Lauren was busy. She sometimes wished she had her old life back, before Camila was pregnant. She knew that her girlfriend didn't mind whether she had a job or not, but she didn't want to feel like she wasn't supporting Camila through the pregnancy because, after all, it was partially her fault they were in the situation.
She missed her old life because she actually had time to herself, to relax. Now, a normal day for Lauren consists of going to school, attending hockey practice, staying after practice to teach lessons, and then coming home and finishing homework until the wee hours of the morning; and somewhere in the mix of her hectic days, she needed to find the time to talk to Camila and see her, or she was in trouble. Camila had gotten moodier as the pregnancy went on, and it was hell on Lauren.
Today was one of the rare days where she didn't have lessons and Camila knew it, so Lauren knew that the girl would be in her room waiting for her.
Hockey practice ended and Lauren took her time in the shower, just needing a moment alone before heading home. She stepped out of the shower and checked her phone seeing two missed calls a few texts from Camila.
Camila: i thought u didn't have lessons today?
Camila: u should have been home from practice by now, ru ok?
Camila: seriously ur not gonna answer
Lauren sighed as she typed out a response.
Lauren: Practice ran late. I just got out of the shower. I'll be home in 20.
The older girl took her time getting dressed, not knowing what she was coming home to. Camila's moods were all over the place, and it was making their relationship suffer some.
Meanwhile, at the Jauregui house, Camila had been waiting in Lauren's room for the last half hour for her girlfriend to return home. She was upset that Lauren was late, but she was trying to contain her emotions. She knew that she had been going off on Lauren unnecessarily as of late, but she couldn't help it.
She was anxious about their future, and not knowing what was going to happen with them. She knew that Lauren was looking at colleges out of state, but it was starting to bother her more and more that they hadn't talked about it since she came in on her girlfriend filling out applications.
She was laying on Lauren's bed when the older girl's mom came in to deliver mail. She smiled at the Jauregui matriarch as she set the letters on Lauren's desk and left the room to finish dinner.
Camila's curiosity was eating at her. She stood up and went to look at the envelopes that sat on the desk. They were all from different colleges across the country. She picked them up and sorted through them. Boston College. Yale. University of Michigan. Penn State. Dartmouth. Princeton. Syracuse.
She had no idea why all of these schools were sending Lauren letters. As far as she knew, the girl hadn't submitted all of her applications yet. She continued to search Lauren's desk for more envelopes like the others.
Just as she was opening one of the drawers she heard Lauren's bedroom door open. She quickly shut the drawer and turned around to face the person who came in.
"What were you doing?" Lauren asked as she set her school bag on the ground. She eyed her girlfriend suspiciously as she stepped closer. She had a feeling about what her girlfriend was looking at, but she had hoped Camila had more self-control than to snoop in her room.
"Nothing." Camila said as she stepped forward to kiss Lauren. She wrapped her arms around the older girl's waist as she hugged her as close as she could with her belly.
Lauren decided to leave it alone for the time being. She wanted to see if Camila would bring it up on her own, and she didn't really feel like fighting with her girlfriend when tonight would be the first night they've seen each other for more than fifteen minutes before going to bed.
"How was your day, babe?" Camila asked as she separated from Lauren, allowing the girl to go over to change out of her school clothes.
"It was fine." Lauren said as she slipped out of her jeans and put on a pair of basketball shorts. She opted to leave her hoodie on as she turned around to look at her girlfriend. "What did you do today?" She asked as she moved to lay on her bed, wanting to take advantage of the time she had to actually relax.
"I worked half the day and went shopping for your Christmas presents." Camila smiled as she walked over to lay with her girlfriend.
"Christmas isn't for like 5 more weeks. Thanksgiving hasn't even passed yet." Lauren chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Camila.
Camila buried her face in Lauren's neck and laughed softly, "I know. I just know what I want to get you already and I figured I would get it now while the mall is less crowded."
Lauren nodded as she ran her fingers through Camila's hair. "What do you want for Christmas?" She asked, needing ideas for what to get the younger girl.
"For you to stay home for college." Camila mumbled, barely audible. She knew that she was starting something with saying that comment. Part of her hoped that Lauren didn't hear what she said.
She felt her girlfriend take a deep breath before responding, "What was that?" Lauren asked, moving out from under Camila, "I didn't quite hear you." She said a little bitterly.
Camila knew that Lauren heard what she said, which is why she got the semi-cold response. She knew that it wouldn't do her any good to lie to Lauren. "I said I want you to stay home for college." The younger girl looked down as she sat up and leaned against Lauren's headboard.
She watched as the older girl got off the bed and took a deep breath. Lauren walked over to the window and just stared outside for a few moments. Camila was regretting saying what she did, but she couldn't get the influx of letters she saw on Lauren's desk out of her mind. She was brought out of her thoughts when Lauren spoke again.
"Why now?" The raven-haired girl asked. "We haven't been able to spend any quality time together in a few weeks, and now that we have a night together, you have to bring this up?" She asked.
The younger cuban could tell that Lauren wasn't happy. It was her girlfriend's go to defense mechanism; Lauren would get defensive when things were brought up that she didn't want to address because she knew it would hurt Camila.
"Hello?" Lauren said as she looked at her girlfriend, "I asked you a question." She said as she stood there, staring at her pregnant girlfriend.
Camila let out a long sigh before responding, "It's something we need to talk about, Lauren. And every time that I bring it up you get upset and try and deflect the conversation elsewhere. If not now, when? When are we going to talk about it?" She said, growing a little frustrated.
She watched as Lauren took her glasses off and pinched the bridge of her nose; a tell-tale sign that the older girl was upset and trying to calm herself down.
"None of those envelopes were near here, Lauren. What's going on in your mind? I just want to know. You've all but left me in the dark when it comes to your college selection process."
Camila watched as Lauren's chest started rising and falling a little faster. She watched as the older girl put her glasses back on and walked over to her desk. She grabbed the letters and took them over to Camila, dropping them in her lap.
"You want to know what's going on. Open them. Read them." Lauren said. She watched as Camila started opening the letters. Lauren already knew what they said because she had received emails regarding their contents; the letters were just a formality.
"I applied for early admission to these schools. I also have been in communication with the hockey coaches of the schools." She said before walking out of the bedroom, giving Camila time to process.
This decision was going to be hard on the both of them, but Lauren knew that it was for the best; she was trying to do everything she could to minimize her student loan debt and get the best education so she could have a good job in the future to support Camila and the baby. She did apply to local schools, she did get into them, but none of them had hockey teams. None of them could offer her a full scholarship.
As Lauren walked downstairs to talk to her mom about dinner, Camila took the time to open each of the letters and read them over. Most of the schools were offering Lauren half academic scholarship and half sports scholarships, provided she remained healthy and performed well for the rest of the hockey season.
Camila was heartbroken. She didn't know what any of this meant; for her, for the baby, for their relationship. She was scared. She just set the letters aside and leaned back against her girlfriend's headboard, trying to keep her tears at bay.
Lauren came upstairs a few minutes later and saw Camila staring off into space, the letters neatly sat by her side.
"You're leaving me?" Camila mumbled as she looked up at Lauren with watery eyes.
The older girl let out a sigh as she looked at Camila, "I don't know yet. I'm trying to figure out what is best for me, for us and the baby." She said as she sat on the edge of her bed. She looked at Camila, surprised that the girl was reacting this well.
Before Lauren could say anything else, Camila was on her feet, walking over to grab her jacket.
"Where are you going?" Lauren asked as she stood up. She watched as Camila ignored her and headed toward her bedroom door.
Lauren was able to cut off her girlfriend's path, closing the door and standing in front of it. "What are you doing?" She asked Camila, her tone a little desperate. She didn't want Camila to walk away from this.
Camila had tears streaming down her face. She needed time to process this. "Just let me go, Lauren." She begged, avoiding eye contact with her girlfriend. "I need to go." She said as she tried to reach for the door handle.
"No." Lauren said, reaching out to grab Camila's wrists. "Why are you leaving? I know you're upset about all of this, but I'm with you no matter what." She said as she pleaded with Camila.
The younger girl tried to get her arms out of Lauren's grasp. She just wanted to leave and cry in peace. She knew that Lauren was trying to do everything she could for her and the baby, but it was hurting her to know that she would be left alone.
"Please. Just let me go, Lauren. I need to be alone right now." The girl said, her voice clearly broken.
Lauren contemplated pushing for Camila to stay, but she didn't want to cause any more problems than she already had. She sighed and dropped Camila's wrists. She put her hands up to cup her girlfriend's cheeks, "I love you." She said, voice full of emotion. "We can talk about this when you're ready." She said, placing a kiss to Camila's forehead, "I'm sorry. Just know that I'm doing this for us."
Camila let out a sad smile as she kissed Lauren's cheek, "I love you, too." She said. "I'll talk to you later."
Lauren frowned as she watched her girlfriend walk out of her room and down the stairs. She heard the front door shut and her mom's footsteps coming up the stairs.
"What happened, mija?" Clara asked her daughter. "Was Camila crying? What did you do?" She fired off questions at her eldest child.
"I don't know, mom. She saw the early admissions letters. She started crying and said she needed time to think."
Lauren started to cry as her mom pulled her into a hug, "Shh. It'll be okay, mija. It's all going to be okay, just give her time to digest the information."
Lauren hated that her girlfriend left, but she knew that she needed to give Camila her space. She just hoped that things would be fine in time for the shared family Thanksgiving in a few days.
AN: Hi. This chapter sucks. This is what happens when I write while I'm drunk lol.
So is Lauren actually going away to college, or did Camila jump the gun in assuming?
Also, your ideas for chapters are always welcomed! Also, ideas for new stories you would like me to write are cool, too.
As usual, hope you all enjoyed. The hard times are coming. Muahahaha. -Amanda