Camila thought that if she ignored her feelings for Shawn, they would just go away, but sometimes it felt impossible.
It was impossible to ignore how handsome he was, and how funny he was. Even when his jokes were lame, and she tried her hardest not to laugh, it still got her right in the heart.
It was impossible to ignore how kind he was. How he always looked into her eyes so she knew he was really listening when she spoke to him.
She couldn't ignore how he was with Luna, either. He was so nice to her, always helping her with her work at school or watching over her on the playground when Camila went to pick her up.
He was always giving Luna gold stars and high-fives and helping her find a library book. Anyone who was nice to her girl already had her heart, and it was definitely hard to ignore the fact that it was more than Luna's own father was willing to do.
But there was a weird sense of guilt that came along with Camila's attraction to Shawn—guilt, because he was Luna's teacher and Camila's first priority had to be Luna.
She couldn't ruin things for her, not when she was so happy.
Camila told herself maybe it would be different in a year. In a year, Luna would be out of Shawn's class and hopefully caught up with the other kids her age. By then, maybe she'd also feel ready to date again.
A year felt like forever when now, Camila was already so far gone for Shawn. Every time they were around each other, she felt such a strong pull of attraction. Every time they happened to be alone, she could feel her palms sweating and her heart pounding.
And the worst part—she knew Shawn felt the same way.
She knew that look in a man's eye, that soft smile, that laugh and the way he seemed to subconsciously lean towards her when they talked.
She knew he liked her too. They just couldn't do anything about it.
Nothing. For a year.
Despite a year feeling like it was dragging on, it was almost Halloween before Camila even realized. Shawn started decorating early, Camila noticed one morning as she and Luna left for school.
There were pumpkins on their doorstep, purple and orange string lights, and black bats stuck to the door. Camila almost walked right into a plastic skeleton hanging between their doors.
It made her and Luna's side of the house seem so bare in comparison. What if Shawn thought she was lame and unspirited?
He seemed to love Halloween, so she could too. She did.
Camila stopped by her parents' that afternoon while taking Luna home from school. She raided some of the boxes in their garage.
"What are you doing with our stuff for Dia De Los Muertos?" Sinu asked as Camila walked out with one of the boxes.
"I'm just borrowing some of it—you hardly even decorate anymore, not outside at least—I'll bring it back—"
"Camila—"
"It's for Luna!"
That seemed like the perfect excuse and they finally relented. Camila decided it wasn't really a lie, when she and Luna had fun decorating outside that evening.
They hung up their own orange string lights and glued plastic marigold flowers to their door. Right next to Shawn's skeleton, they hung their own that was wearing a little sombrero with candy skull face paint.
"It looks so cool!" Luna smiled.
"It does, doesn't it?" Camila agreed, glad her house no longer looked so plain.
"Cool decorations." Shawn said the next morning, and Camila tried not to blush. "I was wondering if you guys were ever going to put anything up."
"Well, Dia De Los Muertos is actually the day after Halloween, so I was just waiting for the right time."
"So, I guess you've heard about the Halloween party at school?"
"Yes, that's all Luna talks about." Camila laughed.
The school was doing something for the students on Halloween night where the teachers would be dressed up in their classrooms. The students could then walk the halls and go room-to-room and collect candy.
"It sounds like a nice alternative for parents who didn't want to take their kids trick-or-treating, but I promised Luna I'd actually take her trick-or-treating this year. We didn't live in the best neighborhood for it before, so this will be her first time."
"I'm taking Seth this year, too. I think he's finally old enough." He gave her a knowing smile, as if they both knew what he was about to ask. "Wanna go together?"
"I'm sure the kids will like that." Camila said.
Luna knew exactly what she wanted to be for Halloween, so Camila had taken her to the pop-up Halloween store to costume shop. On the afternoon of Halloween, Camila picked Luna up from school to get ready.
Camila walked into the playground to pick Luna up, smiling when Luna jumped off the slide and came running towards her.
"Mommy, I need a really big pumpkin bucket for all my candy!"
"Okay, baby—"
Camila scanned the playground, ready to give Shawn her usual friendly smile that she swore didn't mean anything more. She laughed when she spotted Seth hanging from the monkey bars, his untied shoelaces dangling over the grass.
She finally saw Shawn, but he wasn't leaning back against the fence or chasing some of the kids like he usually was. Instead, he was talking to some woman Camila didn't know.
Camila hadn't experienced such a strong wave of jealousy in a long time. Just something about the way she was leaning towards Shawn and the way he was laughing loudly at something she was saying.
He was doing the thing he did with her—that intense eye-contact to show he was really listening. Camila thought she was another mom, until she noticed the staff lanyard around her neck.
"Um, Luna, who is that lady talking to Mr. Shawn?" Camila asked her, trying to sound casual.
"Oh, that's Ms. Enid. She's a new teacher." Luna said.
"I see." Camila said, still feeling those jealous claws.
Camila told herself to just leave, but she felt frozen watching them, watching them talk and Shawn laugh, both of them with undivided attention.
It wasn't until Seth finally slipped from the monkey bars and fell onto the ground that Shawn turned away from Ms. Enid. He ran over to Seth and checked that he was okay. Other than a rip in the knee of his uniform pants, he was fine.
"Mommy—I wanna put my costume on!"
"Okay, okay." Camila took Luna's hand and they started towards the car.
She forced her jealousy down, rationalizing it in her mind. Shawn wasn't her boyfriend, he could talk to whoever he wanted, especially his coworker.
Besides, she reminded herself, Shawn was going with her to take their kids trick-or-treating.
Luna knew exactly what costume she wanted as soon as they saw it in the store, so of course, Camila had to get herself a matching version.
She helped Luna change into her pink fairy princess dress and matching wings. She also had a plastic tiara and magic wand.
Camila had bought some washable hair paint as well as glitter makeup and did Luna's hair with a curling iron so she could look like a real princess. She then sprayed some pink streaks in her hair and told her to close her eyes so she could swipe on her glitter eyeshadow and lipstick.
She felt a little weird about putting lipstick on a six-year-old, but she reminded herself it was for a Halloween costume.
"You look so beautiful!" Camila smiled. "Can I take a picture for Grandpa and Grandma?"
"Sure!"
Camila got her phone and took a few pictures and videos of Luna twirling around. She then put on her own costume. For matching with Luna, she was going as the fairy queen, in a purple dress and plastic crown.
Part of her felt silly, but it'd also been years and years since she wore a Halloween costume, and she knew she should cherish the memories of matching with Luna while she still wanted to.
She'd just finished her own makeup when there was a knock at the door. Camila knew exactly who it was and grabbed the small bowl of candy she'd gotten at the Halloween store.
"Trick-or-treat!" Seth called from the other side.
Camila opened the door to see Seth in his costume. Camila tried to act surprised, as if she hadn't already guessed what he was going to be.
"Wow! Spider-Man!" Camila gasped. "Thank you for coming to visit! Do you want some candy?"
"Yes, please!" He held out his orange pumpkin bucket and Camila dropped some Reese's inside. "Thank you!"
"You're very welcome—"
"Boo!"
Camila nearly screamed, jumping back when Shawn popped around the corner. She glared at him while he laughed, feeling her face flushing.
"Woah—" Luna gasped from behind Camila, her voice shaking with nervous laughter. "You look really scary, Mr. Shawn!"
"It's just me, don't worry!"
He was wearing a skeleton-patterned hoodie over a black t-shirt and jeans. His face was covered in white paint with dark makeup rimming his eyes and mouth, making him look like a skeleton.
He did look scary, but Camila also thought he looked kind of hot.
"Isn't that a little too scary for kindergarteners?" Camila asked teasingly.
"No way, the kids in my class are tough!" Shawn said.
They went to the school for the Halloween party first. They pulled up to see kids in costumes already running around the playground, stray candy wrappers littering the grass as kids tried not to trip over their costumes or drop their masks.
Shawn took off chasing a ground of kids around who ran away, screaming loudly and laughing. Inside, kids were going in groups from classroom to classroom to collect candy. They could hear the Monster Mash song playing from one of the rooms and the classrooms all had fake spiderwebs and ghosts on the doors.
Camila began to wonder if they'd see that new teacher, the one who was flirting with Shawn.
Seth and Luna said thank you as they stopped by various classrooms and teachers dropped candy or little trinkets into their baskets.
Mrs. Bailey complimented their costumes and gave them each some candy as well as an apple. Even through his mask, Camila could sense the disappointment on Seth's face as he stared down at the fruit in his basket.
"Dad, I wanna go back to the neighborhood!" Seth whined.
"We will." Shawn assured him. "There's just one more hall, and then the library. Mrs. Raymond's got some good candy, and you don't wanna miss out, right?"
Luna seemed to be having fun, curtseying in her princess dress for the teachers, while Seth seemed extra annoyed when they saw an older boy also in a Spider-Man costume.
"Do you wanna play a game?" Mrs. Raymond, the librarian, asked Luna when they finally got there. "If you can throw one of the bean bags into the bucket, you get a special prize!"
"Okay!"
Camila watched Luna back up past a line of tape on the floor and put her wand on the floor before taking careful aim. The bean bag landed right in the bucket and Camila cheered for her.
"Good job, baby!"
"Here you go!" Mrs. Raymond handed Luna a small stuffed black cat.
"Thank you!"
Camila glanced up at Seth, her heart dropping slightly when she saw he was talking to Ms. Enid. She was wearing a black witch's hat and smiling.
"Hi, Seth!"
"I'm not Seth! I'm Spider-Man." He said firmly.
"Oh, okay, Spider-Man." She was glancing around. "Where's your dad?"
"Spider-Man doesn't have a dad—" Seth was cut off as Shawn picked him up from behind and twirled him around before setting him down.
"Right here!"
"There you are, Shawn!" Enid's laugh filled Camila with annoyance. "I thought you'd be helping Mrs. Bailey."
"I hate to say it, but she doesn't need my help." Shawn sighed. "She's giving out apples—meaning her classroom isn't very popular right now."
"Oh, well we're giving out popcorn balls if you wanna bring Seth by. We've got some game set up—"
"Luna, why don't you go show Mr. Shawn your prize?" Camila whispered to Luna, who carried her cat over to Shawn.
"Mr. Shawn! Look what I won!"
Shawn looked over, immediately breaking into a huge smile.
"Wow! That is so cool, Loony Luna!" He gave her a high-five. "What are you gonna name him?"
"Lucky!"
"That's an awesome name!"
Enid was looking slightly annoyed about being ignored in favor of a child, and Camila couldn't help her satisfied smile. Her smile looked outright smug when Enid glanced over and their eyes locked.
"You guys ready to go get more candy?" Camila asked the kids and they jumped up excitedly.
"Mr. Shawn, can you carry Lucky for me?" Luna asked, already struggling with her plastic wand and candy bucket.
"Sure, Luna." Shawn draped the stuffed cat over one shoulder and Camila laughed. "What?"
"It matches you, that's all."
"Well, you would know all about matching, wouldn't you, miss Fairy Princess?"
"That's Fairy Queen to you!" Camila pointed her own plastic wand at him threateningly.
"Oh, please forgive me, your highness!" Shawn bowed, the stuffed cat nearly falling off his shoulder.
The kids were giggling loudly and Shawn jokingly began chasing them out of the library. Camila glanced one last time at Enid, giving her the best fake-friendly smile she could before following Shawn.
They drove the kids back to their neighborhood to start trick-or-treating. They already had a pretty good haul from the school, giving them a nice head start. Camila also hoped that meant they wouldn't wanna stay out too long.
It was so cute, so nostalgic to watch Luna and Seth run up on the porches of all the houses and ring the doorbells. The neighbors kept awwing at their costumes and giving them handfuls of candy.
A few times, they came to the door with their own costumes on and Luna and Seth would scream and pretend to be scared. There was one house they actually were afraid of—with a life-sized grim reaper statue in the yard with glowing eyes. Luna almost cried until Camila picked her up and carried her past that house.
"You want me to carry some of that for you? Looks pretty heavy." Shawn said to Seth as they walked down the sidewalk.
"No! I can carry it!" Seth said before digging in his candy bucket for a moment. "Here, you can have this."
Seth handed Shawn the apple from his candy basket. Shawn wiped the makeup off his mouth with the back of his sleeve and bit into the apple.
Camila glanced away, wondering why the hell she found that so attractive.
"I tried to tell Mrs. Bailey that the kids were gonna make fun of her for being that person giving out fruit, but she wouldn't listen to me."
"Right? I mean, it's one time a year that kids get so much candy. You're not gonna save their teeth by giving them one apple that's just gonna get thrown away."
"I hope there's no razors or poison in here." Shawn mumbled before taking another bite.
"Other than the apples...do you like working in Mrs. Bailey's classroom?" Camila asked.
"Oh, yeah, she's the best." Shawn said. "This is my second year working with her. She has some old-fashioned moments, but at least she listens to me about the kids. I was never taken seriously in public school."
"Why?"
"Maybe because I'm a man?" He shrugged. "There's definitely a bias there from other teachers, and especially from parents. But, it could also be the tattoos, or the fact that I'm so young."
"Sorry you had to deal with that." Camila said softly, but he just shrugged again.
"It's whatever. I'm just glad to be at Bright. Private school is much better, there's more funding and resources for the kids, and honestly, they seem to actually care more."
"That's why I brought Luna there." Camila said. "She was falling behind before, but it was like no one even noticed before it was too late."
"Well, she's improving now, and we're all definitely noticing."
They watched the kids go up to another house and knock before being rewarded with more candy. Camila wondered if they were getting tired yet, but they just excitedly showed each other what they got.
"So, other than Mrs. Bailey...how are the other teachers?" Camila asked.
Her heart pounded nervously, she couldn't explain why she did it. She shouldn't even care, but part of her was just dying to know what he thought of Enid.
"Camila, are you asking if I hate anyone at school?" He asked, taking another bite of the apple, his mouth now full. "Because, that's so unprofessional—"
"Of course, not!" She rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh before going quieter. "I was actually asking the opposite..."
"Huh?" He sounded so clueless, his mouth still full of apple.
"She likes you."
"Who?"
"Ms. Enid."
It was so stupid, she shouldn't have said anything at all. She shouldn't care, yet she found her heart racing in anticipation for his response.
"What? We barely know each other. She just started assisting in one of the fourth-grade classes like, two weeks ago?" He said. "We're just friends."
"You mean like you and I are just friends?"
Shawn looked at her in surprise and Camila stared straight ahead, her heart racing and her face flushing. Why did she say that? Why?
But to her surprise, Shawn laughed.
"Uh, no." He chuckled. "Enid and I barely have anything in common, at least, that's how I feel. Believe it or not, teaching fourth grade is vastly different than teaching kindergarten. I don't feel any click or spark or whatever you wanna call it. So, no. Not like me and you at all."
"Oh." She could barely hold back her satisfied smile. "Good to know."
They reached the end of the block, Luna and Seth coming back down the steps of the final house with their candy.
"You guys ready to head home?" Shawn asked, dropping the apple core down a grate into the sewer.
"Aren't we close to Grandpa and Grandma's house?" Luna asked Camila.
"Well, sort of." Camila admitted. "We're only a couple of blocks away, but I bet you guys are too tired to walk all the way there and back—"
"No, we're not!"
"We're not! We wanna keep trick-or-treating! Please!"
"Well—" Camila looked at Shawn. "If it's okay with you? My parents can probably give us a ride back, and I'm sure they have tons of candy."
"Sure, that's okay with me. Halloween only comes once a year."
Luna and Seth were so excited, continuing down the block and past other groups of trick-or-treaters, some with parents and some without.
As they got closer to her parents' street, there seemed to be less and less kids as they got farther away from the school zone.
Camila was still thinking about what Shawn said, about feeling a spark, when they got to Camila's parents' house. Camila had taken most of their decorations, but they still had a few pumpkins outside.
"Abuelita! It's me!" Luna rang the doorbell over and over again. "Do you have any candy for me?"
"Hi, little Luna!" Sofia, Camila's fifteen-year-old sister answered the door. "I love your costume! You look like such a pretty princess."
"Thank you, Sofi! Can I have some candy, please?"
"Sure." She grabbed a huge bowl and began loading handfuls into her bag. "You look like a pretty princess too, Camila."
"I'm a queen, actually." She sighed, glancing over at the empty driveway. "Where is everyone?"
"Mami and Papi went out with some friends." Sofia shrugged. "I've been staying up in the living room, listening for trick-or-treaters, but there have only been like two other kids. I guess that means you guys can have it all!"
"Yay!" Luna gasped.
"And some for you, too." Sofia laughed before pouring some candy in Seth's bag. "There you go, Seth."
Camila thought he was about to tell her that his name was Spider-Man, but he didn't.
"Hey, how do you know my name!?"
"Because Luna talks about you all the time." She laughed, before glancing up at Shawn. "So, you must be the Mr. Shawn that Luna always talks about?"
"That's me." He smiled.
"Hm." She looked at the slightly-smeared skull makeup on his face. "Kinda scary. You're not at all super cute like Camila said—"
"What!?" Camila gasped, feeling her whole face turn red. "I did not say that!"
"Yes, you did!" Sofia giggled.
"I'm gonna kill you, you brat!"
Sofia laughed before hurriedly dumping the rest of the candy into Luna's bag and jumping back inside. Camila heard the lock click as she tried to yank the door open. She could still hear her laughing inside.
Camila tried to calm down, but her heart was still racing in both anger and embarrassment as she turned and grabbed Luna's hand.
"Come on, let's go home—"
She led Luna down the steps and onto the sidewalk, suddenly sweating under her dress.
"Hey, wait for us—" Shawn and Seth were right behind them, but Camila couldn't look at him.
It was one thing to subtly flirt, but it was another thing to have her stupid sister blatantly tell Shawn to his face that she thought he was cute.
Camila really was going to kill her for this.
"Sisters, am I right? I have one too, I know how it is." Shawn walked beside her and she was forced to look at him when he gently bumped against her shoulder with his. "Don't worry about it."
He was actually way more mature about it than she expected. He didn't tease her at all as they walked back home. It was silent, other than Seth and Luna still laughing and trading candy.
They were about a third of the way back, all the houses they passed having turned off their porch lights and blown out their jack o'lanterns. They barely passed any other kids, the only groups they saw now were much older.
"I'm tired, Mommy." Luna whined. "Are we there yet?"
"Yeah, my feet hurt." Seth said. "Daddy, carry me!"
"Mommy, carry me, too!" Luna said.
"What, no, you're way too heavy!"
She didn't know whether it was a mix of the kids being overtired or sick from eating too much candy, but they refused to keep walking and kept whining.
Finally, their parents relented and picked them up. Camila gave Luna a piggy-back ride and she held her candy basket in her hands around Camila's neck, nearly choking her.
Seth rode on Shawn's shoulders, holding his candy bag in one hand. He'd somehow gotten ahold of Luna's magic wand in his other hand and kept hitting Shawn on top of the head.
"Faster, faster!"
"If you hit me with that thing one more time, I'm gonna eat all your candy while you're asleep!"
Camila and Luna both giggled while Seth just glared. After a moment of silence, Camila could hear Seth mumbling under his breath.
"Daddy is a poopoo-head."
"I heard that!"
Camila and Luna laughed louder while Seth just glared. Finally, they got back on their own street. Camila felt like her arms were going to fall off. She hadn't realized how heavy Luna had gotten over the past couple of years.
Camila's fairy wings were being crushed by Luna and her own crown had fallen off somewhere. She could feel herself sweating off all her glitter makeup and there was mud on the hem of her dress.
She glanced at Shawn. His skull makeup was smeared but he still looked so cute. She must look like a wreck.
They finally got home and Camila groaned when she finally put Luna down. Her back was aching. Shawn put Seth down and groaned too.
"My shoulders are killing me. When did you get so heavy?"
Seth just giggled and opened his candy bag. Shawn then took it from him.
"Hey!"
"No more candy tonight. You can have more tomorrow."
"That's not fair!"
"Yes, it is! You've been eating candy all day."
"Yeah, Luna, give me your candy too." Camila said and Luna pouted before handing her basket over. "Let's go brush your teeth."
She took Luna inside, breathing slightly in relief that she made it out of that awkward situation alive. Shawn was nice enough not to tease her, but he still knew what she said.
It was completely undeniable now that she liked him. How the hell was she supposed to survive the next seven months until the end of the school year?
She sighed and put Luna's candy on top of the fridge so she couldn't get to it. She then helped Luna change from her costume into pajamas and washed her face. She'd wash the paint out of her hair tomorrow.
Luna brushed her teeth extra carefully before Camila tucked her into bed.
"Did you have a good Halloween?"
"Yeah, I got so much candy. It was so fun." She reached for her teddy bear before looking back at Camila. "Wait! Where's Lucky?"
"What?"
"Lucky, my black cat!" Luna sat up. "Mr. Shawn was holding him for me!"
"I can ask him tomorrow—"
"No, I want him now! Please, Mommy? What if he's lost!"
"Okay, okay—" Camila sighed. "I'll go ask."
Still in her messy fairy queen costume, Camila went to the door between their places and knocked. She waited, her heart pounding, before Shawn answered.
He'd changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and had mostly scrubbed the skull makeup off his face, save for a few traces of white she could still see around his jaw and on his forehead.
"Um, do you know what happened to Luna's cat?"
"Huh? Oh—Yeah, hold on—" He stepped away and came back a second later with the stuffed cat. "I just remembered it was in my jacket pocket."
"Thanks, Luna was asking about it."
"I made sure I didn't lose it." He smiled. "Listen, can I ask you something?"
"What?" Her heart was already racing again.
"Will you go out with me?"
Camila froze, staring at him in shock for a moment as her brain processed what she just heard. She was sure she looked ridiculous, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.
He just smiled at her in that way he always did, so genuinely, so laid back, with his eyes meeting hers so she knew he was listening. He was waiting for her answer.
"Um—" She managed, forcing her mind and mouth to work. "Huh?"
"Look, you know it's not a secret—I like you." He chuckled. "You're great. You're an amazing singer, an amazing cook, and a pretty cool and fun mom. So, do you wanna go out with me?"
He was still giving her that boyish grin that drove her crazy, and made her heart pound. His smile was so knowing, as if she knew how badly she wanted to say yes.
"I was going to wait a year." She mumbled. "Until you weren't Luna's teacher anymore, before I said anything."
"I can ask again in a year, if you want."
"No—" She said quickly, her face flushing. "You don't have to do that—"
"One night, one meal." He said. "That's all I'm asking. Come on, won't it be fun to do something without kids for once?"
"Yes." She admitted, her shoulders slumping. "It would. Okay, Shawn, I'll go out with you."
"Really?" He seemed so excited before reeling it back in. "Cool."
"That's one night we can't rely on each other for childcare." Camila realized. "We'll have to get a babysitter."
"That's true."
"I could ask my sister." Camila said. "She's still in school, so it'll have to be on a weekend night."
"That works for me." He said before chuckling. "I can't believe you told your sister I was cute—"
"For the last time, I did not say that—" Camila growled. "And you're making me regret saying yes right now—"
"Goodnight, Camila." He calmly went to close the door while she was still seething. "I'll text you the details about our date."
Shawn closed the door and Camila still stood there, all of her emotions slowly fading until she was left only with the realization that she was going out with Shawn.
He asked her out—and she said yes.
She felt like such a kid as she blushed, hiding her uncontrollable smile behind her hand as she silently ran upstairs. She cracked open Luna's door and peered in.
She was already asleep. Camila silently placed the stuffed cat on the pillow beside her before going to her own bedroom.
She changed into pajamas and went to wash her face. She was in the bathroom, humming slightly to herself as she scrubbed off the glitter, when her phone began to ring.
Camila glanced at the screen as she dried off her face. It was an area code she didn't recognize. She was about to hit ignore, before her good mood got the better of her and she decided to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Camila?"
"Matthew?" Camila gasped, nearly knocking her toothbrush off the counter. "Oh my God—"
"I know—I haven't—we haven't talked in a while." He said. "And I just realized how late it is there, with the time difference."
"Difference?"
"Between California and Florida. I'm in California. It's just for a few weeks, for a work project." He said. "But that's why I've been so busy and I haven't really uh, returned your calls."
"That's okay."
All the anger she had for him ebbed just slightly. All that mattered that he was on the phone now.
"So, uh, how are you guys doing? I mean, how's Luna settling in?"
He sounded tired and quiet. Camila pictured him in some hotel room living out of a suitcase and she felt the slightest bit bad for him.
"She's great." Camila smiled. "She really likes her new school. She has friends and everything. It's also really nice living closer to my parents, you know? Luna actually gets to see them."
"That's good." He said. "You guys do anything tonight?"
"Yeah, I took her trick-or-treating—" Camila brushed past that quickly. "Listen, Luna just went to bed, but I can wake her up if you wanna talk to her—"
"No, you don't have to wake her up."
"It's really no trouble, she really wants to talk to you—" She started out to the hallway.
"No." His voice trembled just slightly. "I can't. I'm sorry, Camila, I can't. I'm sorry—"
"Matt?" Camila was shaking, tears in her eyes as she heard the line click. "Matthew?"
She called back twice, with both times going straight to voicemail. She stood there in the hallway, her heart breaking and tears flooding her eyes.
How could he do this to her?
She wished he hadn't even called. Camila slowly walked back to Luna's door and peeked inside. Luna was still asleep, now with her arms wrapped tightly around her stuffed cat.
Camila went to her own room and buried her face into the pillows as she cried. All she could think about was how precious Luna was, and wondering how her own father could do this to her.
After crying it all out until she felt numb, Camila just laid there until she finally remembered what she'd been so happy about before. She was going out with Shawn.
As she laid there, she wondered how such a good night had ended so badly.