Lauren clambered down the stairs quietly, yawning as she headed into the kitchen and popped two pieces of bread into the toaster. She was up an hour earlier than she usually was; the brunette planned to pay a quick visit to Camila so she could share the information she discovered the day before. Lauren had stayed up much later than she was used to last night, intrigued with the information she was finding within the ghost book. Said book was now securely packed in her backpack, discretely hidden behind her other binders and papers.
Becoming impatient, Lauren pushed the cancel button on the toaster, causing the two half- toasted pieces to pop up rather loudly. As she was buttering her breakfast she heard a rustling noise from within the living room, and alertness, along with a flash of annoyance crossed her as Michael tiredly sauntered into the kitchen.
"What are you doing up so early?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"What are you still doing here?" Lauren questioned in response, now glaring intently at her toast as she buttered it.
"Your mother let me crash on the couch for the night, since I wanted to fix things between you and me," he responded.
"You think that's really appropriate? Sleeping over and stuff? Cuz last time I checked, that's not what divorced couples did," the brunette quipped.
"Don't start with the smart ass comments." Michael sighed, crossing his arms. "You never answered my question either."
"I'm meeting with a friend before school," Lauren responded nonchalantly, wiping the crumbs off the counter and into the sink.
She was trying to quickly clean up the small mess in hopes of leaving before the conversation went on too much longer, but to her annoyance Micheal stood in front of the fridge as Lauren went to return the butter.
"I didn't know you had friends," he said, and Lauren only narrowed her eyes in response. "What's this friend's name?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I do have friends. And I'm meeting up with Camila before school, so if you'll excuse me," Lauren retorted, shoving the container of butter into her father's hands.
Snatching her toast as she walked past the counter, the brunette didn't even spare Michael a second glance as she pushed out the front door, popping a piece of toast into her mouth as she went.
-----
By the time Lauren had arrived at the familiar old shed, she had finished her breakfast and calmed down from her argument. Not hesitating in the slightest, the teenager began climbing through the window.
"Cameeelaaaaa," she whisper-yelled, hoping to catch the ghost's attention as she struggled through the window.
It was much more difficult with her backpack on, and after a few seconds Lauren fell to the mattress below, landing with an ungraceful thud. However, any frustration over her unceremonious entrance was pushed away as she heard Camila's infectious laughter echo through the shed.
"Jesus Lauren, what are you doing? And why are you whispering?" Camila asked, floating down to her green eyed friend. Lauren sat up into a sitting position, adjusting her hair quickly.
"I think I might have found the solution to your problem," Lauren explained with a grin. A thoughtful look temporarily crossed her face as she added, "and I'm not actually sure why I was whispering."
Camila chuckled at the girl's antics, shaking her head. "Okay, what problem are you talking about?"
"You not being able to touch stuff! I think I know how to fix it," Lauren explained, this time watching as Camila's face turned serious, vibrant brown eyes widening.
"Wait, w-what? How? Are you serious?" Camila stuttered out excitedly.
"I'm not fully sure if it'll work, but it's worth a shot," Lauren said, not wanting to get the spirit's hopes up if the attempt was unsuccessful. She shrugged her backpack off before pulling it in front of her, unzipping it and pulling out the ghost book. "Okay, so you said whenever you try to touch things you focus on the object itself, right?" Camila nodded, watching curiously as Lauren began quickly flipping pages. "You concentrate on moving the object, and that's all you've really tried, right?"
"Yeah, but what-"
"You've been focusing on the wrong thing, Camz," Lauren said, finally finding the page she was looking for. The page had a few sticky notes on it, all covered in Lauren's messy handwriting. "You've been focusing on what's there. But in this case, you need to focus on what's not there."
Camila furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Your hand," Lauren said, pointing at Camila's see- through hand for emphasis. "You need to focus on it; will it to become tangible. That way you'll be able to touch and move things."
Camila lifted her hands up, looking at them thoughtfully as she chewed her lip. Would she be able to do that? Lauren sounded so confident in her newfound knowledge, but what if she was wrong? The redhead felt doubt cloud her mind; after all, she had been trying it for a long time, would the solution really be that simple?
As Camila processed the new information Lauren reached into her bag, pulling out a small green ball and placing it on the mattress between them.
"Here," she said, her encouraging eyes meeting Camila's unsure ones, "try moving this."
"What if I can't?" Camila asked hesitantly. "What if it doesn't work?"
Lauren tilted her head, shrugging. "Never know unless you try."
Staring thoughtfully into Lauren's confident eyes, Camila realized that the teenager was right. Nodding, Camila took a deep breath as she moved her hand over the ball. Nothing happened at first, and her fingers whisped right through it. Closing her eyes, the ghost began to concentrate, imagining her hand becoming solid.
Lauren watched on worriedly, holding her breath in anticipation. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Camila scrunched her eyes up, tightening her focus as she willed her hand tangible. Still nothing. Just when she was about to give up, a sudden smooth object came into contact with her fingers for a short second, and the ghost heard Lauren gasp before a thumping noise was heard.
Opening her eyes, Camila quickly took in the sight of Lauren, who had an astonished grin on her face. The older brunette then glanced down to where the ball had been, only to see nothing. Peering around, her breath hitched in her throat when she saw it had fallen off the mattress and was now slowly rolling away. It collided with the wall, bouncing back slightly as it came to a stop.
Camila turned to look at Lauren again, eyes wide. "Did I just...?"
Laurem nodded excitedly. "Uh huh, you did it! I'm so proud of you Camz, I knew you could do it."
A big grin grew onto the ghost's face, and she began floating upwards in excitement. "I can't believe it... I-I actually did it!" she gushed.
Letting out a cheer, Camila swirled around in the air happily, doing loops and cartwheels around the rafters. Lauren watched on with a smile, giggling at the cheerful and energetic phantom. Hearing the laugh, Camila's grin only grew wider, and she flew back down to Lauren, hovering closely in front of her.
"Thank you so much, Lauren, you have no idea how much this means to me," Camila gushed.
Her eyes lingered on Lauren's face for a few seconds before she admitted in a soft voice, "I really wish I could hug you right now."
Lauren gave Camila a sincere smile. "I'm glad I was able to help," she said, her eyes glancing over at the ball on the floor. "To be honest I wasn't sure if it was working at first, because nothing was happening."
Camila crossed her legs and levitated at eye level with Lauren, peering over at the ball as well. "I wasn't sure if it would either. It does take quite a bit of concentration, but I think if I practice enough I'll be able to master it." The ghost's eyes, glowing with excitement, turned back to meet the green eyed brunette's, and Lauren absentmindedly wondered how Camila was still able to take her breath away by simply making eye contact. "I can't believe you were able to help me figure it out," Camila continued, oblivious to the hitch in Lauren's breath. "How did you find out what I was doing wrong?"
Laure held up the book, pointing at the small paragraph where the information was held. "I did some research and found this. The author of this book apparently met a ghost too, so he was able to get all this information and stuff. It's actually pretty cool."
Camila smiled as she read the paragraph, feeling touched that Lauren had bothered to do some research because of her. "Your amazing, you know that Lo?"
Lauren gave a toothy grin in response. "I know, I'm awesome."
Camila let out a chime of laughter as she moved her arm to swat at Lauren's leg. Her hand phased right through it, but it made Lauren shiver, which Camila figured would be equivalent to a light smack on the leg.
"And cocky," Camila said teasingly, smirking playfully. The younger brunette only shrugged, grinning in response.
The school bell suddenly went off across the football field, and both girls sobered up as Lauren pulled out her phone, eyes widening as she took in the time.
"Shit, I've gotta go. I'm gonna be late for school," Lauren said hurriedly, standing as she shoved the book back into her backpack and zipped it up. "You can keep that green ball if you want. That way you have something you can practice moving things with."
"When are you gonna be back?" Camila asked, watching as Lauren slipped her backpack on. She really enjoyed the other brunette's company, more and more so with each encounter; Lauren's visits were easily the highlight of Camila's day.
Lauren hoisted herself onto the window ledge. "Um, I can drop by after school if that's okay."
"Definitely!" Camila smiled. Lauren cast a grin in Camila's direction.
"Okay, I'll see you then," she said before dropping to the ground below. "Bye Camz!" she called through the window.
"Bye Lolo!" Camila responded, smile still plastered on her face as she listened to the teenager's fading footsteps. Once she could no longer hear Lauren, the ghost's eyes slowly drifted to the green ball. "C'mere you," she playfully jeered at the rubber object, grinning as she floated over to practice the new skill Lauren had taught her.
-------
"Hello, you've reached the office of Barden High School, how may I be of help?" a feminine voice chirped over the phone; Micha could recognize the voice from his days working at the school. He readjusted the phone against his ear, holding it with one hand as his other fiddled with a nearby pen.
"Hello Linda, this is Mr. Jauregui calling. Is Lauren Jaurengui still at the school? She hasn't come home yet," he said. Over an hour had passed since school had ended for the day, and Lauren still hadn't returned home.
"Oh hello Michael. I'm sorry but Lauren left at the end of school," the receptionist responded.
"Oh... Okay," he said, sighing. He was about to hang up when another thought crossed his mind. "Is there a Camila still at the school by any chance?" A few tapping sounds were heard as the woman searched the computer.
"I'm sorry Michael, but no one by the name of Camila goes to this school," she responded.
Michael froze, brows furrowing. Was Lauren trying to mess with his head?
"Okay, well thanks anyways Linda," he said slowly, barely hearing a goodbye in response before he hung up.