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“Oh,” Dad said. He looked down at the way Cam was holding my hand. “I see.”
“Well, isn't that wonderful,” Mom said. She turned to Mark, waving for him to join us. “Mark, isn't that wonderful? Cameron was always such a polite young man.” Mom turned back towards me. “I hope he's treating you right.”
“He's treating me perfectly,” I said, leaning my head against Cam's shoulder.
My mother beamed with pride, clutching her apron strings. Behind her, Mark turned and left the room. He headed upstairs, his girlfriend following him. They disappeared into Mark's old bedroom, shutting the door behind them.
Dad frowned at Mark when he fled upstairs. Mom called out his name, but didn't get an answer.
“What's the matter with him?” Mom asked.
I exchanged a look with Cam.
“I'll go talk to him,” I said.
“You sure?” Cam asked.
“Yeah.”
“What's going on?” Mom asked. She looked from me to Cam, frowning.
“He's just upset,” I told her. “Umm, he had a fight with Cam. It's nothing, though. Really. I'll go talk to him.”
“Well, all right then.” Mom turned and headed back to the kitchen. “Dinner tonight is Chinese takeout. I'm too busy cooking for tomorrow to make something tonight. Cameron, dear, are you hungry?”
“Starved,” Cam said. He followed my mom and dad into the kitchen, but I caught him giving me a concerned look as I headed upstairs.
I could only give him a hopeful look in return. I knew there had to be a way to convince Mark that everything was all right.
If not, then it looked like Thanksgiving might be ruined.
Chapter 12
Ami
I knocked on Mark's door, hoping he would come out and talk so that we could resolve this. I hated that he and Cam were fighting, especially when they used to be such good friends. It all felt like one big misunderstanding. I secretly wondered if we had somehow been caught in an old episode of Three's Company.
I knocked again. I could hear voices inside. It sounded like Mark's girlfriend was pleading with him. I couldn't make out what he was saying through the door, but from the short, curt tone I heard, I could tell that he was being stubborn.
Eventually, the door opened, and Mark's girlfriend stepped out. “Hi,” she said, giving me an awkward smile. “I'm Celes. It's nice to meet you. Sorry it had to be weird like this.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said. “I'm Ami.”
“Mark's told me a lot about you,” she said.
I wondered just what kind of stories he'd been sharing. Hopefully nothing that related to the situation with Cam. “How did you two meet?” I asked her. I felt like we needed to break the ice a bit before we dug down into the drama of the evening.
“We work together,” she said. “Well, not directly. I’m a nurse. We work in the same school.”
“Oh, I see,” I said. My brother was an assistant equipment manager for a high school football team. He helped maintain all of the team’s equipment, from their helmets and padding for on the field, to their weights, workout gear, and training equipment during practice. I supposed it wouldn’t be surprising that he would meet a girl at the same school he worked at. Celes looked like she was a couple of years older than him. That was good, I thought. Mark was the sort of person who needed someone more mature than him to help take care of him.
“So, he told me about your…” She gestured down the stairs, indicating Cam in the kitchen. “...situation. Somehow I don’t think I got the whole story, though. Is there anything I can do to help?”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure how much detail I wanted to get into with a girl I’d only just met. But if there was any chance she could help me convince Mark to come around, then I’d take it.
“Can we talk?” I asked. I gestured down the hall towards my old room.
“Sure.”
We went into my room. It was mostly the way I’d left it, with my old boy band posters still hanging on the walls, and some old clothes in the closet that I’d left behind when I went out to college. My mom kept asking me to sort through the clothes and give some of them away to Goodwill. I knew she was right, especially since most of them didn’t fit anymore; I’d put on the Freshman Fifteen when I went away to college, and I’d never gone back down to the size I was in high school. But somehow I could never bring myself to get rid of my old stuff.
I pulled out my old desk chair for Celes to sit in. I sat down on my bed. I squeaked underneath me. I’d forgotten how lumpy and worn out it was. It was the same tiny bed I’d slept in all through middle school and high school. The bed I shared with Cam now was much softer, and certainly more durable considering the workout we put it through most nights.
