Crowded Room

7. Asking Away

“ Don’t give me that look.” Camila says, taking a seat next to Taylor on the bench after Shawn left.

 “ What look?” Taylor asks with a smirk.

 “ The ‘I know what you two are up to’ look.” Camila says. “ There’s nothing there. He just helped me get rid of this creepy guy on the subway. That’s all.”

 “ He just gave you his number. I don’t call that nothing.” Taylor points out. “ I was waiting to see who was going to break first and ask me for the other’s number.”

 “ I have your number and we’re just friends. Why is it weird that he gave me his number? We’re just friends, like you and me.”

 “ Sure, if that makes you feel better.” Taylor laughs. “ But Shawn doesn't usually give his number to girls unless he has ulterior motives.”

 “ I can take care of myself, Taylor.” Camila simply says. “ Since you want to talk so much about Shawn, can I ask you something?”

 “ Go ahead.” Taylor says, knowing Camila is too curious not to ask about him.

 “ Why does everyone act like he owns the university or something? It’s like he’s some type of celebrity, people always look at him and try to talk to him on campus. It’s kind of weird.”

 “ That’s because of his dad.” Taylor says, like that's super obvious.

 “ What about his dad?”

 “ His dad owns this huge record label and people think that if they kiss Shawn’s ass, they’ll get an opportunity on the label or something.” Taylor explains.

 “ That’s kind of messed up.” Camila says, thinking back to when she first saw him at the party in his apartment. He seemed so tired of having to be polite to those people.

 “ He hates it. I guess he doesn’t mind the attention, it’s pretty clear girls are all over him because of it, but he doesn’t have the best relationship with his dad. I think he hates that people only get close to him to try to get to his dad.”

 “ That makes sense.” Camila sighs. “ At least it’s good to know I’m not the only one with daddy issues.” She jokes.

 “ That sucks, Baby C.” The blonde says, looking at her with sympathy in her eyes. “ If you ever need anyone to talk, I’m here, you know.”

 “ Thanks, Tay.” She says. “ But that’s not something I usually talk about.”

 Camila looks down at her phone and decides to send Shawn a text, so he can save her number. She doesn’t know what to type, so she randomly sends him a sunflower emoji. She’s pretty sure, he’ll be able to recognize her picture and know it’s her. He immediately replies with a pile of poo emoji and Camila laughs, knowing he saved her number for sure and adding the emoji he sent her next to his name on her contacts.

 When she looks up at Taylor, her new friend is once again writing down on her notepad, her eyes concentrated on the page in front of her.

 “ Can I ask you something?” Camila says, hoping she’s not ruining Taylor’s work by talking.

 “ You’re full of questions today, aren’t you?” Taylor laughs, looking at her. “ Ask away.”

 “ Why did you help me that first day when I was lost? I mean, that was nice of you, but you didn’t have to drag me to a party or become my friend. I didn’t think you or Charli would want to hang out with a first year student.”

 “ Because you’re special, Baby C.” Taylor smiles at her.

 “ Humm… I’m not so sure about that.” Camila laughs.

 “ I saw you that day and you reminded me of someone. You had the same 'small town girl lost in a big city' look I had when I first came to New York. I saw myself in you and I wanted to help you. Not just giving you direction to where you needed to go, but to show you the city and the college life. Meeting you was special to me, it made me realize how far I’ve come and I wanted to let you know that you can have that too.”

 “ Damn, you’re good.” Camila whispers with a chuckle.

 “ Why do you think all my professors love my songwriting?” Taylor jokes and Camila reaches her arms out, hugging this girl that was quickly becoming a great friend. “ Oh, have you taken a look at the song for the audition?”

 “ Not yet.” Camila says.

 “ I can help you rehearse for it.” She says excitedly. “ Come on, I have a copy of the lyrics in my room.”

 “ Why do you have a copy of it?” Camila asks as Taylor drags her to her dorm.

 “ Because I wrote it.”

 “ You wrote it?” Camila asks in shock.

 “ Well, haven’t I told you? I’m working on the production.”

 “ How didn’t I see that one coming?” Camila laughs, finding herself once again loving Taylor’s energetic personality.