A Little Love

Chapter 8

"What's going on?" Lauren asked, walking out of her classroom.

There were kids crowding around and loud sobs coming from the centre of the crowd. It was chaos, to say the least, but Lauren knew exactly who those sobs belonged to. She pushed past the kids, getting to the centre where she found Camila lying on the floor throwing a tantrum.

"Right, I need this corridor cleared," Lauren said loudly, crouching down next to Camila. "Rose, can you please go to classroom 10M and get Mrs. Williams or Miss Epseley for me?" she asked one of her students who she had spotted.

"Okay, Miss," Rose nodded before following the other kids who were slowly but surely leaving the sixth form corridor.

"Hey, Mila, it's Lauren," Lauren said, rubbing Camila's back. "Can I pick you up, doll?" she asked, trying to position her hands under Camila's armpits so she could do so.

Camila didn't reply, simply kicking her legs and crying.

"Okay, okay," Lauren said, standing up. She realised there was nothing she could do until Camila's teacher came and told her the whole story. 

Thankfully, Miss Epseley arrived only a few minutes later.

"Hi," Lauren said warmly, despite the awkward situation. "I heard the commotion and found her like this," she explained quietly.

"It's been a tough morning, the lady who dropped her to school said she didn't sleep much last night and she's been completely non-verbal," Miss Epseley explained.

"I don't have a class to teach, I don't mind staying with her," Lauren said, "But I don't want to further upset her."

"I don't think she's in any state to come back to class," Miss Epseley said.

"I can't take her home," Lauren said, stepping away from Camila so she couldn't hear them. "She's really upset that I'm not babysitting her anymore, and I don't want her to get the wrong idea if I go home with her."

"I'm going to call the new sitter then and see if she can come early, can you stay here?" Miss Epseley asked.

"It's my friend, Ally. I'll send her a message but I know she's at work right now," Lauren sighed. "I'll stay with her until then."

"Okay, here's her backpack, just let me know if you need anything," Miss Epseley said with a small smile before leaving.

Lauren opened Camila's backpack, pulling out Milo and her pacifier.

"Hey, bubs," Lauren said softly. "I know you're having a really hard time right now."

Camila simply cried and continued throwing a tantrum. It was fifteen minutes later when Camila started to tire.

"Someone seems a bit sleepy," Lauren said gently, lifting Camila into her arms. "I think you need a nap," she hummed, standing up with Camila in her arms. She made her way back to her classroom, turning off the main lights before sitting down in her chair and opening her laptop. "Are you sure you don't want to go to your classroom? It's more comfy over there, isn't it?" 

Camila shook her head.

"Okay," Lauren said gently, repositioning Camila in her arms before handing her Milo. She pushed the pacifier into Camila's mouth, breathing out a sigh of relief when Camila's sobs finally vanished and were replaced by rhythmic suckles. "Shh, good girl," Lauren praised as Camila settled down, pulling her knees up to her chest and nuzzling into Lauren's chest. She sung soft lullabies until she was sure Camila was fast asleep in her arms, rocking her gently.

Two and a half hours later, there was a knock at the the door and Lauren looked up to see Ally.

"Hi," Ally whispered, gently closing the door behind her. "What happened?"