Page 75 of Pride High 2: Orange

Merry Christmas, Ricky! I think you’re adorable and sweet. If you ever want to sit next to me in journalism again—His eyes darted down to the very end where he saw Mindy’s signature.

Next he pulled out a Polaroid photo of Omar and Anthony making goofy faces with their arms around each other. He laughed and looked up questioningly.

“It’s a memory box,” Cameron explained.

“With plenty of room left over,” Omar chimed in, “because we’ll be making a ton of new memories with you. The movie tickets are from me, by the way.”

“Everyone chipped in,” Cameron said. “All the friends you’ve made since moving here.”

Ricky shifted through the contents of the box, already overwhelmed. He saw more notes, photos, clippings of the articles he had gotten published in the school newspaper, and so much more. “Thank you,” he croaked before clearing his throat. “This is… You guys are… I didn’t think…”

“He likes it,” Omar translated.

“I really do!” Ricky smiled at them all in gratitude. His attention lingered on Cameron. “The box is especially beautiful. You made it, didn’t you?”

The bell rang then. All around them, the cafeteria erupted into chaos as students stood and rushed to their next classes.

“I did,” Cameron answered. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“You can tell him now,” Anthony said playfully. “I know how excited you get about wood.”

“It’s true,” Cameron replied innocently when Omar snorted.

“Why don’t you walk him to class?” Anthony suggested. “We’ll catch up later.”

That felt like another present. He couldn’t help smiling when Cameron grabbed his trash so Ricky’s hands were free to carry the box, which he clutched to his chest protectively. “Will you walk me to my locker instead?” he asked. “I want to put this somewhere safe. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to it.”

“Sure,” Cameron said. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it! You’re incredibly talented.”

Cameron’s eyes shone in response. “Thanks. It’s made of walnut, if you’re curious.”

“Wow, really? You must have had to eat a lot of nuts to collect all those shells.”

“It’s not—” Cameron said before clocking his impish expression. He threw the trash away and smiled. “I wish walnut was that easy to come by.”

“It’s expensive and rare?” Ricky asked.

“Yeah, it’s special. Like you are. That’s why I chose it.”

As they walked down the hall, Ricky bumped shoulders with him. Or tried to. Cameron was taller, so they didn’t align exactly. “Are you flirting with me?”

“What?” Cameron spluttered. “No!”

Ricky laughed. “You’re too easy. Except when we used to chat online. You were always two steps ahead of me then.”

“The extra time helped me think of clever things to say. From now on, my verbal responses are going to be a lot slower.”

“Ha ha! Hey, how did you carve letters into the top? Is that done by hand?”

Cameron was quiet for a moment. “I used a woodpecker. Training him was the hardest part. Although he’s a terrible speller. That’s the second box. The first one ended up with ‘prod’ written on top instead of pride.”

“There’s the CameronX I know and love!” Ricky said, referring to his username.

Cameron pretended to type on an invisible keyboard when replying. “Thanks. That fills me with prod.” He dropped his hands to his sides. “I hope you like the contents of the box as well. It really was a group effort. Mindy ran around taking photos the other day, and if you haven’t seen it yet, Whitney wrote a funny poem about you. A lot of people wanted to contribute.”

“Was this your idea?”