Saving the Girl With Lilac Hair

Austin

Wednesday, September 27th

Cambull High

8:50 a.m 

I want out of here!

I drift off to my thoughts as Mr. Harrison goes on and on about what he thinks is the most important thing in life. I glance around the classroom and my eyes land on Camila. She's been quiet ever since Chris left and she's decided to take his seat, leaving an empty seat between us. I don't know what it is but there is something about her that just makes me want to be around her. For starters her lilac hair stands out in a crowd, then her attitude is almost fearless. But lately she's been different, almost as if she is trying to shut out the world. 

"Alright class. Now I am going to assign a partner project. For this project I want you and your partner to find a way to portray an aspect of life. I want you to be creative with this" he took a pause and glanced around the room. "I'll be assigning partners" he said with a smile. Everyone groaned as he thought it was funny and laughed. I laid back on my chair as he began to name off partners. 

"Austin and Camila" as soon as I heard both of our names I sat up quickly in my chair. "Is there a problem Mr. Park?" he asked as he stared right through me, he was waiting for me to complain. "Not at all" I said with a smile that I made sure reached up to my eyes. I glanced to my right as Camila rolled her eyes. 

Twenty minutes passed, as we all sat and listened to Mr. Harrison go on and on about life. As soon as the bell rung I began to stuff papers in my bag. I get up and bump into someone's shoulder, it's Camila.

"Uh hey" I say awkwardly. I'm not too sure on how to talk to her. 

"I want to get this project done as soon as possible" she said bluntly. I nodded my head in agreement. 

"My house after school" she turned around and walked to the front of the class. 

"Wait! Where do you live?" I asked but she just smiled and walked out the door. 

Just great.

**********

Cambull High

4:40 p.m

I lean against a wall by the entrance of the school. It has been ten minutes since the last bell rang and I haven't seen Camila at all. She said that we would work on the project at her house but she didn't tell me where she lived. I watched as people walked away from the school and before I knew it, the parking lot was almost deserted. 

"You waited" I turn to see Camila letting the door close. 

"Well I didn't know where you lived" I said bluntly. She nodded and began to walk away. I pushed myself off the wall and followed her.

**********

Camila's House

5:00 p.m

The past half hour was spent walking. Every now and then she would glance at me to see if I was still following her. Savannah had texted me a few times asking where I was but I just texted her saying I was working on a school project. I was scrolling through the newsfeed on my phone when I bumped into someone. 

"This is my house" Camila said as she walked up the stairs to a house. What caught my eye was that the door was red, it made it stand out from the rest of the houses on the block. 

"Are you coming or not?" Camila said as she held the door open. I quickly walked up the steps and walked into her house. I heard her close the door and followed her into the kitchen. Her mom stood by the island looking through some papers. 

"Hey mom. This is Austin, we're just going to work on a project" she said quickly as she grabbed two bottles of water. 

"Alright dear. Call me if you need anything" 

Camila handed me the water bottle and pushed past me. I have no idea what's her problem but whatever. I followed her up the stairs and into her room. I sat in a chair at her desk and she sat on her bed. The first few minutes were silent until she decided to say something. 

"So for the project we're suppose to portray an aspect of lifeI was thinking that an aspect of life could be perspective"

"Sure. But how would we do that?" I ask as I watched her look through a binder. 

"Photography. Through our own eyes we see a small version of what's really going on but through a photo we're given the chance to see the bigger picture of the whole situation and not just what your eyes allow you to see" I nod in agreement. 

She scrolls through her laptop while I scroll through my phone. I have no idea what she's doing but I'm just trying to find a way to pass time. 

"Camila! I made some snacks if you two are hungry!" I heard her mom yell from downstairs. Camila turned to look at me and we made eye contact. I smiled at her and she returned the gesture, we were both thinking the same thing. We both got up from where we were sitting and ran towards her door, I tried not to but I accidentally pushed her with my elbow and got through the door first. She was ruthless and tripped me with her own foot. I fell forward, and lucky for me, I managed to stick my hands out stopping me from slamming against the floor. 

"Loser" she said before she disappeared down the stairs. I got up and took my time down the stairs to see her in the kitchen eating all of the cookies. 

"Camila!" her mom yelled her slapping her hand away from the last three cookies. "It was suppose to be for the both of you" she said sternly as she gave Camila a cold glare. She grabbed the plate and handed it to me. "Here enjoy the rest of the cookies" I gladly accepted the plate. 

"I was making sure they weren't poisoned" Camila said as she smiled innocently but her mom just continued to glare at her. "What? Can't trust anyone mother" Camila said as she eyed her mom carefully. "No one!" she yelled as she left the kitchen. 

I grabbed the three cookies and thanked her mom. I went back upstairs to see Camila on her bed looking through the binder again. I glanced around her room quickly and saw that her window was wide open. 

"Do you usually leave your window open?" I asked as I sat on the chair at her desk. 

"I use to" she said quietly but I managed to hear her. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well Chris use to live next door" she said with a blank face.

"Ohh cool" I didn't know what else to say. "So you two were close?"

"Yeah. He's my best friend" 

I decided to stop talking about it since she seemed very distant. I remember that day at the diner and the breakdown she had after he left. I wanted to say something but it wasn't my place. I look down at my phone and see that it's already eight at night. 

"I have to go/you have to go" we both said in unison. We looked at each other confused for a moment but then she nodded and opened her door for me. I walked out and she followed me until we reached her front door.