Through Her Eyes (Camren)

Chapter 3: Bugs That Bug

On the twelfth day, Camila rang her doorbell.

It was well past midnight; Lauren was sitting on the couch sipping soda and watching silly infomercials, not thinking of anything in particular. The scuffling noises in her front yard that came with Camila’s presence had stopped at least an hour ago.

When she heard the doorbell ring, Lauren sputtered and promptly dropped her soda.

It wasn’t that it was a particularly loud or obnoxious sound or that Lauren was an unusually jumpy person. Hearing the familiar chiming of bells though, Lauren couldn’t honestly say she remembered the last time someone had rang her doorbell or who that person would have been.

“Crap…” Lauren muttered, kicking at the now empty soda can with a socked foot. The doorbell rang a second time. Then a third. Then a forth. “Hold on! Freaking hell…”

Lauren left the soda to soak into the carpet, walking quickly towards the door and her impatient visitor, who was now ringing the doorbell in quick succession, filling Lauren’s head with too loud bells.

She flung the door open, started to ask “Who the hell-” and then, of course. Of course, Camila.

Camila, in fingerless gloves that looked like they were made for children and a pink t-shirt so bright it hurt Lauren’s eyes to look at. Camila, with large, guileless eyes and a bright smile. Camila, who was still ringing her doorbell.

“Stop!” Lauren snapped, batting Camila’s hand away from the polished metal button that she was now simply holding down, producing a harsh screeching noise. “What’s the matter with you?” Lauren asked, annoyed.

Camila just shrugged. “People ask that a lot,” she informed Lauren helpfully. Lauren couldn’t say she was particularly surprised.

“Yeah, I bet they do. What the hell are you doing?”

Camila frowned, eyebrows squished together ridiculously. “I didn’t see you.”

“See me?” Lauren repeated, mind blank.

Camila nodded encouragingly. “See you, yes. I didn’t see you and you didn’t see me.” She waved her hands around uselessly, as if to better explain her point. Lauren wasn’t entirely sure Camila had a point.

“Right. I get it. There was no seeing going on.” Lauren nodded, as if that made any sense at all, and Camila nodded along with her, bobbing her head a bit too wildly, making her hair flutter. “But you see me now, right? With your eyes. And I see you. So-”

“But you didn’t,” Camila said, and Lauren was pretty sure she was whining, actually. “You didn’t come to see me.”

“Come to- Oh.” Oh.

Camila frowned accusingly.

“Well, I’m busy,” Lauren explained a little helplessly. She felt the ‘watching infomercials’ was probably better left unsaid. “And you’re a lot less trouble now that you pick up after yourself, anyway.”

“If I am more trouble, you will come to see me?”

“No!” Lauren denied immediately. It was the last thing she needed, and anyway, “What do you want me to watch you for? You can have what you want out of the trash, I don’t care.” Which wasn’t entirely true, but still.

“I want,” started Camila, but never quite finished the thought. She blinked blankly at Lauren, and then glanced over at the doorbell again, looking a bit too interested in its shiny surface for Lauren’s comfort.

“Were you dropped on the head as a child or something?” Lauren asked grumpily.

Camila frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t remember,” she said after a long moment. Lauren rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t, would you?”

“No?” Camila asked, and then reached haltingly for the silver surface of the doorbell again.

Lauren swatted her hand away. “No.”

Camila frowned, looking oddly crushed.

“Don’t-” Lauren sighed. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“No,” Camila said, reaching out again. She didn’t reach for the doorbell this time, though. Warm fingertips met Lauren’s cheek, the fraying fabric of Camila’s too small gloves soft against her skin. Lauren blinked down at the brightly colored fingernails, surprised. She couldn’t make herself step back, couldn’t make herself pull away. “No, you don’t see. Your eyes are green stars but you don’t see at all.” Camila said, eyes soft in the light. Lauren would have blushed but she was mainly confused at Camila’s next words.“I’ll show you, though.”

“Show me?” Lauren asked, but Camila was pulling her hand away, stepping back. Lauren had to fight herself not to follow the touch. “Show me what?”

“You’ll see,” Camila promised.

Lauren would have asked what she was supposed to see, exactly, but Camila was already slipping away into the night with silent footsteps.

After that, Lauren always sat in her family room (no family who cared to sit in it, but a family room) and waited for Camila to come. Some nights she just watched through the large window, other nights she went outside and let Camila chatter away at her. Mostly she didn’t quite understand what Camila was trying to say, or if she was really trying to say anything at all, but Camila didn’t seem to mind.

As vermin went, Lauren supposed she could do worse.