yellow ➸ camren

one

Lauren had never loved the city. Everything was so busy and she was only one person. She could never keep up with all of the commotion happening 24 hours a day. But the New York Academy of Art was her dream school, and when she'd gotten accepted, she decided she could deal with living in the city. After all, she was living alongside her three best friends. Everyone assumed Lauren was living the dream.

Which she was, no doubt. After living in Miami for so long, Lauren was itching to get out. That's why immediately following her graduation, she took off into the sunset and arrived in New York City the next day.

Moving to New York had been a dream she shared with her three best friends. Lauren, Ally, Dinah, and Normani had all grown close in their freshman year of high school after working backstage on the school's production of 'The Little Mermaid.' When their junior year came around, they saved up enough money, sent in their college applications, and realized that they could actually make their dream a reality.

And now here they were, two months into the fall semester of their first year of college. Lauren loved how her life was turning out, but she couldn't help but feel increasingly lonely. It's not like she didn't have friends, because she had plenty of them. There was just something missing.

Her sophomore year, news had got out that Lauren was gay. She'd expected her three best friends to turn away from her, but surprisingly they could care less. They stood by her side during the incessant bullying she received. Lauren was forever grateful for her roommates. Without them, she'd be nowhere near as happy as she was now.

But in some ways, her sexuality held her back. It wasn't exactly hard to come across another lesbian, especially in New York, but Lauren was extremely inexperienced when it came to any type of relationship. So out of fear, she kept to herself.

The moment she pushed the door to their shared industrial apartment open, Lauren was greeted by her three roommates. Or should she say two, considering Ally was asleep on the couch. Normani and Dinah looked up from their phones and smiled in greeting to the dark haired girl.

"You'll never guess what happened today," Dinah gushed, forgetting about her phone and following Lauren into the kitchen. "You remember that cute foreign kid in my hip hop class?" she asked, but didn't wait for Lauren to respond. "He asked me for my number!" The Polynesian girl clapped her hands together excitedly and Lauren couldn't help but laugh.

"I didn't doubt you for a second when you told me you'd make it happen," Lauren teased, letting her backpack slip off of her shoulder and onto the floor by the doorway.

Dinah crinkled her nose at her roommate and hopped up onto the counter. "So what's for dinner, Lo?"

Rolling her eyes, Lauren sighed. "You couldn't have befriended a culinary major? That would've done us all a favor. I'm tired of being the only one who knows how to cook." She opened the pantry, scanning to see what she could throw together and call a meal.

"I got it!" Dinah called, causing Lauren to turn around in confusion. She hadn't even heard anything. Forgetting about dinner, she followed the other girl towards the door. Dinah's face held an unreadable expression when she opened the door, and Lauren instantly grew confused. They rarely got visitors, and when they did it was usually someone at the wrong apartment.

"Hi!" the cheery voice rang out from behind the door. Lauren instantly felt sick to her stomach. She jogged over to Dinah's side to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. And she sure wasn't.

"Camila Cabello?" Dinah asked. She was just as confused as Lauren was. Normani quickly came up behind them, too, glancing at Lauren with concern in her eyes. They all knew how Lauren felt about Camila.