The Girl Nextdoor

Chapter 38

Camila's POV

So you know how Lauren said she would talk to me later? Well she hasn't spoken to me in the last two days and I don't know if by later she actually meant never again. But as the days rolled on, I was starting to believe it. It was now Wednesday, and she hasn't even looked at me. I didn't get it. Did I make her mad? Or just take things too far? Whatever it was, I couldn't help but feel like I did something wrong. And believe me I wanted to confront her about her obvious silence but she never gave me the chance too. She would either sprint out of class right when the bell rang or look as if she was about to kill someone. She always seemed angry or either really thoughtful. Her smile was no longer a regular thing. It was replaced by a frown and sad eyes. And sometimes just plain anger. I couldn't find it in myself to corner her and express my concerns, because I would probably get my ass kicked for even trying to talk to their pact leader. The preps always latched on to Lauren like a leech. They almost never leave her side and half of the time they protect her like a prized jewel. One time, Lauren tripped on a risen side walk and Drew broke her fall. Like who does that?

I can tell that it annoys Lauren but they've always done things like that for her. You'd think that sooner or later she would get used to the pampering, but she hasn't. And that's another reason why I admire her. She's so down to earth and try's her best to express herself at school even though that self expression is limited. But lately, every expression has been limited from her. She looked like a pawn walking around with no direction. It saddened me to see her like that. But as I sat alone at our table, I started at the back of her head hoping that she would turn back to look at me... or even acknowledge me. But she didn't. And I eventually got bored and cracked open a book while I waited for the rest of my group to arrive, that is if they were even going to show up today.
--
Narrators POV

Across the cafeteria, Lauren had been sitting at a lunch table with her friends. She had been playing mindlessly with her salad as Camila's stare penetrated through her from behind. She tried to avoid making eye contact with the brunette because she knew that their encounter wouldn't end well. She had purposely avoided Camila for the past two days because she didn't know what to say. After she had vaguely shared what had happened to her, she couldn't find it in herself to face the smaller girl. She felt as if she was going to bombarded her with more questions or worse force more information out of her like she had done a few days prior. Lauren let out an exasperated sigh as she set her fork down and rested her fore arms against the table. Madison quickly noticed Lauren's obvious mood and quirked a brow in confusion, "You okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine." Lauren replied.

"Are you sure? You seem out of it." Drew noted.

"Yeah... I'm just tired." Lauren assured them.

"Alright..." Madison said shrugging her shoulders and returning her attention to the salad she had been eating.

"Did you guys hear? Ariana and Bows broke up." Vero suddenly brought up.

"Yeah I heard that Ariana dumped her." Michael interjected.

"Yeah I mean I don't doubt it. Who would want to be with Bows?" Drew laughed.

"Yeah she's such a loser." Madison added.

"I mean she's not that bad." Lauren suddenly said shrugging her shoulders.

Vero almost chocked on her burger. "Not that bad? We're still talking about Bows here, aren't we?" She said looking around the table for conformation.

"Yeah."Lauren divulged. "She's actually pretty cool when you give her a chance."

"Are you kidding me? Bows is the opposite of cool. She's such a dork." Madison said.

"But the good kind. Not the annoying know it all type." Lauren countered.

The preps looked at Lauren with wide eyes and confused expressions. They exchanged meaningful glances before Drew spoke, "I think you've been spending way too much time with her."

"What? I barley even talk to her." Lauren lied. "The only reason I'm saying this is because under all those brains and dorky glasses, she's a totally different girl." Lauren said before she added, "And she's pretty cute too."

"Lauren are you okay? If you want I can get a nurse." Michael offered putting a supporting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Lauren said swatting his hand away. "I'm just saying. They're not as bad as you think." She said looking down and shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay. You're really starting to scare me." Madison divulged. "First you said that Bow's cool and now you're saying that she's cute? That shouldn't even belong in the same sentence. "

Lauren smirked before she looked up at Madison and quirked a brow up at her, "Really? Because that's not what you said back at Siope's party."

Madison furrowed her brows in confusion, "What? I said something? What did I say?"She asked worriedly.

"You called Camila hot. And you said you liked her. Don't you remember?"

Madison's checks instantly turned crimson. She averted everyone's gaze and cleared her throat, "No. I was drunk that night. I don't remember anything."

Lauren stifled a chuckle and shook her head lightly.

"Wait why were you with Bows at that party?" Vero suddenly asked Lauren.

Lauren's eyes widened, "We were uh... talking about our project." She quickly said, "You know the one for Swopes class-"

"The singing one?" Drew interrupted.

"Yeah." Lauren said.

"Still...." Madison said returning to her previous point, "Bows isn't cool. None of them are. So stop defending them."

"I'm not." Lauren simply said. "I'm just saying under all that nerd, they're cool people."

"Darren is pretty cute." Micheal admitted.

Madison punched his arm.

"Ow."Michael winced.

"Don't say things like that. It's not normal." Madison said.

"Oh come on Madi, you never really thought Camila was cute?" Lauren asked teasingly. " I mean look at her." She said turning her body for Madison to get a better look. The brunette had been wearing her usual black framed glasses that hung off the rim of her nose. Her hair tied up in a messy ponytail as her dark brown hair hung down her back. She wore a simple white one direction v neck under a grey cardigan that complemented her faded blue skinny jeans and black converse. She sat there alone with her legs hanging off the sides of the bench. She was mindlessly bitting her thumb nail as her eyes scanned the pages of a book with velocity. For the first time today, she redirected her attention away from Lauren and to a book. The red book title read, "The catcher in the Rye" The brown eyes girl seemed very consumed in the book and was oblivious to the five pairs of eyes staring at her.

Lauren half smiled before she turned back to give Madison a questioning look.

Madison closed her mouth that had gone a gape when her eyes landed on the brain across the cafeteria. She frowned, closed her eyes and shook her head lightly. She then crossed her arms and looked away. "I guess." She muttered.

"Anyway," Drew began in an attempt to change the subject. "Where are all the other nerds?"

"I dunno. Maybe they went off campus?" Vero proposed.

"But why is Bows here? They usually take her along. Don't they?" Micheal asked.

"Yeah usually..." Madison began to say when a bass dropped from the stage. Camila instantly jumped in surprise when she heard the sound and put her book down. With worried eyes she turned to look at Lauren who had already turned to look at her with a confused expression. Camila quickly glanced at her surroundings for a clue to what was going on and when she saw a buckets of water balloons sitting below some tables, she knew exactly what was going on. She turned to meet Lauren's eyes again and simply mouthed "Run."

Lauren furrowed her brows in confusion before she understood what had been happening. Payback.
--