undercover | caminah

attempt three

On Thursday morning, Dinah headed straight for the art classroom. Lauren usually stayed in there whenever she had free time, building her art portfolio for her future university. She was right where Dinah thought she would be, her hair pulled into a ponytail as she painted onto a canvas.

Lauren's attention was drawn to Dinah, who had come in and sat right in front of her. Lauren set the paint brush on top of her palette, greeting her friend.

"What's up?" Lauren asked, wiping her cheek with her elbow.

Dinah leaned forward in her seat, "Normani showed me her great idea last night. Long story short, it exploded in our faces."

"Gross. I don't even want to know," Lauren answered, her nose crinkling, "So you finally want to hear me out then?"

"Yes," Dinah responded, "Your idea was the most sane out of everyone else's, so I'm sure it'll work."

Lauren smirked, pleased to be the smartest, "Well, in that case, you're going to have to trust me with her name. I could find out where she hangs out at so you can go talk to her. Who knows, maybe you have something in common?"

Hesitantly, Dinah said, "It's Camila Cabello."

"You're just in luck, because I know who that is and exactly where to find her," Lauren said, grinning.

—

After Lauren had cleaned up her painting supplies, she lead Dinah down to the school's library. Dinah thought it was a bit ingenious, and she should have figured that the girl who loved to read could be found at the library.

"So how do you know her?" Dinah queried, unaware the girl talked to anyone but her.

Lauren responded, "She comes to the reading club meeting sometimes. She's very sweet, but really quiet. When she does give her input, though, it's really wonderful."

They stopped at the library doors, and Dinah turned to Lauren, "I'm nervous."

"You, nervous? Over a girl? I've never seen this before, maybe I should take a video as evidence," Lauren said dramatically, causing Dinah to roll her eyes.

"I hate you," Dinah joked, "But thank you Lauren, really."

Lauren saluted her, "She's probably by the poetry section. She loves poems."

Dinah gave Lauren a thumbs up, then let out a breath before she pushed the door open. Dinah rarely visited the library, so she had no idea where she could find the poetry section. Dinah walked in with knobby knees, heading toward the rows of books.

There she found the genres went in alphabetical order, so she wasn't surprised when she turned the corner into the poetry section and found a girl sitting on the floor. Dinah's breath hitched when she recognized Camila's straight brown hair, falling over the back of her green jacket.

Dinah's voice was shaky as she whispered, "Hey."

Camila turned around to see who was talking, and calmed a bit when she saw it was Dinah.

"Hello, I didn't expect to see you here," Camila said, closing the book she was holding.

"Me neither. I was just browsing," Dinah bluffed, pretending to look at the slim books, "So, is this where you hang out in the mornings?"

Opening the book once more, Camila responded, "Morning, lunch, and my study hall."

Dinah picked a book out, looked at it, and then put it back, "Doesn't that ever get boring for you?"

Camila scrunched up her eyebrows, "Of course not. There's always another story to be told, and as soon as I think I've experienced them all, the librarian gets a new shipment of poems."

"I've never thought of it that way," Dinah responded, "Then again, I've never really gotten into poetry."

"But you'd like to, considering that you're in the poetry section."

Shrugging, Dinah responded, "Yeah, and I figured the best person to help me do it is probably the girl who sits on the floor and reads books here."

Camila smiled, then patted the ground, "Come sit."

Following her orders, Dinah sat on the carpet across from Camila. The girl was now looking at the bookshelf from her spot on the ground, her brown eyes shifting back and forth as she read the titles. Her lips were slightly parted as she read to herself, and Dinah thought this was a sight she could admire forever.

She plucked a book off the shelf, then held it out to Dinah, "I think it would be best to start with familiarity, since you're a beginner. Do you remember reading any Robert Frost in middle school?"

"I do," Dinah answered, taking the book.

"I believe that one is in that book, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, that's a really nice place to start," Camila said, smiling.

Dinah held the book in her lap, then asked, "So do you write any poetry yourself?"

Camila looked surprised, but then she softened, reaching for her backpack. She searched through it for a few seconds, then pulled out a spiral notebook. She flipped through the pages, then gave it to Dinah as well.

"They're mostly freeform word vomit, but you can read them if you like," Camila said, giving a piece of her soul to the taller girl, "If you could bring that back tomorrow, that would be great."

"Yeah, of course," Dinah said, "Thank you so much, Camila."

Camila grinned at Dinah again, turning her brain to mush, "No problem. Just let me know how you like the poems. Mine and Robert's."

"I will," Dinah said, getting up from her spot on the ground, "And Camila, I had something I wanted to ask you."

Camila cocked her head in response, but before Dinah could ask, the first bell rang out.

"Oh, shoot! I've got to get to English class. I'll see you in class, Dinah!" Camila said, stuffing the book she was reading into her backpack, and leaving abruptly.

Dinah stood there stupidly, watching the girl move farther away from her.