Cameron had been looking forward to this all day. After last night, he couldn’t wait to see her again. She’d been so kind and supportive, not to forget how she touched his face like they were in a K-Drama! Just thinking about it in the middle of class had made him blush so hard he had to let his hair out of its scrunchie. 

Jazmine is everything he’d never even dreamed of. Compassionate, easy with affection, thoughtful in words and actions…it was hard not to get butterflies thinking about her. She was so different from his previous crushes. It was scary that perhaps for once his gut was right, and he was not going to ruin his chances.

As soon as Cameron finished classes for the week, he tore through his wardrobe. His roommate walked in, saw the mess, and tried to quietly leave, but the ginger caught him. 

“Gare-Bear, please! I need help!”

“Ugh.”

Gare really is a trooper. 

His roommate lasted a whole thirty minutes of watching the ginger oscillate between why he didn’t think this or that would work out before snapping. 

“Oh my fucking god! I can’t do this anymore!”

Stepping to the piles of clothes on the bed, the stocky teenager digs through until he finds something Cameron totally forgot about: his black under the bust corset dress, with the ties in the front, and a lace babydoll ‘dress’ — upcycled lingerie — that was just a schmidge longer. 

“You went with…Kinderwhore?” Cameron was surprised his roommate could piece together the aesthetic.

“I don’t fucking know. But whoever you’re trying to bang won’t forget you in that.”

That makes more sense, Cameron snorted to himself internally. Outwardly, the ginger gasps as his hand reaches up to clutch invisible pearls.

“Gare, not everything is about sex!”

The teenager only crosses his beefy arms, pursing his lips. Within ten seconds, Cameron squirms, kissing his teeth as Garret lifts a knowing brow.

“Ugh. Fine. I like them. But I’m not getting dressed up for them.” Solely he finished to himself. “Tonight is about me meeting new people. You don’t think this is too much?”

"Oh, it'll make an impression. And it’s your own damn clothes. You’re going to wear it at some point. Might as well be now.”

Cameron begrudgingly nods. “I hate that you make sense. And the outfit is actually hot.”

“Duh.”

“Should I pair it with thigh highs that have the bows or one of my patterned tights?”

“Thigh highs. Sluttier,” Garrett says with a scowl. Like it was obvious. And after Cameron thought about it for a second, it was.

“Damn. You’re right.”

“I know,” Garett says as he turns back to his game. “And if you're sleeping over, do the mumu.”

“Wait, why?”

“If you get drunk, make your life easier.”

It’s not sexy…but he is right. Again!  “…Fine.”

“Great. Now leave me alone.”

Pulling up to the dorm felt nostalgic of freshman year antics, but with a mix of anticipation she hadn’t even felt then. Jazmine had timed it so everyone else would come later, and give time for Cameron to adjust to her place and roommates if they got nosy. She couldn’t fight the grin as Cameron came busting out of the dorm with a small duffel. His curls were damp but flapping in the wind from beneath his silk scarf. The junior guessed he’d just taken a shower because of his overall comfy state. It was the first time she’d seen him in sweatpants or hoodie — albeit cropped and embroidered with a skull on the front — or socks and slides,  there he was.

“Hi Jaz!”

“Hey Sunshine! I cleared out the back seat so you can put your stuff there.”

“Thanks,” he chirped. 

Jazmine never really thought she’d describe someone’s voice like that, but the quick, high-pitched affirmative was definitely in that category when compared to his usual register. Maybe he’s got a tickle in his throat, she muses to herself.

She watches as he takes a deep breath before swinging the bag inside. The thud is heavier than she anticipated.

“What is in there? Bricks,” she laughs.

Cameron’s cheeks visibly warm a little as he climbs into the front. “Well, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with my hair, so I took a bunch of products and gadgets. And my makeup kit. And two pairs of shoes,”  the ginger laughs as he dons his seat belt.

“Ahhh…indecisive?”

Eyes on the road as she pulls away from the door, Jazmine isn’t facing Cameron as he hums challengingly, but she does catch his vague circle hand movements. After a few seconds and some teetering side to side of his head, she finally hears him speak up again.

“I’d like to think of it more as wanting room for…spontaneity. Yeah. Spontaneity. I need a little wiggle room,” he finishes a lot more confidently than he started. 

Jazmine couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. “If you say so, Sunshine.”

“I do,” he sniffs haughtily, but Jazmine could see the small twitch of his lip when her eyes darted his way. 

The two fell into silence as they hit the main road. Jazmine worried at first that the complete lack of silence would be awkward without the radio on at least, but Cameron seemed content to lean out the window and stare at the passing buildings. It was shockingly easy, companionable sort of quiet; just like when they were in the gardens. However, Jazmine couldn‘t help but voice a thought nagging in the back of her mind as she hit the final stretch. 

“You know I’m surprised you agreed so readily to coming out with us and spending the night with a bunch of new people,” Jazmine notes, her voice casual as she glances his way. 

The ginger’s easy grin turned into a bashful, if not deprecating smile. Jazmine doesn’t even think he realizes how he curled into himself as he let out a short, forced laugh. 

“It wouldn't be the first time. Although you seem like a much nicer company than the people I was hanging out with before.”

“Partied hard,” Jazmine asked lightly. 

“That and then some. Got sorta reckless, plain dangerous, after a while,” he admits quietly. 

Jazmine has the sinking suspicion that she’s crossed a landmine as he pauses. From the corner of her eye, she catches the way he begins to unthinkingly rub his right forearm as he makes himself just a little smaller. Just before she can tell him that he didn’t have to explain himself further, Cameron continued, his voice even quieter .

“I figured this couldn’t be as bad or miserable as that,” Cameron shrugs as his eyes nervously dart to her. “Right?”

“Definitely nothing like that.”

“Thought so,” he says more to himself than her. “But…c-could I give my roommate your number just in case?”

The fact that he asked or even took her words to heart, as awkward as it was, made her feel just a bit better.

“Of course, Cameron.”