just a dream (camren)

prologue

December 18th, 2016.

Camila Cabello is no longer in Fifth Harmony.

And honestly, it's a total relief. When she was finally told that she no longer had any contractual obligations, she was happy to get out of there. She wants to have full creative power over her music, and working with four girls that she's not on the best terms with anymore was too hard.

She used to be close with the girls, but then fights over her solo endeavours occurred and it seemed like everyone was against her, except maybe Dinah. Even Lauren had turned on her in the end, after those social media hacks that leaked a bunch of stupid things she said when she was fifteen.

She doesn't check Twitter; she knows it'll be a mess. She wants to make sure that the fans are okay, because the last thing she wanted to do was upset them. She cares about them so much.

Instead, she goes to bed and thinks back to four years ago, when things were incredible. When she was starting her dream with four other girls who were like sisters to her. Now, she's leaving four people who are practically strangers to her.

-

She wakes up feeling groggy. She checks her phone straight away, deciding that it's probably time to post a statement giving her side of the story.

She goes to unlock her phone, but her heart stops when she sees the date.

September 5th, 2016.

That's not right, and she doesn't know what the hell has happened to her phone. Why wasn't it showing the right date? She hadn't done anything to it before she'd fallen asleep.

(Also, it's 7am, and she'd fallen asleep at like, five in the afternoon. She can't have slept for fourteen hours.)

She's about to get up and check the time and date somewhere else, because clearly her phone's fucked up, but then her mother opens her bedroom door with a smile. "Morning, mija."

"Uh," Camila rubs at her eyes, "mom, what time is it?"

"Seven," Sinu tells her, "you need to get up and ready for your first day back at school."

School? Camila thinks, her eyes widening. "I don't- I don't go to school. I'm nineteen."

Sinu laughs. "You're not nineteen for another two and a half years. You're sixteen. Is this some sort of weird prank? Are you trying to convince me to let you off school? Because it's not going to work."

"Okay, what the hell?" Camila frowns. "Are you pranking me? Did you change the time on my phone or something?"

Sinu's expression changes from relaxed to concerned. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I... I'm just... confused." Camila mumbles. "I- I have to go to high school today?"

"Yes, mija, it's your first day of junior year," Sinu replies, "did you think you still had a few days off? I know you can lose track of days in summer."

"I... yeah." Camila nods, not wanting to worry her mom, but seriously freaking out. "Yeah, it's just that. School. Junior year. I- I totally remember now."

Sinu sends her a look and nods. "Alright. See you down for breakfast in a few minutes."

Once her mom leaves the room, Camila jumps up and sprints to the bathroom, looking in the mirror and seeing her sixteen year old self staring back at her.

She wants to scream. She doesn't know what the hell happened or how, and she doesn't care to find out. She just wants to go back. She was finally free to do what she wanted with her music career, and she wakes up to this?