that's why our ribs are cages ➸ camren

chapter 8 ➸ research

“Camila?” Lauren called, checking her bedroom and finding it empty. She turned the corner into the kitchen just in time to nearly run into someone, who clearly wasn’t Camila.

“Wha—?” Lauren mumbled, taking a few steps backwards. She studied the stranger, who was also studying her. “I—uh, where’s Camila?”

“Lauren?”

Lauren turned around as Camila emerged from the kitchen. She was surprised when she saw the smaller girl in a long sleeved red dress and high heeled black boots. She looked stunning. Lauren quickly dismissed her thoughts and took a deep breath. “What’s going on?”

Camila quickly took a step closer to the stranger. Lauren noticed how she kept tugging on the bottom of her dress, trying to cover up her thighs. “This is Austin,” Camila said softly, motioning to the taller boy next to her. Even in heels, Camila was still smaller than him. “My boyfriend. Fake boyfriend.” She stressed the fact that he was fake, even if she wasn’t exactly supposed to tell anyone.

Austin sent her a questioning glance. “You didn’t tell me mystery girl was coming over?” he asked awkwardly. Lauren raised an eyebrow.

“Lauren,” Camila corrected him. She turned to him, sending him a pleading glare. “Her name’s Lauren. And she’s staying here until the blizzard’s over.” Camila shifted awkwardly in her heels. She hadn’t wanted them to run into each other. In some way, she felt oddly protective of Lauren, as if exposing her to the outside world would hurt her, even though she knew Lauren was probably more street smart than she was.

“And she knows about us being a stunt?” Austin asked. Camila turned to him, biting her lip and sending him a look that begged him to stay quiet.

“Well yeah, she’s my friend,” Camila shrugged nervously. She avoided eye contact with Lauren, who was staring at them both with a confused expression on her face. “I, uh, we were just going out,” Camila added, shuffling her feet against the floor aimlessly. “You’re fine here alone, right?”

Lauren didn’t respond.

“Lauren?” Camila bit her lip.

“Oh—uh, yeah. Yeah, we’re fine,” Lauren quickly snapped out of her train of thought. Why was she feeling this… weird? She didn’t know how to explain it. She didn’t like the thought of Camila with Austin, even though she kept telling herself it was fake. Camila tugged at the end of her dress again and Lauren raised an eyebrow at her. The smaller girl quickly clasped her hands back together and forced a smile.

“How’s your ankle?” Lauren asked, trying to ease some of the awkwardness.

“It’s fine,” Camila shrugged. It was a lie, though. Her ankle was still sore, but when she’d woken up it was easier to walk on it and there was no bruising. She walked with a slight limp, but she figured it was nothing to worry about.

“Oh, okay,” Lauren bit her lip and glanced over at Austin, wondering what his ‘mystery girl’ comment had been about.

“We should get going,” Camila blurted out, grabbing Austin’s hand. “I’ll see you later,” she tugged the older boy to the door urgently. The awkwardness in the room was killing her. She didn’t like it at all.

“Oh, uh, okay?” Austin laughed at Camila’s sudden assertiveness. “Bye mystery girl!” he turned around and waved at Lauren. The older girl raised her hand awkwardly, watching as Camila hit Austin’s shoulder and shoved him into the hallway before he could make things even more awkward. The door shut forcefully and Lauren let out a heavy sigh.

She wished it was easier for her to talk to Camila. She really liked her, she had a good spirit about her. But both of them came from different worlds. Lauren had a hard time breaking that barrier between them.