Caught (Camren)

•21•

I was fully awake and fully aware of the problems I'd caused for myself. North Carolina was beautiful, but it was far from home. Lauren was home. The coffee shop that Sam and I sat at should have been quaint and relaxing, but it was nothing but a nightmare for me. It didn't feel right to be anywhere without- at least- the knowledge that I could run back home into Lauren's arms and she'd be waiting for me. Now she was far, far away, and I didn't blame her if she chose to stay that way. I'd avoided Sam's nagging questions all day, but it was no use anymore. I could feel how heavy my eyelids were and how stuffy my nose was from crying for a vast majority of the ten hour drive, and I knew Sam could sense my grief as well.

"Okay, seriously, what the fuck is bothering you?" she asked. "You've barely touched your coffee and you keep looking over your shoulder like you're expecting someone to show up."

I turned my cup over in my hands and leaned back against my chair, shaking my head in utter disappointment.

"I shouldn't be here," I sighed.

"Did you get accepted to a different school or something?"

"No, I shouldn't be here," I clarified. "I should be home instead of sitting here ten hours away."

"School starts in less than a week," she reminded me. "Feel free to go home but you're just wasting your time and gas."

"I can't go home," I told her.

"Why?"

"It's complicated," I shrugged.

She rolled her eyes and tipped the last bit of her coffee back, draining the mug and then sliding it forward onto the table.

"You realize you're stuck with me for the next nine months, right?" she huffed.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"We've got to learn to be comfortable with each other," she explained. "You have to talk to me and I have to talk to you. Let's get this whole friendship thing off to an early start. What's bothering you? Why can't you go home?"

She had a point. We would inevitably become closer over the school year, and it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone. It was all so much for me to process still, and I figured maybe it would help if I could get some things off my chest.

"I think my girlfriend might break up with me," I frowned.

"Lauren? Why?" she questioned. "Did you cheat?"

"Do I come across as a cheater?"

"You're kind of notoriously promiscuous," she grinned.

"I didn't cheat," I snapped, annoyed by her assumptions. "I just...left pretty suddenly. I didn't even say goodbye. I just told her I was leaving and then I was gone."

"Did you at least tell her you love her first?"

My gaze dropped to the mug in my hands, too ashamed by my own behavior to answer her question verbally, but I knew my attitude gave it all away.

"Camila," she groaned. "You didn't tell her you love her?"

"I couldn't," I admitted quietly. "I couldn't leave her behind with those three words lingering between us. How would she believe me? How could I tell her I love her and then walk out?"

"Wait, back up. Why did you want to leave so badly? You could have waited until Sunday to show up," she pointed out.

"My...um...my mom cheated on my dad," I stammered. "I didn't really want to be there anymore."