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chapter one.
episode two.
songs: none.
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Camila lets out a quiet groan as the sound of her alarm clock cuts through the blissfulness of her sleep. She has always been the person to always wake up at an extremely early time—always so full of energy that her body won't let her stay asleep any longer. Except for the fact that last night she had been up late with her dad. He had gotten home early that morning and they sat at their piano all day, laughing and catching up from his latest trip.
She gets up from the bed, moving towards her closet to grab a clean Cheerios uniform to put on for the day. The Latina pulls up the short skirt and throws on the white sleeveless shirt, grabbing her brush and pulling it through her hair. As always, she ties it back in the customary high ponytail and puts in a small black bow headband.
The short girl grins at herself in the mirror, quickly putting on a layer of face makeup, before grabbing her phone. She checks the time and after a quick moment of realization, rushes out of her room and down a flight of stairs that led to her living room. She walks into her kitchen and opens, grabbing the red water bottle she had been given when she became a Cheerio.
"I'll see you after school Papi!" Camila calls out into the quiet household, assuming he's in his bathroom or in his room. When she gets no response, she furrows her eyebrows and begins to head back upstairs to look for him until she sees a little slip of paper on the marble kitchen counter.
Hey Mija, my boss pushed my business trip today so that's why I'm not home. I'll be home in a week so please don't make a mess of the house. I love you.
The Latina sighs softly in annoyance, gripping the small piece of paper with a little more force than what was necessary. "But you just came home yesterday," Camila says softly, shaking her head, crumpling up the note and tossing it into the recycling bin.
Camila throws her backpack over her shoulder, glancing at her keys for a moment before deciding that it would probably just be better if she walked. She needed to get in some exercise still and it was a good way of waking up. The brunette steps out of her house, locks the door, and begins her trek to her high school.
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The second that Camila gets through the front doors of McKinley High and starts walking towards her locker, Brittany saddles up right next to her, linking their arms. The short girl grins up at her close friend, her bad mood from earlier suddenly disappearing. Brittany's locker was two away from Camila's, so they always waited for each other to get into the school to walk together.
"You need to help me out." The blonde says in a panic, her big blue eyes glancing down so they can look into the familiar brown orbs of her friend. "We have a big issue."
"What's going on?" Camila asks, worry clouding her features as she unlinks their arms, trying to be able to get a better look at her.
"I have tried everything, Mila. Lord Tubbington just won't quit smoking! I know we have our issues but I thought he trusted me to know what's good for him." She sighs, her shoulders sagging as the usually chipper blonde physically deflates.
They reach their lockers a few seconds after Brittany's declaration and the shorter girl frowns, unlocking her locker before turning back towards the blonde. "He does trust you, Britt, sometimes you just can't control your emotions. Maybe he's just going through a lot right now and doesn't want to listen to you. Do you know how he's getting the cigarettes?"
"I just want him to talk to me about it." She mumbles, before pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes. "And I think he's getting them from that cat across the street. I've always known he's a bad influence."
Camila nudges her. "We'll figure it out, okay? Why don't I come over after Cheerios practice and we can..." She pauses, grabbing her English textbook from her locker. "Find some way to stop him."
Brittany nods, her usual confidence coming back at her friend's words. "Okay but I've already wished on like 6 shooting stars so that's off the table."
"Got it." The Latina mutters with a giggle, walking shoulder to shoulder with the tall Cheerio until the two reach Camila's English classroom.
A quick goodbye is shared between the two as Camila wanders into the room, smiling brightly at her teacher and then making her way towards the back of the classroom to sit at her usual seat.
The seat to her left is filled with one of the few guy Cheerios Cameron—Camila never talks to him much but they are always friendly to each other—and the chair to her right is empty.
While the teacher never forced anyone into a seating system at the beginning of the semester, everyone in the class already knew that the seat next to Camila belonged to Santana. Most people are too afraid to fight the girl to sit there, so the seat always stayed empty until Santana shows up.
Camila starts up a small conversation with Cameron, talking quietly about their newest routine and how it might just kill them until the boy looks over her shoulder. She follows his gaze and her grin widens at her best friend, who has a sort of neutral look to her features.
"Morning, San!" The short girl's chipper voice causes Santana's lips to stretch into that very subtle smile that's reserved solely for her.
"Hey, Camz." Santana greets, sitting down in her chair with a raised eyebrow. "You're energetic this morning. Even for you."
Camila nudges her, rolling her eyes jokingly. "I woke up late." She tells her, adjusting the bow on her head. "You know how I always get my energy out during runs? I didn't have time for it."
"You know, most people have more energy after exercising as opposed to before." Santana shakes her head before suddenly getting serious, her voice going quiet to make sure that the only person who can hear is Camila. "Did you stay up late last night? What happened to your early bedtime?"
"My dad was in town and he's been helping me on the piano." The short girl says sheepishly, knowing fair well that she's about to get lectured by her overprotective best friend.
Santana does her signature "seriously" face. "If Coach Sylvester finds out that you've been practicing music instead of resting-"
The school bell cuts her off, the loud ringing causing her to flinch in annoyance. Camila shrugs, a relieved smile stretching her lips at the welcomed interruption and then turning towards the teacher as he starts talking.
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Later that day, Camila finds herself surrounded by her fellow female Cheerios at the Celibacy Club. Personally, she doesn't really care about being celibate, but the club is important to Quinn and, thus, important to her. Not to mention that it definitely looks good on her transcript.
The Cheerios sat at one side of the room while the new girl sat anxiously across the room from them, trying to avoid everyone's stares. Camila raises her hand to wave at her, but Quinn shakes her head, grabbing the girl's hand and lowering it.
"The Celibacy Club is now in session," Quinn announces, grabbing the gavel and tapping it against the desk. "Thanks to a school rule that says we have to let anyone join the club, we're welcoming a new member this week. Rachel whats-her-name."
Camila nudges the blonde lightly, mouthing be nice when their eyes meet.
"Where are all the boys?" Rachel asks, adjusting her position in the seat nervously.
Quinn turns away from her short friend and towards the brunette. "Down the hall. First half-hour, we separate. Then we come together to share our faith."
After a few extremely tense moments, everyone starts getting up to move the desks slightly out of the way in order to provide some free space.
Camila skips over to Rachel with a grin. "Hi! I'm Camila Garcia. Sorry that everyone's so..." She pauses, trying to find the right word. "Tense. Normally only Cheerios join the club. Anyways, what's your real name?" She holds out her tan hand.
"I- I'm Rachel Berry." The girl stutters slightly, obviously confused with why Camila happened to be talking to her.
"Camila!"
Both girls look towards where Camila had just been standing, only to see all the Cheerios staring at them. Santana, Quinn, and Brittany all have their arms crossed and Camila rolls her brown eyes, turning back towards Rachel.
"Sorry." She apologizes, rubbing her hands nervously. "They won't be like this forever, I promise."
The short girl heads back to her friends and Quinn purses her lips. "Seriously?"
"I don't want her to feel uncomfortable! Celibacy club should be accepting of everyone who wants to stay celibate."
Santana steps forward. "We want her to be uncomfortable. The sooner I don't have to see her hideous vest, the better."
Camila sighs, her shoulders slumping. Deep down she knows that it doesn't matter what she says because Rachel is at the bottom of the food chain and the Cheerios are at the top.
"Back to the main point of today's meeting," Quinn says, turning away from Camila. "Santana?"
The Latina steps forward, twirling around so the frills in her cheer skirt raise up to show the very minimal red cloth underneath.
The head cheerleader chuckles at the sight. "God bless the perv that invented these." She points out to the rest of the club. "Remember the power motto, girls."
"It's all about the teasing and not about the pleasing." Everyone responds in sync, nudging each other with big smiles.
About thirty minutes later, Quinn pulls out one of the Cheerios' small helium tanks and begins inflating balloons while the boys arrive. An arm wraps around Camila's shoulders, causing her to look up with a big grin.
"I still can't believe you convinced me to actually join this stupid club," Jack says, glancing around the room at the football players and cheerleaders.
Camila lightly hits him. "It's not stupid to Quinn, okay?"
"Sometimes I'm worried that you're too good of a friend." He says, leaning his head down and causing his long hair to briefly touch her forehead.
She raises an eyebrow. "Is that even possible?"
Right as the girl goes to get on her tiptoes to kiss him, Quinn clears her throat and hands her a balloon. Camila grabs it with a smile and when the blonde walks away her boyfriend laughs.
"Let's pair up for the Immaculate Affection," Quinn says, grabbing a balloon of her own as she walks towards her boyfriend Finn Hudson. "Now, remember, if the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry."
Camila giggles softly, positioning the balloon in between her and Jack. "This is probably one of the weirder dates we've been on." She says, reaching up awkwardly to grab the top of her boyfriend's shoulders.
"It's definitely not weirder than when we went shopping and someone thought we were siblings." Jack raises an eyebrow, his familiar toothy grin filling his features as he wraps his arms around her.
"Oh, god, why did you have to bring that up." Camila cringes at the memory, causing another big laugh to escape her boyfriend.
Before either of them could continue their quiet conversation, a loud popping noise causes them to jump a little bit. Camila turns her head in the direction of the sound, only to see the head cheerleader and the quarterback with wide eyes.
"Finn!" Quinn cries out.
"It must have hit my zipper." He mutters out, trying to shy away from Quinn's anger.
The short Latina sighs and turns back to continue with the "Immaculate Affection" until Rachel speaks up from where she was partnered up with Jacob Ben Israel.
"You know what? This is a joke." Everyone goes quiet as they turn towards her, watching as she drops the balloon and turns towards Finn. "Did you know that most studies have demonstrated that celibacy doesn't work in high schools? Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain. The second we start telling ourselves that there's no room for compromise we act out. The only way to deal with teen sexuality is to be prepared. That's what contraception is for."
"Don't you dare mention the 'C' word." Quinn snarls.
Rachel stays quiet for another moment, before talking again, mostly towards Finn. "You want to know a dirty little secret that none of them want you to know? Girls want sex just as much as guys do."
The room stays silent and she turns on her heels and storms right out the door.
Camila swallows, turning towards Santana. "I don't think she's coming back next week."