A Light in the Dark

Chapter 32

A look at the photos revealed that Lauren had been one of the popular girls, she just had to be. In every single one she was surrounded by a large group of beautiful girls, a few of them in cheerleader uniforms, or guys in football jerseys. Camila knew that Lauren had gone to an all-girls school and since she recognized Luis in some of them, she guessed that a few had been taken at his high school.

She glanced from one picture to the next and wondered just how many friends Lauren had and why she had never talked about any of them. The only ones, that she had ever mentioned, had been Normani, Dinah and Ally. But perhaps they had lost contact after high school... wasn't that what some people said?

Camila walked further into Lauren's study and stopped in front of a case with shiny medals and trophies. Curious, she looked at a large photo behind the glass. Since she once heard Lauren talking about the sport, she knew that this had to be one of her old softball teams. And due to the medals and trophies, she could only guess that they had been quite successful too.

"Yeah, that looks kinda pretentious, doesn't it?" Lauren's voice came from behind her and Camila snapped her head around.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized and took a few steps back. "I didn't mean to snoop, but the door was open and I was curious when I saw all the pictures and –"

"Camz, it's okay," Lauren chuckled and walked up to her, looking wistfully at the trophy case. "Sometimes I forget that it's there..."

Camila scoffed. "You forget? How could you forget something like this?! This medal here says that you won the State Championship, Lauren! Like, what the heck! You guys rocked!"

"Thanks." Lauren smiled bashfully and rubbed her neck.

"Why did you never talk about it? I think you only mentioned it once that you played softball in high school and that was when you..." Camila trailed off as she remembered Lauren's fight with Luis in the forest. She had accused him of lying about something that made her quit softball and ultimately lose her scholarship...

"When we were in Miami?" Lauren asked, grimacing slightly. "Yeah, I just... don't like to think about it. I only put the case up because my dad and the girls persuaded me to do so..."

"I'm glad they did," she told Lauren and mentioned smiling to the other side of her wall. "It sure seems as if you never did anything but softball."

Lauren laughed softly and glanced to the other photos. "Yeah, I always went to softball camp during the summer since I was old enough to go. I was really obsessed with it."

They went silent while Lauren looked with a melancholic expression at some of the pictures before she shuddered and quickly walked back to the door. "You want some hot chocolate before we talk?"

Camila shot a curious look to the pictures and nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"No problem." Lauren smiled, though she seemed a little sadder than before. "You can stay and look a little more if you want to. I'll call you when it's ready."

It cost everything in her not to walk over to the other side of the room and find out what made Lauren upset, but after a short moment, she shook her head.

"It's fine, I missed your comfy couch anyway," Camila said and winked.

Lauren chuckled. "I always knew that you liked it better than me... I'm hurt, Camz. You really hurt my feelings."

"You can earn my love when you make me some hot cocoa," she smirked and followed a now giggling Lauren out of the room.

"Duly noted and stored away for future reference," Lauren told her before disappearing into the kitchen.