"Y/n?"
When I heard my name called out by a familiar and curious voice, I froze and stopped dead in my tracks. I recognized the voice as Sinu, Camila's mother. A woman I loved like she was my own mother, she was an amazing person to me even when I was a bad influence to Camila. She was still accepting, still so ready to embrace a change in me. She was strong, and I missed that.
I wish I saw her more, but along with Camila, I blacked out all the memory I had with her parents. Which was horrible, I wasn't there for them in a time of grieving.
I turned to the door and looked up at the older woman, she looked shocked to see me. "What are you doing here?" I could still hear the accent she had, even though she moved to America from Cuba when Camila was a child, her voice was still thick, but not enough that I couldn't understand her. "H-Hi," I said, not registering her question.
She had a trash bag in her hand, she was most likely about to throw it in the garbage can at the end of the driveway. She sat it down and whipped her hands on her pants, she walked over to me with her arms outstretched. So, I awkwardly put my arms out and hugged her softly, though, her embrace was tight and full of a genuine love I haven't felt in years.
"It's so good to see you, how have you been? Do you want to come inside and eat?" I shook my head. "I actually just need to speak to you." Her eyebrows creased. "Oh, okay. Well, Alejandro isn't here at the moment, if it's okay. He kinda threw himself into working after..." I bit my lip and nodded. "It's okay." I took a shaky breath and smiled softly at her.
She smiled back and walked over to the door, she opened it more so that I could walk in.
"I'll be back, make yourself at home, you know where everything is."
When I walked in I got hit with a warm breeze, my nose filled with a familiar and calming smell. Though something was different, and perhaps that was Camila.
I looked around, everything was the same, other than a small, old looking wooden table that seemed as though it was about to break. It was settled in the living room, there were scatters of papers and pencils everywhere. I looked away from it and sat down on their insanely comfy, light blue couch.
"Home." Camila said softly, looking around. "I miss it." I watched the girl who was stood by the coffee table, her bare feet seemed to slightly sink into the white carpet.
Her face was looking around, she seemed sad, so so sad.
I gave her a look of sympathy, "I'm sorry." I said softly, patting besides me to tell her to sit by. "It's okay, I don't want to live anymore. I've learned to be dead, I just want to be peaceful." She came over towards me and sat next to me. "I loved it here, I used to sit here and play the guitar for hours until I was told to shut up." She chuckled.
Before I could reply, the front door shut and I saw Sinu come over towards me, a light smile on her face.
She grabbed the wooden chair by the desk and slid it over in front of me. She sat down on it, which made a creak from the new weight on it, and clasped her hands together.
"So, what's up?" She asked. I didn't know if I should talk about this, I showed up out of no where and I was only here for a reason I'm sure she doesn't want to know about.
"I need to know about Camila." I said hesitantly, trying to be soft spoken, to not upset her.
Her face fell. "Oh." She said. "Why?" She asked, I leaned back, feeling a bit intimidated. "I just need to know whatever you know about her death." I spoke slowly, Sinu frowned. "So, now you want to know." Her words fell together in a hard to understand sentence, maybe I wasn't so used to her like I thought.
"I- yes. I do." I answered, when I finally processed her words. She shook her head. "You know I love you, I absolutely adore you, Y/n, I love you like you're my own child. But Camila is gone, and you know this." Sinu then put her face in her hands. "Why do you care? You didn't even go to her funeral."
I felt a jab to my heart, and a burning sensation in my throat and eyes. I was becoming overwhelmed with emotions as I processed this information. I missed my own best friends funeral...
"I-I didn't go?" It would explain it, I had no memory of going. I looked over at Camila, her being seemed to be flickering in out of worlds, her head was down as well and she looked distraught.
"You didn't, but it's okay, I forgive you. I'm just surprised you're here. We buried her in something you gave her, a necklace. A necklace with the letter K, K because you said you liked her first name a lot."
I did give that to her, her birthday one year. She felt embarrassed that she hid her name from me, so I bought her a necklace with a small letter K that she wore almost everyday. K for Karla. I barely recalled that until now.
"I'm sorry." I said softly. "I'm so sorry." I apologized again.
"But never mind that, if you insist on knowing." She dabbed her eyes, trying to regain her posture. "The police dismissed this information, they say that it's not enough evidence. But I heard a girl on the phone at the grocery store, she said she was upset at the fact her friend disappeared," I looked at her cluelessly, this didn't seem like enough proof.
She held her heart. "She said her friend left town after doing something 'bad' to a young girl," My eyes squinted. "Do you know who this woman was?" I asked. She shook her head.
"But I remember how short she was, she had blonde hair, and she sounded like she wasn't from here."