Page 64 of Pride High

“Oh good. Hey, he’s nice! Cameron!”

She started bounding toward a guy who was throwing stuff away at the trashcans. Anthony sprinted to catch up. “Not him!” he hissed, grabbing Whitney’s arm to stop her.

“Why not?” she asked. “He isn’t a teacher. Even though he dresses like one.”

That almost made him laugh. The plaid shirt and beige slacks were super lame. Fear got the better of him though because it wastheguy from the cruise park. The one who had seemed to recognize Anthony, even though he had gotten his name wrong. He might remember it now, but only if given the chance.

“Don’t we have enough answers?” Anthony asked.

“I don’t know,” Whitney replied, shaking him off, “but I want to hear what he says.”

Anthony saw, to his relief, that the guy had turned and was walking away. Problem solved. That is until Whitney called out again.

“Cameron! We have to ask you a question!”

The guy heard her this time. He turned around, his eyes darting from Whitney, to Anthony, and back to her again. Then he did a double take, his brow furrowing as he stared hard at Anthony. God damn it!

“Listen,” Whitney said, already beside herself with laughter as they approached. “We’re supposed to ask what you hate most about high school. That’s our assignment! Can you believe it?”

“It’s for the school paper,” Anthony explained. He kept his head bowed, his attention focused on the notepad he held. Hopefully that would create enough doubt for the guy to decide that he’d seen someone else from their school... who just happened to look exactly like him.

“You’re both working on this together?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah,” Whitney answered.

“And you know each other?”

Fuck. These questions were so loaded that the wheels were about to fall off the wagon.

“We’re both in journalism class,” Whitney explained.

“Oh yeah? How do you like it?”

There wasn’t an answer to this, forcing Anthony to glanceup and see that the question was directed at him. The guy’s blue eyes were searching his, above them chestnut brown hair swept across a forehead enviably free of blemishes. Cameron was a little shorter than him, and yet for some reason Anthony still felt small in his presence. Maybe because of the sturdy build. Or the way that he was staring Anthony down with such intensity. “Journalism is great," he managed to reply at last. "So what's your answer?"

Cameron glowered at him a moment longer. “I hate how people pretend to be someone that they’re not.” Then he looked at Whitney, his expression softening. “Too many phony baloneys.”

“Phony baloneys!” Whitney repeated with a gleeful titter. “So true. Be real or be forgotten.”

“Nicely put,” Cameron said. Then he gestured at Anthony. “You should putthatin your paper.”

“Yeah,” Anthony grunted. “I’ll make sure to.”

The bell rang, the cafeteria erupting in a flurry of activity as everyone stood, many of them heading for the trashcans. That made it easier to get away. Anthony told Whitney that he’d see her in class tomorrow before she rushed off. He was just as eager to escape. After he turned and was doing his best to disappear, he heard Cameron call out, “Nice seeing you again, Skylar!”

Anthony’s stomach sank. There’s only one reason he’d use that name. Cameron wanted him to know that he hadn’t forgotten. He knew. The only question is how long it would take before everyone else did too.

— — —

Ricky got home an hour later than usual. The guy he’d been partnered with for the journalism assignment had a different lunch period, so they had met after class instead, walking around the campus to ask the question they’d decided on.“If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?”His homesickness increased with each person they interviewed, because the answer in his heart was undeniable. Colorado. He longed to return there. Pride was nice, but it wasn’t home. He missed being in familiar surroundings. He missed his friends. He missed Jeremiah.

After booting up his computer, Ricky called the BBS in Colorado where they used to meet. His heart leapt when he saw there was another user and plummeted when he didn’t recognize the name. He checked the chat room anyway, just incase Jeremiah had a reason for using a pseudonym. Nobody was waiting for him. Here or there. Ricky logged off and called Side Streets, deciding that it was time to try again. There had to be someone on there who would want him as a friend. Or more. He felt uncomfortable when he saw CameronX waiting in the main chat room, and downright alarmed when a private chat request came from him almost instantly. Ricky couldn’t ignore it, despite his better judgment. He was too curious.

CAMERONX: It was nice seeing you at school today.

A shiver went down Ricky’s spine. Did they share a class? Or had Cameron followed him down the hall, taking note of his activities?

SKYLAR99: What do you want?

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