Our Deepest Scars

Chapter 5

The remainder of the meal passed slowly for Camila. She ordered a large burger, fries and a banana shake but only ate and drunk a small amount. Ally, Normani and Dinah were taken aback by the smaller girl's apparent vexation. She didn't say anything to them about it, but they could tell by the furious and slightly maddened look in her deep brown eyes that Lauren had really upset her somehow.

After a few minutes of no sound except the crunching of fries, Dinah decided to confront Camila.

"Mila?" she queried tentatively, "why are you so upset about what Lauren said?"

Camila looked up from her hands, which she had been gazing at absentmindedly. "I don't know....I guess just because I trusted her to keep it a secret, or..." she struggled to find the words to explain the way she felt. She wasn't angry that the other girls knew that she had had a panic attack - they could probably have guessed that already. Camila was angry at the harsh way Lauren was treating her, but she didn't want to tell the girls this. It would only cause more arguments, which Camila hated, and would probably spark rumours that Fifth Harmony were splitting up.

"But why didn't you want us to know?" Dinah pressed, feeling upset at Camila's words. Even though Camila had changed a lot recently and the two weren't as close as they once were, the smaller girl still mattered deeply to her and she wanted to know when and why Camila was hurting.

"It wasn't that I didn't want you to know...I just...I can't explain it," Camila responded in frustration, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing at her temples.

"Okay, don't worry about it, Mila," Ally soothed, sensing that the brunette was getting upset and flustered. "It's all over now."

Camila nodded, feeling unsatisfied and anxious. She hated the feeling of not being able to explain herself, especially when it put tension on her relationships with the other girls. "Can we go?" she asked tiredly, pushing her plate away to signify that she had finished.

"Sure," the girls agreed.

"Mila, aren't you hungry? You should eat a bit more." Ally, who often acted as the mother of the group since she was the oldest, said in a concerned tone.

"Nah, I'm not really hungry," replied the smaller girl. She wasn't really lying - she didn't feel like eating. Wow, emotions can really screw a person up, she thought, getting out her purse to grab some cash. Placing a twenty dollar bill on the table along with the other girls' money, she got up from her seat. They mimicked her, and together they said thank you before exiting the building.

It was 2 o'clock. The four girls (Lauren still having not returned) were relieved to have the rest of the day off, and were just checking the films playing at the movie theatre on Normani's phone when she got an incoming call.

"Hello?" she answered, stepping away from the other girls.

The person on the other end of the phone spoke, and Camila strained to hear what they were saying, but failed. Normani's eyebrows furrowed and a miserable look crossed her face.

"Okay, fine."

More talking on the other end followed.

"At 3 o'clock? We'll be there. Bye."

She ended the call and turned to face the girls. "Bad news. We're not going to see a movie. There's just been a radio interview scheduled for three o'clock this afternoon. A car's coming to get us right now."

The others groaned. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy interviews, but they had badly wanted an afternoon off. Butterflies began to flutter in Camila's stomach yet again. She didn't really like interviews. They made her nervous, and she was already on edge enough as it was with the situation with Lauren.