This Week

[secret19]

Hello! The forum has been a little inactive lately and so I have decided, instead of wallowing in my sadness, I will bring you some of my work. This is just chapter one...I'm thinking there could be 6 more (yk days of the week and all)? It really depends on how you all feel. his is my first posting so everyone go easy! But as a new author, I'm facing my fear...so I guess...this is my encouragement to anyone else thinking of posting? 
Anyways all that being said, here is my writing. Much love and thanks for reading!

 

Monday

    He lands in the seat next to me two minutes before the bell rings. Our teacher begins explaining the plan for class that day, a reading circle as usual, writing the homework assignment on the board as she speaks. 

Next to me Cam clears his throat and whispers "You have a pencil?" 

I slide over a pink mechanical one, and he smiles tiredly before sniffling roughly and rubbing a hand over his face. We are instructed to move the desks into a circle. Cam takes hims things and moves to sit with his friends under the open window on the other side of the class. I watch as he rubs his red hoodie covered wrist under his nose. Cam has had pretty bad allergies since we were kids. Our moms are best friends, so I have been on many playdates and car rides to birthday parties, soccer games, and summer pool days with a sniffly, but ever polite, Cam. 

Our teacher tells a girl names Reese to begin and we all open our personal To Kill a Mockingbird copies to the beginning of chapter 2. She's nearly done with the 3rd chapter when I hear a light intake of breath from across the class. I know immediately who it is. Over the years I've seen Cam in countless sneezing fits while his dad glares and his mom patiently blesses him and reminds him, "you don't have to stifle, your not contagious." But she's not here right now. Cam looks up at the classroom light, holding the collar of his hoodie patiently in front of him. His frame swells with a large breath and he ducks his mouth and nose into his hoodie with a tight "heh-NGXtgsh!...heh..het-NXT!shuh..." He sniffles lightly, nodding at the whispered bless-you's. I catch his red tinged eyes across the room and give him a sympathetic smile. He glances at the window, shrugs, and blushes. 

 

 

I meet Cam at his locker before lunch. "You going to the football game tonight?" I ask twirling my hair in my fingers. 

He looks at me, nose twitching angrily. "Noh-" He quickly turns his back and stifles 6 sneezes towards his chest. I bless him sympathetically. "Damn. Sorry." He apologizes, rubbing his eye. "I can't go tonight. I got practice."

"Your practicing like this?!" 

"Yeah? I'm fine." He slams his locker shut. I forgot how irritable he gets when his allergies get bad.

"Sorry." I say as we start walking towards the cafeteria.

We get our tray and find seats at our table. During a discussion of the football game tonight, rides and after-parties I hear Cams breath hitch. He turns from the table to catch the sneezes in his elbow. "Hih-NGXT...heh..heh..hihGTSxsh..NGT!shuh..." He keeps his face buried in his elbow for a few seconds before tuneing back to the table. The next double must have caught him off guard because all he can do is turn his head and direct a powerful "IZCHuh!...fuhck..huh-hRReSHU!" uncovered over his shoulder. 

"Damn. Bless." Jaden says patting him on the back. 

Cam clears his throat quietly and I see his cheecks turn slightly pink "Thanks."

"Allergies?" Emma asks.

"Mhm." Cam nods, rubs his eyes and brings his fist to his nose for a final "H'nnck!" before picking up his bag and mumbling something about going to the bathroom. 

 

 

Even though we've grown apart, Cam drives me home every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since my dad takes my families car to work. This means watching Cam suffer through a 2 hour long April soccer practice. About a half an hour in, his brown hair sticks to his face with sweat and he's doing more sniffling then playing. 

"Het-kdZTschoooo!" 

"Bless you!"

"Thah...NGX!hh...thanks."

2 mintues later he plants his hands on his knees for another "Esh! Esh! ESHU! -gDzTCH!ooo...sorry."

By the time they get to the scrimmage hes developed a slight wheeze.

After the 8th half-stifled explosion in half as many minutes, his teammates give up on blessing him.

Cams leg comes up with the next "Hdt'JZSSICHUH!!" and number 17 shouts "Damn man shut the fuck up!" He says it with a smile so I know he's kidding, but Cam stifles all his sneezes into silence for the rest of practice, murmuring quiet bless me's and 'scues me's. 

When we finally get in the car he's rubbing red eyes and wiping his nose on the hem of his t-shirt. 

I sit quietly as he takes a couple puffs from his inhaler before pulling out of the parking lot. 

 

 

"You okay?" I ask him as we make a right onto our street. I know he hates talking about his allergies but I can't help myself. 

"Yeah. Fine." He answers. 

"Sure?" I ask. 

When he doesn't answer I glance over at him and am met with a finger telling me to ait. He slows down and turns towards the window. 

"HihNgxt!"

I wince. "Bless-"

"NN'xXGK!!"

"Ooo...bless you."

"nxgt'chuh..." I can practically hear the congestion. 

"Bless you." 

"HeH'HigXT!" 

"Bless you Cam."

He gives a rough sniffle into his sleeve before turning back. "Thank you. Sorry. I'm fine."

I take a deep breath. "You dont have to hold them in you know." We're turning into my driveway now. "I've known you my whole life. You don't have to be embarrassed."

He turns off the engine and says "Thanks Mel, but I'm good...tryin not to be too gross." He laughs a little but I can tell its forced.

"...Okay..well...see you tomorrow?"

"See you."

I pick up my back pack and open the car door. "Bye Cam."

"Night Mel."

 

And.....that is it. Thats day one. What do we think? Let me know. TBC? 😆😘🫣

[Lilsgjerd]

Ooooh I'm interested to see where this goes! You're a really talented writer, I'm really enjoying reading this

[Lunaconner]

omg this is sooo good i’m begging you to continue!!!!

[Not Telling]

Uhhh yes please sign me up for more!! This is fantastic! The detail and description is wonderful. 

On 12/13/2023 at 2:44 PM, secret19 said:

Cam looks up at the classroom light, holding the collar of his hoodie patiently in front of him. His frame swells with a large breath and he ducks his mouth and nose into his hoodie with a tight "heh-NGXtgsh!...heh..het-NXT!shuh..." He sniffles lightly, nodding at the whispered bless-you's. I catch his red tinged eyes across the room and give him a sympathetic smile. He glances at the window, shrugs, and blushes. 

I am a swoony melty pile of goo. Where can I find a Cam please. He is just adorable and his sneezes are amazing!

On 12/13/2023 at 2:44 PM, secret19 said:

Cams leg comes up with the next "Hdt'JZSSICHUH!!" and number 17 shouts "Damn man shut the fuck up!"

This is so realistic it made me chuckle, I can totally see this happening. 

Thank you so much for this wonderful contribution! I am so glad that you found the courage to post your writing! This is so well written and absolutely deserves to be seen. ❤️ 

[JustReadin]

This is great, please continue. I really love the part about cam being embarrassed about his sneezes, it's cute

[secret19]

TW: cursing and unhealthy father son relationship. NOT abusive but unhealthy. 

Hi guysss!! Thank you so much for loving my writing I truly have nothing to say except sorry to keep you waiting. I kind of just wanted to get as much feedback as possible. Since I feel good about it, thanks to you amazing readers, I decided to try something different. This installment is from Cams point of view. And so without further ado, 2 and a half weeks later, its here! Its Tuesday!

 

Tuesday

My alarm goes off at 6:30 every school morning. Even though scientists and shit swear on it, I'm telling you, 8 hours of sleep is not enough. I roll out of bed and immediately my nose starts running. I wipe it on the collar of my shirt and grab my phone to check todays pollen count.

Damn. Its high. This is going to be fun. 

 

 

Its nearing 7:30 by the time I get down to the kitchen. My dad is at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal. My mom usually sleeps in but my dads a construction worker so he heads out every morning about the same time I do. As I'm pouring myself a bowl of lucking charms my nose starts to itch. I rub it on my forearm and sniffle softly, but its only getting stronger. I glance over at my dad. He's still reading the paper. My nose is burning now. Fuck. I'm  going to sneeze. I've never been good at holding back. 

I turn completely away from my dad and my cereal and shove my face into the collar of my shirt. "hiih-NXGT! Heht-nXxTT!! -xGT!"

"Scuse me." I mumble. I can feel my face getting hot. 

"Bless."

I don't even acknowledge the blessing. I hate sneezing in front of my dad. My dad hates my allergies, thinks they makes me "weak and nasty", so, as you can imagine, he hates sneezing. But he also hates when I stifle because then I sound like a "little bitch." Basically what he wants is for me to not sneeze at all, which unfortunately is impossible. 

I sit down across the table from my Dad with my bowl of cereal. As we eat in silence I feel a tickle in my nose. Theres no point in even trying to hold back, it honestly just makes me sneeze more. I turn to the side and dutifully bring my elbow over my face "HIH? hi-ihXxTShooh!..Sor-"

"AGAIN?! Fuck Cameron! Not at the table! Control yourself!" My dad gets up angrily, leaving his empty bowl on the table and storming out of the room. 

I get up and pour my uneaten cereal down the drain. I have to leave anyways. 

 

 

By the time I get to last period, study hall, I'm fucking exhausted. I can't stop sneezing, my nose is running, my asthmas flaring up and my eyes itch something different. I sit down next to Mel. Damn she looks good today.

She says, "Ooooh...hey..." sympathetically when she sees me and I can tell I look just as bad as I feel. 

"Hey" I breathe as I set my backpack down. 

"You okay?" She asks hesitantly.

"I'm-" Shit, I'm going to sneeze again. I'm so tired of this. "Hohld ohnh-ESSHUOh!"

"Bless you." 

"Sorry. Can't hold em' in any more." I rub my face and sniffle loudly. 

Study hall is hell on earth for someone with allergies. Every sniffle, throat clearing, or sneeze is like a bomb in the silent room. I'm kind of glad im sitting next to Mel, since she knows my allergies almost as well as a I do, but I also hate sneezing around her. Its just so fucking embarrassing. 

"Heh-NXT! Esh! ESH! HRESHo! Hih-n'GT!....damn." I'm trying to breathe quietly but theres a lot of open windows in this room and even I can hear the wheeze on my breath. 

"Bless you." Mel rubs my knee under the table. "Do...do you need to go take your inhaler?"

"Noh-GXXT'shuhh! Sorry, no I'm good."

"You sure?"

"I'm fine Mel. Shit can't stop todayyYISHOuu!" I brace my elbows on my knees and bring my hands to my face for the next ticklish fit of sneezes. "NXT! NXT! ESH! NXxtish! Rrrshuh!...scuse me." I can feel my face getting hot.

"Are you like..sick or something?" A girl across the room whisper yells. 

I'm too busy stifling a sneeze to answer but Mel spins on the girl.

"No. It's allergies. Common Cam. Lets get out of here." Mel grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door.

 

 

She pulls me all the way to the student parking lot and into her car. 

"Where do you want to go?"

"I honestly just want to sleep." I bring my elbow to my face to block a couple wheezy coughs.

"Take your inhaler first though."

"I-"

"Don't even. You need it."

I turn towards the window and take 3 puffs. The albuterol feels good in my lungs. 

"I honestly just want to sleep. The count is pretty bad today."

"Your still not on meds?"

"My dad won't let me. He says the only thing that makes me more of a bitch that having allergies is to get put on pills to deal with some sneezing." I take a deep breath. I don't know why I'm telling her this. I never tell anyone about my allergies. I hate talking about them. But everything just flows so easy with Mel. "He wouldn't have let me have the inhaler if the doctor hadn't told him I would die without it."

I see the concern in Mels eyes.

"Thats when I was younger though. I'm good now. I'm just tired of embarrassing myself...you know?"

"I know Cam, I'm-"

"NXT!"

"Bless you. I'm sorry."

I shrug. "What can you do?" We sit in silence for a while. 

"Hey. Crazy idea. You want to skip school tomorrow?"

"What would we do?"

"I don't know. Something inside if the pollen count is high."

"Okay yeah. Cool." Far away the bell is ringing. I grab my backpack. "Imma go home and sleep. But I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. You pick me up?"

"Cool." 

"Bye Cam."

"Bye Mel."

 

 

PART 2! Thank you for reading.

 What do we think? Leave me comments and recommend me other fics to read.

I feel like I've been through the whole site LOL. Okay. Much love ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Lilsgjerd]

Aww poor Cam 😭 But this is so good, love Cam and Mel's relationship! I'm excited to see what happens next!

[funbusej]

Cam's dad can take hike, what a freaking douche!!!  No wonder his poor kid has issues with his allergies!  Mel seems like an absolute doll!  Hopefully she can help her boy feel better...

[Lunaconner]

awwww poor cam!! i love this story so much!

[Not Telling]

Awwww!!! Cam's sneezes melt me! I just want to scoop him up and hold him tightly and never let him go. He's just precious doesn't deserve the emotional abuse from his father, soulless git! I'm glad he at least he as a friend as kind-hearted as Mel. I'm so engaged and can't wait to see how their dynamic unfurls. So glad that you're continuing! ❤️ 

[lillian]

I messaged you but I wanted to come here and comment too. Well done! The angst plus stifles is so 🤤

Please keep sharing your work!

Edited February 16 by lillian

[Hyacinth]

oh my god i LOVE this!!!

[asapyams]

I'm obsessed!! Please continue!!

[secret19]

Hey guys, finally coming at you with part 3. Sorry for the wait. Honestly? Writing has been nooooowhere near the top of my to do list. But I've got a minute now, so here it goes!

Also! As we get into the meat of the story the installments are going to become longer, so I may break the days up into their own individual parts. 

(Mel's point of view for this installment)

 

Wednesday (P1)

Which perfume...which perfume...Sexy? Too much. Woodsy? Too manly. Floral? Floral. 

Cam is going to be here any minute. The pollen count isn't too bad so I decided to go to the zoo; something with an outside option, but an air conditioned reprieve if necessary. I'm really looking forward to just walking and talking with him. We haven't been really tight since freshman year, and I miss it. But I'll admit, miss it extra when he gets all sneezy. Before I can fantasize too much I hear the doorbell ring downstairs. 

"Hey!" I pretty much yell when I open the door. 

He laughs a little. "Hey. You ready?" 

"Of course." God he looks good. He's wearing black ripped jeans, a black t-shirt that hugs his lean body perfectly, and a pair of grey Jordans that his mom got him for his 18th. His scent, fresh and dark, hits me as I step into the car. He sniffles softly while starting the car. 

"So whats the plan?" 

"I was thinking we could do the zoo. They have an exhibit for April fools, funny animal faces or something."

"Okay..snf...cool. I haven't been there since I was a kid." 

He put the car in gear and turns on the radio. The new J. Cole song fills the car, drowning out his frequent sniffles. 

 

 

We get to the zoo around 1:00 and buy tickets to the 2:15 showing of "April Fools: Meet the Zoo's Funniest Faces!". After buying the tickets and a bag of cotton candy to share I turn to Cam. "Soooo...where should we start?" 

He rubs his nose with the back of his hand and clears his throat. "Anywhere you want. They have water shit inside and tigers and all that outside." 

"Are you up for outside?" I ask, glancing at his red tinged nose. 

He rolls his eyes, "Yes Mel. Let's see the panthers first, then we can walk the loop to the theater for the show." 

"Okay cool. But you tell me if you need to go inside." I know this is a dumb thing to say because 1) he's old enough to handle himself and 2) even if he does need to go inside he won't say anything. I expect him to tell me both of these things, but he's silent. 

"Cam?" He spins from me suddenly, lifting the collar of his shirt over his mouth. 

I watch his broad shoulders flinch with 3 nearly silent sneezes. "Hmk! hh-hnK! NXT!" At the same time as my 'bless you' lady to our left says "Bless you baby." Cam pinches his nose through his t-shirt for a 4th tight "HeTnx!" Finally he drops his shirt and excuses himself to both me and the woman next to us. 

He sniffles. "I'll let you know." 

 

 

Cam gets ridiculously embarrassed sneezing in public. Half the time, if I wasn't so close to him and so sensitive to any sort of sneezy sound, I wouldn't even notice he had sneezed. These are the sneezes I do notice: 5 smothered into the collar of his shirt during the feeding the tigers demonstration, 2 stifled into a tight fist on the way to see the flamingos, 4 or 5 stifled into the crook of his elbow in line for kettle corn, and 1 "HET- ZShUHH!" aimed down at the sidewalk, just now. 

"Bless you Cameron." 

"Sorry, fuck."

"It's okay. Are you okay? I thought the pollen wasn't bad today."

"It's the dust and animals and shit."

I'm mentally kicking myself. I should have thought of that. I should have THOUGHT of that. 

"But it's okay. I'm good. I'd be sneezing regardless, and I'd rather sneeze with you." He smiles. "Imma run to the bathroom before the show." He hands me the rest of the kettle corn and ducks into the bathroom to our left. 

 

 

Okay. I think I'm going to stop here. I know its short, but I want the next part to be from Cam's perspective. 

 As always, leave me comments, and post your work! I want to read!

I 💗 you guys very much.

I'll write again soon.

Edited March 2 by secret19

[Catsgotyourtounge]

Omg loveeed this

[Lunaconner]

omg yessss this is the update i needed!!

[starpollen]

These two are cute.☺️ 

[Angelike]

I love it, waiting for more.