The duo arrived at their destination not to long ago, they were enjoying their time together and the night was going perfectly.
"Oh my gosh, I don't remember the Undertow being that thrilling when we were younger." Lauren said with a spring in her step as Camila is clutching onto her arm.
"Why did I agree to this?" Camila muttered, Lauren just laughed at what the younger girl just said and continued walking to go and see what the camera has captured on the ride. Lauren looked up at the multiple screens before them, pointing at the one with the duo on it.
"Aw, I think that one is a keeper. Don't cha think, Camz?" The young Cuban looked at the screen Lauren was pointing at as a small blush crossed her cheeks. The screen displayed the two girls, Lauren smiling all goofily as Camila was clutching onto her dear friend like her life depended on it with her head ducked into Lauren's neck. Before Camila could respond, her friend was already buying two wallet sized copies of the picture for the both of them.
"Here ya go," Lauren says as she hands Camila one of the copies of the picture. The younger girl took it from her, and gratefully smiled.
"Thanks, Laur-" Camila was cut off when someone bumped into her side. Lauren caught the girl before she could fall.
"Yo, watch it buddy boy." Lauren said to the guy who bumped into Camila.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry- wait, Camila? Is that you?" The young Cuban furrowed her eyebrows as she turned to see who the mystery boy was. Her eyes slightly widened at who she saw, Shawn.
"Oh, hey Shawn." Camila said with an awkward smile, as she stood up from Lauren's arms. Lauren stood to the side, and watched as the two ex's interacted with each other.
"Long time no see, huh?" He says as he slides his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Camila nodded as she kept her gaze at the young boy.
"Yeah, it's been awhile." She muttered. Lauren could feel the uneasy tension filling up the atmosphere, and she felt like she was suffocating.
"So, um. Who's your friend here?" Shawn asked politely as he motioned to the green eyed girl next to Camila.
"Oh right, this is Lauren." Lauren politely smiles as Camila introduces her, the older girl notices how Shawn's eyebrows raise just a little bit and small smirk appears across his lips, Camila's eyes widen as Shawn fixes his gaze back at her. The young girl shakes her head subtly, motioning him not to say anything embarrassing.
"So you're the famous Lauren, I've heard lots about you!" Shawn said with a bright smile, holding his hand out as Lauren took it hers to shake.
"Hopefully all good things, knowing this one." She said with a soft laugh as she looked over at the young girl beside her. Camila smiled at her friend before clenching her jaw as she turned to Shawn, he just ignored her and kept talking with his smile of his.
"Of course! Camila would always go on and on about you, always has the best things to say about you. It's like I know you already," He says and Lauren chuckles softly. "Well I better get going, my friends are probably looking for me, nice seeing you again Camila and real nice meeting you Lauren." He steps back and waves a quick good-bye before walking off. Lauren looks over at the young girl with a small laugh.
"So you talked about me huh?" She said with a grin, Camila shoved Lauren playfully before rolling her eyes.
"Don't flatter yourself, Jauregui." She said before walking off as Lauren followed quickly behind her.
"What'dya used to tell him about me?" Lauren asked genuinely curious about what Camila has told about her. The shorter girl glanced over at Lauren briefly before looking back forward as she pretends to zip her lips, lock it, and toss the key behind her back. Lauren scoffed before nudging Camila gently with her shoulder with a small smile. They continued to walk down the pier in a comfortable silence as they admired the atmosphere around them.
"When people would talk about baseball, I would think of you. I know baseball is not exactly the same as softball, but they're similar. I would go on and on about how my best friend, Lauren Jauregui, was the best softball player in Miami Florida. And no one could strike her out, no one can catch a ball like she can, no one can pitch as fast as she can." Camila spoke, with a small smile. Lauren couldn't help but blush with her own smile creeping onto her lips.
"And when I used to go to parties, of course I was surrounded by drunken idiots, but they seemed to talk in such a way that was music to my ears. They were so insightful and deep, that reminded my of you too. When they finished telling me their insightful, dreamfilied stories. I would tell them mine about how my best friend was the most imaginative person I know. And how she would tell me about the world and her dreams." Camila looked down at her feet as she continued to talk, "They would listen to me as I talked about you." Lauren listened intently to every word Camila shared with her, she was holding onto her every sentence.
"Gosh, I used to talk about you so much t everybody. That's how much I missed you, that's the only way I could actually remember you." Camila finished, as she looked back up at Lauren. "I don't know how I'm going to survive when you leave to go back home. When you leave me again." Lauren's heart broke when she heard Camila say that, she was brought back into reality. She took a look around only to find that they have reached the end of the boardwalk. The neon lights barely lighting up their surroundings as they were the only two there.
The crashing of the waves filled the air and so did Camila's sniffles. Lauren saw her friend's head ducked down, her first instinct was to hold the girl. So she did. She held her close while the young Cuban cried.
"Hey, Camz, I'm not leaving forever. I mean you are moving to California and you're going to be close to me again." Lauren said softly, Camila buried her head into her neck and held her tighter, "Just like old times." After a few moments, Camila's tears subsided and everything was calm once again. The warm wind blowing against their bodies as they held each other.
"Lauren?" Camila said, lifting her head slightly from where it was resting. Lauren hummed in response.
"I'm sorry," Camila said softly.
"Sorry for what?" Lauren asks, unwrapping her arms from the young girl to look at her.
"For everything that happened to us before. How we ended things which caused us to stop talking, which caused us to drift apart, which caused us to-" Camila was interrupted by Lauren taking her into her arms once again.
"Camila, that's the past. It's behind us now, we just gotta keep moving forward. It's you and me against the world, remember?" Lauren said with a hopeful smile.
~
"C'mon Lo! We have to save the citizens of Miami!" Six year old Camila yelled as she ran across the yard with her blue cape flowing in the wind. The eight year old followed with her own green cape rippling in the wind as they continued to fight the cyborgs and aliens attacking the city, attempting to take over the world. They fought with their imaginations until the sun was setting, the two superheroes flying across the lawn making whooshing noises with their mouths.
The young Camila pretended to be dangling off of the side of a building, yelling for her best friend to come save her.
"Lauren, help!"
"Super Lauren, to the rescue!!!" Lauren swooped in on the seen and grabbed Camila's tiny hand in hers and they both ran to safety. They both let their bodies fall to the grass as they looked up at the sky, laughing and giggling. There hands still being held by each other as they watched the stars begin to appear before their eyes. Capes still around their necks, they felt as powerful as ever together.
"Little heroes! It's time to get back inside, it's getting dark!" Lauren's mom yelled from the back porch. The duo got back up on their feet, dusting themselves off. They glanced over to each other and smiled.
"You and me against the world, Camzi! Fighting evil." The young green eyed girl said.
"You and me against the world, Lo! Evil doesn't stand a chance!" And with that being said the two raced up to Lauren's back porch and back inside her house.
~
"Yup, you and me." Camila looked up at the stars in the sky and in that moment she felt like a six year old girl all over again.
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AHHHHH finally an update for paper airplanes. it has literally been forever, i'm convinced no one even reads this story, but it's all good. bc it's fun to write this story. i'm so tired and i need to start my hw so have a good night/day wherever you are. lots of love.
-celeste
(omg, p.s. a very grand special thanks to SLOTHTATO for creating the new cover for this story, it's bomb af and definitely better than the one i made. i might just make slothtato make all my covers lmao. again thank you so much, i owe you.)