Adult-ish

prologue

"Happy birthday dear Lolo! Happy birthday to you!" Camila sings to her roommate as she places the chocolate cupcake on the counter.

"Thanks, Camz." Lauren smiles gratefully, appreciating the sprinkle-covered cupcake more than her roommate knows.

"Make a wish!" the small girl encourages, pushing the cupcake closer to Lauren.

   The raven-haired girl quickly blows out the candle, not bothering to make a wish because who believes in that joke? Not her, that's for sure! Lauren's much too badass to do those kiddy things, besides it's not like she did them as a child anyways. Camila pouts, not enjoying the way her roommate refuses to appreciate the innocent fun in little things.

"Lolo, you didn't even make a wish!" Camila pouts, trying to convince her older friend to make a wish as she's told her to do every year, on her own birthday.

"I did." Lauren fibs, offering a smile in an attempt to be more convincing. "Don't bother asking what it is though, because we both know the wish won't come true if I do that."

Before Camila can press further, Lauren quickly swipes her finger on the cupcake's frosting and smears the glob on Camila's nose. The younger Cuban gasps before giggling and copying her roommate's actions. Lauren, however, manages to dodge the frosting-covered finger. Acting quickly, she grabs Camila's arm, pushing it back closer to the small girl's face.

"Hey! That's not fair! You can't use my own arm against me!" Camila exclaims just as Lauren swipes the frosting from her finger to her face. She pouts, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Come here," Lauren giggles. "I'll help you clean up."

A comfortable silence settled on the two girls. Lauren internally thanked Camila a million times, thankful that her best friend listened to her when she said she just wanted to stay home for her birthday. Camila cuts the cupcake into two equal pieces, placing either piece on a plate before sliding one towards Lauren. 

"Lolo?" Camila turns to her friend.

"Yea?"

"I love you." Camila starts. "But seriously, when is your test?"

"I love you more." Lauren smirks, purposely ignoring Camila's question. With a wink, she successfully annoyed her roommate.

"When is your test?" Camila groans, prodding at Lauren's shoulder in anticipation.

Sighing, Lauren caves, after all, she knew this question could only be avoided for so long, "My test is tomorrow morning, don't worry I already did the preliminary paperwork."

"Lolo! Why didn't you tell me!?" Camila turns and punches Lauren's arm, catching them both by surprise as the small girl didn't mean to hit her friend with such force. 

"Geez Camz," Lauren winces, rubbing at where Camila had just hit her, "if I'd known you'd hit me I'd have worn protection. Fucken hell you can pack a punch." 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The small girl apologizes repeatedly, her hands opening and closing into fists, ready to defend herself if needed, but mostly nervous. "I won't do it again! You can hit me back!"

Just a bit over two years ago, Camila had taken her own test, which gave her the title of a little. She had found a caregiver through a match program, Austin, but what started as a fairy tale ended as a nightmare for Camila. Her prince charming turned out to be the villain and eventually, Camila was convinced by a policeman to leave him. When the young Cuban finally did, she chose to move in with Lauren, her high school best friend and the only person she knew would understand, rather than go to a state rehabilitation home.

"Camila, it's alright." Lauren sighs. " I should have shared this with you as it came up. I'm sorry for that. But I'm not gonna hit you, you know that right?"

Because Camila chose to stay with a friend rather than seek services, not the most taken path, she was responsible for creating her own rehabilitation program and submitting it to a case worker. The small girl met all the requirements, but she did so on her own terms: group therapy, individual therapy, social gatherings for littles, and even a submissive training program. Camila chose which programs she would participate in, trying out a few for only a day. Eventually, she found what she wanted and convinced Lauren to join her. Though Lauren didn't do the entirety of Camila's program, and though she wouldn't dare say a word at or about the events, the green-eyed girl did attend a few of the social gatherings coordinated for littles as well as attended a group therapy circle for littles.

"Are you okay?" Camila asks after a moment to ground herself. "I'm sorry I hit you. But you've also been jumpy today, what's going on?"

"She called me this morning," Lauren admits to her troubles. "I didn't want to answer but I did for some reason."

Though Lauren doesn't name who she's referencing, Camila knows. Lucy Vives. The older girl she'd met at a day camp for softball training the summer before her freshman year of high school. Lucy was one of the trainers, a few four years older than Lauren, the older girl was just a year out of high school and working a summer job before she left for university. Lucy took Lauren under her wing in more ways than one, but unfortunately, the relationship ended in a blaze, similar to its fiery start. 

"What did she say?" Camila decides to press a bit, curious about the contents of the phone call, but more curious about what Lauren's thinking of all this. 

"She's in town and has an apartment. She called to invite me over for birthday dinner."

"Apartment in town?" Camila cringes. "That feels very deja-vu, don't you think?"

"You're telling me," Lauren groans, managing to laugh a bit at her roommate's cringing. 

When Lucy chose to drop out of university and get an apartment in town Lauren practically dropped off the face of the earth. Lucy prohibited Lauren from having interactions with anyone she deemed to be a bad influence. Then she took control over Lauren's workouts, using exercise as punishment, then her food intake, and eventually Lauren was looking to the older girl for directions on just about everything. From what clothes she could wear, who she could talk to, how much water she was to drink, where she could sit, her posture, and her speech. In the off periods of their relationship, Lauren would grow anxious as she waited to hear back. As she waited to hear about all the mistakes she made while Lucy was MIA. The wait was especially unbearable when it was softball season when Lauren would see Lucy, who had taken a job as one of the coaches, every day. Eventually, Lauren grew the courage to leave her completely, but that didn't come until after high school when she could detach from Lucy and her softball team entirely.

"So is it safe to assume you didn't accept her birthday dinner invite?"

"Have some faith in me Camz, I'm not going to give in that easily."

"I don't want you giving in, period," Camila states matter-of-factly. "Promise to keep me updated?"

"I promise." Lauren seals the deal with the interlocking of her's and her roommate's pinkies. 

Hi Guys! This is Maia, I'm newish to Wattpad & this is my first story on here! I hope you guys like it.

Edit complete; 5.7.23