A Light in the Dark

Chapter 11

Lauren hadn't said a word since they had reached the café and placed their orders. She seemed lost in thoughts as she stared down at the, by now, cold coffee and hadn't acknowledged her presence once. But that didn't matter to her. She could wait until Lauren was ready to talk.

Camila looked around and took in all the different people who were in the small coffee shop. She really loved watching others and thinking about their life stories. Every person had a story, a past, something that wasn't visible. But it were the little actions that spoke more than words, and every action could be interpreted in a different way. It was a mystery, a riddle almost. And she loved riddles.

She glanced to the left corner, where an elderly couple was seated, still looking like some teenagers in love while they were holding hands on the table. Maybe they had been together since high school or had grown up together?

Or maybe she was just a hopeless romantic who hadn't even been on a first date yet. She sighed in defeat and looked in the other direction.

There was a little boy with his mother sitting in one of the booths. He tried to show his mom a picture he had drawn, smiling proudly and full of joy. But that smile slowly slipped away when his mother only gave him a fleeting glance, before looking back to the laptop screen in front of her. Camila frowned in sympathy and gave the little boy a sad smile when he met her eyes. She knew how he was feeling. All too well.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Startled, she faced Lauren again. "I'm sorry, but... tell you about what?"

Lauren sighed and finally met her eyes. "About Luis. Why didn't you tell me that you knew each other? Or that he was..." She trailed off and ran her fingers through her hair. "Just, why didn't you tell me, when I showed you that picture of him?"

"Um... I honestly didn't remember. He changed a lot since we went to school together," Camila explained, shrugging. Well, a lot on the outside. "I remembered after he, uh... told you about that... prank."

"I still can't believe that he used to do this kind of stuff and then has the nerve to say it were only pranks," Lauren grumbled, shaking her head. "Did you know that girl?"

Camila tried to stay calm. She had to play it cool. There was no way that Lauren could find out how much of a loser she had been in school. Lauren knew way too much already, she didn't need to know that she had been that pathetic, bullied girl too. She was only glad that Luis had picked that story and not... the other one. "Uh, yeah."

Lauren leaned back and sighed heavily. "God, I can't imagine how scary that must have been for her. How come that no one noticed that she didn't come home that day? Her parents must have been freaking out..."

No, they had been working like always and probably wouldn't have cared either way, she thought bitterly. Why was she visiting them again tomorrow? Oh, right. Because of Sofi.

"Hm, don't know, but I guess so."

"Can you... could you be honest with me?" Lauren asked quietly and for a moment Camila's heart stopped.

"Uh, yeah? Sure?" She nervously bit her lip. Lauren surely didn't figure it out already, right? There was no way that Lauren could have discovered the truth...

"Did... did Luis do that kind of stuff regularly? Like, bullying others?"

Camila almost sighed in relief. "Um... do you really want to know this? I mean... it's been a few years, Lauren. People can change."

She cringed inwardly. While that was true, she really didn't think that Luis belonged to that specific category.

"So, it's a yes," Lauren concluded, looking pained. "Great. Just great. Was there something worse than the closet thing?"