Perfectly Wrong

10. Switching

Camila has the worst headache when she wakes up, a result from hours of alternating between crying and barely sleeping. She makes herself some coffee before sitting down in one of the stools by the bar, drinking the hot liquid while thinking of the day ahead of her. A few minutes later, Sofia walks out of her bedroom and joins her, giving her a groggy good morning before pouring coffee on a mug for herself.

 “ What do you think you’re doing?” Camila asks, looking at the coffee mug in her little sister’s hands.

 “ Hey, you are not the only one who had a bad night.” Sofia says, climbing onto a stool opposite from Camila and taking a sip from her coffee. “ Fourth grade is rough. I had two hours of homework.”

 Camila reaches for her sister’s coffee and takes it away from her, pouring the content on her own mug before standing up and placing the mug in the sink. She walks to the fridge and grabs a juice, placing it in front of her sister, who rolls her eyes.

 “ Did you see they delivered the rest of our stuff yesterday? We had to unpack the whole thing by ourselves, you know.” Sofia says, trying to make her older sister feel guilty.

 “ Go get dressed.” Camila ignores her. “ We’re leaving in half an hour.”

 The snow starts again just as Camila drops Sofia off at school and she hopes Shawn was right when he said it would be gone soon. She hates the snow and she hates Michigan.

 She makes her way to the administration office the second she arrives at school, finding Mrs. Fisher typing on her computer before lifting her head to look at her.

 “ Let me guess. You want C lunch now?” The secretary says.

 “ Actually, I need a list of third period electives. I want to switch classes.” Camila says, making the woman look at her with questioning eyes.

 “ Aren’t you in the Music elective with Mr. Mendes?” She asks. “ That’s one of the more popular electives.”

 “ That’s the one.” Camila confirms. “ I would like to withdraw.”

 “ Well, I’ll only submit your final schedule by the end of the week.” Mrs. Fisher says, grabbing a sheet and handing it to Camila. “ Which class do you prefer?”

 Camila looks at the short list of electives available for her, finding her options kind of limited between Botany and Russian Literature.

 “ I’ll take Russian Literature I guess.” Camila sighs.

 The secretary rolls her eyes like she’s seen this before, then turns and types on her computer before printing Camila’s new schedule and handing it to her right along with a yellow form.

 “ Have Mr. Mendes sign this and bring it back to me before third period and you’ll be all set.”

 “ Great.” Camila mumbles before leaving the office.

 She makes her way through the hallways, finding ‘Hall D’ more easily after getting lost the day before and spotting Shawn’s classroom. The door is locked and the lights are out, which she finds quite relieving since she didn’t really want to face him. Camila decides to take matters into her own hands, taking a pen from her backpack and pressing the yellow form against a nearby locker before attempting to sign Shawn’s name in a believable way.

 “ That’s not a good idea.” His voice stops her, making her turn around.

 Shawn is standing behind her with a bag hanging from his shoulder and a key in hands. He has black pants and a white buttoned up shirt on with a green tie that compliments his eyes, making it impossible for her to look away. He looks so professional.

 Camila watches as he unlocks the door and walks in, placing his bag over the desk after switching the lights on, motioning for her to get in. She steps inside eyeing a few instruments in the back of the room before approaching his table, thinking she might have actually enjoyed his class if the circumstances were different.

 “ Well, you weren’t here yet, so I thought I would spare you the trouble.” She says in a defensive tone before placing the form over his desk.

 “ Russian Literature?” He grimaces after reading the form. “ That’s what you choose?”

 “ It was either that or Botany.” She replies.

 Shawn takes a seat in his chair before grabbing a pen and staring at the paper in front of him. He presses the tip of the pen on the line where he’s supposed to sign, hesitating before dropping the pen over the table without signing it.

 “ I thought a lot about what you said last night.” He says. “ It’s not fair for me to ask you to transfer just because it makes me uneasy. We live across from each other and our sisters are becoming best friends. If anything, this class will be good for us. It will help us figure out how to act around each other. And besides… you’ll obviously breeze through.”

 He hands her the test she answered the day before, in which she got all the answers right.

 “ I don’t mind switching.” Camila says. “ I understand where you’re coming from.”

 “ Thanks.” He replies. “ But it can only get easier from here, right?”

 “ Right.” She lies, thinking he’s completely wrong about that because being around him every day is not going to be easy. However she can’t convince herself to switch classes now.

 Shawn crumples the form in his hands before throwing in the direction of the trash can, missing it as it lands on the floor. Camila walks to the door and takes the form, tossing it in the trash can.

 “ I guess I’ll see you in third period, Mr. Mendes.” She says, catching a glimpse of him frowning before leaving the room.

 Camila feels kind of relieved as she walks to her next class. She hated how they left things the day before and he had found a way to put her at ease throughout this whole awkward situation they’re in.

 “ What happened to you yesterday?” Maisie asks as Camila takes her seat in second period. “ Did you get lost again?”

 “ Yeah, sorry about that.” Camila says.

 “ You should have texted.” She says in a teasing tone of voice. “ I was worried about you.”

 “ Oh, I’m sorry, dear.” Camila replies with a small laugh.

 “ Dear? You trying to steal my girl?” A guy Camila has never seen before puts his arms around Maisie’s shoulders and kisses her cheeks.

 “ Camila, this is Connor.” Maisie says. “ Connor, this is Camila, your competition.”

 Connor has short light brown hair with blue eyes that match Maisie’s, not much taller than her. He has a black hoodie and jeans on, and when he moves his arm from Maisie’s shoulders, Camila notices a heart tattoo on his wrist identical to the one her new friend has.

 “ I’ve heard a lot about you.” He says, extending his hand and making her eye him with curiosity. “ Not really. I haven’t heard anything at all about you.”

 He smiles at Camila, giving Maisie a quick kiss before leaving the classroom and making her envy the two of them for a moment. When the teacher walks in, he hands them tests and Camila tries to survive the next hour.