TO THE STARS

Chapter 14

Day 23

Mother always said never judge a book by its cover, guess she was right. I had just returned back to my room after a walk around the building; trying to get familiar with the place. I didn't think Camila would be in the room, she never was during free time. I swung the strap of my bag over my head, settling the bag on my bed.

Forty five minutes was what I left until dinner time and I planned on taking a hot shower first. I walked toward the bathroom about to open the door...

The door swung opened, a foggy figure emerged from the room fill of steam. "Hey." Camila greeted, securing the towel around her chest more tightly.

"Hi." I replied, looking over her shoulder and into the still foggy bathroom.

She must have noticed what I was looking at. "If you're thinking of taking a shower, don't. I'm pretty sure I used up all the hot water anyway." She stated, trying to hide her smile by turning her head to the side.

The strong smell of her peach body wash penetrated my smelling senses as she walked past me, heading to her drawer. She pulled out some neatly folded clothes and turned to her bed, placing them carefully down. She was about to unwrap the towel off her body, but she didn't. With one hand at the edge of the thick seamed cotton, she turned around and stared at me, as if challenging me to look at her while she got dressed.

Abruptly, I turned around, slightly embarrassed to my bones. I thought I heard her snort, but I'm not too sure. I quickly looked for something to do, feeling totally awkward just standing there. My eyes glanced sideways, landing on the water heater switch, it was turned off. I clicked it on and walked back to my bed, my back to Camila.

I sat on the bed and pulled off my scandals, my feet throbbing from all the weight it had been carrying. As I massaged one foot, I replayed the scene of the phone call I had yesterday in my head. I was so excited to hear from my parents and Andrew. Words alone can't describe what I felt at that precise moment. Joy... sadness... fear... anger; it all bubbled up in my chest, exploding through my mouth in rushed words...

"Hey, did you hear me?" Camila asked, pulling me out of my reverie. She had her brows in knots, staring at me.

"W- what?"

She exhaled deeply. "I said today's Sunday, that means spaghetti and meatballs." She smiled, a small one though.

"Oh." I said, not knowing anything else to say. This was the first time she initiated a conversation.

"Yeah... Anyway, I was wondering if you wanna sit at my table, you know at the cafeteria?" She asked awkwardly, her hand playing with the charms on her silver bracelet that she always wore.

Loneliness had been my only companion for two days, so to hear such a refreshing offer was well...refreshing. Especially after eating at a lone table for those days. It wasn't something that needed to be thought over.

"Sure."

~•~

The hallways seethed with life as I exited the counselling room, shutting the door behind me as I was the last person. When the therapy session ended, Diamond and I stayed behind, watching as everybody swamped around the doorway. She only stood up and left when she saw the doorway empty with me following shortly behind.

Now there I was in the buzzing hallway. Cluster of laughter bounced off the wall and friendly conversation echoed across the hall. This was the first time I had seen this many people in one place, outside of the cafeteria. It felt kind of nice seeing them doing something that didn't involve eating.