Cameron blinked at him,pletely caught off guard. "Aus, what''s going on?"


    Austin stared at Cameron emotionally. "Cam, you''re okay. I''m so d that you''re okay."


    ''So the blood on the floor had to be Samuel''s. Serves him right, Austin thought.


    Cameron gently shook his hand off. "I''m fine. What about you? Samuel took your phone, didn''t he?"


    Austin nced o


    at Bradley, who was still in the room. Then, he nodded. "Cam, can we... talk outside for a minute?"


    Bradley adjusted his gold-rimmed sses. "No need for that. I was just about to head out anyway. You two can chat here."


    With a calm nod, he picked up his textbooks and walked out, leaving the two of them alone. Cameron just watched his retreating figure for a second but said nothing.


    "I''m sorry, Cam. It''s my fault, stop Samuel from taking m


    Cameron could see how guilty he


    phone. He made me say all that stuff," Austin confessed.


    She patted his shoulder,forting him, "Hey, rx. I''m standing here in one piece, aren''t I? And don''t worry, I didn''t just walk away unscathed. I made sure Samuel paid for it."


    Austin asked curiously, "Paid for it?


    do you mean?"


    Cameron gave him a brief rundown of everything that had happened.


    By the time she finished, Austin was practically looking at her in admiration. "Cam,


    that was incredible. You''re so amazing, like seriously, you''re my idol


    He''d spent the entire trip here, drowning in worry, and now he waspletely starstruck.


    Cameron chuckled. "Aus, you''re too dramatic."


    "I mean it, Cam. You''re awesome. I really look up to you."


    She waved him off with a smile, clearly amused.


    Just then, the door creaked open again. Elijah stepped inside, only to find them grinning at each other. Subconsciously, he tightened his grip around t strap of his backpack.


    Elijah hadn''t seen Cameron in two days, and he hadn''t expected that the first thing he''d see when he walked in would be her chatting andughing wi


    someone else.


    Cameron and Austin hadn''t even known each other that long, so Elijah wondered when the two had gotten so close.


    Elijah''s expression, already distant by default, turned even colder.


    Cameron waved at him casually. "Hey, Elijah. You''re here."


    Austin followed suit, cheerful as ever. "Hey, Eli."


    "Hey.” Elijah nodded slightly and headed straight to his desk, quietly organizing his books.


    With Elijah around, Austin immediately toned it down, and he stopped talking about his


    family.


    "Cam," he said instead, "I just finished writing a new song. Want to check it out? We could go to the music room, and I''d love to hear your thoughts."


    0847 Thu 27 MBy


    Before Cameron could say anything, Elijah jumped in first.


    He said, "Austin, the SAT ising up. Cameron should be spending more time studying and not wasting it on stuff like this. He doesn''t need in pes distracted by something so unimportant, right?"


    Austin and Cameron were both taken aback by his words. But they could tell something was definitely off with Elijah today.


    Austin shot back, "Eli, maybe it''s not important to you, but it matters a lot to me. And anyway, it''s not up to you to decide what''s important or not


    The tension between them was almost tangible. Austin could feel it clearly now that Elijah wasn''t just ahnoyed. Elijah was hostile toward him.


    Austin would face Elijah head-on if it were because of Cameron, as anyone who tried to take Cameron away from him was his enemy, no matter their gender.


    Elijah shot Austin a cold look. "Cameron, what do you think?"


    Austin turned to look at Cameron too. Cameron, for a moment, had no idea what to say. So, she stayed quiet for a moment, not answering that loaded question.


    Instead, she turned to Elijah and asked, "Elijah, did something happen? You seem a little... off today."