green ➸ camren

twenty four

"He was pretty shaken up," the woman admitted, running a hand through her short hair. "But Camila took good care of him, I suppose. By the time the police came over to question us he was more than willing to give them answers."

"The police talked to him too?" Lauren asked, glancing back to the hallway where the boy had disappeared and biting her lip.

"Yeah. Just now, actually. Once they left he insisted on coming over her to tell Camila something," the woman laughed somewhat nervously, making Lauren even more confused.

Meanwhile, Camila was sitting nervously on the edge of the bed with Wolf at her side. She perked up slightly when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway, but when the door was flung open, she jumped.

It wasn't Lauren. Looking down, Camila became even more confused when she saw the small boy standing in the doorway. Jeremiah. Something in her was comforted by the fact that he was okay after what had happened.

But then, she was reminded of what had happened.

"Miss Camila! You're the good guy!" Jeremiah interrupted her thoughts, scrambling over to the bed and making even Wolf tense slightly. Confused, the smaller girl looked down at the boy standing in front of her.

"You're not the bad guy!" Jeremiah continued, trying to get his point across. Camila tilted her head to the side slightly.

"You're a good guy, Miss Camila! You saved me!" Jeremiah grabbed her hand. "You saved us from the bad guy!"

"What?" Camila asked quietly. Nervousness flickered in her eyes. Jeremiah's enthusiasm had taken her by surprise.

"You kept the bad guy away," Jeremiah nodded quickly. "And you even tried to help the bad guy!"

"Oh," Camila whispered, memories flickering before her eyes. She bit down on her lip to try and keep herself calm.

"You're like a superhero," Jeremiah's eyes widened at his new analogy. He crawled up on the bed, taking Camila by surprise. "Did you know that, Miss Camila? You're a superhero. A real life superhero."

"I am?" Camila raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Jeremiah nodded proudly. "I think you're even cooler than Spiderman!"

Meanwhile, Lauren stood in the foyer with Jeremiah's mother, discussing what they'd heard about the shooting. Both girls were just as equally clueless when it came to what exactly went on in the building.

Lauren paused mid-sentence when she heard noises coming from down the hallway. She exchanged glances with Jeremiah's mother before taking a few steps towards the source of the noise, holding her breath.

Camila was laughing.

Lauren bit her lip to hide her smile. She'd missed that sound. The green eyed girl jumped when the bedroom door flung open once more, and she quickly moved away to pretend like she hadn't been listening.

"I told her, mommy!" Jeremiah ran back out into the living room with a proud smile on his face. "I told her she wasn't the bad guy!"

"What?" Lauren spoke up, causing the small boy to turn around and look her up and down.

"Are you the princess?" he asked, tilting his head to the side innocently. Lauren raised an eyebrow.

"Am I what?" she asked, looking over at his mother, who was just as confused as she was. Jeremiah giggled and shook his head.

"The princess, silly! Camila's princess!" Jeremiah rolled his eyes, as if this was supposed to be common knowledge. "She has flowers right here," he pointed to his shoulder, nodding excitedly.