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.
Her mother is sitting on one of the couches and Shawn takes a seat across from her, leaning forward and clasping his hands in front of him, his elbows on his knees.
“ I’ll explain everything.” He says in a serious and responsible tone of voice.
“ I know you will.” Sinu replies.
“ Basically, I made a lot of assumptions. I thought she was older and then when she told me she was eighteen, I assumed she was in college. It’s only September, most students are not eighteen when they start their senior year.”
“ Most of them.” Sinu says. “ She’s only been eighteen for two weeks.”
“ Yes, I realize that now.” Shawn says, looking at Camila. “ She wasn’t attending school the first week you guys moved in, so I guess I just assumed. Somehow the topic never came up while we were together.”
Her mother starts coughing again and they both wait, but it only intensifies as she stands up to take a few deep breaths. Camila would think she was having a panic attack if she already didn’t know her mother was coming down with something. Shawn walks to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water, which seems to help Sinu, who’s now looking at Sofia and Aaliyah playing outside through the window.
“ Sofia, Aaliyah!" She says as she walks to the door. “ Don’t lay in the street!’
She coughs a few mores times before sitting down again on the couch.
“ Tell me, when did the topic come up?” Sinu asks, looking at the both of them.
Camila can’t force herself to answer. She feels really small in the presence of the two of them, like she’s the child of the situation.
“ We didn’t know until she showed up in my class.” Shawn says.
“ You’re in his class?” She asks Camila, her mouth open in shock. “ She’s in your class?” She repeats the same question, now looking at Shawn.
Camila realizes how bad it sounds coming out of her mother’s mouth. Sinu stands up and paces back and forth in Shawn’s living room, trying to process the information.
“ You’re telling me that both of you deny having any knowledge of this prior to the first day of school?” Her mother asks and they both nod in agreement. “ Well, what the hell happens now?”
Shawn and Camila are both in silence, like they’re waiting for her mother to magically come up with the solution they've been trying to find all week.
“ Well, Camila and I are doing our best to work through this day at a time.” Shawn says as Sinu glares at him.
“ Both of you need to accept the severity of this situation. I know my daughter, and she likes you, Shawn. A lot. If you share even a fraction of those feelings, you will stay away from her. This can ruin your career and her reputation.” Sinus says before walking to the door and waiting for Camila to follow her, not giving them a chance to have a private conversation.
Sofia and Aaliyah run past them into Aaliyah’s bedroom and they all look at the two girls as they disappear down the hallway.
“ Sofia and Aaliyah don’t need to be affected by this.” Sinu says, looking at Shawn. “ I suggest we work something out now so that the contact between you and Camila can be minimized.”
“ Absolutely.” He agrees.
“ I sleep in the mornings, so if you want to take them to school, Camila and I will pick them up after school.” Her mother suggests.
“ That sounds good.” Shawn says. “ Thank you.”
Camila and Sinu are about to leave when Shawn stops them.
“ Sinu?” He asks. “ Will you be talking to the school about this? I completely understand if that’s what you need to do. I would just like to be prepared beforehand.”
“ There’s nothing currently going on that I would need to inform them about, is there?” She asks, holding both of their stares.
“ Not at all. I swear.” Camila quickly replies.
Camila wants him to look at her and see the apology in her eyes, but he doesn’t. Soon she’s outside with her mother as Shawn shuts the door behind them and she can’t hold it back anymore.
“ Why would you do that?” Camila yells. “ You didn’t even give me the opportunity to explain!”
She crosses the street without looking back, running to the house and locking herself in her bedroom until Sinu leaves for work.