recently been edited and tyler has been changed to taylor (yes, as in taylor caniff) haha <3

lovely cover by my friend meg ♥

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Cameron was a good kid. And of all people, I should know best. We were inseparable once and if it hadn't been for Taylor, we might still have been the best of friends. If it hadn't been for his stupid ego and pride; if he had only trusted me, things would better. 

Of course, I had a hard time accepting Cam after choosing to be this "new version" of himself but sooner or later, I had to let it go. I had to let go and forget about the old Cameron and just accept the way things are. Don't get me wrong, I spent months convincing Cameron to just stay the same but obviously, he wouldn't listen.

I tried warning him about Taylor but I guess popularity is something not only the girls envy. Cameron chose Taylor. He chose popularity. And of course, he enjoys the girls that came along with his newfound reputation as notorious bad boy. The old Cameron I knew is long gone. I don't even know who he is anymore. 

But right now? Right now I only had Camila. I'm not going to let Cameron take her away from me just like that. Camila's too good for him anyway and he's only going to break her heart.

But I'm afraid in a blink of an eye, things could change. Camila could suddenly be in his arms instead of mine. So I made what I thought to be a rational choice that time.

I dialed his number reluctantly. On the first ring, he picked up. "Shawn? Dude, how long was it since we last talked?", his sober-like voice echoed through my ears. At least he was sober. The last thing I want is to talk to him drunk, and judging from the music that was blasting in the background, he was probably at another party.

"Too long, Cam. We need to talk.", I stared at the wall across from me, fidgeting. "Can you come over? You remember my address, right?"

"Right now?"

"Yes." my voice echoed. "As soon as possible."

"Dude, this time of the night? After 2 years? What do you — "

"Camila," I managed, "It's about Camila."

~~~

I heard the honk of a car soon after. I expected to see Cameron's old Honda Civic but I was met with a flashy BMW instead. Poor Mr. Dallas, I thought, as Cameron got out of the car, flashing  the very smile Camila fell for.

I must admit, if I weren't straight I might've haven fallen too.

I returned the smile and showed him inside. Even though I managed to put the past behind us, the pain has always been there. His face hasn't changed—it still looked like the Cameron I used to hang out a lot with.

"What about her, dude?" he asked casually as he hanged his coat on the rack.  He threw himself on the couch and placed his feet on top the small coffee table, making himself feel at home. 

"Are you two together?"my tone came out harsher than I intended.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I don't know why, Shawn, but I think I like her for real. And, you're cool with this, yeah? I mean, she's your best friend and you guys hang out all the time, I just wanna know if this is all cool with you."

I kept silent. I know Cam has a way with his words. He loves sugarcoating stuff but I didn't buy any of it.

"Shawn?" he asked after I didn't answer.

I looked at him straight in the eyes before replying, "Break her heart and I'll break your face."

He stood up and gave me a bro hug—to which I surprisingly returned. When he met my eyes, he confirmed, "Understood." 

"Good.", I pulled away, "I think you can show yourself the way out."

He nodded, taking his coat before closing the door once he left.

There is no way I'm trusting this guy.

~~~

"Shaaaawn!", I heard Camila's sweet voice yell through the hallways. People were staring at us once again and I was suddenly greeted with a hug from behind. She was jumping and squealing with joy. "Woah," I faced her, surprised, and trying to push her away, "What's gotten into you today?"

"I'm in love," she gave me a sheepish smile. I cringed at those words. "When were you planning to tell me?" her eyes shone. I was totally confused. "Tell you what? What are you talking about?" She started blabbering, "About your approval of me and Cameron dating. And about your little chit-chat last night. I can't believe you would do this for me, Shawn. Honestly, thank you and don't worry he didn't say much so I didn't exactly kno—"

Before she could continue any more of her useless chatter, I beat her to it. "I...", my voice came out shakily and my thoughts then disappeared.

I hated when these things happen.

"You what?"

I love you.

"I didn't—", I hesitated for a moment. 

I didn't approve.

What should I tell her? 

"I wasn't planning to tell you yet." I lied.

Her face expression stiffened, "Why?" 

I really did not know how to answer this one. "I was going to—"

"Babe," a voice called out from behind. I almost thanked the person who saved me from answering a question I didn't know how to answer when I turned around only to find Cameron and Taylor. "Hailee's hosting a party Friday night." Taylor smirked at me, "Can you make it, babe?"

I stood there awkwardly. Was he talking to me? Since when did Taylor Caniff talk to normal people. 

"Uhm," Camila wasn't sure what to say. 

Right, I forgot my best friend and my ex-best friend are dating. How exciting. Camila glanced over at me for help so I sighed before nodding in approval. "Yes, but Shawn will have to go too." she blurted.

My eyes widened in surprise. Quickly recomposing myself, I chuckled. "No thanks. I don't wanna go." Camila nudged an elbow at my stomach. I winced at impact. "That hurt. But I'm not going." 

She faced Cameron and Taylor. "I'm not going either. Sorry, Taylor."

Cameron started to protest but I beat him to it. "Fine, I'll go. But I won't stay for long." I rolled my eyes. I quickly turned to Camila, "Consider this as my apology for the other day." I faced Cameron, "She said she'll go. Now, will you guys go?"

Cameron nodded at me, "See you there, I guess." before leaving with Taylor. I knew Camila wanted to go. She's probably been dying to. And as much as I hated partying I want her to be happy. So, I didn't have much of a choice, did I? She nudged me in the chest again, "I win—again." before smirking at me and scurrying towards her homeroom as the bell rang.

It still hurt. And I don't mean how Camila elbowed my guts.

~~~

"Camila," I said brushing off the crowds, catching up to her fast pace.

"Yeah?" she said not leaving her eyes on her phone.

"We have to join."

She clicked her phone off and switched attention to me. "Join what?"

I gave her a puppy look and she rolled her eyes, "Okay, details first, Benito."

"Hey!" I said laughing. "Don't call me that."

"Why?" she teased, "I have every right too. Although I can't imagine you looking like a Spanish guy who styles his hair back really tight with the smoky eyes."

I rolled my eyes as my cheeks turned into shades of pink, "Uh, I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"You can't unhear what you've just heard just as you can't unsee what you just saw."

And you can't just unfeel what you feel, right?

I groaned, "Whatever, smarty pants. I'm just going to forget that. So there's this song writing contest that's going to be held in the next two weeks and I thought we'd give it a shot, be partners and split the cash prize if we win."

"I guess it sounds good but there's one problem. I suck at writing lyrics and music." she chuckled. I slung an arm over her shoulders. "Not a problem! I'm very much good with that! You can help with the singing parts.", I chirped happily. "We might just win this. C'mon, trust me and give it a shot."

"Okay, fine. When's the deadline?", she asked curiously.

"In two weeks," I said meekly.

"Do we have to perform live?"

"Only to the judges." my grin getting wider. She's gonna say yes, she's gotta say yes.

"A capella?"

"No."

"Okay, I'm in. I'd like a capella though."

"It's just the two of us, Mila," I reminded her.

She shrugged, grinning. "Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?"

~~~

"C'mon, brain! Be useful!" Camila grunted in frustration as she crossed out paragraphs from her paper. She and I were sprawled across my bedroom floor.  "My head hurts. It's been like, three hours and we still have a blank music sheet."

"Writing takes time. You can't rush it," I replied, "I was thinking of something upbeat.", I suggested.

"That's fine. Hmm, how about. let's start with...", she scribbled the words onto the lyric paper. "Mm, hm, woah,"

"I already got the first verse figured out.", I said shaking my head and scribbled, "I was thinking about: ah-ah-hey, aah aah, aah-hey aah, aah...he knows...dirty secrets that I keep, does he know it's killing me? He knows he knows, he knows...", I said jolting them down, a certain tune was forming into my head.

Camila grabbed another pen, now excited and we began writing on the two separate papers. "Hey Shawn, I've got an idea for the chorus. Let's just combine them later on."

I nodded in agreement. We ended up with mostly my lyrics into the final draft. We were halfway done with the chorus when we finished dinner. Camila yawned once we got back to my room. "Let's finish this tomorrow. Can I sleep here for the night?"

"Yeah. I'll sleep on the floor."

"Thanks."

I nodded before getting the extra pillow and blanket from the closet and placing it on the floor. "Lights off, Mila.", I said yawning.

"Yes, sir." she gave me a mock salute before turning off the lights.