Forbidden Attraction

The annoying sound of the alarm clock wakes me up from a very short sleep.

I reach for the nightstand and stop it and then get out of bed.

I run my hand through the bed a few times as I walk to the bathroom.

I take a shower and then look at myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth.

Blond hair and slightly washed out blue eyes, I would have liked it to be a darker shade, to be the color of the ocean maybe, just like one of my friends, Ben Shaw.

I comb my hair and leave it loosely on my back in curls. I apply dermatograph pencil and mascara and then apply a gloss on my lips.

I go to the closet and after choosing a pair of shoes to match the cream dress I chose, I get dressed.

When I go downstairs, my parents have already left for work.

"Do you want breakfast, Miss Miles?"

I shake my head as I take the car keys out of my bag:

-Thank you, Maria!

The woman nods and returns to her business.

I leave the house and head for my red car, a 2007 Mustang Gt.

I love this car.

I wanted it at all costs because it's my brother's car. It's the only thing that binds me to him.

Mom and Dad don't even mention his name anymore. I guess the pain is too great, so it's best not to stab the wound. My father tensed every time my brother's name was mentioned.

I'm not sure what happened when he died. "Your brother had an accident," my mother told me, but the way my parents startled when someone in their heaven of important friends says his name, I imagine it's something "

I get in the car and start his engine. I go out of the driveway and drive on the smooth road to school.

I was 7 years old when my brother died.

I remember hiding on the stairs while my father and I "I had never seen them argue like that before.

My father shouted at him and he answered back in the same way. My mother was there too, she was looking at him with her hand in her mouth. "He came out of the door slamming shut.

He never came back. It was the last time I saw him."

I think maybe that's why my family is so strict when it comes to him. Dad probably feels guilty the last time he saw his son arguing.

I shake my head to clear my mind of those memories when I get to the school parking lot.

I stop the car, take my bag and go down:

-Camryn!

Julia's nasal voice echoed throughout the parking lot. I look at her. It's in Nate's arms and he shakes my hand.

I think back to when he was in Adam's arms two weeks ago.

I make them by hand as I approach them.

Nate, Adam Dyer and Sam, three of the boys on the football team, and Julia, the second cheerleading captain.

-Hey, world, what's new?

-Nothing.

-This school is really boring! Nothing interesting ever happens!

Julia puts her head theatrically on her back. I think of all the gossip he spreads through school almost every day, as if he were feeding on them. If this school is so boring, where does it get all this gossip?

-Hellooo!

Ben Shaw appears at the right time, with his wide smile, and I already feel better. Ben is the kind of friend who can make you laugh in any situation:

-Hey, Ben!

Julia's voice stands out and I look at her. Even now, in Nate's arms, her eyes still run after Ben.

I almost roll my eyes, but I manage to refrain.

Ben just nods at her, then shakes hands with his teammates, and finally turns to me.

"Hi, Camryn!"

He smiles at me and so do I. I notice out of the corner of my eye how Julia grimaces.

We hear the bell which makes Julia protest:

-Oh, I'm so tired of school! Luckily we only have a few months left!

- What about college? What do you want to do after high school? I ask

Julia shrugging carelessly.

"I have no idea, I haven't thought so far."

-There is nothing. You're pretty nice, you're going to find someone to take care of you.

Ben says. Julia seems excited at first that Ben told her she was cute, it takes a little longer to realize that it was actually an insult not a compliment.

I feel like bursting into laughter but Ben hurries:

-Come on, we'll be late!

Then he puts a hand around my neck and we go to school.At the end of the classes I have training.

He can say what he wants, but I really worked to become the chief cheerleader and keep that place.

Hours of overtime workouts.

Especially now that a match is coming up next week and many of the dancers in the team still don't know the new choreography and if they don't learn it by the end of the week I will have a real headache:

-Come on, girls! Lily! Stretch your legs more! Sabina, there are two turns to the right and one to the left!

I try to motivate and support the girls as much as possible, but after a whole year of being the captain of the team, even they know that when it comes to getting involved in something, I dedicate my body and soul and get involved until end.

At the end of training, I change into the locker room and then go to the parking lot.

- See you later for a drink?

Julia asks me. Although we both know he's not going to drink any juice forever. Too many calories, she says.

I nod:

-Sure. Send me a message.

She nods and shakes my hand as she heads for her expensive car.

The road home is quiet. In fact, it's one of my favorite moments of the day. When I drive and it's just me, with my thoughts and some music in the background.

As soon as I get home, Maria lets me know that lunch is ready and served in the living room.

I eat alone. Vegetable salad with steak.

After dinner, I go upstairs to my room and do my homework. It doesn't take me more than two hours to do them and then comes the part of the day when I don't know what to do.

I walk around the room for a while, read a few chapters from a book, and then receive a message from Julia.

See you at Art Cafe at 7.

I'm testing a well. And I add a heart and then I open my huge closet that could really be considered a smaller room and I choose some clothes.

A pair of white cloth trousers and a black blouse with cropped shoulders and a pair of shoes of the same color.

I use lipstick and I make sure it's perfect. My mother would have a heart attack if her lipstick was a little stretched or God forbid she stained her teeth.

I run my hand through my hair twice and go downstairs. Maria appears from the kitchen:

-Didn't mom and dad come back?

-No, miss.

I nod.

"Okay." I'm going out for a bit. If they come back, tell them I'll be home by 11.

She nods and pulls away.

It's not like I could come later. Dad imposed that time to come home and we all know that if he says something like that, it stays that way.

Ever since I was little, my father's word has been law. Both for me. Both for everyone he knows.5

***

Art cafe, it's a mall cafe. The mall is about half an hour away from my house.

As soon as I arrive, I see Julia at the table, her fingernails in Nate's arm, turning her head on her back and laughing.

Adam, Sam, I'm next. Lily, another cheerleader, is next to Adam and I'm talking and on the other side of the table is Ben Shaw.

He's the first to notice me and smile at me. I smile at him too and he motions for me to sit down next to him.

I go in that direction and then the others notice me, especially Julia who gives me a frown when I sit down, a look I pretend not to notice.

The waiter comes to take our order and I ask for a cappuccino, which horrifies Julia who asks for lemon water:

-Do you know how much sugar those drinks have?

Julia has this habit of calculating the calories that those around her eat. Especially me. She always likes to show me that she eats healthier. And she likes to tell me how it's going to affect my body. just to burn the calories of the french fries you just ate. "

Julia shook her head as if shuddering

. "I

only drink lemon water.

I hear Ben Shaw say next to me.

I look at him. He said it honestly, but he knows how to hit Julia where it hurts the most."

I put a hand to my mouth to hide my smile and look at Julia who has turned red and says nothing more.

Ben winks at me and as I lean back in my chair he runs a hand around my shoulders.

Julia looks at me with a deadly look on the other side of the table.

Ignore it.