Blackbirds (Cameron)

[Lani Hunter]

The semester was starting to wind down. And what a crazy last half of school. It was slowly getting worse as he watched Adrianna tear herself apart and tried to keep his words honest for Odion. Not to mention he had met Declyn finally and apologized to Jared. At the moment he was laying on his bed chatting with Caroline who had met some boy and was wondering if he was being genuine. That worried Lani. She was hardly a teenager, why must she rush into love. That and Lani was more inclined to maim someone who hurt his sister than not. Caroline had actually been a wonderful help when he wasn't sure what to do about Adrianna. She was showing maturity he hadn't realized she had gained and it was strange that he could come to Caroline for some things. He was keeping it simple, only telling her that they fought and Adrianna's mother was dying.

"I think I'm going to go to California before Odion and I leave." Lani concluded and watched Caroline for her answer. "I think you should. I mean, I don't know her but she seems nice, just stressed. I mean could you imagine if that were mom? She said munching on pretzels. Lani shuddered he didn't even want to think about that at the moment. "What about Odion, though? She's your ex. Is he upset?" Lani frowned and fiddled with his fingers as he rolled over so he could sit up. "I don't know. I mean he's got nothing to worry about honestly. I think that was clear." He sighed, telling Caroline about him and Odion had perhaps been the best decision he had ever made. Caroline giggled and threw a pretzel at him. "Well, I know there's nothing for him to worry about." The look on her face made Lani smile. "Oh, what's that supposed to mean?"

Caroline laughed and batted her eyes and deepened her voice to try to match Lani's low tenor. "Odion's the best, I love Odion. Odion's great. Odion's so cute when he does this. Odion's so hot. Odion's so good-" "Caroline!" Lani cried his face burning. He hadn't said either of the last two to her, he was not about to disclose that kind of information to his little sister. Caroline dissolved into giggles. "And I don't sound like that." He took back all the things he said about maturity. She grinned, she was starting to get that sly look in her eyes. "I'm gonna go see Kevin." She said checking her phone and Lani stood he needed to get out of here anyways. He walked her out and she hugged him kissing his cheek and he her's as they bid their farewells.

Lani locked the door with a thought and went off his own way. Pacing down Hammel's drive the sound of a motor caught his attention. He glanced down the street leading away from Hammel and smiled a little as he caught sight of someone on a motorcycle. They were doing tricks. It was amazing. Lani wondered how the person had gotten confident enough to try some of those tricks. Lani watched the cyclist pass him and do another pass. He smiled to himself and wondered if the person would teach him. Though some of the tricks were making Lani awfully nervous.

[Cameron Osiris]

Crazy Eyes needed more food. The silly critter reminded him of Chester every day, and every day Cameron started the day off with a frown. He wasn’t where he once had been. But with the school year coming to a close, and his classes entirely done, he was looking forward to starting his last year in high school with high hopes. Of course, that would only start once the summer was over…

Too much time, that was the problem. He had too much time on his hands and not enough friends. His crystalline blue eyes held a lot of sadness, and people were starting to notice. It was like the light had fizzled right out of him – but he wasn’t the type of person to dwell on poetic crap like that. With the chameleon’s food bought and paid for, Cam stuffed it into his backpack and put his helmet on his head.

It was time to let loose.

Well, he behaved himself on his motorcycle until he got closer to Hammel. Then he just couldn’t bring himself to care about the rules anymore. Besides, teachers weren’t really around that much. Cam was spinning in little circles, a wicked smile on his face. Anything that was dangerous was for him, anything that was life threatening he had to try. Then of course there was the classic – driving on just the front wheel. It was too bad he was wearing a helmet, Lani was missing Cam’s wiggling eyebrows.

He sped up to the other meta, his bike coming to a screeching halt, leaning almost completely sideways. Cam took his helmet off and nodded towards Lani. “Hey man, you look like you’re hella bored.” Now, now Lani could definitely see Cam wiggling his eyebrows. This would drive Odion totally coo coo bananas, so of course Cameron couldn’t resist the opportunity. “Wanna learn?”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s walking paced slowed a little at he watched the man on the motorcycle. He was curious and admittedly a little jealous of this guys skills. It didn’t take Lani but a few moments to realize that they were showing off. Hell if Lani could do that kind of thing he would be showing off for just about anyone anyways. He might even just do it for fun on en empty high way. He didn’t know what was so alluring about riding a motorcycle but it always had been something he had wanted to scratch off his bucket list. If he had a bucket list. He sighed and watched the person go and kept on walking not really sure where his feet were taking him, just away. Things with Odion had been… tense. Ever since Lani had decided to be an idiot that was. Perhaps the hardest thing about everything was that he wasn’t able to blame anyone but himself.

He had said those things, he had done the deed and now Odion was, justifiably, upset with him. Lani needed a minute to clear his head and process what was happening. He loved Odion and he didn’t like fighting. Sure Odion had a point, they fought almost every day but not like this. Usually it was little squabbles that bred from their frustration and it would eventually get to the point where they were both frustrated then something would always happen and they would be back to teasing each other and flirting. Lani sighed and shook his head and went back to watching the cyclist. Spinning and doing tricks. It had Lani smiling, mostly because he wanted to learn how to do that. That would certainly show Odion he knew how to take risks. Why couldn’t Odion see how much Lani wanted to prove to him that he could be the person Odion thought he could be?

Feeling the bike before he saw it coming toward it Lani braced himself and was ready to force it to stop when it sent out a terrible pitch and stopped. Lani blinked in shock the hairs on his arms standing on end and for a split second he was ready for a gun to fly out of hiding and end him. But the helmet came off and he recognized Cameron. They’d never been formally introduced but through Odion and all of the drama with Declyn Lani recognized his face. He also knew that Odion hated him and that the feeling was very much mutual on Cameron’s side. Though he had to admit he was relieved that Cameron was alive after the heat that Odion had been breathing when it all happened. Lani waved a hand and shook his head at Cameron. “Classes are over, just waiting for Graduation when I finally get my ticket outta here.” Lani explained with a smile of his own though he only raised a brow at Cameron’s own waggling.

Some people thought he thought too much, other’s thought he didn’t think enough. Knowing how Odion felt about Cameron Lani knew that it would be best to just walk away at this point. He also knew how Cameron felt about Odion and that would no doubt irk him if Odion happened to come up in conversation. Then there was Declyn. Lani wasn’t completely certain that Declyn didn’t still hate him. Then there was the fact that Lani had had enough of fighting and enough of hating people or people hating him. So when Cameron offered the first thoughtless thing out of Lani’s mouth was: “What? Seriously?” He could have his own friends. Odion didn’t have to like who he kept company with, though chances were if Cameron started mouthing off about Odion Lani’d have a few choice words for him.

[Cameron Osiris]

Cam laughed light heartedly. "Yeah, because classes were so much fun to begin with. I don't graduate 'til next year, lucky me." He forced something of a smile, which had everything been okay in his life, would've been genuine. He supposed he deserved a little sadness, or actually, a lot. Cam was a shameless flirt and half the time didn't even realize he was doing it. And when he did realize, he just kept going. It was all about limits baby.

Looking Lani up and down, Cameron had to smile to himself. He didn't see how a tightass like Odion would like someone who looked like Lani, a little disheveled, a little too pretty. Man pretty, but still pretty. He was going to try not hitting on him though, since Lani looked a little bigger than him, but not by much. Cam flashed a genuine smile. "Yeah, 'course dude, got an extra helmet and everything." Cam killed the engine and hopped off the bike, fishing around in the small trunk on the back.

Handing over the black helmet to Lani, Cam couldn't hide the excitement on his face. Honestly, he probably would've done this to anyone he recognized from Hammel, always trying to make connections and friends. "Jared seemed to like it alright, that crazy motherfu-" Cam cut himself off from the giggles. "Have you ever ridden one before?" Cameron knew Jared and Odion were friends, but Jared was so awesome, it didn't make sense. Maybe Odion wasn't such an ass, but Cameron seriously doubted that.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani couldn’t help but laugh, mostly because he was done now and there were people who still had to suffer through. Oh well, he had suffered through, they could too. “Too bad,” Lani said unsympathetically. Especially since he’d had to go an extra year and technically wasn’t getting rid of Hammel yet. He suppressed a sigh and looked back up at the main building. It looked so much like a fortress. Maybe they had done that on purpose, chances were at the beginning when people were really against meta humans they had had need to be defensive. But a lot of things had changed. In all honesty Lani had very little sympathy for Cameron, but he did have a little bit of empathy having also hurt the person he loved. He was just an idiot with his tongue and it had gotten him into trouble. “But one more year is not too bad.”

Like now. Often times the tongue is faster than the brain and this was one of those times. But in a sense Cameron had read his mind and made him an offer he would be hard pressed to refuse. Thinking on it now he didn’t know this guy’s power. It could be mindreading for all he knew. He should have done his homework a little better. “Woah, really? I mean I might crash it…” Lani lied, if something like that were going to happen he could stop it. He knew it. But he wasn’t sure how much Cameron knew about him. It seemed that Cameron was more popular than Lani was. He seemed to know everyone and Lani never saw him without someone to talk to. Perhaps Cameron was just friendly, clueless and foolish for throwing away what he had had with Declyn but friendly.

With a helmet in hand Lani felt a trill of excitement run through him. Was he really going to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Odion was going to hear about this. He could be upset about him talking to Cameron if he wanted but Lani wasn’t going to pass up this chance. “Oh you know Jared?” Lani asked smiling not realizing that Jared was a friend as well. Well Odion didn’t hate Jared for hanging with Cameron, that spelled good things for Lani. “That he is,” Lani agreed not disclosing the information through which he knew that. But anyone who was willing to go into a dangerous situation to pull out an idiot he didn’t even know was crazy in Lani’s book. Lani shook his head. “Never.” He’d of course ridden a manual bike but he doubted that was anything like this. Lani looked at the helmet in his hand and a grin was forming on his face. This was going to be awesome.

[Cameron Osiris]

“Yeah,” Cam agreed, “should graduate with honors and everything.” Not that Lani cared, but he did. He wanted to make something of himself, wanted more than what his dad had given him, not that he wasn’t grateful. But he wanted to have more than just a trailer to live in a pay cheque to go off of every month. It was painful to watch his dad try and raise their small family, and Cameron was someday going to make enough money that his dad didn’t have to live in a trailer ever again.

Cameron laughed. “Doubt it, and if you do, that’s what insurance is for.” He wasn’t worried about it. “What’s mine is yours to try,” he said, followed by a wink. So much for not flirting or anything.

“Yeah I know Jared, I ran into him when he was moving in, showed him around the school, helped him to his room, good Samaritan shit.” It wasn’t a big deal to him, and Jared had seemed nice enough. “He’s funny as hell, and super hot, but that’s just between me and you.” Because you know, Cam really cared about that.

“Wonderful!” Cam exclaimed as though Lani had said ‘yes’, not ‘never’ to riding a motorcycle. He himself had only ridden one once or twice before he went out and bought his own. It was sort of a spur of the moment thing, but now that his truck was long gone, this would be nice to have for the summer. It would make driving back to Cali a lot cheaper on gas.

Hands on his hips, Cam gestured towards his bike. “Well step right up! Come one, come... one, to test drive the bike!” He said in a loud, cheery voice. Cam set his helmet on the ground, looking up at Lani, who was oh, only a lot slightly taller than him. “It’s like riding a bicycle, just make sure you have one foot on the ground to start. Right bar is the gas, left is the brakes.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani raised a brow, he had no idea that Cameron was that smart. He supposed that just because from Odion he got the impression that someone was an airhead didn’t mean he really was. Well he supposed that was the same as people being shocked when he passed a test. “Not bad.” He smiled at Cameron. That was something to be proud of indeed. “So I’m assuming college is your track after that?” Lani asked curious about who this Cameron was. Already he was beginning to see Cameron was not all that people said he was. There were a lot of assumptions made and he was sure that people who heard about him judged him before his mouth even opened. Perhaps it was the same way with Cameron. People just didn’t seem to realize that things were not always as they appeared.

“If you say so,” Lani muttered and blinked. Oh no, there it was. He had always heard Cameron was a terrible flirt. Lani smiled politely and uttered a bored sounding “Uh-huh.” If that didn’t spell ‘not interested’ he didn’t know what would. Well, short of saying that word for word, that is. “Either way I’ll try to not break it.” He promised. He’d use his power if he needed to. After all Cameron was being kind enough to teach him. Though the question now was why? Cameron knew who he was. Was he doing this to mess with Odion? In which case Lani should walk away. But then this could be a useful skill in the future. Motorcycles were a lot easier to maneuver than cars and it made getting away in traffic a breeze. He’d seen it done and he had to say that that was where he got his desire to learn from.

Lani snorted. Okay would Odion kill him for thinking that Cameron was actually pretty funny. “He is.” Lani agreed then paused a moment, “Funny I mean.” Lani amended making it very clear his eyes were on Odion and only Odion. He couldn’t disagree per say, but he wasn’t going to admit to that either. It was starting to become apartment, Lani realized, that he could have been hiding this from himself for a while because as much as he found women attractive he found men equally so. Though he had to say no one gave him not only the warm and fuzzies but also hot and breathless moments was Odion. He could even think that Cameron was attractive, very much so. But he too seemed to fall short of Odion.

Lani wondered how long it would take him to learn and get his license. God knew he had enough money, or at least could scrape up enough to buy himself a bike. Not to mention replacement plates. But those would come from a secondary source. Lani hesitated and laughed at Cameron’s lame joke. Lani moved smoothly poking the bike first before swinging his leg over to mount. He rested the helmet in his lap for the time being so he could pay attention to what Cameron was saying. He couldn’t resist he put his hands on the handles and drummed his fingers right and left. “Right – gas, left – brake. Got it.” Lani could look at a motorcycle and rattle off the reasons why it was able to stay upright and name all the forces but it was a whole different thing actually being on one. Lani’s power leaked out and poked around the mechanical contraption. “Are these just like in a car?” Lani asked pointing at the gauges. He recognized them he just wanted to make sure that RPMs didn’t mean something different on a motorcycle than in a car. The numbers were certainly different.

[Cameron Osiris]

Lani wouldn’t be the first person to be surprised by how smart Cameron actually was. In fact, he remembered being in some of the same classes Lani was in last year – Physics, being one of them. But Cam didn’t really boast about it, people didn’t really seem keen on being friends with the popular guy unless he was ditzy. He wasn’t even sure what he had told Lani that, but it didn’t seem like it was a bad idea either. “Thanks,” Cam said, smiling broadly. He worked hard, he damn well deserved it. “Yeah, not sure if I’m staying in state or not. There’s not much left to stay for...” Again, not that Lani cared, but had Cameron actually had a few friends still, he might stay. But now, there seemed to be too many bad memories in Vermont.

Lani didn’t seem like such a bad guy. He wasn’t very talkative, but he wasn’t mean either, like he had heard rumours about. Something about beating up his ex-girlfriend or something? But he didn’t seem to be cold spirited, unlike some people Cam knew. Cameron smirked at Lani’s reaction, which seemed simply amused, and gave a short nod. “Yeah, I’d prefer it not-broken, so, that works for me.” He had no idea what kind of power this guy had, but maybe it was something that could help in the end. After all, most people didn’t just hope onto a bike without some prior experience, and even less people let a total stranger teach them. Either this guy was crazy like he was, or more controlled than he wanted to let on.

Cameron remembered having a conversation with Declyn once, about how he didn’t like Lani, but didn’t really have a reason behind it. At least Odion hated him for good reason, he honestly couldn’t see what was so bad about Lani. Cam put a thoughtful hand to his mouth. “Mhm, riiiiight,” he said, “what, Odion’s the first guy you’ve ever liked?” If the answer was yes Cam would honestly be surprised, but that was probably because he himself was attracted to anyone with a face. Men, women, transgendered men and women, anyone with a heart and soul, Cam found attractive. Most would probably see that as a curse, but he didn’t see the problem, he just saw more people to love.

Cameron laughed. “It’s not going to bite ya,” he said, watching Lani poke the bike. “Yeah, pretty much,” Cam said flippantly. What he was noticing was how Lani’s eyes turned green to match the bike. He shook his head, why oh why did he have to be thinking those things? “You just use your hands to brake and accelerate instead of your feet, but don’t let go of anything all at once, that’ll just be bad news.” He said, unsure of how to explain it. Just because he was willing to show Lani, didn’t mean he was a good teacher.

[Lani Hunter]

That was where Lani and Cameron differed. Cameron acted one way and was another. Lani didn’t act ditzy, he really was just that thick sometimes. And he didn’t care enough to use the smarts he did have to do anything more than scrape past, and that was only because he needed to graduate this year. Lani nodded actually curious about Cameron’s future plans. “No big plans?” Lani asked with a smile. He highly doubted that. Lani was going to the community college and stick around Hammel for his sister. Hammel was an interesting place for sure. Nothing normal seemed to happen here. Lani had to admit he was a little bitter about being pulled into the gossip string. He would have much rather stayed in his shadows but it was not to be. He had a lot of regrets attached to this place but it had also been the best place he’d ever been.

If Cameron voiced that rumor he might indeed see Lani’s mean side. What kind of rumor was that? It was a good thing that Lani hadn’t caught wind of it or he would find the source and he would squash them. They would know just how violent Lani could be. Though that was all talk. Lani wasn’t violent, usually his power panicked and reacted to things violently, but save Rhett Lani had never really been pushed far enough to actually hit someone. Save his boss of course. And that kid that hurt Odion, but he had left before Lani got a chance to get his hands on him. That things with Xavier had been an accident… Lani laughed a little bit. “I’ll do my best.” He assured Cameron. If Lani saw Cameron as anything of a threat he might be more wary but Lani felt he could handle the other blonde. He had made progress with his power and he felt like he could conquer the world.

Lani raised a brow turning his face toward Cameron. Why did he say it like that? Lani felt his face heat and the next question surprised him. He narrowed his eyes at Cameron for a moment, what was this guy playing at? Then another question rose to his mind… How the hell did Cameron know? He’d told Caroline, Adrianna had figured it, he didn’t know much else about other people finding out. He gave Cameron a suspicious look. Maybe he was just guessing that they were together, or maybe this was a trick. He may have underestimated Cameron. Lani frowned and finally answered with a nod. “How did you find out?” He asked in a low voice. It wasn’t like they were keeping it a super secret, they went out and were rather, expressive. But that was normally away from people.

A smile crossed Lani’s face and he grabbed the helmet. “So I just use the right hand and go?” He asked and a moment later the helmet was on his head and the right accelerator moved. Perhaps a little too quickly and Lani almost lost his seat as the bike shot forward. Lies. This was nothing like a normal bike. Normal bikes didn’t try to throw people like wild horses. He lost his mind for a second and had to process the difference between right and left for a moment and he pulled the left on coming to a quick stop and luckily having the foresight to place his foot on the ground before he and the bike toppled over. Lani found himself laugh. “That was awesome!” He might have failed epically but it didn’t mattered he had moved and not died.

[Cameron Osiris]

Cam just liked having fun and doing stupid things, so what? That didn’t mean he was stupid, plenty of people went sky diving and bungeed, right? What was the big deal? And yeah okay he slept around a lot, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot, it just meant he was horny and had found willing people. Technically he was living the life, and he had been, until things got real. “I don’t know yet, see what happens after my last year.” There would be a lot of paperwork to fill out, especially considering all the places he wanted to apply to. He also wasn’t sure what he wanted to do yet, and his interests were all so different from one another, he had a hard time picking just one. He thought about going into stunt school, but on the other hand thought about doing something with social media.

Cameron wasn’t someone who made rumors up about people, he just liked hearing about them and spreading what he had heard along to the next person. It was a viscous cycle, but he found it all rather intriguing and exciting. He liked knowing a little something about everyone – it fueled his desire to actually get to know people in the end. And he wasn’t really one to judge, because if he really thought Lani was a woman beater, well, he wouldn’t have bothered speaking to him, whether to bother Odion or not. “Cool beans,” Cam said to Lani’s doing his best. This wasn’t going to turn into a sentimental moment.

Cam laughed at Lani’s reaction. “Come on bro, it’s not a big deal, I was just asking.” And Lani’s red face said it all. “It’s totally cool you’re batting for the other team now, Declyn didn’t seem too impressed with it, but hey, not my problem.” And it wasn’t. Beside the fact that Declyn had voiced his opinion while they were dating, it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes that Lani and Odion were goo goo ga ga over each other. Cameron wasn’t trying to trick anyone, he was just talking.

Cam nodded happily. “Yeah man, that’s it. What’re you waitin’ for?” The light manipulator stepped back to the curb, watching as Lani almost lost the bike. He laughed. “And put your feet up!” If Lani wanted to go for a ride, he was going to have to not leave himself behind. Lani was crying awesome and was barely six feet away from Cameron. The younger blond laughed and gestured with his hands willingly. “You gotta try that again, like, go around the parking lot once at least.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani nodded in understanding. No one knew better than Lani how much things could change in a year. Lani had heard a lot about Cameron but never met him. He was kind of glad he hadn’t let someone else’s opinion weigh on his own. Though he was having a hard time seeing Cameron as more of a lighthearted spirit. He severely doubted the other blond could be serious. He was so much more loose than Lani. Lani couldn’t understand how Cameron had cheated on Declyn and that wasn’t something Lani supported but he wasn’t going to condemn the man for a mistake. If it had been a mistake in Cameron’s eyes that was. Though he doubted the person standing before him had intentionally gone out to hurt Declyn. And he sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the Cameron when he crossed Odion after cheating on his brother.

“Cool beans?” Lani asked with a laugh, “Haven’t heard that one in a while!” He shook his head moving on from the topic. If Lani caught wind of that particular rumor he would not be a happy telekinetic and that never seemed to end well. He had yet to master the calm telekinetic. There was always some emotion. His trainer was practically begging him to meditate and Lani just found it far too boring. It didn’t help that his mind couldn’t wander like it used to and he had to be focused, he couldn’t lose his mind for even a moment or something might happen. Granted he usually just ruffled papers but it could be so much worse. He shook his head dislodging the track of thoughts that had just dominated his mind. Why was he even thinking about being so angry? Maybe he was still more than a little frustrated by the whole fight that had almost destroyed everything. Him and his big mouth.

Lani looked away from Cameron for a moment attempting to hide the fact that people knew about him and Odion. And if Lani knew anything it was that Cameron couldn’t keep a secret. Though that might be Odion talking. But if Cameron knew, who knew who else knew. Lani sighed. “Yeah, he doesn’t like me much.” Lani drummed his fingers on the helmet still in his lap and shrugged. “Though I guess it’s only fair.” Neither brother could be happy with who the other had chosen to date. He shrugged it off and waved a hand dismissively. He smiled glad that Cameron hadn’t let Declyn’s opinion of him shape his own. He supposed it was the same on his end. “They’re just being protective.” Lani found himself laughing a little bit. He’d never seen Odion get so protective over someone, save Jared. And possibly himself.

Lani glanced back and given the go ahead he tried again. “Feet up.” He told himself and the bike jumped forward again. He grinned behind the helmet, reaching a grand speed of twenty as he went off. Turning. Please be like a bike. It turned a little sharper than he expected but correcting it was easy. He bent into the turn and found the straight away and picked up a bit of speed. Lani felt like he was flying but he was probably going about two over twenty now. He took his hand off the accelerator a bit and laughed at the wind blowing his shirt around. He had another turn coming up. It came easier this time but he still wavered a little bit. Oh this was great! Lani made the last turn and started to pull up to where Cameron was having to give it a few short bursts of acceleration making it jump forward a few times before he came to a stop where he began. He pulled off the helmet and grinned like a loon at Cameron. Cameron might not get his bike back. What would Odion say when Lani declared he was getting a motorcycle license?

[Cameron Osiris]

Cameron didn’t know what serious was until it rained down on him like hellfire, and it was why he had lost Declyn. He knew how to have a good time but didn’t take his relationships seriously which had caused plenty of rifts with those who wanted more than just casual friendship from him. He was simply careless.

If Lani knew both sides of the story, he may or may not be more sympathetic towards what had happened, but it wasn’t something anyone knew, other than Declyn and Chase, Cam’s trainer. But Cameron would never make himself out to look better than he was, and he was a cheater. It didn’t seem to matter that his best friend had kissed him first, it only mattered that he had kissed him back. It didn’t matter that the rich boy with telepathy had never bothered to read Cam’s mind to see that the blond was actually hopelessly in love with him, so much so that it had shattered his entire relationship with Declyn. And then theirs as Chester offhandedly said he just wanted to kiss Cam to see what it was like and Cam hasn’t seen him since then. Nobody liked a sob story, least of all Cam.

Cameron snickered. “Greatest movie of all time. Hot Rod’s my hero, I wanna be just like him,” he explained, “except actually be good at stunts. I’m very YouTube famous.” Because any and every opportunity he had to brag, he would. Cameron liked to tell tall tales, white lies, and fibs. They were his specialty to make him seem more exciting than he actually was. But having real footage of sky diving was pretty exciting, he just hadn’t gone seven times like he told everyone he had.

A smile crossed his face. “Yeah, except I’m way better looking than you so at least I had that going for me.” Had, being the key word there. Nonetheless, he was still trying to boost his ego. “You guys are obviously doing alright though, by some crazy miracle.” He had tried being friends with Odion once, remember? But maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to talk to the soulless ginger when he was drunk. It was too bad Dec didn’t like Lani, he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. “Yeah I hate to admit it, but Odion was right,” he forced a laugh, “along with everyone else in the student body population...” He sighed, shaking his head. It wasn’t very often that he felt ashamed, but he didn’t want to talk about the sore spot. He had destroyed Declyn, and Odion had actually tried to stop his twin from making the decision to date Cam. Yeah... He felt like a real winner right about now.

Watching Lani fly around on his bike from the curb, Cam had to admit the other blond looked pretty sexy. Was Odion into that kind of thing? Because Lani would probably want to invest into this. Cam ran his hands through his helmet hair. That was really the only downside to riding a bike, but only if you were as vain as he is. “Having fun?!” He hollered out, leaning back into his stance and making a hangloose symbol with his hand, laughing to himself. He was such a surfer dude at heart, he was just way out of his element here. But he honestly liked seeing other people enjoying themselves, and he was having just as good of a time as Lani was.

Cam smirked to himself as Lani made a complete loop. “Not bad rookie,” he complimented, nudging Lani’s shoulder. “The bike suits you.” The fact that Lani wasn’t immediately getting off meant he really had liked it. “You can borrow it whenever you want,” he said, “but if you destroy it like your boyfriend destroyed my truck I won’t be very impressed. Hence why I have insurance now.” God he missed that truck. He put his hands on his hips and looked up at the sky in remembrance. So many good times in that truck... Most of them involved him being naked, or at least partially.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani knew the extremely bias version of the story. Mostly because when it had come to that he’d gotten all of his information from Odion. He remembered trying to talk down Odion when Declyn and Cameron first started to date. He had been so upset and Lani was, and still was, trying to show Odion that not all people were terrible and told him to give Cameron a chance. Now Lani himself wasn’t emotionally involved. He’d felt bad for Declyn when it all happened but he wasn’t filled with the same type of anger that Odion had. Perhaps he would have been if it had been Caroline. No, that was a lie. He absolutely would have been if that had been his sister. The guy that cheated on her would wish he were dead by the time Lani got through with him.

Raising a brow Lani wasn’t familiar with the reference. “Well it can’t be the greatest movie ever, I’ve never heard of it,” Lani said so with a sly smile. If they were going to talk about greatest movies of all time Lani had his own list. A list that he was going to make Odion sit through one way or another. “Oh really?” Lani asked just as skeptically apparently not convinced that Cameron was all he said he was. Lani had practically invented fake stories, well, he had learned it from someone then reinvented it. At least that was what he thought. And had to wonder though if Cameron wasn’t boasting. Maybe he was really as famous as he claimed. He was indeed popular at Hammel who was to say not online.

Lani smirked back and crossed his arms. “Oh, really?” He joked back before adding, “Well, think whatever makes you feel better.” Lani gave an impish grin and shrugged. Lani tried to keep his face a mask as best he could but he lowered his eyes a little at the comment. Alright, Lani supposed he could call it that. They were still together and fighting. But really if they fell apart now it was Lani’s fault. Maybe he had a problem and just shouldn’t be with people. But he loved Odion, and sometimes that was pretty much all he knew. “Yeah,” Lani heard himself saying through softly smiling lips. He squinted up at Cameron and frowned now. “Do you believe them?” Lani asked, so much for not getting sentimental.

Lani didn’t hear Cameron call out he was too focused on not dying. Which was actually going rather well. Arriving back at the start was an accomplishment and Lani couldn’t help but beam. He might never get off this thing. Lani laughed. “Thanks, I think I’m getting the hang of it.” It was really more of a question. But it was done he was getting a motorcycle. Hopefully Odion would be willing to ride with him. The redhead wanted him to take more risks didn’t he? Lani smiled to himself preening at the compliment and wondering how it would feel to have Odion’s arms wrapped around them and the wind streaming in their faces.

“I’ll take you up on that.” Lani said with a smile. “And perhaps you can give me a few pointers?” Lani added hopefully. But Cameron’s next statement had Lani gaping at him. Odion hadn’t told him he’d wrecked Cameron’s car. Odion didn’t even know how to drive why they hell was he in Cameron’s truck! So many questions rushed through his mind. And Odion talking about Lani keeping things! But if Lani had wrecked someone’s car he sure as hell would have told Odion. And Lani had a license, he was allowed to drive! Odion was risking more than just a truck and his own life being on the road. What the hell was he thinking? All of these thoughts rushed Lani’s mind in the blink of an eye and all he was able to get out was: “He did what?!”

[Cameron Osiris]

Cam scoffed. “So? I love it.” He wasn’t really concerned with how Lani felt about the movie and it didn’t really matter anyways. It was a movie, not a debate. If Lani was curious enough he could just watch it. “Uh yeah, just look up my channel, it’s...” And Cam proceeded to ramble off the name of his YouTube channel. It wasn’t that big, but it wasn’t small either. Ten thousand followers wasn’t anything to scoff at, but he could do so much better. His more popular videos involved him doing very stupid things, like pretending to interview students around Hammel, and some of the stunts he had pulled. He also sang covers, but those were few and far between and no one really watched them.

“Uh yeah, it’s not a contest,” he said, tilting his head to the side, “pretty sure I won that one anyways. MANifesto?” Because they had been in that, and actually, so had Odion. Cameron didn’t really remember how it went anymore, he just knew that it had been a lot of fun, and he’d made the school a lot of money. For him, there was always something to brag about. “Can’t have a serious relationship,” he said with a shrug. “People were even betting on when Dec and I would end,” he laughed, shaking his head. People could be so cruel. “I proved them right, not wrong like I wanted to.” He believed them, all the evidence was pointing against him.

“Well you can drive, what pointers do you want? The more you drive the more you’ll learn, nobody taught me.” And that was that. If Lani wanted pointers though still, the younger blond would do his best to help. He wasn’t sure how to help without actually riding on the bike with Lani, and that seemed so off limits, it wasn’t even worth mentioning.

Cameron laughed and gave a flick of his wrist. “It doesn’t matter man. Jared explained everything to me, apologized too.” Or in other words, Cameron had no idea that it had been done on purpose, and the European boys had kept that a secret between themselves. “Anyways, I should go,” he said, holding his hands out for the return of his extra helmet, “you know, before big O beats me to a pulp for speaking to you.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani shrugged, not really all that interested. If Cameron knew anything it was that with Lani anything and everything could become a debate. “I’ll do that.” He nodded, he really was just curious about this person before him. He made a mental note, he’d probably forget it in a bit and end up having to do some digging to find it again. Lani hardly ever forgot names or faces or situations, but the finer details tended to slip his mind. He might even show Odion, but that he wasn’t quite sure of. Odion might not be too happy about Lani looking up Cameron. But Lani was actually finding himself liking Cameron more than not. He could couldn’t see the cheater. He saw a person who had cheated and had yet to forgive himself for it. Lani’s eyes softened toward the other blond especially when it came up in conversation again.

Lani found himself groaning. “Oh, the MANifesto.” That was a brilliantly terrible idea. ‘Do it with me,’ he’d said to Odion, ‘It’ll be fun.’ How wrong he had been. Lani gave Cameron a peculiar look and bit his tongue against saying anything else. He couldn’t deny Cameron those truths but he only hoped that the blond learned from them and didn’t let them drag him down all his life. “People are sometimes horrible,” Lani agreed with the unspoken statement. Lani wished he had Odion’s power for a moment so he could stop time and find the thing to say to make Cameron feel better. But there was no time and there were no words. Instead Lani tried to say something that would make Cameron see it wasn’t who he was. It was something he had done. Not who he was. “We all make mistakes,” Lani said hoping that Cameron would think he was thinking of something that wasn’t as terrible as the truth.

The difference was that one could listen to other people and wallow or they could do something about it. Lani nodded in understanding. Well this was going to be on his own. But either way Cameron was about to start seeing a lot of Lani as he borrowed the bike. Lani glanced at it and the key slot. He bet that he could start it just like he could a car. The mind was a powerful thing. But he was not going to think about steal Cameron’s bike. “Then I’ll have to practice. Thank you, Cameron.” Lani said truly grateful for the chance. Not many people seemed to like him right now and even less would trust him with something so expensive. Lani might be likely to steal it, but people would most likely think he would lose his mind and destroy it.

Cameron tossed it off but Lani didn’t. He gritted his teeth and then he heard Jared was involved! He was going to kill them. Lani nodded and handed him the helmet and got off of the bike with a touch or regret. He was going to miss that thing. “Don’t worry about Odion,” Lani said with a smile. Odion didn’t have a say in who he spoke to. Sure Lani would take his opinion into consideration but he was still his own person. With that in mind Lani started away before he paused. He pulled out his phone. “Let me grab your number so I can hunt you down to use your bike.” Lani laughed a little, if Cameron had been joking about letting him borrow it whenever Lani wasn’t. Lani wasn’t thinking about what this might look like to someone later, in his mind Cameron could be a friend and was definitely someone he was going to bother for his bike. As soon as he had it he was going to shoot Odion a text. He wasn’t quite sure what it would say but he was wondering if he shouldn’t start off with a snide comment.