Miami, Summer Before Senior Year
Camila lay on Lauren's bed, playing with the blanket. Lauren was looking over the forms she needed to fill out for cheerleading camp that summer. She chewed on the pen in her hand.
"Hey Lolo?" Camila whispered.
"Hmm?" Lauren replied.
"Do you really want to do cheerleading camp? I mean, Coach Spears told us that the instructor was about as useful as a beached whale and then said she kinda looked like one on top of that. I didn't really get much better either."
"Well then what do you suggest we do?" Lauren asked. "Do you really want to stay in Miami all summer doing nothing? I think I'd kill myself." Camila flopped onto her stomach and scooted over to the edge where Lauren was leaning.
"I want to see the sunrise." She said.
"Okay. We'll get up every morning at 4 and climb onto the roof of the dorm so you can see the sunrise." Lauren suggested.
"Not from cheerleading camp!" Camila giggled. "I want to see it over the ocean!"
"Like...the Atlantic ocean..." Lauren stated, turning to look at Camila. "Camz, that's like...a day's worth of driving away from cheerleading camp."
"Then we're not going to cheerleading camp." Camila replied. "Come on, Laur...my aunt lives right on the beach. We could stay with her!"
"Your...gay...aunt." Lauren clarified.
"Yeah, she's happy."
"And married to a woman." The older brunette pointed out.
"That too." Camila added. "Come on, Lauren, we could go there for a few days, and then...we'll see! If you want to come back and do cheerleading camp. But can we go? Pleaassee? This'll be the last vacation we'll have as high school students. Pleeaaassee?" She pouted and gave Lauren puppy dog eyes. Lauren sighed.
"Camz, this is ridiculous. We haven't planned anything out!"
"Sure we did!" Camila flopped on her back and started counting on her fingers. "You have a car. I have an aunt. Let's go!"
"That's not what I mean, Camila. I mean we can't just up and leave. I have to clear it with my parents and you have to clear it with yours. And then we have to call up your aunt..." Without warning, Camila got off the bed and all but sprinted downstairs. Lauren gave an exasperated sigh and chased after her, knowing full well what she was going to do. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mom was preparing dinner.
"Hey, Mrs. Jauregui!" Camila chimed in.
"Hi girls, dinner isn't ready yet." Mrs. Jauregui said.
"Um...I was wondering..."
"Mom, don't listen to her. She's gone crazy." Lauren interjected. Camila shot her a "hush you" look before continuing.
"So...Lauren and I..."
"Just her, mom. Not me."
"Well, I was thinking that since it was the last summer before Senior year..."
"It's the only summer before Senior year." Lauren corrected but Camila ignored her.
"I wanted to take Lauren and go out to the east coast! My aunt Vero lives over there and I'm sure she'd be happy to let us stay with her for a couple of days."
"What about cheerleading camp?" Mrs. Jauregui asked.
"I dunno. Maybe we'll skip it." Camila shrugged.
"We are not skipping cheerleading camp!" Lauren all but shouted. "God..." She folded her arms. Her mom kept chopping up the eggplant and Lauren counted down the seconds before she rejected the idea.
"I think that's a great idea." Lauren almost fell over in shock.
"Mom!"
"Oh, Lauren." Her mom rolled her eyes. "You've been going to cheerleading camp and coming back complaining how you didn't learn anything! Why waste money on something that's completely unnecessary? I think you should go with Camila, it'll be fun."
"Mom!" Lauren repeated. "I can't just..."
"Yay! I'm going to go call my mom and tell her!" Lauren didn't even have a chance to register what was going on in the house when Camila opened up her phone and dialed home. Lauren knew what Camila's mother was going to say. It was going to be the same response she gave whenever Camila asked if Lauren could sleep over, or go to a party or do just about anything.
"She said yes!" Camila squealed as if she were surprised by the response.
"But your aunt..."
"She loves me, she'll definitely say yes!" Camila replied, opening up her phone again and dialing a different number. Lauren looked at her mom, pleading with her eyes to make the madness stop. Her mother simply smiled at her when Camila hung up and hugged Lauren saying that everyone had agreed. Lauren felt like curling up in her bed and waiting until this dream was all over.
It certainly didn't register when Lauren found herself loading up two dufflebags in the back of her blue mini coop roughly a week later. When she stopped and looked at Camila, printed out sheets of directions in hand while Lauren herself held the bags of clothes, towels and other necessities, she all but gave up.
"How the hell did I let myself get talked into this?" She wondered but she knew the answer. It was the same way that she got talked into doing the school show choir. When Coach Spears needed spies in the group, Lauren initially didn't care but Camila, after seeing the performance in the auditorium, was so excited by the prospect.
"They get to dance! All the time! And sing!" Camila bounced around excitedly. When Lauren had said that it was stupid, Camila pouted and batted her eye lashes until Lauren, in a huff, gave in. It was the same way that Camila had gotten them to "experiment" with each other the first time (but not the subsequent times. Lauren would never admit that it was much better with Camila than any of her boyfriends.)
Of course, this time was no exception. So, dazed and confused at six in the morning, Lauren got into the car with Camila in the passenger seat. Her mother leaned in through the window.
"You girls have fun." She said, winking at Lauren. Lauren felt like she wanted to bang her head against the wheel of the car until she woke up. "Not too much fun. Mila, I'm asking you to keep an eye on Lauren."
"Yes Ma'am!" Camila did a fake salute and Lauren mouthed "oh my god why" several times. She started the car and backed out of the driveway, Camila cheering her on. By the time Lauren realized that all she had to do was fake engine trouble, they were well on their way out of Miami.
"I just want to make one thing clear." Lauren said firmly.
"Yeah?"
"We are only staying there for a few days, no more."
"Okay, Lolo, whatever you say." Camila replied but they both somehow knew it was going to be more than just a few days. If the four dufflebags in the back were any indication, they had enough clothes for two weeks. Camila kept herself busy by turning on the radio and rolling down the windows singing at the top of her lungs to Ed Sheeran. Lauren had to fight back a smile that time. No matter what the situation, Camila could always make it lighthearted. As much as she didn't understand why she was driving well over ten hours to Boston where Camila's gay aunt and her wife resided, some part of her couldn't resist the idea of spending time alone with the bubbly blond. In less than an hour, Lauren had joined Camila in practically screaming songs to the open wind.
Four rest stops and eleven hours later, they arrived in Cape Cod. Lauren and Camila had taken turns driving so that Lauren wouldn't wear herself out and it was Camila who pulled into the driveway of a small beach house only two miles from the actual shore. Two Yorkies dashed outside to greet them, followed by a tall brunette woman who looked startlingly similar to Camila, just older and tanner.
"Hey Aunt Vero!" Camila scrambled out of the car to give her a hug.
"Hey Baby Kaks." Lauren fought back a laugh when she heard the pet name. "Oh, look at you, you've grown so much."
"Thanks! This is Lauren." Lauren walked around the car and shook hands with her.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Vero said. "Camila won't shut up about you. Whenever I talk to her it's always 'Lauren and I did this' or 'Lauren helped me do this.' It's good to put a face to the name."
"Thanks, it's nice to meet you too." Lauren said politely. Camila stooped down and picked up one of the Yorkies.
"Lolo, this is Bungie! The other one is Cord. Bungie Cord!" She held the Yorkie close to Lauren's face and she recoiled slightly upon receiving a doggie slobber facial. "He likes you!" Lauren wiped away the drool and proceeded to get the bags from the back. She hauled two over one shoulder and two over the other.
"Where should I put them?" She asked.
"Oh, just drop them in the living room. We have a spare bedroom upstairs you two can share. I'll show you in just a minute." Vero shouted after her. When Lauren went into the house, Vero turned to Camila who was kissing and playing with Bungie.
"She's pretty." Vero observed. Camila broke into a grin and stared at the doorway where Lauren had entered.
"Yeah." She said bashfully.
"I can see why you're enamored. She's pretty, she's got a kickass body, Kaks, and damn her eyes."
"I really, really like her Aunt Vero." Camila admitted, putting Bungie down and picking up Cord. Her aunt smiled warmly.
"I remember the first time you called me up and told me about her." She reminisced. "You were almost in tears, Kaks. You told me, 'Aunt Vero, how did you know you liked Aunt Lucy?' You were so cute."
"I really like her." Camila repeated.
"Do you love her?" Vero asked.
"Maybe..." Camila chewed on her lip and then nodded. "Yeah."
"Does she love you?" Camila cast a longing glance across the horizon.
"I dunno." She answered. "I mean...we...we do stuff all the time. But she does that with boys too. She said that 'sex wasn't dating' and that we're Cheerleaders so we can't do stuff like kiss in school." Vero nodded knowingly.
"I know how you feel, Baby Kaks." She put a hand on Camila's shoulder. "She's probably just scared." The two of them turned towards the house when they heard a loud crash followed by a string of muffled curses.
"Lauren!" Camila put the Yorki down and headed up the stairs.
"Karla!" Vero shouted. Camila turned around, glancing nervously inside the house because there was another loud thud. "You're in Cape Cod. Make things happen!" Camila flashed her a quick smile before running inside to assist Lauren in whatever she was doing. Her aunt stood outside with the dogs excitedly running around the car. She chuckled a little when she saw the silhouette of the two girls, the older brunette leaning on the younger girl for support as they headed to the kitchen to find a first aid kit. They grow up too fast, she thought to herself.
"Ok, come on BC, let's go!" She said, clapping her hands and racing the two brown dogs up the stairs and into the house. It was the beginning of the long stay for Camila and Lauren on the east coast.