excuse my charisma

Camilla was not oblivious to the words that had slipped from Carter’s mouth. It was a very conscious decision to ignore them. On a friend level, she loved Carter. The same way that she loved Mason and Lily, despite still not having patched things up completely with the latter. But in terms of romance, this side of Carter was one she had only known a few months. And the idea of being in love, the way Carter described it, terrified her. She couldn’t allow herself to be so dependent on a person that she felt weak without them there.

“We can see what everyone’s plans are this week,” she said casually. Camilla couldn’t be that girl that spent every waking minute with her boyfriend, it just wasn’t who she was. She slipped her hand under Carter’s arm and then rested it on his shoulder from behind, eyes watching the window on the wall opposite of there’s. “I’m down for a party, I need time to get back to my room and get ready though.” Camilla pressed a kiss to his chest before relaxing back onto his bed and closing her eyes. “Maybe a quick nap first.”

Carter sank back into the mattress once he caught his breath and a stupid, post-sex grin settled on his lips. It was his senior year and it was already off to a fan-fucking-tastic start. Everything had seemed to come together for him - he had Cami as his girl and his knees were in good shape to play both soccer and baseball again. Life was good and all he hopes was that it would stay that way until graduation. A soft groan fell from his lips as Cami’s fingers tangled in his dirty blonde locks, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms and keep her there for the rest of the night. However she had other thoughts, but Carter couldn’t keep his eyes from dancing over her backside as she sauntered away to the bathroom. “I love you so fucking much, you know that?” he called out to her from his spot in bed, his hand coming up to run through his hair. “Every time I see you in that jersey at one of my games all I’m gonna think about is that tight little ass of yours and how good you look with nothing else on.”

“You got sassier since you started dating Cami, you know that,” he teased, his hand reached forward for his old friend, embracing him in his greeting. “And look at you. King of Ketlar,” he added, a proud statement following a nod. Sure, he was meant to hate the house and the Drake in him did, but he loved Carter. They had made it to the top together, both earning their places in their own way. Mason got his by being the likable party boy he was; Carter got it through hard work and a good reputation. Yet both of them were still on top. “I mean, it’s not as nice as Drake. Little too prissy for my taste, but if that’s your thing,” he went on, turning back around to Carter, his chin gesturing towards the chin.

“Things are going to be different this year,” he announced to no one in particular, but the hired help who drove him there still served as company. Together, the both of them carried his things into his new room. For the first time in three years, Mason wouldn’t be waking up in the same bed. For the first time, he was Head of Drake, and exactly where he should be. 

Abandoning his suitcase, he went through the formalities: greeting the newcomers, getting the older ones hyped for the year, even tossed in a few rules (in a way only Mason could). Things were already looking better this year, but there were a few people he still hadn’t seen. 

Busy was one word for it. During the school year baseball and soccer took up much of Carter’s time and this past summer he had spent with Cami in Spain. The time away from the school had been just what the new couple had needed but was cut short when his mom demanded he join the rest of the family in the Hamptons for the last two weeks of summer. Once back on campus, Carter barely had time to settle in before soccer picked up. Any free time he had was devoted to Camilla and resting his legs which acted up every now and then from his surgery.

That was exactly what Carter was doing that humid afternoon. Soccer had ended early due to the heat and he couldn’t think of a better way to spend the rest of his afternoon than playing video games in a cool, dark room. Like Mason, Carter too had risen to the top of his house and with it came the best room the dorm could offer. It made his girlfriend happy to have a little more privacy and hell, that made him happy too.

Two weeks had been a lie.  Camilla had never been one to take the time to plan elaborate things, especially for a boyfriend… Boyfriend, the word sounded weird to her even after the months she had been dating Carter.  In those months she had tried hard to be a little more of what he wanted, not that she would change herself for someone but she knew that he deserved better.  Both of them made subtle changes, she was more attentive to his feelings and he didn’t call her a bitch every other day, plus a few things here and there.  It helped that they had spent the first few months of dating away from Easton, from gossip and people not minding their own business, but all of that was going to change.

Camilla looked up at the school with disgust, glad that it was finally her senior year and she was going to get out of there.  The campus was nearly deserted other than students who had come back early for extracurricular activities, like Carter.  It was supposed to be another week before she came to school but she decided to surprise him.  Part of that surprise was the barely existent lingerie that was underneath her clothes and her plan was to surprise him in his dorm.  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she checked to see that he had just messaged her to let her know practice was over.  They were going to have a FaceTime session after practice tonight and he did not know how literal it would be.  

Ketlar was a familiar place for Camilla and she made her way to Carter’s dorm, using the key she had since Freshman year.  She dropped her purse on his desk and stripped of all her clothes except the lingerie then went through his closet till she found his baseball jersey.  Camilla slipped it on but left the front unbuttoned and tussled her curls a bit before climbing onto his bed.  She busied herself playing games on her phone until she heard the dorm door being unlocked and she tossed her phone to climb into position.  Camilla sat on the edge of his bed on her knees and pulled the jersey apart even more.  She put on her best seductive smile and held it as the door opened, Carter coming into the view.  

Carter had never been good at hiding his frustration but he did his best to cool off as he trudged through campus and back to his dorm for the sheer fact that he didn’t want to lash out at Cami when he spoke to her. Since he had left Barcelona, they had talked but not as often as he would have liked. Her family was taking up most of her time while soccer occupied his, leaving very little time for each other. It was the first time in the short period that they had been dating that they went more than a few hours without seeing each other and it was killing him. Carter was excited for their call and the last thing he wanted was for it to be ruined by his stupid teammates.