Ally sighs softly as she watches Camila sleep, Sinu had to work late and had asked her to stay over with Camila. She pulled out her phone and texted Justin.
His response was quick.
Justin: Hey, is everything okay?
Ally: Yeah. I'm just bored. Camila is sleeping.
Justin: Do you like live there now? I mean you're always there. It's almost like its expected of you now.
Ally: No. I don't live here now but my parents are always away on business so I need somewhere to stay.
Justin: I just don't want you getting taken advantage of.
Ally: I'm not. I can handle myself.
Justin: Okay, I just worry. Taking care of someone with autism is very hard.
Ally: I know it is.
"Ally," Camila mumbles softly as she begins to wake up.
Ally looked up from her phone. "I'm here Mila."
Sitting up, the younger girl runs at her eyes and looks toward her. "Thirsty."
Ally reached for Camila's bottle on her bedside table. "Here."
Grabbing it, Camila slowly opens it and takes a drink.
Ally leaned back against the wall.
Closing it, Camila holds it out for Ally, her eyes fluttering closed.
Ally took the bottle and sat it on the bedside table.
The younger girl was instantly sound asleep once again.
Justin:You still there?
Ally: Yeah. Camila has woken up and was thirsty. I had to get a drink for her.
Justin: Oh, I thought I had upset you.
Ally: No. you hadn't.
Justin: I wanted to ask you in person, but will you go on a date with me?
Ally: um... sure. When?
Justin: Friday? At 8.
Ally: Sure. Where?
Justin: I'll pick you up at Mila's, dress casually.
Ally: Okay.
Justin: I have to go, Toby is having a meltdown over what mom made for dinner.
Ally: Okay. Have fun with that.
****
Camila was silently watching Lauren and Lucy from afar.
Lucy was chatting away while Lauren was sitting quietly, listening.
Frowning, Camila looks toward Ally. "Why is she here?"
"What?" Ally asked confused.
"She is in my music room." Camila mumbles in frustration.
"It's not your music room. It's a classroom and she's helping Lauren with their class performance." Ally explained.
Shaking her head, Camila tenses in frustration. "No!"
"Camila don't start, not today." Ally said calmly.
The younger girl tenses and looks up Ally. "No!"
"Camila." Ally said calmly.
Tears immediately fill Camila's eyes and she begins shaking her head. "My Lolo! My music room!"
Ally sighed heavily. "I can't just kick her out."
Dinah and Normani chose that moment to walk into the room, their hair slightly messy.
"Hey, what'd we miss?" Normani asks, sitting down.
"Camila doesn't like Lucy being in here." Ally said quietly.
Dinah sighs softly and looks at Camila. "Mila, you can't get angry over someone being there."
Camila shook her head.
"Mila, you don't own Lauren or this room." Normani says softly.
Tears immediately fill Camila's eyes and she looks down.
Ally sighed. "Camila, stop now."
Kicking her feet, the younger girl shakes her head.
"Camila." Ally said calmly.
The younger girl looks up at Ally, tears streaming down her cheeks. She really didn't like Lucy hanging around Lauren all the time.
Ally sighed, she pulled Camila into a gentle cuddle.
Curling into her, Camila begins to softly cry into her shoulder.
Lauren turned to look at them and frowned. She got up and walked over. "Camz? You okay?"
Shaking her head, Camila curls even closer to Ally and softly cries.
"Camz?" Lauren furrowed her brows and reached out to touch Camila.
Flinching, Camila finally looks up at Lauren with tear filled eyes.
"What's... why are you upset?" Lauren asked.
"My Lolo, my music room." Camila whines out before pointing at Lucy who she believed to be an intruder.
Lauren looked confused. "What?"
"Out," Camila whines, pointing at Lucy again.
Lauren looked from Camila to Lucy. "Out? Why?"
"My Lolo," the younger girl whines again, pointing at Lauren.
"I'm not yours." Lauren said. "I'm a person."
Tears once again fill Camila's eyes and she buries her face in Ally's neck.
Lauren sighed. "Did I say something bad?"
"No Laur, we're still working on the whole her not owning everything." Ally explains softly. "Her mom works a lot and hasn't exactly taught her much and her dad, well he wasn't all that great with her."
"Oh." Lauren sighed. "Can I help?"
The older girl sends Lauren a warm smile. "You can, but let's start off small."
Lauren nodded. "Like what?"
"Laur, are we finishing this?" Lucy called from across the room.
Lauren ignored her, more interested in making Camila smile again.
"Maybe see if she will color with you?" Ally offers softly.
Lauren got up and moved to her backpack. She pulled her coloring things from it.
Camila had managed to calm down and was leaning against Ally, playing with her ring.
Lauren carried the pencils and her sketchpad over, dropping loose pages on her way over.
Normani was right behind her, picking them up, knowing how upset Lauren would get if she lost them.
Lauren sat the paper and pencils on the table in front of Camila and looked at her expectantly.
The younger girl looks up from Ally's ring and looks at the table before looking at Lauren. "Color? Just us?"
Lauren nodded.
A small smile grew on Camila's lips and she moved off of Ally.
Lauren found some blank paper in her sketchpad and gave it to Camila. She was in desperate need of a new sketchpad. The one she had now was falling apart and almost full.
"Hey Laur, we're going to the mall after school if you want to come with. Camila usually holds one of our hands." Normani says softly.
Lauren looked at Normani, she hesitated. "I don't know if my mom will let me."
"I can ask her, she likes me." Ally says softly.
Lauren looked at Ally. "She'll say no."
"You don't know that Laur, I'll go give her a call." the older girl responds, getting up and moving to the otherside of the room.
"She will." Lauren said.
Camila looks up and smiles softly at Lauren. "Draw?"
Lauren turned to look at Camila. She nodded and held out a pencil to her.
Taking the pencil, Camila smiles excitedly.
Lauren offered Camila a soft smile.
The younger girl immediately begins drawing, her eyes lighting up.
Lauren picked up a pencil and began drawing too.
"Laur?" Lucy asks, moving over to them.
Camila immediately tenses and looks down, beginning to lightly rock back and forth.
Lauren looked up. "What?"
"Are we not finishing this?" Lucy asks, tilting her head to the side and reaching out to grab Lauren's hand.
Lauren shook her head. She'd lost interest in what she had been doing with Lucy a long time ago.
"Why not? I thought it was for a grade." Lucy says, frowning when she notices Camila rocking and making soft noise. "What's wrong with her?"
Camila immediately tensed and tears filled her eyes as soon as she heard Lucy say the 'bad' word.
"Great." Dinah muttered. "Camila, you need to stop. You're fine."
Shaking her head, Camila releases a soft sob and begins rocking again, covering her ears.
Lauren shook her head again. She pulled her hand from Lucy's with such a roughness that she fell backwards off of her seat and onto the floor.
Ally walks back into the room. "What happened?"
"Guess." Dinah said sarcastically.
Sighing, Ally moves over to Camila and kneels down in front of her. "Hey, Mila."
"Lucy, I think it'd be best if you left." Normani said. She could see on Lauren's face that she was about to get upset like Camila was.
Rolling her eyes, Lucy turns and grabs her bag before leaving.
"There, she's gone. Are you happy now Camila?" Dinah said.
The youngest girl had slowly calmed down, having curled into Ally, listening to her heartbeat. But Dinah's words made tears fill her eyes, she didn't like when people were angry at her.
"Camila, can you move your foot, it's on my hand." Lauren asked, looking up. She was still on the floor.
Shifting, Camila moves her foot and curls into Ally even more, burying her face in the blondie's neck.
Lauren stood up.
"Laur, are you okay?" Normani asks softly, helping the green eyed girl up.
Lauren shook her sore hand.
"I think I'm going to take Mila home early. Um Laur, your mom said you can come to the mall with us and even stay the night." Ally says softly.
Lauren looked up from her hand.
Ally sends her a warm smile. "She'll drop you off."
Lauren nodded once.
Camila gets up slowly and waits for Ally.
Ally stood up and collected their things.
The younger girl rubs her eyes and looks at Ally. "Home?" She asks tiredly.
"Yeah." Ally said.
Nodding tiredly, Camila grabs her drawing and passes it to Lauren.
Lauren looked at Camila with a confused face.
"For you." She mumbles.
"Me?" Lauren tilted her head to the side.
Nodding, the younger girl looks down. "Yes."
"Thank you." Lauren said.
Camila turns and walks toward the door to the room.
Lauren looked down at the picture in her hands.
It was a drawing of her and Camila.
A soft smile crossed Lauren's features.
****
"Pretty." Camila mumbles, looking at a dress.
Normani nodded. "It is. Why don't you try it on?"
Swallowing thickly, Camila looks up at Normani before shaking her head. "I'm not pretty enough."
"Yes you are, Camila. You are beautiful in every which way." Normani said with a soft smile.
Frowning, Camila looks back at the dress and tilts her head to the side. "It will not look good on me."
"Yes it will." Normani said softly.
The younger girl just looks down, not believing Normani.
"Camila, it's the truth. It would look amazing on you." Normani said.
"What's going on?" Dinah asks, walking over with Ally and Lauren.
"She doesn't think she's pretty enough for this dress." Normani said.
"What? Mila that dress would look gorgeous on you." Dinah says softly.
Camila just shakes her head and flaps her hands.
"Camz, it's true." Lauren said.
The younger girl looks up and sends Lauren a small smile before reaching for the dress. "Ally."
"Yes?" Ally turned around from where she'd been looking at a nice hoodie.
"Help?" The younger girl asks softly.
"Okay." Ally nodded.
Camila immediately moves over to her with the dress.
"Let's go." Ally said.
Nodding her head, Camila follows Ally toward the dressing room.
"In you go." Ally said, stopping in front of an empty changing room.
"Come with?" the younger girl asks immediately.
Ally sighed.
"Please?" Camila asks softly, shifting nervously.
"You'll be fine on your own." Ally said.
Pouting, Camila shakes her head.
"Why not?" Ally frowned.
Turning the dress around, Camila shows her the zipper.
"Oh." Ally releases a long breath. "Let's go."
Opening the door, Camila walks in turns to look at Ally expectantly.
Ally entered the changing room and closed the door. She turned to face the wall. "Get dressed and I'll zip you up once you have it on."
Stripping her clothes, Camila pulls the dress on and then taps Ally's shoulder.
Ally turned around and zipped the dress up for Camila.
"Pretty?" The younger girl asks, tilting her head to the side before turning to look at Ally.
"Beautiful." Ally responded.
A small smile grows on Camila's lips. "Show Lolo?"
"I'll go get her. You stay here." Ally said, moving to leave the changing room.
Nodding her head, Camila watches Ally leave.
A few minutes later, Ally came back with Lauren and the other girls.
Camila looks up and immediately locks eyes with Lauren. "Lolo."
"Pretty. Mani was right." Lauren said.
Grinning, Camila looks at Ally hopefully. "Get it?" She asks, Ally was carrying her shopping money from her mom.
"How much is it?" Ally asked.
The younger girl shrugs and moves over to Ally, turning so the older girl can look at the price tag.
"Twenty-five dollars." Ally read.
"Do I have enough?" The younger girl asks, she didn't know her mom had given her five-hundred dollars.
"More than enough." Ally smiled.
Grinning, Camila turns. "Unzip?"
Lauren, Normani, and Dinah left the changing room and Ally locked the door before unzipping Camila and turning to face the wall so she could take it off.
The younger girl quickly gets dressed. "Thank you."
"No problem." Ally said.
Fifteen minutes later
Camila frowns as she spots Lucy who was walking up to Lauren.
Lauren has her back to Lucy and was trying to pull a book from the book shelf that was too high for her to reach.
They were currently in a bookstore.
Reaching up, Lucy grabs the book and hands it to Lauren with a warm smile. "Hi."
Lauren turned her head, her eyes following the book until they landed on Lucy. "Hi?" She tilted her head to the side.
"I didn't know you were going to the mall, we could've gone together." Lucy says softly, sending Lauren a playful pout.
"I'm with my friends." Lauren said, pointing to Camila and Ally and then at Normani and Dinah.
Lucy frowns and rolls her eyes. "Come hang out with me, we can watch a movie and you won't have to deal with the crybaby."
Lauren frowned, she shook her head. "Mom said I have to stay with them."
"Seriously? You're seventeen." Lucy responds, shaking her head.
Lauren shifted uncomfortably, dropping her eyes.
"Lolo," Camila calls out softly, she was standing closer to them now and shifting anxiously.
Lauren lifted her head to look at Camila.
"Food?" The younger girl asks, she was hungry.
"I have to go." Lauren said sheepishly, attempting to put the book back on its shelf.
Lucy frowns. "Are you not getting the book because of her?"
Lauren shook her head. "I didn't get a chance to look at it. You interrupted me."
Camila shifts behind Lauren again, flapping her hands.
"Oh my god, stop!" Lucy snaps out, reaching over and grabbing Camila's hands.
Lauren turned, after putting the book away. She frowned. "What are you doing?" She looked at Lucy before trying to push Lucy's hands off of Camila.
Camila had tensed and had tears in her eyes, her body shaking signaling she was about to throw a fit.
"Why are you friends with this freak?" Lucy asks, releasing Camila and turning toward Lauren.
"She's not a freak." Lauren moved to stand in front of Camila.
"What's going on here?" Dinah asks as she walks over with Ally and Normani.
Ally instantly moving to calm Camila down.
"She's not a freak." Lauren repeated. "She's my friend."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Whatever, she's still a freak." She says before walking off.
Camila was flapping her hands as she grew even more upset.
Lauren let out a quiet angry growl. She wanted to follow Lucy and tell her off for calling Camila a name but she hesitated. She wasn't sure how she would say it.
"Laur, help me calm her down." Ally says softly, seeing the look on Lauren's face.
Lauren turned to look at Ally.
Camila's eyes were filled to the brim with tears before a soft sob escaped her.
Lauren's features softened at the sight of her friend crying.
"Help me?" Ally asks her softly, for the first time in a long time struggling to actually calm Camila down.
Lauren stepped closer and cautiously rested her hand on Camila's shoulder.
The younger girl immediately looks at Lauren before stepping forward and burying her face in the older girl's neck, softly sobbing.
Lauren wobbled, unsure of what to do.
Dinah signals for Lauren to wrap her arms around Camila.
Lauren looked at Dinah confused.
Sighing, Dinah wraps her arms around Normani, hoping Lauren gets the hint.
Lauren eyes studied them for a moment before she copied them.
Camila immediately relaxed against her.
Lauren looked at Ally for reassurance.
"You're doing great." Ally says softly.
Lauren nodded slowly.
"Why don't we go eat?" Normani offers softly.
At the mention of food, Camila perked up.
It wasn't long before the were sitting in the food court while Ally and Dinah ordered their food.
Camila stuck to Lauren's side like glue.
Which to be honest, Lauren didn't mind all that much, apart from when she had to go to the bathroom and Camila followed her when she didn't need to.
Camila was leaning against her and beginning to slowly fall asleep.
Lauren was staring up at the ceiling and watching the ceiling fan spin around and around.
"You okay?" Normani asks softly from her spot close to them.
Lauren turned her head to look at Normani.
"You okay?" Normani repeats softly.
Lauren nodded.
Shifting, Camila releases a soft yawn.
Lauren shifted uncomfortably before reaching out to take a fry off of her plate.
"She's falling asleep." Normani says as Ally and Dinah walk up with the rest of their food.
Lauren turned her head to look at Camila.
The younger girl's eyes were closed as she leaned against Lauren. Lauren reached for another fry.
****
Two months later
"Lolo," Camila says softly, watching Lauren draw.
Lauren lifted her head to looked at Camila. "Yeah?"
"I like you." The younger girl says softly.
"I like you too." Lauren said. "You're one of my best friends."
Shaking her head, Camila frowns. "I like you as more than a friend." The younger girl mumbles.
"More than a friend?" Lauren asked.
Nodding her head, Camila tries to come up with a comparison. "Like Nala and Simba."
"Nala and Simba." Lauren repeated. "From The Lion King. I love that movie."
Camila immediately nods her head. "They fall in love." She responds.
"They do. It's so sweet." Lauren said with a nod.
The younger girl shifts slightly. "And I like you like that."
"You like ME like that?" Lauren said, putting emphasis on 'me'. "Why? I'm nothing special and you're special. You should be with someone who is as special as you. You're one of a kind, Camila."
Frowning, Camila looks up at Lauren. "You're special to me."
"I'm not special." Lauren said. "I'm just Lauren." She shrugged.
Swallowing thickly, Camila steps forward and leans in, placing a gentle kiss on Lauren's lips.
Lauren didn't stop Camila from kissing her.
Pulling away, the younger girl searches Lauren's eyes.
Lauren bit her lower lip and smiled shyly.
A soft smile grows on Camila's lips and she tilts her head to the side. "I like you."
Lauren blushed.
Shifting, Camila moves to sit down. "I like you."
"I like you too." Lauren said.
"As more than friends?" The younger girl asks softly.
Lauren nodded sheepishly.
A wide smile grows on Camila's lips and she curls into Lauren, burying her face in her neck.
Lauren wrapped her arms around Camila.
"Hey," Dinah says softly as her and the other girls walk into the music room.
Lauren turned her head to look at Dinah, Normani, and Ally. "Hi."
"What's going on here?" Normani asks, looking at both girls.
Lauren swallowed. "What do you mean?"
Camila shifts and looks up at her friends. "Sleepy." She mumbles.
"Eat your lunch first." Ally said softly.
Whining, the younger girl curls into Lauren more. "Sleepy."
"Eat first." Lauren said, she reached into her bag and pulled out a tuna mayonnaise sandwich.
Pouting, Camila pulls away and grabs her lunch box.
"What do you have today?" Lauren asked curiously.
The younger girl pulls out her little container, showing Lauren her peanut butter sandwich along with carrots and celery. "And a pudding cup?" Camila says hopefully.
"Yummy." Lauren said. "But tuna sandwiches are my favorite."
Camila makes a face and shakes her head. "Yuck."
"What do you mean? Tuna mayo is delicious." Lauren said. "Peanut butter is yucky."
"Nuh uh!" Camila mumbles.
"Yeah huh." Lauren argued.
"And they're fighting." Ally mumbles.
"No. They're just teasing each other." Dinah said.
Ally looks at Dinah and frowns. "How can you tell?"
"Look at their eyes, they look like they are smiling." Dinah said.
"Wanna share?" Camila asks Lauren, tilting her head to the side adorably.
Lauren shook her head. "I can't. My mom doesn't let me have peanuts or peanut butter. I'm allergic. I swell up like a balloon if I have any."
"Celery?" The younger girl offers.
Lauren reached out to take a piece of celery. "Tomato?" She offered Camila a tomato.
Camila shakes her head. "No, I don't like red." she mumbles.
"Oh." Lauren put the tomato down. "Um... pepper. It's orange."
The younger girl smiles and takes one. "Thank you."
Lauren smiled back and took a bite of the celery.
Shifting, Camila gently takes a bite of the pepper.
"Should we interrupt them?" Dinah whispered.
Normani just sits down and pulls out her own lunch. "They'll be fine."
"I want to see where this goes." Ally said quietly.
Camila shifts slightly and offers Lauren a carrot.
Lauren took a carrot and offered Camila another pepper.
Grinning, the younger girl takes the pepper. "Thank you." She leans over and kisses Lauren gently.
Lauren blushed, nearly dropping her carrot.
Camila pulls back and begins eating the pepper.
Dinah, Normani, and Ally were watching them with wide eyes.
Lauren took a bite of her carrot.
"Can we go to the museum after school?" Camila asks the girls, not looking up from her food.
"I think your mom wants you home." Ally said softly. "Your cousins are coming over."
Frowning, Camila finally looks up. "I don't like them."
"I know." Ally said. "But you have to spend at least an hour with them."
Whining, Camila shakes her head, growing upset.
Lauren frowned, looking between Ally and Camila, letting out a yawn.
"Don't start Camila. I'm not in the mood." Ally said. "You can't throw a tantrum every time something doesn't go your way."
Tears immediately fill Camila's eyes and she looks down.
Lauren watched Camila cautiously.
A soft sob escapes the younger girl, she didn't like being yelled at.
Lauren reached out cautiously and gently rubbed Camila's shoulder.
Flinching, Camila looks up before immediately curling into Lauren's side.
Lauren wasn't sure what to do.
After a few minutes, the younger girl begins to settle down.
Lauren opened her sandwich and took a bite.
"I think she fell asleep." Normani mumbles, looking at Camila whose eyes are closed.
Lauren turned her head to look at Camila.
The younger girl was sound asleep.
"What do I do?" Lauren asked.
"Do you want us to move her?" Dinah asks softly.
Lauren nodded slowly.
Getting up, Dinah gently lifts Camila into her arms. "I'm going to take her to the sensory room."
Normani nodded. "We'll be down soon."
The Polynesian girl leaves the room with Camila in her arms.
Lauren went back to her sandwiches.
****
Camila was still asleep when Lauren, Normani, and Ally move into the sensory room.
Lauren collapses onto the bed and curled up into a little ball.
"Camila had a breakdown when she woke up earlier." Dinah tells Ally and Normani.
"Why?" Ally asked, sitting down beside Lauren and gently rubbing her back.
The younger girl shrugs. "No idea."
"Strange." Ally said.
Camila begins shifting in her sleep, growing restless.
"Rub her back softly." Ally said to Dinah.
Reaching over, Dinah begins rubbing Camila's back.
Camila slowly relaxed.
"Is she really that scared of her cousins?" Dinah asked, they'd never met her cousins only Ally had.
"They are bigger than her." Ally said.
Normani frowns. "What do you mean bigger?"
"They are taller." Ally said.
Frowning, Dinah shifts beside Camila. "So are Mani and I and she's not scared of us."
"She doesn't see them everyday." Ally said.
"It just makes no sense." Dinah mumbles.
"What do you mean?" Normani asked.
Dinah just shakes her head.
"Dinah?" Normani furrowed her brows.
"It's just, if she's so scared of them, then why does Sinu invite them over?" Dinah asks in response.
"She doesn't invite them. They just kind of turn up." Ally said.
Frowning, the younger girl shakes her head. "Needs to stop."
Ally nodded. "Yeah."
Camila begins shifting in her sleep again, releasing a soft whine.
"Rub her back again, please." Ally said softly.
Nodding her head, Dinah begins rubbing Camila's back once more. This time however the younger girl just begins shifting.
Lauren reached out her hand tiredly and placed it on Camila's gently.
The youngest girl immediately relaxes and curls closer to Lauren.
Lauren yawned.
Dinah gets up and grabs Normani's hand. "We have to go grab the rest of our things."
"Our things are already here." Normani said, brows furrowed.
"Come on." Dinah responds, tugging on her hand gently.
"But our stuff is here." Normani said.
The Polynesian just pulls Normani out of the room.
"What?" Normani frowned.
"Let's give Lauren and Mila privacy. Ally is more than likely going to nap anyways." Dinah explains.
"Lauren and Mila are asleep." Normani said confused.
Rolling her eyes, Dinah just drags Normani back to the music room.
"I don't understand." Normani said.
Turning toward her, Dinah crashes their lips together in a passionate kiss.
Normani's eyes fluttered closed.
"Now do you get it?" Dinah mumbles against her lips before pulling away.
****
"No!" Camila snaps, smacking at her cousin.
He smacked her back.
Screaming, Camila looks for Ally.
Ally was in the kitchen making Camila a snack.
But the older girl came rushing out as soon as she heard Camila's scream.
"What? What is it?" Ally said.
The younger girl points at her cousin.
"What happened?" Ally asked.
"Ouch." Camila cries out, moving over to Ally.
"Camila, I need more information than that. What happened?" Ally said.
Tears begin to fill the younger girl's eyes. "Hit!"
"You hit her?" Ally frowned, looking at Camila's cousin.
"She hit me first." He responds, crossing his arms. "All I did was reach for her stupid remote."
"This is her house. You can't touch her stuff." Ally said.
Rolling his eyes, Carlos stands up. "This is why I hate coming here, she's a freak that always gets her way."
"Take that back. She's not a freak." Ally snapped.
"I don't even get why we come here anymore." Carlos mumbles before walking off just as his sisters catch his attention and they leave.
"You're okay." Ally whispered, rocking Camila.
The younger girl buries her face in Ally's neck continuing to softly cry.
"Shh." Ally rubbed Camila's back.
After a few minutes the younger girl relaxes. "Call Lolo?"
"I think Lauren is busy." Ally said. "But we can give it a go."
Nodding her head, Camila curls into Ally more.
Ally pulled her phone from her pocket.
Shifting, Camila looks up at Ally. "Lolo?"
"Call her." Ally said, offering Camila the phone.
Taking the phone, the younger girl immediately begins scrolling to Lauren's name. She pressed Lauren's name and the phone began ringing.
"Hello?" Lauren says as she answers the phone.
"Lolo." Camila squeaked.
"Camz?" Lauren asked.
The younger girl curls into Ally more. "Come over?" She begs softly.
"Um..." Lauren hesitated.
"Please?" The younger girl whispers, tears filling her eyes.
"I don't know if I can." Lauren said sadly.
Camila immediately passes the phone to Ally and gets up, rushing toward room.
"Camz?" Lauren's voice came through the phone.
"She went to her room Laur, she's having a rough day." Ally explains once she puts the phone to her ear.
"Oh." Lauren said.
Ally sighs softly. "Do you think your mom will let you come over?"
"Um..." Lauren sighed. "I don't know."
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Ally asks softly.
Lauren was quiet for a long while.
"Laur?" Ally asks.
Lauren hummed. "Ally?"
"Do you want me to talk to your mother?" the older girl asks softly.
"Um... she's busy. She's making dinner." Lauren said.
Ally sighs softly. "I can still talk to her Laur."
"It's probably not a good idea to interrupt her. She's not in a good mood." Lauren mumbled.
****
The next day
Camila was extremely quiet the entire next day.
Lauren tried to get Camila to talk and did silly things to make her smile, embarrassing herself in front of the whole school.
The younger girl would just watch her before laying her head down.
Lauren sighed heavily and slumped down in her chair.
"It's not you Laur, she's having a really bad day." Ally explains softly.
Lauren looked at Ally out of the corner of her eyes, not sure what to think.
Camila shifts slightly, not even touching her food.
"I need to use the restroom." Lauren got up and walked away.
"Mila, talk to us." Dinah says softly.
Camila sat quietly.
"Please, we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong." Normani says, reaching her hand out toward Camila.
Camila's eyes widen and fill with tears as soon as she hears the word 'wrong'.
"Mani!" Ally said.
Normani's eyes widen and she covers her mouth. "I forgot, I'm sorry."
Ally sighed. "I think I should just take her home."
Camila had curled in on herself and was crying softly.
"Mila, let's get you home." Ally said softly.
Nodding her head, Camila slowly gets up.
Ally collected their things.
Rubbing at her eyes, the younger girl looks down.
"You can nap when we get home." Ally said softly.
Camila just slowly nods her head, not looking up when Lauren comes back into the room.
"You're going home?" Lauren asked.
"She's having a really bad day Laur." Ally explains softly.
Lauren nodded and sat down.
****
Camila had gone straight to sleep as soon as they reached her house.
Ally was sitting on the bed trying to do some homework.
The younger girl was curled up in a ball on her bed.
Every-so-often Ally would glance over to make sure Camila was alright.
She was beginning to grow worried, they'd gotten home at around eleven and it was going on five thirty. Camila had been asleep the whole time.
Camila's mother came home and began making dinner.
"Mrs. Cabello, I'm worried about Mila." Ally says softly.
Mrs. Cabello turned to look at me. "What happened?"
"Carlos was being horrible to her yesterday and she became closed off. Today she broke down because Mani accidentally said the word wrong. I had to bring her home." Ally takes a deep breath. "We got home at eleven and she went to sleep immediately and still is asleep." She explains, it was now close to seven.
Mrs. Cabello sighed. "I don't know what to do." She said in defeat. "I don't know how to help her."
"I don't either, but we need to figure it out. She only seems better around Lauren but even today when Lauren was trying to make her smile and laugh, she was closed off." Ally says softly.
Mrs. Cabello ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes, releasing a long breath.
"Maybe she needs a break from school and everything?" Ally offers softly.
"She can't do that. That'll set her back." Mrs Cabello sighed. "I've been looking into some schools that can support her, I just haven't found the right one yet."
"You know she doesn't like change." Ally responds, shaking her head.
"I know but I don't know what else to do." Mrs. Cabello said.
Camila slowly made her way into the room. "Mami don't want me?" She asks sadly.
Mrs. Cabello frowned. "I never said that."
The younger girl just shakes her head and moves over to Ally, curling into her side.
"Camila I do want you. I love you." Mrs. Cabello said softly.
Camila buries her face in Ally's neck.
"Shh," Ally cooed.
The younger girl slowly calms down, remaining curled into Ally's side.
"I'm sorry Camila." Mrs. Cabello said softly.
Camila just stares at her blankly.
Mrs. Cabello ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm making pasta for dinner."
"No." Camila whines, she hated when they had pasta.
Mrs. Cabello sighed. "What do you want then?" She asked.
"Chicken." The younger girl mumbles.
Mrs. Cabello only nodded. She moved over to the freezer to see if they had any.
Camila looks up at Ally before rubbing at her eyes.
"You can't go back to sleep, sweetie. You need to eat dinner and do your homework." Ally said softly.
Pouting, Camila curls into her and nods her head.
"Let's go start our homework while your mom makes dinner." Ally suggested.
The younger girl just nods her head.
Ally led Camila out of the room.
Camila sits down with Ally at the table, staring at the homework that Dinah had brought home to them.
Ally opened her English book and began reading the questions.