Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:44:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ryan West <ryanwest25@yahoo.com>
Subject: Diving In- Floating Away 3

Floating Away
Chapter 3: Old Habits Die Hard


	Cameron Wright slipped on his shirt and shut his locker door. He
had just finished up his final practice of try outs on Friday
afternoon. Everyone was waiting for Coach Z to post the final list. Devon
sat down next to him nonchalantly. He wasn't nervous at all. Cameron on the
other hand was fidgeting incessantly.
	"How long does this usually take?" Cameron asked as he wiped water
off of his ear. Devon looked over smirking.
	"You made the team," Devon laughed.
	"What?" Cameron asked. "How do you know that?"
	"Because they only make four cuts, and your better than most of the
kids here," Devon smiled. "Trust me."'
	"We'll see," Cameron sighed hesitantly.
	After what seemed like an hour (but in realty was only five
minutes), Coach Z came out of his office and tacked the list onto the
bulletin board. Everyone jumped up and rushed over. Cameron tried to get a
look, but kept being pushed out of the way. Finally, he made his way to the
front. He scanned the list for his name but didn't see it until he got to
the bottom. The last name on there. Cameron wiped his forehead.
	"Told you," Devon smirked and then left the locker room. "See you
Monday."
	Cameron's heart was about to explode.  He had been in a rut the
last couple days- completely depressed. It's really hard to get through
life when you have nothing to look forward to. He had been drifting through
school, barely listening to people talking to him. Each day dragged on. He
reminded himself not to think of James, but it was hard. Every time he
passed James in the hallway, his heart would jump. Just that little
interaction made Cameron's day. But he constantly blocked James out of his
mind, he couldn't think of him that way. James had a boyfriend-
Devon. Cameron had his chance.
	He had done his best to distract himself from everything. That's
where joining the swim team helped a lot. He rarely let himself just think-
he always found little distractions. Like that night, he made plans to get
dinner with Travis and Marissa.
	His thoughts also drifted towards Matt. He missed him. Well not
necessarily Matt, but someone who honestly cared about him. And Matt
did. Matt was a great boyfriend and had always been there for Cameron. But
Matt was on the other side of the country at UCLA now. So for now, Cameron
took the little bits of happiness he could get, and in that moment it was
making the swim team.
	Pushing open the locker room door, he had a smile on his face. He
walked over to his car. Parked next to his car were a bunch of girls
sitting on a pink punch buggy. As he walked closer, they came into
sight. It was Darcy Granger, Meghan O'Halloran and...Alex.
	His relationship with Alex had been nonexistent the past week. She
had changed so much. He couldn't believe the people she was hanging out
with now. Last year, they would make fun of those girls
together. Now...things had changed.
	As Cameron got to his car, the girls turned around and looked at
him. He made eye contact with Alex but she turned away. He opened the door
and sat down. Alex thought to herself for a few moments then hopped off the
hood of the buggy and walked over to Cameron's car. She knocked on the
window and he rolled it down.
	"Yeah?" Cameron rudely asked.
	"Hey," Alex smiled. "Okay look, I know I've been really weird this
week..."
	"Yeah," Cameron nodded.
	"Well, I'm sorry, and I missed you a lot this summer," She put her
hand on his shoulder. "Can we please hang out this weekend?"
	"I guess," Cameron was hesitant.
	"What are you doing tonight?" Alexis asked. "Ricky Buchanan is
having this party and I think..."
	"Oh because I'm friends with all those people..." Cameron
sarcastically said.
	"James is going..." Alexis offered. Even his name made Cameron's
heart grow heavy.
	"No, really, it's fine." Cameron smiled. "I have dinner plans with
Travis and Marissa anyway. But soon though, we really should get together."
	"Yeah," Alexis forced a smile. "Well give me a call..."
	"Okay," Cameron nodded then rolled up the window.

...

	James patiently waited outside the high school in his car. It was
weird being in a relationship with Devon, especially because he was
younger. James had to take on the more masculine dominant role- driving him
places, etc. But he kind of liked taking care of someone. And Devon was
very appreciative of everything James did. Things were going well with
them.
	Devon swung open the door to the passenger's seat and jumped
in. His hair was still dripping wet from the shower.
	"Hey!" Devon smiled then made sure no one was looking before giving
James a kiss. "Thank God it's Friday.  I couldn't handle another day of
practice."
	"It was bad today?" James asked as he started driving.
	"It was okay today, but just I'm so out of shape because I didn't
swim that much this summer," Devon explained. "You're partially to blame
for that."
	"What? How am I to blame?" James laughed.
	"I spent all my time with you," Devon pushed him. "Although if I do
remember correctly, we did spend some time in your pool, but not doing that
much swimming..."
	"Shut up," James laughed. "You made the team though, right?"
	"No, I didn't." Devon joked.
	"I hate you," James smiled. "Did...uh...did most people make the
team?"
	"Yeah, everyone pretty much did except for four kids, but they
sucked," Devon said casually. "One of them I don't think had ever swam
before, he almost drowned the other day at practice."
	"That's good," James smiled. "Anyone...I know get cut?" Devon
looked skeptical for a moment.
	"Are you..." Devon started. "Are you trying to ask me if Cameron
made the team?"
	"What?" James acted startled by the accusation. "No..."
	"Then why did you ask if anyone you knew got cut..." Devon
asked. "You don't know like anyone else on the team."
	"Forget it," James sighed. "I was just trying to be polite and ask
you about your day."
	"Okay..." Devon was unconvinced. "You know, you don't have to like
pretend that you don't even know Cameron..."
	"What are you talking about?" James asked in a tone that made it
sound like Devon was insane.
	"I'm just saying that like whenever we talk about Cameron or
something to do with Cameron you get all touchy about it and act all
weird," He explained. "I know you had a thing for him last year for a
while, but that's all over now. You don't have to get all weird about him,
I won't get jealous."
	"I'm not getting weird about him!" James yelled. "God! You're
getting weird about him if anything..."
	"Uh...what are you talking about..." Devon knew that James wasn't
making any sense whatsoever.
	"Just...drop it, okay," James stated.
	"Okay..." Devon said. They drove a long for a few minutes. "You
know it's our anniversary."
	"Yeah," James said.
	They didn't say anything for the rest of the car ride.

...

	Marissa Tampa waited at her house for Travis to pick her up. They
were going to a little Mexican restaurant a town over with Cameron. She was
excited to get out of the house.
	Marissa had been trying to spend as little time in her house as
possible. Her father had already moved into a hotel, and was coming back
next week to get the rest of his stuff. He was leaving for California
then. And then it would be over. She'd be stuck with her mother.
	The past two days Marissa had been contemplating what she should
do. It was the beginning of the year, and although she would be leaving for
college in a years time, was it really worth living with her mother for
that time? But on the other hand, if she moved with her dad she wouldn't
see Travis. But when she went to college then they wouldn't see each other
anyway. It was a catch-22.
	A horn beeped outside and Marissa grabbed her bag, walked past her
mother (who was drunk, like she had been the past two days), and out the
door. She got in the front seat and kissed Travis hello.
	"Hey baby," Travis lit up. "Where's your dad?"
	"What?" Marissa's face turned red.
	"Your dad, where is he?" Travis repeated. "His car isn't there."
	"Oh," Marissa let out a breath. "He had a business thing."
	"Sweet," Travis said as he pulled out and drove over to the
restaurant.
	When they arrived, Cameron was already sitting down, browsing the
menu. A stereotypical Hispanic band played in the corner with huge
sombreros and maracas. Even though none of the other staff was Hispanic, it
still was a fun place to eat.
	"Hey guys," Cameron stood up and gave Travis a high five and
Marissa a hug.
	"Sorry, were you here long?" Marissa asked. "Travis took twenty
minutes...you know him, Mr. High Maintenance."
	"Oh, shut the fuck up," Travis rolled his eyes as Marissa and
Cameron laughed.
	"No, I got here like five seconds before you guys did," Cameron
explained.
	"Anything good on the menu?" Marissa asked. "Any fish?"
	"Fish?" Travis repeated questionably.
	"Yeah..." Marissa repeated.
	"Marissa, this isn't a sushi bar, it's a Mexican restaurant..."
Travis laughed and looked to Cameron for support.
	"Are you serious? Okay, hold on..." Marissa waved over a waiter.
	"Yes, senorita," The clearly asian waiter said in a Hispanic
accent.
	"Do you have fish on the menu?" Marissa asked confidently.
	"Yes, you can have the choice of shrimp in your Chimichangas and
fish in the Encheladas," He said.
	"Thank you," Marissa smiled and the waiter walked away. "See told
you!"
	"Psh," Travis rolled his eyes.
	"Sorry, Cameron," Marissa laughed. "I just have had a craving for
fish lately, I don't know why."
	"You should check out the aquarium on Coney Island," Cameron
offered.
	"I was telling Travis about that the other day!" Marissa
exclaimed. "I went there when I was little, but I haven't been back since,
and I really want to go." She looked at Travis when she said this, and
Travis laughed and rolled his eyes.

...

	By the time Alexis Lucas arrived at Ricky Buchanan's party, it was
already in full swing. Music was blasting; people were talking, doing keg
stands, and some were even doing both at the same time. It was what Alex
had come to expect from a high school party.
	However, she did not expect the reaction to her entrance. Everyone
stopped and looked at her almost. It was like that scene in all those
cheesy high school movies where the music stops and everyone looks at the
person. Kind of like that. But after a few moments things went back to
normal. Some guy stopped her and gave her a shot to take. She did.
	She made her way over to Darcy and Meghan who were sitting on the
couch laughing at something. They both stopped laughing as soon as Alex
came over.
	"Hey girls," Alex smiled.
	"Oh, hi," Darcy forcedly smirked.
	"What's wrong?" Alex said as she sat down on the couch next to
them. The two girls looked at each other.
	"Nothing," Meghan spoke first. "Forget it, let's just take some
shots! Woo!!"
	"Okay then," Alex laughed and poured herself a shot.
	About six shots and ten minutes went by, and Alexis found herself
wasted. Her friends too were completely drunk, and had lost any social tact
whatsoever.
	"We know about you and Ricky!" Darcy exclaimed.
	"What?" Alexis' face turned red.
	"We know it's true, Ricky told us everything," Meghan nodded. "We
can't believe you'd lie to us. After we brought you into our group of
friends..."
	Alexis mind began to race rapidly. She stood up and headed over to
the bathroom. She was going to throw up, and she knew it. The only question
now was; would she make it to the bathroom in time?
	The answer was no. She vomited in a plant right next to the
bathroom. Everyone turned and looked at her in disgust. James Winters
approached her and put a hand on her back.
	"Alex, are you okay?" James said but Alex couldn't understand what
he was saying. She nodded and pushed passed him. She had to find Kevin.
	Luckily for her, Kevin found her first. Or actually unluckily for
her, because Kevin was pissed. He saw her tripping through the hallways and
dragged her into a bedroom.
	It took her a few moments to process what was going on.
	"Kevin!" She exclaimed. "Kevin! I'm so sorry about..."
	"Don't start with me, Lexi," Kevin rolled his eyes. "I'm sick of
hearing your shit. You lied to me.  And you had sex with one of my best
friends."
	"No, it's not like that...I..." Alex started but she realized it
was exactly like that. Granted Ricky was clearly a mistake but Kevin was
right. She did both of those things.
	"Really? What is it like then?" Kevin aggressively asked.
	"It's...complicat...complic...complicated." Alexis couldn't even
talk.
	"Yeah, well let me make it easier for you," Kevin said. "I don't
want to speak to you ever again."
	With that Kevin left, and Alex began crying on the bed all alone
for a few moments. She then went to find her cell phone.

...

	"Okay first of all, I never said that!" Travis defended himself.
	"Oh shut up!"  Marissa laughed. "You totally did! Don't even deny
it, baby"
	"Okay, I never asked you `Can monkey's talk?' I'm not an idiot!"
Travis couldn't help but laugh.
	"I can see you saying that," Cameron smiled.
	"No, okay, I was temporarily confused as to what..." Travis began
to explain himself when Cameron's phone rang.
	Cameron reached into his pocket and saw that Alexis was calling. He
excused himself then walked to the front of the restaurant to get a clear
signal. He flipped it open when he had full service.
	"Hello?" Cameron answered.
	"Cammmmmmm!" Alex cried. "Please, come help me!"
	"What's wrong?" Cameron asked. Alex didn't say anything for a few
seconds. "Hello? Alex, talk to me!"
	"I'm...I'm at Ricky's. Come pick me up, pleaseeeee" Alex slurred.
	"Okay, what street does he live on," Cameron asked. No
response. "Alex!"
	"Mull...Mullberry street," She spit out. "Come, please!"
	Cameron hung up the phone and walked back to Travis and Marissa.
	"What was that?" Travis asked.
	"Sorry guys, I gotta go." Cameron said as he reached into his
wallet and threw a twenty dollar bill on the table. "It's a long
story. Call me tomorrow."
	And with that Cameron was gone, which left Marissa and Travis
alone.
	"That was weird," Travis shrugged.
	"Yeah," Marissa smiled. She thought that this might just be a
blessing in disguise. This could be a perfect opportunity to talk to Travis
about the whole moving thing. "So...um..."
	"What?" Travis asked after Marissa didn't say anything after a few
seconds.
	"Okay, this is going to freak you out, but just hear me out,"
Marissa prefaced her statement. "So, my parents are getting a divorce."
	"What?" Travis was surprised, but not shocked. "I'm so sorry,
baby."
	"Eh, I'm not that torn up about it," Marissa admitted. "But...my
dad is moving and if I stayed I'd have to live with my mom..."
	"Okay," Travis took it all in. "So what are you going to do?"
	"I'm honestly leaning towards...living with my dad," Marissa
couldn't look at Travis.
	"Okay..." Travis began to get nervous. "Well...well, where is he
moving to...?"
	"California..." Marissa had to look down, she couldn't look at his
reaction.
	"What?!" Travis yelled, making everyone in the restaurant look at
them, and even made the band mess up.
	"Okay, calm down..." Marissa started.
	"So what are we supposed to do?" Travis was panicking. "What am I
supposed to do? You're just gonna...gonna move half way around the world
and..."
	"Seriously Travis just calm..." Marissa tried to calm him.
	"Stop telling me to calm down, Marissa!" Travis
snapped. "Just...just let me..."
	"What?" Marissa was waiting for him to say something.
	"Let me drive you home," Travis said in a hostile tone.

...

	James poured himself another beer from the keg and slowly sipped
it. He was here with Devon, but ever since the car ride things had been
extremely awkward. James knew that he was supposed to apologize and all
that, but he couldn't. He was mad that Devon had accused him of still
having feelings for Cameron.
	The whole summer, James had trouble getting over Cameron. It really
hurt him when Cameron had chosen to leave and go to Matt's summer house. It
broke his heart. And he spent the majority of the summer feeling down about
it.  But he had finally gotten over it. And when Devon said that, it just
brought up all this anger.
	Honestly, the anger was towards Cameron, but he was taking it out
on Devon. And he knew he was wrong. And he knew it was time to
apologize. So James grabbed an empty cup and poured another beer.
	James handed the beer to Devon, and then grabbed his other hand and
pulled him into Ricky's bedroom and locked the door behind him.
	"What are you doing?" Devon smiled.
	"Look, we need to talk," James said as he sat down on the bed.
	"Yeah," Devon agreed and sat down next to him. He placed his beer
on the nightstand.
	"Okay, I'm sorry for how I acted today," James started. "I was
immature and stupid, and I know I kind of ruined our anniversary. But, it
just...it's just hard to see Cameron after...after everything you know? And
when you said that I..."
	"James. Don't worry about it, honestly." Devon interrupted. "What
happened last year happened, and it's okay. I'm not a jealous person. And
whatever happened...it's over. You don't have any feelings for Cameron,
right?"
	James thought for a second before answering. He knew he was going
to tell Devon that he didn't no matter what, but he wasn't sure if he truly
was over Cameron or not.
	"Right," James smiled.
	"Okay," Devon nodded. "So that's in the past now. I'm a fresh start
for you, James. And, no, James you didn't ruin our anniversary."
	"Yeah, I kind of did," James laughed.
	"Well..." Devon glanced at his watch. "You still have time..."
	James laughed for a second, then looked into Devon's green eyes. He
leaned in and pecked him lightly on the lips. He pulled back then moved his
hands to Devon's cheeks. He pulled him in for a more passionate kiss. There
tongues swirled around in each others mouths. They leaned back onto the
bed, James on top of Devon. James pulled out of the kiss.
	"Happy Anniversary," James whispered.
	James moved off of the bed and knelt down on the floor. Devon sat
up, prepared/excited for what was about to come.  James unzipped Devon's
pants and placed his fingers on Devon's crotch. He could feel his
semi-erect shaft through the cloth. He rubbed it slowly. Devon removed his
shirt and pulled his pants down lower.
	James rubbed Devon's shaft until it was fully hard, then placed his
hands on his waistband for his boxers. He tugged down, and Devon's full
penis came out. It was nine and a half inches (a little smaller than
Cameron had guessed). James grabbed the base and thrust it into his
mouth. He couldn't get all of him in his mouth, but he got more and more in
each attempt.
	Devon rolled his head back in ecstasy. He placed his hand on James'
curly hair and pulled it. He thrusted his hips forward slightly.
	"I'm about to..." Devon managed to get out, but James didn't
care. Devon hips lurched forward dramatically as he came into James' mouth.

...

	Cameron arrived at the party twenty minutes after Alex had called
her. He opened the front door, and was surprised with the amount of people
that were there. He recognized most of them, but hadn't seen any of them
outside of school. Cameron didn't go to many parties. This actually was one
of his first. James had invited him to one last year, but Travis messed
that up.
	The music was almost deafeningly loud, and as Cameron pushed past
people he tried to call out Alex's name but to no avail. He had no idea how
he was going to find Alex.
	However, that didn't turn out to be much of a problem because Alex
was sprawled out on the middle of the floor passed out. No one was paying
attention to her at all. Cameron knelt down and tapped her cheeks.
	"Alex!" Cameron said. "Alexis!"
	She finally looked at him.
	"Take me out of here," Alex managed to say.
	"You got it," Cameron smiled. He grabbed her arm and put it around
his shoulder. He started to help her out of the party. He passed by Ricky
Buchanan.
	"Yeah, get that slut out of here!" Ricky yelled. Cameron ignored
her and made his way to the door.
	Cameron finally got her to his car.  He put her in the back seat
and lay her down with her head facing up. He started the car, but not
before Alex sat up.
	"My baaggggg..." Alex mumbled. "I left my...my bag..."
	Cameron turned off the car and rolled his eyes. He got out and
headed back towards the party. `I'm a great friend' he thought to himself
as he opened the door and struggled past the same group of people to find
her bag which was next to the same spot where she was laying before.
	Cameron grabbed it and headed back towards the door. At this same
time, James was coming out of Ricky's bedroom with Devon. Cameron saw this
and stopped in his tracks as he made eye contact with James. They both
looked at each other, both surprised to see each other, both upset with
each other and with themselves. But then they both smiled at each
other. James then grabbed Devon and pulled him towards the kitchen. Cameron
rushed towards the door.
	Before walking to the car, Cameron paused for a moment outside the
house. He took a deep breath, then another, then another. It was then that
he realized that James was completely over him. And that realization hurt
him, but didn't make him cry, it just caused a great emptiness in him.
	But he didn't walk back to the car just yet. He reached into his
pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed and it rang two times
before the voice on the other line picked up.
	"Hello?" It said.
	"Hey," Cameron replied. "How are you?"
	"I'm okay...Cameron, what's this about?" The voice was Matt.
	"Nothing, I just...I just miss you." Cameron said.
	"I...I miss you too." Matt replied. "You should come visit soon..."
	"How about next weekend?" Cameron replied.
	"Wow, that's...that's soon." Matt laughed.
	"I can talk to my parents, I'm sure they'll be okay with it..."
Cameron realized that it was strange. Matt had only left a couple weeks ago
for college, and they had broken up then.
	"Umm..." Matt thought for a moment. "Okay Cameron. I'll see you in
a week."


Hey, thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Please e-mail me with
your thoughts and comments on this chapter, past chapters, or future
chapters at ryanwest25@yahoo.com

Thanks again!