Infatuation (Camren)

seventeen

Camila and Lauren sat in stiff fear as they studied Mike Jauregui's facial expressions, waiting for an explosion at any moment. Camila was silently praying for a giant hole in the ground to suddenly open up and swallow her and Lauren, and take them anywhere, as long as it was away from their current grim circumstances.

Mike finally opened his mouth to speak, "Living room, everyone. Now." His words were firm, and he stood up from his chair, glaring down at Camila before exiting the dining room.

Clara stood up drearily, without a glance towards her daughter or anyone else.

Normani sat frozen and awkward, clearing her throat for a moment. "Uhm, I should really get going, I actually have to meet my own girlfriend for our date. Thank you for having me." She smiled fleetingly before throwing a sympathetic look to Lauren and Camila and quickly exiting the Jauregui residence.

Camila and Lauren remained numbly planted to their chairs. Lauren stared straight ahead without blinking, feeling incapable of movement as her mother walked out of the dining room.

"Living room, now!" Mike's booming roar quickly startled Lauren out of staring into space, as she jumped to attention.

She sprung up from her chair, looking like a frightened kitten, and quickly rushed out of the room, not even bothering to see if Camila was following behind her. Camila stood up and quickly followed, and even Chris and Taylor walked towards the living room, deciding that tonight, it was best just to do what was asked of them, and try to blend into the background as much as possible.

Mike was standing in the middle of the living room, while Clara sat, perched on the end of an antique armchair, her ankles neatly crossed, and her hands folded delicately at her knees. Mike's choice of placement was directly across from an empty Victorian style sofa, and Lauren immediately rushed to it. Camila sat down beside her, and Lauren crossed her legs absentmindedly, forgetting she was in her mother's presence.

"Uncross your legs Lauren. You'll have blue veins running up your thighs by the time you're twenty five." Clara instructed.

Lauren rolled her eyes, but did as she was told, silently musing to herself how like her mother it was to ignore the main problem at hand for a minute issue that nobody but herself was concerned about anyways. Camila tilted her head to the side, trying to discreetly get a look at Lauren's thighs, to see if there was any truth to what Clara said. As far as she could tell, there wasn't, as she didn't see any veins showing in Lauren's legs, but then again, she was only seventeen, eight years away from twenty five.

"Are you trying to see up my daughter's skirt?"

Camila jumped at Mike's words, and shook her head vehemently.

Lauren glared over at Camila and shot her a look that clearly read, 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

"No. I-I wasn't. I was trying to see the... veins." Camila looked down at the starch white carpet, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Mike let it slide, moving on to the more obtrusive issue, "So, you've gotten my daughter pregnant, have you?"

"Yes sir." Camila squeaked back. She glanced over at Lauren. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, looking up at her father with fearful and innocent eyes. She must have been correct about her outfit choice, because looking at her now, Camila did find it very hard to believe she was the same girl she'd had sex with a countless number of times over the previous month.

"Well then, what are your plans to support her, now that you've laid waste to her future, and left her without any options?" Mike glowered at Camila.