Chapter 3

I'd heard about Cam's boyfriend. Practically everyone on campus knew his name. Drake Callister. A Junior who was the school's star wide receiver and a complete and utter douchebag. I understood why girls were interested in Drake. He was absolutely shredded with a strong jawline. Still, I didn't get why a girl as lovely and kind as Cam went for a guy as rude as Drake. I'd heard stories about what he'd done to pledges in his frat, and I'd witnessed him bully some dorkier-looking underclassmen on campus, too. The guy thought he was god's gift to Earth, and I hated that he was with Cam.

Despite my proximity, I'd managed to avoid interacting with the prick, fortunately. Until one day, a week before the end of the semester, Drake picked Cam up from class. Cam and I had stayed back after most of our classmates had filed out, finishing our conversation when he came into the classroom to collect her.

The douche came into the classroom against the grain of people exiting with an impatient look on his face. "Hey babe, let's go! I want you to walk with me to practice and watch me play."

"Oh, hi, baby." I saw Cam's demeanor snap instantly as the casual comfort she'd only previously been projecting with me evaporated. "Uh, yeah, sure. Just let me get my..."

"C'mon Cam, hurry up!" Drake commanded, already lacking any patience. Fucking dick.

"Yeah, sorry babe, coming." Cam apologized, gathering her things quickly and walking fast towards her boyfriend. She didn't even say goodbye or wave to me, which was odd. It was like I'd ceased to exist.

I really didn't understand why Camryn was with Drake. Obviously, girls thought he was attractive, and he was popular, but I felt the Cam I thought I knew wouldn't go for a guy like Drake. Instead, I got to see the Cam I thought I knew slip away when he was around, witnessing the couple interacting for the first time.

My stomach churned, watching her reach out and grab his presumptuous outstretched hand. The way she looked up at him with a sort of frightened reverence was weird. I saw in Cam's eyes that she admired Drake for some reason, but in the minute I'd seen these two around each other, I could already tell the power dynamics between them were not 50/50. Something about this guy made me believe he thought of beautiful girls like Camryn as trophies.

Then, with his trophy in hand, Drake turned with Cam to leave the classroom but ran into something. "oooff."

It was someone. Alana Lexington. She'd been trying to lumber out of the classroom at her slothlike speed, and Drake bumped into her, causing her books to fall to the floor.

When Drake noticed who he'd collided with, he didn't hold back. "Watch where you're going lardass!"

"I'm sorry.." Alana weakly apologized, backing away from Drake, not wanting to draw any more wrath. She looked absolutely terrified.

"Well, 'sorry' doesn't cut it, fatty." Drake sneered, annoyed by the very minor inconvenience Alana had caused him.

Cam looked like she gave Drake's hand a gentle squeeze. "Drake... can you leave her alone.." Cam's voice sounded weak as if it was a suggestion and not a demand.

"Why?" Drake said, looking down at Cam and laughing. "So that 'Miss Piggy' over here can continue to take up space at my school? Stay out of this, Cam."

"Okay..." Cam meekly said, shirking and pulling herself in tighter to Drake. Her blatantly submissive behavior was unusual to see from someone I'd never seen act so passive.

Drake turned back to Alana. "Listen up, waste of space, hamplanet! Why don't you go waddle off to the dining hall and get the hell out of everyone's way?" He menacingly pointed in the direction of the dining hall as if to shoo Alana.

At that, Alana couldn't hold back anymore, tears welling in her eyes, as she turned and awkwardly ran (or what looked like a fast walk) away. She left a pair of books on the ground, but that didn't seem to matter. She wanted to put as much space between her and Drake as possible.

"Make sure you eat a salad!" Drake shouted after her, laughing.

"Did you see that girl? Yuck. Didn't realize they were letting pigs attend college classes." Drake laughed, making sure to make his disgust clear.

"Yeah... seriously." Cam agreed, again entirely out of character. I'd never heard her say a mean thing about anyone (other than the occasional jab at her sisters). Yet deep down, I knew Camryn didn't mean it. Not one bit.

Witnessing that entire exchange was odd and disheartening.

That day, when I finally decided to leave the classroom, I noticed Alana's books on the ground. For the first time since the semester started, I felt sincerely terrible for Alana. Not even she deserved to be treated like that. Seeing such a prick like Drake lay into her, saying things I'd been thinking, wasn't fun to watch play out. Against my better judgment, I picked up Alana's books and walked to the dining hall.

Lo and behold, Alana was there. The fat girl was very easy to spot, standing out in the sea of people who were, for the most part, skinnier than her. Alana was sitting alone, eating her feelings, hunched over a large plate of macaroni. Wanting to make the exchange quick, I approached her table and cleared my throat.

"Hey, you left these behind." I said quickly, not wanting to stick around long.

Alana picked her head up, her eyes a bit puffy from crying but now dry.

"Oh.. hi. Thank you." She spoke thankfully in a soft, heavy, labored voice.

As I put the books down, something caught my eye. Underneath the boring-looking economics book on top was what looked like a comic book. On the cover was a Japanese print with a cartoon drawing of a soccer player and a soccer ball.

"What's this?" I asked, intrigued. My soccer interest peaked.

"That?" Alana looked up, looking at what I was pointing at. "Oh, that's a manga."

"A what?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"A manga. It's like a comic book... but from Japan."

"Oh... okay." I hadn't read a comic book since I was in middle school, but I hadn't seen anything soccer-related like this before. "And this one is about soccer?"

"Yeah, it's called Blue Lock. It's kinda like a mix between that movie Battle Royale and the World Cup. I'm enjoying it."

"That's cool." I said, thinking that idea actually sounded cool. My younger brother and I often watched the World Cup together every four years, and I had an early memory of my older brother showing me Battle Royale while our parents were out, long before I was old enough to see an R-rated movie. The blending of those two concepts sounded awesome.

"Do you... want to borrow it?" Alana asked, taking the manga and holding it out to me.

"Uhhh..." I took a look around, realizing I'd been standing at this table talking to Alana Lexington for far longer than I wanted. "Na, I'm good. Gotta run."

"Oh..." Alana said as I turned. "Thanks for bringing my stuff. That was sweet of you."

"Sure." I said, briefly turning back around and then self-projecting my own feelings back to Alana. "Everyone thinks Drake is a real asshole, by the way. Don't worry about him."

"Thank you..." Was all I heard being spoken to my back as I walked away. I hoped none of my friends saw me being friendly to that fat lard.

That was the last time I spoke to Alana that year, though she'd tried to get my attention multiple times the remaining two weeks we had class together, which I promptly ignored. My full attention was still very much on Camryn despite the fact she was still dating Drake.

None of our conversations involved Drake nor the scene her boyfriend had caused with Alana, showing me a side of Cam I'd never seen up to that point. Despite everything, Cam was like a drug I couldn't get enough of, and even being in the friend zone with her made me feel like I was something to her. I wanted to be something more than what I was, but I didn't have the courage to assert myself. And then... it was too late. That class ended, and I found that in my Spring semester, I didn't have a single class with Cam. The writing was on the wall.