Happier

3

So why is Lauren the exception? She and Camila were good friends, sure, but nothing more than school friends (to Lauren, at least. Camila was kind of madly in love with her but she was pretty dang sure Lauren didn't return the sentiment). They just didn't really hang out outside of school. Lauren had a lot of people she was closer to; Camila doesn't understand why Lauren's so hung up on the whole them-knowing-each-other-in-high-school thing. 

"Anyway." She tries to return to the subject of the book. "Romance. What are some plots?"

"No clichés," Lauren says immediately. She's still kind of folded in on herself, like she's trying to shrink, but this appears to be something she knows for sure.

"No clichés," Camila repeats. "Gotcha. How about, like... do you want to do something involving amnesia?"

Lauren frowns. "I'm not sure what you mean."

Camila's pen is working faster than her brain, but she attempts to relay to Lauren what she means. "Basically, the main character wakes up in a hospital, and she thinks she remembers everything about her life so the doctors say she's good, but there's this guy that she doesn't know who reaches out to hug her, and she's like, "what the fuck, who are you?", and then her parents say-"

"Why does it have to be a girl and a guy?"

Camila freezes.

"You're not homophobic, are you?" Lauren's eyes have a fresh worry in them, and Camila doesn't like seeing her so anxious. "Uh, no, I'm gay, actually."

"Oh!" She's not sure if she's imagining it, but Lauren seems to perk up. "Yeah, I'm bisexual, so I just... it's nice that's something we can relate on." 

"You only dated girls in high school," Camila points out. Lauren nods. "Yeah, I like girls more than guys, I think, but I still am, like, attracted to- hold on. You keep dropping all these hints about how I was in high school, but I literally don't remember you at all. No offense. I just don't remember a Camila Cabello in any of my classes, and I think I'd remember that, especially when you, you know, became famous and all."

Camila shrugs, trying to play it off. "It's probably better that you don't remember me."

"See!" Lauren sits up straight and points an accusing finger at her. "Things like that! What does that mean?"

"It's just that I was very different in high school to how I am now. It's embarrassing, really. But let me assure you that there is no part of me that is the same as how I was in high school."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Lauren protests. "Your face can't be that different."

"I was a late bloomer," Camila deadpans. "You'd be surprised what a few changes in diet and exercise can do for you."

Lauren squints at her. "Okay, now I'm definitely going to look in my yearbook when I get back to the apartment."

"Good luck with that. Can we get back to the story now?"

Lauren slumps back in her chair, defeated, and Camila realizes Lauren's not the only one who's confused. It's the strangest thing- it's like Lauren seems to slip in and out of this hyper-confident, confrontational personality; the version of Lauren that just interrogated her about her high school self. It's the same Lauren that Camila fell in love with in high school. But then there's the shy, nervous, endlessly anxious Lauren that showed up around Tori- and Camila too, sometimes.

What happened to you? she wants to ask. Because you were nothing like that in high school.

"So, story," she continues, "we can do two girls; so basically Amnesia says "what the fuck, who are you?" and her parents, confused, are all like, "uh, this is your fiancee?" and that's when the doctors realize that Amnesia remembers everyone except for Fiancee. The whole book goes on with Amnesia trying to remember Fiancee and Fiancee trying to make Amnesia remember her again." She clasps her hands underneath her chin and looks at Lauren expectantly. "Whaddaya think, Jauregui?"