Chapter 2: The past meets the present (Part: 1/2):

Sunlight swung through the window pane. There was a wide awakening, the birds chirped and the trees swayed around, making a soft jingle in the air as their leaves whipped around. They sounded like little tambourines.
Camilla spat out her minty toothpaste, watching it fall into the basin in thick blueish green clumps. Granted, brushing your teeth in the morning wasn't anything exciting, but Camilla took her time doing so.
The week had been long and tiresome for her. She wasn't sure if she would ever truly adjust to it all. Not a tear had fallen from her eyes, so she figured she was doing well. Fatigue was normal after any move, she kept telling herself that.

Cranking the knob on the faucet, she dunked her frothy toothbrush into the evergoing stream, nudging it left and right. Some of the tiny little bristles stood out, twisted and bended out of shape from the rest of the brushes. She made a mental note to herself to go and get a new pack of toothbrushes the next time she went to the store.
The soft touch of her fleece robe against her bare skin made her feel right at home. Getting up and putting on clothes was the last thing she desired to do. It sounds corny, but Camilla was drained as all hell.
She sighed, still watching the water run down on her toothbrush, knowing that she wasn't really doing anything besides wasting water. Still, and steady she held it there, watching the water splosh onto the brush.

There was a minty after taste in her mouth, her taste buds tingled and felt slightly cooler. She stopped the faucet and put her toothbrush in the mirror, standing there for a moment.
She felt emptiness inside her body, the painful kind. It was kind of odd how your emotions could affect you that way. All she wanted to do was replace it- like a piece missing to this puzzle you spent hours working on. But she could never replace this void, and she knew that.
Hoping the feeling would disappear, she started to think about what she would wear. Saturday had finally rolled around and as promised, her mother was having her friend over, which meant her kids were tagging along too.

She almost walked downstairs, completely forgetting the fact that this was her new house now, which meant her bedroom was upstairs instead of downstairs.
'Shorts, a polo, and sandals? Too casual? It's just brunch. Maybe a-' Camilla was lost in thought until she heard something that made her freeze, a familiar devious sound.
"Please no, please don't be it! Please- please stop!" She kept repeating to herself in a hushed tone. The last thing she needed was to deal with this again.

No matter how much she wished what she was hearing wasn't true, it was. Her mother was standing there on the other side of the wall, but she could still hear her as clear as day.
"No! No! I'm having my friend over! You can't ruin this! " She was frantic, pacing around up and down, left and right, her chest rising and falling like a little kid jumping on a trampoline. "We have to make this right! We have to impress them! You don't want them to find out about this!!!!" Her shrill was as squeaky as a pair of rusty brakes on a car.

As if she had just stepped into a nice relaxing bubble bath, she calmed down instantaneously, out of nowhere. Her breathing steadied and she lowered her voice.
"Okay, now let's make this a great day." She used hand motions as if someone was there, actually talking to her. "Everything will be fine, she's your best friend, and my best friend too. Just remember that, okay?"

That hole that was inside Camilla's stomach grew larger and larger. Her mother's words were like a shovel. Every time she spoke, she dug, deeper and deeper, making that hole more hollow.
She hadn't witnessed her mother have an episode in years. Hell, she hadn't even heard her mother talk to herself in years. Where was this coming from? Why now?
"It's coming back, oh God it's coming back!" Camilla cried, rubbing the sides of her forehead, desperately trying to process it all. Maybe it was just a phase? Maybe it would go away? Trauma did cause all kinds of weird things to happen to people, that was a common fact. She wrapped her mind around that thought like a nice big warm blanket, mentally curling up into a ball to seek warm comfort.

***

"HEY! Guess who's in the house?!" It had been three chaotic hours before Tina arrived. Three lawless hours of slaving in the kitchen, done by Camilla's mother. Tina's gregarious presence was felt as soon as that clock struck 1:03 and she stepped foot in that door. "Tina's in the house!" She hollered, her heels clacking along the wooden floors, leaving an even bigger noise trail along with her mouth.
Her green eyes lit up like emeralds in a cave once she laid eyes on her best friend. "Oh my God! Get over here!" Her kids trailed behind her, taking quick glances and peaks at everything in the house. From the floor to the ceiling, they looked.

Carolyn (Camilla's mother) stood there, stoic and silent. Looking at her friend was like a punch to the face. BAM! She was just there. She existed in a way that not many people do. Feeling her presence after such a long time was a tad bit overwhelming for her.
"Wow! You look even better than the last time I saw you." Carolyn's words were slow, and almost cryptic.
"We have so much to catch up on! Come on!" Carolyn click-clacked her feet towards the bar stools. "I can't wait to have your famous mac n' cheese. I told the kids I was going to steal your recipe tonight, I hope you don't mind!" She cackled.
It was true though, Carolyn did make the best mac n'cheese known to man, she took pride in it. All her ingredients were authentic, nothing came from a box, not even the noodles.

It was like a movie, everything seemed effortless and easy, but there was really a whole lot going on behind the scenes. Tina had no idea how Carolyn was feeling, even though she was sitting right beside her, taking delight in her own famous recipe.
Her hands were jittering, a coat of sweat seeped through the skin on her palms. But Carolyn, kept smiling, going on and on about how lovely the neighborhood was. "Oh gosh it's great! I feel like this is the perfect place for me and Cam to start over."

"Speaking of Cam, how's my little Cam-Cam doing?" Tina loved calling Camilla Cam-Cam, for no specific reason really. She just liked the way that it sounded.
Carolyn gulped suddenly, forgetting that she had cheese mush in her mouth. She almost choked. "You know how teenagers are." Her whole demeanor changed, she became a character, wearing a costume. " 'Mom, I get it! I know what I'm doing! You're so annoying mom!" She jeered around like a whiny little brat, and honestly she wasn't that bad at it.

The laughter that floated out of Tina's mouth was harsh. Along with her booming voice, she had an obnoxiously weird laugh. It was hard to describe, it sounded like a cross between a pig and a sheep. "Where is she, I haven't seen her all day."
Carolyn was disappointed in her daughter for not coming down to socialize with them, and quite frankly, she found it rude. "In her little woman cave, being unsociable." She muttered.
"Oh, no! Not my Cam-Cam! She's too sweet!" Tina gasped, shooting this overly-dramatized glare at her.
"You'd be surprised." A heavy sigh pushed through Carolyn's lungs, and straight out her mouth.
Tina consoled her, telling her, "It gets better, trust me. It's a phase they all go through. Never take it personal."

Not even allowing her friend a chance to speak, Tina kept on cackling. "Speaking of phases!" She lurked her eyes over at her son Kevin who was sitting at the table chatting it up with his sisters while he shoveled spoonfuls of food onto his plate. "Kevin is finally over his bad girl phase." Her whole face twisted when she mentioned his ex-girlfriend. "Ugh, that Anna girl was such a bad influence on him, I'm so glad he got himself together."
She did it again, not even granting Caorlyn a chance to speak. Not even an 'ok,' or a 'wow.' She changed the subject abruptly. "Talk about getting together! Now is the perfect time to get him and Camilla together!" Her eyes were like a pair you'd find on baby dolls, so innocent and full of wonder. "Oh, they'd be perfect together, considering their circumstances right now, maybe they could bond together, who knows?"
Finally Tina shut up which allowed Carolyn a few second to get some words in. "You know I try, but she never expresses an interest. I just don't understand her, Kevin is such a lovely guy."
Tina threw her hands up in the air. "Oh honey, we've got it this time. Trust me, alright?"

Tina and Carolyn were like assassins, partners in crime. Their victims were all sitting at the table, eating blindly, and talking about all the things they thought that mattered.
"She fell! Tripped and threw her ankle out of place, trying to walk in those heels!" Kailyn snickered, delighting in the unfortunate event she had seen take place earlier during the week at homecoming.
Gheez. Kevin must've felt pretty out of the loop sometimes, listening to his sisters talk about girl stuff. He would have to sit there and hear them talk for a few more hours though. Poor fella.