Cami

The next morning Nate drove Camille home. It was a blessing that his dad wasn’t around when they woke up, which according to Nate was a normal occurrence. Camille was pleased to see that the inside of Nate’s house wasn’t as bad as the outside. Well, his bedroom and bathroom at least. She hadn’t seen much else.

She’d expected to feel awkward after last night, but it was just the opposite. She felt at ease with Nate. He held her hand, kissing it every few minutes as he drove her home. They hadn’t talked much, but they didn’t need to. Nate brought a calmness to Camille that she seldom had. And it seemed she had the same influence over him. His jerky motions and quick wit were left behind in the bayou, stripping him down to the boy beneath. And Camille loved that side of Nate—the shy, quiet side, where he smiled softly and glowed just for her.

The closer she got to her house, the more she wished she could just wrap herself up in a cocoon of Nate and pretend the real world didn’t exist. Camille didn’t know how much time she had left, but one thing she knew was that she wanted to spend all of it with Nate.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come in?” he asked when they parked on her street.

“Yeah. I think it’ll be better if you don’t. There’s probably going to be a lot of yelling.”

Nate pulled her close and kissed her head. “Do you regret it?”

Camille looked up at him, eyes shining. “Not a single moment.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her again and she clung to him.

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” she whispered.

“How ‘bout hello?” Nate crooned, kissing her just below her ear.

“Hello,” Camille whispered, giggling at how silly it was to say hello when parting.

“Until our next hello.”

“Wait!” Camille exclaimed. Nate hadn’t made a move to untangle himself from her yet, but already anxiety flooded her. “Ask me again,” she insisted.

“Ask you what?”

“You know!” She was bouncing on her toes.

It took Nate a minute, but a sly smile split his face as he caught her drift. “Okay, give me a second.” Nate teasingly cleared his throat and smoothed his hair.

“Just ask me already,” she said impatiently.

Nate gallantly got down on one knee. “Camille LaRue, will you go to prom with me.”

“Yes!”

Nate stood up, wrapping his arms around her. Cami stretched to her tippy toes and kissed him on the lips before running breathlessly toward her house.

Nate

Nate sat on the streetcar seeing nothing of the vivid scenery that rolled by. He could think of only Camille, replaying back their night together over and over in his head until it became as familiar as a fold in a page.

He hadn’t expected anything like that to happen between them. At least not all at once. It was overwhelming. He’d only hoped for a kiss, but he couldn’t help thinking he’d gotten himself a whole new world. Nate found it both comforting and intoxicating.

Before he’d met Camille, he’d wanted to see the world. Now Cami was the world. He should find that thought terrifying. He was eighteen, with his whole life ahead of him. But somehow, his life finally felt whole. And it was because Camille was in it. After last night, he couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Cami

Camille crept up the stairs. She couldn’t believe she’d snuck in without waking her parents. It was early, but still . . . After the fight they’d had and the way she’d left, she expected them to be waiting up.

As she moved through the quiet halls of her house, Camille had a sneaking suspicion Nate might have texted her father in order for the National Guard not to be staking out her front door right now. Camille’s text last night certainly wouldn’t have warranted this level of calm. All she’d said was, I’m somewhere safe.

She found Poo curled up in her bed when she tiptoed into her room. She let him shower her with sloppy kisses.

“Hi Poo! Did you miss me? I missed you, too. You’ll never believe the night I had. That’s right, I was with Nate. We love him, don’t we?”

Poo wiggled his furry haunches in excitement and Camille laughed. She sat on the edge of her bed. She was wearing Nate’s t-shirt and sweats. They smelled like him and she wanted to bury herself in that scent. It brought images of last night flooding back to her. She couldn’t believe the difference a night could make.

Last night she’d been at the end of her rope. Once her parents found out that she’d made her choice to stop treatment, it made everything so real and hopeless. But now—after what she’d experienced with Nate—Camille felt the unfamiliar tingle of possibility wash over her.

She stood up and walked over to her desk. Years ago, she’d pushed it up against the corner of her Before I Die wall to hide the goals she was too scared to attempt and too sentimental to erase. Camille grabbed the edge of the desk and with staggering effort, slid it away from the wall. It revealed four words.

Kiss. Love. Prom. Paris.

Suddenly they didn’t seem impossible.