Walk A Mile (Camren)

XXI

"Oh..." Camila tried to act like she was unaffected and unbothered by the revelation, but she'd never been much of an actress. Unfortunately, she wore her heart out on her sleeve. All of her emotions were extremely palpable to others. Lauren noticed the shift instantly.

"Nothing ever happened though. We had a thing for a little while, two months at the most, and that was it," Lauren gave a rough estimate, sensing how Camila wasn't too keen on hearing that.

"Cool..." Camila forced a reply and a small smile, but directed her attention elsewhere right after. Oddly enough, she felt immensely territorial. Though she was aware that it was her past, it still didn't sit well with her. Part of her was hoping Lauren wouldn't take notice. She was being irrational.

"Yeah..." Lauren mumbled, wondering if it was fair game to continue. "We never amounted to much. She decided that she didn't actually want anything more with me than what we'd already done."

What they'd already done? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Camila nodded and chewed on her bottom lip to refrain from speaking out of term. Well, an unspoken question had been answered. She was definitely the jealous type. This was ridiculous. Lauren was more than entitled to explore relationships with other people before she herself became a factor. It didn't mean she liked it, though.

"Wait," Camila's eyes flashed towards Lauren's for a guarded moment. "I thought you said I was your first kiss..." she desperately tried to mask the unwarranted jealousy, but didn't quite succeed. If Lauren couldn't tell from her curt phrasing, her body language spoke volumes. The previously relaxed and comfortable demeanor had shifted to rigid and defensive, with her pursed lips and brisk stance. Camila was clearly brooding about the specifics of their past relationship, but Lauren had to calm her down before she got too riled up.

"You were. We never kissed. It never got that far," Lauren appeased her quickly and rested a reassuring hand on her knee.

"How does something go on for two months without any kissing or anything..." Camila mumbled under her breath incredulously and rolled her eyes, now being childish about it. Though Lauren had just cleared it up for her, she was choosing to challenge it.

"It was a super casual thing. She didn't know if she was even into girls, but then she said that she did like me. And we only really saw each other at school. It was before I had my car, and I didn't want my mom to be third-wheeling if I tried to take her anywhere, so we just met between classes and at lunch. That's not really enough time to do anything, or to get too far... For the first time, you know," Lauren tried her hand at explaining, avoiding Camila's gaze. "We just hugged and held hands a lot..."

"Oh," Camila muttered, feeling stupid for her flawed rationale.

"She decided she didn't want to be serious. It was almost like it was unrequited. I gave her 110% of me and received like, 30% - if that..." Lauren remembered regretfully and wished they could talk about something else.

"You deserve a million percent, Laur," Camila shared and finally abandoned her pettiness.

"Thanks," she smiled halfheartedly, feeling her cheeks heat up in that familiar way.

"Why wouldn't she reciprocate? Is she dumb?" Camila scoffed at the nerve of this girl, willingly giving up someone like Lauren.

"I don't think it's her fault," Lauren uttered a quiet defense for Keana. "When I like someone, I can't help how much I compliment them or do things for them. I have zero control over my affection or how highly I put them on a pedestal. I'm assuming it makes them feel like a million bucks, and they think they reciprocate everything I'm giving them - but they don't. They 'like' me without knowing me. Instead of liking me as a person, they like what I can say and do for them. That's how it was with her. And I was glad she told me before I got too involved."