"I can't believe you didn't tell me. You literally live with me—we're sisters!" Ally exclaims in astonishment. Her boyfriend, Troy, sits next to her, his arm around her shoulders.
"Calm down, Alz." Lauren laughs, looking to her sister. "I did tell you. But you were on the phone with Troy."
Troy nods, "even I heard her, darling." He says gently, making Ally scoff playfully.
"Whatever." She sings, stuffing food into her mouth.
"Why is that exactly like Camila?" Dinah asks from beside Lauren, gesturing to Ally while laughing.
"Spare my girlfriend." Lauren wraps her arms around me, burying her face in my neck. "We all eat."
"Some more than others." Normani mutters, side-eyeing me.
"Rude. I thought you were on our side, Mani." I wrap my arms around Lauren head, squeezing her tightly. She smiles into my neck and my heart flutters like a butterfly.
"It's like they're already married and on their honeymoon." Dinah complains, making a gagging noise.
"Oh, shut up." Normani shoves the taller girl. "They're finally together. Took freaking long enough."
"I suppose." Dinah rolls her eyes, frowning. "I'm the only single one, now."
"I'm single!" Normani shakes her head and Dinah sighs loudly.
"I know." She drawls, putting her hand on Normani's face and turning to me. "Camz, next Sunday, do you want to get dinner with me?"
"Sure." I shrug. "You can come over. Dad is making pasta Sunday."
"Yes." Dinah drawls, fist pumping the air. I laugh at her, a smile lingering on my face after the noise dies in my throat.
"Pasta is weird." Lauren jeers, crinkling her nose in disgust.
"You're weird." I retort. Lauren sticks her tongue out at me and I giggle. Resting my head on her shoulder, I sigh happily.
The happiness crinkles up when I hear the voice of the devil.
"If it isn't my favorite pair, eh?"
I see Normani ready to jump up in the corner of my eye but Dinah wraps her arms around her to keep her down.
Lauren lets out an exasperated sigh. "Mahone."
Austin, Mahone himself, flashes me a devilish grin. "I don't know why you're with her. She doesn't even know my first name."
I hear Dinah mutter under her breath. "Asshole."
"Good, saves her a few brain cells." I roll my eyes, biting my bottom lip to keep the smile away from when I see the confusion in Austin's face.
He shakes off the defeat and tries again. "You know—"
"If you just came over here to belittle my wonderful girlfriend and me, thinking you were going to get some juicy reaction, or whatever the fuck you and your asshole friends obsess over, then lower those hopes back to the ground because it isn't happening." Lauren snaps, her eyes fixed on the boy's boring green eyes. A look of rage, of being tired of hiding, of irritation that people can't just accept her, of disappointment in the world we live in, is upon her features.
Austin looks taken aback, like he wasn't expecting it, and almost fearful of embarrassment, but he trudges on, digging the hole deeper and deeper. He mocks, "Oh, your wonderful girlfriend, eh?", like it's going to make a difference.
"Yes, my wonderful, lovely, passionate, everything-I-could-ever-want, girlfriend. And yeah, I get that you're upset because she isn't yours—you're not worthy. Hell, I'm not even worthy. But here we are; looks like the soul spoke." Lauren flips him off, turning back to me and kissing my head. I hum happily.
I look around at everyone at the table. Ally looks shocked and frozen while Troy is trying to get her attention. Dinah looks pissed and Normani is trying to keep Dinah in one spot.
Austin seems choked up—not sentimentally—but forces words out anyway. "Don't play that game with me, Jauregui."
"What game? The game where you rule over and I bow at your feet? Or the game where I cower in fear as the hail hits the sidewalk? Why play a game if you don't want to? Why play a game if you don't have to?" Lauren raises her voice, dozens of people are staring at the interaction.
"Leave her alone, douchebag!" A voice yells. I recognize it as Lucy's.
"Shut it, Vives!" Austin shouts back, fear creeping into his voice. He doesn't like being the one people stare at accusingly. The one they whisper about behind his back.
"Don't yell at her!" Lauren shouts. "She did nothing wrong! You're being an asshole—picking on people who can't defend themselves, people who are too afraid to speak up, people who are too afraid to practically breathe! You think it brings you higher up, puts you on this pedestal, but it doesn't. You sink into the quicksand every time you step all over someone. Yeah, you're drowning them, sure. But you're also sinking yourself."
Austin takes a step back, his eyes darting around nervously. "You're scared—"
"I'm not scared. Not anymore." Lauren stands up on the table, gesturing around all her and then pointing at him. "You're scared. Afraid that you can't lift your foot to kick anymore because it's too far sunk in the sand. I'm not afraid. Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao is my girlfriend! I'm gay! Who cares? It's my life, my love, my choice. So it shouldn't matter! You only care because it's something you can feed off of. Because I'm not exactly like you. And that bothers you. It scares you."
Austin has rage in his eyes now and I tug on Lauren's hand but she doesn't look down at me. She has her gaze fixed on the boy. I don't want her to get hurt. But Austin lets out a strangled yell and throws himself at Lauren. They fall over the table, landing on the ground with a loud thud.
A staff member walking around the corner sees this and blows his whistle loudly and barks into his radio. Everyone covers their ears. Three security guards from the staff room pile in a and tear Austin, who was throwing punches, off Lauren. I jump off my seat and bat away the man who tries to help Lauren up. I grab her hand and steady her to her feet.
"Lo..." I murmur as she falls into me. She sighs happily and lifts her head to grin at me. Her bottom lip is busted open. "Babe!"
"It was worth it." Lauren beams, cupping my face and kissing me passionately. "It's always worth it for you"
"But you're hurt." I protest, pouting. She laughs and takes my hands.
"He's more hurt than I am." Lauren brushes it off. She opens her mouth to say more but is cut off when the principal taps her shoulder.
"Lauren Jauregui?" The principal, Mrs. Marsh, asks, tucking a strand of her blonde hair that's fallen out of her bun behind her ear. My girlfriend turns at the sound of her name.
"Yeah?" She hums in response, glancing a nervous look at me. "That's me."
"How long has Mr. Mahone been harassing you?" Mrs. Marsh inquires, gesturing to Austin, now being handled by the security guards.
"Freshman year." Lauren admits, almost sounding ashamed. I furrow my eyebrows.
"For three years?" I ask, looking to my girlfriend. She nods and shrugs. I take her hand in mine and squeeze it tightly.
My girlfriend is the strongest person I know.
"Okay. Thank you." Mrs. Marsh smiles. "Your friend, Dinah Jane, has informed me about other people he has harassed. So, he will be expelled."
"For real?" Lauren beams, looking at me with shining eyes.
"Yes." Mrs. Marsh nods, waving goodbye to us before going to converse with some of the security guards.
Normani runs into me, ruffling my hair and then throwing her arms around Lauren. "I'm so proud of you! I wanted to rip his face off but I knew I had to let you do it yourself." She hums as she presses her cheek to Lauren's.
Dinah claps the green eyed girl on the back and grins widely. "Ralph, that was epic!"
Lauren shrugs, her face basically glowing. "It was nothing."
"That's my girl." Dinah hums affectionately. She turns to me. "She stood up for you so hard. Wife her up."
I laugh softly and smile shyly at my girlfriend who seems high off confidence. Her green eyes are dazzling in the lighting of the cafeteria ceiling.
Ally jogs over and hugs Lauren tightly. "I always knew you could do it, sis."
"Thanks, guys." Lauren beams, taking a deep breath. She kisses my temple gently, sighing into my hair.
Justice tastes a lot like karma.
__
A/N: hallo! I know—late. I've just been living my life lately and didn't really write much. But I saw Camila on the 11th and it was everything one could ever need in their lives. Even though I had to stand on my tip-toes, it was worth it. So worth it.
If you enjoyed this chapter, please star it. Thank you so much and have a beautiful day! I love you :)
-StrangeBlob