reasons to go, reasons to stay ➸ camren

chapter two ➸ hollow bones and a heavy heart

2 years ago

".... And I'm sorry, Camila. I'm so sorry."

Camila swallowed hard, setting down her phone and looking at the small child in her arms.

She'd just gotten yet another voicemail from Lauren. Camila had lost count of how many times Lauren had called her phone, just to hear the Camila's voicemail and leave a message.

She knew it was stupid. When she left the hospital that day, she was instructed to dispose of her cell phone as soon as possible.

But then Lauren called.

Karla Camila Cabello was dead. She was Camila Cabello now. Just Camila.

And Lauren thought she was dead.

She wasn't safe at home, she knew that. Someone wanted her and her baby dead. So now here she was, in a different state, all by herself, alone.

Well, not completely alone. She had Rowan.

Her daughter had just turned a year old. Tiny little Rowan Michelle Cabello, Camila's prized possession. Her middle name wasn't a coincidence. Camila wanted to always have a piece of Lauren with her, and that was the best she could do given her circumstances. She hoped by weaving a remnant of Lauren into her child, they could have a bond similar to the one she and her best friend had once shared.

Over a year had passed since she left Florida for the last time without a single goodbye. She now lived in a quiet apartment in Decatur, Georgia. It was small, but she made do. Camila worked nights, which in combination with the checks from the government, was enough to provide for herself and her daughter.

The transition from being a normal teenager, to being a normal teenager thrust into the world of adulthood was the hardest thing Camila had encountered. The days she spend in the hospital with her newborn daughter, completely alone, made her realize just how much she missed the comfort of being surrounded with familiar faces. It wasn't how she'd imagined the birth of her first child to go.

Her phone rang again. Lauren.

This was what most of her nights consisted of. Her phone would ring over and over, and each time she had to force herself not to answer it. Lauren thought she was dead. That was how it had to be.

But that didn't stop her from listening to the countless voicemails, begging herself not to cry as she listened to Lauren's emotional monologues. Camila was practically torturing herself.

The phone silenced after a few minutes, and Camila looked down to find that Rowan had finally fallen asleep. Her daughter looked so peaceful. It calmed her.

After putting Rowan in her crib, Camila walked back into the living room. The screen of her phone lit up to indicate she had received a new voicemail. She sighed, sitting down on the couch and pressing play.

".... Hey. It's me again. I can't sleep... again. I should just stop trying." Lauren laughs, and then there's silence for a few moments. "Remember when we were little, and we got lost in the woods, and you told me that it was okay because even if we were lost, we were still lost together? Yeah... well, it's not okay anymore. I'm lost and we're not together." Silence. Camila swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears that threatened to fall.

"Anyway... I'm sorry. I should've done something. I could've done something to stop you from hurting yourself. You're crazy." There was a sad laugh on the other side of the line, and Camila bit her lip.