When you're ready

5. Be careful

The second day in school hadn’t been different from the first one for Camila, except that she managed not to break down and start crying this time around. Most classes were boring for her, she didn’t really care about any of these subjects at this point, but as she was walking to one of them she heard music coming from a room.

She couldn’t help stepping closer to the door, looking inside through the small glass, and finding the music room. There was only one girl there and she was playing piano by herself, her fingers effortlessly moving through the keys as Camila quickly looked away from the image. As she finally made her way to her next class, her eyes kept looking down at her trembling hands, reminding her once again she would never be able to play like that girl in her life anymore.

 That thought was in her mind for a long time, only vanishing away when she took a seat on that same bench outside for lunch. He wasn’t there yet. Brian’s friend. But Camila felt this weird need to see him again. She spotted him a few minutes later, walking out of the cafeteria and making his way to where she was. He kept a distance from her like she had done the day before, the both of them eating their lunches in silence as she discreetly glanced at him from time to time. She caught him staring at her again, but unlike her, he didn’t seem to feel embarrassed about it.

 Camila tried to ignore how some girls sitting on a table outside kept looking at them and whispering. She didn’t understand why, it was almost like she was breaking a rule by sitting close to him. Later as she walked into the restroom and locked herself in one of the stools, she heard giggling and talking as a group of girls walked in. She peeked through the crack on the door, noticing they were the same girls watching her during lunch.

 “ Do you think it’s true?” One of them asked as Camila was about to open the door, but she waited, thinking they might assume she was hearing their conversation on purpose. “ Does she really not speak?”

 “ That’s what everyone is saying.” Another one answered. “ I don’t think anyone tried to speak to her though.”

 “ They’re certainly not going to try now that she’s around Shawn.” A third girl said and Camila smiled, finally figuring out his name.

 “ I think it’s a little unfair the way everyone avoids Shawn.” The second girl spoke again. “ I mean, it’s not his fault everyone around him keeps dying.”

 “ That’s true, but do you really want to be the next one?” The first girl said and Camila felt this unfamiliar sense of protection for this guy. Did people really avoid him because of this? That was really sad, but most of all she thought it was really cruel. Knowing this actually made her like Brian a little bit, after all, he seemed to be the only friend Shawn had in that school.

 “ Well, I guess this new girl better be careful then.” One of them said before Camila heard them all walking out of the restroom.

 Camila walked to her next class, the last one of the day, thinking about the conversation she had heard. She still couldn’t believe people kept their distance from him because of that. It just seemed like such a harsh reaction to someone that had probably already suffered enough.

 As she reached the art room for her last class, Camila cursed herself for realizing the teacher was already there. Now everyone was going to look at her as she walked in and she hated that kind of attention. She softly knocked on the door before opening it, the teacher looking at her with a smile before asking her to come in.

 “ You can take any seat you want, Camila.” The teacher said. She looked young, her hair a light brown tone that matched her green eyes. Camila wasn’t sure how she knew her name, but maybe she was one of those teachers that actually paid attention to their students and had noticed she was the new girl who had skipped her class the day before.

 Camila made her way to the back of the room where there were a few vacant seats, ignoring the curious stares from the other students. As she lifted her head she noticed Shawn by himself in the back and before she could decide what to do, her legs were already leading to the seat next to him. He was looking at her with an expression she couldn’t really understand. It was like he was glad she sat next to him again but also confused as to why she made that choice.

 As the teacher started speaking in the front, Camila let her eyes focus on the canvas in front of Shawn. Everyone except her seemed to have started working on something already, however, Shawn’s didn’t look anything like the others. Even looking at the incomplete painting, she could tell he was better in this than all the other students in that class combined. It was pretty obvious to her that he was an artist. 

 She watched for a while as he continued to work on his painting, looking at her now and then. The teacher tried to help Camila on starting her own painting, but the way her hand involuntarily trembled meant she sucked at it, even earning some sympathetic looks from Shawn as she was obviously ruining the canvas and the brushes. She couldn’t help smiling at him, at some point giving up on her task and just watching him. She was even startled when the bell rang, not realizing how hypnotized she had been by his talent.