A/N: I got 1k+ reads!!! Omfg that's so amazing! Thanks so much for reading, commenting, and voting for my fanfic! I love you all! 💖💖💖
Listen to "Unconditional" by Kehlani for this chapter.
All of them will find out the truth. Who really is Lauren?
== ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ ==
"No one hates you."
When Camila heard that voice, her head immediately went towards the door.
Dinah was there with her arms folded along with Normani and Ally beside her.
The brunette knew all too well that she wasn't going to hear the end of it. So, Camila gently asked her little sister to step outside and leave them to talk privately.
As Sofia left, the three other girls walked further into the room. Ally gently closed the door behind her.
"I don't know what happened out there. But if I did see more of the shit you were about to do to Lauren... I honestly would've smacked the Latina outta you, Camila." Dinah was serious.
It was the first, in a very long time, that the Latin beauty has ever heard her best friend say her actual name.
Camila tried avoiding eye contact with the girls in front of her. The brunette couldn't bare to see the anger in Dinah's eyes.
"Food splattered everywhere, Lauren bleeding....She was a complete mess!" The Polynesian girl spoke once more. "All I'm gonna ask is... what were you thinking?!"
Camila flinched at Dinah's tone. "I don't know okay!! I didn't mean it!"
"Are you seriously gonna give me that bullshit?" Her best friend was in disbelief. "You don't know why you had the audacity to go to the group of girls that almost killed a human being!?"
The small Latina started fiddling with her fingers anxiously. Dinah was right. Camila went to them on her own will.
"She did what?!" Ally became shocked by this new information.
"Mila, you were with the girls that hurt Lauren!?" Normani was stunned as well.
"Yeah she was. I saw them together in the alley." Dinah explained. "I can't believe you would do that Waltz... Who are you?"
Hearing that, Camila's eyes started tearing up again. She lifted her head slowly looking at the three girls. "I-I'm so sorry. I really am... I didn't know what got to me... I jus-"
"You shouldn't say sorry to us. Lauren's who you need to apologize to." Dinah approached Camila on the bed. The others followed behind.
"I was so freakin' stupid!"
"You really were stupid back there. Especially when you pushed Lauren back down." Dinah shook her head. "But we understand, the pressure got to you."
"Is Lauren still in the alley?" The small Latina hopefully looked at her best friend.
"Unfortunately no. She ran away just like you."
"Oh..." Camila recalled how she just dashed out of the alley. "I wanted to apologize before... but Stazi cut me off."
"Well, there's one thing that Lauren wanted you to do." Dinah said.
"What is it?"
"She wanted us to watch the news tomorrow."
"At seven in the morning." Ally added.
Camila was confused. "Why? What's so important about the news that she wants me to see?"
"Lauren said that everything will be cleared up tomorrow." Normani spoke. "We made a promise we'd watch it together with you."
The small Latina nodded, wiping her tears away. "Okay I will. It's the least I could do..."
"Totally. At least tomorrow's Friday. You can try to look for Lauren after school or on the weekend." Dinah declared. "That way you can give her your sincerely apology."
"I-I can't do that..." Camila got up from the bed. "She doesn't want to see my face ever again!"
"How do you know?" Ally asked raising an eyebrow.
"Lauren wasn't mad when we talked to her. I think if you put in enough effort, she'll give you a chance and actually listen." Normani added.
"They're right. Lauren doesn't seem to be the type to easily hold a grudge on someone." Dinah assured.
Camila didn't know what to say so she sat back down on her bed dejectedly. The room became silent afterwards.
A few minutes later, Normani decided to speak again. "It's getting kinda late... Ally and I should get going..."
"Hold on! Can we watch the news at my place?" The small Latina asked before the two could walk away.
"Uh sure. We'll be here at around 6:30 then." Ally smiled. Normani exited the door with her.
Dinah and Camila were left alone in the room now.
"You can leave too if you want..." The small brunette said almost inaudibly.
The Polynesian beauty thought for a second, then nodded. "Okay, I'll go. I think you need some time off for yourself." Without saying anything else, Dinah got up from the bed and left, closing the door quietly.
Now there was one... Camila cried herself to sleep that night.
[<<$$$>>]
Early the next morning, Camila got up and was ready by 6. She was pacing back and forth nervously.
"Kaki breakfast is ready!" Sofi called out from outside.
Hearing her little sister's voice, Camila opened her door and smiled. "Thanks Sof. Wanna go down together?"
The young Cabello smiled and hugged the brunette. "Yeah."
Once they got in the dining room, the food was already prepared on the table.
"Good morning." Sinu arrived after them.
"Hi Mama. Where's Papi?" Camila sat down in one of the chairs.
"He went to work already."
"Oh... Right."
Camila and Sofia rarely see their father at home anymore. Alejandro owns a huge music company: The Cabello Music Productions or the CMP for short. He had no time to stay in the mansion and be the father figure for his family.
"I don't see Papi anymore." Sofi uttered sadly eating her pancakes. "I miss him."
"We all do mija." Sinu responded. "But if he doesn't work, we wouldn't have all this."
Camila just ate her food silently. She was too busy thinking about the news to talk.
After breakfast, Dinah, Normani, and Ally finally arrived. They all sat in the living room.
"Okay its 6:50, I'll open the TV now." Dinah reached for the remote.
"Wait Lauren didn't say what channel it was on." Camila tried to stall.
"We'll find it. There's only like three channels with the news coming next."
Ally noticed the small Latina's discomfort. "Mila whatever Lauren wants us to see... Don't be nervous about it."
"Yeah it can't be that bad. Its probably just something about music and stuff." Normani comforted.
When it was time, Dinah still didn't know which channel it was on. "Dang it! It's probably on channel 5." She clicked on it quickly.
"Hello everyone and welcome to Miami News Live! I am Peter McKnight with my awesome partner Samantha Jones. We're here to report today's up to date news."
"DJ change the channel. Its not tha-" Camila stopped mid sentence.
"...And stay tuned to hear Lauren Jauregui speak about her very shocking story after these commercials."
"Oh. My. God." Dinah had her mouth open.
Ally and Normani had shocked expressions too.
"What's going on?" Camila was clueless.
"Lauren can't be that Lauren..." The Polynesian beauty proclaimed.
"It can't be..." Ally said.
"If she's that Lauren, we have a huge problem..." Normani uttered.
"What are you guys talking about?!" Camila shouted out of frustration. "What do you mean if Lauren was that Lauren?"
"Chancho, do you not know who Lauren Jauregui is?" Dinah asked.
"N-no.. Should I know her?"
"Well yeahh!! Your father basically owns a whole music company! You should at least know her name!"
"But I don't! So tell me who she is!!" Camila yelled back.
Dinah was about to explain until the news came back on.
"We're back! Thank you for waiting. Now let's get on to the juicy stuff. Samantha please introduce us to our first guest."
"Of course Peter. Here we have the one and only Lauren Jauregui! If you don't know who she is, you're missing out. Lauren here is a very successful singer and song writer. Her uncle is a very well known music producer who has helped Lauren throughout her career."
"Now Lauren, please tell everyone why you were on hiatus for the past month." Peter said.
The camera focuses on Lauren now.
"First I'd like to say thank you for having me. Also, hello to everyone watching and listening to what I have to say."
"Its no problem at all. Please entertain us." Samantha spoke.
"Okay um let's see, the reason why I was on hiatus... Well basically, I did a social experiment. Some of the crew members helped set up cameras or blended into the crowd to record me. I was disguised as a homeless person for the experiment."
"No way..." Camila was looking at the TV screen surprised. Lauren's a celebrity?! She looks so different now...
"Waltz, shhh!!" Dinah quieted the brunette quickly.
"They would record what others would do if I approached them and similar things like that."
"Wow that's so daring of you! What have you found out so far Lauren?" Peter asked.
"Long story short, really cruel people do exist. I actually wanted to stop after the first week. People who I tried talking to either shoved me away or threatened me. It was the worst experience I had ever encountered... Luckily that changed when I met a certain girl in an alley."
"Who is this girl you speak of?" Samantha asked now.
"I don't want to say who she is, but she was different. We didn't have the best first impressions, but she looked past that and helped me out. She and her best friend would keep me company after school like I was their friend too. They were the first to make me feel like I had a place in this world you know? Even giving me some of their money. Of course I never used it. I was planning to return it to them once the experiment was done."
"That's very amazing to hear about someone willing to help out the homeless." Peter smiled.
Lauren's face became sad now.
"You could say that... But nothing lasts forever."
"Oh no. What happened Lauren?" Samantha questioned.
"Well, there was a time when a group of girls beat me up. The real reason why they did that was to steal the money they saw I had."
"Waltz, I told you so! Lauren didn't steal no freakin wallet!! It was the other way around!!!" Dinah suddenly shouted.
"Shhh DJ!!" Camila was the one that quieted her best friend now.
"Yesterday, the girl I came to trust started acting cold towards me. She started bullying and smacking food at me like I wasn't even human. I was shocked to see her with the girls that put me in the hospital. She believed them that I was the one who stole their wallets! Even when I told her I didn't... She just ignored me... it hurt my heart so much. I really liked her... But then she went and did that to me."
The cameraman catches Lauren wiping tears from her eyes.
"I'm really sorry to hear that. Is the bandage on your left cheek the result of it?" Peter uttered.
"Yeah. It still stings a lot, but at least my lips healed."
"Well, we all hope you feel better soon. You're fans still think you are very beautiful. So keep smiling brightly. And it was very thoughtful of you to donate $500,000 to the Homeless and Less Fortunate Association." Samantha said.
"So folks that's it for our guest Lauren Jauregui! If you want to see the full clip of Lauren explaining what happened when she was on hiatus, go to our official website at miaminewslive.com." Peter announced.
When the channel went to commercial again, Dinah decided to turn it off.
"It was part of a social experiment..." Camila started.
"Mila, you wouldn't have known." Normani tried to comfort the small Latina by rubbing her back.
"I hurt Lauren and now the whole world will find out what I did to her..."
"People must pay the price for doing wrong in this world." Dinah was really shocked about Lauren's true identity, but it felt like something was missing.
"DJ she used us both!" Camila suddenly stood up from the couch. "I knew it all along! She did it just for the stupid fame!!"
"Don't you dare turn this situation around Waltz!!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"You need to chill!" Dinah exclaimed. "I forgot to tell you that Lauren said sorry for yesterday, even if she didn't do anything wrong. She also apologized in advance for today. So don't even think about getting mad at her again!"
Camila looked at her best friend confused. "She apologized?..."
"Yeah Mila. Its all true." Ally added.
"Why are you still mad at Lauren anyway? She was looking into how most people treat one another when they have different backgrounds." The Polynesian beauty called out. "She should be the one outraged by you for being one of those people!"
"If you want to talk to her face to face, at least get your head out of your ass first and apologize." Normani said.
Suddenly Sofia walked into the room. "They are right!"
All of the girls faced the younger Cabello now.
"Sof it's not nice to eavesdrop..." Camila lectured.
"And it's not nice to hold a grudge on someone when you don't really know them." Sofia retorted back.
The brunette was shocked to here that coming from her little sister.
"See Waltz. Even Sofia knows better than you and she's like half your age." Dinah announced.
Camila just sighed. "Okay. After school we'll look for Lauren."
"Who says we're coming with you?"
"You're leaving me to do this alone?"
"Yeah, but we're not leaving you to do this alone. We're leaving you to fix the problem you created on your own." Dinah rephrased.
"Thanks. You officially made me feel guilty about this." Camila replied.
"Good, cuz what are best friends' for? I'm doing this for you. And like what some people have said I'll give you a taste of your own medicine."
"Go Dinah!!" Sofia clapped.
"Yeah!" Dinah high fived the younger Cabello.
Normani and Ally laughed at the interaction.
"Well, we need to go to school now." Ally checked the time. "It'll take us 20 minutes to get there. We need to hurry!"
"She's right. Cmon guys!" Normani stood up and headed to the front door with Ally.
Camila scratched her head. "This isn't fair! How am I supposed to find Lauren by myself? She could be anywhere!!"
"Life isn't fair Waltz. And karma is a bitch so deal with the consequences and fix things with Lauren!" Dinah pushed her playfully heading to the front with the others.
"Yeah Kaki!" Sofi pushed Camila too and ran towards Dinah.
"DJ you're giving Sofia a bad influence!" Camila shouted.
Dinah just flicked her middle finger at the brunette. Sofia was about to do the same thing, but the Polynesian girl quickly grabbed the younger Cabello's hands to stop her.
[<<$$$>>]
Nothing eventful happened that school day. Like what Stazi and other girls promised they cleared things up with everyone. They also didn't bother Camila anymore.
The other students stopped staring and gossiping about her. The brunette was thankful for that.
When the final bell rang, all of them met in the parking lot.
"Ayee Chancho!!" Dinah shouted waving at her best friend.
"Hey DJ." Camila smiled.
"So here's what's up. I'll ride with Ally in Normani's car."
"You were actually serious about me doing this alone?"
"Duhh, it's Friday! Look for Lauren in the city or something. Tell your butler Egypt to take you." Dinah explained.
"But I can't do this alone DJ!! If you guys come with me it'll be quicker!" Camila pleaded.
"Sorry, no means no. She must have Twitter or something. Lauren's gonna mention where she is to her fans. If that doesn't work there's gotta be fan accounts that could help."
There was a honk. It was Normani's car and Ally in the back seat.
"I have to go! Tell us if you find her!" Dinah ran towards the vehicle.
"Hey Mila!!" Normani and Ally said in unison. Once the Polynesian beauty got in, they all waved goodbye and drove off.
Camila watched them leave. When her three friends were out of view, she called Egypt to give her a ride.
Waiting, Camila did what Dinah suggested.
She went on Twitter first. Typing in Lauren's name, Camila scrolled down her account. A particular post caught the small Latina's eye.
Lauren Jauregui @LaurenJauregui
Guys I'll be at Miami Beach if you wanna meet me ✌✌
"Miami Beach?" Camila said out loud.
"Would you like to go there?" Egypt asked standing in front of the limo.
"Whoa that was quick. And yeah, if you don't mind."
Before getting in the vehicle, Camila followed Lauren on Twitter. She also set the notification thing on just in case the green eyed beauty posted something else.
Her butler opened the door. "Wherever you choose to go I'll gladly take you there Camila."
The small Latina just smiled back getting in. "Thank you Egypt."
Getting to their destination took about an hour. Camila even fell asleep during the drive there. Her butler had to shake her awake.
Yawning, Camila almost forgot what she was even doing. Regaining her thoughts, she told Egypt to stay in the limo until she comes back.
Camila searched everywhere for Lauren. But there was too many people in the beach. It was nearly impossible to find the green eyed beauty.
Just then, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took the device out and checked it.
Lauren Jauregui @LaurenJauregui
Sorry lovelies, change of plans. Too much people are at the beach rn. 😭 I'll have to stay at the Music Records building downtown. 😥
"Are you kidding me?" Camila was sweaty and her hair was everywhere. But she didn't have any other choice, the brunette turned around to head back the limo again.
Opening the door, Camila quickly got in. "Egypt!! Do you know.. where the Music Records building is?!" She said out of breath.
"Yes I do. Do you need water first? I can get some in the trunk." Egypt asked.
"N-no, I'm fine. Please just get there as soon as possible."
"Will do." He turned on the engine and drove off once more.
It took about another half hour, but they finally got to the building. It was huge and was about 100 stories tall.
"Okay Egypt, you can go wherever you like. I'll call when I need another ride." Camila explained. "Thanks again!" She got out of the limo.
Gratefully there weren't too many fans waiting for Lauren outside. Egypt drove away once the doorman let Camila in.
The brunette headed to the front desk now. "Hi I want to see Lauren Jauregui. Is she here?"
The woman looked at Camila. "Who are you to Ms. Jauregui?"
"You could say I'm an acquaintance of Lauren."
"Okay, name please?"
"Camila Cabello."
The secretary grabbed the phone and dialed it. "Ms. Jauregui, someone by the name of Camila Cabello is here to see you... Uh yes... Okay ma'am. I'll tell her right away."
The Latin beauty was looking at the woman hopefully as she hung up the call.
"Ms. Jauregui agreed to seeing you."
Camila smiled gratefully. "Really?! Thank you! What floor is she on?"
"She's at the very top floor. It's her penthouse."
"The very top floor?..."
"Yes. That would be on Floor 100."
"Floor 100!? Are you serious? It'll take me forever to get there!!"
"If you can't go today... You can come back when she's available again." The secretary looked at a calendar. "That'll be in 3 months."
Camila's eyes widened again. "Um.. No, I'll just go today."
The woman nodded. "The elevator is to you right then."
"Th-thanks." Camila walked off awkwardly. This is insane! The hundredth floor?!
The brunette pressed the button to signal the elevator. When it opened, Camila slowly went inside.
Pressing the 100th Floor button on the side, the Latin beauty took a deep breath out as the elevator closed.
"It's all or nothing now..."
== ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ ==
A/N: It's gonna get real!! And you guys will be in Lauren's and Camila's POV for the first time next chapter! I'm so excited to write it!
Please give me your feedback. It's always welcome.
Thank you so much for continuing to read, vote, and comment on my story.
Be Unique. Always.
~ Lorraine :)
Tumblr: officially-uniquee89