She tightened her grip on her books and quickly walked down the hall, her eyes never leaving the floor. There were three rules to consider if one wanted to survive another day in this hell.
Don't look up. Be fast. And try to be as invisible as possible.
Granted, that only worked if you didn't have someone specially looking for you.
"Karla, there you are!" he called out and she picked up her step. Maybe if she ignored him, he would leave her alone... "Hey! I'm talking to you!"
Someone grabbed her shoulder and slammed her into the row of lockers to her right. She grimaced slightly as her back throbbed in pain.
"You shouldn't always try and run away from me, babe," he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "I will always find you."
She swallowed dryly and brought her books closer to her body. Maybe if she didn't say anything he would go away... it couldn't be very amusing if she didn't react, right?
"So, in a few days is graduation." He twirled a strand of her hair in his fingers. "There's gonna be a party in the evening. You remember John, don't you? John Simmons?"
Of course she knew who that was. He was one of Gabriel's friends from middle school. She was thankful that some of them were a year older and had left middle school earlier than herself. And John even went to a different high school, so she had never seen him again after that.
A sharp pain in her scalp made her whimper when Gabriel's hand pulled her head on her hair back into her neck.
"It's not very polite to ignore me when I'm talking to you, Karla," he hissed and tugged on her hair one more time.
"I'm sorry," she whispered and he finally let go.
"You better be," Gabriel spat. "And look me in the eyes, freak!"
She was pathetic... but she had learned that it was better to follow his instructions than to go against them. When her eyes finally met his, he smiled satisfied and nodded.
"See? I knew you could listen if you wanted to. Good girl," he praised and she felt sick. "You're going to that party."
It wasn't a question. It was a demand.
"I... I c-cant," she stuttered and his eyes narrowed.
"What is that supposed to mean?! Do you have any idea what I'm sacrificing with inviting you to that party?" he asked sharply.
"I-I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. An angry Gabriel was never good. It was dangerous. "But m-my parents want to have dinner with the rest of the family..."
"So what? You can't sneak away for a few hours in the night?" He snorted and shook his head. "You're going, Karla. The whole crew is gonna be there, y'know? Just like old times. And we can't have you missing, can we?"
Even though four years was a long time, she didn't want to see the others ever again. She wanted to leave this school and never look back.
"You really don't want to miss that party... it's gonna be... memorable." Gabriel gave her a crazy smile and it sent shivers down her spine.
Whatever he had planned, she didn't want to be anywhere near that party. The glint in his eyes worried her far more than anything ever had before. But she nodded regardless, knowing that he would never leave her alone, if she didn't at least agree to go.
He leaned down for a second time.
"Good girl," he whispered and pressed his lips against her cheek. "I can't wait."
She fought the urge to grimace and wipe it until he turned away.
"Hailee!" he shouted at another girl down the hall who jumped when she heard him. "Wait up, you freak!"
Their eyes met for a moment in silent understanding. It was times like these that she didn't feel completely alone. They had never been friends or even talked to each other, but there was something comforting in knowing that there was someone who understood, who was going through the same thing every day. Sometimes she regretted not ever talking to the other girl, but she knew that they would have made an even bigger target, if they were spotted together.
She nodded to the girl just before Gabriel reached his new victim, cornering her in the same way.
Camila woke up with a start and found herself sitting upright in her bed.
It had been a while since she had dreamed about her time in high school, although she wasn't sure if it could be qualified as a dream. It was more like reliving the memory.
She hadn't gone to the party. The evening before her graduation, she had decided come out to her parents. Most of the screaming was done by her father, never before had she seen him that angry. There had been broken plates and glass, words that couldn't be taken back, and...
She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. They had still come to her graduation with her little sister. But the family dinner with her relatives was cancelled and instead it became more of an intervention dinner. Her mother had obviously tried to convince her father that it wasn't something that couldn't be fixed. And so Camila had spent the entire afternoon and evening listening to the pleading of her mother and the words of her carefully prepared father who gave her a variety of brochures from institutions, camps and psychologists who could help her to be normal again.
The rest of the evening she had spent packing up her belongings while she listened to the cries of her little sister next door. It had been agonizing, but she couldn't bring herself to do what her father had wanted.
Camila shook her head and looked at her clock. 8:46 am. Two of her classes had been cancelled this morning and she wanted to use that time to go over the plan for tomorrow once more. It had to go as smoothly as possible.
With a smile on her face, she jumped out of the bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day. After the quick shower, she grabbed some of her more comfortable clothes, an old jeans and her favorite Ed Sheeran sweater, and sat on the couch with the notepad in her hands.
She couldn't really concentrate since her thoughts were always drifting back to her dream and the memory of that evening. What would have happened, if she hadn't been kicked out of the house? What if she had never come out to her parents the night before graduation? Would she have still gone to NYU or would she have gone to the university that her father had chosen? She certainly wouldn't have a money problem... but she probably wouldn't have met Lauren and the other girls either.
How long would it have taken her to come out to her parents, if she hadn't had the courage that evening? She couldn't have afforded the tuition for the university that her father had wanted her to attend. But she wouldn't have been able to study literature and music either. Her entire life would have been different.
It was crazy how much power three words had. Three words that had sealed her fate and changed her future.
"I am gay," she whispered to herself and smiled sadly. Why did it matter so much with whom she fell in love?
But those thoughts wouldn't help her with planning, she realized and she looked down on her notepad in her lap. She wanted to get to know Lauren better and she wanted that the green-eyed girl got to know her better too. The opportunity to spend some time together without others would surely do the trick.
It still amazed her that she had never met Lauren before she had knocked on her door. Not only were they both from Miami, but they went to the same university and lived in the same apartment building on the same floor and were neighbors... how weird was that?
Camila chuckled slightly. What if her parents had allowed her to audition for the X Factor in 2012? It would have been another chance for them to miss each other. After all, when they couldn't even meet in their own city, how would it have been possible to cross paths with thousands of other contestants? That was simply ridiculous.
A knock on her door made her frown in confusion. A month ago no one ever visited her... how times had changed. Maybe she should finally tell her landlord that the doorbell wasn't working anymore. It hadn't bothered her before because she had never expected anyone to come over, but that had certainly changed.
Camila placed the notepad on the small table in front of her couch and tied her hair into a messy bun. She didn't know who it could be. Lauren, Dinah and Normani had classes and she had thought that Ally was working at the café, but maybe she had mixed that up.
Another few loud knocks brought her out of her thoughts and she furrowed her brow. Whoever it was, they certainly weren't the most patient person on the planet.
"Coming!" she called and walked to the door. "No reason to knock down the door!"
She giggled at the pun. That had been a pretty good one. Too bad that Lauren wasn't there, she would have laughed herself silly.
"Get it? Because you were knocking so impatiently that you were about to knock down the door?" she asked with a smile and opened the door. But her smile froze as she looked into the face of someone that she had no desire of ever seeing again.
Why was it that she hadn't seen anyone from her past in a year and suddenly everything came back at once? Why couldn't some of them stay where they belonged? Hadn't she enough problems already? Why was he here? He had made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with her.
It was ironic that she had only thought of him a few minutes ago. But truth be told, there never really was a day where she didn't think about that moment. How could anyone forget the day they were disowned? Where they were told that their father would have rather had a dead child than a gay one?
She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a shaky breath as she stared into the cold eyes of the person that had probably influenced her the most.
"... Papá?"
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A/N: I always wanted to do another flashback into Camila's past, what do you think about this one? And I'm kind of curious... I carefully placed some subtle hints throughout the story... did anyone notice them? Haha... if no one has any interest, I could just let go of that part in Lauren's past and just concentrate on the present... I'm not sure... tell me your opinions! Comment below or send me a message, an anonymous ask, whatever! Oh, and click on the star if you liked this chapter... thanks!