A Miraculous Affair by BashfulScribe

The rest of the girls at college knew him as a playboy. Me? I just knew he was an asshole.Cameron Miracle. It was fucking miracle he didn’t come to the university every day with a black eye. He was a douche, no two ways about it. Every girl he ever met seemed to think so; at least, once he had their way with them. Until then, it was like they were his property; he’d do whatever he wanted with them, and while with them… and they wouldn’t care. They’d follow him around like a lost puppy until he was bored with them, then look for the next girl.

It was almost mind-boggling. The guy may have been a successful playboy, but exactly how he managed to get away with it was beyond my comprehension. Cameron was one of those boys, the type with a smug demeanor and a cocky expression who knew he could get away with anything. He was one of those new-age hipsters that claimed he was a minimalist or a Buddhist or whatever was trendy. Clearly, he was just a hedonist: a douchebag that would pick the hottest (and sometimes youngest, yikes) girl in the room, and do his best to seduce them. It didn’t matter if they got bad vibes from him, it didn’t matter if they were in a relationship. Sometimes his own friends would warn the girls about him, he was that much of a living red flag. But somehow, nothing ever got in his way. Nobody ever told him to stop. And it showed.

His mother worked for the university in some kind of low-paying job, so even his tuition was free. He had blonde hair, done up in one of those stupid, flopping-to-one-side haircuts that some people seemed to go nuts for. Particularly girls. But not this one.

I thought he would never know my name. I wasn’t particularly involved, so I figured I would be able to dodge his gaze. Unfortunately, at a certain point he became fixated upon me. His crooked, focused grin and penetrating eyes were upon me whenever we happened to lock eyes. It didn’t help that my two best friends were none the wiser.

“Jacqueline!” Maddie, one of my best friends, whispered, looking back from him to me as we ate lunch together at the cafeteria. “He was looking right at you!”

“Does he have a thing for you?” Heather, my other friend, asked innocently. We were a good trio, even though I operated as the brains of the group.

I just rolled my eyes in response. “Who fucking cares?” I asked with a little more heat to my voice than I intended. “It’s Cameron. Let him stare. We all know what he wants.”

“I heard he prefers Cam now. He hates it when people call him Cameron,” Maddie replied uneasily.

I looked at her and broke out into a smile. “Sounds like you gave me more of a reason to call him Cameron,” I told her. “You two seriously don’t… you know? You heard what he did to poor Georgina at the party.”

“I gotta admit, he’s pretty cute…” Heather trailed off.

“What?” I asked.

Maddie giggled. “I’m gonna come down on Heather’s side here. Like, yeah, we’ve heard the rumors. He’s a douche. We get it. Or at least I get it.”

“No no, I get it too,” Heather soothed.

“But he is good-looking,” Maddie finished.

I stared at the two. “Oh, so okay, just because he’s cute, that’s an excuse to treat every girl he’s ever known like shit?!” I asked incredulously.

“No, it doesn’t,” Maddie admitted uneasily.

“Just because he looks good?” I added authoritatively. “What are we, in fucking high school?”

“We’re not saying he’s, like, infallible or anything…” Heather gingerly added.

“You sure thought it was worth pointing out that he was cute,” I retorted angrily.

“Alright, fine, I’ll keep my fucking thoughts to myself,” Maddie bitterly replied. “Did you have a bad experience with him or something?”

I sighed. “No,” I admitted. “Sorry. I just don’t want either of you going after him. I just know he’s bad news. We used to get bad news boys all the time in high school. I guess I’m just angry. I thought we’d be mature enough not to let boys… in. At this point. You know what I mean?”

“I never went to your high school,” Heather replied.

“Me neither. Where’d you go, anyway?” Maddie added.

“Weston. It’s in Connecticut,” I answered.

“I was local. Hazelwood High,” Maddie replied.

“That’s not that local,” Heather argued.

“Still in Massachusetts,” Maddie reasoned.

Heather shrugged indifferently as I continued. “Have either of you done anything with him?”

The two, strangely, looked at each other. For a minute, I thought I was being too harsh. At once, they both turned to me and shook their heads.

“I would take a chance on him though,” Maddie boldly admitted. “Is it a crime for wanting to go out with a boy because he’s cute?”

“Maddiiiiiie,” I groaned. Maddie was a good girl but she was a little shallow. “You’ve heard just as many rumors as I have. He fucking destroys girls.”

“I could-”

“I swear to God, if you tell me you could change him…” I threatened.

Maddie slunk back in her chair. In her stead, Heather cleared her throat. “I mean, so many girls have gone after him. That has to mean something.”

“It means we have a fucking long way to go,” I admitted sourly.

“Jacqueline, you kind of like to appear all high and mighty, don’t you?” Heather challenged.

I softened my look. Maybe I did, but I also hated confrontation. “Okay, okay, sorry. I just don’t like him. I kind of… worry about either of you two being in his sights. I’m sure…” I swallowed. “I’m sure he’s kind of hot if you’re into his look or whatever, but I just don’t want either of you two to be his next… conquest or something.”

Truth be told, I was more worried about myself. As much as Cameron had a reputation for being a douche, the one part of his reputation that scared me was the list of all of the girls that fell for him and got their hearts broken. He treated all of them like shit, sure, but that was missing the forest for the trees. There was never a story of anyone that told him no. No one that didn’t let themselves get sucked into his little game. And with his numbers, that was… mathematically, at the very least unlikely. There was something else going on.

I knew that I was conventionally attractive, and if I didn’t, boys would remind me. It didn’t really help me that much in life as much as it drew trouble towards me. Despite my flowing brown hair and blue eyes, I had to adopt a naturally unfriendly face just to ward them off – “resting bitch face,” or so it was called. It wasn’t resting though; not only did it take great effort, but I was all too happy when I was around my friends to lose the face and break a smile. Around boys, I kept it up to deter them, and it seemed I found a boy, famous around the school for treating women like shit, who didn’t seem bothered by the face.

And he kept looking at it.

***

“Hey, is this seat taken?”

I glanced to my left and heard the first words he ever said directly to me. I stared at him, letting him know with my eyes just how unwelcome he was.

Maddie, the only friend I shared the class with, didn’t get the memo. “We’re not saving it for someone,” she remarked innocently. “Hi, Cam.”

“Hey…” he trailed off, giving her a slight smile and pointing at her. “I’m really sorry, I’m actually so bad with names. Did you ever give me yours?” He brushed his stupid floppy yellow hair out of his face.

“Oh, no, you didn’t! My name’s Maddie, Maddie Wyatt.” She outstretched her hand in front of my face.

I tried to blow the hand away, but Cameron, giving his little cocky grin, gladly touched and shook her hand. Grossly, the touching was its own little motion. I didn’t even need to look at Maddie to know it affected her. “It’s very nice to meet you,” he warmly said in his politician voice, then sat down.

I was both comforted and worried by the fact that he was clearly looking to get to me more than Maddie. As soon as he sat down I stared him straight in the face. “I know all about you, Cameron Miracle,” I practically growled. “And I’d really appreciate it if you left us alone, please.”

“Jacqueline!” Maddie exclaimed, as if I was the unwelcome guest.

To my annoyance, he only smiled. “Ah, so that’s how you heard my name, huh?” he replied simply. “Well, I’d be happy to lay some rumors to rest here and now, if you have any questions.”

Questions?! Was it half the girls in the school against one man? Yeah, what a fucking dilemma, who should I trust?! Please.

“I don’t know, I think it’s silly to immediately assume everything is true,” Maddie gently piped up.

I gave her a look of death as Cameron went on, “Oh come on, I’m sure there’s some truth to them, although, if I can say, it’s never my intent. I could learn to be a better person,” Cameron offered in an admittedly well-rehearsed self-reflective voice. “And maybe with your help I can become one.”

“Well, we can all become better people,” Maddie immediately replied. I was contemplating getting up and going to a new spot.

“Ah now, come on,” Cameron didn’t let up. “No excuses. Yes, in first year, I made a lot of mistakes, and I was a bit of a dick. I can’t ask for forgiveness, but I can try to become a better person. And I actually feel like I could learn a lot from you.” The moving finger pointed at me.

“Me?” I asked, the first thing I said to him that wasn’t dipped in poison.

“You seem to say what’s on your mind with no reservations, especially if it’s for the greater good. Do I have that right?” he asked.

My eyes narrowed. “No idea.”

“Yes, it’s true!” Maddie replied, her voice reflecting annoyance at me. “Jacqueline can get a little… confident that some people are bad, but-”

Cameron held up a hand. “I offered up a lot of evidence to support that, and that’s my own fault.” His smile faded, and he looked sincerely at me. “It’s nice to meet you, Jacqueline. And I hope that I can prove to you that I’ve become a better person.” He held out a hand, wanting me to shake it.

I stared at it. “I hope you’ve become one,” I simply replied, getting up. “You two have fun. I’ll need to concentrate this lecture.” I didn’t bother looking behind me and looked for a free place in the auditorium to sit.