The Perks of Being a Lesbian (Camren)

Chapter 9

The thrift shop that she was in was filled with old items, lost and forgotten. Camila loved coming here whenever she was stressed. Aside from people-watching and reading, it was her favorite pastime. She liked seeing hundreds of different histories gathered together in one place. It was sort of musty and unorganized and the employees looked like they’d rather be anywhere else, but Camila liked it here.

She’d been especially tired after going through the drama and stress that Lauren had to deal with every day. She was glad to be out of that building. McKinley had gone from the town’s most prestigious Christian school to the most undesirable place on earth in Camila’s opinion. Camila felt sapped of all of her energy thanks to that godforsaken place. She chuckled bitterly at the irony.

After school let out, she’d offered Lauren a ride home and a little study session. Lauren declined though, saying that she really needed to catch up with Zayn since he’d sort of been neglected in the past few days. Camila could understand that which is why she didn’t protest, but she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She enjoyed hanging out with Lauren and talking to her. Despite spending quite a bit of time with the girl throughout the week, she couldn’t help wanting be around her even more.

But it was okay. Camila would just enjoy her time exploring the cluttered thrift store aisles and being alone. She liked looking at all of things that people didn’t need anymore and maybe taking a few things home with her.

She especially liked sorting through all of the books in the bin at the back of the store and finding something new to read. There were usually just a lot of old textbooks and manuals and those books for dummies, but every once in a while, Camila could find a few gems. She’d gotten her copy of The Kite Runner from here and she’d found a very interesting book about death called The Everafter that she’d never heard of until she found it.

Camila hoped that she could find another good book in this mess, sorting carefully as not to miss anything worthwhile. She chuckled to herself when she heard some kind of argument between a mother and son over a “dusty, broken old toy,” as the mother called it. Camila knew that in the eyes of the little boy, it probably looked like the most amazing thing ever.

Her hands kept sorting despite her lack of attention to the task until her fingers brushed something that didn’t feel like all of the other glossy or worn book covers. She looked down at it to find a leather-bound black book that she’d suspected was a Bible. She’d come across many of those in this bin as well, but then she noticed that there was no label anywhere.

Bibles had titles usually didn’t they? She wasn’t completely sure which was a bit concerning considering that she was currently attending a Christian school and didn’t even know if Bibles always had titles. Was that even something that a Christian should know?

Camila shook her head before flipping through the pages to really find out. But after the first few, she realized that the book was filled with lined paper and loopy script. She quickly turned back to the first page.

In the event that I should pass, I want this book left somewhere to be found. Leave it in an alley, give it to a homeless person, drop it into a random bin in a bookstore, I don’t care. Just get it out of my lonely house. I want my story shared, even if it is to just some stranger. Strangers make the best of friends. So new friend(s), read this carefully.

My name is Lily and up until now I have lived to be 89 years old. I realize that just my age may turn you away from reading the rest of this, but I don’t mind. Some other stranger will pick it up and maybe they’ll be interested.

Now to those of you who have stayed to read this far, here is the first thing I have to say:

Life is too short to put love in a box. Love is too strong to be held down by our silly little limitations. If you really want to make the best of life, share the love that you have with everyone. It doesn’t matter who it is, we could all use a little love, even if it is from a stranger. If you read on, I can share my love with you and you can share it with someone else and hopefully the chain will go on. I feel that even though my life will be over by the time you read this, that I can live on in the love that I have shared with you all.