Lauren didn't see much of Camila the following days until the night before her performance. Camila knocked and appeared on Lauren's porch as she was watching old reruns of National Geographic.
"Camila what's up?" Lauren asked her, amused to find the brunette at her porch in that hour.
Camila was wearing a big hoodie on her pajamas. She shuffled in her flip flops. "Uh I just wanted to talk to someone, I'm getting the nerves."
"Oh I'm sure you'll do great Camila. I barely see you 'cause of your practice, plus you've got a track record for your achievements. " Lauren assured.
"What are you doing? Are you busy?" Camila asked, evading the compliment. Her nerves were very evident as she seemed to need a good distraction.
"I'm watching National Geographic actually, you're free to stay."
They ended up watching two hours straight of the show. It was following a cheetah then went over to a pack of lions. It was a bit dull due to the lack of music and monotonous narration but interesting enough as it was attention catching and that's what Camila needed. None of them talked, just sitting mere inches apart as they watched. Even in silence, Lauren liked Camila's company.
When it was around eleven, Camila said she had to sleep as she had to wake up early. Lauren shut off the television and escorted her out of the door.
"Goodluck tomorrow, can't wait to watch you." Lauren said.
Camila smiled shyly. "Don't expect too much."
"Just another check off your bucket list huh?"
Camila smiled. "Yeah, goodnight Lo." She waved goodbye as she ran back across the street. Lauren shut the door, smiling at the pet name Camila called her.
--
Lauren asked her mom to drive her to the gymnasium, as it was in another school's. Her mom happily obliged. She wore a red varsity jacket over her white shirt, their school colors in order to show support.
She arrived just a little bit early as there were still a few spaces left in the lot. Her mom dropped her off and she made her way to the gymnasium which was near filled. There were family members and people her age all sitting down to see the competition. She saw near the back was Shawn already sitting down with a banner. He was wearing a red hockey shirt that looked too big for him. She made her way to him. He smiled when he saw her. It was the widest he had seen in a long time.
"Hey Lauren, glad you made it in time, it's just about to start." He made space for her in the bleachers.
Lauren took a seat, watching the hosts and referees move about in the gymnasium floor below. "Is Dinah coming?"
Shawn looked over Lauren's shoulder. "Think she's already here."
Lauren looked over to see a Dinah who looked like she just got out of bed. She had a white tank top on and a white cardigan, the only red was the scarf she had draped around her neck. "Hola, amigas."
"Right in time, Hansen." Shawn said.
The announcer said that they were about to start followed by cheers. Lauren looked at Shawn's sign that simply said in big red bold letters GO ARIANA. The school that hosted the competition came first, wearing their blue and yellow uniforms. Lauren just watched as they performed, not really knowing what to expect since she didn't watch cheerleading that much. They did some stunts and flips, in the end their mascot, a bulldog came out and they spelled the initials of their school, ending the performance. They were met with applause, Dinah commenting on how good their routines were. Dinah obviously was an expert, knowing if something was good or not and she made lots of side comments as the competition went on.
Four other schools performed and Lauren admitted that she was getting rather impatient. When it seemed like all the schools have competed besides theirs, the announcer called them.
"And now let's give a hand to the Miami Pelicans!"
Lauren cheered alongside her friends, clapping her hands loudly.
The girls came out in their red and white uniforms carrying pompoms, hair in pigtails as their mascot, a pelican wearing a red jersey came out. Lauren squinted her eyes to get a better glimpse of Camila, but it seemed hard to pick her apart at that point. They started to do their routines, a couple of throws. When they did a big routine in the middle, Lauren found Ariana who was at the very top due to her small height, doing a split. Shawn cheered loudly, standing up.
They broke their formation and formed two lines at the side. Then they did cartwheels. They separated once more as two small groups did a pyramid on both sides. There were around four girls who weren't part of it as they stood in the very end then started to do cartwheels forward. The smallest of the four went to the very end, diagonally then walked back for momentum before running, doing a cartwheel then many flips. Lauren counted, one, two, three, four. She landed on her feet, arms in the air and smiled and that's when Lauren realized it was none other than Camila.
Lauren cheered louder as cheers erupted. She was in shock that she was able to do that.
Camila and the other four went to the side and ran and did a flip until they ended up being tossed to the top of the pyramid. Camila ended up on top of the pyramid on the right, Ariana on the left. They held hands as they held their split, the final move in the routine. The audience clapped.
Lauren stood up alongside Shawn who gave them a standing ovation, very proud of his girl.
They let down Camila, Ariana and the two other girls in the pyramid as the judges started to deliberate.
Lauren turned to Dinah. "Wow, Camila's really good."
Dinah nodded in agreement. "She is, you should have seen her when she won the regionals. She was the best in her age bracket. That was before we even were freshmen."
"I can't believe she's like that, and she doesn't compete in everything. Imagine if she did." Lauren was still awestruck.
"Ariana gets the bag if Camila's not competing, though she can't do kind of flips Camila does." Dinah said reminding Lauren of being one of those sports analysts from her tone. "They were always competition, it did surprise me that they became friends."
Lauren's supposed reply was silenced as they were about to announce the winners. Second runner-up went to a school she didn't know. The first runner-up went to the host school, met with lots of loud applause. Lauren didn't expect anything so it was to her surprise when their school was announced as the champion. The three of them got to their feet and shouted, in surprise. The cheerleading team went up to the podium and accepted the award, screaming in happiness.
"Now we'll be announcing the special awards." the announcer said.
"Watch Camila bag it." Dinah said as if she already knew. Lauren looked at her amusingly, unsure whether the girl was bluffing.
Some awards were announced and the girls who won it came and accepted. Some were about being the most improved, cleanest routine, best cheer and the likes.
"Now we will announce the most distinguished cheerleader of the competition." There was a silence that spread in the auditorium.
"Watch it," Dinah said once more.
"The award goes to," Lauren held her breath. "Camila Cabello from the Miami Pelicans!"
Dinah smirked at her, a big grin on her face, clapping. "Told you."
Lauren couldn't believe her eyes. She watched Camila go to the podium, claim her trophy and smile for the cameras as she was snapped.
The competition eventually ended as the three of them waited until the crowd dispersed. Their school's team remained on the gymnasium as they were being photographed. Lauren watched Camila be on the front and center, holding their team award and her special award. She had the biggest smile on her face and Lauren hoped that her smile never be wiped off her face as it was one of the best sights in Miami.
She saw Camila's parents near the front of the bleachers and went up to them.
Sinu smiled and hugged Lauren, Alejandro patting Lauren's head as a sign of affection. "Good to see you here Lauren!"
"Camila was really good, I can't believe she did that." Lauren praised.
"That girl never stops trying her best in cheerleading. We are so proud of her." Sinu said.
The team dispersed and Camila made her way to her parents first, hugging her really tight, making her seem like a fifth grader considering she was small. Her smile couldn't be wiped from her face as she hugged her parents with happy tears in her eyes.
She saw Lauren next and came up to her, wringing her arms around her neck. Lauren hugged her back. "Camila, you were amazing. I'm blown away I'm so proud."
"I was so nervous but I guess all my hours in practice paid off." She said as she broke from the hug.
Dinah came up to her to congratulate her and Camila wrapped her arms around her, maybe a little bit longer as Dinah said stuff to her that Lauren couldn't hear.
She saw Shawn and Ariana hugging a few meters away from them. Soon the couple with Dinah went up near Camila.
"Camila want to come, we're going to celebrate later by going to the bowling alley." Ariana said, holding Shawn's arm around her shoulder.
Camila frowned, "Bowling's not my thing, you know that Ari."
"It's gonna be fun, it's my first time as well. They serve really good burgers too." She tried again.
Camila's eyes darted to Lauren's. She seemed unsure, Lauren could tell. "Maybe I'll sit this one out, I'll be too tired out by then. Celebrate me in spirit."
Ariana and Shawn went out of the gymnasium towards the lot where Shawn was parked, Dinah followed a little while. "Lauren, we'll wait for you at the lot." she said before she left.
The gymnasium was empty apart from the Cabellos and Lauren. Lauren went up closer to Camila. "You sure you don't wanna come?"
Camila nodded, "Positive. I usually spend the next 24 hours getting my beauty rest and recuperation. If that makes sense."
Despite being covered in sweat, with her minimal makeup and wearing her uniform, holding her trophy, Camila looked like the star that she is. Proud was an understatement to Lauren. "If that's the case, you rest up and be ready for me to annoy you tomorrow."
Camila laughed. "Well you're anything but annoying. We'll see, I'll see you then." Camila hugged Lauren once more, this time it lasted a bit longer. "Thank you for showing up, Lo. It means a lot to me." Her voice softened.
"Hey, I told you I'm here for your bucket list adventures. This is just another milestone to you." They parted hugs and Camila smiled at her words. Lauren went over to the Cabellos and said her goodbyes before joining her friends in Shawn's Toyota. Her last glimpse of Camila was her in her cheer uniform, holding onto her trophy like a newborn baby. The thought made her smile.
--
"You idiot!" Shawn jeered at Dinah as he held onto his foot.
Dinah gritted her teeth sheepishly. She accidentally let go of the bowling ball as she swung back and it hit Shawn's foot, who was behind her. "Shawn I'm so sorry, not my fault you have humongous feet."
Ariana couldn't stop herself from chuckling at the joke despite sitting beside Shawn as she checked for any possible injury. Shawn decided to sit out the game, meaning it was really Lauren who was head to head with Dinah.
Lauren in her last turn missed a strike by one pin to the side. She cursed silently as she finished the pin on the next swing. Dinah's turn came and she cockily said it was a piece of cake. Lauren knew she was over, knowing the last few turns Dinah had were strikes as well. To her surprise when Dinah swung back and released the ball, the strong force sent it straight to the gutter. Dinah looked on in shock as Lauren threw hands at Dinah.
Shawn couldn't stop laughing, for revenge to his friend. Ariana laughed as well because Dinah had the funniest facial expression on.
"I was played." She exclaimed.
"Nuh uh, I won fair and square Dinah. Sometimes it's okay to let other people win." Lauren said, close to Dinah's ear.
Dinah grumbled but all was well, as she took it lightly as always. They ate dinner there at the bowling alley, getting four burgers and milkshakes. Dinah told stories of when she and her family would go bowling and how it was a serious matter, considering the scale of her family and their sense of competitiveness. Stories like that tended to amuse Lauren as it was nothing like her family or extended family. By the time their food was done, Ariana was slumped on Shawn, obviously tired from the competition. The two started talking privately, Shawn being a bit flirty.
Lauren turned to Dinah and admitted. "Not gonna lie, I wish Camila was here."
Dinah huffed. "Of course you would, but the girl needs her rest. "She's always resting after competing, she can't do back to back competitions." She grew silent too soon and put her head in her hands, "I'm worried though."
"Why?"
Dinah looked up, realizing she said the last bit. "I mean I'm always worried for her. It never went away. You worry about the people you care about."
"I'm worried Shawn and Ariana might make out suddenly." Lauren joked. Dinah nodded in agreement. She grabbed Lauren's arm to give the two privacy and waited at Shawn's car before he drove them all home.
It was early evening when Lauren got home. Her mom informed her that she got a note from Camila. Lauren rushed to the kitchen and on the tabletop counter was a note written in a ripped notebook sheet. Camila's handwriting was messy and it had erasures but to Lauren it made it more endearing. She smiled as she read it.
Lauren,
I just realized I forgot to thank you for believing in me enough to actually make this my first competition, and award just after turning 18. So here it is, a big, fat, almighty, thank you.
I guess this will be one of the many milestones I will do (and check off in my bucket list) being 18. First this, next stop watch me do regionals maybe. Might compete on the nationals and represent Miami again. It's still a big BUT but maybe I'll do it :)
P.S. Watching National Geographic with you proved to be useful when looking at the mascots of the other teams
Camila xx
Lauren went up to her room in good spirits. Much better than she ever felt as of late. She put the note on top of her side table and fell asleep listening to one of Alex's favorite albums by The Smiths.
--
A/N: Enjoy this fluff while you still can cause I just realized how fluffy it is when proofreading again. Been busy with school but I'm super excited to share what's next to come :)
-Sofia