Good Girl Gone Bad

Four.

Exactly one week after Camila Cabello had been introduced to Shawn Mendes, she found herself sat at her vanity, thinking about him. At 7am. Camila, did not think at 7am. She didn't think until her Mom was handing her a black coffee and avocado toast. But here she was... applying a final brush of highlighter to her cheekbones and... thinking.

Maybe it was the fact that she had History first period with him, maybe it was the fact that she'd be going to Brad's party that night and she wondered if he'd be there, or maybe it was the fact that she couldn't get the images of him with Penny out of her head. For whatever reason, Shawn was clouding her thoughts.

She thought she was good at reading people, judging their character and putting them in a box. But she had to admit to herself that maybe her assumptions had been more than a little... off.

Still though, she reminded herself as she reapplied her mascara one final time, he clearly wasn't wholly innocent – he was doing deals with Brad for god's sake and on his first day in school nonetheless. And as soon as Cody had graced them with his presence at their tutoring session earlier in the week, he'd flipped straight back to Mr. 'I only talk when necessary'.

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed, trying to rid her mind of the frustrating teen. Checking her bag for the day, she threw in her lip-gloss and made her way downstairs to be met by silence and an empty house. "Mom?" She yelled, expecting her to appear. There was no reply and no note, but more importantly no coffee. She begrudgingly made her own and took small delight in the fact that she didn't have to force herself to eat before she made her way out of the house and headed straight to school.

"Cam!" Ava grabbed Camila's attention as she spied her at her locker and started to run over.

"How are you this awake?" She asked grumpily as two books from her locker spilled onto the floor.

"What's that?" Ava frowned, snatching one of the books up and starting to flick through it.

"My history notes," Camila defended herself, stealing it out of Ava's hands and holding it against her chest.

"Camila," The taller girl sighed, "You're not going to get into Cornell if you're sketching lyrics instead of Napoléon."

"Who?"

Ava rolled her eyes, "Seriously. Take notes."

Camila shot her a fake smile, "Can I help you?" She asked sarcastically.

"Jessica said you're coming to the party tonight. After the football game."

"Yeah," Camila rubbed her lips together and slammed her locker, "I am."

"Why?"

The girl looked around the hallway awkwardly, "Because it's a party Ava."

"Is Cody coming?"

"Why would I know?"

"Err, because he's your boyfriend and you two are usually attached at the hip on a Friday night after he wins," Ava's face screwed up as processed what she'd actually just said.

"We're not having sex," Camila slammed her locker shut, "And I can spend a Friday away from him."

She was saved by the bell as it cut off any comment her friend wanted to make. "Lily's parents are away, so we're going to hers before," Ava rushed out, conscious that she should have been in class at her desk in two minutes.

"I know." Camila smiled at her, "Go to class, I'll see you at lunch."

Ava grinned and rushed forward to give her a hug, "I'm so excited you're coming," She said before she started to walk past her down the hallway, "And remember... notes!"

"I will," She smiled before turning on her hell and making her own way to History. She was going to be late, but for once, she didn't really care. She'd been thinking way too much already that morning and who could blame a girl for being tardy when she was channeling all her energy into something her body wasn't used to.

"Ah, Camila," Mr. Williams looked up from the roster as she walked into the room. "I should care that you're late, but I really don't."

"Thanks?" She shot him a confused look before making her way to her seat at the back of the room. She liked her History teacher a lot, but sometimes he lacked serious social skills - probably why his wife divorced him. There was no surprise he was the subject of the back-to-school gossip.

"No problem," He rolled his eyes and stood up, moving round to perch on the front of his desk. "As I was saying guys, you're senior's now and although some of you clearly don't want to be here, you are expected to be independent and actually like the subjects you're studying."

"Where is he going with this?" She heard a girl mutter beside her.

"So, for the next semester, you guys are going to be working in pairs on a project." The whole class collectively groaned.

"Is this just so you don't have to teach us?" Camila glanced to her right and watched as Ben Lewis threw out a wholly inappropriate question.

"No Ben, I will still have to be here during lessons, but believe it or not, this is supposed to get you ready for college assignments."

"I'm not going to college." Everyone looked around as Shawn spoke up from the very back of the classroom. It was the first time he used his voice in their lesson.

"I know college isn't for everyone, but it'll still give you some transferable life skills and I promise, you're going to enjoy it," Mr. Williams tried. "Now, to make it fun, you're not going to be doing it by yourself," He smiled, "You're going to be working in pairs," He mumbled, moving back behind his desk to rifle through his bag, "And because the board is pushing their diversity agenda, I have paired you up myself."

If six words could kill any hope, they were it. "Why?" Camila found herself throwing her head back and sighing. She would have been quite happy just taking notes.

"Camila," He said, scanning his list, "You are paired with Shawn."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt eyes staring at the back of her head. She couldn't help herself... she had to glance over her shoulder at him. And he was there, looking straight back, his eyes piercing into hers with the faintest smile on his lips. The room, the noise disappeared as Mr. Williams read out the rest of the pairs and it wasn't until he banged the board's eraser that she turned her head back around.

"You can plan your project how you like, you can plan your time how you like, all I am asking," The teacher continued, writing words up onto the board, "Is that together you pick your favorite event, your favorite era, your favorite period and produce something that tells me why. Why you chose it, why you relate to it, why it encapsulates everything you love about history, and make sure it is done by the due date."

In that moment, the rational side of her brain told Camila there was nothing she loved about History.