Overnight Emergency

Camille arrived at home emotionally exhausted. Her family didn’t question her gloomy arrival. They knew better than to ask. She would just shut herself in her room and deal with it alone.

She lay down on her bed without bothering to change out of uniform. Her legs dangled at the bed and stared at the ceiling, pondering about everything that happened today.

Camille was furious with everyone.

First was Jonghyun confessing to her and probably sabotaging everything with Onew.

Then, the guy she liked making a disappearing act on her without explanation and meeting Luna. She relished the moment where that blonde student was surprised with her outburst. Lashing out on her felt good, she didn’t regret that.

Finally, there was the issue with her meddling friends messing around with her love life. Talk about too much!

Later that night, she got a call from Jonghyun. At first, she didn’t want to answer his call but he was pretty insistent.

She answered but didn’t speak. Camille waited for him.  

Hi Camille… I messed up, didn’t I?

He chuckled awkwardly, losing his usual playful charm.

I’m an for pushing myself too hard on you and saying things that made you angry. But I’m really telling you the truth.

I like you. You’re not like other girls. That’s not a pickup line. It’s the truth even if it’s hard to believe. Camille…                                                                                                           

          I know you like him. I saw it in your eyes when he saw me with you. You were mortified and I really am sorry.

If there’s no chance of ‘US’ then, at the very least I want us to be friends…

          I’m gonna hang up now or I might say something stupid. Goodnight Mhil

“Goognight.” She replied softly. That was the only answer Jonghyun got before he ended the call.

Camille let out a deep breath. She still couldn’t believe that the rocker she liked and had become her friend likes her. It was the last thing in her mind. For her, it was hard to grasp that a simple girl like her would attract someone like Jonghyun.

Jonghyun have apologized but she wasn’t ready to forgive him.

It was the same thing for her friends. They were still in the same position as the blonde.

None of her friends called her that night.

“We’re in some deep …” Kat sighed, looking a bit as depressed as the others.

They were no longer hanging out at the snack shop near the school. It was simply too depressing to spend their time at that place when their friend, Camille stormed out of the store after having a fight with Jill.

They were now at Ash’s house, drinking a cup of steaming hot chocolate. Most of the group were present except for Innah and Andrea. As usual, Andrea was with Sehun, her boyfriend while Innah had some prior commitments.

The atmosphere was suffocating. This was the first fight Jill had with her friend.

She knew she made some not so smart choices but it was with good intentions. Unfortunately, Camille was too angry to consider the fact that it was for her.

“Can’t we fix it?” Angela asked worriedly.

“Well… you know me. I tried fixing it and it ended up worse.” Jill shrugged and frowned.

“You know Camille. She just needs some time to cool off. It looked like she was having a hard day. Discovering our involvement made it worse.” Dani, the one who closer to Jill, comforted her.

“True.” Kat agreed after a sip of hot chocolate.  “The anger will pass. Boys are just boys. Friendships are stronger.” She assured the others.

“We still need a plan.” Dani pointed out with her fan.

“It couldn’t hurt to try asking Luhan for help again.” Jill sighed, looking more stressed than during exam week.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They still had to do something. Things didn’t go as planned but that doesn’t mean they can’t find a way to fix this mess they had made.

Luhan was the only person they could think that could help them. He’s the love potion expert. Maybe they’ll be lucky the second time around.

“I’m sorry but my shop has a one-time free assist policy.” Luhan told Jill while shining a couple of unusual metalwares when she came by the shop. She hasn’t even begun to open but Luhan beat her to it.

Shocked, Jill said the first thing that came to her mind. “I’m not paying a dime.”

With a cheerful smile that annoyed the hell out of Camille’s friend, Luhan replied. “Then thank you for calling the memoire shop. We’re here to make your dreams come true.”

“There’s must be something we can do!” The volume of her voice was rising. She was really expecting that this guy would help them again. Jill badly needed a solution.

The shop owner sighed and stopped shining the item he was holding.  He looked at her straight in the eyes. “I’m doing a business here. I can’t always give freebies. The only you can do for your friend is to wait it out.”

He then, went back to shining.

“Wait it out? As in we have to wait until that potion wears off?”

Luhan nodded with looking up.

“It could take days for that to happen. By that time, it’s probably too late!”

The rise in pitch of her voice had the owner wincing. He stopped whatever he was doing and ushered Jill to the front door with a smile. “Then, I wish you luck.”

 Jill wanted to argue but her body wouldn’t respond to her wishes.  When she finally got to move, she was already out of the shop.

And just like that, she left the Memoire shop empty handed.

A couple of days later, Camille still refused to speak to everyone in the group. Even though Jill was the mastermind of the whole thing, everyone had a part in it.

She was still mad.

The girls had no choice but to accept that. They still try to communicate with her and apologize but their friend wasn’t ready to forgive them.

Thursday came and the rest of the group glumly sat on their usual spot beside the field. No one was in the mood to be chatty and mostly ate their lunch in silence.

“Are we even sure that Onew really likes Camille?” Andrea mused out aloud.

“I think so. Well… I did see Onew sunbae being friendly with her at lunch that first time.” Angela answered her friend.

“That doesn’t count. We know from the beginning that Onew was already influenced by the potion.” Ash shook her head.

“This .” Kat said. Everyone agreed.

Just a day before the big festival, Camille was still avoiding everyone even Minho, Onew’s friend, by hiding in the library on her free time. It has been over a week since the incident but she didn’t want to face anyone. It would just be awkward. She doesn’t deal with awkward moments well. Hiding in her opinion was the best thing to do.

The library wasn’t a bad place to hang out in, Camille thought. It was quiet and has quite a nice atmosphere. The only problem she had with the place was that there was nothing she could do.

Books don’t interest her that much. There were also times that the place was filled with ‘lovers’ just like today. It was nauseating.

A groan escaped her lips as she spotted from the corner of her eye a couple doing more than talking. It was as if they’re trying to eat each other’s faces. They didn’t care if someone might see them. They were obviously trapped in their own bubble. She thought maybe she this was her punishment for being stubborn.

While the rest of the committees were busy with the final preparations, she was doing nothing. She was long done with the video project assigned to her for the festival. It was a relief and a disappointment at the same time.

She really wished there was something she could do.

Like her counterpart, Onew was avoiding her too. The last she saw him was when Jonghyun was with her. It was a disaster! And there was nothing she could do about it.

Luckily, for some reason her school suddenly announced during lunch that they decided to cancel all classes so that all students would be able to concentrate on the preparations for the festival the following day.

Every student celebrated. That meant more time for themselves and their booths.

The annual festival was a big event especially this year. It was the school’s 10th anniversary which was a big thing for such a young school. Surpassing the first decade is a big deal.

It was sort of a relief for Camille. This means that she could go home early and doesn’t have to endure seeing another couple smooching.

As quickly as she could she left the library and we