Camila's POV
"What kind of people do you allow into this school?" My mom was raging, questioning the principal. The principal looked to be in deep distress. "That teacher took advantage of my daughter!" she claimed.
"No!" I retorted. "She did not take advantage of me," I stated firmly. My mom didn't know what she was talking about. She had to stop talking and just hear me out.
"Camila, don't say a word," she huffed.
"You can't silence me," I retorted. "Mami, drop the charges," I demanded. "Lauren is not a pedophile," I clarified. "She doesn't deserve to be in jail," I added.
"Please stay calm," the nurse was checking up on me. To our side, there was a juice box and cookies. Oh sure, as if this wasn't making me feel like a child enough. And how in the hell was I supposed to stay calm? All I wanted to do was see Lauren. "These will make you feel better," she pushed the snacks closer to me.
I sighed, "I don't want them," I refused them. I then turned my attention to the principal, "Please, you know Lauren, she's not a bad person," I needed an adult on my side.
"Miss Cabello, Miss Jauregui committed a felony by being involved with you," he did not need to state it, I already knew that, but... ugh, I just needed him to back me up. That wasn't going to happen though, not with my mom here.
"I want her in prison." My mom was sure as hell irritating me! No, Lauren couldn't go to prison. Not her.
"And I want you out of here!" I shouted. It was an automatic response, I didn't even think it through. I looked down to the ground, avoiding eye contact with her.
That's when the nurse walked out of the principal's office.
"Karla. Let's go," My mom spoke firmly, now heading towards the door. "There are things I have to handle, I have to make sure that the teacher gets punished," she added.
I sighed, skeptically, "No, you can't do that," I followed after her, leaving the office. The principal was speaking behind us, but neither of us were paying attention to him. We just kept on walking. I tried catching up to my mom. "Mami, I love her," I stated. She needed to know.
She stopped instantly and turned around with tears in her eyes, "Don't you ever, and I mean ever, dare to repeat that again," she said through her gritted teeth. Her jaw clenched in anger. "You will never see that woman again, I'll make sure of that," she huffed and kept walking out of the school's building.
I was deeply hurt by everything. I wanted her support, I didn't want her to be against Lauren. Only my parents could either destroy or fix everything. Hopefully my dad was going to help me out. He was my only hope left.
In order to get to my car, I had to go to the students parking lot. To get there, I had to pass through the halls, fortunately, classes were still in session. Meaning that I didn't have to put up with all of the gossiping that was bound to be spreading. By this time, the whole school must of known what happened. Even though I had friends in my algebra II class, there were also other students who I didn't speak to. Those probably got the word out through texts.
I needed to hurry though. First period was about to end.
I jogged through the empty halls and fast walked once I was out of the building. Right on time, the bell rang, which meant everyone was dismissed out of class. Good thing I was near the parking lot already.
I wiped tears off my face, I couldn't stop crying. The fact that Lauren had been arrested was hurting me deeply. The pain in my chest and heart was too much to handle. I needed to do something, anything to get Lauren out.
My phone was ringing. That was strange, no one usually called me. Most of the time, people only texted. I looked at the screen, it was Shawn. I questioned answering him. My hands were shaking, I needed to calm down, but couldn't.
I needed my friends.
"Hello," my voice cracked.
"Camila, where are you?" concern was heard in his voice.
I looked at my car and then at the school building, "I'm... I'm at the parking lot," I cried. Lauren. I couldn't stop thinking about her. I needed to know how she was doing. If she was being treated bad, or if she was being treated with some kind of respect. Thoughts crossed my mind. My main concern was my baby, I was worrying about her.
"Stay right there, we're on our way."
"YEAH CHANCHO! You better park that cuban booty right this instant," I heard Dinah shout in the background. And with that being said, Shawn ended the call with a light chuckle.
Not wanting anyone to see me, I got in my car. I tilted my head back, against the headrest and let the painful tears run freely. My thumb nails dug into my skin, wishing for that pain to distract me from the emotional one. No, it wasn't enough. I felt tears after tears washing over my cheeks. Almost like a waterfall. The pain was even felt in my throat. The urge of wanting to shout appeared. All these feelings were coming up, taking over me. Leaving me defenseless. I didn't know what to do to make it go away.
"Lolo," I cried. All of this was my fault. Lauren wouldn't have been arrested if it weren't for me. "I'm sorry," I slouched in the driver's seat.
The car doors opened. It was Shawn and Dinah. Dinah sat in the front passenger seat while Shawn took the back seat.
"Oh Chanch, come here babes," Dinah wrapped her arms around me, barely pulling me towards her in the car.
"Hey, I'm sorry for what happened," I felt Shawn's hand on my back, trying to comfort me.
Even though I had them here with me now, I still felt hopeless. Useless. What the hell was I even doing here? I needed to talk to my dad and convince him of helping me out. Like I said, he was my only hope.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Dinah asked me in a soft voice.
Instead of answering her, I cried even harder onto her shoulder.
"Everything is gonna be just fine Mila," Shawn stated.
That's what he was saying, but it wasn't true. Nothing was going to be fine. I had to face reality, everything was probably going down hill from here. There was no way that everything was going to flip itself around. Even if Lauren was released, what about her teaching job? Her teacher's license was going to be taken away. That was for sure.
Lauren loved to teach, now what was she going to do? I ruined that for her.
"Thanks for trying to help, Shawn," I looked up from Dinah's shoulder and she released me a bit. I turned to Shawn, "But I really doubt that everything will be fine," more tears rolled down. I wiped them off, "I have to go," I rearranged myself on the seat.
"You can't drive like this," Dinah said in astonishment.
"I have to," I insisted. Lauren needed me. Wasting time was not going to help.
"Lemme drive," Shawn offered. "Come on, Mila, I'll even drive fast," he probed.
Without saying a word, I stepped out of the driver's seat and went to the back seat. Shawn made his way to the driver's seat and started the engine. As he waited for the engine to warm up, Dinah made her way to the back seat and held me. I pushed back and instead layed my head in her lap as she combed her fingers through my hair, in comfort.
My eyes closed for once. All the crying had made me exhausted and made my eyes weak. Keeping my eyes closed made me feel worse though. Terrible thoughts invaded my mind. The worse possibilities appeared. My mind was only focusing on that. I needed a distraction and quick.
My friends stayed quiet the whole time. Even though it was silent, I kept hearing noise. The noise that my heart was making as it was beating hard against my chest. The heartbeat pounded in my ears. The rumors and gossip shouted through them too. I was already able to imagine it all. For now, I didn't want to go back to school.
How was Lauren doing? How was she feeling? Was she scared? Was she cold? Where was she being held at? Was she in a jail cell? Oh no, I didn't want to imagine that. Was she alone? Was she being questioned? Was she being yelled at? Hopefully neither one of those. Or any of them for that matter.
"How did you guys find out?" I asked, as a distraction.
"I heard it in first period," Shawn was the first to answer.
"Me too," replied Dinah. "At first I couldn't believe it, but then a picture of Miss Jauregui handcuffed was shown to me," she added. Hmm, I didn't even notice when someone took it. Fucking bastard.
"Were people talking?" I asked. That was such a stupid question, obviously people were going to be talking.
"Yes, but it doesn't matter what they think," she stated. "They don't know the whole story. They need the full story in order to understand," she added. Her and Shawn didn't either, yet they were being understanding and comforting. Only because they were true friends.
"Camila, do you know how it all came out?" Shawn was curious.
"I think Lucy snitched," I answered, almost confident about it. Who else could it have been? It had to be her. She even somewhat confronted me about it before class started. Even though she tried playing innocent, I knew it was her. "Guys, I don't want to talk about it anymore," I stated, requesting for the conversation to end.
"That's okay boo," Dinah continued running her fingers through my hair.
If it weren't for them, who knows what I would have done. Driving in this condition wouldn't have been the safest idea.
*****
This was unbelievable, my parents were forcing me into the police station. To press even more charges on Lauren. They wanted me to testify against her. Were they out of their minds? What the hell was wrong with them. Did they really believe that I would do that? They were fucking insane!
"No!" I refused. We stood outside of the police station.
"Yes!" My mother insisted. "You're going to say that she seduced you and tricked you into it all," she ordered me.
I shook my head in disbelief and chuckled mockingly, "Anything else?" I questioned, sarcastically.
"Calm your daughter down," she huffed to my dad.
"Both of you calm down," he said in irritation. He turned his direction to my mom. "Camila will go in there and say the truth and only the truth, there will be no lying," he stated. At least he was being fair.
"I'm okay with that," I shrugged. "I will tell them how much I love her and that I'm the one who seduced her, not the other way around," I crossed my arms and mockingly squinted my eyes at my mom. There was no point in denying the relationship with Lauren. There was proof of it already.
My mom stopped herself from yelling. Inhaled and exhaled and seemed to calm herself down.
"You can't love that woman," she claimed. "She's older by nine years and is your teacher," she tried staying calm.
"Age doesn't matter," I argued my point. "Besides, I met her before I even knew she was my teacher," I stated. They needed to know the whole story, but they weren't even willing to listen to me.
"I think we need to talk about this at home. We need you to tell us everything," wow, well apparently my dad was trying to help?
"No," my mom was so stubborn. "Camila, you need to go in there," with that said, she gripped my arm and practically dragged me inside.
I yanked away, but still kept walking inside. Only to see Lauren and find out what exactly was going on with her. I needed to know how she was doing and how bad the case is.
To my surprise, Lauren's mom was there. I froze when I saw her, she was sitting with another man in a suit. Must've been a lawyer. That was good, right? Or was it bad. Was her case so bad that she needed a lawyer? I didn't even know what to think of it.
"Camila," she saw me. Immediately, she stood and walked towards me. Surprisingly, she welcomed me into a big hug. I thought she was going to be upset with me. I thought she was going to blame me for her daughter being here, but no.
"Hi, Mrs. Jauregui," I greeted when she released me. Now I was able to see the tears in her eyes. They were red and puffy, she had been crying a lot. "Have you seen Lauren?" was the first thing that I could think of asking.
"Yes, she's devastated," she informed. Ugh, I hated hearing that. "She's okay though," she added. "She told me to tell you not to worry," she passed the message along. As much as I tried, that was not an option. I had to worry. I tried having hope, but that was too difficult.
"Karla, come here," my mom demanded, giving Mrs. Jauregui a wrongful look.
"Sorry about that," I apologized.
"It's okay, be with your mother," she was understanding. I see where Lauren learned that from. They were great people. "Hopefully everything works out," a tear rolled down her cheek. I felt a knot in my throat. It frustrated me, not being able to make it better.
"I'm sorry," I repeated and briefly hugged her. She forced a smile in return. I walked back to my parents, only to have my arm yanked on by my mom.
"Stay away from those people," she ordered. I pulled away from her grip and ignored her. I looked over my shoulder and saw Mrs. Jauregui speaking to the man in the suit. By the look on his face, he had bad news. More tears escaped her eyes, confirming it.
"Wait," my dad spoke behind us. We turned around to look at him. "Let's not make this any worse," he stated. My hopes went up. "You already pressed charges, let's just wait and see what happens with that," he compromised with my mom.
She shook her head though, "Don't you understand, our daughter was involved with her, that's a felony," it looked like she wanted to cry. From one point, I understood why she was so upset, but on the other hand, she needed to understand me too.
"Mom, we get it," I answered. "But you need to understand that this is hurting me too," I couldn't contain the tears. The pain in my chest was too intolerable. "Mami, please, I love her," I cried, feeling so damn defenseless.
Dad's arms wrapped around me slightly. At least he was showing that he cared.
"Fine, let's go home," she then said. She was not happy about it, but eventually decided on it. She fast walked to the exit. I quickly followed her. Sure, I wanted to see Lauren, but I knew I was going to be denied the visit.
*****
Upon arriving home, I saw Lucy on our porch. Did she really dare to come? The anger I had for her was coming back to me. The urge of jumping out of the car kicked in. I wanted to beat the living shit out of her. Because of her, now Lauren was in jail. She ruined everything!
The car hadn't even come to a stop when I pounced out of it.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I questioned while taking heavy steps. My hands were in tight fists.
"Calm down," her hands raised in front of her, in defense. "I need to tell you something," ha sure, she was only trying to save her sorry ass. She had nothing to say to me. Did she want to laugh in my face or what?
"Get the fuck out of here!" I couldn't control my anger.
"Camila Cabello!" my dad called after me. "Stop," he ordered.
"Mija, who is she?" mom asked, seeming confused. Oh please, now she wanted to pretend like she didn't know her? She needed to cut the bullshit.
"Mom," I sighed.
"Camila," Jennifer called for my attention. "Please, hear me out," she pleaded. Ha, my fist wanted to make extreme contact with her face.
Ugh, as much as I wanted to beat her up and wanted her gone, something in me was telling me to hear her out. I didn't know what it was. It was just a feeling.
"Fine," I groaned. "But make it quick," I hurried.
"We'll be inside," my dad said. Mom stood in place though, seeming curious in what Lucy had to say. "Come on," dad took her away though. Thank god. I couldn't even handle being around her right now.
Lucy waited until my parents were inside.
"Hurry, talk," I rushed. I didn't have time for her. "No wait," I changed my mind, I had more time. I needed answers. "Answer this first, why did you rat me out?" I questioned, really wanting a sincere answer. It must of been obvious because I rejected her, but come on, there had to be other reasons. Or was she just that butt hurt and jealous?
"I didn't," why was she still lying to me about it? It was upsetting me even more. I sighed. "Camila, you have to believe me," she pleaded. "Besides, I know who showed your mom the picture," she claimed.
What now?
Okay was she being truthful or was she just trying to cover her own ass? Ugh, for some reason, I wanted to ask her who, as if it weren't really her. Was Lucy even trustworthy? Ha what kind of a question was that. Of course she wasn't.
"Who?" fuck, I couldn't help myself from asking that question.
Her eyes shifted elsewhere. Her lips pressed together, as if questioning telling me the truth. Why would she even bring it up then? Well now she had to tell me. She took a deep breath and breathed out slowly.
"Vero," she finally answered.
My eyes flickered, "You're fucking kidding, right?" I chuckled skeptically.
She sighed, "No," her head tilted back in frustration. "Mila, I saw you yesterday with Miss Jauregui in her car," she stated. "And trust me, as much as it angered me, I was not going to snitch on you. I wouldn't do that," she claimed. Could I believe her? I didn't know what to believe anymore. "Look, I also saw Vero, she saw you guys too and she took the picture with her phone; I saw her!" she shouted. "But she didn't see me," she added.
"I can't believe it," unbelievably, I still had tears left. I thought I had done enough crying today, but no. I bit on my lower lip while letting my tears run freely. Wow, Vero really did this to me? I thought she was my best friend. Now that I think about it, Vero's actually capable of such a thing. It wasn't so hard to believe it after all.
"I just wanted you to know that it wasn't me," Lucy spoke. "I admit, I was jealous, but I wouldn't ever hurt you like this, after all, I really do care about you," she said softly, as if lamenting the situation. "If I can help you with anything, just let me know," she offered before walking away. She walked past me. I didn't look back to look at her.
My hands dug into my bag, looking for my car keys. Vero had to be confronted. It made sense now, on why she couldn't even make eye contact with me this morning. It wasn't so much because she was upset with me, it was because of shame. Shame on what she did to me. She backstabbed me!
Vero was no real friend.
I hopped into my car and drove out of the driveway, without even waiting for the engine to warm up. There was no time for that. I was burning from the inside. A mix of emotions washed over me. All at once, I was feeling hurt, betrayed. Felt anger and sadness. The tears wouldn't stop.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. On my way to her house, I made very sharp turns and ran through a few red lights. Safety didn't matter to me at the moment. I just wanted to get to Vero's house right away. She needed to hear from me. I had to take out my anger some how. After all, she was to blame.
I barely parked at the curb and ran to her front door. Knocked harshly, nonstop. Kept on knocking until some would open the door. I heard footsteps coming to the door, along with Vero's questioning voice, still, I kept knocking.
At the very moment that the door opened and Vero stepped out, my hand swung, making contact with her left cheek. She didn't even see it coming. My hand stung, sure, but her cheek must of stung more. Her cheek became red. Her jaw dropped as she immediately rubbed the sore spot.
"What the hell?" she yelped out. Obviously in pain.
"Fuck you, Vero!" I shouted with such anger. I had never felt so much hate in my life. I fuckin' hated her! Honestly, I never thought to be capable of feeling such hatred towards someone, but here I was. "Fuck you," I cried.
Her face went blank and she became pale.
"Cam-Cam-Camila," she stuttered, seeming frightened.
"Shut the hell up," hearing her voice made me sick. "You must be happy now, right?" I questioned. "Why did you have to show my mom the picture?" my eyebrows connected in anger. I was furious and hurt.
She looked down, of course, in shame.
"I had to," I was barely able to hear her. "She's no good for you," she claimed. Ha, no, Vero was no good for me. She was the worst person ever. She was such a terrible girlfriend to her ex's. And you know what, she was an even worse best friend.
"No, fuck you!" I couldn't stand her. Was she really trying to justify it? Unbelievable. "Look at me," I demanded. "You see me?" she looked up, cautiously. "This is what you've caused," I stated. "I'm hurt, I'm in pain," my jaw clenched. "All because of what you did," I blamed. "Because of you, the love of my life is in jail and who knows how long she'll be in prison," the thought of it caused me to cry heavier. "Did you hear that, the love of my life, Lauren is the one I love and always will love," I rubbed it in her face. I wanted her to suffer too. Because of her I was suffering, she deserved the same. "And you, you're nothing to me," I looked her up and down, in disgust.
She stayed quiet and looked back down to the ground. I saw a tear drop to the ground. That's what I wanted, to see her cry. And even though I hated her, I couldn't exactly get myself to feel happy about her crying.
"Sorry, but I don't regret it," she muttered.
"I hate you, Vero," and I walked away.
I stomped to my car. I needed to be away. Away from everyone. I needed to find a solution to all of this, or at least most of. To something.
Then, an idea came to mind. I knew what I had to do.
A/N: Hello loves, I'm so sorry that it took me a MONTH to update! I've been so busy with friends and family. I will get you another update by this week though, so don't worry! You guys should kik me though, so we can talk:) my username is itshelbss
Now, we know this story is coming to a close, but I will def publish more. Question, do you like Camila G!P, or Lauren G!P better?