Dream On

Cameron White. 24. Your Local One Stop Shop for Hacking and Late Night Snacking. The Loner.

[camxwhite]

Welcome to Coolsville, the best little small town in Ohio.

…except for right now, but that’s not really CAMERON WHITE’S (MAYA HAWKE) fault, is it? Known as the THE LONER around town, SHE is just your friendly neighborhood CONVENIENCE STORE EMPLOYEE. Sure they can be STANDOFFISH and GRUFF but they can also be INTELLIGENT and LOYAL just like any other 24 year old. That doesn’t mean they have anything to do with our string of recent chilling events, though… right?

Continue Reading...

B A S I C S

Full Name: Cameron Etta White

Nickname(s): Cam, Cami

Age: 24

DOB: April 12th, 1998

Sign: Aries

Sexuality: Lesbian

Traits: Standoffish, Gruff, Awkward, Loyal, Intelligent, Self-sufficient

Occupation: Convenience store employee

Family: Stephanie White (neé Cook) — Mother (Deceased), Patrick White — Father (Deceased), Hanna Cook — Aunt, 47 (Living), Bryan Cook — Cousin, 14 (Living), Jessica Cook — Cousin, 16 (Living), Mary Cook — Cousin, 16 (Living)

A P P E A R A N C E

Eye color: Blue

Hair Color: Blonde

Height: 5′7

Build: Tall, Slender, but not Athletic

Tattoos: None

Piercings: Three lobe piercings in each ear, double helix on the left, nose piercing on the right nostril (nose ring)

B A C K G R O U N D

triggers: car crash, death, mental health, drugs, alcohol

Cameron was born into a loving family. The only child of Patrick and Stephanie White, they were the spitting image of a family relationship. There was hardly a skeleton in their closet. Cameron was the ideal child. Carefree, kind, and hardworking. Everyone who came across her adored her. 

This all changed when Cameron got to Middle School. In a tragic incident, Cameron’s parents were struck and killed in a car accident, leaving her on her own. Or, mostly. The good thing with a small town like Coolsville— at least, seemingly good —is that next of kin is never hard to come by. 

Cameron moved in with her Aunt, Hanna, at age 11 with her three little cousins. Little, being the optimum word. Between Mary and Jessica, the twins who were three, and Bryan who was barely a year-old, it was a full house. One Cameron had to help with more than she liked to admit. Her Aunt Hanna was barely holding the house together as it was, with no Uncle to speak of, and adding one more mouth to feed did nothing to help matters. 

Hanna never did anything to make Cameron feel unwanted, much to her credit. She could have easily been treated like Cinderella. But, Cameron was welcomed as one of their own. She wasn’t stupid, though. She could see the stress her Aunt was under, and the way that having her in the house didn’t make that any better. That on top of being newly orphaned made Cameron sink into her shell as soon as middle school started. 

Kids, especially at middle school age, are mean. They find weak points and exploit them. No one went as far as to make fun of her for having dead parents, but she was officially the weird kind and the quiet kid that no one seemed to want at their table at lunch. She was shoved into the background, weighed down by unimaginable loss, stress, and depression only to be treated like an outsider for it. 

Cameron found comfort in other things, eventually. Video games, music, movies— anything to keep her mind out of the here and now. The only problem is all of that involved technology. Technology that was incredibly expensive in the early 2010s. She had managed to sneak some stuff that Hanna no longer used for herself, but most of it was scraped together with what little she saved working odd jobs. Second hand stuff, mostly, dug out of bins at yard sales or bought off ebay half working. Without the funds to buy new, Cameron took quickly to learning to repair the equipment, learning the insides of every piece of technology she could get her hands on through YouTube videos and books from the library. 

Eventually, that interest began to transcend past the physical make up of technology, to the more intricate parts of digital code. It started with ways to alter online games in her favor, then it was editing and coding forums, then it was breaking into Hanna’s Email to delete messages from her teachers saying they were concerned about missing work (it got turned in eventually). One thing led to another, and before Cameron knew it, she was being paid to change grades, delete emails, break the online submit form for assignments to give kids extra time with no penalty.

Of course, she was no professional. Her methods were as sloppy as her reputation as a loser, hacker girl was well known. Despite people using her skills to their benefit, it only sent her sliding further down the slippery slope of solitude. Especially the further into High School she got. 

She turned to drinking, cigarettes, weed— anything to numb away the thoughts she didn’t want to deal with. At first, there was some sympathy for her plight. The orphaned kid sent to live with an overworked, single Mother of an Aunt. It was fair to assume she’d be a little bent out of shape, right? But, the more she got caught, the more than sympathy started to wane. It morphed into resentment, and all of the sudden, Cameron was suspect number one for every bad thing that happened in town. As if there were no other unruly teens to spray paint the side of a building or demolish mailboxes. Cameron had become the High School’s hero Hacker and scapegoat all at the same time. 

The one thing Cameron wanted was to get out of Ohio. It seemed like technology was the clear route to go, so she applied to one school, and one school only: MIT. Her grades were solid, she had written a good essay— she felt like it was a sure fire thing. The only problem is Hacking and Police Reports that run over one page long do not an MIT Candidate make. Cameron was rejected outright. And, maybe it was a stupid hill to die on, but she felt as if that rejection had solidified her life as bust. She hasn’t applied to a single school yet, and has instead taken a job at the convenience store, bringing home money to help Hanna. It seems only fair seeing as she allows her to stay in her house past the time she was required to do so. 

When Dani went missing, the whole town was rocked. The twins, also on the cheer team, were distraught. There were search parties, town hall meetings, missing posters, and every other possible medium to find some missing person. But, meanwhile, Cameron knew all fingers would be pointed at her. Because, every miscreant goes from smoking weed on the playground at Midnight to kidnapping, and possibly murdering a Coolsville Sweetheart. Or, that was what the Police seemed to believe. 

Now, she’s wrapped up in an investigation of her own. Well, her own, and nine other people she’d consider strangers if she didn’t know them all by name. But, she’s just in it to clear her own name. 

[camxwhite]

lucysharper·:

- - - 

If they weren’t stuck on this ride right now, Lucy probably wouldn’t have spoken to Cameron at all today. It feels awful to admit, but she placates herself by the fact it isn’t outloud, and that she is in fact talking to Cam right now. Sometimes it helps to lie to herself, tell herself shes not quite as evil as she is.

Its harder though, with Cam describing how she’s been through the ringer lately. Theorethically, Lucy knows that she knew this. Danny was Cam’s best friend, a fact everyone knew even before they knew Cam as well as Lucy did. Or used to, at least. 

“Its good that Danny has you. I fear he would be.. well, worse off.” Anyone with eyes could see how his sisters disappearance was deeply affecting the man. “But.. it is a little unfair that you have to deal with all of that. It keeping you busy and all.” 

What she really wanted to ask was if Cam was okay, but it felt like she shouldn’t. Like she wasn’t allowed to. After all, it was Lucy’s own fault they weren’t speaking lately, and being able to worry about Cam- she’d forfieted that right when she did that. 

“I couldn’t not help.” Well, she could, but she wasn’t that cruel. “But– I’m sure if you didn’t have my brains you’d all be fine. Jasper could do any writing you need- in theory.” 

“I’m still glad to be an important member to you, though.” 

~

Cameron wonders if this is fate intervening to force them together— even if it’s just for closure. Because, Cameron knows that the minute they part ways after this ride, it’ll go back to silent treatments, and potential awkward small talk when the whole gang is in the same place together. Maybe it’s a good thing for Cam to get this out of the way. Then she can just move on with her life, and let Lucy pretend to not know Cam from Adam.

Some might find the burden to bear in the disappearance of Dani. Especially if they were nearly as close to Danny as she was. But, Cameron never saw it as anything less than what she’d willingly give up for her friend. He had been a constant for her. A missing piece of her puzzle. Someone she always knew she could rely on and turn towards on bad days. They had only been so close for all of three years, but it didn’t even seem to matter with how well they knew each other.

“What are best friends for,” Cameron shrugs. “I know he’d bend over backwards if I ever needed him. I don’t mind doing the same, stress or no stress.” He had listened to her whine about things with Lucy enough for one lifetime anyway. Putting her energy into finding Dani felt like payment in kind. 

Cam has to laugh at the mention of Jasper, and shakes her head. “I would take you over Jasper any day. Skill or no skill.”

“You are.” She lets that hang in the air for a second, practically feel the world closing in on her at the implication that leaves. “To all of us, really.”

[camxwhite]

danny-logan·:

—————————–

Danny can sort of tell that Cam is frustrated that he’s making sense. Sense was not usually part of his vocabulary, more so hers, so the fact that he’s the one preaching this time is probably frustrating her. Which, in some ways, makes his sudden burst of romantic knowledge all the sweet. He won’t tell her that though. Right now she’s allowed to mourn and feel or whatever she needs to do with him like he’s done with Darcy for literally years at this point.

When she offers to pay, he first pumps a little, trying to quickly finish off the corn by dumping it from the Styrofoam cup directly into his mouth. It is not attractive at all but at this point he isn’t really trying to be. Who cares if people are watching? His love life is destroyed. After he finds Dani he’ll run off and go be a nun or something.

“Thanks, babe,” Danny offers. 

Maybe there is a reason this entire heteronormative town thinks they’re dating.

“Dude you are beyond preaching to the choir right now. Darcy basically give a bit rejection on the Ferris Wheel of Dream Crushing and I’m in fucking mourning. But,” he points at her as they find a seat at one of the old plastic tables they have set up everywhere for people to sit and each. “I don’t think you’re blowing it up in your head, okay? I think you’re seeing something, you’re feeling it, and you’re acting on it. You know acting on your feelings isn’t a bad thing. Letting yourself be emotional isn’t a bad thing. It shows a healthy understanding of how you’re experiencing life.”

Danny rips off a piece of the funnel cake, immediately spreading powdered sugar everyone. “Aw man. Come on. These jeans are new.”

~

Cameron is grateful their friendship is a two way street. At least, that’s what she has to keep reminding herself the more and more Danny hits the nail on the head with saying exactly what she needs to hear. Of course, the whole thing about Darcy sucks. Though, Cameron isn’t sure she buys that it was a flat out rejection based on everything she knew about Darcy. But, this isn’t the time to argue with him about that, either. She knows better than to get into an argument with Danny. He really did always win. 

Silently, she’s mulling over his well done monologue about feeling feelings. A skill Cameron had attempted to shut off a long time ago, clearly unsuccessfully if she was sitting here having this very conversation with Danny. Yet another argument she knew she couldn’t win. But, she might try to push back anyway. Just to be obnoxious. 

It was kind of her thing. 

“I see healthy processing of emotions, and raise you compartmentalization and repression,” She says, ripping a piece of funnel cake off, much more carefully to avoid the fate to her own clothes. She pops it in her mouth, and nods down at the jeans. 

“It’ll dissolve in water if you don’t rub it in too much. Just soak a cloth, and get it wet. It should come right off. If not, try white vinegar.” Perks of thirteen years of being a live in babysitter for toddlers and teenagers: If there was a stain, Cameron probably knew at least one trick to get it out.

[ronancedaily]

MAYA HAWKE as Heather Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (2021)

[camxwhite]

elijahsjungs·:

✰ 

With his position at the Sheriff’s office, his friendship with Cameron was one of countless things threatening to careen over the edge of the cliff that was his life. Elijah knew that she had very good reason to be angry at him in a macro sense, but if he’d let his emotions dictate his thoughts, this one felt a little unfair. Seemed like the new trend in Coolsville, though. It wasn’t fair that he’d had other career options put on the back burner in favor of family tradition; it wasn’t fair that a girl went missing and his father and the rest of them sat on their asses doing nothing; and it wasn’t fair that the town had painted a target on Cam’s back.

But you roll with the punches, he guesses ( though that seems to be easier with one of those three things; the others, easier said than… ). That and Eli was a persistent idiot, pushing past any hurdles in the road without so much as a second thought— he mouthed-off in the office, swiped a case file for the Logan and brought his favorite jailbird some fried Oreos. Where the latter is concerned, he opts to ignore the verbal lashing in favor of shaking the paper boat in a continued plea, “they’re a festival staple, Cam,” he tries, popping an Oreo in his mouth, “s’really delicious.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want one?” Another shake of the paper boat, and after a beat, “Cam, they’re no-strings Oreos, you don’t have to become a Young fan or anything, but I did wait in line for these and there’s no way I’m finishing them myself.” In an ideal world, the Oreos would have done just that, but his odds were looking terrible right now— he would have brought her fried Oreos while she was in the holding cell but you could only find the elusive food on the fourth. It strikes him now that regular Oreos could have sufficed, and that’s hindsight for you. This would have to be one of those long cons he’d seen in the movies.

~

Eli was always outside of the realm Cam would have considered herself friends with in High School. He wasn’t a try hard cool guy, but he was far above her in the ranks of social status, even if he didn’t act like it. But, Cam appreciated his candor. The way he seemed opposed to falling victim to the small town curse of being trapped and trampled by the weight of preconceived notions. Truly, Cam thought, if anyone, Eli would have escaped. He would have been three towns over, being a teacher, a doctor, hell a lawyer. Not a cop in a small town that they had commiserated over hating as teenagers. 

It was a strange amount of mental gymnastics that had to be done to understand her new relationship to Eli, really. Because, she knew it was all performative. No one woke up one day, and rerouted all of their feelings and principles to a new way of thinking. But, she had still expected more of him. She had expected more than to be presented with Fried Oreos as a peace offering. An explanation, and apology that didn’t end with the word but. Anything. 

“This isn’t the olive branch you think it is,” Cam mutters as she snatches an Oreo from the little paper boat if only so he would leave her alone. But, who was Cam to leave well enough alone? “You can understand why I’m angry, right? Or do I need to break it down for you?”

[camxwhite]

peaceofdiana·:

Diana laughed, shaking her head a little. “I know that you’re right, but I still think that even the worst of liquors don’t deserve the plastic bottle treatment.” Plastic only messes with an already debatable flavor but then again maybe that was the point. If it was bad enough, you could blame the plastic instead of the manufacturing of the alcohol. “You are definitely speaking to the choir on that one. But since when are bars made optimally.”

Even hearing the small bits of what Danny was going through hurt to hear, knowing that it was likely only a snippet of the pain he was going through. It was something she wouldn’t wish on anyone, even someone she hated.

“I’m glad he has you though. It’s better that he has someone to distract him right now.” Diana offered her a small smile. “It’ll likely only get worse until we figure out more too. You think it’s stupid to wake up hoping that the police finally wised up and managed to find her?”

~

“You’re probably right, but if I saves me ten extra bucks, I won’t complain.” Her cheap habits were well maintained, but what she wouldn’t give to be a glass bottle user. Maybe eventually, if the stars somehow aligned. Hell, maybe their mystery solving business would take off if they managed to find Dani alive and well. “It would take all the fun out of it, right? Who doesn’t love coming to work and stressing out?”

“I’m doing my best at the very least.” No one could argue with that. If there was one thing Cameron was, it was loyal. Loyal to the people she cared about the most. And, Danny was at the top of that list. 

As much as Cameron is not a fan of the Coolsville PD, she’d be relieved if they manage to find Dani instead of the little band of misfits Danny had put together. At least she would have the confidence that they weren’t fully incompetent, and she’d have her friend back from the precipice of a mental spiral. “No, I don’t think so. Honestly, I’ve been feeling the same way. I’d love to wake up one day, and this to all be over. You’re brother... has he said much about how it’s going?”

[signedupforthis]

Hey, Luke?

[camxwhite]

danny-logan·:

———–

Danny thinks that, maybe, Cameron might be overreacting a little bit right now. Then again, his entire life is overreacting when it comes to Darcy’s minor movements. Not that he really wants to think about Darcy at all right now after her blatant rejection of him on the Ferris Wheel. He doesn’t know what the fuck will happen in the future, but their lunch not dates are about to be a huge bummer for him knowing that she’s got no attraction.

God this whole fucking week has sucked so much ass.

Still, he tries to focus on Cameron and her troubles instead. That, at least, is something he can handle. Or at least pretend to handle.

“Right. You guys had like a connection and a moment so you not understanding where the sudden cold shoulder is coming from is definitely an issue for you. Whatever reason she’s doing a physical ghost channel is weird.” Danny takes another bite of the corn and points out a funnel cake stand. “Wanna eat that?”

Right now, he wants to eat everything and anything. Hopefully, it’ll get his mind off of the fucking shit show of his existence.

“We did break into my parent’s house so that could be the reason for the universe karma. But,” he emphasizes, “I don’t think that’s the reason. I think things are just a hot mess. I think she’s nervous and maybe she likes you a whole lot but is nervous because she’s not out of the closet. Not to anyone and maybe not to herself, you know?”

~

Cameron hates being in such a state with her emotions. Her whole thing in their friendship was being the sensible one. On occasion, she would be the idiot, or the one who dared Danny to do something stupid, but when it came to most matters, she was the one with enough common sense, and logical thought process to figure things out. But, when it was her own heart at play? Well, Cameron was lucky she hadn’t stuck all the way in her mouth yet. 

There was still time, much to her chagrin. Even more of it when she was one of the people on this mission to find Dani. A fact that Cameron could not tell Danny, because it would take him all of five seconds to work his way through the short list of options that would leave him with. 

God, she hates having feelings. 

She huffs out a sigh and nods as Danny regurgitates everything she just said in far less emotional language. And then, promptly redirects his attention, however briefly, onto yet another food vendor. Frankly, drowning her sorrows in food destined to take at least a few months off her lifespan sounds ideal at the moment, so who is she to complain, really? 

“Yeah, I’ve got this one,” She offers, already crossing in front of him to prevent any unnecessary protest from him. 

She barks out a laugh at the reminder of their stint with a life of crime. A short lived one at that seeing as they had both nearly gone off the deep end the minute something went wrong. “I know you’re right, and I am definitely blowing this whole thing up in my head. I’m just,” She sighs, not entirely sure where she’s going with that statement. “I’m just hopeless in romance. I get my feelings hurt too easy.” She grabs the funnel cake, mumbling out a thank you before passing it towards Danny. “That whole tax benefit marriage thing is looking better and better.”

[camxwhite]

lucysharper·:

- - - 

Lucy hates for a moment that despite the fact that she was pretending Cameron didn’t exist, (After all, if Cameron didn’t exist, then what happened with Cameron didn’t exist, and she wasnt..) theres a little jolt of electricity that comes from their shoulders bumping together. The good kind, but it still makes her shoulders stiffen, her posture going rigid. 

How have you been? A simple question, but there was no simple way to answer it truthfully. On the one hand, she was drowning in a sea of things that she now wanted to experience, or was lost in the fact she had now experienced. On the other hand, she was constantly tormented by the fact someone would find out exactly what she’s spent so much of her life hiding. 

She’d woken a few nights in a cold sweat, nightmares of what her father would say about her.. he would call it a deviancy, she thinks. Which is an awful way to put it, but she can’t bring herself to label that as wrong. Regardless, she does need to come up with some answer to Cameron, or this will be the most awkward ride of her life. 

“We haven’t spoken since that, yeah.” A simple statement of the truth- that she’d actively avoided Cameron. “I am.. alright. Just been busy. With everything- missing girl and all. Kind of keeps me up at night.” Well, she’d managed to half lie, that was good enough, “How.. how are you?” 

~

It’s selfish, Cameron’s thinks, to be hurt by being shunned by Lucy after everything. She knows that’s the case. What Lucy’s experiencing is probably ten times to mental turmoil that Cam is. She is in an accepting presence at all times. People know she’s a Lesbian, and she takes the small town comments on the chin, and leans into the safety net she knows she has. It’s a luxury that she sometimes forgets she has. But, it doesn’t stop the tightness from forming in her chest as her shoulder rests against Lucy’s, warmth radiating off of her— maybe from embarrassment, maybe not. 

But, then again, Lucy’s admitting to ignoring her, or at least that’s what it feels like when she gives a half hearted acknowledgement of the fact that they had not spoken once since that night. Granted, Dani’s disappearance was a far more pressing matter than Cam’s love life, or lack there of, but the unanswered texts burn a hole in Cameron’s phone every time she scrolls a little too far. 

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s been rough. Danny’s really torn up about it, obviously. So, I’ve just been trying to be... you know, be there as much as I can. It’s kept me pretty busy, too.” 

It’s not a complete lie. She hadn’t had much time to think about Lucy or what happened between them between making sure Danny stayed afloat, and joining this little band of would-be investigators. But, it’s not like she hadn’t stayed awake a little too late at night, replaying old conversations in her head, trying to piece together if it was something she had done to cause all of this trouble. 

“It’s great that you’re helping with this whole Dani investigation thing. We can use brains like yours for sure.”

[camxwhite]

jasperstbitch·:

━━▲━━

“Low bar,” Jasper pointed out, mildly disappointed that his peace offering was rejected without even a word of thanks.

But if Cameron wouldn’t eat it, he sure would. Retracting the offer, he tore off a large piece of the funnel cake and shoved it in his mouth, immediately regretting the decision once he realized just how hot it was.

Good thing he also decided to continue speaking as he chewed. To cool things down.

“You’re really missing out on this funnel cake, btw.”

He wasn’t sure what he’d done to Cameron (truthfully, he didn’t even remember her from high school) but she was radiating bad vibes. Towards him specifically. It was like any smile that might have been on her face disappeared the second he came into view, without fail. And why? People could shit on Jasper all they wanted, but he’d always considered himself a p decent guy. He really didn’t think he’d terrorized her at any point…

But as nice as he’d generally been ever since he’d first picked up on the ‘don’t even fucking look in my direction’ front, there had been no getting around whatever idea she’d gotten into her head about him. So. Whatever.

He still had to interview her. She’d just been arrested for a B&E at the home of a missing teen. It would literally be a crime not to.

“You’ve seen Criminal Minds, right? Isn’t, like… the first 48 hours the most important?” he asked to get back on track, the question more rhetorical than anything. He didn’t know a lot about real crime, but tv was his bread and butter. And in the past year of his cancellation he’d binged a metric fuckton of crime shows. At least one or two things from all of that had to have been legit, right?

“It would be very heartless to not care about a missing girl, Cameron. And it cannot be said that Jasper St. James doesn’t have a heart. You know I donate to charity, right? I’m big on community service and this is like… big service to the community. Why do you have a vested interest?”

~

There isn’t an ounce of regret in her soul for not accepting his funnel cake. She still doesn’t trust that it isn’t rigged, and frankly, she doesn’t want Jasper to get the idea that they’re friends. Or even on good terms, for that matter. 

“I will find a way to survive.” It wasn’t like she and Danny were getting out of here without eating at least half of the food in sight anyway. It was part of the tradition they had cooked up over the years. 

Her anger towards Jasper wasn’t necessarily justified. But, it was real. Even if he hadn’t done it on purpose, her life was a living hell because of his mere existence, and that was a good enough reason. But, what was she going to do? Voice that to him? And put herself on his radar? Hardly. It was bad enough that he had shoehorned his way into this investigation. 

“Yeah, I know what they say about the first 48 hours. It doesn’t mean we won’t find her, she hasn’t just vanished out of the ether.” Whether they found her alive or... well, Cam didn’t even want to put the other possibility into the universe. They would find her one way or another, if only to bring Danny the peace of knowing where Dani was. But, she was confident in Dani’s ability to survive. They just had to find her as quickly as they possibly could if she did happen to find herself in trouble. 

An incredulous look crosses her face when he claims to have pure intentions in joining the search for Dani. Cameron doesn’t believe him, but she bites her tongue, settling on an unconvinced hum. “Still, I never struck you as a boots on the ground kind of guy. Maybe you’d throw money at the situation, but actually pounding the pavement? It just feels... out of character.” That’s all Jasper St. James was, wasn’t it? A character carefully crafted for the consumption of the public. She had never met someone more surface level than him. 

“Contrary to popular belief, I also have a heart,” She deadpans, rather unamused with the question, and where it might go. “Dani’s my best friend’s Sister, why wouldn’t I help?” There was also the personal gain of clearing her name, but Danny was her first concern. Despite what everyone in town thought, there was no world in which she’d intentionally hurt him purposely. And, the implication that she would was like a knife to the heart each time she heard the rumor swirl. 

[camxwhite]

valentinagarridos·:

♥ 

A matter of perspective was one ( optimistic ) way of looking at it, but that required a large cache of them and Valentina had only had the one. Her oldest memory at this festival isn’t a very clear one, though that didn’t render it any less formative. There was a new dress her mother had dressed her in, the pins in her hair, and the shiny mary-jane shoes. 

Most importantly, the words she’d left her daughter with: don’t even think about getting this dirty. And so, she’d spent the rest of the festival within the confines of some imaginary square. 

The years after weren’t all too different, though they’d have one added responsibility. Valentina was suddenly an older sister ( once, twice and then three times ) and she had to keep four children inside that small intangible square. Maybe then, it was two perspectives, but neither one was very, fun for lack of a better word. In the end it was one other chore— and in the end, a girl goes missing and that’s when her experience with this event starts feeling a little less contrived.

“Okay, what’s step one in this plan of yours,” she thinks she might as well try, “as far as maximizing enjoyment of this weird little funhouse.” Val thinks she could start by being nicer to the attraction, but she wasn’t going to do that any time soon. Besides, Cameron was the real expert here. 

“Right, they’ve got you under a microscope as per usual.” Correction: even more than usual, which Val could understand in objective terms. Subjectively, the witch hunts were as entertaining as they were fair; there was something classless about the way the inhabitants of this town wouldn’t see past their own noses. “Which animal at the petting zoo are you, by the way?”

~

Cameron purses her lips, and stares at the hall of mirrors for a long moment, trying to decide how much fun they can really have without any way to get properly intoxicated without risking the Sheriff eating up another shot to arrest Cameron White, and win brownie points with the town. What a fun day to day Cam found herself maintaining now. 

“Well, if we’re doing this sober, then I say we kind of just... go for it. Enjoy the slight disorienting nature of the whole thing, and try and have some damn fun for once, right?” They all needed some fun. At least, Cameron needed fun. And, she wasn’t going to pull out the pity card just yet, but the thought had crossed her mind even briefly. “I think the fun is in getting lost if you wanna get philosophical with it,” She offers, passing over tickets to the attendant. 

A microscope was a nice way of putting it. She felt as if she had been branded with the Scarlet Letter, and made to parade around town like a leper. But, that was no different than normal. What made it particularly bad this time around was the fact that they were accusing her of doing something to hurt one of the few people she cared about. She was lucky Danny didn’t believe it, and likely never would, but she couldn’t stomach the even passing thought that he could believe it and shun her.

But, Cameron tosses the thought away as they enter the maze, lights softly and slowly pulsing from one vibrant rainbow color to the next. No, she’s not going to unload all these unfounded anxieties onto Val who, most likely, wouldn’t understand it anyway. “Probably like one of those awful Goat’s that head butts everyone,” Cam muses, in a teasingly longing way. 

[camxwhite]

late-night-lark·:

Freddie actually winces as Cam starts scrolling past all the messages at the sudden revelation of Dani’s sheer, well, person-ness.  They’d been carefully keeping the situation at arm’s length - easier to stay objective and logical that way.  And it’s not like they knew her.  No, Dani Logan was, for the most part just another missing person.

And now she isn’t.  Or she won’t be.

The problem with Digital Forensics is that you end up treating technology as both crime scene and corpse.  Trying to find evidence, yes, but also, often, trying to build a picture, an understanding of the person who left it behind.

Felonies aside, there’s really no going back after this.

A forest.  A path with now two sets of footprints.

They shake out their hair and tune back into what Cam’s saying.  “Oh, yeah- Buttercup?  Danny said it was uh, the family dog when they were little.”  Freddie drums lightly on the edge of the desk.  “Can’t think of any direct offshoots, but pet name’s a classic so for four digits…significant dates?  Years?”

They hope it’s so simple, and thank whatever’s listening for bad password habits – although if that were entirely the case, Dani wouldn’t have double locked this, so-

“Although probably not one Danny or her parents would guess.  Maybe specific to- that’s the boyfriend, right?  Ex-boyfriend.”

~

Cameron feels her stomach twist a little as she stares at the screen, hearing Freddie list off ideas behind her. Pieces of Dani’s life that Cam isn’t sure she knows. Pieces of Dani’s life she might never get to know outside of the tales Danny’s spun for her. 

Her heart continues to ache as she pulls out her own phone, popping open Dani’s instagram account, and scrolling until she finds the obligatory anniversary post. The sight of a bright faced, smiling teenager full of promise shouldn’t feel as world ending as it does right now. But, Cam forces those feelings down, and tries the date. 

The screen shifts and reveals the texts beneath the blur. 

If they find Dani alive and well, she’ll be giving her a talking to about password security. When they find Dani alive and well. 

Frankly, Cameron doesn’t know what she expects to find in Chase’s texts. Some glaringly blatant threat? Some detailed confession with diagrams and written plans for how the Sheriff’s son was going to carry out some kidnapping/murder plot against his ex-girlfriend. But, what Cam finds, is not even hostile. Not really. Irritating and definitely harassment, but not violent. 

Text after text line the screen with stupid little red heart emojis littered throughout. Thinking of u. I still love you. I miss you. Can we get coffee and talk about this? Cameron still wants to slap the snot nosed brat in the face because, dude take the hint. But, it’s not suspicious. Nothing about his messages change. Dani hadn’t even responded in days. 

“Shit,” She mutters, not quite looking at Freddie as she does. “Chase is a dead end.” 

A huff of frustration passes Cameron’s lips as she finds herself back to square one, exiting out to the screen that housed all of Dani’s text threads. She could be here for hours, Dani was popular, she knew everyone and everyone knew her. How was Cameron supposed to narrow this down?

Her mind flits briefly to Alyssa. She remembers that jealousy held towards Chase. The way she was so positive he was a problem. She didn’t assume Alyssa had it in her to somehow murder her best friend in cold blood over a boy, but maybe there was more there than what met the naked eye. 

Scrolling again, Cam finds Alyssa’s contact in Dani’s phone, and opens the text message. These aren’t protected the way her Ex’s are. Because, why would she need to worry about her best friend, right? 

At the very bottom of the screen was the little blue text bubble from Dani that read:

we need to talk.

It stares Cam in the face, the date stamp reflecting the day of Dani’s disappearance hovering over the message like a dark cloud. Well, Alyssa had left that out of their initial conversation. 

Whipping around in the chair to face Freddie, Cameron meets their eyes, her own blown wide with realization. 

“Alyssa Michaels. Dani’s best friend. That was the last person Dani texted, and it was just some cryptic message about needing to talk? She didn’t mention any conversation like that when we interviewed her.” But, that didn’t matter now. The matter at hand was finding out if this conversation happened and what it was about. 

[grayhqs]

NINE PERFECT STRANGERS ( 2021 )

[camxwhite]

elijahsjungs·:

for @camxwhite·

Okay so, he knows he isn’t to blame here— Elijah didn’t lock the cuffs on Cameron nor did he drag her all the way to the station’s holding cells, but he was part of the system that had consistently treated Cameron as less than she deserved. And just like he’d folded and joined the Sheriff’s Department at his father’s request, he’d gone and stood on the sidelines as it happened. Eli knows that one was out of his hands too, but arguing that point wasn’t going to do him any favors. With that in mind, deep fried Oreos might. 

Honestly, he really hopes they do because he had to wait in line for a really long time to get them; just when did those things become so popular? And more importantly, when had all the kids in Coolsville become so rude? He wasn’t anything like that when he was running around in his teens. 

But that wasn’t even the bigger issue here, he’d been looking around for Cam for so long, that by the time he’d found her the Oreos were…not-hot. Eli hopes they’re still an adequate peace offering when they’re not so hot they’d burn your tastebuds off. So he walks over to where she’s standing near the drop tower, with his best smile and some lukewarm Oreos, “Cameron, you like all that tooth-rotting sweet stuff, right, because I have something for ya,” ( translation, please don’t tell me that queue was for nothing ).

~

Logically speaking, there isn’t a real reason to hate Eli. Be annoyed with him? Avoid him? Yes. But, hate him? No. Whether Cameron cared to admit it or not, it really wasn’t his decision to arrest her that night. and she had broken into the Logan house. That wasn’t subject to argument, and she would willingly take responsibility for that fact. There would be no remorse, because the Logan’s were two pieces of shit, but she could acknowledge that she had committed a crime. But, she now held a ridiculous amount of guilt over the fact that she had potentially ruined her best friend’s life. He would never say that to her, Danny would never view this as her fault. He saw it was a necessary step to protect her, but there would be nothing to protect her from if it wasn’t for their attempt at Oceans 11-ing his parents’ house. 

None of that was Eli’s fault either, but with no else to direct her anger onto, he was the closest related target. The real problem with Eli was that he fed into the system that seemed to have something personal against her. The Sheriff sadistic pleasure in arrest her, and quite obvious disdain in having to tell her that the charges against her had been dropped was the same that employed Eli. Sent him off to try and bust her for pranks and she didn’t do or chase her away from places she had every right to be. And, after years of him claiming that wasn’t who he wanted to be, it was exactly who he became.

So, when he tracks her down after she leaves him on read twice, wearing a bright and toothy smile, offering her fried Oreos, she thinks she might slap him. Or at least slap the cookies out of his hand. After staring at him for a long moment, waiting for him to take the hint, she finally speaks. “I figured you were smart enough to figure out that me blatantly ignoring you means I don’t want to talk to you. Guess not.” She glances from the Oreos, back to Eli. “But, I guess someone with intelligence would know deep fried cookies aren’t going to just smooth everything over.”

[camxwhite]

danny-logan·:

———————

Talking about someone else’s love life is an incredible relief right now. Darcy basically shot him down forever in the Ferris Wheel and he’s not sure how, if ever, he’ll get over that horrible heartbreak. Maybe he’ll die a hermit. Maybe he’ll find his sister and then go off into the woods and make weird tree art. Maybe he could become an urban legend all on his own.

Listening to Cami helps a lot. At least he isn’t the only one who’s life is a fucking hot mess right now.

“I mean, you could,” Danny says as he pays for a cup of fried corn from one of the stands. He takes a bite and then hands it to Cam to share.

(Are they gross? Probably.)

“It’s not a bad thing to check base after an intense romantic encounter? Especially if you’re looking to do The Sideways Tango Two: Electric Boogaloo.” He hums as they continue to walk. She’s freaking out but it’s endearing in a lot of ways. Also, he probably sounds like this about Darcy, so telling her to such up feels incredibly hypocritical. “The boat this is mortifying no matter what, Cami. I wouldn’t dig deep on that one. But, let me do some math on this one. She doesn’t want you telling anyone, she seems embarrassed and anxious so maybe….she just isn’t comfortable with the gay thing yet? I mean think about it, when you figured out you were part of the Alphabet Soup it was weird right? It was for me. I was like oh shit am I even still a guy? Am I less than a dude now? Maybe there’s that same thought process, you know? For some ladies.”

Danny takes the food back and takes another bite, pausing in between his chewing. “Can I ask another question? Why the fuck did you get in line for a love boat ride by yourself? Like were you looking to bone a stranger in the pale moonlight? We could arrange that in a location that probably doesn’t have jizz rotted wood boats.”

~

Well, he’s not wrong. Cameron could just outright ask if she regrets it. But, then that corners them both into a conversation she’s not sure she’s ready to have. Her ego would be forever bruised if the answer was yes. And, if the answer was no, that would grant her no more clarity on what had happened that had made Lucy oh so avoidant with her. 

She takes the corn from him, not even registering it as weird. This was the fair, people share food all the time at the fair. Maybe not corn but, hey. Why buy two? 

With her respective bite, she hands it back off to Danny and sighs, maybe a touch melodramatically. “It’s just— it wasn’t like we just hooked up in the back room of the Cougar Pub. There was... there was build up, and conversation, and it was her decision. I thought, maybe that was a good sign that she was moving in the right direction. But, now I’m freaked out that I might have just slingshotted her right back into the closet somehow. Like, with something I did or said, and I pushed it too far, and now she doesn’t even want to look at me anymore.” She furrowed her brow, trying to think over the experience again, see if anything of note popped out. 

With a groan, she places her hand at her forehead. “I think I might sound like an insane person right now, but I just wanted to be alone for all of five minutes. And, you know, the last place you’d expect to find presumed serial killer Cameron White is in the tunnel of love. I just didn’t figure they’d stick me with someone random, and with my luck, it happened to be a former fling.” A former fling Cameron wasn’t quite sure she wanted to be former.

“This is somehow punishment from the universe. I don’t even know for what, but that’s the only explanation I can think of.”

[camxwhite]

valentinagarridos·:

♥ 

Val wants to be surprised that someone would actually come to this festival every year to frolic around and be merry or whatever it is people do, but she knows that she’s the real outlier here. She wants to say there’s no real reason to look at the festival with such trepidation, even though she’d been adding things to the list since she was a child ( Valentina had more freedom to roam around in her adolescence but most of the day was spent playing the role of one very happy daughter from a very happy family ). 

It couldn’t hurt to look at the event with new eyes, but she’d never been so mercurial, floating from one emotion to the next. Those things take time.

Would this count as one small step for man? She still didn’t see the appeal in walking into the hall but she nodded nonetheless, taking in the information about Cam’s relationship with the weird festival attraction. “Every year sounds like a stretch, but if the novelty is still there after all of that, then why not?” People celebrated the same five or so things each year, and there ( typically ) wasn’t much else to do around town. “Are you high right now?” She borders on laughter and her tone is light, amused, incredulous almost— the festivities were probably more palatable that way.

As were the days following a stint in a holding cell, she assumes. Not that she’d know and not that she wants to know; it’d be best to keep the rest of the group from meeting the same fate ( particularly herself, she was ‘always’ on her p’s and q’s ); it’d also be best to keep Cam from getting arrested again. Valentina figures she cares about the other ( somewhat, and sparsely ), enough to set half of her bail, but she wasn’t ready for that one conversation with her mind. 

~

Truly, Cameron would sit out the Festival if left to her own devices. But, the last several years she’s been left with little choice. Between either being dragged by her Aunt, Cousins, and now Danny, she’s not one to disappoint. But, for all her griping about the matter, Cameron does see the fun it with the right people. She just wishes the circumstances were better this time around. But, between Dani’s disappearance, the new town mystery of how Cameron’s allowed to wander the streets. 

And, when her brain wanders to that, it wanders to the guilt she feels for ensnaring Danny in all of this. She should’ve insisted on going alone or something so that way, somehow, it would keep Danny out of the middle of it all. Realistically, he would probably still have done the same, but at least she could pretend like somehow it would go over his head that his parents had her arrested if he wasn’t there to witness it. 

“It’s a matter of perspective at the end of the day. If you go in without a plan to enjoy it, then it’s way less enjoyable.” At least in Cameron’s grouchy, teenage experience, that was the case. When she started attempting to enjoy herself, it got fun. It was especially fun when a high was involved, but that wasn’t the case this year. 

“Nah, not now. I’m supposed to be on my best behavior, remember? I figured it was better not to risk it since everyone and their brother is taking their chance to stare at me like I’m a part of the petting zoo.”

[siohbhanroy]

[camxwhite]

@danny-logan