Chapter One: It's way too late to say you're sorry.
There's nothing worse than being stuck in a car with your parents for over 12 hours.
"Yeah I know-oh-oh that I let you down, is it too late to say sorry now?!" Dad sings at the top of his lungs as my mom attempts to dance to the beat while sitting.
I stand corrected. Being trapped in the car with parents who seem to think that they're auditioning for the X Factor is much worse.
We've been on the road for over 12 hours. The last time we stopped was three hours ago, between then and now I had consumed the largest possible cup of coffee I could find to stay awake. But as usual, my bladder and caffeine never seem to agree and I was about to burst.
"Mom, are we there yet?" I groan. I don't mean to be a pest, but in all honesty, if we didn't stop anytime soon I might not be able to hold off the floodgates.
Deliah, my mother, stopped dancing and turned around in her chair and fixed me with a stare that could shoot daggers. "For the last time, Livvy, we're almost there. Your dad is already driving as fast as the speed limit allows!" She says exasperatedly, I know she hates long car rides. Mom is as bad, if not worse, than I am when it comes to patience.
I will never forget the time dad forgot to pick her up from the airport after one of her many trips to Florida. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, she was already out of the car and slamming the passenger-side door before dad could even kill the engine. The silent treatment she had given him lasted for weeks; two miserable weeks.
Not willing to push the matter any further, I gave her a curt nod before settling back against the chair and pulling the pillow I had grabbed at the last minute before leaving home. Her blue eyes calmed as she returned to her original sitting position, flipping her brown locks over her shoulder and releasing an audible sigh.
Why my parents had decided to drive all the way to Colorado from Arizona completely blew my mind. I'd figured that with all the ski and snowboarding equipment we brought they would've chosen to fly there instead. But, no.
So here I am, stuck in a car... with a bladder full of pee, and no books left on my kindle for me to read. Thank God I brought an actual book with me from home, one that I'd purchased with Paige at Barnes & Noble a few days earlier.
It's a pretty thick book too, so I really hope it'll last for the three weeks of torture both Paige and my parents had subjected me to. I tried to talk my way out of it. Trust me I really did.
Last year our families had tried to talk us both into going on some exotic cruise in the middle of the Caribbean, both Paige and I had successfully wormed our way out of it.
But this year Paige had joined the dark side, the moment she found out that our families were planning to go on a three week vacation to Pine Heights, she practically jumped out of bed and came barging into my room begging me to come with.
Sports really wasn't my thing, I mean - sure, I'd played soccer in middle school, but snowboarding? Yeah, that was a completely different story. Once I hit high school I devoted my time to studying and getting the best grades possible. When that happened, it was like my entire life outside of studying disappeared.
I told myself that it was for the best, but to be honest, I'd never felt lonelier. Sure, I had Paige, whenever she needed a study buddy, I was there. If she didn't have anyone to run to the stores to go grocery shopping, I was there.
We grew up together, and she's still my best friend, but ever since she started dating Ben it's like she no longer had time to do the things we used to do. Our daily walks to the park with Buddy, her extremely lovable dog, became rare. Our weekly sleepovers slowly disappeared. Sometimes she'd come over to my place before school so she can catch a ride with me and her eyes would be swollen, as though she'd been crying the entire night.
Every time I'd ask her what was wrong she'd give me the same answer; nothing. From there on, I knew that there was a wedge driving itself between Paige and I, and his name was Ben.
Ben wasn't a bad guy to be around. Considering the fact he'd graduated the same time as Cam, he was one of the nicer ones in the graduating class. He wasn't one to walk around as though he owned the school and he would always say hi whenever he walked past us.
Cam on the other hand...
Don't go there, Liv. Just don't. A little voice in the back of my mind reminded me.
"We're here, hun." Dad announces as he pulls the car to a stop on the snowy driveway, snapping me out of my own thoughts.
Thank God!
Making a dash for it, I sped up the driveway as fast as my short legs would take me but before I could reach the door it flung open and Paige started bounding down the wooden stairs screaming my name in excitement.
The leafless plants that lined the staircase shook with every step she took, sending snow from the empty branches plopping to the ground below.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're actually here!" She squealed as she enveloped me in one of her 'bear hugs'. Pulling back she added with narrowed eyes, "I thought you were gonna pull a last minute ditch."
At the narrowing of her pretty blue eyes, I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of me. The girl couldn't fake anger even if her life depended on it.
"I really need to use the toilet and you're not helping me at all!" It was true. I was now standing in a position that could only resemble a flamingo, a very confused flamingo with one of its legs wrapped around the other.
We were both laughing so hard there were tears coming out of our eyes. "Okay, I really need to go now." I announced, unable to hold my pee any longer than I already had.
Just as I turned around, I found myself running face first into somebody; more specifically, somebody's chest, a really hard, really nice chest that I would not mind taking a look at without a shirt. His navy blue shirt clung nicely onto the shape of his muscles and I found myself drooling at the mere thought of whipped cream all over that...
Holy hell, Livvy. Snap out of it!
"Going somewhere, pipsqueak?" There it was, the one voice I'd tried to forget over the course of... well, since he left. The same voice that sent tendrils of dread snaking down my spine, breaking me out of my daydream and rooting me to the spot.
No. No. No. It's not possible. How could he be here? I would've guessed that he was slumming it with his college buddies, somewhere in Europe with gorgeous girls hanging off every limb.
It wasn't a secret that he was good looking, if the whispers and gushing I'd heard in the girls toilet at school didn't confirm that, then I suppose one would only need to take one good look at him to come to that conclusion. But to me, there was nothing that could change the way I felt about him, not even his panty dropping smile.
I gazed upwards and much to my dismay there he was, Camden freaking Stephens, towering over me with dark blue eyes that seemed to always twinkle with mischief.
For a good year and a half, I'd foolishly convinced myself that I would never have to see him again, but this moment only proved me wrong.
"Hello, Camden." I spat, not meaning for the greeting to be laced with such venom, but I couldn't help myself.
From my peripheral vision I saw his brows scrunch themselves into a frown, but just as I started my double take, the look was gone and in its place was that smile that made me want to do more than just smash his face into the snow covered steps.
"Still harbouring anger, I see." He bit down on his lower lip, as though he were trying not to laugh at a joke that only a mind as sick as his could find funny. "Y'know, I think I read somewhere that anger brings about premature signs of aging... which explains a lot."
My jaw dropped open as the blood bubbled in my veins. I took a step in his direction, and held his gaze defiantly, but as I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, Paige interrupts me by wrapping her arms around Cam's midsection.
"Cam, I haven't seen you in so long!" She practically squealed into into his shirt while sending me a look that only screamed 'get the heck out of here'. I rolled my eyes at her before spinning around on my heels and making my way into the cabin.
I knew starting an argument at the beginning of a three week long family vacation wasn't the best idea. But something inside me wanted to do the complete opposite, I was done running from Camden.
Since he left for college and ruined my reputation - or lack thereof - I had more than enough time to think through my options, until one day I woke up and decided; I would never let him break me again.
Gone was the girl who would just take the words he said without so much as a look in his direction. Gone was the girl who counted down the days until she could get away from him. If he wanted a fight, then he sure as hell would get one.
I shook my head, laughing silently to myself reciting words I could only imagine the creepy female voice on one of those infomercials saying; as I raised my chin and walked confidently towards the door.
'Hello Camden, meet the new and improved Livvy. She's sassy, tough and-'
Before I could grab onto anything to steady myself, I felt my foot slip on a patch of ice, sending my entire body careening backwards before I landed not so daintily on my backside. A snort was the first thing I heard, with my cheeks on fire and my backside feeling like a horse had kicked me I snuck a glance in the direction of the snort.
Our eyes collided that that was it. His loud maniacal laughter seemed to echo throughout the snow covered woods surrounding the estate, causing my parents to come running up the steps. Dad was the first to spot me, one glance and instinctively he let out a snort.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Mom's eyes caught mine and the first thing she did was bite her lip as tears started forming in her eyes. There was no doubt that the tears were caused by how hard she was trying to control her laughter, the little convulsions her body was making only confirmed my suspicions as I narrowed my eyes at them.
What kind of parents laughed at their daughter's pain? Oh wait, those would be mine. I loved my parents, there was no doubt in my mind that they were both still young at heart. However, at this very moment I just really wanted to throttle them both.
Paige's brown hair was the first thing I saw as she bent over and fixed her blue eyes on mine; they were a light shade of blue, almost icy. Nothing like the demon of a boy she claimed was her brother.
"Are you okay, Liv?" I appreciated the concern, though I knew she was trying really hard to hold herself together as she extended a hand.
"I'm good. There was a patch of ice. I just slipped." The burning sensation creeped its way up my neck and it took everything in me to not bury my face in my hands. Hands that were now frozen, thanks to the ground.
With one yank, she pulled me up onto my feet, leaning towards me ever so slightly and whispered in my ear, "You're lucky that's all that happened. What were you doing catwalking it down the porch like a freaking Victoria's Secret model?" I groaned as pain throbbed dully from my tailbone.
How was I supposed to explain to her that I was pretty much strutting my confidence down the pathetic patio to a voice in my head. That didn't make me sound crazy at all. At all. Instead I settled with the safest answer, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
I secretly hoped that my accompanying smile would sway her enough to drop the subject as I hastily spun around and made my way into the house. I could swear I heard her mutter something under her breath, but when my head snapped back in her direction she sent me a sweet smile, and assumed her spot next to Cam.
Before I could make a mad dash for the bathroom, I caught Cam's gaze and for a split second we just stood there staring at each other. Then that stupid smile crept its way back onto his face, making me want to dump an entire bucket-load of snow on his head.
I laughed out loud at the thought, it was probably the best idea I'd had in ages. Maybe one of these days I would actually do it.
Just Maybe.190Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNZqBeWgEf
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