Admit It

9; secret touches and quiet butterflies

Camila listened to the sound of her créme-colored sneakers patter against the ground as she let her hair down in a long train of black waves. She looked in the mirror at her collared shirt, barely tinted with the color of lavender, tucked into a pair of long pants that reminded her of what the sky might look like if the blue suddenly morphed into purple, and smiled. Even on her first day in the middle of October, she couldn't help but smile.

She'd seen him. A flash of dark brown curls on a tall figure walking through the halls, wearing the same denim jacket with a white fleece inside as yesterday. It'd been hard not to miss him- a small path seemed to form in front of him wherever he went, but he managed to disappear as quickly as he'd appeared.

Camila caught another glance of him in the corner of her eye barely a minute ago. He was walking alongside two brunettes who looked similar enough to be twins, but with his eyes down and his pace a sprint, as if he didn't want anything to do with them. She hoped he'd want at least something to do with her.

She walked out of the bathroom, backpack straps hooked over both shoulders, and followed the crowd of kids to the outdoor eating area. Standing still so the people could walk past and clear out, Camila peaked her heads over shoulders to try to spot him. He would be at one of the corner tables, she guessed, maybe with that redhead she caught a glance at this morning as he tried to sling his arms across Shawn's shoulders.

A moment of confusion passed, before she realized the boy in the corner with his eyes down and fingers doing some sort of nervous tick was actually there. No one could blame Camila for hesitating, she'd been imagining too many things recently.

She ran to the table and sat down across from Shawn, putting both elbows on the table and resting her hand on her two hands. She smiled. Even just looking down, rubbing his eyes slightly, he looked so beautiful, all still and quiet and maybe a bit melancholy, but a beautiful kind of it.

"Tell me some crazy shit, Brian," he groaned into his hands. Brian was probably the redheaded friend. "Just do it."

Camila held back a giggle at his words. She watched his eyebrows knit together, before he finally looked up and met her eyes.

Shawn's bottom lip pulled between his teeth as he drew his eyes over every inch of her, the tingling feeling that spread through her body so similar to the one from when they first met, just a little warmer. Instead of those crazy, wild butterflies that she'd originally felt when Shawn looked at her, these butterflies were larger, with the softest flaps of their wings that felt like brushes of feathers against her skin, and they ranged from soft pink to lavender purple.

"Well," he said, his voice soft and smooth. "I didn't realize I would end up finding you here."

He said the word 'finding' like he'd been looking for her.

Camila pulled out the same worn notebook she'd brought to the library last time and began writing with the pencil she was carrying, but Shawn gently took her hand before she could write any further.

"Shh. Let's go behind the fence." Camila raised an eyebrow. "Too many people staring. And whispering."

They stood up, Shawn's hand still wrapped around the base of her palm, but not before Camila caught a glance behind her at the frenzied whispers from the rest of the courtyard. Shawn hanging out with a girl couldn't have been too unusual, him being him and everything. But still, she caught glances from multiple girls, some innocently confused and others not as innocent, before forcing herself to look away.

Shawn led, slipping his way through the line of bushes that was supposed to mark the end of the courtyard, and Camila followed, her small figure passing straight through the crack. Outside, there was a stretch of concrete and a red brick wall where groups of kids dressed in black shirts and graphic sweatshirts sat with their backs to the wall. They didn't bat an eye at Shawn and Camila like the other students had.