(Author's Note: If you would wish to listen to Chapter 10 on audio, please click the video. I hope you enjoy it)

   The parking lot is full of customers, Saturdays at the store are very busy, it's always busy on the weekends. I manage to put my bike on the bike rack and make my way inside. Inside, there are a lot of people. This is going to be a long day. I move quickly to the break-room, so no one will stop me before my shift starts and I'm thankful that no one did. I place my bag and jacket in my locker and go check in with Camille. I spot Camille by the computer and see her checking the catalog numbers on what items we need to order.

  "Hi Camille, I'm checking in for work," I say playfully.

   "Hello, Sussianna. Someone was looking for you today," she glances off from her computer to look towards me.

   "Oh... Who?" Why would someone be looking for me? Unless... Oh no, please don't let it be who I think it is.

  "Chris who else, unless you have another guy stalking you," she taunts and rolls her eyes. Of course, it's him.

   "What did he want?" I ask.

    "I guess he thought you came to work early when we open up." She slightly turns the stool towards me, so she can watch my reaction, but she still has her eyes fixed on the screen- for now. "He wanted to know what time you come in and what time you get off work?"

    Why would he say that? Does he want to pick me up? I don't think so, I already agreed with him on our arrangement. I'm not changing my mind.

  "He was here at 8 am, looking for me?... And what did you tell him?" I have to know. Knowing Camille, she probably did have a talk with him again. I'm hoping she didn't.

  "Yup, and I gave him a lecture as well," she doesn't look at me, but I can see a smirk come upon her face.

    Oh no, I knew it. I thought she had already given him a lecture in the car. I hope she didn't scare him, well, I don't think Chris can get scared easily. I just hope they did not fight or yell at each other because they both seem like they would get into a fight.

   "What did you tell him?" I give her a grim expression.

   "I just basically told him... I know what you are up to mister..."

   "What! You didn't!" I shout. "What did he tell you?"

  "Yes, I did, and now if you would let me finish. I will tell you," she says sarcastically.

   I roll my eyes. "Okay sorry... Just continue, I promise I won't interrupt again." I hold my hands up to look dramatic. Gosh! Am I becoming like Chris, interrupting people?

  "Okay back to the story." She moves her body so that way she can fully see me.

  "He told me he wasn't up to anything." She rolls her eyes. "I know he's up to no good, but he told me, 'He just wants to be your friend,'" she air quotes. "I said 'to cut his shit and tell me the truth, what are your intentions with her?' And he kept saying, 'we're studying together, I have no intentions with her,'" she sighs in anger and continues. "And he gave me that evil smirk again. I didn't like that smirk he gives me, so I told him off by saying, 'Stop smiling at me, you're freaking me out,' and of course, he denied it and said, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' I have to admit he's good at diverting away from the conversation... I also told him, 'As her friend, you better treat her good and don't hurt her, but I hope for your sake you won't,' and he said, 'I don't know what you mean, we're just friends.' He stuck to 'we're just friends'  bullshit all the way until the end of our conversation." She used air quotes almost the entire speech she gave me.

  "So, that's what happened. When all said and done I just told him off," she affirms.

    I roll my eyes at her. How can she do this to me? Embarrassing me like that again by giving him a second lecture. Now he would not want to speak to me again, but like I care, right?

   "Why?" I have to ask.

    "What do you mean why? You should be thanking me."

     No, I should be slapping you right now, I want to tell her, but I decided to keep that comment to myself. In a way, she is just being a good friend and watching my back, but yet again, she can be a pain in my ass.

    "Camille, I know you're looking out for me, but I don't need you to. I'm a big girl. And besides, he's not into me like that. Like he said, 'we're just friends,'"  I say with air quotes this time.

    "How many times do I have to say you're one fine piece of hot ass." She puts her hands on her hips and I start to laugh- really laugh.

   "I'm serious. Not to sound gay, but look at you," she points toward me.

    I have looked at myself and I'm nothing to look at, not like the other girls he has been with.

    She steps down from the stool and stands right in front of me. "Look at this body, I wish I had your body. You have an ass like J. Lo. You wear clothes bigger than your size. I know this is a large shirt because I hand out the work uniform to new employees and you should be wearing a small or maybe a medium size. If you don't want to show off your breast with a small shirt, then wear a medium size. You never show off your body." She lifts up my shirt revealing my stomach.

    I quickly bring my shirt back down. "No!" I yell and check if anyone saw what she just did. Thankfully, no one saw.

    "See you have a flat belly and I know you don't like to show off your body, but at least wear clothes your size. As I said, I wish I had your body. I would be showing that body off if I was you."

   I roll my eyes, it's a habit I have. I roll my eyes when I'm frustrated or like in this situation, I don't believe Camille.

   "I'm not his type or anyone for that matter."

   She grabs a hold of my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. "That is not true, every man wants you."

   Oh please, don't make me laugh again. No man has wanted me and all men gawk over you, Camille, I want to say.

   "It's true! You're just too blind to see it," she yells and if she does not keep her voice down the whole store will hear our conversation.

    "Yeah sure."

    "Your overprotective friend would have no one at those parties dance with you because I knew they only wanted one thing. You're too drunk to remember, but guys used to come to dance with you and wanted to take you upstairs, but I did not allow it. I didn't want what happened to me to happen to you at those parties, remember?"

    I do remember, she told me how she lost her virginity; one man took advantage of her at a party, and one thing went to another. She was too drunk to remember the whole thing.

    I love that she does not want that to happen to me and I love her for taking care of me.

   "Remember back when guys used to ask you out, but you turned them down?"

   "No guy has ever asked me out, they just wanted to go get coffee or something like that."

   "Yes! That is one-way guys try to ask you out, dummy! You just turned them down all the time and they eventually gave up on you, but Chris is the type who doesn't seem like he will back down."

   "Chris is just my friend besides I don't like him that way." My subconscious keeps saying keep telling yourself that. And if my subconscious was real, I would slap her.

   "Okay sure..." Even she does not believe me. "But you sure are his type. I can tell by the way he looks at you."

   "Okay sure." I quote her own words. I know as a matter of fact that he is not attractive to me, he said it himself.

    "I know you don't believe me, but you'll see." She acts like she knows everything in the world.

    She stares at me. She knows I hate when people stare. "Did you have another nightmare?" She sounds worried.

    Is it that obvious? "Can you tell?" I shrug.

    "I know when you have your nightmares and I also know when you don't sleep. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?" She shrugs.

   "No, I'm fine." I declare.

   "Okay. Can you finish ordering the rest of the supplies for me while I go take my break? We need a few new more books to be ordered. Then once finished doing the orders-" She bends down to retrieve DVDs, and puts a stack of them onto the table next to me. "Can you put these movies in the comedy section?"

   "Sure thing."

   "Thank you." She walks over to the door.

   "You're welcome."

    "I'll bring you back some coffee. You're in charge while I'm gone," she says.

     In charge? Oh yeah, she said her father has the flu, so she's running the store until he gets better.

    "Okay, and thank you."

    "Cream with one sugar. I know how you like it," she winks.

     I laugh. "Thanks."

     She walks out of the door. 

     It does not take long to order new books, I only had to order from X through Y. Camille already did the rest, so I didn't have to do much. I grab the stack of movies and head to the comedy section. Whoa! How many movies did she give me? I'm guessing a lot since there's a huge pile of movies here. I can barely carry all of them with my small arms. I wish we had a cart to carry these types of things in, so I wouldn't have to carry this by hand.

    I began to stack B through D and when I'm putting away the movies, I hear a deep voice clearing their throat. I instantly turn around and with utter shock, I drop the movies to the floor.