I felt movement in my arms and ignored it. I was just about to drift off back to sleep when I felt my eyelid being forced open and a pair of brown eyes was staring back at me.
"Lolo, are you awake?" Camila whispered.
"No," I grumbled pushing Camila's hand away.
"You're silly" Camila giggled crawling out of my arms.
"I'm sleepy" I said.
"But it's night night time" Camila said.
"I know," I said flipping over to face away from Camila.
I finally managed to fall back asleep after Camila kept yelling as she was sleeping. I figured she was having a nightmare, but I wasn't entirely sure what to do.
"I had a bad dream and then I woke up and heard scary noises outside of the door" Camila said pointing to the bedroom door.
I rubbed my eyes to get the sleep out of them and sat up, giving Camila my full attention.
"What kind of noises?" I asked.
"Screaming and crying" Camila said and then made the noises with her mouth.
"Okay," I said placing my hand over her mouth to get her to be quiet.
"Are you going to go see what it is?" I asked.
"I guess," I said getting out of bed.
When I noticed Camila doing the same, I stopped her.
"I want to come" Camila whined.
"No, stay here" I said.
"But it's scary" Camila said.
I picked the stuffed animal from the floor and handed it to Camila.
"This will protect you" I said and kissed Camila on top of the head.
I was about to walk away, but Camila grabbed my arm and gave me a pleading look.
"Kiss," Camila said puckering her lips.
I sighed and kissed Camila on the lips, making sure it was briefly. When I pulled away from the kiss, Camila touched her lips and smiled. I walked to the bedroom door and before I left, I turned around to face Camila who was now playing with the stuffed animal.
"Stay here Camila," I said and Camila looked up at me and nodded her head before she brought her attention back to her stuffed animal.
I walked out into the dimly lit hallway and looked both ways to see if I was in the clear. I started to walk in the direction where Ally told me was restricted for me to go. I didn't make it far as I stopped in my tracks when I heard talking and I quickly found a place to hide to not be seen.
"Have you checked on Lauren?" Natasha asked.
"Do I look like her fucking babysitter to you?" Elise said.
"She was sleeping with Camila last time I checked on her" Ally said.
"What do you mean sleeping with?" Natasha asked.
"Someone sounds jealous" Elise said.
Natasha cleared her throat. "It's nothing like that babe" Natasha said.
"Sure... it isn't and don't call me pet names" Elise said.
"Anyway, they were just sleeping in the bed like normal people do. Before that they were asleep on the floor" Ally said.
"Well, I need to check up on her" Natasha said.
"Maybe another time because we have other problems" Ally said.
"I thought that was already taken care of with Taylor" Natasha said.
"There's only so much Taylor can do. She's not an actual doctor" Ally said.
"Did you take care of you know who?" Natasha asked.
"Voldemort?" Elise said.
"I'm being serious" Natasha said.
"So am I, but yeah Taylor had to sedate her to let Tori go" Elise said.
"Even though she's a pain in the ass, is Tori okay?" Natasha asked.
"Oh wow you actually have a heart" Ally said.
"Yeah, she's fine" Elise said.
"Do you think Sinu is going to be looking for Camila any time soon?" Ally asked.
They all stopped talking when a door opened and closed. Dinah's familiar voice filled the room.
"Could you morons be any louder?" Dinah asked.
"Sorry, but we should be thinking about this. We are all sitting ducks here" Ally said.
"As well as I know Sinu, she isn't one to make a move without thoroughly planning it out so we have time" Dinah said.
Ally groaned. "I just want to go back to how things were before all of this mess. I could be with Normani doing something completely stupid and boring, but since I would be with her that would be all that mattered" Ally said.
"Are you done complaining now?" Natasha asked.
I didn't hear the rest of the conversation since I walked into the room that Normani was in and closed the door quietly behind me. The TV was on while Normani lay in bed.
"Normani," I said
Normani lifted her head up upon hearing her name and turned on the light next to her bed. She smiled at me. When I saw her face, I wasn't sure what to think. She had a lot of cuts on her face and some parts of her face were swollen. Normani saw the panic expression on my face and quickly turned the light off, but not before I saw her smile turn into a frown.
"I'm sorry, I forgot that I look terrible" Normani said as I walked over to her bedside.
"No, I am sorry. I was being mean" I said as I felt Normani grab my hand and I looked up at her as the light from the TV brought some light to her face.
"Lauren, your reaction was normal. I'm just happy that I'm able to see you again" Normani said.
"Do you know who it was that hit you?" I asked.
"At first I wasn't so sure, but I know for damn sure who it was. No one forgets seeing a piece of crap car like that one, even if you're being hit by it" Normani said.
"Who was it?" I asked.
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else" Normani said.
"What about telling Dinah and Ally?" I asked.
"It's better if they don't know" Normani said.
"Do you not trust them?" I asked.
"Things are sort of complicated" Normani said.
"Okay, I won't tell" I said.
"I think the person that hit me was Luis" Normani said.
"Who's Luis?" I asked.
"That kid that I beat the shit out of just so that I could get a two week suspension to hang out with you" Normani said.
"I still don't know who that is" I said.
"He's the guy Dinah said was dating his friend Alexa best friend but really he was secretly hooking up with Alexa" Normani said.
"I still don't know" I said.
"It's fine, but Dinah knows and if she finds out then all hell will break lose" Normani said.
"But he should be punished for what he did" I said.
"He will be but I want to make sure that it's by me and no one else" Normani said.
"Okay," I said.
"Enough about me, how have you been?" Normani asked.
I sighed. "I miss Maia" I said.
"You miss Maia?" Normani asked.
"Yes," I said.
"I thought she was here" Normani said.
"She is?" I asked.
"I could've sworn I overheard Dinah talking to Ally about her" Normani said.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"I have no idea but I can find out from either Ally or Dinah. I thought you've been with Maia this entire time which is why I thought you weren't coming to see me" Normani said.
"No, I've been with Camz" I said.
"You've been with Camila?" Normani asked.
"Yes," I said.
"That must be a nightmare" Normani said.
"No, she is good just confused like me" I said pointing to myself.
"Lauren Jauregui, you might be deemed different or strange to society but you are in no way like Camila. Camila has a condition that only your sister can really elaborate on but it's nowhere like you" Normani said.
"She still has a big heart like me" I said.
"In the words of Dinah, bitch where" Normani said.
"No one understands" I said.
"What don't we understand? She's a bitch Lauren. You know once a bitch always a bitch" Normani said.
"She's had bad stuff happen to her" I said.
"So has a lot of people but they haven't reached the limit of becoming queen bitch Camila Cabello" Normani said.
"I'm going to go find Maia now" I said.
"Come on Lauren, don't be mad at me" Normani said.
I've had enough of everyone talking badly about Camila and not knowing her situation that only I witnessed first-hand. Dinah knew about it, but she wasn't there to see it. Not even the night when it was worse of all.
*Lauren's Flashback*
Camila groaned. "I have a headache" Camila said closing her Algebra book.
"You aren't supposed to study too long" I said drawing in my sketchbook.
"I don't think my headache is because of the studying" Camila said.
"Then why?" I asked.
"I'm stressing out because my mom has been on my back lately about my grades. She thinks I'm focusing too much attention on cheering and how attractive guys are" Camila said.
"Guys?" I asked, looking up from my sketchbook.
"Yeah, some of the guys on the football team are attractive" Camila said.
"What about me?" I asked.
"Lolo, you aren't on the football team so you don't count" Camila said.
"Okay," I said slumping my shoulders and bringing my attention back to my sketchbook.
Camila got off her bed and sat down on the floor next to me. She pushed my hair back.
"You know how I feel about you Lolo and nothing will ever change that, but we have to keep us a secret" Camila said.
"But I want to hold your hand at school" I said looking up from my sketchbook.
"I want to hold yours too, but we can't" Camila said.
"It's not fair," I said closing my sketchbook and throwing it across the room.
"Don't do this right now Lauren" Camila said.
"But I like you and everyone else that likes one another shows it in school" I whined.
"Well you aren't really everyone else, are you? You aren't even normal for fuck's sake" Camila snapped.
"My mom and Mani say I'm normal" I said.
"Well they are full of shit and you shouldn't listen to everything they tell you" Camila said.
Camila's words hurt me, but I knew that I couldn't cry in front of her or it would make her angry. She was already annoyed and I didn't want to make it worse.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"You should be," Camila snapped standing up.
Camila was about to say something else, but she stopped in her tracks from walking across her bedroom. I looked over to see what got her distracted and I saw Sinu.
"What did you just say to Lauren?" Sinu asked Camila.
Camila backed away and her body became tense. "N-nothing" Camila said.
"That didn't sound like nothing to me" Sinu said.
"I was just joking" Camila said.
"I didn't find it funny" Sinu said glaring at Camila as Camila swallowed nervously.
Camila turned around to face me. "Lauren, I'm sorry about what I said to you" Camila said with fear in her eyes.
"It's okay," I said.
"It's anything but okay Lauren, but I think it's time that you go home" Sinu said picking up my sketchbook from the floor.
Camila's eyes went wide as I stood up from the floor and took my sketchbook from Sinu.
"Okay," I said.
"Tell Clara that I said hi" Sinu said before letting me pass her.
"I will," I said, walking out of Camila's room and before I could turn around and say bye to Camila the door was slammed in my face and then locked.
I heard rustling in the room and then I heard Camila scream and stuff being knocked over.
"You're only making it worse" Sinu said to Camila.
Then there was silence before there was this loud crash that caused me to jump and then the sound of a fist connecting with flesh repeatedly. Camila's screams over time began to die down and slowly turned to sobs. I turned around to leave when I came face to face with Camila's younger sister Sofi.
"Camila was bad," Sofi said.
"She was?" I asked.
"Yes, that's what my mom says" Sofi said.
"This is not good" I said.
"I know, but it's the only way that Camila would listen to my mom" Sofi said.
"Hitting is bad" I said.
"We should leave before we get in trouble too" Sofi said holding out her hand to me.
I took her hand and walked down the stairs with her to the living room. She let go of my hand to run to the couch and watch cartoons. I heard the door open upstairs and footsteps coming down the stairs. I spotted Sinu walking into the kitchen and I quickly ran back upstairs to Camila's room. I walked into her room and closed the door behind me.
"Please, no more" Camila managed to say before she resumed crying.
"Camz, it's me Lolo" I said kneeling down next to her bed.
Camila's room was now a mess. There was paper covering the floor, her desk was overturned, and her desk was knocked over. The only thing that stood out to me was the amount of blood on the floor. There was a trail of it leading over to her bed. I reached my hand out to touch Camila, but she flinched away from me.
"It is okay now," I said.
Camila lifted her head to look at me and her face was covered in blood and starting to become swollen. Camila has gashes on her face and bruising around her neck.
"You shouldn't be here" Camila said as tears continued to pour from her eyes.
"I should," I said reaching out to caress her face but she stopped me.
"No," Camila said.
"Why?" I asked.
"You need to leave," Camila said laying her head back down and facing away from me as she continued her silent crying.
I felt helpless and angry too, but I knew there wasn't much that I could do.
*End of Lauren's Flashback*
"Lauren, are you okay?" Normani asked.
"I need to find Maia and when I do, I'm leaving with her and Camz" I said and then I walked out of the room Normani was in.
I started to walk down the hallway to where I heard Natasha talking, but then I heard crying in the opposite direction.
"I want Lolo," Camila cried out.
"We're going to find her, but you have to be good Camila" Ally said.
"I want my Lolo," Camila whined.
As much as I wanted to go back to Camila and comfort her, I knew that I needed to find Maia first. I hoped that Camila understood. I continued to make my way down the hallway until I reached the door that Ally stopped me from entering before. I turned the door knob and opened it. I looked inside and it was pitch black dark except the light that I provided from opening the door. I heard movement in the room.
"Hello," I whispered.
"Laur?" I heard a familiar accent say and I felt my tummy fill with butterflies.
"Maia," I said as she came into view.
Maia's appearance wasn't as bad as Normani's, but it looked as if she hadn't showered in days and haven't eaten in a while. She was covered in blood that wasn't hers and her ankle was wrapped up.
"What are you doing here?" Maia asked doing her best to stand up.
"I came here after the accident" I said.
"You had an accident?" Maia asked.
"Yes, with the car" I said.
"I'm glad you're okay" Maia said smiling at me as she leaned up against the door frame.
"Does she have food?" someone asked from inside the darkness.
"I doubt it Tori. I don't think Lauren knew we were in here" Maia said.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"It's okay, next time you can bring food" Maia said.
"Next time? I've come to take you and leave" I said.
"You can't Laur" Maia said holding my hand.
"I have to keep Maia safe" I said.
Maia ran her fingers through my hair and sighed. "I can't leave them all behind, it won't be fair to them" Maia said.
"You just don't want to leave Tori" I said letting go of her hand.
"It's not like that Lauren," Maia said stepping closer to me.
I backed away from her and I saw a hurt expression come across her face.
"I have to go before I get in trouble" I said.
"Okay, I understand" Maia said and kissed me on the cheek.
"I'll bring back some food tomorrow" I said.
"Thank you and don't forget that I love you" Maia said.
My face began to get hot at Maia's words. "Me too," I said.
Maia smiled at me and then closed the door behind her. I stared at the door for what felt like an hour, but I'm sure it was less time than that. All I could think was that I needed a plan to get us all out of here, but it was easier said than done. I heard Camila's cries from down the hall and then an idea popped into my head.