Camila is fast asleep in the bottom bunk when Ariana and Lauren enter the dorm.
They don't even notice her at first. It's late at night and they're both too busy laughing over the fact that Lauren almost ran straight into the screen door.
After Camila had stormed off, Lauren had caught up with Ariana. She immediately knew something was wrong by the dark, dark green air she saw surrounding her. So she'd asked if the small girl wanted to accompany her to the library. They ended up getting roped into helping one of the Instructors clean up the lounge, but even then Lauren had found ways to make it fun.
Ariana likes Lauren as a friend. It's nice to have someone besides Camila who treats her like a normal human being. And Lauren doesn't mind that she doesn't talk. It's almost as if Lauren can tell what she's thinking.
"I can't believe I survived my first day at witch camp," Lauren laughs, shaking her head and sitting down on the bottom bunk. She immediately knows something is wrong when the blankets move and suddenly she's thrown off the bed.
"Wha... what the?" Camila bolts upright out of bed. Unfortunately, she forgets that she's on the bottom bunk and her forehead collides with the bottom of Ariana's bed. She curses under her breath and holds both hands against her head.
"Oh my god," Lauren quickly hops back to her feet and glances at Ariana, who is frozen by the door, watching the scene unfold. "I am so sorry, I didn't even know you w—,"
"What are you doing here?" Camila hisses, keeping her voice low. She looks around the room and locks eyes with Ariana, remembering the day's earlier events.
"I-I'll go," Lauren shakes her head and gives Ariana an apologetic smile. Before Camila even has time to think, the green eyed girl is gone.
What is your problem with her?
Camila's head shoots up and she watches as Ariana storms over to stand in front of her bunk. The smaller girl has her arms crossed in frustration.
"She sat on me!" Camila whisper-yells, knowing that if she doesn't keep her voice down that they'll cause a scene. "She sat on me!"
She didn't mean to!
"What time is it even?" Camila huffs, retrieving her phone from under her pillow. She glares at her friend once she checks the time.
I didn't realize how late it was... Ariana bites her lip. Camila senses her friend's sincerity and sighs, flopping back on her bed.
"It took me forever to fall asleep in the first place. I'm never gonna get back to sleep now," the girl sighs. Ariana tilts her head to the side and gently sits on the edge of Camila's bed.
I don't even need to read your thoughts to know you're overthinking the whole specialty thing.
"It's stupid!" Camila huffs, sitting up and crossing her legs underneath her. "Why me? It's not even like I'm a bad student or anything! I work my ass off and I still get a fucking... a fucking block of wood for a wand! And then there's Dinah, who doesn't even try, but even she's doing better than me! How is that fair?"
It's not. Ariana admits, shaking her head. I know I keep telling you that it'll happen eventually, and I know you don't believe me, but trust me. I know it will happen.
"I sure hope so," Camila sighs and shakes her head. "Listen, I didn't mean to snap at y—,"
Ariana shakes her head. I shouldn't have said that. It's fine. Can we watch a movie?
Camila can't help but laugh at her friend's ability to change subjects so quickly. She nods, and soon Ariana is lying down on the bed next to her and eagerly opening the laptop.
—
Lauren can't sleep.
She can't stop thinking about Camila. It's so weird. She's always been so used to reading people within a second. But Camila is different. Because Camila is the only person Lauren's ever met that doesn't have an aura. And it scares her, yet intrigues her at the same time.
But Lauren's basically ruined all her chances of ever being on Camila's good side. Because she sat on her. She literally sat on her.
Dinah's fast asleep on the other side of the room, with one leg hanging off the bed and her hair sprawled all over the place.
Lauren hates when she can't fall asleep right away. Her thoughts start to cycle around and around in circles, pulling her deeper and deeper into a vortex of insomnia.
When two hours pass and she still finds herself staring aimlessly into darkness, she gives up. The green eyed girl retrieves Dylan's letterman jacket from the hooks by the door and tugs it over her shoulders. It smells like home, which makes her feel even worse.
The air is even colder at night, and she hugs her arms around her torso to keep herself warm. It's so windy that she has to keep her head down to keep her eyes protected. She's not even sure where she's going, she's just trying to clear her head.
After a few minutes of walking, Lauren finds herself running into someone and stumbling backwards. She nearly falls flat on her ass but a hand reaches out and grabs her before she does.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there," Lauren apologizes to the mystery stranger, becoming exasperated.
"Is it cause' I'm black?"
"What?" Lauren tilts her head to the side and squints her eyes to try and see who she's talking to. When she realizes who it is, she quickly shakes her head. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean t—,"
"Forget it," Normani sighs, brushing her hands off on her pajama pants and looking the girl up and down. "What are you even doing out here?"
"I-I couldn't sleep," Lauren stutters. "What are y—?"
She's suddenly cut off by a hand clamping over her mouth. Normani pulls her into the nearest building, quickly pulling the door shut behind them. Confused, Lauren shoves the girl off of her.
"What the hell?" she hisses, glaring at the dark skinned girl.
"Shh," Normani holds up a hand, threatening to cover her mouth once again. Lauren suddenly hears the clicking of heels against the walkway, and realizes what just happened.
"God you're annoying," Normani mumbles, shaking her head. "I was actually trying to help you."
"Well sorry I don't exactly trust you after you decide that you hate me for some unknown reason," Lauren mutters under her breath, grabbing the doorknob. She plans on storming out, but when the door doesn't budge, she feels her stomach drop.
"What?" Normani hisses, moving Lauren out of the way and trying to turn the doorknob. It's stuck.
"Great," Lauren huffs, sliding down against the wall and groaning. Normani refuses to give up, though. She kicks the bottom of the door, trying anything to get the lock unstuck.
"Where even are we?" Normani mutters, feeling around on the wall for a light switch. Moments later, the room is dimly illuminated by a single lightbulb. They're in a storage shed.
"You've got to be kidding me," Normani kicks the bottom of the door in frustration before sitting down against the wall and letting her head fall into her hands. "This is all your fault."
"My fault?" Lauren snaps back, glaring at the girl across the floor.
"Yes, your fault! If you had just fucking stayed in your bunk this wouldn't have happened!"
"I could say the same for you!" Lauren clenches her fists. "Why the hell were you even out here?!"
"I was rudely awoken by a snake on my fucking face," Normani sends Lauren a heated glare, and Lauren is thankful that the girl doesn't have heat vision or something, or else she'd be dead. "A snake. And it took me forever to fall asleep in the first place because my fucking roommate thinks she's the crocodile hunter and her freaking birds never shut up!"
Lauren is about to lash back at the girl, but she stops at the last moment when she realizes that the aura around Normani has become a dark, muddied blue. She bites her lip, forcing herself to not snap at the girl.
"You're not mad at me, are you...?" Lauren sighs. "You're just taking it out on me."
"Taking what out?" Normani snaps. Lauren uses all her will power to keep calm.
"I don't know," she shrugs softly. "We're in the same boat, you know... I don't want to be here any more than you do. I didn't ask for any of this."
"Yeah, well I didn't ask for a sister, either," Normani's voice falters slightly, and Lauren notices this.
"Understandable," the green eyed girl nods. "You miss it."
"Miss what?"
"Home," Lauren nods softly. "I can tell."
"You don't know me," Normani lashes back, shaking her head. "You don't know anything about me."
"I know that you miss your family and right now you're feeling incredibly guilty about something," Lauren says softly. "And you're only mad at me because you know I'm right."
Normani opens her mouth to say something, but pauses and slowly lets her jaw shut once again. She sighs in defeat and leans back against the wall. "How do you know?"
"I-I... you..." Lauren sighs and gives in. "You're dark blue. Well, it's dark, but it's also like... brownish. And more solid than usua, but like—,"
"I'm blue?" Normani asks in confusion. Lauren nods hesitantly.
"Your aura changes depending on your mood," she tries to explain. "Apparently I'm the only person that can see them. I didn't even know it was a special thing until we got here."
"Wait, so, I'm blue?" Normani looks down at her hands, turning them over and narrowing her eyes.
"Not you," Lauren laughs and shakes her head. "It's just like... the air around you," she motions with her hands. "Like a forcefield, kinda."
"That's why you're here?" Normani asks, tilting her head to the side. "Did your parents know?"
"Parent," Lauren corrects her with a soft nod. "My mom had no clue. I was a one night stand baby. I mean, weren't you? Isn't that what they told us?"
"It's news to me," Normani nods. Lauren notices how her aura darkens even more. "It's not fun, you know."
"What isn't?"
"Finding out that the man who raised you from birth isn't your actual dad," she sighs. Lauren furrows her eyebrows together in confusion.
"I don't even know the full story. All I know is that my mom cheated while she was married to my dad. Well, my fake dad. She never told him I wasn't his. And we all grew up thinking I was, except for her."
"Damn," Lauren bites her lip. "I didn't realize y—,"
"Save it," Normani waves her hand to dismiss Lauren's apology. "We've both found ourselves in pretty shitty situations." The green eyed girl across the small shed nods in agreement.
"You know, they told me you were the one who got us found out," Lauren says after a few moments of lingering silence. "I didn't even know I had powers. Why'd you hide yours?"
"I didn't," Normani shakes her head. "I didn't know I had them either."
"Can you read auras too?"
Normani shakes her head. "I wish."
"Well then how'd they figure out about us? What could you possibly have done to attract their attention?" Lauren furrows her eyebrows together, trying to come up with a possible explanation.
"I killed someone."
Lauren laughs, shaking her head and continuing to try and figure this out.
"I'm serious," Normani speaks again, biting her lip. "I really did kill someone."
Lauren pauses, looking up at the girl and realizing she wasn't joking. The room suddenly becomes smaller and she makes note of all the various garden tools surrounding them. Her eyes widen. Even Normani sees her fear.
"Woah, woah, I'm not going to murder you," Normani can't help but laugh at Lauren's reaction. "Trust me, I would have already done it by now if I wanted to."
Lauren sighs in relief, but continues to look at the girl questioningly. "How the hell did you kill someone? Set them on fire or something?"
"I wish it was that easy," Normani sighs, shaking her head. "It's a long story."
"I have time," Lauren sits up and nods softly. Sighing, the dark skinned girl runs a hand through her hair and thinks for a few moments.
"I had just started dating this guy, Austin, right? He was the first guy I've ever really been serious with. I don't really do relationships," she shrugs. "Everyone thought I was a whore or whatever, but I hadn't even had my first kiss."
"But whatever. Long story short, we were in my room, and we kissed," she nods softly, and Lauren can tell this isn't an easy story for her to tell. "Next thing I know... he's dead."
"Dead?"
"Dead," Normani confirms her words. "It wasn't even like... fainting dead, you know? He started bleeding out of his mouth and his eyes and..." she squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head. "Dead. He was dead."
"Oh my god," Lauren whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. "How'd you kill him?"
"Did you not just hear what I said?" Normani raises an eyebrow. "I kissed him."
"You killed him with a kiss?" Lauren's eyes widen.
"They called it the 'kiss of death' or some shit," Normani shakes her head. "I don't even know how they found me. I didn't know what to do so I just told my parents we fell asleep and when I woke up he was like that..."
"But then they showed up at my door not even a week later and now... here we are," she motions around the room, offering Lauren a sad smile.
"That's so.... so... fucked up," Lauren shakes her head. Normani just nods in agreement.
"But I mean, you can find the positive in anything," Lauren shrugs, trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, you're like some badass seductress that seduces villains and then kills them with a single kiss," she laughs nervously. Normani can't help but laugh along.
They continue talking for a while, completely oblivious to how much time has passed. Lauren finds out that they have more in common than they thought. They both end up deciding that they got their mutual love of music from their father.
It's now almost morning, and both girls are growing tired. Lauren is now lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling while they talk.
"Hey, you know that girl I was partnered with in combat?" Normani asks, interrupting the comfortable silence. Lauren props herself up on her elbow and raises an eyebrow.
"Dinah?" She asks, earning a nod from Normani. "Yeah. She's my roommate. Why?"
Normani shrugs, avoiding eye contact with Lauren. "I dunno. Just wondering. She's cute."
"Cute?" Lauren scoffs, nearly bursting into laughter. "Dinah? Cute? Are you sure we've got the same Dinah?"
"I don't know," Normani glances over at the girl. "She was just being all shy and stuff around me, like she was trying to impress me or something."
Lauren has to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying anything she shouldn't.
"You should talk to her more," Lauren shrugs. "I think you two would get along."
"You do?" Normani raises an eyebrow. "Do you think you could like... 'invite' me into your bunk one day? I mean, if you want, obviously. It doesn't matter either way."
Lauren can't help but laugh softly and she lays her head back down, gazing at the ceiling. "I'll think about it."