"Welcome to Stonerland, USA! Where admission price is one joint!" Andrea laughed as she threw her arms up as if she was in a commercial for an amusement park, where in reality it was just a spot high up in an abandoned neighborhood, with a view of Miami.
Camila laughed and went along with it, reaching in her pocket and pulling out said rolled joint. "One ticket please." She grinned as she looked at her best friend who grabbed it from her hands, turning to the side and letting her through. "Welcome! Welcome!"
She laughed and sat on the hood of Camila's car, taking the lighter from her pocket and lighting it up, watching the sun go down.
Camila turned her head to look around before sitting next to her, taking the lit joint from her hands. "It's really nice up here, Dre." She smiled, looking at the pretty colors of the sun.
"Pretty view for the pretty girl." Andrea said as she watched her best friend take a drag, blowing out the smoke ever so slowly. "You're so amazing inside out, so I figured I could find a view half as amazing and make it our spot." Camila blushed and turned to look at her, a small smile on her lips.
"You know you'd be the perfect girlfriend, right?" She teased, sticking her tongue out. "Because that was something I'd say to get laid." She laughed, Andrea pushing her shoulder, "Shut the fuck up, Cabello, you wish!" She giggled, shaking her head. "You know it's not like that."
Camila nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Yeah, that's like incest. No bueno." She snickered as she finished smoking and passed it to her best friend, looking out into the distance. "Do you think we'll be friends in 20 years?"
Andrea coughed a bit and looked at her, raising her eyebrows. "Do you have a fucking choice?" She asked, shoving her again. "You're not getting rid of me, bitch. So deal with it." She playfully threatened.
Camila chuckled softly and turned back to the scenery, a small smile on her lips. "It's not like I'd want to. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Dre." She says, looking down at her hands. "I don't know what'd I do without you."
Andrea looks at her and it's quiet for a second, as she tries to find the right words to speak. "You're such a sweetheart, Camila. Vanessa definitely doesn't deserve you."
Cringing at the name of her girlfriend who's currently not her girlfriend but is still her girlfriend, Camila turns to her with a frown. "You know, she thinks you're in love with me and that we 'secretly have an affair' right? Her words. Not mine."
Andrea just laughed, shaking her head. "I'm gonna punch her in her face, she knows I'm with Dylan. She literally hit on him right in front of me. Like, is she even gay?" She raised an eyebrow, looking at her best friend.
"She's.. complicated, and I honestly don't understand why she's like that." She sits there and takes another drag of her joint, the cherry almost at her fingertips, before blowing out the smoke. "I think she does those things for attention, or to try to get a rise out of people."
Andrea just shook her head, looking out at the distance. "Well she does that shit again, she's getting smacked. I already want to smack her for what she does to you, you need to step your shit up, Cabello." She chuckled, "You're too perfect for her."
"Nah. I probably just deserve better." Camila says as she shook her head. "Maybe it's for the best for it to be over." She said, the words bittersweet on her tongue.
"Maybe it's for the best she gets her ass beat. For making you sad." Andrea comments, as she takes out another joint. "Right?" She says while lighting it.
"Maybe." Camila just laughed and threw her arm around her, blissfully enjoying the night."But as long as I have you I'll never be sad."
"This is a spot that means a lot to me." Camila said as they approached infamous 'Stonerland, USA.' A small smile on her face as she drove, turning into the shortcut.
Lauren looks at the morning sun, peeking out under clouds of darkness. "It's so pretty." She breathes out, eyes wide and curious as she looks out the window. "How'd you find this?"
Camila found her usual parking spot and turned the ignition off, and taking the keys out. She took a deep breath as she did so, "Someone very important to me showed me this when I first broke up with my ex." She said as she opened the door to get out of the car. "We came here to just listen to music and talk about everything."
Lauren got out the car and walked towards the edge of the cliff, admiring the scenery. "Vanessa Morales, right?" She asked, feeling kind of stalkerish for knowing most things about Camila.
Camila scoffed at the name, shaking her head. "Unfortunately. That's the one...." She trailed off, kicking a rock. "Cheating bitch." She said, the words bitter on her tongue.
Lauren laughed softly and looked at the brown haired girl, a small smile on her lips. "I remember her getting her ass beat, like last year in the south softball dugout."
Camila laughed loudly at that one, remembering the memory like yesterday, Andrea walking up to the girl after her softball practice and fighting her with a hangover and all. "That was legendary. I almost forgot about that."
She laughed as she walked in front of Lauren, holding her arms out in an all too familiar way, as if she was in an amusement park commercial. "Welcome to Stonerland, USA. Lauren Jauregui! Where admission is one joint." She said, watching as the green eyed girl watched her with a smile on her lips.
She quickly pulled out a prerolled joint from her brown jacket and handed it to the older Cuban, before resuming her pose and repeating her previous statement. "Where admission is one joint!"
Lauren chuckled and shook her head, looking at her with a grin. "Who knew Camila Cabello was so goofy?" She said as she handed her the joint back, sitting on the hood of her car. "I like it."
Camila smiled and shrugged, leaning against the car herself and watching the sun come up, patting her pockets for a lighter. "I don't know, this morning sucked beyond comprehension, but being here with you, it doesn't seem that bad anymore."
Lauren reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue lighter, handing it to the brunette beside her. "I agree. There's something about you, Camila. You put me at ease." She said, looking down at her hands. "I hope that doesn't sound weird."
Camila lights the joint in between her lips, taking a long and deep drag, before shaking her head. "It doesn't. You're the closest thing I've had to a friend in a couple of months." She said, her voice small, painful, and rough. "You make me forget..." She trailed off. "About everything."
Lauren felt her body shutter, looking at the girl next to her, "I feel the same." She says as she takes the joint from her, bringing it up to her lips and inhaling. "Maybe we're good for each other."
Camila opens her mouth to reply when Lauren's phone rings, startling both girls. She sends an apologetic look and passes her the joint, looking at the caller ID before looking back at Camila. "You mind if I answer this?"
Camila shrugs and blows smoke out her mouth. "Do what you gotta do."
DJ 🤩 would like to FaceTime.
Lauren swipes to accept the call, waiting for it to connect, as she looks at the girl beside her. "Lauren Michelle Jauregui!" She hears as soon as the call connects, "Where the fuck are you?"
Lauren laughed softly, the high taking over her body. "Not in school." She replied, even though that was clear. "Uh, yeah, obviously. Are you outside? What the hell, where are you?" Dinah's interrogating became louder, she could hear Normani in the back trying to shush the girl. "DJ don't worry, I'm with a friend, and perfectly fine."
Camila shifted on her feet, flicking the last bit of what was left of her joint, before squinting at the almost now fully risen sun, admiring the pretty colors. She likes that Lauren called her a friend. At least she can say she has an alive one now.
'Don't think like that.' She scolded herself. She hates that she thinks like that. She's mad at her mind. Like there's something wrong with her brain and it's inability to be happy these days.
Dinah could be seen furrowing her brows, trying to see Lauren's surroundings. "What? Normani, Ally, and I are all here waiting. Who are you with?" Lauren looked at Camila who just shrugged.
"It doesn't matter, Dinah. What's with the interrogation?" She asked, kind of annoyed. She's not a five year old. "Uh, I don't know maybe the fact that you had the whole school fucking talking about you, and you decided not to show up after you poured dairy on one of the most popular guys here? And then he got his 'revenge', what are we supposed to think?"
She cringes at the reminder of what had happened. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't think of it that way. I just needed to get away for a bit." Dinah sighed and nodded, looking at her friend through the phone. "Can you at least tell me who you're with so I'm not worried that you're with Lucy or something? Please?"
She looked at Camila, who nodded, giving her the okay. "I'm with Camila. Camila Cabello." She said as she tilted the camera to get both of them in the frame, Camila offering a small smile and wave.
"Hi. Nice to see you under different circumstances." She said as Lauren turned back to her friend. Dinah just stared, her mouth open in surprise. "Oh. Hi, Camila. Nice to see you, too. But why exactly did you skip, Lauren?"
The green eyed girl shook her head and gestured to herself. "Because I'm bisexual, and now everyone knows that, and keeps looking at me weird, so I'm letting it blow over. That, and fuck Principal Tiller and his stupid fucking detentions." She said, her voice indifferent to the calmness on her face.
Camila tensed a bit, trying to shake the thought of going back to school. God, she hates it there. She pushed her weight off the car and walked to the edge of the cliff, kicking rocks off the big rock that keeps cars from flying off.
She had to say she was proud of the girl for owning her sexuality and the way everyone found out about it. If it was her she'd be in jail, well, she almost was. Yeah, she agrees with Lauren, fuck Principal Tiller.
Lauren ended her call with Dinah, promising to text her. "Hey." She said as she approached the younger girl, standing next to her. "Sorry about that. Dinah can be a bit..... much."
Camila let out a breathless laugh, looking at her shoes. "I know the feeling. It's something you miss when it's not there anymore, trust me." Her words came out a bit sadder than she intended it to be, but then again she hasn't had a regular conversation with anyone living for a couple months until this week, so forgive her if her social skills are a bit rough.
"You're probably right," She said as she kicked the rock Camila had been kicking back towards her, like a mini game of soccer. "But sometimes I wish they wouldn't treat me as if I was so fragile, you know?"
She didn't mean it to sound like that. It's not like she wasn't grateful, she was, but it could be a bit irritating.
Camila laughed humorlessly, keeping her eyes on the rock they've been kicking back and forth, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Trust me, I know the feeling." She said, her voice a bit harsher than intended.
She snapped. She didn't mean to, but maybe that's just the way she is. Sadness and anger can do that to a person. And God, is she both of those beyond compare.
Lauren bit her bottom lip, her eyes softening, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like that." She said, trying to ease the awkwardness she'd caused.
"It's alright." The younger girl said, shrugging. "I'll get over it. I kind of have to, right?" She questioned, kicking the rock off into the freeway. God, she hoped she didn't cause an accident or something. That'd be ironic.
Lauren frowned and moved a bit closer to her, "You know you're allowed to say you miss her, right? You don't have to be strong about it all the time, and no one should expect you to."
Camila snaps her head towards her, an unreadable look in her eyes but doesn't say anything, so she takes that as her cue to elaborate. "She was your best friend, the person you ran to when something bad happened, or when something good happened, right? You don't have to be this strong, quiet, bottled up girl all the time. You lost a piece of you. It's okay to let yourself feel."
The brunette shook her head. "It's not that easy. Every time I feel even a little bit of hope for becoming happy and normal again, it's like this little voice in my brain, yelling at me. 'Why are you smiling, your best friend is rotting in the ground. Why are you laughing? Your best friend being dead is funny? Why are you making a new friend, when your old one is dead?" She said, her voice cracking a bit. "It's like I can't be happy without this consistent reminder of what happened to Andrea. Do you know how that feels, Lauren? To feel like you're being haunted by something?"
Lauren felt her heart break, looking down at her hands. "You know what you say to those voices? Tell them to fuck off. Yes, what happened was a tragedy, but you deserve happiness too. And I know Andrea wouldn't want you spending the rest of your life feeling sad and sorry for her. Hell, if she could she'd probably tell you so. You're the strongest person I've ever met but... You're allowed to feel something. To mourn as long as you want and I know it's only been a month or two, but it's not healthy to self destruct and only think of that, Camila."
She takes the younger Cuban's hand, forcing her to look at her. As green meets brown, something changes in Lauren. "Look, I know we just started being friends, but I vow to be there for you anytime and every time you need me. And I mean that with all my heart. I will help you, and be your therapist when you need. Because you did the same shit for me on that bathroom floor. But you have to try to have better days. For her. I've watched Camila Cabello run around school with a pride flag. I'd be dammed to see her lose herself."
Camila feels the intensity in Lauren's words and she doesn't know if it's the weed affecting her or if she's going crazy, but she believes every word. She stays in their staring contest for a little while longer, trying to memorize every gold and brown flake in those emerald eyes, before nodding, wiping at the tears she didn't even know was coming out of her eyes.
"Okay." She agrees, not breaking her eye contact. "I'll try." She says as she takes a seat on the rock, looking towards the passing cars and the Miami skyline. "But it won't be easy. I won't be easy."
"Easy is overrated." Lauren says as she takes a seat next to her. "Life isn't easy, I'd be a fool to expect it to be." She says as she picks up a rock, throwing it over. "I'd be a fool to think that this is going to be an overnight thing. It's going to take time, and that's okay. I just want to get to know Camila. The one that slipped on Gatorade that one time, the one that made dumb jokes in algebra. I want to know you. Not who you think you need to be."
Camila let out a small laugh, playing with her shoelace. "Can I ask you something?" She said, her voice small.
"Anything."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She questioned, avoiding her eye contact. "I've been a total bitch to you half the time."
She probably has a disorder at this point.
"Because I think you're so much more than what you think you are, because I care about you. I know you probably think I'm weird for that, but I think I always have. Because life's bittersweet and you need a friend to get through whatever this crooked bitch throws at you." Lauren explains. "That, and I've always wanted to be your friend."
Great. Now she feels like shit.
Camila looked at her with the softest of smiles, extending her hand out, "Hi, I'm Camila, I'm a senior at Miami Bay. What's your name?"
Lauren chuckled, taking her hand, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Camila. I'm Lauren."
"Nice to meet you too, Lauren." She said, biting her lip and looking towards the clouds.
"I think we're going to be great friends, Camila." The green eyed girl said as she turned to watch the cars.
"I do too."
And for the first time in a while, Camila didn't feel sad.