The Girl Next Door ➸ camren

twenty two

Lauren stands in front of the majority of the town plus some Vives' and Santos' from out of town on the side of a gazebo, watching as Lucy gets walked down the aisle by her father. She passes the rows of chairs filled with friends and relatives set up in the grass of a local flower garden, not even looking at any of them. Her eyes are focused on Luis at the end of the carpet placed on top of the grass and lined with flower petals. Her dress is long and lacy and beautiful. ⠀⠀

Lucy reaches the gazebo, and her dad lets her go, Luis taking her hands.

⠀⠀⠀As the priest goes through the ceremony, Lauren tries to focus on her best friend. She tries to smile and laugh at the appropriate moments, but she finds herself focused instead on the girl on the groom's side. She can't take her eyes off the girl, Camila, looking great in a white two piece dress and a bandanna the same shade of yellow as Lauren's bridesmaid dress around her neck.

She's looking at her too. Every time one looks over at the other, the other looks away to make it seem as if they aren't staring.

Lauren snaps out of her gaze when she realizes the vows are over. She completely missed them. Lucy bounces up and down just slightly enough for it to be noticeable, anticipating the next part.

⠀⠀⠀"You may now kiss the bride," the priest says. The sentence doesn't even seem to be over when Luis pulls his new wife towards him and kisses her.

⠀⠀⠀After the wedding party, the bride and groom take photos for what seems like forever throughout the garden, they join the rest of the guests in an indoor reception area inside the house.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen take their seats at a table off to the side of the dance floor at the front of the room. There are only two seats between Camila and Lauren, one for Lucy and the other for Luis. ⠀⠀⠀

The newly weds make their grand entrance into the reception, and the song they chose for their first dance, Lego House by Ed Sheeran, blares through the speakers. Luis places his hands on Lucy's waist as hers wrap around the back of his neck.

⠀⠀⠀After the majority of the song is over, the DJ announces, "We welcome everyone to join the happy couple on the dance floor."

⠀⠀⠀Guests from all the tables flock to the dance floor, but Lauren stays seated, not in the mood for dancing.

⠀⠀⠀"Wanna dance?" someone asks from behind her. She knows the voice like it's her own, so she's not surprised to turn around and see Camila standing there looking sheepish, her hands behind her back.

Lauren nods and stands up, following her to the dance floor where they take classic slow dance position.

⠀⠀⠀"You having fun so far?" she asks awkwardly.

⠀⠀⠀She shrugs. "Not really."

⠀⠀⠀"Why not?" she continues, asking the question Lauren was praying she wouldn't.

⠀⠀⠀"Because my girlfriend just broke up with me two weeks ago, so I'm an emotional mess, and all I can think about is us getting married someday, but that's not going to happen now," she explains, saying much more than she wishes she had in a much angrier tone than she'd anticipated.

⠀⠀⠀"You think I'm not upset too?" she asks. "Dammit, Lauren, I think I fell in love with you the first time we met because I thought you were absolutely hilarious for wearing those expensive shoes on a farm. That's why I was always so nice to you when you were awful to me. I wanna marry you someday more than I want anything."

"You won't be a burden to me in college," she whispers. "I know you think that you will be, but you won't."

⠀⠀⠀"You know that I will be, even if you don't want to admit it," she replies.

⠀⠀⠀"So what's your grand plan?" Lauren asks. "You're going to stay here for four years and hope that I come back once I graduate? What if I don't?"

⠀⠀⠀"If you do come back, I'll probably propose to you with the ring I have already in my dresser," she says. "If you don't, I'll probably get really drunk every day for a while, and then I'll have to move on."

⠀⠀⠀Luckily for the both of them, the song ends, and it is announced that the best woman will give her speech before the real dancing begins. Lauren stumbles back to her seat, shocked and even more confused than before by Camila's revelation, while a microphone is handed to Camila.

⠀⠀⠀"In first grade, Luis asked me to find out who Lucy had a crush on. When I asked him why, he told me it was because he liked her and wanted to know if she liked him back. I laughed in his face. He was this goofy little kid, and she was the prettiest girl in the grade. I'm pretty sure I told him to lower his standards because it was never going to happen. I was a little off with that one. You two are absolutely perfect for each other, and I'm lucky to have been able to be around such a great love for my whole life. Hopefully we all find someone who will love us like you to love each other." She raises her glass, and the rest of the room follows suit, toasting to the couple and drinking whatever is in their cup.

⠀⠀⠀She looks over at Lauren and is overcome by regret. She is her Lucy, and she knows it. She knows that she's hurting her by doing this, and she knows that telling her about the ring only made everything worse for her. She's just trying to do what's best for her because she knows what'll happen if they try. She'll resent her for holding her back. She doesn't think so, but she knows it.

⠀⠀⠀She just has to hope that she comes back or else she doesn't know what she'll do.