Two days passed since Théa got struck by an arrow and she seemed perfectly fine. She wasn't pale anymore and she was using her hand without problem. She didn't complain about a headache or anything and she was eating well. Camie was relieved and thought she would finally stop worrying about her but for some reason it wasn't that easy.
In the morning when she was about to leave the house, Camie stopped to stare at the bananas on the kitchen table. She stared at them for so long that her father asked:
"What did they say to you? Do you need me to punish them?"
Camie shook her head before grabbing two bananas:
"Have a nice day!
-You too, sweety!"
As she was walking, Camie continued staring at the two bananas. She didn't want two bananas. She only wanted to eat one but for some reason she brought another one for Théa. She didn't need to give her gifts anymore, she was way better now. But then why couldn't she leave the banana there?
Camie tried forgetting about it. It wasn't that important. She just grabbed a banana for Théa. She could give it to her and finally move on. There was nothing to make a big fuss about. Théa did save her life after all. She deserved a banana. And that was exactly what she told Théa when she ran into her:
"Here you go. You deserve it."
Théa took the banana with a grateful smile:
"Thank you so much.
-Bye."
Camie felt way lighter on her way to neurophysiology. She could finally focus on class and that put Camie in an amazing mood. She felt so happy that she wanted to eat pasta bolognese and then a cake before taking a walk under the sun and sitting down to read. It had been a long time since she last read. She missed it and fortunately she always carried five books on her in case she started craving some ink.
But just as she started walking towards the cafeteria, she got stopped by Ember. It had been a very long time since she last saw her and it wasn't a great time at all. Camie had planned out her whole day and if someone destroyed her plans, she would get very frustrated.
"There you are. The hysterical girl from the news."
Ember started laughing. She must have been referring to the incident with the journalists.
"You thought that I wouldn't see it, did you? Well I got lucky. I saw the images before they got taken down. And if you don't want me to send them out to everyone, you should stop butting into my business."
Camie glared at Ember. She had a hard time listening to what she was saying because she was focused on the taste the pasta would have.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you glaring at me like that? Are you deaf?
-I am not. I heard you.
-Then what is it going to be? I guess you don't want anyone to see these pictures.
-Are you trying to bully me right now?"
Ember got taken aback by the question:
"Not at all. I am simply giving you a warning.
-So you are. Before you look even more pitiful, let me tell you something. I don't care who sees those pictures. I am not some image obsessed person like you."
Camie wanted to walk away but it seemed Ember wanted more:
"Where are you going? We are not over?
-Oh we never got started. Listen, Ember. Just because your mother never loved you doesn't give you the right to be a horrible human being. Look at me, my mother abused me and abandoned me but I never bullied anyone. And your perfect image will crumble. You can't be perfect enough for this world and if you don't feel good in your body and who you are, you won't have anything left when it happens. Stop trying to destroy others and succeed on your own.
-Wha...
-I don't have time for you. I talked to you enough and I am not paid to be your therapist. If you are self-conscious enough to try coming for me, you should really talk to a professional. You can find help on internet or you can go to the school's psychologist directly. I am not going to stop and let you bully Théa. And if you continue acting like a toddler, I am going to go to the Principal directly and get you expelled. I don't have the time for that and I guess you don't want to get expelled so we should stop here."
Camie tried walking around Ember again but she tried one last time. She grabbed Camie's arm but the latter didn't like that and pulled herself away in a millisecond:
"The journalists...
-Stop breathing before I make you."
Ember finally stopped and Camie could finally go to the cafeteria. All her anger disappeared the second she had the pasta in her mouth and now that her mood lightened, she felt bad snapping at Ember of sorts. She knew that Ember was a good person deep down and she should have been more patient with her.
Camie shrugged. It was too late anyway. She went back to eating and had the perfect day she dreamed about. She spent two hours reading outside and only came back to Earth when she felt her stomach grumbling. She really started craving chocolate covered oranges and closed her book to decide whether she should get up and buy chocolate or read a bit more and go later.
She didn't have time to decide however because she suddenly heard someone call her name:
"Camie?"
Camie wasn't even surprised to see Théa at this point.
"Hi.
-What are you reading?
-It's called Murder without shame."
Suddenly hearing what she had said out loud, Camie quickly explained:
"It sounds weird but it's a very good story.
-I am sure it is. What is it about? Maybe I could read it."
Camie didn't know how to tell someone about a book. She had no idea where to start and she pinched her lips:
"You can read the summary if you want."
Théa nodded and took the book before reading the summary. She looked very focused and Camie couldn't stop staring at her while she read. This made the reading complicated for Théa and she quickly gave the book back to Camie:
"Thank you. It does sound interesting. I will 100% check it out.
-I can lend it to you if you want.
-Wouldn't that be stressful? I know that some people don't like lending their books because you never know in what state you get them back. If you get them back."
Camie frowned:
"Why? In what state are your books usually?
-No, no. I take great care of my books but I just didn't want you to stress about it while I read.
-Now I will."
Théa laughed awkwardly while scratching her head:
"I'm sorry. Let's just forget about it.
-Okay.
-I brought you something."
Théa took out a muffin from her bag but she didn't hand it to Camie yet.
"I guess giving you this would make you feel burdened."
Camie didn't know what face she must have been making but Théa bent closer to her:
"I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I thought about what you said before. You said that you didn't like gifts but then what if we swapped instead?"
Camie tilted her head:
"What do you mean?
-You gave me a banana this morning. Could I swap it to this? Would that be okay?
-I... No, that was this morning and you already ate it. It's okay. You don't have to give me something. I didn't give you the banana to get something in return.
-I know. Then... Could I get a tissue?
-Of course."
Camie looked through her bag and found one last tissue that she handed Théa.
"Thank you. Could I swap this cookie for this tissue then?"
Camie froze.
"That... Why?
-I need a tissue and I want to give you this muffin. You would do me a service and I would thank you by doing something that would make me happy. Is that okay? You don't have to say yes if you don't want to.
-I think that could work."
Théa smiled:
"Wonderful."
Camie accepted the muffin and Théa stared at her with such intensity that she felt as if she needed to taste it in front of her.
"It's good.
-Really?"
Théa looked so relieved that Camie didn't dare look her in the eyes. Why would she be this happy that Camie liked the muffin?