darling, come on (and let me in)

They met in San Diego in December. Camila had been busking along the walkway by the Midway Navy Ship; it was docked in the San Diego Bay by the tourist haven, Seaport Village which was a failed attempt to mimic the small town aura of East Coast bay towns. Even in this humid but sunny West Coast city, where the water reflected like a turquoise tinted mirror in the light of the day, it was easy to just become another face in the crowd.

Camila liked it better than New York City. The weather was better, eighty degrees even in the winter, but there were a lot of people like her here, in the same situation.

After all, San Diego was home to one of the largest populations of homeless in the whole nation, and most of them were conglomerated within the downtown area. Camila was luckier than most of them - she may not have been given much, but with her guitar, her busking hat, and her paid off 2000 Honda Civic, she made do. There was a twenty four hour Super Walmart east of the main city, and it was too isolated to notice a small car at the edge of the parking lot every night or so.

The music industry had been harder than she had anticipated, so here she was, trying to cash in on the possibility of being discovered while singing on the streets. If one didn't consider that she hadn't showered in about two days or so, it could have been considered romantic.

With slightly frazzled hair, an automatic effect of the December humidity, a hoodie clad Camila set up her beach chair that early morning and sat down with her guitar, setting her hat out shortly afterwards. Despite the mood that the sun imposes on the downtown bay area, Camila chooses to sing one of her more somber songs, a song that reminded her of her time in New York, where some of the people were as cold as the snow that fell at winter times.

The air was fresher here, less smog, and one could actually see the ocean shimmer in the mornings. Camila focused on her guitar now, an old wooden guitar that had been newly strung. Camila had saved up a month's worth of busking money to restring the instrument, driving to soup kitchens and local food banks for her meals. Strumming the opening chords of the song experimentally, the words lodge themselves into Camila's mind as they always do, and her hand finds its fingers playing the song's notes out of second nature.

No I think I'll stay in tonight, skip the conversations and the oh I'm fines

A pair of tourists walks by, the older of the two men raising his eyebrows, at least looking a bit impressed. He is ginger, bulky, tall and bearded, and his thinner and shorter companion, blonde hair slicked back, tugs slightly on his arm as he drops a five dollar bill into Camila's hat. Well, that's a good start.

No I'm no stranger to surprise, this paper town has let me down too many times

Why do I even try? Give me a reason why?

There is a woman in business casual clothing across from her. Perhaps her intention was to look intimidating, but to Camila, she sees a girl trying on a woman's clothing. The pale girl, green eyed like a pair of ocean abalone shells, didn't seem to care for the well being of the slacks she was wearing, since she sat in the grassy patch not far across from where Camila was singing.

Since the place where the girl was sitting was void of most trees, save a few pine saplings, Camila could see the sunlight ripple through the girl's black hair. It reminded her of the few nights she had spent in Arizona on her way here, where the cityscape was so faded that you could see the stars for once, where the night sky reigned uninterrupted.

I thought that I could trust you; never mind.

I'm just looking for some real friends, all they ever do is let me down

Everytime I let somebody in, then I find out what they're all about.

The girl is watching Camila sing, eyes intently focused on her and the guitar, drifting only when she brought a foil wrapped hot dog to her mouth, making sure that her aim doesn't miss. Camila didn't know that such emeralds could find her so intriguing, as the girl cops a small smile at her, barely an upward twitch of the mouth, but it's enough.