Should Have Known (Camren)

Chapter 10

"Can we step outside?" I asked.

He nodded and headed for the door and I sat the pizza on the table, momentarily forgetting all about my earlier mission and eager to get everything off my chest.

We stepped out onto the balcony and Keaton shut the door behind us, muffling the music enough so that we could hear each other speak. We didn't say anything at first, both of us looking over the edge at the skyline and deciding who should make the first move.

"So are you going to tell me about your sexual frustration or do I have to pry it out of you," he said dryly.

"I don't exactly know where to begin..." I admitted. "I'm sixteen, I didn't even know what sex was until, like, three years ago."

"And it all spiraled out of control from there," he laughed. "You can talk to me, Lauren. I'm not going to judge you."

I sighed and thought about how to word what I was thinking.

"I don't think I'm sexually frustrated," I told him. "I mean, Camila and I kissed less than two days ago. I'm attracted to her, yeah, but we aren't at that stage yet. I think she's completely adorable and all I see when I look at her is this dorky little fangirl who's never been in a relationship and falls down a lot and has all these quirks...but then...she has these outbursts, these random moments of confidence, and God...I don't even know."

"Outbursts like what? Camila's the biggest dork I've ever met. I can't imagine her being anything other than that," Keaton chuckled.

"I thought that at first too, but it seems like the more time I spend with her, the more she comes out of her shell. Like when you found us kissing in the elevator earlier," I explained. "I was the one who kissed her, but it was her idea to sneak around, and I don't know, it's stupid, but it kind of makes me feel like she has a little bit of a wild side."

"So what, you're into bad girls or something? Every girl has a naughty side, Lauren, it's nothing to be surprised about. I just can't picture you being interested in someone like that. You're so...so," he stammered.

"Clean? I know. Perfect GPA, academic scholarship, raised to be polite, I get it. I'm a goody-two-shoes. I've heard it all before, but believe me when I say that you're not much of a wild child either, so you have no room to talk," I defended.

"So?" he snapped, his voice cracking.

"So don't you ever want...more? Don't you want to see what it's like to break the rules and fall in love with a bad girl and just live life for once?" I asked.

"Let me stop you right there," he said, holding out his hand for emphasis. "That's a nice little fantasy, but if that's what you want, I don't think you're going to find that with Camila. She's too awkward. She's not a bad girl and she never will be. Not all the time anyway."

"I know, that's the point," I huffed.

"Oh," he whispered, realization finally dawning on him. "You want Camila to be a bad girl for you. That's why you're so frustrated."

"That, and because every time she shows signs I don't know how to react and I end up running away or saying something stupid," I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"I don't know, I just don't see it," he decided. "You're both too cute and sweet to be bad girls, as appealing as that sounds."

Before I could protest, I heard the door click open behind us and whirled around to see who had interrupted our conversation, praying that they hadn't heard anything.

"Lauren?" Camila's soft tone called from the doorway. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You never came back with our pizza."

"That's my fault," Keaton told her, saving me an explanation. "I was apologizing for Wes's behavior at breakfast earlier."