Exposed || Camren

Chapter One

Patting some more foundation onto her chin, Camila smiled, pressing her Beauty Blender into her skin. Once the foundation was blended into a thin layer, covering her few pimples and patchy redness, she powdered the spot, humming happily afterwards. She put on some mascara and lipstick after, heading downstairs with her heels clacking down the steps. The tail of her long, fluffy pink dress cascaded behind her, her shoulders bare from the strapless features. There was sequin detailing on the front, creating elegant floral type designs. Camila's long, brown hair was pulled into a bun, a large, pink flower made of fake diamonds complemented the style in the front.

Camila looked beautiful, and ready to win her twenty-third beauty pageant. Her mother, Sinuhe, was standing at the bottom of the steps, a large camera in her hands. She smiled her biggest, whitest, most perfect smile she could, twisting around once she reached the bottom step, showing off her dress.

"This is perfect, Karla!" Sinuhe praised, her hands clasping together as she let the camera hang freely from the strap around her neck. After Camila had made a face, her mother corrected herself, making the younger girl's face relax. "My Mila. Looking so grown up."

Camila blushed, doing another slower turn for her mom. "Do you like it, Mom?" she asked, looking up at Sinuhe with curious eyes.

"Eres bonita," Sinuhe answered, pressing a kiss to the tip of Camila's nose. "You're going to win this pageant. I just know it."

"Thanks, Mom," Camila whispered, pulling away from Sinuhe with a wide smile.

"You're welcome, Camila. Now, let's get going! We don't want to be late for registration," Sinuhe said, her smile wide as she grabbed her purse and keys.

Camila followed behind her mother before suddenly stop. "Oh, no! I forgot my lucky charm. I need to go grab it," she gasped out, rushing back towards the stairs.

Sinuhe sighed dramatically, clapping her hands loudly. "Date prisa!" she called out up the stairs. Sinuhe rolled her eyes before leaving the house, heading out towards the car.

While Camila was in her room, she stared down at her lucky charm, sighing softly. No matter what, she had the little four leaf clover charm somewhere. She usually put it on a necklace or bracelet. But, during pageants, Camila hooked it onto a small hole in her bra, so it wouldn't fall out. She had received the charm from her father, Alejandro, the day she was born. After he had mysteriously left when she was two years old, Camila had been carrying the charm around. It brought her good luck, she believed, and she was certain that she could someday use it to find her father. She couldn't remember him at all, even though she wished she could.

Camila sighed and pulled the front of her dress down, finding the hole in her strapless bra. She hooked the charm on, locking it after. Once she pulled the front back up, Camila looked into the mirror, making sure she was okay. She looked up, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. She froze, breath leaving her in a gust. A small hair that had found its way out of Camila's bun floated upwards with the airflow. For a moment, Camila just stared at herself, thinking at ten miles a minute.

A car horn suddenly knocked Camila from her daze into the mirror. She took in a shaky breath, picking up the hair and pinning it back up into the rest. She had to look perfect. Once Camila had reached the car, Sinuhe was already blasting some kind of music from a Cuban ballad singer.

"What took you so long?" Sinuhe asked, quirking an eyebrow over at Camila.

Camila nibbled on her lip as she buckled her seat-belt. In order to not make eye contact, Camila flipped down her sun visor to 'check' her lipstick. "Nothing, Mom. I just had to fix up my hair real fast. There was some stray strands I had to hairspray.