Free Minds

Chapter 42.

   I stayed frozen at the same spot even after my reply. A large part of me was still trying to get over the shock that arose upon Camila asking me to join her on the bed.

   Eventually, I shook it off, fetching my comforter from the couch and heading over to her. Although the bed felt comfortable beneath me as I sunk into the empty space she'd made available, I was still doubtful that I was going to sleep soundly. This was all just— and yes, I know I've said it so many times already—weird.

"Beth?" Camila called out, a few minutes after she turned off the lights and we both lay down with our backs facing each other.

"Yeah?"

"Back in the motel at Ridgeton, I actually started doing this thing at night." Her words were accompanied by shuffling movements I could feel coming from her side.

"Okay," I shifted my head to see her seated upright on her side of the bed.

   What would someone who's all alone in a room at night be doing? My heart beats picked up the pace when only one thing came to mind. No...

   Please don't be what I think it is.

"I used to play some music. It drowned out excess thoughts and made sleeping easier."

   Huh. Just music.

   My dirty mind was going to put me in serious trouble one day.

"You can still do it here if you want to," I said, reverting to my initial position. "It's fine by me."

   It didn't take a while for the silence in the room to be broken by some instrumental sounds that reverberated from what I presumed was her phone. What I was hearing was actually not bad. Who knows it could even put me to—

   Wait.

   Where did those voices suddenly come from? And at the risk of not sounding racist, was that not English? And in the language I thought it was?

   I shot up from the bed.

"What are you listening to?" I asked.

"K-pop," was Camila's confirming reply. "Well, Vintage K-pop. I honestly wasn't really a fan, but Viola was crazy over this old group called BTS, apparently they were one of the most influential K-pop artists back in their day, with their music having worldwide hits and fans that still can't be compared to the number that current K-pop artists and groups have now. It was just CRAZY... sorry." She stopped herself with an uneasy chuckle. "I may have done some pretty intense research and watched countless compilation videos of the various members."

   I just kept staring at her with wide eyes.

"What do you think though?" She inquired.

   The song was actually pretty good. Still though, I was afraid of saying the wrong thing. Not being an avid fan of any particular musical genre, it was always a risk I took discussing musicians with their fans.

   You could never predict whether what you said was in favour of or offensive to them or their idols. Besides, you had to be living under a rock if you didn't know how fiercely loyal K-pop Stans were. And as admirable as that was...

   Emphasis on fiercely.

   I wasn't about to get cancelled, now.

"It's catchy." I responded with my safest bet.

"Right?" she grinned. "Fake Love topped many chats."

"Well then," I made myself comfortable in the covers again before I dug a self-destructive hole by speaking further. "I'll leave you to it. Goodnight, Camila."