Crowded Room

5. That Same Melody

A week later, Camila hasn’t heard from Shawn at all. Not that she was counting of course. Taylor and Charli teased her for awhile just like Hailee did, but they never told her if Shawn spoke about her or not. She doesn’t even know why she cares so much, but she wishes she had asked for his number. They weren’t anything, so it would be just as friends. She genuinely had a great time with him and thought he could be a great friend, but she didn’t want to give Taylor any ideas by asking for his number.

 Her classes were already kind of demanding, but apart from all the reading she had to do, she was loving every second of it. It was the combination of studying what she loved and staying in a place where she could see so much culture and people around her. She was truly happy and she thought she might as well enjoy it before the feeling was gone.

 “ Can I borrow your notes, pretty please?” Hailee asks pouting at her as they exit their last class of the day. “ Mr. Collins is too hard to keep up with. I don’t know how you write that much in his class.”

 “ It’s called paying attention, Haiz. You should try sometimes, instead of texting Niall the whole class.” Camila teases her. “ Of course you can get my notes, but don’t get used to it.”

 “ Thank you.” Hailee hugs her with excitement. “ You’re the best.”

 The two girls are about to cross the street when they see Taylor entering the building and Hailee calls for her, who turns around and smiles at them.

 “ Hey!” She hugs them both tightly. “ This is great timing. You two should come with me.”

 “ Where?” Camila asks, confused.

 “ To a class. It’s not theater, but I think you’ll love it.” Taylor says, dragging them with her into the building. “ You don’t have anything to do right now, do you?”

 “ Not really.” Hailee says.

 “ Great!” Taylor guides them to a huge auditorium, but the seats are not even half occupied.

 “ Are you sure we can be here?” Camila asks, worried about the professor at the front.

 “ Of course. These professors don’t even memorize their students, he’ll never notice.”

 They take seats in the back and Camila notices both Charli and Shawn speaking with the professor. She tries to hide the smile that forms on her lips when she sees him, but Taylor notices and nuges her shoulder.

 “ Stop.” Camila whispers to her.

 “ I’m not saying anything.” The blonde smiles mischievously.

 Camila watches as Charli takes a seat close to them and the professor says a few words before calling Shawn to the front. Shawn takes a seat by the piano on the corner and starts playing the same melody Camila heard him play a week ago in his apartment. He plays it so effortlessly, it’s like the whole thing comes naturally to him.

 “ He’s good, right?” Taylor whispers to her and she just nods her head, not being able to look away from him.

 When he’s done the professor and other students clap and he walks to where they are, taking a seat on the row in front of them. Camila knows by the look on Taylor’s face that she brought her here on purpose. She knew Shawn was playing and she wanted Camila to watch. Now she’s looking at the both of them like she’s ready to analyze their interaction.

 “ Little Freshman!” Shawn whispers shout with a smile when he looks at her. “ What are you doing here?”

 “ It’s Camila.” She says, trying to sound serious, but his smile makes her give in and smile too. “ Taylor dragged us here.”

 “ She did, didn’t she?” He says, looking at the blonde like he knew exactly what she was up to.

 “ Camila thought you were great.” Taylor teases him, making Camila blush. “ You should hear her sing, I bet you would think she’s pretty great too.”

 “ You never heard me sing.” Camila protests, looking at the blonde.

 “ Of course I did.” She says. “ Hailee recorded you singing while you were waiting for your popcorn on the microwave and sent it to me and Charli.”

 “ You did what?” Camila asked, looking at Hailee, who was looking away with guilt.

 “ I’m sorry, but it was so funny.” Hailee giggled.

 “ Don’t worry, Baby C. You sounded great, for real.” Taylor says with a smile.

 “ Baby C?” Shawn asks, smiling at Camila.

 “ That’s my nickname for her. She’s just so tiny.” Taylor explains. “ I’m serious, Camila. You should try on for the fall production. Auditions are next week, I bet you heard about it from your professors.”

 “ That’s not for freshmen, Tay.” Camila says.

 “ It’s for everybody.” Shawn looks at her seriously. “ You should try.”

 Camila looks at him and slowly nods her head. How could he just convince her like that? She already wanted to try, but she thought her chances were close to zero, but hearing from him that she should try made her brave for a moment.

 “ You know what? I’ll try it too. We’ll do it together.” Hailee says, trying to make her feel comfortable about the idea.

 “ Okay.” Camila smiles at her. “ Friends who embarrass themselves together, stay together.”

 “ Exactly.” Hailee laughs as they hear the professor end the class, which consisted only of students showing pieces they’ve been working on.

 They all walk outside together and before Camila and Hailee make their way to their dorm, Shawn hugs her, making her heart skip a beat. What the hell was this guy doing to her?