"So..." Dad drawls as he enters the living room, plopping down beside me.
I furrow my eyebrows at him slightly and look over from my phone. "What?"
"Whatcha doin'?" He asks suggestively.
"Texting Lauren." I have to bite my bottom lip to keep a smile from spreading across my face. "Why?"
"Oh, you mean my future daughter-in-law?" Alejandro winks, making my face flush red.
"Dad, stop!" I complain, the corner of my lip twitching upwards. "We're not even dating yet."
"Still?" He seems deflated. "Last week on Christmas, you guys seemed so couple-like."
"I know." I admit, sighing. Truthfully, I long to call Lauren mine. To be able to say, yeah, Lauren is my girlfriend, and know that it's true and she is saying the same thing to someone else. But we haven't talked about it—the question—and I definitely hard to avoid it much longer as it's on everyone's tongue.
"Why don't you ask her?" Alejandro suggests, shrugging.
"I don't know." I share the half-lie, running a hand through my hair. "I'll have to plan it out. It has to be perfect, you know? It's Lauren."
"Take your time, mija." Dad slouches back, pulling his phone out. "It's not like she's going anywhere."
"Yeah." I exhale a breath of relief.
If I'm going to be honest, the reason why I haven't asked Lauren the big question is that I'm afraid maybe she will remember the twisted things her parents graffitied into her head. She'll think it's wrong and we'll be back to how we started—strangers.
But I'm sure that won't happen.
My phone dings and I smile down at the message that assures me even further.
Right now: My Girl: oh my god, Camz! Sometimes, I worry. But it's normally just how I deal with my overwhelming affection.
Alejandro gets up and grabs a mug from inside the kitchen and returns beside me, handing me the mug. Inside is warm tea. "Kiddo," he sighs.
"Yeah?" I say, confused, looking up from typing mid-text.
"I know you've been so happy lately with Lauren and such and maybe a few things have slipped your mind but... Sarah contacted me yesterday saying Sofi was upset with you and maybe you guys should talk." Alejandro explains slowly, watching my features closely.
"Oh, no..." I exhale, running my fingers through my hair. "I totally spaced with everything with Lauren and her family and then mom... I feel awful."
"Apparently, it's been affecting her school. You should really text her." Dad tells me, patting my arm.
"Yeah, definitely." I quickly shoot my little sister a message, feeling guilt building up in my heart.
My phone: Sofiiiiiii! I'm so so so so so so sorry. Please reply whenever you can. We can talk about whatever you want for however long you want.
Almost immediately, my phone buzzes in my hand. I look down so quickly, probably causing whiplash, but it's just Lauren.
Right now: My Girl: aww, haha. Hey, want to go get pizza for lunch? Since it's our last day off of school and all.
"Dad," I look to my father, who tend his head to give me his attention. "Is it cool if I go out with Lauren for pizza?"
"Just be back by dinner." He says, smiling before he looks back down at his phone.
"Okay," I jump up and grab my jacket and slip on my converse. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
My phone: Definitely. I'll walk to your house this time. Be there in ten.
"Stay safe." Alejandro says as I leave the house. I shoot him a grin before shutting the door.
Taking a deep breath, I start to walk to Ally and Lauren's house. I hear the house next to my house's door close and I look behind me. I see Lucy leaving the white home.
"Lucy?" I call over to her in confusion. She lives next to me? Lucy freezes when she hears my voice and looks over at me with wide eyes.
"Camila?" She asks, surprise edging her tender voice.
"You live there?" I inquire.
Lucy's tone suddenly hardens and she looks down. "No. Vero lives there. She wanted me to come over and we just got in a fight about..." she lifts her eyes to meet mine for a spilt second. "Something."
"Oh," I breathe awkwardly. "Uh, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Lucy sighs, stepping down from the steps of the house she just exited and getting to the sidewalk. But she doesn't move any closer to me. "I'm fine."
"Oh." I nod, looking to the side and then back to the girl a few paces in front of me.
"So... what you up to this fine morning?" Lucy asks, almost sheepishly.
"Going to lunch with Lauren." I say, feeling guilt chew at my heart as Lucy's face falls and loss settles in her eyes.
"Oh. Well, have fun." Lucy says coldly, walking toward me and then past me. "See you later."
I feel so terribly awkward as I bring to walk behind Lucy because she is heading the same way as me. She must notice my presence because she turns around to confront me.
"What do you want?" She asks but her town isn't angry. She seems drained and beaten.
"Sorry," I immediately blurt out, rubbing my neck nervously. "It's just that Lauren lives this way."
Lucy furrows her eyebrows. "No, she doesn't. She lives over there." She points to where Clara and Michael live.
"Not anymore." I shake my head, passing her with my head down.
For a second, I think it's over. But then I hear her voice call out to me, "Camila, I don't know what's going on. But if you ever need me, don't hesitate to call."
I ignore her and persist forward, typing a text to Lauren.
My phone: I might be a few minutes late. Don't worry.
In response, I get a heart-eyed emoji and a thumbs up. It makes my heart melt.
Weaving down the street and avoiding oddly placed trees, I make it to Lauren house and knock on the door. A few second after I knock, the beauty herself appear in the doorframe.
"It's Camz!" Lauren shouts to, I'm assuming, Patrica. "I'll text you when we're on our way back."
A muffled agreement is all she says back and she happily steps out and shuts the door behind us.
"I missed you." She flings her arms around me, pulling me close. I hum into her hair, wrapping my arms around her waist.
"You only saw me last weekend..." I joke. "But I missed you, too."
She moves her head back from me, just enough to kiss me promptly. I exhale sharply with surprise but submit anyway.
"Come on, let's go get pizza." She takes my hand, intertwining our fingers immediately.
We set off down the street, hand in hand, fates twisted like a ribbon on a dress—simple yet so very important.
The pizza place is past our school a block or so, it's not a trek or anything so we get there in good time. We order our pizza and she pays after a short row.
"How's Patricia and Jerry's been?" I ask as we sit down near the windows with our pizza and drinks. "How's Ally?"
"It's all so great." Lauren grins, gushing. "Mom and Dad are wonderful—they're so supportive. They want to meet you so badly."
"And I want to meet them, too." I beam, taking her hands from across the small table.
"How's Papa C doin'?" Lauren asks, letting go of one of my hands to grab her drink to sip.
I giggle, raising my eyebrows at her, "Papa C?"
"Yes," She drawls, grinning. "How's he?"
"He's great—misses you." I tell her and watch her face light up. "Always being like, where's Lauren? When is Lauren coming back? He loves you more than me."
"I'll have to stop by, then. After lunch, of course." Lauren decides, smiling nevertheless.
"Please." I say seriously, making the green eyed girl throw her head back in laughter.
"Of course. Anything for Camz." She muses me, cupping the side of her face and running her thumb over my bottom lip gently. This is when I noticed she hasn't touched her pizza yet.
"Hey, you okay?" I ask suddenly, meeting her eyes. "You haven't touched your pizza yet."
"Oh," Lauren exhales, looking down at her lunch with faux-innocent eyes. "I suppose so..."
"What's going on?" I ask, jutting my bottom lip out with concern. Lauren takes a deep breath.
"I'm just nervous." She says simply, her voice shaking a bit.
"About?" I counter, feeling my phone buzz in my pocket. I bet it's Sofi. I take my phone out to read the message.
"Well... I was thinking that maybe... I-I don't know. Well, yes, I do. But maybe you—we could. Uh, Camz, will you... Camila?" Lauren says my name sternly at the end of her ramble, making me look up.
"Yeah?" I ask, glancing down again. "Sorry, Sofi was just texting me—"
"Who's Sofi?" Lauren asks, almost defensively.
I laugh, grabbing hold of her hand. "My little sister. Remember, Sofia?"
Lauren's features soften as she recalls the name. "Oh, yes. Sofia Cabello. What about her? Can't it wait? I—"
"No, I'm sorry. I've upset her by ignoring her and distracting myself with you—but it's definitely, one hundred percent, not your fault. My fault." I explain and Lauren nods with understanding, yet she looks a bit uneasy. "Sofi says she wants to come over and she sent me her address. It's just a street over from yours."
"Oh, really?" Lauren asks, biting her bottom lip. She takes a deep breath and shrugs. "Okay, I can walk you over to her house and we can hang out some other time."
I grin, "thank you so much. I'm sorry we had to cut lunch short. Maybe next time." I tell her.
"Yeah. Next time."
We get our pizza boxed up and head out the door, following the directions to start heading to Sarah's house. I grab onto Lauren's hand and intertwine our fingers as we stroll.
"How's Cheesecake? I remember you said he ran away." Lauren comments.
"Oh, he hasn't come back yet." I sigh, shrugging. "I hope he isn't dead."
"Me too." Lauren agrees, dipping her head.
"Yeah. And oh, Lo?" Lauren hums in response to me saying to name. "You never answered how Ally was."
"Oh, yeah. Ally is doing good." Lauren shares, smiling. "Troy comes over a lot. She seems really happy with him. Except, one time, I walked in on them... eh... one night and I definitely didn't appreciate that." Lauren shudders.
I laugh loudly, throwing my head back. "Don't worry, I'll help you get revenge." Lauren's cheeks immediately flush a bright red and I realize the deeper meaning of my words. "I-I meant, you know..."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Lauren chuckles nervously, rubbing the side of my hand with her thumb gently. "No worries."
I smile happily as she lifts her arm and sets it around my shoulders, still holding on to my hand. I check the address and look up to see the house in front of us. It's Sofi's.
"This is it." I tell Lauren and she sighs, clearly holding something back but I don't want to push—it was probably my fault anyway.
"Okay," Lauren says, pressing my nose to my head before kissing it and hugging me goodbye.
"You'll be good to walk home by yourself?" I ask, worry sparkling in my eyes.
"Yes." Lauren says, dipping her chin and pressing her lips again mine in a quick, chaste kiss.
"See you tomorrow."
Lauren nods slowly, turning away to leave. "See you tomorrow."
I go up the driveway to knock on the door but it opens before I can get my knuckles on it.
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A/N: hallo! Ahhh, only 14 days this time! Sorry for the cliff-hanger thing. I don't have much to say except if you enjoyed this chapter, please star it. Thank you so much and have a FANTASTIC day! I love you!!
~StrangeBlob
(P.s: this wasn't edited.)
(P.p.s: you're the best.)
(P.p.p.s: who is going to see Camila on tour? Because I'm going to see her in Oregonnnn.)