Perfectly Wrong

29. Lights Off

 “ Turn the lights off.” Camila says. “ I just want to listen for a while.”

 Shawn turns the lights off and she feels him lying down next to her on the floor. Her thoughts drift with the music as she lays there, and when the next song starts, she finally tells him what’s on her mind.

 “ She doesn’t want me to raise Sofia.” Camila whispers. “ She wants to give her to Amelia.”

 Those are the only words spoken during the hour they lay on the floor of his living room. Shawn finds her hand in the dark and holds it, squeezing it while the music keeps filling the space.

••••

 Somebody turns the lights back on and Camila immediately covers her eyes, realizing they’re still in the middle of the floor. She sits up and looks at Shawn, sleeping next to her.

 “ Hey.” Maisie whispers. “ I knocked, but nobody answered.”

 Her friend walks through the door and sits down on the couch, watching Shawn snoring on the living room floor.

 “ It’s a Saturday night.” The blonde rolls her eyes. “ Told you he was a bore.”

 “ What are you doing here?” Camila laughs.

 “ Checking on you.” She says. “ You haven’t answered your phone or texted me back all day. Your mom has cancer so you decide to swear off technology?”

 “ Sorry.” Camila says as they both stare at Shawn for a moment. He’s snoring really loud, she’s pretty sure their sisters worn him out.

 “ So, I assume things didn't go well with your mom? Since you’re here, sleeping on the damn floor.” Maisie says, looking annoyed at the fact Camila and Shawn were doing nothing more than just sleeping.

 “ No, we talked.” Camila says.

 “ And?”

 Camila gets up from the floor, stretching before sitting down on the couch next to Maisie. She pulls her feet up and lays back on the arm of the couch, facing her friend.

 “ Last week in the courtyard when you told me about your mom and what happened when you were nine-”

 “ What about it?” Maisie interrupts her.

 “ Well, I was grateful that nothing like that would ever happen to Sofia. I was grateful that she was able to live a normal nine-year-old life.” Camila says. “ But now, here I am wondering why both of them. Wasn’t my dad enough? It’s like death came and punched us in the face.”

 “ It wasn’t death that punched you, Camila. It was life.” Maisie says, looking at Shawn again. “ Life happens. Shit happens. And it happens a lot. To a lot of people.”

 Shawn starts moving on the floor, so Maise leans over and hugs Camila before standing up.

 “ Teacher is waking up, so I better leave. I just wanted to check on you.” She says before walking out the door.

 Camila watches her friend leave before turning back to see Shawn sitting up, looking at her like he’s about to give her detention.

 “ What the hell was she doing here?” He asks, and Camila thinks she can be really intimidating when he wants to.

 “ Visiting.” She says quietly, thinking that maybe if she doesn’t make a big deal out of it, he won’t either. “ Checking on me.”

 “ Dammit, Camila!”

 Shawn pushes himself off the floor and throws his hands up in the air.

 “ Are you trying to get me fired? Do you know what happens if she let it get out that you spent the night here?” He walks towards her while speaking. “ Does she know you spent the night here?”

 Camila presses her lips into a thin line and looks down at her lap, avoiding his eyes.

 “ Camila, what does she know?” Shawn asks, but he can see by her body language that she told Maisie everything. “ Go home, Camila.”

 She stands up and grabs her phone before leaving through the front door, crossing the street before finding Sofia and Aaliyah in her living room watching TV while her mother is already in bed.

 “ Aaliyah, your brother wants you to go home.” Camila says. “ Sofia and I have plans tomorrow, so we won’t be home all day.”

 She watches as Aaliyah grabs her coat and walks to the door, saying goodbye to Sofia before leaving. Sitting down next to her sister, Camila grabs the remote and starts flipping through channels, trying to keep Shawn’s reaction out of her mind.

 “ Where were you?” Sofia asks.

 “ With Maisie.” Camila replies.

 “ What were you doing?”

 “ Driving around.”

 “ Why were you at Aaliyah’s house when we got home from the movies?” Her sister asks.

 “ Shawn paid me to clean his house.” Camila says.

 “ Why is Mom sad?” Sofia asks.

 “ Because she doesn’t have enough money to pay me to clean her house.”

 “ Why? Our house is not dirty.”

 “ Do you want to go ice skating tomorrow?” Camila changes the subject.

 “ Yes!” Sofia says with excitement, forgetting whatever it was they were talking about.

 Later, Camila sets her alarm for six in the morning, wanting to be out of the house before her mother wakes up the next day. She spends the entire Sunday blowing every cent of her saving account with Sofia. She takes her little sister for breakfast and they order two meals from each menu, then they go ice skating, but don’t stay long because they both suck at it. After eating lunch, they spend four hours in an arcade before watching a movie and having dinner. She wanted to take her sister for dessert, but she was already complaining that her stomach hurt. By the time they get home, their mother is already at work, which is not accidental. Camila takes a shower before laying down on her bed and falling asleep, without confronting anything at all.