mute - shawmila

chapter 7

before camila knew it, it was time for her least favorite class, science. there was no point to this class and no one even understood what the old man was talking about half the time anyway.

deciding she could use this class to watch up on sleep, she put her arms on the desk and rested her head on them.

shawn looked over to find camila asleep during class and smiled, though he was slightly worried because she had slept during their earlier class as well. he wondered if everything was okay.

before he could think about it any longer, an extremely loud alarm started blaring from the speakers, making everyone jump and some people bring their hands to cover their ears from the sudden interruption. "fire drill!" he heard the teacher yell and everyone immediately stood up from their seats.

shawn looked around to see if alessia had gotten up as well but he found camila, on the floor crying. she was rocking back and forth, her head buried between her knees and her arms covering her ears. shawn and alessia exchanged concerned glances before shawn motioned alessia to go along with the class and he'd attempt to help camila.

"hey, let's get you out of here" he said softly. it didn't seem like she knew what was going on or even acknowledge that he was there. he lead her to her feet and helped camila walk. still, her eyes were closed and her arms were covering her ears. shawn was about to follow the rest of the class outside but thought to instead lead them into the restroom so camila could calm down. the alarms were still blaring, but they seemed to be quieter in the hallways.

once shawn and camila were in the restroom, he looked at her to see if her eyes were at least open but her breathing was only getting tighter and her eyes were squeezed shut.

"hey, hey camila. it's me. it's shawn. listen to me" he said. he refrained from holding her in case that triggered her more, but didn't know what to do. afraid that she would faint from the lack of air, he gently pried her hands off her ears.

"no!" camila yelled, loud.

shawn stood there stunned. had she just...?

well, at least the outburst got camila to open her eyes. she looked around, confused as to where she was but still unable to take in air. luckily, the alarm had stopped ringing.

"hey, it's shawn. i need for you to look at me, okay? i'm gonna put you against my chest now" he said gently.

camila stared at him with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what he was saying. she felt herself being lead to someone else's chest.

"breathe in" she heard the voice. camila tried to breathe. she couldn't.

"that's it, you're doing great. keep trying"

camila nodded and closed her eyes, allowing a few tears to escape.

"breathe out"

once again camila tried to follow the instructions but couldn't. the alarm kept ringing her ears, even if it really wasn't anymore.

shawn repeated those four words for a while longer until it seemed like she was in control of her own breathing again. regardless, it still looked like she was more focused on the alarm ringing in her head.

"don't listen up there" shawn said, tapping her forehead. "listen to my breathing. breathe with me" she was soon able to realize the voice had belonged to shawn. slowly, she managed to get her breathing under control to where she didn't feel like suffocating.

"are you here now?" shawn said cautiously. camila nodded. "you really gave me a scare. i thought you'd pass out" he explained.

camila nodded until she remembered something. had she really spoken? the idea made her anxious all over again and she brought her hand to cover her mouth, looking at shawn with wide eyes. her breathing began to get shallow again.

"hey, hey no. please calm down. it's okay. i won't tell anyone" he pleaded.

camila, still scared, slowly nodded and released a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding. she could still talk. camila didn't know how to feel about that.

she looked around, confused as to how she had gotten there or how long they'd been there. her head was still buzzing and it felt extremely fuzzy.

"you were asleep and then the alarm rang. you got pretty scared, i guess because it put you into a panic attack" he explained. "i know what they look like. i um, used to have them. still do occasionally. the restrooms were the least crowded place so i brought you here to calm down. it took you nearly 20 minutes to breathe, you gave me quite a scare" he said.

they were both on the floor, which was probably not the most hygienic thing to do. her head was no longer against his chest, but against the stall door. she looked around the boys bathroom.

"anyway, the bell will ring soon incase you want to get going. i'm sure alessia covered for us in science" he said. as soon as he finished, the bell rang and camila winced but managed to keep the breathing under control.

"yeah there it is. cmon, let's get out of here before boys come in to do who knows what" he said, leading them up.

- -

it was time for history when they had exited the restroom. walking into the classroom, they realized alessia managed to carry all three of their stuff there.

"hey, is everything okay?" she said cautiously.

shawn looked over to camila, who nodded slowly. dinah then ran into the classroom, looking freaked out.

"oh my god camila thank god you're okay" she said, giving her a tight hug.

"i heard the alarm and i knew it would trigger you and i looked around for you and you weren't there! you scared me mila" she said and camila felt guilty at her words.

"what happened?" dinah asked when they pulled away. camila looked at shawn, hoping he'd explain but also hoping he left the part of her speaking out.

"um she got a panic attack so i took her to the restroom to calm down and she eventually did" he said, not missing the smile camila gave him.

"you managed to calm her down?" dinah asked.

"yeah..."

"it's so hard to get her to calm down! it takes me forever and she doesn't let anyone else near her during her moments" dinah said in shock. both camila and shawn blushed at this and he slowly shrugged.

"mila, are you okay enough for class? or do you wanna go home?" dinah asked. camila lightly tapped her arm twice, indicating she wanted the latter. 

"okay, hand me your phone. i'll text your sister" dinah said. camila grabbed it from the front pocket of her backpack and handed it to dinah. she leaned forward onto her best friend, too tired to stand for herself. 

"she'll be here in ten minutes. let's go to the front" dinah said. camila grabbed her bag, looking back at shawn and giving him a smile to thank him. dinah walked her to the front of the school and waited the ten minutes, not caring she was missing class, until she saw the familiar black car pull up to the front of the school.

"bye mila, text me, okay? feel better" dinah whispered, bringing her in for a hug. when she let go, camila waved back at her and got inside the car. 

dinah walked back to history alone and didn't miss the annoyed glance given by the teacher. eh, she was late half the time anyway.  

once they were allowed to work independently, dinah turned to shawn.

"mendes, thank you" she said.

"um yeah it's no problem" he said shyly. "do they.. happen a lot?" he asked curiously. 

dinah nodded. "they're not usually too severe, but she was in an accident a while back and i think any loud noises, especially anything that sounds like a honk, triggers her. that's why i was so scared" dinah replied, still bouncing her leg up and down from the nervousness she had felt that day. 

"oh" he replied quietly. "i'm sorry for asking"

"don't be, honestly i feel like you should know. she seems to trust you a lot for some reason, i don't know, but thank you. even though she's known you for three days"

shawn smiled at that.