens out is i
ens out is the cowanl
He had no clue what exactly Cameron meant by the way real men do. But whatever it was, Xander had never backed down from
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Chapter 17
anything in his life.
The first period that morning was Spanish. Cameron sat at her desk, zoning out. Every word and grammar rule on the board was already carved into her brain. Staring at them now felt like a waste of time.
Her phone, tucked into the desk, kept lighting up. She’d already silenced it. When she finally picked it up to check the time, she saw eight missed call–all from Martin. She didn’t need to guess why he was calling.
Cameron, a puppet Martin and Heidi had raised and brainwashed for eighteen years, had suddenly developed a mind of her own and refused to follow orders. Of course he was panicking.
AD
