It comes and goes

four

Camila's POV

The day my failed attempted to talk to Shawn happened I could not bare my embarrassment. I told Mandy and she laughed for a few good minutes. I eventually also laughed with her. Why am I so lame?

Today was Wednesday and I hadn't seen him since that Friday afternoon. I was relieved and bumped at the same time. I was at my usual coffee shop on the tables outside waiting for Tobby, a guy from my class that had asked me for some notes.

I took my chai latte in both my hands. I looked at my phone when a message popped up in the screen. Tobby was arriving.

"Hey", I heard someone said behind me. I turned around because I clearly recognized that voice.

"Hi..." I said shyly.

"What are you doing?", Shawn asked quietly making his way to the chair in front of me.

"Just waiting for a classmate", I said eyeing him. He had a sweet guy vibe but the words coming out of his mouth didn't match that feeling all the time.

"No meeting with your professor today?"

"No, not today. So, you study here?"I asked in a new attempt of conversation.

"No, I have other business here". I looked at him confused. What did that mean?

"Hi, Camila", I heard Tobby said as he came closer.

"Hi", I said smiling. I liked Tobby, he was a nice guy and a great classmate. We always had each other back when we got behind in our classes. It was purely academic though, and I knew he was dating.

"Sorry to interrupt", he said, "do you have the notes?"

"Yes, right here", I said handing them to him.

"Thank you so much, I owe you. I'm sorry, I have to rush now. See you in class." He said taking them and giving a quick nod at Shawn.

"No problem, take care".

Shawn was once again looking at my interaction with someone else silent.

"So...", I started looking back at him and trying to continue our conversation. "Do you know Mr. Mendes?"

I thought it would be a good starting point since I've seen him get into his office twice already. Maybe there was something in common there for us.

He looked at me long enough that it made me question if I had something in my teeth. Maybe my lipstick was ruined? Or my mascara?

He let out a sigh before talking.

"Yeah, I do", he said dull.

"He's a great guy", I commented.

He moved on his chair and looked away from me. Was he uncomfortable?

"He has his moments", he said. That's a weird thing to say, I thought.

"How do you know him?", I inquired really curious now.

"Life", he replied very vaguely before getting up. "I'll see you around, Camila".

"Uhm... OK. Bye".

Our interactions were getting more awkward every time.

...

This morning I received an email from Mr. Mendes asking me to stop by his class and grab some notes he'd made for me for the upcoming tutoring class I was supposed to teach in a couples of weeks. I was excited about that one and happy he was giving me material to prepare myself.