Perfectly Wrong

12. We Didn't Know

The week finally comes to an end and Camila never felt so relieved to drive out of the school’s parking lot. Even though he lives across the street from her, she still feels less vulnerable inside the house than a few feet away from him in a classroom. He was very successful in keeping no eye contact with her the whole week, even though she made sure to stare at him any chance she got.

 Camila knows she needs to tell her mother what happened between them, but she has yet to find the right moment. Her mother’s schedule doesn’t really match hers, so they didn’t exactly have time to talk about Shawn.

 As she drives back home, Camila makes plans to spend the entire weekend indoors watching movies and eating junk food. When she arrives, her mother is sitting in a stool by the kitchen bar, sending her an unpleasant look.

 “ I’m spending my weekend with Ryan Gosling.” Camila says, pretending not to notice the look on her mother’s face as she places her bags of junk food on the counter.

 “ I took Aaliyah home from school today.” Sinu says, ignoring Camila’s comment. “ She mentioned something very interesting.”

 “ Oh yeah?” Camila tries to appear oblivious. “ You sound sick, Mom. Do you have a cold?”

 Deep down Camila knows what Sinu is trying to say is that she found something from her sister’s friend that she should have found from her.

 “ Anything you want to tell me?” Her mother asks, staring at her.

 Camila takes a sip from the water bottle in front of her, thinking her plan of telling her mother about Shawn tonight was going to happen sooner than she had prepared herself for.

 “ Mom, I was going to talk to you about it.” Camila says. “ I swear.”

 “ He’s a teacher at your school, Camila!” Her mother starts coughing, grabbing a napkin before regaining her composure. She lowers her voice, trying not to get the attention of the nine-year-old somewhere in the house. “ Don’t you think that’s something you should have mentioned before I allowed you out of the house with him?”

 “ I didn’t know!” Camila says in a defensive tone of voice. “ He didn’t know!”

 “ What are you doing, Camila?” Her mother asks, rolling her eyes as if she had just been insulted. “ Don’t you realize he’s raising his little sister? This can ruin his-”

 They both look at the window when they hear Shawn’s car pulling into his driveway and Camila quickly runs to the door, trying to stop her mother from going outside. Sinu is quicker than her though, so she’s left with following her mother across the street.

 “ Mom, please.” Camila says. “ Just let me explain everything. Please.”

 Her mother walks straight into Shawn’s driveway and he smiles when he steps out of his car and notices her, but then he sees Camila right behind. It’s pretty obvious they’re not there for a friendly visit.

 “ Sinu, please. Can we go inside to talk about this?” Shawn asks.

 She doesn’t answer him, walking inside his house before him as he looks at Camila questioningly.

 “ Your sister mentioned you were a teacher. I haven’t had a chance to explain anything to her.” Camila says, to which Shawn sighs before they make their way inside.

 It’s the first time Camila walks into his house after knowing about his parents’ death. The house is still the same, but somehow everything looks different for her. That first day she was there, she assumed everything in that house belonged to his parents. But now as she looks around, she sees him in a different way, in a more responsible and mature way.