CALL IT EVEN | shawmila

one.

Seven Years Ago...

Camila was shivering both from the nerves and the cold weather as she walked down the street in the middle of the night. She felt an awful pit in her stomach at what she was doing, but she was through crying about it. That feeling faded just a tad when she spotted the place.

She quickly wiped her eyes on the cuffs of her coat sleeve and stepped out of the only light of the lampposts, slinking through the shadows instead. Her boots crunched over the slight ice and snow but she made sure not to rattle the chain-link fence as she snunk around the back of the building.

Shawn's family owned the local bookstore and cafe with the perfect attic they used as a hangout. It was empty, but spacious and warm. Camila had sent Shawn a text to meet her inside and unlock the window. He only lived next door to the cafe, but she still prayed he hadn't gotten caught by his parents sneaking out.

Camila finally made to the back of the brick building, completely in the dark shadows as she stared up at the highest window. She was shivering again as she took her mittens off. She'd need her bare hands to get a better grip.

She shoved her mittens in her coat pocket and took off her backpack. It'd been full of school books just hours ago, but she'd dumped them out and packed it full of essentials earlier that night. It was now twice as heavy and there was no way she could climb up there with it.

She took the most important thing out—her ticket, and shoved it into her coat pocket along with her mittens. She then carefully laid her backpack where it was hidden and wouldn't get snowed on.

She then made the climb, grabbing onto the lowest tree branch nearby and pulling herself up. She'd done this a millions times before in the cover of darkness, but never when she was shaking so hard. She gritted her teeth, refusing to let them chatter.

She finally made it to the branch parallel to the slope of the roof. Holding her breath, she crept out on the limb and jumped down the six inches onto the roof, her boots thumping loudly.

She froze on instinct, but knew the only person in the building was Shawn. She was shaking by the time she knocked on the window. It was covered in frost, but she hoped he was already inside and had unlocked it. She pulled at it with her frozen fingers, nearly jumping back when started to slide open.

"Camila—"

"Let me in, please! I'm freezing!"

Shawn's hand was so warm as he grabbed hers and pulled her inside. She began to slowly warm up as he shut the window and turned the attic light on. The huge storage space was the way it always, with boxes lining the walls.

His parents never came up here, so he and their friends had made it their own space ages ago. There was the folding chair they used as a table still covered in old rolling papers and a lighter. Empty paper cups were on a nearby box. Camila collapsed to the floor where they all usually sat anyways.

"Camila, what the heck is this about?" He crouched down in front of her, touching the side of her face in concern. He was so warm. "Why did you text me to meet you in the middle of the night? Are you okay?"

"I just—really needed to see you, is that okay?" She was still shivering, keeping her eyes down.

She couldn't look at him, he was too beautiful. She always thought that, even when he'd just crawled out of bed. He was wearing just a long-sleeved shirt over sweatpants, having taken his coat off and draped it over a chair.

"You're freezing." He grabbed the ratty old quilt they kept up here and put it around her shoulders. She inhaled the dusty and familiar scent, pulling it tight around her and feeling herself start to warm up. "Let me get you something to drink."