Camila spends her first week in California dodging phone calls from all of the girls she left in Miami. She has about a million texts and voicemails from all four girls, but she can't bring herself to check any of them. She knows Lauren will beg her to come back and she knows Dinah, Normani, and Ally will reprimand her for leaving so rashly and without even saying goodbye. Plus, she knows if she hears Lauren's voice she will drop everything and go home to her.
The first week at Epic Records is spent showing Camila the ropes and getting the new musician acquainted with singing in the studio. Next week, she will start recording some of her songs and she's ecstatic about it. It's Saturday now and Camila has the day off to explore the city. Naturally, she ends up visiting every record store and bookstore around the hotel where she will be staying for the whole month of January.
After visiting two record stores, she decides to stroll through a bookstore. Since she will be spending a lot of her spare time at the beach, she wants a book that she can read while tanning. She thumbs through the young adult section first then the mystery and when she comes up empty handed after both, she heads to the classic book section. She runs her fingers along the spines of the books and only stops when her eyes see a familiar one. She pulls it out and holds it in her hands.
To Kill a Mockingbird
It's her all time favorite book and she used to read it from cover to cover once every year.
"Good choice." She hears someone say and she looks over at the old lady beside her. She offers her a smile.
"Yeah, it's my favorite."
As soon as the words fall off her tongue, she remembers a time in her past that she thought was lost to her forever.
Flashback
Camila sits down in a desk at the back of the classroom and pulls out a book from her backpack. This is her first day of classes in Venice for her study abroad program and naturally she is the first one in the class. She wanted to make sure she was on time.
She opens up her book and starts reading. A couple of minutes later, the door to the classroom opens and she hears people start to file in, but she doesn't bother looking up from her book.
"Good choice." She hears a husky voice say and she finally looks up from the book and looks to her right. Her eyes meet a pair of emerald eyes and her breath catches in her throat. Never in her life has she seen prettier eyes and she can't help herself from getting completely and utterly lost in them. Camila drops her gaze from the emerald eyes down to plump red lips and when she sees them form a smirk, she clears her throat and returns her attention back to her book.
"Yeah, it's my favorite." Camila smiles shyly, her face flushing a bit under the green-eyed girl's gaze.
"I'm Lauren." The girl pipes up and when Camila sees a hand extend to her out of the corner of her eye, she shifts her book so she's holding it in her left hand and reaches her right one out to shake the pale one that belongs to the beautiful stranger. When their hands touch, Camila feels her whole body tingle.
"Camila." She exchanges names with the girl and watches as the dark-haired girl's lips form a smile.
"Nice to meet you, CamEEla." The girl beams and a smile graces Camila's features when Lauren pronounces her name correctly the first try.
"Nice to meet you too, Lauren." Camila smiles warmly at her and before either of them can say anything else, the teacher enters the classroom and class starts. Throughout the class, Camila feels a pair of green eyes staring at her and every time she looks over, brown eyes lock with emerald ones. Surprisingly, Lauren doesn't look away, but instead a small, tender smile just makes it's way to her lips, which causes Camila's cheeks to turn pink. Both girls spend the rest of the class stealing glances at the other and smiling like idiots when their eyes lock.
After class, Camila bids Lauren a goodbye before packing up and heading out of the brick building. Before she can take a step out the door, she hears her name being called. When she turns around, she sees the green-eyed girl jogging toward her.
"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to explore the city with me? I was going to check out some art galleries and grab a bite to eat before we have to be back at the dorms for lights out." Lauren rubs the back of her neck, her beautiful eyes gazing at Camila hopefully.
The brown-eyed girl quirks the right side of her mouth up in fondness. "I'd love to." Her smile widens when Lauren breathes out a sigh of relief.
Could this girl get any cuter? Camila thinks as she takes in all of Lauren's sculpted, god-like features.
"Yeah, I guess I'll allow you to be my tour guide around the city." Camila smirks and scrunches up her nose while hugging her books closer to her chest.
"Yeah?" Lauren smiles widely and Camila doesn't understand how one smile can make her stomach erupt in a million butterflies.
"Yeah." She bites her lip and looks into a pair of green eyes that she knows will take up 50% of her thoughts from here on out.
End of Flashback
Camila is broken from her thoughts when she feels someone shake her slightly. She refocuses her eyes and looks up from the book in her hands to a pair of concerned blue eyes.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" The lady asks and Camila just nods. "Because you're crying."
The brunette immediately reaches her hand up to her face and feels wetness against her fingertips.
She must have been crying at the memory.
The memory! You remembered! You remembered Lauren! Camila thinks as she internally freaks out.
"I'm okay, thank you." Camila quickly returns the book to the shelf and scurries outside. Once outside, she whips out her phone and dials a number. Her heart beats erratically in her chest as she awaits for the answer.
"Mila?" She hears a familiar voice.
"Hi, Cheech." The brunette breathes out.
"Are you okay?" Dinah asks hesitantly.
"Yeah, I just-"
"Well now that I know you're okay, what the actual fuck is wrong with you?" The Polynesian yells and Camila pulls the phone away from her ear a bit so she doesn't go deaf from Dinah's screaming. "You just have sex with the poor girl and then leave in the middle of the night?"
"How is she?" Camila chews on her lower lip.
"She's a fucking mess, Camila! And she just wants her wife in her arms and she wants to come to LA and bring you back home to us." Dinah rants. "But she knows you're following your dreams so she won't get in the way of that."
Camila sighs.
"When are you coming home, Chanch?" Dinah asks dejectedly.
"I'll be home for your wedding, DJ. I promise you that." Camila assures the Polynesian.
"Camila that is in a month! What the fuck!" Dinah shouts into the phone.
"Dinah, I'm just allowing things to cool down, allowing him to cool down." The Latina argues. "Plus, I signed a record deal. I would've had to come out here sooner or later."
"How could you do that to her, Mila? Leave without her after everything she's done for you?" Dinah sighs and Camila's heart breaks a little at her words.
"Dinah, he threatened her. He threatened to do to her what he did to me and I can't let that happen, Dinah! Do you hear me?" Camila raises her voice. "He can hurt me all he wants, but I cannot let him hurt the woman I love."
"Mila..." Dinah whispers. "Did you just..."
"Hmm?" The Latina hums into the receiver.
"You called Lauren the woman you love." Dinah points out and Camila widens her eyes.
"I'll uh see you at the wedding, Cheech. Take care of her please." Camila says before ending the call and shoving her phone into her purse. She leans back up against the brick building and slides down it until her butt touches warm cement.
"I remembered." Camila breathes out.
She looks up at the sun, loving the way it feels on her face. Her right hand absentmindedly finds the sun pendant that is hanging around her neck and a small smiles makes it's way across her features.
"I remembered Lauren." She whispers. "And I'm in love with her."