mute - shawmila

chapter 4

camila was now in history, another class she luckily had with dinah, but now knew she shared with alessia and shawn as well. out of all classes this was definitely one of her favorites, the teacher seemed very interested in his work and did not white wash history.

today he had been going on about a project they had to do, and camila hoped it wasn't with partners. everyone thought of her as a freak and she knew that, but it was one thing to do it behind her back and another thing to say it to her face.

mr. williams stood from his seat as soon as class had started after the bell had rung. "good afternoon! today is the day you have all been waiting for. you will be working on your projects in partners-" a groan fell over the classroom. "you didn't let me finish. you may choose your partners. but if i see you guys aren't getting your work done i will switch for you. now, choose your partners and pick a topic" he said, and went to go sit back down. 

camila looked and dinah and smiled. "nuh uh. last project i did with you you took over everything and didn't even let me do my part."

pleeeaaaase? she wrote on her paper.

"i can work with you" camila heard shawn say next to her.

camila looked over her right shoulder where shawn was staring at her nervously. she stared back at dinah who had a confused look on her face. camila looked back to shawn and nodded. 

"um, great! will we have time to work on it here or do we need to meet up afterschool?" he asked. she got the same piece of paper and scribbled there.

we'll probably have to meet up outside the classroom

"okay, cool. what topic do you want?"

at the same time, dinah was staring at camila interact with shawn. she had only been kidding when she said no to working together but at least it worked out. she wanted camila to become more social and she was glad to see someone new make en effort. but now she was stuck with no partner. 

"hey dinah" she heard alessia speak from behind her. oh yeah! the other canadian.

"did you want to maybe work together? i was thinking of working with shawn and then.. yeah" alessia said. she didn't want to admit it but dinah intimidated her, a lot. 

"um yeah that works. do you want to exchange numbers to see what we'll do?"

with each others contact information they continued talking for the rest of the class, figuring the project could wait. 

- -

dinah and camila sat with the other three in music class, this time talking between themselves instead of joining the group. camila pulled out her phone and typed a message for dinah.

sky is leaving for college and i have to drive :/

dinah sighed. she knew how much camila struggled with driving especially after the accident but it didn't seem like she had a choice now.

"i'm sorry mila. i can ask my mom if we can make a detour and pick you up?"

no it's okay i live too far. i have to get over it eventually.

"no, your fear is totally valid. i'm sorry your parents aren't putting more effort. i'll see what i can figure out, how long until you have to drive?"

she leaves this weekend so monday

"you'll figure out a ride, mila. don't worry, if you're still too scared to drive don't do it. who cares what your parents think."

camila laid her head on dinah's shoulder and dinah wrapped an arm around her. she knew how traumatic everything had been and as much as she loved the cabello's, they should have really seeked more help for their daughter from the beginning. 

"can i come over afterschool today? i want to hang out with you and maybe talk your parents into letting you stay over for the first few weeks" she said. camila nodded.

after class ended, dinah and camila said their goodbyes to the others and walked to the front of the school where sky was already waiting. 

"hi mila. oh hi dinah, are you coming with us?" sky said confused.

"yeah if that's okay"

the drive to the cabello's house had been short but awkwardly quiet. out of all the cabello's dinah thought skylin might be the most understanding but that was not the case. when they arrived to the large house, dinah saw another car pull up and noticed it was shawn and alessia. when they said they lived close, they had really meant it. the three of them walked into the house, and camila was walking towards the direction of the stairs when dinah pulled her towards the kitchen.

"i want to say hi to your mom" dinah said. if there was one thing she loved, it was manners. her family had taught her that.

camila shook her head and pulled her the other way, but dinah being stronger just walked into the kitchen. camila huffed. she was not in the mood to socialize with her family tonight but she guessed going to say hi wouldn't be bad.

"good afternoon mrs. cabello" dinah said politely.

"hi dinah! i did not know you would be coming! are you joining us for dinner?" she asked through her thick accent.

"yeah, if that's okay with you." she replied with a smile.

"yes of course! dinner will be ready in a few minues i will call you guys down!"

dinah loved the excitement in sinu's face. she guessed it was only because it was as close as talking to camila as she was going to get. camila pulled dinah up the stairs and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

"why are you avoiding your family?"

camila grabbed the small whiteboard hanging from her wall for occasions such as these and quickly scribbled on it.

im not

"mhm sure" she said smirking.

the whiteboard camila wrote on when dinah would come over was a gift from dinah herself. when she realized camila would not talk for longer than just a few days, she bought her a small portable whiteboard and decorated the border with the cutest stickers she could find. camila really appreciated the gift, and loved the amount of effort dinah was putting in.

they just dont understand

"i don't understand either, mila. i don't know what's going on in your head or what's stopping you from just talking. but i love you, so i'm just going to show you by putting in effort. they're just showing you a little differently"

by forcing me to do things im not ready for

"by wanting you to go back to how you used to be. they miss your voice, mila. we all do." dinah said. she hated serious moments and camila knew that, so it showed camila how much she really cared.

"do you think you'll ever talk to us again?"

the question made camila anxious. she knew it was coming eventually, but it didn't stop her from freaking out. she slowly shrugged. camila wanted to give dinah an honest answer, she really did, but she just didn't know. maybe talk to dinah one day? she didn't know. 

i dont know

"okay, take your time, okay?" she said, giving camila a hug and pushing them both on the bed, causing camila to squeal.

camila sighed. what did she do to deserve a best friend as kind as dinah?

"now let's talk about your boyfriend"

camila pushed her and rolled her eyes.

hes not my boyfriend

"yet i didn't say names and you knew who i was talking about" dinah said laughing. she felt a pillow hit her face and looked over at camila.

"you did not just do that"

camila gave her a smug smile and dinah wiped it off her face with a pillow. hard.