The Art of the Game (Laurinah)

Chapter Two

Lauren really wished she could focus on the particularly fascinating Shakespeare lecture droning away in the background but her brain was a little preoccupied being fixated of the back of Camila Cabello's neck. The petite brunette had just swept her flowing curls to one side of her face and stretched a bit, obviously tired of sitting in the same position during the ever so stimulating discourse about Macbeth, and Lauren had immediately become captivated by soft wispy hairs and smooth creamy skin. Since Camila sat in the row in front of her and just to the left, slightly blocking her direct line of sight to the teacher, Lauren knew she could easily stare in wonder to her heart's content and daydream about leaving lazy kisses along that inviting neck without anyone noticing her enthrallment. She took her time examining every angle and curve of Camila's face when the girl turned and looked down at her phone, revealing her side profile. Lauren knew the shapes well. She had spent most of every English lit class committing each detail to her memory. Everything about Camila Cabello was perfect and entirely enchanting.

When the bell rang breaking Lauren of her trance, she collected her things and watched from the corner of her eye as Camila chatted with a couple of her friends from the cheer squad. Her heart stuttered when a wide smile broke out across Camila's face and she glanced in Lauren's general direction, beginning to laugh at something her friend had said. Lauren held her breath, but the moment passed and she let her anxiety go with a deep sigh.

Fuck.

What was it about Camila that just utterly wrecked her every time she saw the girl? Was it her magnetic attractiveness? Or maybe it was the fact that Camila Cabello was virtually untouchable, living a seemingly carefree life with a practiced ease and confidence that anyone would covet. Ruling the masses from her cheer captain status at the top of the social pyramid, Camila was the hot commodity in this school. You either wanted to be her, or wanted to be with her.

Lauren definitely spent considerable time fantasizing about the latter. She would imagine quixotic scenarios where she unexpectedly captured Camila's attention through some outlandish romantic gesture and swept the cheerleader off her feet. Those musings were all fun and games but whenever she actually teased the idea of seriously introducing herself it was another matter completely.

Lauren's heart would race and her palms would get sweaty if she even thought Camila Cabello was looking in her general vicinity. God forbid the thought about even having a two sentence conversation with the beauty. She never stood a chance. Courage always seemed to elude her when it came to Camila.

Lauren wandered out of the room, regrettably leaving behind the dazzling presence of the beauty that continued to giggle with her friends. She dropped her books at her locker and grabbed her sketchbook, eager to be off to her last and most favorite class of the day. Art was always something that she looked forward to because it helped clear Lauren's mind. It renewed and refreshed her; gave her an outlet for her emotions. In every piece of work she did, that was her goal; to throw her emotions into her it. When you looked at her sketches she wanted you to feel something. Her efforts certainly showed.

Lauren was never the type to waste her time partying or trying to make a lot of friends. She was always more interested in investing her time developing her talent. She had the goal to get into a good art school and that meant prioritizing her studies so she could get good grades and spending lots of time sketching. Maybe that made her a bit of a nerd but it had never bothered her until she had realized just how invisible her priorities made her to someone like Camila. Not that Lauren was exactly a recluse, Dinah and her almost constantly hung out and a few people from the basketball team knew her now that Dinah had introduced them, but for once she found herself wishing she could stand out like Dinah did. Star of the team, the focus of everyone's praise and adoration. It was like she simultaneously felt sorry for, and envied her best friend. Being popular and the center of peoples' attention had to be stressful sometimes, but it undoubtedly came with its benefits. It's not like her artwork would ever put her on the map with the in crowd.