Always been you

2004 (2)

Shawn was tired and whatever Miss Holly was saying was not interesting for him. He had been at school enough today and couldn't wait to go home and watch cartoons with his little sister. He was done with this class. He held his face with the palm of his hand and stared at the clock on the wall. He didn't know how to tell the time yet, but he observed as the hands moved.

"Ok, that's all for today", Miss Holly said and he hurried to put everything on his backpack. "See you tomorrow, guys. Have a nice day!"

Shawn ran outside and his face lighted up when he saw his mom waiting for him with his sister on her arms.

"Hi mom", he said and then kissed his baby sister on the cheek.

"Hi baby, how are you?", Karen said fixing his hair.

"Fine. Let's go now", he said excited but his mom didn't go anywhere.

"Wait, sweetie. We have to take Camila with us today. Sinu is busy this afternoon", she explained.

Nooo, he thought. He didn't like having her around. She was a girl and he wasn't interested in girls. He just wanted his cartoons, some food and playing soccer in the backyard. He pouted and kicked the grass with his foot while they waited for Camila to arrive.

"Camila, here!", his mom shouted and she came running, her braids dancing on each side of her face and her big backpack bouncing funnily.

"Where's my mom?", she asked Karen.

"She called me and said to take you with us because she's a bit busy. She'll pick you up when she's ready, ok? C'mon now, I made some cookies for you". Shawn liked the sound of that but wasn't so excited about going home with his classmate.

Karen and Sinu met when their kids started school and after seeing each other every day when waiting for Shawn and Camila, they became friends. Their kids on the other hand, not so much. They tolerated each other, but they weren't close. They didn't understand why their moms couldn't be friends with other moms, like Luke's or Jessica's moms. Shawn liked to play with Luke and Camila was close with Jess.

They got in the backseat and just talked to answer Karen's questions about the day at school. Camila made an effort to answer with more words than what Shawn was saying. She didn't want to sound rude when they were babysitting her. She was only 7, but she knew how to behave around adults.

"Here we are", Karen said when the car stopped and they got out of it.

The house smelled deliciously and Camila liked the backyard very much. It was bigger than hers. Karen told them to wash their hands and they both run to the bathroom. Shawn got there first and shut the door so Camila had to wait outside. When she went in, she spent a little too much time playing with the bubbles from the soap, so Karen had to call her. When she came back to the living room, Shawn and Aaliyah were on the carpet in front of the TV with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. There were cookies and milk waiting for her as well. She sat beside Shawn and ate in silence while they watched cartoons. They laughed at the shenanigans but did not interact with each other. It was weird for both of them to be spending time out of school together.

"Do you guys have homework?", Karen asked them from the kitchen.

Camila was about to say yes but Shawn gave her a deadly stare and she didn't open her mouth.

"No", Shawn told his mom right away.

She was going to have to do her homework once she was back at her house, she thought. They continued watching the show until Karen interrupted them again.

"Why don't you go outside to play for a while?", she told them not wanting them to be in front of a TV the whole time. "Shawn, you can play soccer with Camila now".

Shawn was tired of playing soccer alone because his sister was still too little, his mom was busy and his dad wasn't home until later, so he thought, what the hell. Playing with her was going to be a bit more entertaining than playing with the wall.

"Lets go", he told her and she followed him. "Do you know how to play?"

"Yes", she said confidently, she had spent some time watching matches with her dad and occasionally throwing the ball around with him at the park.

"The first to reach ten goals win", Shawn said grabbing the ball and placing it on his hip to hold it with one hand. "Rock, paper, scissors to see who starts".

Camila sighed when she lost and Shawn looked at her with a mocking face. She wanted to win so she could erase that stupid smile out of his face.

He placed the ball on the grass and then moved it with his feet around. He was good, but not as fast as Camila's dad so she knew what to do. She stole the ball from him and he froze in surprise for a second but recovered soon, just in time to stop her from scoring. They went at it for several minutes, stealing the ball from each other and preventing their advances. Karen looked at them from the window, smiling at the kids having fun while in reality they were moments away from scratching their eyes.

"That's not fair!", Camila said when Shawn grabbed her by the waist and moved her to the side.

"Don't care", he murmured and ran away to score his first goal.

Camila was fuming but she was not giving up. She got back the ball and the second Shawn came too close to her she faked falling onto the grass and hurting her knee. Shawn was suspicious at first, but she looked like she was actually hurt so he stopped and kneeled in front of her. That was the moment Camila stood up and ran to his side of the field and scored a goal.

"You're a liar!", Shawn said angrily.

"You cheated too", she said shrugging.

They were about to start the game again when Sinu arrived to take her.

"C'mon, Mila. Say thanks to Shawn and let's go", her mom said with a smile.

"This isn't over", Camila whispered to Shawn's face and then turned around bouncing from one foot to the other. He frowned but agreed, it wasn't over.

The next day at school they each gathered a team to play during the break. Camila had Jess by her side, plus Andy and Martha. Shawn got his friend Luke, and Connor and Sarah. They played during the whole break, until their teacher had to call them back to the classroom. No goals were scored and Shawn and Camila were fuming. On the second break they were more ready than before, they had to untie the marker this time.

Camila had the ball and she had her eyes fixed on the goal in front of her, but before she could kick straight there, Shawn intercepted her move and the ball flew somewhere else. Before someone could catch it, the ball went through one of the classrooms windows and broke the glass. And before they could even react, their friends were already gone, leaving Shawn and Camila alone.

"Cowards", they both muttered and then looked surprised at each other. They smiled because at least they weren't going to be alone when the teacher came to scold them.

Their moms were called inside when they arrived to pick them up and the teacher told them all about it. They had to pay for the window and they were both grounded from playing soccer in school for 2 weeks.

"Wanna use the swings?", Shawn asked standing in front of Camila and blocking the sun from her eyes the next day.

"Ok", she shrugged and joined him.

They were both mad at their friend for running away and leaving them alone so they weren't talking to them, but at least they had each other.

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a/n: So what do you think? 🥺