"Why does Camila keep looking over here?" Ally whispered out of the corner of her mouth. They were sitting near the back of the auditorium, watching the stage as Ms. Rowland called out who "made the cut".
Lauren looked up from her phone. "Uh..she um...we...made plans."
The smaller girl paused, making sure she heard her friend correctly. "Plans? With Camila Cabello?"
"Mmhmm..." She kept her head down to hide her blush.
"I thought you hated her?" She shrugged. "So, what are your plans?"
"I don't know yet." The older girl mumbled. "I'm gonna keep helping her with chemistry."
"Ooh, chemistry." The shorter girl teased.
"Stop it, Ally!" She hissed, swatting at her best friend's arm. "I don't like Camila."
"Mmhmm..." she smirked, returning her attention to the stage.
"Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez..." Ms. Rowland continued to read names off of her list. Lauren and Ally clapped and cheered excitedly for their friends.
A few more minutes passed before Ally realized something. "Wait, tonight?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you're not gonna be at our house are you?"
She shrugged. "I told you I don't know yet. But why does it matter?"
"Monday's one of my Normani days. What if she catches us?"
"Can't you guys just go to the lake?"
"I guess so but-"
"And the last spot goes to Camila Cabello."
"Yay!" Normani and Dinah cheered for their friend and laughed when Camila took a bow.
The dismissal bell rang at that moment, causing everyone to grab their stuff and rush out of the room at the same time.
"So, as I was saying," Ally began again. Out of nowhere, a foot appeared in front of hers and she lost her balance. Every single one of her books flew out of her hands when she tried to catch herself. She crashed to the floor, but landed the wrong way on her left wrist. The people laughing hysterically didn't seem to care about that.
"Ally!" Lauren rushed over to help her friend who was clutching her wrist and trying her hardest not to cry. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head as the tears began rolling down her face.
"Aww, look, she's crying!" Drew. All of his friends exploded with laughter. Ally didn't even know he was in this class.
To her right, she could hear Normani whispering: "Camila, do something!"
"Do what?" Her friend replied.
"Go yell at them or something. Please? Ally looks like she's actually hurt and she needs someone other than Lauren to help her."
"Where's Selena and Demi?"
"Talking to Ms. Rowland...Please?"
Camila sighed. "Fine." Her, Normani, and Dinah all marched up to Drew at the same time. Camila spoke first. "Drew, what the hell are you doing?" She snapped. "You probably just broke her wrist and now you're going to have to pay for it!"
Normani snuck away to kneel in front of Ally who had her eyes closed from the pain. "Ally?" she spoke softly, gently drying the smaller girl's eyes with the back of her hand. She heard the shuffling of papers behind her, and turned to see Dinah stacking up all of the books Ally dropped. "Thanks, D." she smiled.
Dinah winked at her friend, then continued organizing.
"Ally, baby, open your eyes."
She did, a small smile forming on her face at the word "baby".
"Let me see it." She reached for her wrist, and the smaller girl pulled away.
"No, it hurts."
"Ally, just move you're hand, we're trying to help you." Lauren said gently.
The younger girl's wrist was swollen, and beginning to turn a light shade of purple.
Lauren sighed. "We have to get her to the hospital."
"Mani, Dinah!" Camila called from in front of Drew and his friends who were already starting to look a little sheepish. "We're leaving: now."
Normani sighed and wished everyone wasn't staring at her so she could give Ally a kiss on the cheek and tell her that she was going to be okay. "Call me on Ally's phone when you get the details, okay?" She whispered to Lauren who nodded. She spoke at normal volume to Ally as she stood up from her spot on the ground: "Keep that elevated, okay?" The smaller girl nodded and gave her a half-smile.
Dinah carefully placed the neat stack of books next to the two girls still on the floor. "Thanks, Dinah." Ally managed. The taller girl smiled sincerely and joined Camila and Normani with the guys. Lauren helped Ally up and grabbed all of their stuff.
"Do it!" Camila snapped at Drew in a hushed tone.
He cleared his throat and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, Ally? I-I'm really sorry. I didn't actually think you would get hurt." Both of the scholarship girls stayed silent. "I-If you want me to pay for anything I totally will I just...need to know..."
Lauren slit her eyes a little, trying to make sure that he was being honest. None of his friends laughed or even looked at each other. They seemed to be truly sorry. "We'll see."
~~
"Broken?"
"Fractured. But yes, it's broken."
"What's the difference?"
"It's not a clean break, and its relatively small." Lauren explained. She and Camila were sitting in the back of a local coffee shop. They took up the entire couch with all of the papers and worksheets that they were paying no attention to. They could clearly see every person that walked in the shop, and they were rating their outfits from 1-10 as well as talking about pretty much everything that wasn't related to chemistry.
"Ugh," The smaller girl made a sound of disgust. "That is a two."
Lauren wasn't big on fashion, but the long, yellow maxi skirt and brown, ruffled top the middle-aged woman was wearing reminded her of a toilet. So, that's what she told Camila.
She threw her head back and laughed, the beautiful and mesmerizing sound making Lauren giggle a little as well. Camila immediately covered her mouth when she realized how loud she was, and the look she gave Lauren made the taller girl laugh even harder. With her wide brown eyes and childlike expression on her face, she reminded the younger girl of Bambi. But she didn't tell her that.
"Don't you need help with this stuff?" Lauren motioned to the papers they were practically drowning in.
"Nope." Her grin was smug, which made the other girl suspicious.
"What do you mean 'nope'?"
"I've been studying since you left on Saturday. My mom gave me a practice test yesterday and I passed, so she told me I could take a break with the studying."
"Then why am I swimming in dead trees?"
"Because I didn't want any strangers sitting beside us. Duh." She rolled her eyes, and then giggled. "Keep up, Jauregui."
"Wait...wait, so, why are we here?"
Camila sighed. "My mom thinks I should start spending time with other people. She thinks I'm too attached to Normani and Dinah. Well, actually, what she said was: 'Lauren es una chica muy simpática. Ella es muy estudiosa y inteligente también. Tú debes pasar el rato con ella más.' But I knew what she meant."
Lauren was quiet for a moment, trying to imagine Camila's mom telling her to hang out with a scholarship kid. Eventually, both of them had been silent for too long for the conversation to continue, so the younger girl decided to ask her something else. "How did you get away with cussing Drew out earlier?"
"I didn't cuss him out." She answered nonchalantly, twirling her straw in her iced coffee. "I just said 'the h word'."
"Yeah, well no one really thought twice about it."
She shrugged. "People usually don't question me."
Lauren didn't say anything, turning to search Camila's expressionless profile for any sign of emotion. Her bright green eyes traced over the other girl's long lashes, surprisingly adorable nose, and incredibly kissable lips. She found none. "Do you think they're hiring here?"
"What?" The older girl's eyebrows were knit together when she faced the taller girl.
"I-I said do you think I'll be able to get a job here?"
"Why do you want a job?" She sounded thoroughly disgusted by the word.
"My parents are only paying rent for the first three months. I should probably start saving up now."
Camila paused. "And you want a job here?"
"I do."
"Okay." She leaned forward to set her coffee on the table in front of the couch. "I'll be right back." She straightened out her light blue button up, dark, high-waisted shorts, and fluffed up her bowless hair before marching over to the cashier. "Excuse me?" Her voice was assertive, and Lauren sat up a little more on the couch, watching intently. And it wasn't just because she was going to get a job; the back of Camila was a really nice sight.
"Yes, how may I help you?" The girl behind the counter responded.
"Well," She glanced down at her nametag. "Troian. My friend wants a job here."
"Oh, we-we're not hiring." Troian answered.
Camila placed her forearms on the counter, and the other girl nervously backed up. "I'm sorry, what was that? It kind of sounded like you said 'no'?"
"I...um...i-is she here?"
"Yes."
"You can bring her over and-"
"You'll give her the job?"
She stood up a little taller. "I-I'll give her an application."
Camila looked over at Lauren and gave her a quick nod. The other girl joined her at the counter where Troian gave her a few pieces of paper. "I'm gonna need another one for my friend." Lauren told her. Camila gave the cashier a particularly threatening glare and Lauren was handed another form.
The older girl smiled. "Thanks, Troian."
She nodded once, but still had a nervous look in her eyes.
The other two girls walked back over to the couch they had claimed in the back of the shop.
Lauren read over the application for a few seconds before looking back up at Camila who had a triumphant smile on her face. "That was...amazing. In a kind of...scary way." The older girl giggled, the straw of her coffee halfway in her mouth. "Thanks, Cabello."
She winked, sending a mixture of chills and heat through the other girl's body. "Anytime, Jauregui."
~~
"Does it hurt?"
"Kind of." It was almost ten o'clock at night and Ally was lying on her back ontop of her bed. She had been talking to Normani for almost an hour, and she knew she should be asleep. The pain medication she was on was making her extrememly tired, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Normani she had to go.
"What's the cast look like?"
"Its white...and it goes up to my elbow-" There was a light knock on her bedroom door. "Hold on, Mani." She pulled the phone away from her face. "What, Lo?"
"Go to sleep!"
"In a minute!"
Normani giggled. "Was that Lauren?"
"Yeah." Ally rolled her eyes.
"Al, as much as I hate to say it, I think you should go to sleep."
"No!" She whined.
The older girl laughed lightly. "Ally, go to sleep. I know you're tired."
"But I wanna keep talking to you." She mumbled.
"Ally. Come on, for me?" The smaller girl didn't answer. "Turn off your light." She sighed, but obeyed. "Now, get under the covers." She did that too. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yeah..." Normani couldn't see her, but she was still blushing.
"Good. Now go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, baby." Ally's stomach twisted at the nickname the same way it did earlier and she smiled into her pillow.
"Night, Mani."
"G'night."
As soon as Normani hung up the phone, she got a text.
From: Mila
Hey r u still up?
To: Mila
Yeah y?
From: Mila
Lauren told me Ally's wrist was fractured
If Normani didn't already know that Camila and Lauren met up earlier for their little "study date", she would be incredibly suspicious of that last message.
To: Mila
I know
The moment she sent it, she whished that she hadn't.
From: Mila
U do? How??
She thought fast - well, she panicked - and hit send.
To: Mila
I have to go
She quickly crawled under her sheets, and shut off the light, hoping that somehow Camila would believe her. Her heart was pounding harder than ever, and she barely heard it when her phone went off again.
From: Mila
Did Ally tell u??
From: Mila
R u still seeing her??
From: Mila
I thought we agreed that u'd stop?!
From: Mila
NORMANI
From: Mila
Fine. We'll just talk about it in the morning.
She groaned, turned her phone off and threw it on the beanbag across the room. She wasn't sure how much sleep she'd be getting that night.
A/N: Hey, it's been a while (kind of) but I'm here! Not the best chapter ever but at least it's something, right? The Troian I mentioned is Troian Bellisario from Pretty Little Liars. She's gorgeous and I love her and I needed a cashier so I picked her. ((I would've picked Shay Mitchell because she's my favorite but I'm gonna put her in one of my other stories.)) But anyways I REALLY hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me if you did and what you think I should work on and all that jazz. As always, sorry for any mistakes. Thanks so much for reading! Please comment, vote, and byee :-) :-P ;-) O:-)
P.S.- What Camila said in Spanish was "Lauren is a very nice girl. She's very studios and smart, too. You should hang out with her more." And I did everything except the "hang out" part from my own Spanish 1 knowledge so I'm pretty proud of myself haha. Okay bye :-)