The Guidance Counselor

I Ship It

Camila was laying out on the grass in Normani's backyard when she felt Dinah lay down beside her, neither of them saying a word. Dinah didn't have to speak for Camila to know that Normani had told her everything, it was painfully obvious from the tears falling silently down Dinah's face.

"You can't stay in your parent's house anymore," Dinah finally said.

"What about Sofi?" Camila whispered. "I can't leave her, if I go they'll never let me see her again."

"If you stay you're going to keep hurting yourself, you have to put yourself first Walz," Dinah said as she sat up and began to pick at the grass. "I'm sorry," she said as tears started flowing harder from her eyes. "If I hadn't shut you out-"

"Don't you dare," Camila told her.

"You would have had a friend and you wouldn't have gotten in that fight with your Dad and you would have never been on that beach alone," Dinah continued. "I shouldn't have left you behind."

"Please don't," Camila said shaking her head. "I can't deal with you blaming yourself, it's not your fault."

"It's not yours either," Dinah whispered. "Please Mila, Normani's parents already said you could move into the spare room, please. We can go right now, we can pack my car and make as many trips as we need to, it's the last shot we have before they come back tomorrow, please. Do something good for yourself."

"Fine," Camila said with a sigh, knowing that Dinah and Normani were right to be worried. "Maybe it's for the best."

"Come on," Dinah said pushing herself from the ground and pulling Camila up with her. "It's going to be okay, you have Mani now and you have me, if you'll give me a second chance. I know I don't deser-"

"I've waited three years for you to let me give you a second chance," Camila told her, pulling Dinah into a hug that both girls melted into.

"What's the plan?" Normani asked walking out into the backyard.

"We're gonna go get Camila's things," Dinah told her and Normani couldn't help the smile that presented itself on her face.

"Oh thank God," Normani said as she ran over to the girls and hugged them both. "My Mom said there is a bunch of boxes downstairs from when we moved that we can use to pack Camila's things."

"Did you tell them?" Camila asked, but Normani just shook her head.

"They asked, they want to know. They are worried," Normani said. "They might ask you, maybe not right away, but they will ask and you will have to tell them eventually."

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"So are we packing everything or?" Dinah asked as she stepped into Camila's room and set down the boxes on the girl's bed.

"Start with the books and everything in and on my desk," Camila told her before turning to Normani. "Can you pack the boxes in the top of my closet? I'm gonna start with my clothes and my blankets."

The girls got to work, they packed everything Camila felt like she needed to bring. Photos, books, jewelry, all the money she had in her top drawer from three summers of babysitting and all her clothes. By the time they finished, Camila was crying and the room was left with a stripped bed and an empty desk and dresser. All Camila's things were in boxes in the hallway and the three girls stood in the bare room looking around at what had once been the sanctuary of their childhood dreams. The place they had held the majority of their sleepovers and told each other their secrets. Camila swallowed a lump, not wanting to let herself cry anymore than she already was as she moved to tape an envelope addressed to her parents on the door of what used to be her bedroom and began to carry boxes out to Dinah's car.