A Light in the Dark

Chapter 41

Everything felt so... light. In every possible way. The sun seemed brighter, the sky bluer, the people on the streets – well, no, nothing really changed the impassive strangers, but they weren't important anyway. Nonetheless, she gave each and every one of them a radiant smile. Not that she could have done anything different since she couldn't wipe it off her face.

Camila glanced to the green-eyed girl walking beside her and down to their intertwined hands. Everything just felt so much more... real. Every touch and every look held so much more meaning now that they had laid their cards on the table. She couldn't help but swing their hands back and forth as she merrily skipped along the sidewalk, earning some irritated looks from strangers. But she didn't care.

Sure, they still weren't really anything other than friends, but she knew how to win Lauren's heart. Especially since she had the help from the one and only Dinah Jane Hansen.

Camila's smile widened – if that was even possible – as she remembered Dinah's reaction to the news that she had told Lauren how she felt and that there was now a real chance between them. Alright, there had also been the underlying disappointment in Dinah's voice when she heard that they hadn't kissed yet, but Camila was quick to shut it down. It would come. She knew it. And just the feeling, that she knew  it would come, made her giddy. She was going to share her first kiss with Lauren, sooner or later – even though she secretly hoped it would be sooner rather than later. But to have Lauren as her first kiss? How lucky was she?! Although it made her really nervous to think about it... well, she would properly freak out when the time came.

"Camz, where are we even going?"

She grinned widely and looked into the sparkling green eyes. Green was definitely her favorite color. "It's a surprise!"

"Just like your song?" Lauren asked amused and lifted her eyebrows.

Camila nodded resolutely. Strangely enough, after their conversation she wasn't able to stop writing. It was as if someone had lifted the curtain and she could finally see the light. Everything suddenly worked and made sense. Sure, it probably wasn't as uplifting as her professor had hoped for, but it was real and every word came straight from her heart. But she would be damned, if Lauren heard the song before it was absolutely perfect. "Exactly. Well, maybe not that secretive..."

"Is that why we're nearing our neighborhood?" Lauren chuckled and pointed ahead of them.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't a secret at all, but whatever.

"Could be," she tried to be mysterious, but Lauren nudged her playfully. "Okay, yes, we're going home, but I won't say anything else!"

"You're such a dork," Lauren told her with a warm smile, that made her heart flutter, and she couldn't help but glance to her lips for a moment.

Camila bit her cheek as she quickly looked away. Soon. She only had to convince the green-eyed girl that she was worth the risk.

"Yeah, but I'm your dork," she replied cheesily and smirked proudly when Lauren giggled. "And you're mine."

"I can live with that," Lauren said with a large smile of her own and squeezed her hand. "Is whatever you have planned the reason why you pulled me into the wrong subway and tried to convince me that it was the right one which led to the heated discussion with that older man?"

Her cheeks got warmer and she quickly turned her head to look straight ahead. The lengths she had gone to make sure that they wouldn't be home too early...

"Could be," she mumbled and shrugged. Alright, so maybe she hadn't been subtle at all... but Lauren still didn't know what would hit her as soon as they got home and that had to count as a success, right?