"Actually, I was thinking of something pale blue," I said, remembering Patty’s advice for me to not give Kristen any reason to be jealous.
Camille looked confused, and then realized that Kristen was wearing blue and probably had on exotic lingerie as well. Kristen actually blushed a little, crinkling her nose and giggling.
"Well, at least your back with us now," Camille said.
The subject was now on exotic lingerie, and Kristen told Camille about the items she managed to collect over the last year. "My mom gave me a catalog from this place in Hollywood."
"So awesome. Too bad I’m not your size." Camille had larger breasts than Kristen, although not of the epic proportions that Wendy sported. Camille was also thinner and less muscular than Kristen.
"Oh, I could probably find something that would fit you," Kristen said, smiling. "Sometimes cup size doesn’t matter for some of them. And a lot of them don’t use elastics, and are manually adjustable."
I didn’t have much to add to this conversation, so I just listened to Camille and Kristen talk about lingerie, and then fashion, and then whatever else happened to cross their minds.
At the end of lunch, I gave Kristen a kiss, reminding her that I loved her, and I hugged Camille tightly, and left for my fifth period class, gym.
In the boys' locker room, I had just sat down when I was shocked to see Camille calmly walk in and through the room, passing me with a smirk. All the boys stared at the cheerleader who so casually walked right past them into the coach’s office.
A few minutes later, Coach Dillard came out of his office and said, "Camille Lombardi told me that there was a serious situation regarding a friend of your family, and that you are excused for the day."
Huh? Serious situation? What was up?
Camille walked out of the coach’s office, causing a few boys to run around to another hallway.
Coach Dillard heard the commotion and turned to Camille. "I wish you wouldn’t do that, Cammie."
The cheerleader smiled her wicked smile, and said, "I’m supposed to get Jim. I’m just following orders, Coach."
"Like hell you are, Cammie." The coach turned to me and said, "Good thing you’re not out of your street clothes, Mr. Crittenhouse. You’re excused. And take Camille out of here, pronto!"
I still couldn’t believe the Camille had the audacity to walk unannounced — TWICE! — into the boys' locker room. She knew the kind of reaction that the tenth graders would have, and I could bet she loved it.
I hurriedly got my gym bag and grabbed Camille’s arm and led her out. I could hear some whispering going on as I left.
"What the hell is this all about?" I demanded.
"If we hurry, we can meet Patty at her house before she leaves for the airport. I’m driving her, so I figured you’d like to go."
Of course I wanted to see Patty before I left. "And you arranged for the vice principal to release me from school?"
"No. I just told Coach Dillard that. They won’t check. I’ve cut classes many times before."
"What about Kristen?" I asked, knowing how my girl friend also liked Patty.
Camille frowned. "I asked her in the lunch room after you left, and she’s not the kind of girl that cuts classes. She said she’d drive over to your house to pick you up later on today."
Humph. I also wasn’t one to cut classes, but I didn’t mention that to Camille. "Why didn’t we leave during lunch?"
"Patty wouldn’t have been home then," Camille said. "She told me she needed to get some things from Kristen’s, and then she’d be at her house. She should be there in about fifteen minutes."
"Fine," I said, letting Camille lead me to her car.
Like Wendy’s Datsun, Camille had a small foreign car, a red 1970 Toyota Corolla station wagon. It had a dark red interior, and unfortunately, it didn’t have any air conditioning.
Camille started driving, and I immediately noticed that we weren’t heading for Patty’s place. I pointed this out.
"Patty won’t be home for fifteen minutes," Camille explained. "I just want to park and talk. OK?"
I didn’t entirely trust Camille, since she had made sexual overtures to me in the past. My worries increased as I noticed she turned into Lake Shore Point.
Camille saw my worried look and said, "Don’t worry. I won’t bite. Patty told me to be a friend to you, not a sexual partner."
I wasn’t entirely convinced, but let her park anyway. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Well, Patty said that in order to be a good friend to you, I need to listen to you, and give you advice when you ask for it, and try to warn you when you look like you’re heading in the wrong direction."
That certainly sounded like Patty. I didn’t know what Camille was trying to say, though.
"Patty also said it’s easier with Kristen," Camille continued. "Kristen just needs a friend, and once you know her, it’s difficult to dislike her. Patty is right about that one. I saw how she opened up at lunch."
"So?" I said, still not getting Camille’s point.
"I know you’re a little afraid of me," Camille said. "I’ve kidded you about having sex, and I guess Patty had warned me a few times about that. But it was all in fun, Jim. I know that if you said, I want to fuck you in the ass, then somehow, I’d be baring my ass and presenting it to you, whether or not I wanted to. I saw what happened that first night at Kneely Park, and what you did to Kristen. I just want you to know that I’m also a little afraid of you, too."
"Camille, I’d never…"
"Ssh," Camille said. "I know you need a friend, and you need somebody with experience to help you. I’m not the best person when it comes to love. I’m not as trusting as Patty is. I saw her open her heart to somebody when she was your age and how that person pissed all over her. There was very little I could do to help her, and I’ve been her friend for ages!"
"I know about that. Patty told me…"
"That’s the point," Camille said. "She told you! The two of you are very close friends, maybe even closer than I am with Patty. She NEVER told me what happened. And until a week ago, I never even knew who the boy was. I just pieced things together over the last year or so."
"I never knew that," I said, although I now remembered that Patty had said she had never told anybody about it until she told me.
"I just want you to trust me," Camille said. "I know that I’ll never be as close to you as you are with Patty, but give me a chance. I like you dearly, although, I guess… I’m maybe a little afraid of you."
"OK," I said. "And trust me, too. I promise that I won’t force you to do anything. I think that part of my life is gone. I saw what I did to Kristen."
Camille nodded. "You looked like crap after you saw what you did to Kristen. But then, you sort of made things better, somehow. I know that Patty kind of helped you, but that was something that only you could fix, and you did. Patty wants me to remind you that you are basically a good person deep down. Trust your instincts, Patty said."
I nodded.
"I think Patty’s home now. Wanna see her off?"
I smiled. "Yeah."
Camille started her car, and backed out of her parking space. "Talking about ass fucking…"
I rolled my eyes. Sex was usually prominent in Camille’s vocabulary.
Camille didn’t see my reaction and continued. "You know what we call it in Italian? It’s called innuendo."
It took about ten seconds for the pun to register. Then I got a case of the giggles.
Camille turned to me for a second and smiled, returning her attention to the road. "Good. Didn’t want things to get too serious!"