yellow ➸ camren

five

When the first episode was over, Camila begged to watch another.

"Please? More," Camila pointed to the TV and nodded softly. "Yes, more."

Dinah shrugged and chose the next episode, not seeing the harm in watching one more before they went to bed. She'd almost drifted off to sleep when she felt two hands shaking her awake.

"More," Camila smiled, pointing to the TV. Dinah wiped her eyes and checked the time on her phone, groaning when she realized they'd stayed up later than she had planned. She sat up and shook her head, turning the TV off with the remote next to her. Camila tilted her head to the side.

"It's time for bed," Dinah yawned and stood up, walking over to the stairs. Camila followed slowly, walking only on her tiptoes.

"Sleep?" Camila inquired once they reached the top of the stairs. Dinah nodded and opened her bedroom door. Camila stood hesitantly in the hallway.

"Cold," Camila shook her head.

Dinah sighed and grabbed Camila's arm, pulling her into the bedroom to avoid waking anyone up. "I have warmer clothes you can wear," she said, walking over to her dresser and searching through her drawers. "Here," she handed the smaller girl a long sleeved shirt.

Camila looked at the shirt in her hands, opening her mouth to say something but noticing the annoyed look on Dinah's face. She quickly grew quiet.

"Remember, this is your side of the bed," Dinah mumbled, pointing to the side where Camila had slept. The Polynesian girl didn't wait for a response before crawling under the covers and turning away from Camila.

Camila stood quietly, holding the shirt in her hands. She slowly slipped out of the t-shirt of Lauren's she had on and tugged on Dinah's shirt. Frowning, she realized it didn't smell the same as Lauren's. So instead, Camila hugged Lauren's t-shirt to her chest and padded over to the bed.

"Dinah?" she whispered, standing at the edge of the bed and looking at the other girl. There was no response, Dinah had already fallen asleep. Camila sighed, hugging the shirt even tighter to her chest and wiggling under the covers. She bit her lip, not happy that Dinah had put a pillow in the middle of the bed to separate them.

With a soft sigh, Camila curled up into a ball and brought the shirt up to rest in the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent she'd already become so comfortable with. She lay for a while in silence, staring blankly at the darkness in front of her. After entertaining herself with her thoughts for what felt like hours, her eyelids grew heavy and slowly closed shut.

Sleep had just overtaken the small girl when suddenly her breathing intensified. Memories came back in flashes of white and red, and a bead of sweat dripped down from her brow. Camila gasped for air, waking herself up. Her heart was beating erratically and she sat up quickly, hugging Lauren's shirt underneath her chin and scanning the room anxiously.

Every shadow, every small beam of light suddenly adopted the possibility of danger. Camila shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't like this. The small girl wiped frantically at the sweat on her forehead, trying to catch the breath she didn't know she'd lost.

Cautiously, she looked over at the girl in the bed next to her. Dinah was fast asleep. Camila considered waking her, but she knew in just the next room over, there was someone who she'd rather be with. So quietly, she held Lauren's t-shirt tightly to her chest and tip toed quickly to the door, checking around her once more for anything that could be harmful. She peered out in the hallway to make sure it was safe before slipping out of Dinah's room.

Lauren hadn't been able to sleep that night. She was too busy reliving her high school days, trying to make a list of everything Camila had ever done to hurt her. The only direct thing Camila had done was read her texts, though. The rest of Camila's offenses had just been caused by her cheerleader friends. This confused Lauren even more.