Tumbling Down // Chapter Three (Friends and Falls)

I tried my hardest not to be distant during dinner, but the things Zac had said were really bothering me. Zac had been so surprised at how I looked. What, did Taylor describe me as some kind of cave creature who just lurked around, keeping him in check? I guess he really didn’t think of me as a girl at all. In that moment, watching him recount a past family memory with his brother part of me realized that he would probably never feel about me the way I felt about him, or at least he would never admit it. I just stabbed my fork into my chicken breast and tried to fight back tears. I hadn’t let myself cry since my mom died and I wasn’t about to start right now.

“You okay?” Taylor asked, reaching over to place a hand on my back. I shrugged him off and resumed my attack on my dinner.

“I’m fine,” I lied, attempting to bring myself back into the conversation.

“So, Cameron. Have you picked a major yet?” Zac asked.

“Ah, Taylor told you I hadn’t decided? Well, I’m leaning more towards theater right now. I like the classes more and I feel like I’m better at it than I am at the music stuff.”

“If you’re taking theater classes, you might have met my friend Hunter. He’s a theater minor.”

“Name doesn’t sound familiar, but who knows. All of my classes are huge, he could’ve been in them.” Taylor yawned loudly.

“God you two are boring,” he said, folding his napkin and placing it back on the table next to his now empty plate. I reached over and gave him a smack on the arm.

“Fuck you! It’s called having a conversation. One that doesn’t involve you for once. You are such an egomaniac, I swear.”

“Whatever, I’m ready to go get drunk,” he said, straightening his shirt and flagging down the waitress. I turned to Zac.

“He’s always ready to get drunk.”

“Yeah, well. I haven’t really drank much in the past.” Zac said hesitantly.

“That’ll all change tonight, little bro. Don’t you worry about it!”

“Who’s worried?” Zac asked, looking irritated, “Are we leaving? Should I call Hunter now?” Taylor nodded and dropped some money on the table before standing up.

“Shall we?” he asked. Zac and I nodded and followed him out of the restaurant.

We got back to his room to find Jackson and Chris inside already drinking up a storm. They were already starting to make a pyramid out of the beers they’d chugged.

“You might want to slow down a bit there, boys. You’re already looking sloppy,” I said, sitting down between them on the futon. Chris immediately put an arm around my shoulders. If only he knew how in vain his efforts were.

“You look hot tonight, Cams. What’s the occasion?”

“I have to have a reason to look nice?” I asked, accepting the mixed drink Taylor was pushing in my direction.

“No, just commenting on it,” he said, removing his arm, “You want a beer, Zac?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, pulling Taylor’s desk chair out and sitting on it backwards. He turned to Taylor, who was looking at himself in the mirror. “Hunter will be here in a few minutes.”

“Oh my god, I’m so excited!” Taylor mocked with a smile before plopping down into the recliner. We all sat around drinking and chatting until a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in!” Jackson yelled. We all instinctively hid our drinks while the door opened just in case it was the RA or security. A guy I’d never seen before peeked his head in the door timidly. When he caught sight of Zac, he opened the door wider and came inside. He was well-dressed, tan, and incredibly cute. I was becoming more and more okay with Zac’s visit with every passing second.

“Hey man! Good to see you!” Zac said as Hunter came over to stand next to him.

“Yeah, you too,” he said with a big smile. Oh, that was a good smile.

“Hunter, this is Chris, Cameron, and Jackson. You already know my brother. Everyone, this is my friend Hunter.” Jackson immediately threw a beer can in Hunter’s direction. He barely caught it as it bounced off his chest.

“Ow, man. You don’t have to chuck it at me. Don’t mistreat the beer!” he smiled. And with that we were all back to talking.

We drank for a few hours in the guys’ room, getting to know Zac and Hunter better. I liked Zac. He seemed like a good guy. Definitely a lot different than Taylor. He was funny, yes, but he didn’t wield his wit like a weapon like Taylor. And, there was the whole fact that he had the “going-too-far” filter that Taylor seemed to have been born without. Hunter was still cute and a little shy. As he kept drinking, he kept getting more and more friendly.

Taylor and I were making our way quickly through a bottle of Captain Morgan and their two cases of beer were starting to appear more in the pyramid than in the box.

“Let’s play “Never Have I Ever”!” Chris exclaimed. Everyone agreed except for me. I hated that game. It became “spill all the dirt on Cameron and get her even more drunk” time and it wasn’t something I wanted to do in front of two guys I hardly knew.

“No way. Not going to happen,” I said, sitting down on the top of Taylor’s desk, right next to Zac.

“Why not? Afraid you’ll lose?” he asked. I scoffed and finished off my drink.

“No, I know I’ll lose because these jerks like to make everything into something I have done, which makes me even more drunk and I don’t think I need to be more drunk right now,” I smiled. Taylor rolled his eyes and snatched my cup out of my hand.

“Cams. You are by no means at your drunk limit yet. Have another drink,” he said, handing my cup back to me. I was starting to feel a little fuzzy and knew that more was soon to follow, especially if we played the game.

“Well, whatever, I’m not playing!” I stated, pulling my legs up on the desk to sit cross-legged, knowing how much it would annoy Taylor to have my feet on his desk. He leaned over, reached for my ankle and yanked it off his desk, almost pulling me onto the floor with it. “You fucker!” I shoved my drink into Zac’s hands and decided it was the appropriate time to attack Taylor. Knowing that he was the most ticklish person I’d ever met, my hands immediately went to his sides.

“Cams! Shit, stop it!” he laughed. Relenting, I stopped and just sat there on the arm of the recliner.

“That’s what you get,” I said, more than happy with myself. Before I knew what was happening, I was being pushed off the arm of the recliner and landed hard on the floor. Despite the alcohol pumping through my system, I still felt that it hurt.

“Hey, too far, Taylor!” Hunter scolded instinctively, rising from the floor and helping me up, “Are you okay?” I nodded and pulled my hand from his. I felt really embarrassed and the attention he was paying me was only amplifying it.

“Oh, she’s fine. I barely touched her, it’s not my fault that she fell.” Hunter ignored him and looked back at me.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I hesitated, “Thanks.”I went back over to sit on the desk, this time letting my feet hang free. Zac smiled sympathetically at me and handed my drink back over.

I knew that Taylor really hadn’t meant to make me fall, but it bothered me that he was just brushing it off. For as good of a friend as Taylor could be, he could also be so callous sometimes that it made things very confusing. It made me even more frustrated that I had feelings for someone who could be like that. The problem was that knowing all of this didn’t make the feelings go away. As much as I got frustrated with the way he could be, it didn’t make my feelings wane. Not at all.

As things calmed down and everyone got back to chatting, we were all sitting there listening to Taylor tell a hilarious story about something that had happened to him in class one day. I was still sitting on his desk next to Zac who was still in his desk chair, and I was paying attention to the story, laughing along. All of a sudden, I felt Zac move to sit next to me on the desk. I felt his eyes on me, so I turned to look at him.

“Oh my god,” he said softly as he looked back at me.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re in love with my brother, aren’t you?” My mouth dropped open.

“Why would you say that?”

“I can see the way you look at him. You are, aren’t you?” I couldn’t bring myself to answer. I just gaped at him. He reached a hand behind me to lightly rub my back. “He’s so clueless. It sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it really does.”

“Cameron! Stop macking on my brother!” Taylor exclaimed as he came over to stand in front of me.

“I’m not! We’re just talking.” He put his hands on my legs.

“You look really pretty tonight,” he said in his typical drunk way.

“I always look pretty, Taylor. You just never notice,” I said bluntly.

“I notice!” he protested, “Just because I don’t slobber all over you like my roommates doesn’t mean I don’t notice.” I just patted the top of his head.

“Silly drunk Tay,” I said. He leaned in and hugged me.

“I’m sorry I made you fall. You know I love you,” he said.

“No you don’t. Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”

“Yes I do! You’re my favorite Cameron,” he said, pulling back and stumbling slightly.

“I’m the only Cameron you know,” I laughed.

“But you’re still my favorite one. Now let’s go to the party!”

“Where are we going?” Hunter asked.

“To Jake Matthew’s place,” Taylor said, tossing his cup into the garbage.

“Oh, I know Jake,” Hunter replied, placing his can on the pyramid, completing the entire thing.

“Beer pyramid!” Jackson exclaimed.

“Oh, I’m so proud of you drunkards!” I said, sliding off of the desk along with Zac.

“You’re one to talk, now let’s go!” With that, Taylor put his arm around my shoulders and we were off.

Chapter Four

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