It was a cool summer day. The sun was shining brightly overhead, inviting everyone to spend their leisure time outdoors. Without a cloud in sight, the day just screamed to be taken advantage of. That’s exactly what everyone did. All the kids were out and about, riding their bicycles, playing with their pets, and tossing a million balls around. Their parents sat contently under the shade, enjoying a small breeze every now and then. Even the grumpy moody teenagers were out in force, with the guys playing a few pick-up games of basketball and the girls happily watching the half-naked players go at each other. The whole neighborhood was enjoying this wonderful summer day. That is, except for one inhabitant of number 13 Rosethorn Drive.

There, in his small room with a myriad of things scattered about, lived one Cameron Earlson. Because he attended a boarding school that was in another county, it was pretty difficult for him to fit in amongst the throngs of joyfulness being shared by all on the streets. So he felt much more safe and comfortable in the darkness of his room, away from the others with whom he rarely had any contact with. He wasn’t bothered by his solitude.

It happens every year. Every September, his parents would drive him out to Dakuth Understudy of Cresting Adolescents, and there he would stay for the entire school year. At first, he resented being sent away from his childhood friends, friends that bonded together during elementary school. His first year there, when he was only a young child of ten years old, was a time of great transition. No longer could he just sit in homeroom and listen to his teacher babble all day long about various boring subjects. At Dakuth, he had to actually move about the grounds and search for his classroom locations. But there, he met his partner in crime.

Aidan Messelworth is Cameron’s best friend. Ever since they met in First Year, they’ve been inseparable at Dakuth. They clicked so well because their thoughts were nearly exactly the same. Cameron could finish Aidan’s thoughts and vice versa. It was this seemingly telepathic connection that landed them in detention on a weekly basis because they were always coming up with some ingenious prank. These experiences helped to form the tight brotherhood they shared now.

“Where the heck did I place my phone!?” wondered Cameron. “I gotta call Aidan up and plan something to kill my boredom. Maybe we can go drag racing later tonight on A19.”

After rummaging throughout his pigsty of a room for about twenty minutes, Cameron exclaimed, “Thank you! I finally found the damned thing.” He picked up his phone, a brand new, top of the line, Sony Ericsson k850 5.0 megapixel camera phone with walkman capability, and speed-dialed Aidan. “Hey man, being back at home is killing me. There’s nothing to do in this boring place. You free tonight?”

“Dude, I’m sorry. My aunt’s birthday is coming up, and we’re heading out of town to treat her to dinner. I’m probably not gonna be back for a week or so…” said Aidan regretfully.

“Damnit,” exclaimed Cameron. “Guess I’m stuck with the locals or whatever for seven freaking days. You have fun with your aunt’s thing then. I’ll catch ya later I suppose.”

“Sorry man. Good luck with that, and we can trash the town when I get back,” replied Aidan.

“Sounds good to me. See you then.”

“So Aidan isn’t in any shape to bail me out,” Cameron thought to himself. “Guess I gotta find some way to kill time on my own then. But there’s never anything to do in this damned town! Ugh, whatever. I’ll deal with it.”

Cameron changed into more suitable clothing for a romp on the town and headed out to the local plaza. After wandering about for nearly five hours, his stomach finally spoke up and guided him to Tony’s Pizzeria. After getting his pizza and soda, he took a seat at the bar and started to watch the random boring news on the television. As the reporter droned on about the day’s happenings, the inhabitant of the seat next to him continually turned and looked at him, shook her head, and returned to her meal. Cameron, after enduring this for ten minutes, finally got fed up with this nonsense.

“Yes. How may I help you?” he asked, somewhat annoyed.

“I’m sorry,” responded a very flustered girl. “It’s just that, you look awfully like someone I go to the same school with. We used to be friends a few years ago, but circumstances came about, and we really haven’t talked since.”

“Hmm. What was his name?” Cameron egged on.

“Nah, you can’t be him. I think. Maybe?” said the girl mostly to herself. “His name’s Cameron, but I don’t think he’d ever show up at this place…”

“Oh my god. That’s me! Why wouldn’t you think I’d show up here? And who’re you? You go to Dakuth too? How come I haven’t seen you around much either?” demanded Cameron.

“Whoa, slow down there. Too many questions. And you can’t even recognize your First Year classroom buddy? Ouch! Cameron, how could you?” teased the still unknown girl.

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue as to who you are. I rarely come up around this area cuz I’m usually stuck at home doing nothing. But enough of that. Back to the original mystery at hand. Who’re you?” asked Cameron again.

“Cameron. It’s me. Daphne.”

-----

“Ugh, why are there so many different wings!? The 100 wing, the 200 wing, the 300 wing… the list goes on forever!” complained Cameron to himself.

“I know, seriously,” said a random voice next to Cameron. “I left lunch like 15 minutes early just to give myself enough time to try and find my next class.”

Spinning around, Cameron noticed the owner of the voice was a cute girl with long black hair that cascaded down her back. “So I take it you’re new here too huh? Where’re you headed?”

“Science. Room 127. And yeah, it’s my first year here,” said the girl.

“Hey, guess what? I’m looking for that class too! Maybe we could help each other out,” suggested Cameron.

“Sure! I’d love that! I’m Daphne by the way.”

-----

“Daphne!? Daphne Melvina, the girl who helped me find our first science class together?” exclaimed Cameron.

“Yeah, that’s me. And I can’t believe it’s you! How’ve you been? How come we rarely cross paths anymore at Dakuth?” It was Daphne’s turn to barrel out questions.

“I’ve been good, getting along, surviving, you know,” responded Cameron. “You look pretty good yourself,” he continued.

“Haha, thanks. It’s been a really long time, hasn’t it?” remarked Daphne.

And so, the two teenagers started to kick it up, talking the night away over their now-cold pizza and watered down soda. Their cups had condensed so much that a puddle formed at the bottom of both of their drinks. They talked about the previous five years, their classes, their friends, their families, and life in general. They rambled on about their futures, where they planned to go for college, their careers, where they hoped to end up one day. They dabbled here and there in current events, about who was the latest celebrity to pull another stupid stunt, how awesome or horrible the latest movie was, and the latest episode that rocked the entire nation. They were so caught up with each other and in each other that they didn’t even notice that it was ten minutes past closing time, meaning that it was now 11.10pm.

“Ahem,” interrupted a waiter. “You two do realize that we’re now closed, right?”

“Omigosh! We’ve been talking for that long!? I’m sorry Cam, but I really gotta go, or else my dad’s gonna kill me. Crap!” Daphne sputtered out as she rushed to get going. “I’ll call you in the morning, alright? Maybe we can have breakfast or something.”

“Wait!” shouted Cameron. “You don’t have my number! And I don’t have yours!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Daphne said calmly. “My dad has Dakuth’s student directory. I’ll find yours. I’ll talk to you later then. Taxi!” Daphne quickly hugged Cameron goodbye and jumped into the cab.

“Goodnight,” whispered Cameron as the Taxi sped away into the night.