Locked Out

Rift

A/N: So... where to start with this chapter?
I'll admit this is probably one of the most difficult chapters I've ever written because hitting the right tone here is extremely important, and despite everything, I'm still worried out of my mind I might have not done it right.
There is few owl house stories that include Camila, and even fewer that have the possibility to deal with her as a character as in-depth as this one does.
I hope that by now, you've realized most of the characters I write are flawed in some way—one may be thoughtless or in constant denial, or carry an unhealthy amount of perfectionism, the desire to preserve a certain image of themself at all costs, or the inability to open up to others. And because of these behaviors, they end up hurting not only themself but often also each other.
That however doesn't mean these characters are inherently bad people, or lost causes. It means they're flawed, which is an incredibly normal, human thing to be. It means they have growing to do and toxic behaviors to unlearn, just like most of us.
Camila is no exception here. She is a good, but also deeply flawed person, just like everyone else.
Camila worries a lot about Luz. She tries her best to be a good mother, and only wants what's best for her daughter... but what you think is best for someone and what is actually best for them can be (and often are) two very different things.
Luz's relationship with her mother suffers from a lack of open communication and mutual understanding. That doesn't mean that either of them is a terrible person, or that they don't love each other dearly. But it does mean that their relationship is one that they have to work on.
This quote sums it up wonderfully:

"Sometimes a person can care about you more than anything in the world, and still not see you. It hurts, and you wonder if you could have done something different, should have been someone different, but... it doesn't mean she doesn't love you. It doesn't mean she won't ever understand you, and it doesn't mean you should change yourself. Not for your mom, not for me, not for anyone."
~Eda Clawthorne, Make My Heart Your Home by tiredandjaded on Ao3

(Jade is also my beta as of the last chapter, go check out her works because they are amazing!)

I just felt like that's a thing I should probably say before going into this chapter, I think you'll see why.

This chapter is very sad and also very long (slightly shorter than the last one, but not by much), so if you don't have much time or don't want to cry right now, you might want to come back later!

Now, without further ado, the deep dive into Luz's relationship with her mom that I've very heavily hinted I wanted to do for a while now.

When Camila's all-too-short break had been interrupted by the cheerful trill of her phone's ringtone, she had tried not to assume the worst. Really, she had.

Unfortunately, pulling her phone out of her pocket revealed a familiar phone number: the Administration Office of Luz's school.

'Oh, mija... the third day?'

The same rote explanation had been given to the on-duty practitioner, who signed her out with a tired smile and a "good luck," and Camila had set out for her first principal's office visit of the school year.

Camila just hoped that whatever trouble Luz had gotten into, she hadn't dragged Amity into it as well. With how vocal Luz had been about Amity worrying about school, that was the last thing she needed on top of everything else.

Camila really wanted to believe that wasn't the case—Luz obviously cared a lot about Amity's feelings, she wouldn't have done something like that to her on purpose... but it also wasn't a secret that Luz tended to be impulsive and probably hadn't thought too much about whatever had happened this time beforehand.