Camilla

twenty-eight

C A M I L L A

"Mae!" I call, straightening out my dress. It's a deep, dark blue color and it falls down to just above my knees. Very average. 

I hate dresses.

Mae comes skipping into the room. I give her a smile. "Are you ready?"

She smiles back and nods.

It's so great to see Mae completely happy. Free of stress. Her dress is emerald green. Suddenly, her face becomes serious. "Is this the last time I'm going to see Mom?"

I sigh, trying to think of how to approach the situation. I couldn't really tell if Mae wants it to be or not. "If all goes to plan, you don't ever have to see her after today. But if you do want to, I'll take you to vis-"

"No!" Mae interrupts. "I don't want to see her. Mom scares me."

I frown, feeling a lump form in my throat. "Look, Mae. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you don't have to see her again."

"Do you promise?"

I nod at her, smiling. "Yeah. Now let's go. We're going to be late."

[+]

The session passes by in a blur. I'm not really aware of much besides Mom turning around to glare at me and Mae every once in a while. I barely remember when I was to testifying. I almost don't even recall Mae being called to the stand. 

Luckily, my hidden gig as a street fighter goes unseen due to my new position as a lawyer's assistant. 

Gilligan, his mom, me, and Mae, and Taylor have all been waiting around to be brought back into the courtroom after we were dismissed. We just had to wait for the jury to make their decision.

And I pray to God that it's the right one.

It seems like forever before we're finally back into the large room.

A long string of words pass through the judges mouth. The only ones I hear are: "I sentence Marissa Flores to jail for twenty years and give custody of Mae Flores to Camilla Flores."

The sound of the gavel smacking against the wood makes me jump, and suddenly what those words mean comes rushing into my head. I grab Mae and picked her up, squishing her tight against me. I feel Gilligan pull me into a hug, and it's all so perfect.

It's all so perfect.

When Gilligan kisses me, I feel something I've known was coming. Something I've decided against pushing away.

I feel the love I've found for Gilligan.

I love Gilligan.

And, sometime soon, I'm going to tell him.

Fuck the cliche' Boy-Has-To-Tell-Girl-First.

I'm Camilla Flores. I kick Cliche's ass.