Camila's PoV
It was finally game time. I was out on that ice, kicking serious ass. When Coach Lit called me off the ice to take a breather, I protested but followed orders. I took a large sip from my water bottle and caught my breath. I received a few pats on my back for my good game so far. I couldn't do any of this without the team though. I didn't just play for myself.
Normally I would take a moment to look in the crowd, spotting my personal fans. That evening I wasn't about to take the chance. It may throw off my game. If anything, not looking for a familiar face or two made me want to play that much more.
Before I knew it, I was back on the ice. I felt pride in myself when I body checked that bitch into the board. She was the meanest player on our opponent's team. Our team was winning of course, but not by much. And if wasn't for my checking #8, then they'd only be one point behind us. I was not going to lose that easily.
"Cabello! Penalty!" Shit. I 'accidently' tripped #8 too.
"What?!" I skated up to the referee and got in his face. I pulled my mask up and gave my meanest look. "It wasn't my fault she skated over my stick!" My eyes narrowed at him as I watched him think about it.
"Two minutes." He said firmly, ushering me to the penalty booth.
"Oh whatever!" I spat and shoved past him. The crowd was cheering my name. My eyes wandered on their own and my heart skipped a few beats when I noticed those two faces I so desperately tried to ignore. Lauren was sitting beside Sofi who was sitting beside Kyla and Austin was at the end. A part of me should've felt happy to see them all there. But really, it made me feel a little sick. Even though I couldn't exactly toss Lauren out of my head, I tried to just not think about her during my game.
How the hell was I supposed to deal with the fact that I was falling hard for my boyfriend's cousin?
She saw my eyes connect with her and she lifted her hand to wave slightly. That made me smile. She should be pissed at me. I haven't talked to her since that night we kissed, unless you count the one syllable words in English Lit and Civics when we were swapping answers. I spent my lunches with Trixie, Kyla, Sofi and her 'best friend' Sammy. Lauren usually took off on lunches by herself.
My penalty was over and I was out on the ice again. In my two minutes of being locked up, the other team scored another point.
Fuckers.
Should've believed me when I said #8 'tripped' on my stick.
We had one minute left of the last period. So I, Camila Cabello, was on a mission to kick some Mustang ass.
I had the puck and made my way down the rink like my ass was on fire. I passed to Trixie and got in front of stupid #8 again, waiting for the pass back. My adrenaline was pumping and I was so close to having one more score. The puck landed in front of my stick and bam! It went dead between the goalies legs.
My team mates tackled me to the ice as we screamed with joy. We won! Not by much, but we were still undefeated and that was all that mattered.
After showering and changing I made my way out of the change room and was met by Trixie and Coach Lit. I raised my eyebrow as Coach opened my hand and stuff something inside of it before winking and walking away. I opened my hand and there was a 'C' patch.
"Nice game Captain," Trixie bumped my hip with hers as we made our way out towards the concession.
"I'm sure the guys on the team will be thrilled to have a girl as their captain." I rolled my eyes. I was excited though. I made Captain and it made my evening.
I was knocked backwards as two pairs of arms wrapped around me, jumping around. I pulled back and laughed as my sister and Kyla squealed.
"Oh my God Mila, you kicked serious ass out there!" Sofi smiled at me. This was the very first game she attended since she started going to Southwood with me, and it meant a lot.
I shrugged. Yea, I knew I was good but I hated to brag. "Thanks Sof."
"We so have to go out and celebrate!" Kyla clapped her hands, still bouncing around. I swear she eats way to much sugar.
"Way to kick some ass out there Cabello," Lauren said behind me. I turned around and smiled softly. I do believe I blushed slightly as well.
"Thanks," I murmured, her eyes hypnotizing me. "It's uh, a great way to get all your frustrations out." Her eyebrows rose teasingly and from the corner of my eye I could see my little sister trying to hide her giggles.
"Sexual frustration?" Austin wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me closer to him, kissing my temple. I rolled my eyes and Lauren smirked at my reaction.
"Camila," Trixie stepped up to the group and looked at me, "as our new Captain, the team would like to take you out for dinner!"
"Captain?" Lauren smiled widely. "You made Captain?" As I nodded, my grin matching hers, she pulled me into a huge hug. My arms wrapped around hers as I sighed softly. My face pressed briefly into her neck, inhaling her unique scent.
I missed her.
"Congrats," she whispered in my ear as we pulled apart. I smiled softly at her.
"That'd be awesome," my attention was back on Trixie, "could my friends come?"
I noticed Austin's grip loosen at my term, friends. "Actually Camila, I'm going to catch up with Nate. When you're done with dinner, call me?"
I turned to face him and frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, you have fun with your friends tonight," he smiled and gave me a soft kiss before waving to the rest of the gang and walking away.
Trixie grabbed Kyla's hand as they pulled on their coats. "You're driving Mila!" Kyla laughed as she grabbed Sofi's hand, making their way to the parking lot.
I stood there silent, my eyes raking over the only person that was left in front of me. "So, wanna grab a bite with us?"
"You think that's a good idea?" Lauren questioned.
"Why not?" I furrowed my brow and instinctively reached out to grab her hand. "I want you there."
"Really? Could've fooled me with the all the ignoring you were doing." Lauren gently pried her hand away from mine and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked away and sighed. "I've missed you Cabello," she finally made eye contact. "But you can't just keep throwing me away like that and then expect me to hang out with you like nothing happened! I asked you not to play with my head."
"I know," I bit my bottom lip and pulled my hockey bag over my shoulder. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "Austin's gone so I can just give you a ride home if you want."
Lauren said nothing and took my heavy bag from me. "This is your last chance," she said firmly, "I'm only human too."
I bit my lip as I nodded my head.
"You can't keep running from me," Lauren stopped at the entrance of the arena; her eyes were serious, "if you want me to stay away from you, just tell me. I'll respect that Cabello, but until then, until I hear your words saying you want nothing more to do with me, I won't give up on spending time with you." She readjusted my hockey bag over her shoulder, "but if you start to ignore me again, I'll have no choice but to walk away."
Oh God. My heart stopped. I didn't want Lauren out of my life. I knew I was confused as to how things would work out, but with her words I realized that running away from it wouldn't make it go away. I also realized that this was also affecting her, not just me.
I needed her.
"That kiss was huge," she whispered, people walking passed us. "I mean, it was a huge deal and we need to talk about."
I nodded my head, remaining silent still.
"So..." Oh. She was waiting for any kind of reaction out of me.
"No more running away," I finally spoke. "I'm sorry about all of this. I've just never..." I glanced around, maybe this wasn't the right place to be talking about this, "can you maybe stay over after dinner? More private area to talk." I held my breath waiting for her answer. She gave me a big grin and nodded before grabbing my arm gently.
"Come on, we better get to the gang before they stone us for making them starve." She laughed as we made our way out to the cold air.
Maybe I could overreact sometimes. Maybe once Lauren and I talked about whatever it was that was going on between us, tension would be less thick and we'd be able to see through this a little more clearly.
Maybe I just needed to take the chance of screwing my own life over and follow my heart.
Wherever it may take me.