A Little Country Lost In New York

Good Or Bad

It's been two days since the incident at the party happened and I haven't heard from neither of the two boys. It was now finally the morning of my classes and I tried really hard to ignore my alarm. "Shut that thing up!" Skylar's groan came from across the room as a pillow suddenly flew in my direction, hitting me on the head. "Okay I'm turning it off! Geez woman there's no need to use violence." Skylar gave me a blank stare as I lifted an eyebrow at her. "There is if it means I lose my beauty sleep." 

I smiled as she pulled another pillow over her head and within seconds I heard her light snores being muffled by the pillow. I quickly took a shower before dressing into a pair of dark skinny blue jeans with a black and green checkered flannel and my favourite worn out cowboy boots. I braided my hair into a French braid, letting a few strands loose so it could frame my face. I quickly grabbed my brown satchel before quietly leaving the room, not daring to disturb Skylar from her sleep. I spun around, bumping straight into a body that sent me tumbling to the ground with more than one book numbing my foot. "s**t!" 

I stared up at a beautiful blonde girl standing over the mess, a frustrated look on her face with her hands in her long, straight locks. "I am so sorry. I didn't see you walking there." As I started to pick up the books, the girl above me scoffed. "Obviously." She sighed before kneeling down and helping me gather the fallen stack of books. As I handed over the books, I stared into a tired pair of stormy grey eyes. "Again, I'm really sorry." She gave me a worn smile. "It's fine. No need to stress about it." She started walking down the hall again and I quickly fell into step with her. "I'm Vicki by the way." 

"Zelda." With those words said, the conversation died down and we were left in silence as we walked, but it wasn't awkward as you'd expect. It was comfortable and it felt nice. When we reached the main building, Zelda turned to me and gave me a small smile. "Thanks for walking with me. I have to go to class now, but I'll see you around Vicki." I gave her a bright smile in return. "See you around Zelda. It was nice meeting you!" As Zelda descended up the steps, I stared up at the large building in front of me, a sudden knot forming in my stomach. Just as I was about to take a step forward, someone rammed they're body into mine. I gasped, almost falling face first to the floor, but luckily a strong pair of arms wormed their way around my waist, stopping me mid-fall. 

"Thank y..." 

"Hey, next time watch where you're standing, okay Colorado?" 

That deep voice sounded so familiar. That deep, beautiful voice. That voice belonged to Cameron Rhodes. He retracted his arms from my waist as if I'd burned him and stared at me with so much annoyance burning in his eyes, it almost made me choke on disbelief. "Excuse me? First of all, I have a name and it is not Colorado!" 

"Oh really? Why don't you tell me what it is then?" 

"I already told you at the party. It's Vicki." 

"Is that short for something?" 

Irritation starts bubbling in the pit of my stomach. "Yes, but you will never need to know for what. Now stop interrupting me. Second of all, you walked into me and this is a free country last time I checked which means I may stand where ever I please." Cameron scoffed as he stared down at me. A grin started to form on his lips as amusement took place of the annoyance. "You talk a lot about utter bullshit, you know that Colorado?" I gaped at him. "Watch your language!" He held up his hands as he smiled at me in fake surrender. "I apologize deeply for offending you, your royal country-ness." 

I place my hands on my hips, getting slightly frustrated. "Excuse me, is me being a country girl bothering you?" He smirked down at me, arrogance rolling off of him in waves. "Not at all. But it's bothering you that I'm making a big deal out of it so it's kind of a win situation for me, don't you think?" I groaned as I rolled my eyes. "How do you anyway know where I'm from? I don't remember mentioning that." Cameron leaned in close, his warm breath tickling my face. My breath hitched in my throat as he smirked at me. "I have my ways, Victoria." 

I scoffed and quickly spun around; praying to God my satchel will hit him where it hurts. And apparently luck was on my side today. Well, sort of. My satchel made contact with something, but unfortunately it was the palm of his hand, inches away from his stomach. Damn his fast reflexes. I pulled my satchel away quickly, throwing a glare his way before making my way towards my class.

I made it in a nick of time. The bell sounded the second my foot came into the classroom. Most of the seats were already taken, so I made my way to the back. Or I thought I did before I saw Henry waving his arm over his head, earning my full attention. He patted the empty seat next to him before smiling. I smiled shyly as I felt my face heat up at the sweet gesture. I quickly made my way to him and sat down. He leaned in close, his breath tickling my ear. "I'm glad we have History together." 

My cheeks grew hotter than they were before. You're not as glad as I am, trust me. All of our attention was pulled to the front of the classroom when the professor waltzed in, his hands behind his back as his penetrating gaze scanned over the crowd. His gaze landed on Henry and you could see a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "I am Professor Samuel Griffin and I will be giving you History for the year." His voice boomed across the large space, gathering every single student's attention. I have an idea that this Professor is gonna be quite interesting.

***

After the lesson, I pack up my textbook and notebook before swinging my bag over my shoulder. Almost hitting Henry straight in the face. "Oh my good glory! I am so sorry!" He started laughing as if it was the funniest thing on earth. "Don't worry about it so much Vicki. Nobody got hurt, but I must say, you're kind of cute when you're stressed out." Number one thing on my mind now: Wishing the ground would swallow me whole. If it was even possible, my whole face grew redder than a brand new fire truck. "Henry Reeves? Can you come to my table please?" 

Henry glanced over at Professor Griffin before giving me his million-dollar smile. "You comin' with?" I bit my bottom lip as I stared at him with uncertainty. He glanced down at my lips, a little spark entering his eyes as he licked his lips. "I don't know Henry. He only asked for you..." He quickly averted his gaze back to my eyes, chuckling slightly before grabbing my hand, pulling me after him. "Oh don't worry. He won't mind." I stared down at our entwined hands as I stumbled after him. The heat seemed to seep of his skin onto mine. His hand made me feel a warm bubbling feeling in my stomach. We stopped in front of the professor's desk where Henry decided to take a seat. Right on top of all the papers. Oh my great golly... 

"Henry!" I hiss at him, but he just gives me a laid-back smile. "Listen to your girlfriend there Henry. Those are important papers you're sitting on." My eyes grow wide as I almost start to choke on my own spit. G-Girlfriend?!  "Yeah right Uncle Griff! You don't really care about these papers, do you?" Professor Griffin looked at the papers over his thick rimmed glasses before sighing, ruffling his neat, thick dirty blond locks into a complete mess. Was it weird that I found that slightly attractive? Definitely. "No I don't, but the school board does, so get off the papers before I fail you straight away and let you explain to your mother what happened." 

Henry's eyes grew wide with fear as he stared at Professor Griffin. "You wouldn't." Professor Griffin suddenly had an evil glint in his eyes as he smiled at Henry tauntingly. "Wanna bet?" Henry scoffed before finally getting off of the papers. He rolled his eyes as Professor Griffin smiled victoriously. Henry must've noticed the totally confused look I had going on my face because he quickly explained the situation. "Vicki, this is Samuel Griffin, my mother's brother or in other words, my uncle."

My mouth formed an 'o' as I finally snapped the scene in front of me. Professor Griffin smiled kindly at me before stretching out his arm and giving me his hand to shake. "Nice to finally meet one of Henry's girlfriends. He's usually always too shy to bring them to meet the family. Guess he doesn't have a choice now." He chuckled slightly as a light shade of pink covered Henry's cheeks and ears. "Oh I'm not his girlfriend..." 

Professor Griffin looked confused as he stared at the both of us. "Really? That's not how it sounded when he..." "Okay! Well I believe Vicki and I have other classes to go to, so um... see you around Uncle Griff." Professor Griffin smiled mischievously at Henry before waving us off. "Bye-bye love birds." Henry dragged me behind him as I waved back at the professor. "Goodbye Professor." 

"Please call me Uncle Griff!" His voice faded away as we walked out of the silent classroom into the noisy halls. Henry let go of my hand quickly and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well um... sorry about that." I smile at him as I placed my hand on his shoulder. He tensed up for a split second before he relaxed into my touch. "Don't apologize. It was quite... interesting." A low chuckle rumbled in his chest and I swear I almost melted on the spot. "Thanks Vicki." We smiled at each other like two complete idiots for what felt like hours, but were merely seconds. "So I'll see you around?" 

A big smile spread across his face. "You know it." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and my eyes probably grew bigger than saucers. My whole body heated up as he winked down at me, before walking away with a slight skip in his step. I stared at him in plain shock. What on earth was that about? I shook my head as I snapped out of my daydream. I quickly hurried down the hall (in the complete opposite direction of Henry) and rushed outside. 

I stared down at my schedule, squinting slightly as the morning sun shone brightly on the paper in my hand. Apparently I now had Literature and that class was on the other side of campus. I groaned as I started walking over the large grass terrain, determined (only by the slightest) to make it out alive in this heat. As I stared down at my feet, I saw a shadow appear next to me, falling into step with me. I looked up, but instantly regretted it. "What do you want?" Cameron's eyes twitched, but he just stared out in front of him. "You looked lonely." 

I raised an eyebrow at him, not believing a word coming out of his mouth. "Oh really?" Cameron averted his gaze towards the floor, but only for a second before he stared up at the sky. "Yes, well that and the fact that I wanted to apologize." I couldn't believe my ears. The arrogant Cameron Rhodes wanted to apologize. I tried hard not to let my surprise show, but apparently I didn't try hard enough. Cameron rolled his eyes as he stared at me, his patience slowly dimming. "Oh don't look so surprised! I am a nice guy you know." 

I held my hands up in defense. "Sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude. It's just... are you on something? You really don't seem like the guy I ran into this morning." He stared at me for a moment. He shrugged then walked faster, leaving me behind. I jogged after him, trying to keep up. "Hey! Wait Cameron, I'm sorry." It kind of felt like Déjà Vu running after him like this, but I ignored it as I finally caught up to him. "Please Cam, slow down." 

He suddenly stopped in his tracks before he turned towards me, staring down at me. "Don't call me that again, okay?" I stared at him in confusion. "What? Why?" He closed his eyes, letting out a slow and heavy breath. "Just don't..." his voice was quiet and I knew that, that nickname had more history behind it than I could ever know. 

I nodded slightly and he gave me a small smile. "So what's your next subject?" He changed the subject as we started to walk again. "Um... Literature. You?" A smirk stretched across his face as he stared down at me. "Me too! Guess we're gonna be Lit buddies." I smiled at his words, slightly shaking my head. I snuck a glance at him. He stared out in front of him as he walked. His pearly whites showed as he smiled. His black hair slightly moved as a slight wind blew through it. The little sunlight that broke through the clouds seemed to make his arctic blue eyes sparkle. 

He suddenly turned towards me, his grin only growing as he caught me red handed while staring at him. My cheeks grew bright red and I quickly looked away, hoping he wouldn't notice the blush. But apparently Cameron Rhodes notices everything. He gently took a hold of my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Don't look away when you blush. You look cute in the color red." I felt my cheeks heat up even more and a satisfied smirk formed on his face. "There we go." He dropped his hand to his side before walking off. I stared at him in disbelief. This is really gonna be a long year.

***