The Prom Part 2
The next morning, Sarah was surprised to find that Cameron had made breakfast. John was happily wolfing down toast while flicking through the tv channels when she entered the kitchen.
“Morning,” she yawned.
“Hey mom,” John replied without looking over at her.
Cameron on the other hand had not taken her eyes off Sarah since she entered the room. She had spent much of the night analysing her responses to Sarah’s kisses. Cameron had decided that more data was needed, although she doubted whether Sarah would be willing to kiss her again. A plan of action was needed, and it began with breakfast.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Cameron asked, reminding Sarah of her days as a waitress for a moment.
“Sure,” she agreed, taking a seat and pulling the toast rack towards her. Sarah had been wondering how Cameron would be this morning. Apart from the breakfast, she was pleased to see things appeared almost normal. The last thing Sarah wanted was Cameron leaping across the breakfast table to pounce on her, demanding more kissing training. Sarah lost herself in the visual image of that happening for a moment, causing an embarrassed little smile to appear on her face at the idea.
Except for a more intense gaze than normal, Cameron was her usual pre-school self, ignoring John’s half-hearted moans about homework and Sarah’s sandwich making skills.
When Cameron and John left for school, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief that things seemed pretty much as normal between her and Cameron. She vowed to avoid any more kissing lessons, and ignored the little voice of regret in her head. Sarah was a woman on a mission. Keeping John safe had been her only priority for the past 16 years. She was not someone to be distracted easily.
“I need to go shopping,” Cameron announced a few days later. “All of the girls are buying hot dresses for the prom. I need a hot dress.”
John sniggered as usual whenever Cameron came out with her comments on human interactions.
“Take it easy Cameron, I wouldn’t want you to lead Morris on,” he grinned.
“Lead him on? Oh, you mean give him the impression that I am interested in him sexually. No, that would be… undesirable.”
“Aren’t you curious at all?” Sarah asked quietly. “You’ve expressed an… interest in human sexuality, maybe Morris is the man for you.” Sarah gave Cameron a look, waggling her eyebrows.
“The prom is certainly an important moment for people,” John said walking up to Cameron and giving her a pat on the shoulder. “You never know, you might enjoy yourself. Morris is certainly keen enough.” He ruffled her hair in a way that Cameron found quite annoying.
“Will you come with me to buy a dress tomorrow?” She asked Sarah seriously, ignoring John’s teasing.
Sarah considered for a moment, before nodding.
“Sure, why not,” she smiled.
They hit the mall after school, dropping off John at an electronics store to check out the newest gadgets that he loved so much.
Cameron proved herself to be a very efficient shopper, to Sarah’s total lack of surprise.
“Don’t tell me, you downloaded the store guide, planned our route and made a list of what you needed,” she half moaned as Cameron marched them out of the third shoe shop into an adjacent store that just happened to stock dresses.
“It seemed a logical thing to do,” Cameron said absently, scanning the racks of formal dresses. “I do not think there will be anything suitable here.” She turned, intending to go to the next shop on her list.
Sarah decided to put her foot down.
“Hold it right there girlie,” she said, grabbing Cameron’s arm. “I’m sick of walking in and out of shops. Come on, you’re trying something on.” She pulled the reluctant but not totally uncooperative girl towards the back of the store.
Sarah could not remember the last time she went shopping for dresses. It just wasn’t something that had been part of her life since before meeting Kyle and getting pregnant with John, and the whole nightmare that her life had become. Sometimes she found it hard to remember a time when her life wasn’t a chaotic mess.
So, this shopping trip with Cameron was just so weird, but in a pleasantly nostalgic sort of way. She gave the girl an appraising look. She had a fabulous body and would look good in just about anything, Sarah thought. Although she was definitely on the skinny side, so they’d need something that flattered her.
She grabbed a classic little black dress from a rack, holding it up to Cameron’s body.
“Hmm, might be a bit too conservative, but you can try it on,” she muttered, thrusting it into Cameron’s hands. Sarah turned back to the dresses, choosing next a longer strapless one in a deep green.
“Not sure if that’s your colour, but it’ll do.”
A few dresses later, she was steering Cameron towards the changing rooms at the back of the shop. Cameron was out of her depth for once. She had observed all of the dresses Sarah had chosen and analysed them for size, but she really had no idea whether they would look good on her. She was glad she had asked Sarah to come along.
Cameron was still none the wiser about fashion some time later, when Sarah had declared that the black dress was ‘the one’. To Cameron, all of the dresses had looked acceptable, but Sarah had been adamant.
“This is the one Cameron. Very classy but a little bit sexy. Yep, this is it.”
“Do I need to look classy and sexy?” She asked. “Most teenaged girls appear to favour skanky and revealing in their wardrobe choices.”
“Well you’re not most girls Cameron,” Sarah stated firmly. “Besides, we don’t want you standing out from the crowd too much. This dress will look good on you, but it’s pretty discreet too.” She grinned at Cameron’s frown.
“Did you want to be the belle of the ball?” She teased.
“No, you are quite right Sarah,” Cameron said not meeting her eyes. “But I thought you chose it because it suited me best, not because it was the most unobtrusive.”
Sarah noticed the slightly sulky expression, and Cameron’s adorable pout.
“You’ll be the most beautiful girl there,” Sarah said reaching out to rub her shoulder without thinking, seeking to console the depressed looking girl.
“You really think so?” Cameron asked with a sudden eager smile.
Sarah silently cursed herself for speaking without thinking. She had almost forgotten the kissing episode of the other week. OK, so she hadn’t really, but she had been telling herself to forget it, which was almost the same thing.
Cameron moved closer, reaching out to grasp Sarah’s hips and gently pull her towards her.
“I wish I was going to the prom with you,” she said earnestly, looking into Sarah’s eyes.
Sarah was frozen for a moment, suddenly aware of the small changing room they occupied that made retreat tricky. She was also drawn in by those annoyingly lovely lips pouting at her.
No, this wasn’t going to happen again, she decided, just a few seconds before Cameron over rode her decision, leaning in and kissing her so very softly, once then twice.
“Cameron, please…” she whispered, suddenly finding it hard to move.
Cameron seemed to think that was an invitation, as she reached up to cup Sarah’s cheeks, and kissed her again, more firmly this time.
Damn, but the girl was obviously not in need of any further lessons, Sarah thought as she instinctively slid her arms around her waist, unable to stop herself from responding to the urging of Cameron’s lips.
A noise from outside the changing room broke the spell, and Sarah pulled back and out of Cameron’s arms. She backed against the wall, holding out her hands to fend off the amorous advancing terminator.
“Stop, please. We can’t do this Cameron,” she gasped, still breathless.
“Why not? We both appeared to enjoy it and I would like to continue,” Cameron said intently, edging closer to Sarah once more.
“No! You need to listen when I tell you no!” Sarah snapped. “We aren’t doing this again Cameron, so just back off ok?”
Cameron shrank back quickly at Sarah’s hostile tone.
“I apologise,” she said quietly. “I did not wish to make you uncomfortable. I thought you enjoyed our interactions as much as I did.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t so..” she lied, edging towards the door. “Let’s just go.” Sarah made her escape, making it around the corner before leaning against a wall, her knees feeling decidedly wobbly. Wow, could that girl kiss. She wondered whether the request for lessons had been a ruse from the start, as Cameron certainly seemed to have a knack.
Cameron sat on the chair, looking at the dresses Sarah had insisted she try on. She was very confused about her feelings. Why was she feeling so… depressed? She had never felt so deflated before, and it was obviously Sarah’s rejection that had made her feel bad. Cameron did not like this emotion. It did not appear useful, merely painful. Maybe she was malfunctioning. Emotional pain could not be part of her programming. She made a note to perform a full diagnostic later.
Pulling herself together, she gathered the dresses, putting the black one on one side to purchase. She wondered what Sarah really thought of her in the dress. Did she really think she looked sexy and classy? Cameron was beginning to regret her decision to explore human sexuality.
Things were a little tense around the house for the next few days. Cameron keeping her distance from Sarah, barely entering the kitchen when she was there. For her part, Sarah tried to keep occupied, avoiding being alone with Cameron.
“What’s going on with you and Mom?” John asked on their way to school a few days before Prom.
Cameron considered how to respond. She was inclined to extreme truthfulness that bordered on rudeness, but she was aware that discussing her relationship with Sarah was not something she should do. Particularly with John.
“We had a disagreement,” she settled on.
“Hmm, so the usual then.” John grunted. “I don’t know who is the more pig headed out of the two of you.”
“I am not pig headed,” Cameron replied, not completely sure what that meant but pretty sure it was not a compliment.
“I know you’re a superior cybernetic organism and all, but she’s the boss you know. Mom’s word is pretty much it, all we can do is try and persuade her to listen.” John went on.
Cameron considered. Persuade her? Would that work?
“How do you suggest I persuade Sarah Connor to come around to my way of thinking?” She asked the young man.
“Use your logic of course,” he said swiftly. “You always have good reasons for doing things Cameron, so try and win her over with reasoned logic.”
What logical reason could Cameron come up with to persuade Sarah to engage in more kissing with her? She seemed very much against the idea of Cameron becoming involved with John in any way. Perhaps that was a possibility.
Cameron also forced herself to consider that maybe it was the experience of kissing, not specifically kissing Sarah, that was what she was intrigued by. The kisses with Sarah were her only experience. Maybe she would enjoy kissing anyone? It might not be Sarah that was special.
For some reason, she did not like that idea. Sarah fascinated her in a way that no one else did. Cameron was fairly sure that kissing someone else would not elicit the same response within her. However, being the logical cyborg she was, she thought about other potential kissing partners.
Morris was an obvious choice, however he was John’s friend and the prom was a few days away. Cameron felt the need for swifter action. She wanted to kiss someone today.
In the interests of fair testing, only altering one variable at a time, she reasoned that she really should kiss a girl, however, Cameron was not on friendly terms with any of the girls and was aware that it could draw unwanted attention to herself. Perhaps Morris was a better choice after all.
She glanced around the school entrance as she and John waited to go through security as they did each morning. Did any of the males or females stir her attention at all? That boy over there was quite good looking, but she didn’t like his ginger hair. The tall girl coming through the barrier now was very athletic looking with a pleasing body. Or how about that older man on the x-ray machine. None of them held her attention for long. Oddly, Cameron found herself reluctant to select an object of her attention. All of the potentials seemed to have some flaw that discounted them.
“Hey Cam,” Morris said, approaching her from the side. She disliked the nickname but decided not to comment on it.
“Good morning,” she replied formally.
“What’s up Morris,” John greeted his friend.
She watched John and Morris chatting, feeling more and more disconnected from the children at the school. She did not feel the desire to kiss any of them. She felt an odd thump in her chest when she thought about who she did want to kiss.
Cameron was annoyed with the way she was feeling. Emotions were not something cyborgs were designed for. She was still uncertain where these feelings came from. She had no trouble being the unemotional robot Sarah appeared to see her as when fighting. When it was the mission she was focussed on, she did not have any trouble acting in a totally logical way. She did not feel any real guilt over the deaths of Dimitri and his sister. She had not killed them, merely done nothing to prevent their deaths. The only regret she felt was that she would not be receiving any more ballet lessons. Cameron was puzzled why she could be so logical and focussed in some instances, yet when it came to personal relationships rational thought seemed so much harder.
Putting Sarah and her appealing body out of her mind, she followed John and Morris into school, looking at Morris objectively. Did she find him attractive? He seemed like such a child. Cameron wasn’t sure how old she was, what with all the time jumping, but she had seen a lot in her time, and Morris was so young. Perhaps that tough life experience was another reason she felt a kinship with Sarah.
No, stop thinking about Sarah Connor!
“Would you have lunch with me?” she found herself asking Morris suddenly.
A delighted look came over his face.
“I sure would! I’ll see you at 12.” He gave Cameron a huge smile before practically skipping off to his first class.
John didn’t look amused for once.
“What was that all about?” he asked suspiciously.
“I am supposed to be going on a date with him,” Cameron said, “so sharing lunch is expected is it not?”
John didn’t reply, just looked at her closely for a few seconds more, then grunting as he moved off to class.
“Well, be nice to him,” he threw over his shoulder.
“Morning,” she yawned.
“Hey mom,” John replied without looking over at her.
Cameron on the other hand had not taken her eyes off Sarah since she entered the room. She had spent much of the night analysing her responses to Sarah’s kisses. Cameron had decided that more data was needed, although she doubted whether Sarah would be willing to kiss her again. A plan of action was needed, and it began with breakfast.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Cameron asked, reminding Sarah of her days as a waitress for a moment.
“Sure,” she agreed, taking a seat and pulling the toast rack towards her. Sarah had been wondering how Cameron would be this morning. Apart from the breakfast, she was pleased to see things appeared almost normal. The last thing Sarah wanted was Cameron leaping across the breakfast table to pounce on her, demanding more kissing training. Sarah lost herself in the visual image of that happening for a moment, causing an embarrassed little smile to appear on her face at the idea.
Except for a more intense gaze than normal, Cameron was her usual pre-school self, ignoring John’s half-hearted moans about homework and Sarah’s sandwich making skills.
When Cameron and John left for school, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief that things seemed pretty much as normal between her and Cameron. She vowed to avoid any more kissing lessons, and ignored the little voice of regret in her head. Sarah was a woman on a mission. Keeping John safe had been her only priority for the past 16 years. She was not someone to be distracted easily.
“I need to go shopping,” Cameron announced a few days later. “All of the girls are buying hot dresses for the prom. I need a hot dress.”
John sniggered as usual whenever Cameron came out with her comments on human interactions.
“Take it easy Cameron, I wouldn’t want you to lead Morris on,” he grinned.
“Lead him on? Oh, you mean give him the impression that I am interested in him sexually. No, that would be… undesirable.”
“Aren’t you curious at all?” Sarah asked quietly. “You’ve expressed an… interest in human sexuality, maybe Morris is the man for you.” Sarah gave Cameron a look, waggling her eyebrows.
“The prom is certainly an important moment for people,” John said walking up to Cameron and giving her a pat on the shoulder. “You never know, you might enjoy yourself. Morris is certainly keen enough.” He ruffled her hair in a way that Cameron found quite annoying.
“Will you come with me to buy a dress tomorrow?” She asked Sarah seriously, ignoring John’s teasing.
Sarah considered for a moment, before nodding.
“Sure, why not,” she smiled.
They hit the mall after school, dropping off John at an electronics store to check out the newest gadgets that he loved so much.
Cameron proved herself to be a very efficient shopper, to Sarah’s total lack of surprise.
“Don’t tell me, you downloaded the store guide, planned our route and made a list of what you needed,” she half moaned as Cameron marched them out of the third shoe shop into an adjacent store that just happened to stock dresses.
“It seemed a logical thing to do,” Cameron said absently, scanning the racks of formal dresses. “I do not think there will be anything suitable here.” She turned, intending to go to the next shop on her list.
Sarah decided to put her foot down.
“Hold it right there girlie,” she said, grabbing Cameron’s arm. “I’m sick of walking in and out of shops. Come on, you’re trying something on.” She pulled the reluctant but not totally uncooperative girl towards the back of the store.
Sarah could not remember the last time she went shopping for dresses. It just wasn’t something that had been part of her life since before meeting Kyle and getting pregnant with John, and the whole nightmare that her life had become. Sometimes she found it hard to remember a time when her life wasn’t a chaotic mess.
So, this shopping trip with Cameron was just so weird, but in a pleasantly nostalgic sort of way. She gave the girl an appraising look. She had a fabulous body and would look good in just about anything, Sarah thought. Although she was definitely on the skinny side, so they’d need something that flattered her.
She grabbed a classic little black dress from a rack, holding it up to Cameron’s body.
“Hmm, might be a bit too conservative, but you can try it on,” she muttered, thrusting it into Cameron’s hands. Sarah turned back to the dresses, choosing next a longer strapless one in a deep green.
“Not sure if that’s your colour, but it’ll do.”
A few dresses later, she was steering Cameron towards the changing rooms at the back of the shop. Cameron was out of her depth for once. She had observed all of the dresses Sarah had chosen and analysed them for size, but she really had no idea whether they would look good on her. She was glad she had asked Sarah to come along.
Cameron was still none the wiser about fashion some time later, when Sarah had declared that the black dress was ‘the one’. To Cameron, all of the dresses had looked acceptable, but Sarah had been adamant.
“This is the one Cameron. Very classy but a little bit sexy. Yep, this is it.”
“Do I need to look classy and sexy?” She asked. “Most teenaged girls appear to favour skanky and revealing in their wardrobe choices.”
“Well you’re not most girls Cameron,” Sarah stated firmly. “Besides, we don’t want you standing out from the crowd too much. This dress will look good on you, but it’s pretty discreet too.” She grinned at Cameron’s frown.
“Did you want to be the belle of the ball?” She teased.
“No, you are quite right Sarah,” Cameron said not meeting her eyes. “But I thought you chose it because it suited me best, not because it was the most unobtrusive.”
Sarah noticed the slightly sulky expression, and Cameron’s adorable pout.
“You’ll be the most beautiful girl there,” Sarah said reaching out to rub her shoulder without thinking, seeking to console the depressed looking girl.
“You really think so?” Cameron asked with a sudden eager smile.
Sarah silently cursed herself for speaking without thinking. She had almost forgotten the kissing episode of the other week. OK, so she hadn’t really, but she had been telling herself to forget it, which was almost the same thing.
Cameron moved closer, reaching out to grasp Sarah’s hips and gently pull her towards her.
“I wish I was going to the prom with you,” she said earnestly, looking into Sarah’s eyes.
Sarah was frozen for a moment, suddenly aware of the small changing room they occupied that made retreat tricky. She was also drawn in by those annoyingly lovely lips pouting at her.
No, this wasn’t going to happen again, she decided, just a few seconds before Cameron over rode her decision, leaning in and kissing her so very softly, once then twice.
“Cameron, please…” she whispered, suddenly finding it hard to move.
Cameron seemed to think that was an invitation, as she reached up to cup Sarah’s cheeks, and kissed her again, more firmly this time.
Damn, but the girl was obviously not in need of any further lessons, Sarah thought as she instinctively slid her arms around her waist, unable to stop herself from responding to the urging of Cameron’s lips.
A noise from outside the changing room broke the spell, and Sarah pulled back and out of Cameron’s arms. She backed against the wall, holding out her hands to fend off the amorous advancing terminator.
“Stop, please. We can’t do this Cameron,” she gasped, still breathless.
“Why not? We both appeared to enjoy it and I would like to continue,” Cameron said intently, edging closer to Sarah once more.
“No! You need to listen when I tell you no!” Sarah snapped. “We aren’t doing this again Cameron, so just back off ok?”
Cameron shrank back quickly at Sarah’s hostile tone.
“I apologise,” she said quietly. “I did not wish to make you uncomfortable. I thought you enjoyed our interactions as much as I did.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t so..” she lied, edging towards the door. “Let’s just go.” Sarah made her escape, making it around the corner before leaning against a wall, her knees feeling decidedly wobbly. Wow, could that girl kiss. She wondered whether the request for lessons had been a ruse from the start, as Cameron certainly seemed to have a knack.
Cameron sat on the chair, looking at the dresses Sarah had insisted she try on. She was very confused about her feelings. Why was she feeling so… depressed? She had never felt so deflated before, and it was obviously Sarah’s rejection that had made her feel bad. Cameron did not like this emotion. It did not appear useful, merely painful. Maybe she was malfunctioning. Emotional pain could not be part of her programming. She made a note to perform a full diagnostic later.
Pulling herself together, she gathered the dresses, putting the black one on one side to purchase. She wondered what Sarah really thought of her in the dress. Did she really think she looked sexy and classy? Cameron was beginning to regret her decision to explore human sexuality.
Things were a little tense around the house for the next few days. Cameron keeping her distance from Sarah, barely entering the kitchen when she was there. For her part, Sarah tried to keep occupied, avoiding being alone with Cameron.
“What’s going on with you and Mom?” John asked on their way to school a few days before Prom.
Cameron considered how to respond. She was inclined to extreme truthfulness that bordered on rudeness, but she was aware that discussing her relationship with Sarah was not something she should do. Particularly with John.
“We had a disagreement,” she settled on.
“Hmm, so the usual then.” John grunted. “I don’t know who is the more pig headed out of the two of you.”
“I am not pig headed,” Cameron replied, not completely sure what that meant but pretty sure it was not a compliment.
“I know you’re a superior cybernetic organism and all, but she’s the boss you know. Mom’s word is pretty much it, all we can do is try and persuade her to listen.” John went on.
Cameron considered. Persuade her? Would that work?
“How do you suggest I persuade Sarah Connor to come around to my way of thinking?” She asked the young man.
“Use your logic of course,” he said swiftly. “You always have good reasons for doing things Cameron, so try and win her over with reasoned logic.”
What logical reason could Cameron come up with to persuade Sarah to engage in more kissing with her? She seemed very much against the idea of Cameron becoming involved with John in any way. Perhaps that was a possibility.
Cameron also forced herself to consider that maybe it was the experience of kissing, not specifically kissing Sarah, that was what she was intrigued by. The kisses with Sarah were her only experience. Maybe she would enjoy kissing anyone? It might not be Sarah that was special.
For some reason, she did not like that idea. Sarah fascinated her in a way that no one else did. Cameron was fairly sure that kissing someone else would not elicit the same response within her. However, being the logical cyborg she was, she thought about other potential kissing partners.
Morris was an obvious choice, however he was John’s friend and the prom was a few days away. Cameron felt the need for swifter action. She wanted to kiss someone today.
In the interests of fair testing, only altering one variable at a time, she reasoned that she really should kiss a girl, however, Cameron was not on friendly terms with any of the girls and was aware that it could draw unwanted attention to herself. Perhaps Morris was a better choice after all.
She glanced around the school entrance as she and John waited to go through security as they did each morning. Did any of the males or females stir her attention at all? That boy over there was quite good looking, but she didn’t like his ginger hair. The tall girl coming through the barrier now was very athletic looking with a pleasing body. Or how about that older man on the x-ray machine. None of them held her attention for long. Oddly, Cameron found herself reluctant to select an object of her attention. All of the potentials seemed to have some flaw that discounted them.
“Hey Cam,” Morris said, approaching her from the side. She disliked the nickname but decided not to comment on it.
“Good morning,” she replied formally.
“What’s up Morris,” John greeted his friend.
She watched John and Morris chatting, feeling more and more disconnected from the children at the school. She did not feel the desire to kiss any of them. She felt an odd thump in her chest when she thought about who she did want to kiss.
Cameron was annoyed with the way she was feeling. Emotions were not something cyborgs were designed for. She was still uncertain where these feelings came from. She had no trouble being the unemotional robot Sarah appeared to see her as when fighting. When it was the mission she was focussed on, she did not have any trouble acting in a totally logical way. She did not feel any real guilt over the deaths of Dimitri and his sister. She had not killed them, merely done nothing to prevent their deaths. The only regret she felt was that she would not be receiving any more ballet lessons. Cameron was puzzled why she could be so logical and focussed in some instances, yet when it came to personal relationships rational thought seemed so much harder.
Putting Sarah and her appealing body out of her mind, she followed John and Morris into school, looking at Morris objectively. Did she find him attractive? He seemed like such a child. Cameron wasn’t sure how old she was, what with all the time jumping, but she had seen a lot in her time, and Morris was so young. Perhaps that tough life experience was another reason she felt a kinship with Sarah.
No, stop thinking about Sarah Connor!
“Would you have lunch with me?” she found herself asking Morris suddenly.
A delighted look came over his face.
“I sure would! I’ll see you at 12.” He gave Cameron a huge smile before practically skipping off to his first class.
John didn’t look amused for once.
“What was that all about?” he asked suspiciously.
“I am supposed to be going on a date with him,” Cameron said, “so sharing lunch is expected is it not?”
John didn’t reply, just looked at her closely for a few seconds more, then grunting as he moved off to class.
“Well, be nice to him,” he threw over his shoulder.