Crowded Room

44. The Call

“ Shawn!” Hailee’s voice makes Camila pull her lips away from Shawn’s, his arms around her as she looks at her friend in the crowded dressing room. “ Seriously, you need to go. You’re distracting her.”

 Shawn sighed and placed one less kiss on Camila’s lips before walking out of the dressing room. It was finally the opening night for “Carrie” and Hailee was there to help her with her makeup, while Shawn sneaked in to wish her good luck but ended up distracting her from what she was supposed to be doing. He was doing considerably better after what happened between him and his father a few days before, but she still wanted to have him close to her at all times to make sure he was okay. He wasn’t feeling as guilty since Amy called to talk to him and let him know his father was okay, but she was still keeping an eye on him.

 She takes a seat in front of the mirror while Hailee starts working on her makeup, which is nothing too elaborate. She could have done it herself, but her friend and roommate offered and she thought that would save her some time and maybe even some stress. Her eyes were closed as she let Hailee do her job, following her instructions on where to look or what to do. About twenty minutes later, Hailee went looking for Camila’s outfit while she removed her clothes, handing the items to her a few minutes later. Camila turned around so her friend could zip her skirt up, but Hailee’s voice made her think something was wrong with her costume.

 “ Oh my god!” Hailee whispered without zipping the skirt.

 “ What happened?” Camila asked in concern. “ Please don’t tell me it’s not working.”

 She was about to turn around to look at Hailee when she felt the zip going up perfectly.

 “ I can’t believe what I just saw.” Hailee said in shock with a small laugh right after.

 “ Haiz, you’re not making any sense.” Camila says, turning around and putting on the upper half of her outfit. “ The skirt is perfect.”

 “ You freaking tattooed his initial letter above your ass!” Hailee accused her in a playful tone of voice.

 Camila immediately feels her cheeks burning, looking away from her friend’s teasing stare and analyzing her cheerleading outfit in the mirror. The colors were the same as her old high school and it made her wonder if her life would have turned out differently had she been a popular cheerleader instead of the theater girl. She would like to believe she would end up in New York no matter what, that she was meant to meet Shawn and the amazing friends she made.

 “ I would expect something like this from Taylor, but you really surprised me.” Hailee had a little smirk on her lips when Camila looked at her, making her throw a random item of clothing on her friend.

 “ Just let it go, okay? It was just a Christmas gift for Shawn.” She explains before Hailee starts asking a million questions. Before she could answer any of them, or at least brush them off, someone from the production let her know she should be backstage in five minutes.

 She didn’t have as many parts in this one as she had as the leading role, but that didn’t make things less enjoyable for her. She actually liked how this time around she didn’t have many outfit changes and interpreting a villain felt different in a special way, besides, singing the songs on stage felt like second nature for her. It all happened so fast that next thing she knows she’s already hearing applause and being called back on stage. The blinding lights made it kind of hard for her to find anyone in the crowd, but she smiled at the thought of Shawn and her grandparents watching. They had come to spend a few days in New York so they could watch her perform, so she hoped she had made them proud.

 She spent a long time hugging and congratulating everyone else that worked on the production, getting a lot of praises from different people before she finally found herself back in the dressing room. Shawn showed up as she changed back into her own clothes and he had once again gotten sunflowers for her, his lips meeting hers in a lingering kiss before he looked at her proudly, making her blush.

 “ Come on, your grandparents are out there waiting for you.” Shawn said as she took her bag, interlocking their fingers and guiding her outside. “ Who knows what Taylor might be telling them at this point.”

 “ You left them with Taylor?” Camila asks with a laugh.

 “ Let’s hope Hailee found them by now and stopped her from saying anything that would make your grandfather want to kill me again.” He laughs with her as they walk through the crowded backstage.

 They find her grandparents outside of the theater talking to Taylor and Hailee just like Shawn had imagined, all four of them with big smiles on their faces.

 “ Camila, darling!” Her grandma is the first one to see her and Shawn walking to them. “ You were so incredible up there! I’m so proud of you, my baby.”

 “ Thank you, grandma.” Camila smiled from ear to ear before the older woman hugged her tightly, her grandpa doing the same right after and saying how weird it was to see her as the villain, but that she had killed it.

 Niall showed up a few minutes later and insisted they would go celebrate in his parent’s restaurant, which her grandparents tried to say no to, but in the end everyone had convinced them. The night was lighter and happy as Camila watched Shawn charm her grandma all over again and Taylor do the same to her grandpa. They were waiting for dessert when Shawn’s phone vibrated over the table for what must have been the eight time that night.

 “ Shawn, you should get that.” Camila says, reading Amy’s name on the screen.

 Shawn groans and picks up the phone before excusing himself and walking to the waiting area to get the call. She might not want the night to be ruined by anything related to his father, but Amy was being insistent, so she was concerned that maybe something had happened. Camila stood up from the table and went after him, but when she was a few inches from Shawn, he ended the call and looked at her with something she could only describe as horror in his eyes.

 “ What’s wrong?” She asks, holding his face with concern.

 “ My dad.” He whispers before walking away from her and making his way out of the restaurant.

 Camila follows him outside, feeling the cold air hit her face as she finds her boyfriend pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.

 “ Shawn, you’re scaring me.” Camila whispers, holding his arm and making him stop.

 His eyes are locked on the ground and it takes a long time before he finally looks up at her, a scared expression on his face.

 “ There was an accident.” He tells her nervously and by the way he said those words Camila knew something really bad had happened.