[Lauren's POV]
I laid against the cold table for a while, feeling frozen, degraded and violated. I brought my hand up to wipe my tear drenched face and slowly brought myself up.
I began to breathe in slowly and walk towards my clothes, as I walked towards my clothes I felt this terrible pain in my pelvic area, it was so painful to walk. I felt my muscles throbbing, but I just had to rip it off like a bandaid and get it over with quickly.
I bent over and let out a soft painful moan as I picked up my clothes from the dull cement floor. I then put my clothes on with delicate movements; I did it delicately only because my body was in gruesome shock and it was slowly adapting to what just happened.
I fixed myself to where I looked presentable, I didn't want Camila upset or scared, so I just acted like nothing even happened. As I was walking towards the stairs, Brady put his hand on my shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked with his eyebrows furrowing.
I avoided eye contact with the man that just robbed me of something special, "I'm going back upstairs with the rest of the girls.." I mumbled underneath my breath.
He shook his head and sucked his teeth, "no can do, Lauren," he pointed to a door towards the back of the basement. I was surprised, how much more of this house was left for me to explore? "I need you to stay in there for a couple of days, just to get back to your senses." Brady said.
"I only did this to you so you don't do anything so naive again. It is honesty meant to help you," he continued, "I know it sounds silly, but it's true. But I'm sorry, your room you'll be staying in is very lovely."
I felt my blood boiling, how could he say something so disgusting and idiotic? "Are you ignorant? You just fucking raped me." I said with tears of anger streaming down my face.
Brady put his thumb to my cheek and wiped my tears, I winced at his gesture. "I wouldn't call it the word that rhymes with grape," he giggled to himself, "ha, grape. Anyway, it is more of a mental and physical exercise. But now you get to live in luxury in that room while you get your thoughts together!"
Why is he fucking joking about this? He just robbed me of something that was special to me. How could he make this seem okay? In all reality it's rape, he raped me. He can't change that. I thought to myself.
"So I'm not going to see the other girls for a while?" I asked just above a whisper.
He nodded, "you'll see them in a couple of days, three at most. Just go in the room and enjoy yourself. I'm sorry about earlier, well..night." The man said nonchalantly.
I was infuriated at how this wasn't eating away at him. He just traumatized me, but he could care less, I was honestly beyond disgusted at his behavior. I looked at the door of the room and waddled towards it. I placed my hand on the doorknob and opened the door to find a beautiful room.
The room had a tranquil theme, white walls, with creme colored curtains, a white bed and a beautiful flat screened TV. It was beautiful because of how simple it was. I sat on the bed and looked at the white nightstand and noticed a small, black journal. The journal read, "sign in book."
I grabbed the book out of curiosity and opened it, it was filled with about thirty names. I noticed two familiar names on the paper that showed up more than once. "Normani Hamilton," and, "Dinah Hansen."
I was baffled at how many times I noticed their names, I saw Normani's name seven times, and Dinah's name four times. I felt tears building in my eyes, they've been through what I've been through more than once..
I didn't know why I felt the need to participate, but I grabbed the silver pen and autographed, "Lauren Jauregui" on the off white colored paper.
I placed it back on the nightstand and crawled underneath the thick, white blanket. I put myself in the fetal position and let out small cries into the same pillows Dinah, Normani, and many other girls might have also cried in. I cried until I couldn't cry any longer, these are the times I needed my family. I needed them here right now to save me from this nightmare that I would probably never wake up from.
-
[Camila's POV]
What happened to Lauren? Why would she do this for me? What the hell did I do to deserve her?
The sun was slowly setting, I couldn't continue to be in this house. I needed an escape, I just had to leave.
I poked my head out of my door and looked around, I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I tiptoed down the stairs and sprinted out of the front door.
"Okay, there's the junkyard, the burger place, and a library?" I asked myself as I squinted in that direction.
I walked towards the library and noticed a sign on the door. It read, "closed." I was very disappointed because my escape is through reading. If I wasn't satisfied with my reality I was living in, why not dive into a fantasy filled with magic and wonder?
I put my back to the red brick wall and slid down. I put my knees up to my chest and rested my forehead on top of my knee caps. I heard a small bell ding and the door opened, I looked up and saw a tall boy with fair skin and light brown hair looking down at me.
"You okay?" The boy said as he squatted down in front of me. "Yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled.
"Your eyes don't say that." He said.
My voice got higher, "what's that supposed to mean?" He put his hands up and said, "no need to get defensive, you just look upset that's all."
"I'm not upset, okay? I'm fine. I'm kind of upset because the library is closed, other than that, I'm perfectly fine." I lied.
He slightly smiled, "I work here, I mean..I could do some overtime, would you like to come in?" His light brown eyes were connecting with mine.
"I mean, you don't have to. I'll just come back tomorrow." I whispered.
He then stood up and put his hand out, "it's fine, name's Shawn by the way." He finished off with a warm smile.
"I'm Camila, it's nice to meet you, Shawn." I said engaging my hand with his.
He lifted me up and opened up the door for me, "go on and enjoy yourself." I looked back at him and smiled, "thank you for doing this, I promise I'll be fast."
He just sat in a desk chair and span around, "don't worry about it, it's not like I have any plans tonight anyways." He then grabbed a pen and placed it on his upper lip as he pushed it out.
"Wow, you're so mature." I laughed.
His eyes widened a bit and removed the pen from his upper lip and lifted it up, "very." He said nonchalantly.
I just laughed at his childish behavior and began to rummage through the isles of books. I was looking for something that had to do with magic, I was a sucker for magical stories.
I yelled, "hey, Shawn!" He responded, "yeah?!" I replied, "where are the fantasy books?!"
I didn't get a response from him, "umm, hello?..." I heard my echo bounce around the entire library. "Boo!" Shawn yelled from behind me. I jumped and turned around to face him, we were very close to one another. A little too close for friendly comfort. I felt his minty breath hovering over my lips, I took a small step back and asked, "why did you scare me?!"
He laughed and pointed to the sign hanging above me, "it's because you're in the horror section, it only seemed appropriate to give you a quick scare."
"How sweet." I said rolling my eyes.
"The fantasy section is four isles down, keep your eyes peeled, I could pop out at any second." He smirked.
"Whatever, now if you'll excuse me..I'll be going to look for a good book." I said strutting down towards the fantasy section of the library. I looked at the shelves for about ten minutes, I was very indecisive and picky whenever it came to my books. I was stuck between, "The Young Fairy on Cloud 9" and, "Fairy Dust."
I noticed how I gravitated towards any story or anything that had to do with fairies. I felt as if I could relate more to, "The Young Fairy on Cloud 9," rather than the other one.
I walked to the check out desk, "hello? I need to check out this book!" I yelled, again hearing my echo bounce across the room yet again. Shawn walked towards me and said, "you need a library card, let me sign you up really quick." Shawn mentioned, wetting his lips with his tongue.
I didn't find many guys attractive, but Shawn had something to him that intrigued me.
"Camila? Last name?" He asked.
I was just looking at his lips, I then noticed myself spacing out, "oh, yeah..umm, Cabello." I felt my cheeks rush with redness as he chuckled to himself.
"Very pretty." He said.
"Oh..thanks." I said nervously.
He looked up from the keyboard and up to my eyes, "everything okay?" He asked.
I nodded very quickly and placed my hand on the back of my neck out of nervousness. "I'm fine, so am I signed in?"
He nodded and handed me my brand new library card, "here you go, now you can grab as many books as you want."
Shawn continued to put on this charming half smile on his face, it was beyond adorable. He also tended to finish it off with a soft chuckle, I felt my pulse becoming faster, my hands becoming clammier.
"Well, thank you, Shawn," I looked down at my book and back at him, "oh, here you go."
He grabbed the book and scanned it, he flipped it over to look at the title, he raised his eyebrows, "Hmm, seems interesting," he looked up at me, "fairies?"
I shook my head confirming, "yup, I'm a sucker for fairies and magic," I laughed, "I'm a five year old stuck in a seventeen year old's body, shocking isn't it?"
Shawn just laughed to himself and said, "oh, don't worry about it, it's fine. That's actually pretty cute. It doesn't hurt to believe in magic."
He handed me my book and gave me that cheeky smile, "I guess you're heading out now, aren't you?" I asked contently.
He put one hand on across his lower torso and rested his elbow on top of his hand, he placed his free hand on his chin and squinted his eyes, "Hmm, I don't know..do I want to head out?"
"That's what I asked you, dude." I laughed.
"Well, it depends, are you heading out somewhere?" He asked me.
My heart fell, it fell because I caught myself thinking about Lauren. I completely forgot that she just sacrificed herself for me, she's suffering and I'm sitting here flirting with some guy I just met. I hoped to God that Brady didn't lay a finger on her, but him being a disgraceful scum of the earth, I doubt he didn't do as I had hoped for. That's what hurt me the most, I loved her and she's hurting right now.
"Camila?" Shawn sang.
I snapped back into reality and noticed the light brown eyed boy looking in my direction. "Is that a no..?"
"I'm sorry, I really should be heading home." I said dismissing his question.
"Oh, did you drive here?" He asked with a concerned facial expression.
I shook my head no and he asked, "would you like a ride home?"
I was going to say yes, but then I realized where I was living. It was honestly so embarrassing, I couldn't have him know I'm living in an orphanage. Maybe I could have him drop me off at the house next door to the orphanage, yeah..that sounds like a plan.
"Yes, if you don't mind."
He smiled, "it'll be no problem at all, Camila."
Shawn grabbed his brown leather jacket and placed his arms through the sleeves, he then grabbed his keys from the check out desk and stood next to me. "Ready?" He asked.
God, he looked so cute in that leather jacket.
I nodded, "ready."
He grabbed the door for me and swung it open, "after you."
I walked out, holding my book in one hand, and one awkwardly swinging by my side. Shawn was closing up the library, I was just waiting for him to finish up. He pointed to his car, "that's her." He laughed. He pointed to a matte black 1969 Camaro. "It was my dad's, it was a little beat up, but I fixed it up to make it mine."
My heart sunk yet again, that's what Lauren wanted to do.
"it looks nice, good job." I forcefully smiled. I walked around to the passenger side when Shawn rushed in front of me, he opened the door for me and said breathing quite heavily, "welcome to the Shawn mobile."
"Thank you, but..the Shawn mobile? That's a little corny." I laughed.
His eyes widened and he was blushing, he then put his hand on the back of his neck and he looked down at the ground, "I mean, I don't actually call it that, it was a joke." He laughed uncomfortably.
I felt bad when I noticed his discomfort, "I was kidding. All aboard the Shawn mobile, am I right?"
"Right!" He chuckled nervously.
He walked to his side of the car and got inside, he put the key in the ignition and turned on the radio. Carly Rae Jepson's, "Call Me Maybe" began playing on the radio. In all honesty I wanted to sing along, but I hesitated. I was surprised when I noticed Shawn bobbing his head to the beat.
"Hey, I just met you.." Shawn started, "and this is crazy.." He started tapping the steering wheel, "but here's my number.." Shawn said head banging to the pop beat, "so call me maybe?" He then pointed at me with a wide mouth showing off his bright white teeth.
I just laughed at his flamboyant attitude, and outgoing personality. "How cute." I giggled. I noticed the orphanage coming up, so I stopped him at the house before it, "here's where we depart." I said turning down the radio.
He stopped the car and parked in front of the house that I didn't reside in. "Well, I guess this is goodbye. It was nice meeting you today, Camila." He said with giant puppy dog eyes.
"It was nice meeting you too, Shawn. Thanks for setting me up with a library card, I guess that means I'll be back pretty often, huh?" I laughed.
"Yeah, hopefully."
I felt myself leaning in, why not finish this day off with a quick peck? Why was I doing this? I had no clue as in why I was being so vulnerable to these feelings.
Shawn was slowly leaning in as well, but he stopped and said loudly, "well, hopefully I see you soon. Goodnight, Camila." He then placed his hand out waiting for a handshake.
I quickly leaned back, "oh, right." I laughed nervously. I then shook his hand and he exited his car and walked around to open mine.
"Thank you, Shawn. Have a great rest of your evening." I said nodding and walking towards the unfamiliar house. I was waiting for Shawn to take off, but it looked as if he wanted to wait for me to enter my home safely. I knew he wasn't going to leave until I walked inside, so I walked nervously onto the porch of the house and opened the screen door. Leaving the other door for me to open.
I looked back at him and yelled, "bye! Thank you!" He replied, "you good over there?" I shot him up a thumbs up and he yelled, "okay, bye Camila."
He reentered his car, and proceeded to drive towards his home. His home where his family lived, where he had a warm bed, where he felt safe. He had something I would never have again.
I walked towards the orphanage and quietly slid inside, and up the stairs. Hopefully I would see Lauren sleeping soundly in her bed, that's all I wanted more than anything.
I opened the door to our room and peeked inside, "Lauren?.." I whispered.
I flipped the light on then saw two empty beds in our room. Lauren was nowhere to be found, where was she? I questioned.
I walked across the hallway to Dinah's room and knocked softly, I heard footsteps shuffling towards the door and noticed a sleepy eyed Polynesian girl answer the door. "Camila? Is that you?" She asked, squinting her eyes.
"Yes, Dinah. It's me, Camila. Can I talk to you for a second?" I mumbled worriedly.
She opened the door wide and motioned me to come in. "What is it, Mila?" Dinah said ruffling through her long, thick bed head locks. I looked sincerely into her eyes and said, "it's about Lauren."
Dinah's eyes were now fully opened, "Lauren?" She then looked to the floor, "she most likely went through what most of us went through. But it isn't bad, it's for mental and physical care purposes only."
I let out a long sigh, "oh, good..it wasn't bad? What happened? Like, what did you guys go through?" I asked.
"He usually has us strip, and he gives our body a physical therapy session." Dinah said looking down at her fingers that were twiddling in her lap.
"Dinah...did he rape you?.." I asked cautiously.
Dinah shot up and started rubbing her temples and squeezing her eyes shut, "no, Camila! It's a physical exercise, it'll help us in the long run!"
Dinah was obviously troubled, "Dinah, calm down, please! I'm sorry for asking. But," I hesitated asking, "did he make you feel uncomfortable?"
"Camila, it's for our own good. We were the ones that provoked him! If we hadn't have provoked him, he wouldn't have touched us or made us do the things we did! It's our fault, Camila." Dinah cried.
My eyes widened, "Dinah, you can't give him fucking excuses. He raped you, that's what he did! We can't live like this, we're getting out of here soon, I promise." I ran towards Dinah to give her a warm embrace.
"But, do you think he did the same thing to Lauren?" I asked with tears building in my eyes.
Dinah sat down next to me and nodded, "he does that to everyone that goes down there. But she's probably in the safe room now."
"Safe room?" I asked.
-
[Lauren's POV]
I sat up in my bed, I was unaware whether it was daytime or evening. There were no windows in the room, not even a clock. An idea came into my head, the TV! I'll check what time it is on the TV. I turned it on and noticed the A.M MTV music videos were showing, it was obviously quite late in the evening, or early in the morning. The time read, 6:55.
I turned the TV off and walked towards the door of my room, I opened the door and looked around the basement. I was wide awake and felt like exploring the unknown. I turned the light on and noticed something small shine on the floor. I shuffled towards it and noticed it was Camila's locket.
I picked up the cold, golden locket and placed it in the cup of my bra. Everything was safer and more protected in the cup of my bra.
I felt as if all I needed to do was find the locket and head back to my room and take a quick nap.
"Lauren, breakfast!" Brady yelled from the top of the basement stairs. I peeked my head out from my room, "I'm allowed to eat with the rest of the girls?" I asked.
"Yes, but you aren't allowed to say one word to them. So just eat and come back to your room."
I nodded and walked upstairs, my middle was hurting more than ever. It hurt with every step I took. My muscles felt ripped, I know it was just because I used muscles I've never used before, but it still was super painful to walk.
I noticed all of the other girls already seated, one pair of eyes that watched me surprised me, it was Normani. I did see her name quite often in the sign in book, so I felt as if she could relate to the, 'walk of shame' coming to sit at the table.
I took a seat in front of Normani and next to Camila. Camila looked at me with eyes filled with guilt, her eyes looked as if she has been crying. I just looked over at her and nodded and shot her a warm half smile.
Normani placed her hand on top of mine, "hey, I know you can't talk right now, but when it's over feel free to talk to me about it. I'm pretty sure you've noticed I've been through this pretty often. But yeah, I'm so sorry, Lauren."
I was surprised at Normani's gesture, but I just looked at her and nodded, I rubbed her hand with my free hand and shook my head.
We continued with breakfast and I went back to my room, without speaking to any of the girls. This happened for 3 more days until I was released back into my familiar room with the girl I loved.
-
[Camila's POV]
"Shawn, stop it! I'm ticklish!" I yelled gasping for air. Shawn and I have been hanging out at the library for the past three days, I haven't seen Lauren or even heard from Lauren, so to pass the time I decided to hang out with Shawn.
Shawn released me from his embrace and said, "I'm sorry, it won't happen again." He laughed. I punched his arm playfully and walked towards a corner of the library with tons of beanbags laying out, I plopped myself on a beanbag and just relaxed. "Mind if I join you?" He asked with a cheeky smile.
"Go ahead." I said. Shawn laid out on a green beanbag next to me and let out a long sigh, "all we've done is lounge around in the library after hours, you aren't bored?"
"I mean, this town is pretty small. There's nothing else to do." I replied.
Shawn's eyes lit up, "Hey, Camila," I looked over at him and gave him my attention, "have you ever been to the hill?" He asked.
Curiosity filled my eyes, "No, what's that?"
"Just come with me."
-
[Lauren's POV]
I was finally able to go back into my room after these past couple of days. I feel like nobody could make me feel happier than Camila, so I couldn't wait to finally see her again.
I walked into my room to find nobody there, Camila was probably out exploring like usual. I just decided to sit and wait for her to come back. I sat on my twin sized bed with Camila's locket in my hand, I brushed it with my thumb and smiled to myself.
What I wanted more than anything was to just cuddle her in my arms and fall asleep without a care in the world.
-
[Camila's POV]
Shawn and I drove for about five minutes down a dirt road, he was just smiling to himself. I was curious to why he was so excited. We felt an incline and drove upwards, then we made an abrupt stop.
"We're here." Shawn said showing his familiar smile.
He opened his door and came around and opened mine. We were standing on a hill, it was so dark that you could see all of the stars twinkling in the black sky.
"It's beautiful." I said looking up at the stars. I felt Shawn looking at me, I quickly glanced at him and caught him in the act.
"What are you staring at?" I asked the brown eyed boy.
"Well, you thought the sky was beautiful, but I think that you're even more beautiful."
I began to blush, I think he noticed because he touched my cheek and said, "how cute." I moved his hand away, but instead of separating, I held his hand in mine for a while. I felt myself becoming extremely guilty, I was thinking of Lauren. But for some reason my heart was telling me it was wrong, but my brain was the one controlling my actions.
He looked at our joined hands and used one to gently grab my chin, he moved his head closer to mine and without thinking, I just leaned in and connected our lips.
His lips were extremely soft, our lips fit perfectly together. Just like Lauren and I's..
Our heads were slowly turning at a slight rhythm, and I felt his teeth shoot out from underneath his upper lip and grab onto my bottom lip. It was gentle, but rough, just like I like it.
I placed my arms around his neck and Shawn was now leaning against the hood of the car, while I was leaning on him. Lust got the best of me, I departed our lips and moved them across his jawline and onto his neck. I left a trail of soft kisses on the fair canvas, it obviously felt satisfying, because I felt something in Shawn's pants beginning to grow.
Me, being the typical tease, decided to rub against him to get him frustrated. It worked, I felt his hands on my lower back trailing lower until his hands were resting on my ass. He gripped tightly onto me and that's when I pulled away.
"This was fun, mind dropping me off?" I asked with a flirtatious voice.
Shawn looked lost, "umm, yeah..that'll be no problem at all."
-
[Lauren's POV]
I was getting bored, and it was getting late. I wonder where Camila was. I decided to go down the stairs and out the front door. I sat on a chair on the porch waiting for Camila's arrival.
I was beginning to get worried, it was already 11:45 and Camila was nowhere to be found. If Camz isn't here in five minutes I'm going to go out looking for her. I thought to myself.
Exactly five minutes later, I saw a pair of headlights coming down our street. I got up and walked off of the porch, I squinted my eyes to see who was in the car, it was Camila.
Who was driving her? She doesn't know anybody in this town, who could she be hanging out with? The headlights burnt out and the car stopped. I saw a young boy coming out from his side of the car and open up Camila's. Camila exited the car and came closer to the boy, what I saw next completely broke my heart.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a goodnight kiss. I quickly walked up to the car and interrupted, "Camila?! What is this?"
Camila pulled away from the boy and nervously replied, "Oh, hey Lauren! This is my friend, Shawn."
The boy she called, 'Shawn' put out his hand and tried to introduce himself, "hello, I'm Sha-"
I looked in his direction and pushed his hand down, "-no, fuck off, Camila, what the fuck is going on? After everything you do this?! Everything I've ever done for you has meant nothing, hasn't it?!"
Camila walked towards me and grabbed my hands, "no, Lauren..it wasn't like that, I love-"
"Stop fucking lying to me, Camila! That's all you do is fucking lie and use me! I'm done with you, I'm so done with you. Have fun with your new boyfriend, because I no longer have anything to do with you. Oh, and here you go. I rescued this for you, consider this my last favor." I said throwing the locket her way.
She picked it up and examined it closely, "Lauren...I'm so sorry."
"Fuck you, Camila. Sorry doesn't cut it."