His Influence

8. Shopping

At 9 am on Saturday morning, Camila's phone began ringing. She leant over to pick the phone up, "Hello?" "Camila? Get up. We're going to be there in ten minutes to go shopping." Chloe's high pitched voice spoke. Camila's eyes widened. "Sorry. I can't. I'm too busy with homework." Chloe laughed, "Don't be silly. I've already cleared it with your mum." And she hung up.

After a long week, Camila was absolutely exhausted. When Wednesday had come, Hailee gave her the work to catch up on and she spent her Wednesday catching up on it. She spent Friday night doing all her work and she hadn't seen Shawn since Tuesday and had only spoken to him over text on Thursday night. She had been hoping to spend her weekend with him, maybe meet the guys but now Chloe had ruined her plans.

She supposed the bright side was that she was officially ungrounded since Sinu didn't have the time to check.

Camila looked out of the window, she could always jump. She shook her head. Groaning she threw herself out of the bed and quickly changed into the collared shirts and skirts she had grown to hate.

All Camila wanted to do was hang with Shawn but since Tuesday, Chloe had been set on forcing her into spending every waking moment with her and Camila was sick of it.

She grabbed an orange for breakfast and saw the car pull up. Her mother had gone out. She shut the door, bag  hand and climbed into the back of the car. Chloe smiled and greeted her, Camila gave a small wave and a grunt. The other girls ignored her, she never got along nor like any of them but she was stuck with them. Thanks to her mum.

Camila did not understand it, what her mother had against her friends or her father? None of them had done anything wrong, but Camila's mum hated them all. Her parents' relationship had always confused her, they were married but they never looked happy to be with one another. Camila's father had adored the girl and always fawned over her, her mother never felt a close attachment to her and chose to ignore the girl. Sinu always fawned over other girls but always complained about Camila. Camila was different, Camila didn't fit Sinu's idea of perfect or well behaved. She had always been a good child but her mother always had a problem with her. 

When her father died, there was nothing of her old life left. Her mother stripped her wardrobe of everything she used to wear. Cut off all contact with her friends and Camila couldn't stand it. She didn't like it. She wanted to be who she was, but Sinu didn't like who she was. 

When Camila met Shawn a mere week ago, she felt like she was back in time. When she had the freedom to be who she wanted, Shawn didn't care, he let her be who she was. She was a giggly young girl, who liked going outside, exploring and even liked a little rebellion. Shawn gave her those things and she was going to enjoy them.

After ten minutes, the group of girls finally arrived at the mall. They all  out of the car, "Where shall we go first?" Chloe asked. "Home," Camila mumbled. The girls' heads snapped towards her, glaring. "Let's go to the cafe first, I haven't eaten anything yet." One of the brunettes spoke. Camila had never bothered to learn their names and she wasn't going to bother now. They hated her and she hated them back.

As they made their way to the cafe, Camila kept her distance behind them all. They were all talking about the latest fashion or new hairstyle and Camila didn't care. Honestly, she wanted her own style, the one she used to have, not the one that had been imposed on her.

Camila desperately wanted Shawn or Hailee to come sweep her off her feet and save her, but considering the fact that she hadn't talked to Shawn since Thursday and had no way to contact Hailee, she doubted she would be saved anytime soon.

When they arrived at the cafe, everyone sat around a table as they chose their orders, forcing Camila to order for them. She rolled her eyes and stood moving over to the queue. She could feel the lot of them laughing at her but she ignored it. It was normal.