Best Friend

Thunderstorm

Camila's eyes shot open at the first sound of thunder. Her bedroom was completely dark but was quickly lit up with a flash of lightning invading through her window. The bright bolt made her gasp and jump up, quickly steadying herself on her feet. She didn't think twice before heading for her bedroom door. Another loud crash of thunder caused her to yelp in fear as she pulled her door open as quickly as possible and tiptoed out of her own bedroom and into the bedroom across the hall of her small, two-bedroom apartment. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she pushed the door to his room open. Deep down she knew that he wouldn't actually care if she woke him up but that didn't stop her from feeling bad any time she did — even if it was a complete accident. She shut the door behind her and silently moved to the empty side of his bed, pulling back the covers and slipping into bed next to him. Before her head even hit the pillow, she felt the weight of his strong arm draping over her torso.

"You're okay," he mumbled in his sleep. She couldn't help but smile softly, despite the tears that were welling in her eyes. If she had to guess, he wasn't even awake. He often talked in his sleep — something she learned quickly after the first few times that she snuck into his bed. Most of it was nonsense but in this moment his words were comforting, even if he had no idea what he was saying or why. 

She knew it was pathetic to be twenty-four years old and still be as terrified of thunderstorms as she was, but she felt like she had a valid reason.

It was a thunderstorm that changed her life forever.

It was a thunderstorm that took her parents from her.

She was only six years old but she remembered it better than she wanted to. She had been sitting in the backseat of their family's minivan, staring out the window as the rain poured down and the lightning pierced the sky. The thunder was so loud that she swore she could feel their van shake. 

Then the rain started pouring harder. And harder. And harder. The rain was falling down in sheets from the sky, making little six-year-old Camila wonder how someone could even see well enough in these conditions to drive. 

And then it happened.

Their van slid across the road. All she could hear was the sound of her parents screaming before their screaming was replaced with the sound of the vehicle crunching as it rolled into a ditch on the side of the road. For a brief moment, the entire world was on pause. 

She no longer heard her parents screaming and at some point during the crash the radio had cut out too. The vehicle had come to a standstill so the crunching sounds had also stopped. The only thing left to listen to was the sound of the rain and thunder. 

She wasn't sure how much time she spent in the totaled minivan waiting to be rescued. All she knew was that her parents weren't answering her questions when she'd ask and there seemed to be a lot of blood. None from her, luckily. Her arm hurt and her knee hurt — but she wasn't bleeding. 

The moment the crash happened to the day of her parents' funeral was all just one emotional, confusing and blurry mess. She went back to her house after the funeral with her grandma, who helped her pack up all of her things. Camila wasn't sure why they were packing but it's not like she could ask her parents what was happening so she just followed her grandma's instructions and packed up her belongings. 

A few hours later, Karen and Manny showed up. It was the first time in a while that Camila smiled. She loved them. They were her parents' best friends and because of that she had spent so much time at their house as her parents ate dinner and watched movies and played games with them. Of course, she didn't spend much time with them, specifically. Every time she went to their house she spent all of her time playing with their son who was just a little bit younger than her. Shawn was her best friend.