Bonded (Camren)

•chapter 1•

Camila's POV:

On the morning of the day that changed my life, I woke up late. Too late.

"Mija!" My mom's voice rang shrilly from the staircase, and I could hear the pounding of her feet on the steps as she advanced loudly to my bedroom. Flinging the door open, she didn't hesitate to pull the drapes apart and let the Miami sunshine stream into the dark room.

I groaned loudly, squeezing my eyes shut. "Mom, can you close them, please?"

"You're late, Camila," she snapped in return. "It's the first day of your junior year!"

Rubbing my eyes that were refusing to open wide enough to see my mother, I nodded sleepily. "I know it is. Great. I can't wait."

She sensed the sarcasm in my voice. It wasn't exactly a secret that I was sick of high school and wanted nothing more than to leave and pursue my dream of becoming a singer-songwriter. But my parents had always told me that I had to finish school first; that my education was far more important than a practically nonexistent chance of becoming what I've always wanted.

"Get up, get dressed and get some breakfast. And then get to school," she ordered, and I flinched at the sternness in her tone.

"Okay," I replied hoarsely as she retreated out of my room and closed the door with a bang.

As soon as I heard her reach the bottom of the stairs, I reached onto the nightstand to grab my phone. Glancing at the screen, I noticed that there were a few messages.

Dinah [6:42 am]: Heyyyy, are you ready for junior year? See you at school, Walz. Missed you.

Smiling, I replied with a sad face emoji and a heart emoji. My best friends, Dinah, Ally and Normani, were what made school bearable. If it wasn't for them, I don't know how I would cope with the dreary nature of walking from class to class and sitting through mind numbingly dull lessons every day.

The next message made a pit of fear and guilt begin to bubble in my stomach. It was my boyfriend.

Kyle [6:49 am]: Babe, do you want me to pick u up? Love you

It was sweet of him to offer. I should be grateful. I should feel something. Anything. But I didn't. I never have...at least not for a guy.

Replying with a 'no thanks, my mom's dropping me off', I climbed out of bed with a yawn and quickly got myself ready for the day. Pulling on some skinny jeans and a black sweater, I brushed my teeth before making my way downstairs for breakfast.

On the short and hurried drive to school, I found myself very preoccupied. The text from my boyfriend had awoken me to a scary reality that I had been able to avoid for most of the summer. This was something that I was ashamed to tell anyone, even though it shouldn't be that way. I was afraid to even admit it to myself. In fact, Dinah was the only person that knew.

I wasn't interested in guys. Only girls.

It wasn't something I planned. You can't plan who you are attracted to, or who you fall in love with. Not that I had ever been in love. At sixteen years old, I had experienced crushes, but never love. And I certainly didn't have any kind of crush on my boyfriend, Kyle. But I was so scared of anyone finding out about my secret that just before the end of sophomore year, I had accepted his persistent request for a date.

Sometimes I felt guilty about lying to Kyle and everyone else I knew. But the only other option would be to tell the truth. And that was something I just wasn't ready for.

~

"Camila!" Ally's short body came barreling out of nowhere as I stood at my locker, placing some books inside. She embraced me and I enveloped her back warmly, realizing how much I had missed my three best friends over the summer. Going away with my family had been fun, but a part of me wished that I could have stayed here with my friends.