Do I Wanna Know

Chapter 6

“Of course, sorry. Come in”, she said with her eyes being more pensive now. Apparently she was quite shocked to hear that I had come such a long way just for her birthday but to me, it seemed perfectly normal. I entered the nicely decorated house which looked all kinds of festive and lively. It was the first time in years I had been here and also the first time I was able to really look at the birthday girl.

She was even more stunning than the last time I had seen her. Her light hair was wavy and voluminous with a little, white bow on the side that made me grin. The beige dress she wore accentuated her long, tan legs and every other perfect curve on her body. It was very hard not to stare at this point. She had found the perfect combination of her more mature look with the elegant jewelry she wore, and the otherwise girly outfit. My eyes scanned every detail as best as I could before she just led me into the living room.

There were so many people I almost felt like I was on stage. It was very difficult to make out who they were because it was so cramped and everyone was laughing, chatting and walking around. But then I saw a very familiar face approach me.

It was Camila’s mom. Her arms were wide open; signaling that she was coming in for a very big hug. There was a rather obvious difference in her appearance though. Her hair was very short and displayed the cancer treatment Camila had mentioned briefly. I was determined to not pay attention to that and treat her just like nothing had changed. The smile on my face was bigger than ever when the older woman embraced me tightly.

“Ay, mi hija”, she called me her daughter in Spanish and slightly rocked my entire body while hugging me.

“It’s so good to see you. I missed you”, I said genuinely because she had been like a mother to me.

“Dios mío! Look at you. You look beautiful”, she exclaimed and placed one hand on her chest like she couldn’t believe how pretty I was. My cheeks blushed mildly.

“So do you”, I answered and softly squeezed her hand with a reassuring smile. Her eyes sparkled for a second; giving me the warmest smile yet and I could see Camila watch us from the corner of my eye. We were quickly joined by more family members who I hadn’t seen in years but still recognized immediately. I spent about half an hour talking to every single one of them while Camila never left my side. It was like she knew how nervous I had been.

After her family gave us some space again I looked at the younger woman who was handing me a glass of punch now.

“I don’t really have a gift”, I admitted but continued speaking before she’d dismiss it. “But I thought about what you said at the party concerning your charity. I already talked to some people and I really want to help out so I thought I’d arrange a benefit concert where I could perform and auction off some private items to raise money to kick off your charity whenever you’re ready”, I explained my idea of a birthday gift.

Camila’s eyes focused on mine very intently. I felt myself becoming insecure again because I couldn’t figure out why she was looking at me like that.

“What?”, I asked nervously. “Am I being overbearing already?” I was scared that I’d overstepped the boundaries of our freshly rekindled friendship. She shook her head and a soft smile grazed her lips before she bit her bottom lip. Looking away for a second she seemed to be in deep thought.

“I missed you”, she then suddenly said in a tone that made my heart race.

I wanted to tell her that I had missed her as well; more than she could probably imagine. But my pulse quickened even more when I saw three women approach us behind her. Oh god, I felt like fainting. I prepared myself for an awkward moment but felt something so unexpected it actually made me question whether this was reality or not. Ally, Dinah and Normani pulled Camila and I into a big group hug. I couldn’t tell who was really hugging who but my eyes started swelling up with tears as the hug would last for a very long time.