Behind The Mask (A Camren Fanfic)

Chapter 1

Camila Cabello roamed around the empty school hallways. She wasn't supposed to but something about the place drew her in. She saw a handful of students walking about. She was early for school. Too early. Camila walked passed the music room but then she walked back and did a double take. Inside the room, stood a black sleek piano. Camila opened the door and ran her hand down the piano until it reached the black and white keys. She pressed on one of them and a C note rang through the empty room. Camila sat down on the stool with her foot on one of the pedals and both of her hands hovering above the keys, waiting. She pressed a key several times before playing several chords. She played the melody of "Say Something" by The Great Big World.

When she played, she could feel the emotion of the music. It was raw and powerful. Camila closed her eyes as she let the emotion take over as she played the familiar keys. She sang with her heart as she played. The song started slow but it gradually sped up. When she reached the near end of the song, she slammed on the keys, pouring every single emotion she had in her petite body. Afterwards, she felt numb and broken when she played the few final notes to the song. The song physically and emotionally drained her but she had never felt more alive.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw someone by the door. When she turned towards the door, there was no one there. Camila smiled to herself as she shook her head. She got up and grabbed her backpack from the floor and walked out of the music room.

~

She was walking down the hallway when she saw a girl walking passed her. She was slightly taller, dark hair with piercing green eyes. She wore a black band t-shirt with a black leather jacket over it, with black torn skinny fit jeans and black high top converse sneakers. Her green eyes locked with hers as they walked passed each other. Camila pulled away from her gaze and continued to make her way towards her locker.

Camila Cabello wasn't popular in her school. She was quiet, soft-spoken and very awkward. So, it was weird for anyone to stare at her like that. Camila shook the thought out of her mind once she reached her locker. She spun the locker combination in and unlocked it. She grabbed some of her books from her backpack and shoved them into the locker. She took out a few notepads and files and carried them in her hands as she shut the locker door. When she turned, she almost jumped when she saw her best friend, Dinah Jane, standing way too close.

Camila took a few steps back and took a deep breath.

"You scared me," she said.

"I meant to," Dinah said.

Camila and Dinah were not always friends. They barely knew each other and barely interacted. One day in their Sophomore year, a teacher paired them up for a project and they got to know each other. They were similar in ways but they were also very different. The fact that they were so different, they got along really well. By Junior year, they were best friends.

Dinah Jane was about a foot taller than Camila, give or take. She had long hair which she dyed blonde and it always seemed perfect and she had brown eyes. On the other hand, Camila had long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.

Camila and Dinah began walking to class as the latter started blabbing. Unlike her, Dinah was an out-spoken person with a big personality and she wasn't as awkward as Camila was. Camila would always listen to what her friend said. Not saying a word unless necessary. When they reached Homeroom, Dinah entered first as she was closest to the door. Camila noticed the same green eyed girl looking at her as she leaned against the lockers. Camila just shrugged it off before she walked into class.

"Hey. You okay?" Dinah asked.

"Yeah," Camila said, hoping that it wasn't a lie.

~

The day passed by in a blur. The next thing she knew, school was over. Camila and Dinah walked towards their locker which was side-by-side. In the midst of keeping her books away, she saw the girl staring at her again as she walked passed the two girls.

"Okay. What's up with you and Lauren?" Dinah asked.

"Who?" Camila asked as she kept her books.

"Lauren Jauregui? The girl that was staring at you?"

"Who's Lauren?" Camila asked.

Annoyed, Dinah slapped Camila's arm with the back of her hand.

"Ow!" Camila said as she rubbed her sore arm.

"Lauren Jauregui?" Dinah said as she lowered her voice.

"The school's badass troublemaker? The rocker chick?"

"Should I know her?"

"Everyone knows her!" Dinah said, "If she's staring at you, that means something's up," she added.

"So you gonna tell me?" Dinah asked after a moment.

"I honestly have no clue. She just started to stare. It was really weird," Camila said as she dismissed the subject with shutting her locker door.

"Weird? Weird is having the entire school looking at you. This? This is not weird," Dinah said.

"I saw it. I can literally feel the sexual tension between the two of you," Dinah said.

"You're delusional," Camila said.

"And you're in denial," Dinah retorted.

"I have to get home. I have to babysit my sister," Camila said.

"Fine," her friend whined.

As they walked out the entrance of the school, Dinah hooked her arm with Camila's.

"So, what are you going to do with the whole Lauren situation?"

"What situation? There's nothing going on."

"Keep telling yourself that," Dinah said.

"Okay, bye, Dinah!" Camila said as she pulled away from Dinah.

~

Camila walked back to her house and just as she was about to enter, she saw the familiar dark haired girl a few blocks down. Their eyes met and Camila saw her quickly pull away before entering her house. Camila looked away, furrowed her eyebrow as she shook the thought away. She opened the door and her 6 year old sister, Sofia 'Sofi' Cabello, greeted her excitedly as she hugged the older girl's legs.

"Kaki!" the younger girl said.

"Hey Sofi," Camila greeted as she bent down and tried to hug her back.

"Play with me, Kaki!"

"Aww, Sof, I can't," Camila said, "I have homework to do."

"Okay," Sofi said as she looked down and pulled away.

"But hey, you can stay in my room and color. How does that sound? When I'm done, I can draw and color with you," Camila said as she bent down to her sister's level.

The youngest Cabello's face instantly lit up as she jumped up and down excitedly.

"Okay!" Sofi exclaimed before she ran up to Camila's room. Camila followed the younger girl up and entered her room.