Tails and Ears (Camren)

Chapter Eight

Camila hadn't known exactly what to describe mystery as until the same noise and running figure had occurred in every single one of her dreams in the forest. Every time she would run to catch it, her only lead being the trail of rustling bushed they had left. She would only get so close before she would wake up in Lauren's room once more.

Every morning usually started the same. On week days Lauren, Normani and her would get ready and then they'd drop Camila off at Ally and Dinah's. Now, Dinah and Ally's schedule was a little more inconsistent. Dinah had weird schedules for school which Camila didn't like because some days she would be able to hang out with her and other days she couldn't.

But on the days that Dinah could hang out with her, Camila would ask her to help her learn to read, though she wasn't exactly well at understanding what all of the letters meant. Dinah had her start with the letters of her name.

Camila didn't know how she spelled her name, but Dinah quickly looked up names, and when Camila with a C and one L showed up as pronounced the same, they assumed that was how. C-A-M-I-L-A.

'C'. Camila. C-mila. Though she didn't understand why that letter made the sound of two letters in her name. When Dinah tried to come up with examples on where C was used, she used the word 'cat', which, though Camila scrunched her nose at, understood what sound it made.

Dinah said the C and A in her name are together. They kind of flow into each other, but she also explained that sometimes it doesn't work like that. Camila's brain felt like it was filled with bees when she attempted to memorize all the sounds an A could make. Aye, ah, uh, a, or even sometimes eh if you had an accent. It was all a lot for Camila to remember, but Dinah always motivated Camila, telling her that she'd learn words from experience in reading.

'M'. Mouse. More. Maybe. Mila.

"Mani!" Camila smiled. Dinah's head shot up and she looked near the door and around. Camila recognized the red tint on Dinah's face as she realized Camila had only been stating an example, not calling for the girl.

"Uh, yeah! Mani is a great example." Dinah smiled, and Camila could feel that maybe Dinah liked Normani as a little more than a friendmate as well.

'I' was another letter that Dinah said had two main sounds. This was a little less confusing than A, especially since it had an important sound in her name. She spent a good minute or two just repeating Cameeeela out loud, dragging it out.

'L' was Camila's favorite letter to learn because it reminded her of Lilo from Lilo and stitch. From there, Camila got a little distracted, rambling on about how much she loved it.

"It's a long show and Lilo is this pretty little girl who goes to the pound and gets a dog, but it turns out he is not a dog. He's an alien but Lilo does not mind. She loves Stitch anyways. Oh and Stitch is the name of the dog. Or Alien. I think he could still be a dog if he wanted to. But only if he felt like it. He could be an alien instead if he wanted to be called one." Camila smiled. Dinah gave a laugh to the girl's enthusiasm.

"We'll have to watch it together sometime, girl." Just as Dinah said that, there was a knock on the door.

"Don't tell Lauren I am learning to read!" Camila immediately said once Dinah stood up. "I want her to be surprised when I can read something for her." Camila said, desperate for Dinah's confirmation that she would keep her word.

"No prob. I won't say a thing." Dinah winked, walking towards the door.

"Hey, Lauren." Dinah said, once she opened the door.

"Hey, Camz! We have to get a move on. We're going out!" Lauren called. Camila's ear perked.

"Out?" She asked, standing up and walking towards the door.