I walk into first period, sitting down in my assigned seat next to Lucy. She gives me the normal flirty smile, but it doesn't spike my attention. Not today.
"Good morning, Camila." She says when I don't return her smile. I advert my gaze from the door where my eyes were looking for Lauren.
"Hello, Lucy." I smile softly, just to be polite. Her face glows when my lips reflect her smile. Expect, my smile doesn't have the same amount of passion.
"How've you been?" Lucy asks kindly, her whole body turned toward me. That's how I can tell she is into me. Her flirty phrases and gestures don't help either.
"You asked me this yesterday." I laugh, my smile growing.
Don't get me wrong, Lucy is a very attractive girl but she is no Lauren. She doesn't have that mysterious edge to her. There is no danger with her. No silence before the storm.
"Yeah, and I'm still curious." Lucy winks.
"Well, I've been alright. Same as what I said yesterday." I answer, my eyes looking past Lucy and back at the door. Where is Lauren?
"Any reason why you are just 'alright'?" Lucy inquires, concern in her tone. I shrug, taking a breath.
"Nope." I lie, pushing down the bubbling emotions of yesterday. That's in the past.
"You can always talk to me, you know." Lucy hums, reminding me softly. I nod in acknowledgment, my eyes not leaving the door.
Through the month and half I've been here, I've learned that Lauren and Lucy aren't very friendly. Whenever Lauren used to come over to our desk when we were on good terms, Lucy would completely bash her. What's weird is that Lauren doesn't do anything when she does.
I don't know if it's Lucy being possessive or jealous or if it's something else. I've decided not to ask quite yet.
"Of course." I finally say to Lucy.
Suddenly, the bell rings and the door closes. Everyone is in their seat except Lauren. Ally notices my glancing around and waves. I wave back, smiling at her but right when she looks away, my smile fades.
Not this again. Whenever Lauren skips school, it isn't good.
Maybe she is just late.
-~-
Lauren didn't show up to lunch. Dinah seemed extremely worried about her and Normani was, too. Ally didn't sit with us today; she sat with Troy and his friends. I'm happy for her.
I was, too, concerned as to where Lauren is. I know, I shouldn't be obsessing over her every move and whatever but I can't help it. I'm a concerned friend.
And that whole scene yesterday doesn't help.
Right now, I'm in science alone while Mr. Indigo explains our lab for today.
"Your partner and you will combine the correct chemicals to make the reaction in your book." Mr. Indigo says, clasping his hands together. He paces the room, clomping his feet loudly.
All of the students today have their partner with them so I have to do the lab alone. Sounds like hell.
"Don't forget to wear your goggles for the whole experiment!" Mr. Indigo reminds us harshly, narrowing his eyes at all of us.
I huff, blowing a strand of my hair out of my face. I pull on my goggles, already feeling like an idiot.
Picking up a test tube and swirling it awkwardly, I wish Lauren was here. It would be so much more fun if she were here.
It may be fate or possibly just a coincidence, but the second I place down the test tube, the door swings open. My heart stops as Lauren, clad in her baggy t-shirt and tight jeans, walks in.
Every thought and emotion felt last night comes rushing back. A million choirs sing the truth in my brain. I like Lauren. I like her.
Her glare throws daggers into every gaze she meets. Except mine. When she meets my eyes, her's drop to the ground. She continues her walk to our desk with her eyes down, stopping by Mr. Indigo to hand him her tardy slip.
They talk for a bit before Lauren makes her way to our desk, sitting down beside us. She notices the goggles in her spot and puts them on. She still looks beautiful. She cautiously eyes the test tubes.
"What is the lab?" She asks, picking up the same test tube I picked up before she came in.
"We are making the reaction in the book." I answer timidly, feeling overwhelmed with my feelings.
"For every action, there is a reaction." Lauren comments, shrugging. She pulls the book closer to her, reading the tiny words on the page.
After finishing her reading, she hums softly as she picks up a tube of clear liquid and narrows her emerald eyes at it. She pulls an empty beaker toward her.
I decide to make small talk while she is figuring it out. "Why were you late?" I ask softly.
She doesn't respond; she just stares blankly at the text book like she can't figure out the right chemical to mix it with. I lean over and read the page myself.
I find the right test tube, one concealing blue liquid, and hand it to her. She takes it timidly, her eyes looking at it up and down. She hums in agreement and pours a bit of the clear liquid into the beaker and then most of the blue liquid, which wasn't a lot.
"How've you been?" I decide to ask another question, the awkwardness of the silence creeping up on me. Except, it isn't that awkward because everything with Lauren seems so natural.
No reply. She swirls the beaker, mixing the liquids. Trailing her finger down the page, she bites her bottom lip gently in thought. I can't help but stare.
"Come on, talk to me." I pout, pursing my lips and crossing my arms. Lauren doesn't pay any attention to me.
She clasps her fingers over the top of a different tube, one with small specks of gray powder in it, and pours a pinch into the beaker. Mixing it up again, she narrows her eyes at the text book as the color turns into purple.
Honestly, I have no idea what she is doing but I'm happy she is here to help me understand. Now, if she would just talk to me.
"Can't you, at least, explain what you're doing?" I plead, not really caring about what she is doing but I just want to hear her voice.
She lifts her eyes at me, making my heart jump. Stupid heart. She then shakes her head and looks back down at the book.
"I'm not going to shut up until you talk to me." I declare stubbornly, crossing my arms again and casting my gaze off to the side. This doesn't last long, as I almost immediately look back at her.
She ignores me, her dark hair covering some of her face. I notice her reaching for the match to heat the fluid so I snatch it up before she can take it. I'll just blackmail her.
"I will burn you." I threaten, clicking the side of the lighter and revealing the small flame. I hold it a few inches from her face. She just stares at me blankly, her eyes unimpressed.
Mr. Indigo coughs in my direction, gesturing me to put away the match. "Okay, so I won't." I sigh, lowering the lighter and turning off the flame before handing it to Lauren. She clicks it and slowly heats the bottom of the beaker in a circular motion.
Lauren finishes heating the liquid, placing the match off to the side. She examines the now dark purple fluid. People from the desks beside us are now watching Lauren. I glower at them, making them look away.
"I miss hearing your voice." I try pity, hoping it gets her to speak to me. Even if she says 'I hate you', I'd be fine. At least, it's words.
Absolutely nothing. Not even a sad smile or glance. Ugh, this is just like texting her. She seems to be concentrating very hard on the text book page again.
"Look, I'll give you all of me: my blood, my sweat, my heart, and my tears. Just talk to me." When she doesn't respond, I ask. "Why don't you care?"
Lauren just scoffs, running a hand through her hair. She seems to not know which chemical is next. I pick up a small tube of pink liquid, going to dump some into the mixture she already has.
But she grabs my wrist before I can, pulling my arm away abruptly. Our goggles bump into each other. "Do you want to explode?" She growls, but I can hear the fear in her voice.
She cares.
I guess, it takes almost blowing myself up to get her to speak to me. That's totally fine. "I guess, I don't want these chemicals all in my veins."
I cough sheepishly, slowly placing back down the apparently dangerous pink liquid. I then proceed to brush myself off, taking a deep breath before speaking again.
"We build bridges, Lauren. Bridges, not walls." I remind her, looking pointedly at her.
"We keep Camila alive. Alive, not splattered against the walls." Lauren echoes my words, side eyeing me. I don't know why I find myself smiling.
She then finally picks up a glass box of yellow dust, sprinkling in a few grains of it. She grimaces for a second or two after it's in, like she's afraid it will explode. When it doesn't kill us, she smiles proudly.
I haven't seen her smile in a while. I haven't realized how much I missed it.
"Thanks for keeping me alive." I comment, feeling it to be a necessity.
Lauren doesn't answer, but I didn't expect her to this time, so it's fine. She continues to work flawlessly, placing the beaker on the tray and picking up the dangerous pink fluid.
She hands it to me, and for one second, I'm sure she is trying to blow me up for talking too much, but I take it anyway. She then grabs the dropper, sucking up just one drop of pink liquid carefully.
She proceeds to squirt half of the one drop into the mixture in the beaker. Her hand is shaking and that's how I can tell she is nervous, as, other than that, she looks fearless.
The pink drop plinks down into the mixture. It absorbs into the liquid. Nothing happens at first but then the color changes from dark purple into lime green and bubbles overflow from it gracefully.
I glance at the text book, seeing that this is the correct reaction. Lauren looks down at the beaker with unreadable eyes.
"Bravo, Lauren and Camila!" Mr. Indigo claps, grinning. "You two are the first to complete the experiment. You two have very good chemistry."
Oh God. His choice of words for his praise wasn't the best as now my cheeks are flushed with embarrassment and Lauren has gained the features of anger and fear.
She doesn't talk to me the rest of class, no matter what I say. And trust me, I said some pretty crazy things.
"What if I just licked your face? How would you feel?"
This comment had got me no response, just a strange look.
"Sometimes, I like to name my apples because I feel like they feel less important than the bananas. But that's because they are, but don't tell them that."
Absolutely no comment from Lauren.
"Last night, I had a dream where I found a goldfish in a mud puddle. Don't ask me why because I don't know."
This had made Lauren slam her forehead down on the desk.
"I have a very big fear of avocados."
Lauren had just sighed very loud at this comment.
"Yo, I'm going to make you go mad if you don't talk to me."
This had caused Lauren to mutter something under her breath, but I couldn't hear it.
"Is it hot in here or is it just you?"
Lauren giggled at this but only because I had fell out of my chair after saying it.
"I will drink the pink liquid."
Nothing.
"I will force you to drink the pink liquid."
Again, nothing.
Well, long story short, she didn't talk to me at all. Class is over now and everyone is packing up and leaving to fourth period. Lauren goes to walk past me but I stop her by placing my hands on her shoulders.
"Walk with me to fourth period." I beg, my eyes boring into her's. I can see her bruises fading away and I'm happy to see no fresh ones.
Lauren shakes her head, roughly pushing past me and walking out the door. I turn around and watch her leave.
I'm just going to pretend that that didn't hurt me.
__
A/N: hallo! It's just me again. Uh, so I start school tomorrow. Just saying, man. I'm going to be freshman and my school is huge so... yay?
Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, please star it. Thank you and have a gorgeous day! I love you! :)
~StrangeBlob