Camila Van Woodsen had to admit that starting senior year was very surreal. She couldn't believe she had made it this far. But as excited as Camila was, she was also nervous. She'd have to start applying soon, for colleges she didn't have much of a choice in. It meant starting a new chapter. And that chapter was pre written. I just have to make the most of this year and enjoy it all. No worries until spring, right?
With a sigh, she slips a black tee shirt over her head and runs a hand through her white locks. She smiles at herself in the mirror and grabs her backpack. "I'm leaving!"
"Without breakfast?" Marjorie Van Woodsen asks, grabbing her daughter's arm as she runs down the stairs. "Yes well..." Camila smiles, "not that hungry!"
Marjorie laughs and shoos her daughter out. "Don't miss the bus."
"I caught a ride with a friend!" Camila closes the door behind her and runs over to the parked mustang. The guy at the wheel honks the horn and smiles. "What's cooking, good looking?"
"Shut up," she jumps into the passenger seat, "and drive you idiot."
The guy rolls his eyes and leans over. "Missed you too, freak." he kisses Camila's cheek. "Yeah, yeah, whatever Dean. It's been what, four days?"
"Five. Been keeping track." he laughs and looks over at her house. "So, first day of senior year. Are you as excited as I am?" Dean asks as he drives off and takes Camila's hand. They intertwine fingers. "I'm ready to make the most of it, that's what."
They stop at the local coffeehouse on the way and he orders their drinks. Dean turns to Camila after paying and smiles. "I'll be right back, have to use the restroom."
"Of course." Camila leans against the wall and waits for their drinks. She picks at her new sweater and hums softly to the music playing throughout. If she wasn't mistaken it sounded like the 1975. But she always got them mixed up with another band.
"Two caramel macchiatos." someone says. Camila looks up and walks over to the girl holding the drinks. She smiles and stares at the girl. Untamed black hair, gorgeous brown eyes and a very intimidating face. Her heart begins beating faster. "Uhh, that'll be me."
The barista huffs and gives her a quizzical but teasing look. "Pretty sure ya aren't the guy that ordered these." her accent is strong and rough, European maybe, and sends chills down Camila's spine.
"Uh that's my friend but I promise we're together. Or not like together together but-" she blushes. The barista laughs and grins wickedly. "Only joking with you." she hands them over. "Name's Sarah Manning, pleasure meeting you."
"Camila Van Woodsen." she holds out her hand but the girl seems to recoil. "That's a fancy last name. Famous around town."
"Oh, yeah it's nothing really. I won't sue you for touching me, you know." Camila giggles but her pride is crushed. Sarah sighs and quickly shakes her hand, but her fingers linger a second longer. They pull away and Camila starts blushing again.
"Hey babe where's the drinks." Dean walks over and wraps an arm around her shoulder. Sarah glares at him then says sourly, "not together?"
"Watch who you're talking to." Dean threatens and Camila puts a hand on his chest. "No need for that, I was just chatting with her." she looks over at Sarah. "Thanks for the coffee, I'll see you around?"
"Kinda my job but yeah, sure." Sarah turns back to the onslaught of orders. Dean pulls Camila out and heads to his car. "We're gonna be late and you really shouldn't mess with that chick, Cam. She's bad news."
"Oh, how would you know?" Camila leans her head back and feels the wind lick at her hair. She smiles.
"Cause I do, babe. My dad is the head policeman he gets calls about her and her shitty group all the time. Trashing the place, selling drugs, all that kind of shit." Dean tells her as they get into the school parking lot. "Just don't start hanging with her. Don't do that shit again."
"What, Dean? Talk to her like a normal human being?" Camila sits up and grabs her bag. "Look, I can handle myself. Talking to her and hanging out with her are two different things. I don't care what her record around town is. Obviously she can hold a job and be polite." as soon as he parks the car she heads out, not giving him a second glance.
The thing is, though, Camila can't seem to get her mind off what Dean said. She barely focuses in her classes. Sarah Manning, town criminal, probably dropped out of high school..
I'll get everything straightened out after school. Get Bailey to drive me over. Yeah, that works.
"Hey, Bailey!" she catches her friend on the way out of school. The brunette turns and grins. "Hey there! Lemme guess, need a ride?"
"Uh, in a way. I need to go to the coffeehouse for... studying purposes. Mind taking me over?"
Bailey shrugs and twirls her car keys in her hands. "It's on my way home, hell why not. Let's go, Woody."
Despite the lame nickname, Camila laughs and thanks her. The trip is short and she's dropped off at the intersection of the plaza. Bailey waves goodbye as she drives off and Camila sighs and walks out to the coffeehouse. People are sitting outside enjoying the nice weather and the inside is quiet. She peeks at the counter and notices the frizz of black hair. She grins and sets down her bag to work on homework.
"Oi, didn't think I'd be seeing you around." Camila looks up and smiles. British, that's what it is. Guessing... Brixton maybe? Her green apron is about the only thing she's wearing in uniform. She's wearing leather skinny jeans and a black knit sweater. "Uhm, hi, care to sit?"
Sarah grins and sits beside her. "Guessing you're not here just for the coffee"
"Yeah, no I have some school work to start on. You know?" Camila smirks and looks back down at her papers, biting the top of her pen. Sarah watches quietly. "So, uhh.. boyfriend isn't angry about it?"
Camila stops reading and looks at Sarah. "What? Oh, gosh he doesn't know! Not, not that it matters I can do what I want. And he wasn't angry-"
"Look.. Camila. I know who he is. Dean Forrester. He's the cop's son. So he knows who I am. And you probably do too." she sighs. "I should go."
Sarah starts to get up to leave but Camila stops her. "I don't really care? I told Dean you're still a person and I shouldn't care about gossip and rumors." even if this is a criminal record and obviously she is a bad person but there's something more to it.
"That's.. nice. First good thing I've heard in a long time." Sarah looks down. Camila smiles. "I would love a cup of joe though. If that's okay?"
"Of course, yeah, sure thing love." Sarah winks and walks back to the counter, leaving a confused and flustered Camila.
The Brit comes back with a cup and a pastry. "It's on the house." she says, and leaves Camila to do her work.
Camila doesn't leave until closing hour around seven. She begins to pack up her stuff. "Leaving Manning?" she hears from the back room. "Yeah, I got a thing tonight." Sarah says and she sees her put her apron up in the corner of her eye. The girl walks over and greets her again with another "oi."
"Is that like a saying where you're from, punk?" Camila asks, leaning against the door. Sarah grins like an idiot at the nickname. "Yeah, sorta. We've got a lot of sayings from my home." Sarah steps forward and pushes the door open after Camila gets off it. "Where's home?"
"England. I moved here as a kid, with my foster brother Felix. We moved in with my cousin, Cosima Niehaus. She actually goes to your school." Sarah explains, quite enthusiastically. "Oh, I think I know her! Dreads, glasses, has a French girlfriend." Camila grins. Sarah nods. "That's the one. She's sort of a geek. Total whiz at science an' shit. Uhm, do you have a ride?"
Camila sighs and shakes her head. "I was going to walk home, my parents left for some fancy gala thing."
"You're gonna walk home alone? Nuh uh, that's not happening love. I'll walk with you." Sarah slings a bag over her shoulder. "But-hey don't you have somewhere to be?" Camila asks as they walk up the hill. "Not really. Kinda don't wanna go home so if I can prolong it I'm in." Sarah admits. They walk through the town quietly, mainly because Camila doesn't know what to talk about and Sarah seems to be preoccupied with looking over her shoulder every few minutes.
"So where exactly do ya live?" Sarah asks as they leave town and start for the ritzy neighborhoods. "York Avenue. It's not too far."
"Oh, uh... ya sure those uppity folk won't mind two lonely figures walking through their streets?" Sarah rubs the back of her head. Camila laughs. "You'll be fine! If they say anything my parents can deal with it." she mentally swears to herself as her shoes dig into her heels.
"Your parents, yeah? Figures." Sarah scoffs, shoving her hands into her pockets. Camila looks over at her. "Excuse me?"
"Nah it's just, you rich kids always got your parents to get you out of your own shit. Your money and your class and all that, it's protection. You'll never learn to fight for yourself, that's all." Sarah's voice has gained an edge to it. Camila stares straight forward. "I'll have you know I can fend for myself!"
"Right, cause that's why your parents came into the conversation?" Sarah jumps in front of her and Camila stops. "Oi, listen love, I don't doubt for one moment you can take care of yourself but I don't think you're capable of handling the real fending off."
"You're making no sense at all." Camila sighs, exasperated. The Brit laughs and reaches her arms out. "Can I?"
"Touch me? Oh god no that would be awful!" Camila jokes and rolls her eyes. She lets Sarah grab her hands. "Look, these hands have never seen work a day in their life." she drops them and then extends hers to let Camila look. "Mine on the other hand have. Lots of work, hardship... all that good shit." she lowers them and scrunches her eyebrows together. "Ah, shite. Let's get going."
The sun has now set completely and the girls walk close to the street lights. "Not much farther- say where do you live Sarah?" Camila asks before she can stop herself. The brunette sighs. "Cos' apartment ain't too far off." meaning "I don't need you to know and I will be fine."
"Right, okay. If you need a place to crash though.." Camila bites her lip and glances at the quiet Brit. "Uh, no that's too much to ask-"
"My parents are out, they probably won't return until tomorrow. And we have a guest room." shut up Camila!
"Seriously, I'm fine. Cos wants me home anyway." Sarah gives her a pained grin and looks behind her shoulder again. "You keep doing that."
"What?" her accent gets thicker, there's certain words that really bring out her accent and Camila loves it. She's always been interested in accents and she thinks Sarah's is the best one she's ever heard. "Looking behind. Like we're being followed, like you're hiding something."
"It's instinct." Sarah's face loses all emotion and becomes a mask. Camila is confused but she knows not to pester. "You know, walking me home means you have to tell me about yourself."
"Does it now? Had I known that, wouldn't have agreed to walking you home." Sarah smiles. "Oh, well now you know and you have to tell me some things."
"I already told you about myself." the brunette laughs and hooks a thumb under her bag straps. Camila rolls her eyes. "That's backstory, I could care less about that. I want to know if I'm making the right decision in talking to you. What kind of things are you into?"
"You've crossed the line, I can't answer that." Sarah smirks, giving her a look that sends chills down Camila's spine. "Right.." she draws out, blushing.
"You won't know a lot about me, I'm not an open book. Only certain people can know things-"
"Like your favorite place on earth? Or the music you're into?"
"Punk rock. And I don't have a favorite place. Everywhere feels like hell." Sarah answers, the last sentence shutting Camila up completely. They arrive at York Avenue, with its fancy brick columns and name plates. Sarah clicks her tongue and whistles. "Mighty fancy."
"Yeah it's not that great, believe me. The neighbors suck." she mumbles, looking at the southern looking mansions. Sarah's wide eyed. "Must look like some temple in the sunlight."
"You're really amazed by all this?" Camila laughs but it gets caught in her throat seeing the shock on Sarah's face. A small smile begins to form on her face. "Felix would freak here. Cosima would probably love it. I could.." she trails off and frowns. "Where's your house?"
"Third one down on the left. Come on." Camila grabs her wrist and pulls the Brit down the road. Sarah stops at the walkway to the house. "You're home now."
"Yes, thank you I didn't know." Camila laughs. "I came here to drop you off-"
"And you're coming inside. Just for a drink, alright? It's the least I can do." Camila walks to her door and pulls out the keys. She can hear Sarah's boots scuff at the pavement before there's a mumbled string of swear words and the girl is walking up behind Camila. "Just a few minutes."
"Great!" Camila pushes open the door and holds it open until Sarah is in. She locks it behind her and puts her bag down to unlace her shoes. "The kitchen's to your left."
Sarah's boots clack against the tile. "Super fancy shit here. What do your parents do?"
They own the whole city, that's what. "Uhm, real estate and banking."
"I'm impressed. Family business?" Sarah's bag hits the island counter and Camila bounces over. "Unfortunately! Water? Or we have milk, there's some apple juice too." she rattles off as she peers into the fridge. It's almost as empty as the house is.
"It's a bad thing that it's a family business? You're set for life. And water will do." Sarah leans against the counter and watches Camila reach up to grab two glasses. "Well it's not exactly what I want to do." the girl answers.
"And what do you want to do?" Sarah asks, looking around. Camila sighs. "It's nothing, it's really ridiculous." she fills the glasses up with tap water and hands one to Sarah. "I really wanted to be an investigative journalist. Just something with writing. I guess."
"That's really interesting. Why can't you be one?"
"Only child. The Van Woodsen legacy lies on me." Camila's voice drops with loathing. Sarah places a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do what they ask, y'know. You can go off to college and study what you really want." she reassures her and Camila reminds herself to keep the girl around, because she's more supportive than her friends. "Look, I should go, Cosima is probably worrying about me. Thanks for inviting me in." Sarah puts the glass in the sink and picks up her bag. Camila nods. "Anytime. Oh, and Sarah?"
"Oi, what is it?" the Brit turns on her heels at the door. Camila smiles and follows, leaning against the wall. "You're always welcome here. I want us to be friends."
Sarah's eyes say something Camila can't exactly pick up. But the girl's body language seems tense. "Right. Well, thanks again. See you later." she unlocks the door and rushes out. Camila watches her walk down the road, putting up a hood and glancing around. She's just paranoid. Run ins with these people would do the same to me too.
Although she knows there's something entirely deeper than being skittish around York Avenue that's biting at Sarah. And she plans to find out.