Should Have Known (Camren)

Chapter 49

I was on one of the most sickening roller coaster rides I had ever been on in my life. One day I was sure Camila still loved me and the next I was drowning in a tear soaked pillow while she was out with Austin. I didn't really know what to do anymore. I was numb. I loved her but I was numb. A week passed after her movie date with Austin and we quickly found ourselves drifting apart again. She moved back in with Dinah and I moved back in with Normani, and even though I tried to fight back the frustrated tears that threatened to spill over every night, it was hard to ignore the nagging questions in the back of my mind. The most important one-

What the hell had changed?

We still talked and we clearly still cared about each other, but she wasn't the same around me as she had been the morning before she ran off. She didn't look at me and light up or rest her head on my shoulder and talk all night. She was still there, but she was gone again. But why? What had changed in the mere nine hour period between her departure from our apartment and her secret date with Austin? Maybe I was just hopelessly praying for something that was never going to come. Wouldn't that have been unusual?

...

I knocked on Ally's door and Troy opened it, smiling politely at me and allowing me inside. I stepped into their entryway while he alerted her that she had company and waited, scanning the apartment to occupy my thoughts. She rounded the corner moments later and pulled me in for a hug, rambling on about how happy she was to see me.

"Kick your shoes off and stay a while!" she exclaimed. "Do you want anything to eat? We have-"

"Actually, Ally..." I interrupted, "I was wondering if you'd go out with me for a while. I kind of need someone to talk to."

"What's wrong?" she worried.

"I'll explain it on the way," I promised.

She nodded and headed back into the apartment to inform Troy that we were leaving, returning again with his keys in her hand and heading for the door. We made the descent to the parking lot below and climbed into the car, cranking the air conditioning and turning the radio just loud enough to where we could barely hear it.

"What's going on?" she pressed. "What do you need to talk about?"

"I fucked up," I sighed. "I don't know how or what exactly I did, but I fucked up."

"Is this about Camila's date with Austin?" she questioned.

I nodded. "How'd you know about that?"

"Dinah told me," she chuckled. "You know that girl can't keep anything a secret."

She turned onto the side road that led out of the city and towards the beach, rolling down the windows and allowing the fresh springtime air to fill the car. It was refreshing to head far away from the apartment and far away from Camila. I felt like with my best friend by my side and the advice that was soon to come, my mind was beginning to clear again.

"I don't know why she went," I recalled, remembering the confusion that I felt when I realized she had lied to me. "Everything was fine between us before she went off with Dinah and Mani, and then when she got back it was like she didn't want anything to do with me."

"Did you do anything to make her mad?" she wondered.

"I don't think so," I shrugged. "We woke up, I offered to take her to lunch but she said no because she was going out with Dinah and Mani, so of course I offered to take her when she got back. I kind of kept to myself all day until Luis called me an apologized, and then she showed up and-"

"Lauren..." Ally interrupted.

"What?"

She raised her eyebrow at me and gave me a scrutinizing look, waiting for me to catch up with my own words.