mute - shawmila

chapter 2

camila looked up at conan waving at her. should she go? what would she say? how would she say it? she had already made a bad first impression with that alicia girl, so she decided to go and see what they wanted. surely conan told them she did not speak, right?

she walked up to them and put her stuff down, sitting on an empty chair next to conan. she looked at him and tilted her head as to say, "yes?"

"hi cami, is dinah here today?" he asked. she softly shook her head, dinah was flying home from california today. "ah, that explains it. have you met my friends shawn and alessia?" he asked her. camila looked over, she had both of them for several classes, maybe for all of them? she couldn't remember. camila shrugged her shoulders.

"i sit next to you in math class" alessia said with a smile. camila softly smiled as well and nodded. 

"hey, i'm shawn. i think i have you for like half my classes" he said, offering his hand for her to her to shake, which she awkwardly did. "you live by our house" he said with a smile. camila softly nodded, she didn't know what to do. 

"will dinah be here at school tomorrow?" conan asked. camila nodded and smiled. it truly was so hard for her without her best friend. "then you and dinah should join us for lunch!" he said with a smile. she shrugged, she would have to ask. right away she pulled out her phone and texted her.

she gave them a thumbs up and they smiled in return. she was glad it wasn't awkward, usually any conversation she had held since junior year resulted in them walking away awkwardly. luckily they didn't seem to mind one-way conversations. 

- -

camila stepped into her older sister's car. "how was your day?" she asked. camila shrugged.

the drive home was, as expected, silent. camila knew she shouldn't feel this way, but she couldn't help but feel as if her sister didn't try hard enough with her. she didn't try to talk to her without expecting a response. instead of baby steps, skylin wanted a big leap.

as they arrived home camila got out of the car as soon as she could. opening the door, she bolted upstairs and shut the door to her room.

"any luck?" sinu asked skylin. she sighed and shook her head. it had been too long without her daughter's voice. they had allowed her to go nonverbal at first, as they assumed that is how she would process the trauma. but those days turned to weeks which turned to months and it had now been over a year. would she ever talk again? did she talk with her friends at school? every time they ask dinah, she tells them camila had not spoken, but they couldn't help but think she may be covering for her. 

sinu got dinner ready and called her daughters down to eat. skylin thanked her and helped set the table while camila came down reluctantly. it's not that she didn't like her family, she loved them, but they seemed more upset than supportive at the lack of speech. she didn't know why her brain chose to cope this way, it just did. better than doing hardcore drugs. 

"where's dad?" skylin asked, noticing his usual spot was empty. "a lot of work at the clinic, he probably won't be home until almost midnight" sinu said. "when are you going back to college?"

"classes start tuesday, so i'll probably leave friday night and move everything in. do you think you can come?" 

although she attended the university of miami, she still preferred to stay in the dorms. it was nice to get away from the family and gain some independence but still be able to come home anytime she needed it.

"mila, that means i won't be able to drive you to school anymore and you're gonna have to drive" she said regretfully. camila nodded, she knew this day would come. 

"camila you have your license for a reason, you can take sky's car while she is gone. i'm not sure if i can help but for sure either your dad or i will help you move in." sinu said.

camila rolled her eyes. she would not be driving herself too school.

"either that or you catch a ride" sinu said. whatever, she thought.