Shots Fired: A Collection of Oneshots

Camila

Camila thought she'd fallen in love for the first time when she was thirteen years old. It was in a seventh grade classroom with a lack of air conditioning, ceiling fans spinning so hard the class was convinced that one day one of those fans would hurtle down from the ceiling, crushing the unfortunate person who happened to be seated underneath it. Needless to say, whenever a kid was assigned the desk underneath the fan, they would eye it warily and sit on the edge of their seat, knee bouncing up and down, ready to bolt at the sound of an ominous creak. It was in this classroom that Camila was convinced she'd found her first love. His name was Santiago and he had black shiny hair and milky brown eyes that crinkled at the edges whenever he smiled. His skin was the color of caramel and he spoke with an accent that made him roll his r's and over-pronounce his vowels. Camila was enchanted with the boy, spending all class with her chin propped on the heel of her palm, eyes tracing over the shape of his face, memorizing the way it moved, her ears embedding the sound of his loud laughter in her brain.

It wasn't until the first dance of eighth grade, a full year after she'd decided she was in love, that Camila realized she was not, in fact, in love. That night Santiago chose to spend the singular slow dance with Camila's best friend, the loveable Amy who knew just how much time Camila spent thinking about him. The sight of them together made Camila feel angry, then resentful, then altogether tired and a little relieved that she could stop spending time with her stomach in knots over every interaction with him. It was in that moment that she decided she must've not been feeling love and with that Camila forgot about Santiago.

The next time Camila thought she fell in love was when she was sixteen years old. She was in high school and thought that she must know be mature enough to really know love. The boy was Andrew and he was a year older than her and performed in the musicals. She first saw him on stage playing Jack Kelly in Newsies and from the moment he first opened his mouth to sing "Santa Fe," Camila felt a tug at her heart. She found herself jealous of the girl playing Katherine, that got to sing a duet with him and kiss him. Camila thought she ought to learn how to sing or dance so she could perform next to Andrew, but she quickly learned that inter-cast dating was frowned upon and threw away that idea. Sometimes Camila would see Andrew in the hallway, his backpack slung on one shoulder, hair a silky mess, usually humming some sort of show tune, greeting those in the musicals with a lopsided grin and some fancy handshake that corresponded to the show they'd just closed. She first spoke to him one day by accident. She'd been walking in the halls as normal when she heard his melodic laugh that rang just as pure as his singing voice. Mesmerized, she stopped and couldn't help staring as he threw back his beautiful head and laughed at something the boy in front of him had said. So caught up, Camila didn't notice the girl walking behind her that shoved her shoulder to get by. A stumble. A trip. And suddenly she staring up at Andrew, his hands braced around her biceps, eyes wide. Camila dusted herself off and squeaked out a quiet "hi" before running down the hallway, desperate to get away and kick herself many times later.

That was the only time she spoke to Andrew as he transferred the next year and she decided that no, that couldn't be love. She was out of her mind.

After Andrew, Camila decided to be more careful of whom she considered herself to be in love with. That was why, up until today, she'd decidedly never been "in love" again. Then today happened.

The day began normally, her high-pitched alarm ringing at 8:30 for her 9 AM cartooning class that started off her week. Camila sleepily grabbed her phone off the desk next to her bed and turned the screen towards her face, pressing the "off" button for her alarm and scrolling through her notifications for the morning. Cartooning at 9, Brunch with Kate at 11, FINISH BIO PAPER!!!She cringed at the last one, cursing herself silently for not starting that assignment earlier. Well, nothing to be done about that now except hole herself in one of the library's sinkhole couches and write until her fingers were numb and the sound of clicking Mac keys was ringing in her ears until long after the paper was complete.

Not anticipating what the rest of her day would entail, Camila dressed in her usual sweats and headed out the door to cartooning class, two pencils holding her messy bun in place, large wire-rimmed circles sitting on the bridge of her nose and a backpack hanging from both shoulders. It was on the way to class that Camila decided she was in love. The feeling came very suddenly and out of the blue, but she couldn't deny it. She was crossing the street when she saw him. The funny thing was, at first she didn't recognize him. In fact, at first she was repulsed at the sight of him because of the girl he was wrapped around, pressing her hips into the seat of his motorcycle, lips locked in an intense kiss. She knew the girl from her biology class; she was the type to sit in the back of the room flirting with the nearest guy and not paying attention, an entitled bitch that only took the class because her rich parents wanted her to get a substantial degree and say that she'd tried before throwing money at her and letting her do whatever the hell she wanted. Camila didn't come from a rich family. She took biology because her parents didn't want her to live as poorly as they did, and they believed that a career in cartooning and other artwork would lead to that. They wanted her to have a money-making career. She saw the reasoning, really she did, that's why she still tried her best at biology. But she didn't want to live out her days in a research lab, she'd rather be homeless painting the Seine River in Paris or drawing political cartoons outside the White House in DC. People didn't understand her. Especially people like this girl that got whatever she wanted. When Camila saw the couple's embrace she snorted and thought that any person who put himself in that girl's company was a stupid ass.

Unfortunately, her snort was overheard and the couple broke apart, the boy turning to see who was mocking him. It was in that moment that Camila froze to the spot, her heart thundering in her chest, her stomach all up in knots, her eyes going wide. She could see from the look in his eyes that he recognized her too. In her mind's eye all she could see was him and her best friend Amy at an eighth grade dance. Then she could hear his laughter, which had never really left her brain, the sound of his r's and his vowels, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Santiago relaxed and smiled, walking over to Camila. He was more beautiful than before and the easy way in which he walked and opened his arms wide for a greeting hug made her heart skip a beat.

"Hi." Her voice sounded stupid, but he didn't seem to mind, wrapping her up in the warmest hug she'd ever experienced, the kind that filled her from head to toes with a happy tingling sensation.

"It's been a long time, no?" He still spoke with curly words, though it was less than when he'd been younger.

"No, I mean yes! Yes, it's been...a while."

"You look well."

"You look gorgeous." Camila's face turned red as soon as the words came out especially when his eyebrows shot up, eyes widening slightly. There was no point in backtracking or pretending she hadn't said them—he'd heard. He knew.

"We should catch up sometime. You busy tonight?" Words failed Camila as she nodded, bio paper flying from her brain. He'd heard her say those words and yet he still wanted to talk to her. Most people would've laughed and scooted out of the situation as quickly as they could. But not Santiago. No, no he wanted to see her again. Camila was certain if she'd been chocolate she'd be a puddle on the concrete right now. That was when she decided she must be in love. She knew him, she'd been friends with him once. He didn't shy away from her bluntness, he accepted it. Screw the girl he'd been kissing, Camila felt certain that this time she really was in love. The smile that lit up his face at her nod made her want to cry tears of joy. She wanted to be the girl he took for rides on his motorcycle, the girl he kissed in the middle of the street, the girl with her hips pressed against the seat of the bike. The smile in his eyes told her that someday, she would be that girl.