Finding Ourselves (Camren)

Chapter One

"You all packed and ready to go?" My mother Clara asked. "Yeah mom, hold on! I can't seem to find my headphones!" I yelled.
My mom looked at me and shook her head and let out a small chuckle. "Lauren Michelle Jauregui.." I looked at her confused and she pointed to my left hand which was gripping onto my headphones. I moved
my hand swiftly through my hair repositioning it. I looked up at my mom and said, "I guess that means I'm all set!"

My mom just nodded and headed towards the kitchen to find her car keys. "Chris, Taylor, Mike!! Come downstairs, we gotta take Lo to the airport!" She yelled. I was beyond excited to attend, "Golden Voices Vocal Camp."

I don't have the greatest voice, but I wanted to build it. I want to improve my pitch and range while singing, "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys. It's beautiful song, so if I was going to try to improve my voice, it would be with this song.

I plugged my headphones into my phone and began to walk out of my house. I unlocked my phone and put on the instrumental of the Alicia Keys song. In the corner of my eye I saw my dad struggling to put my suitcase in the trunk of our car, so I sprinted towards him and laughed, "need a hand?" I asked. "That would be great!" My dad replied. We both ended up putting the heavy suitcase in the trunk, when we were finished my dad put his hands on his hips and sighed deeply. I looked at him confused and asked what was wrong.

"I'm gonna miss you baby." My dad said shaking his head. "Dad, it's literally only four weeks, you'll be fine without me until then." I said. He playfully punched my shoulder and said, "Who's gonna help me in the auto shop? You know your brother is too high maintenance, the thought of grease under his nails will kill him, and Taylor will just get bored and bring the mood down. You're my go to girl."

My dad and I worked in his auto shop. I've always been a daddy's girl, so since I was a child I would help him out in the shop. I've learned so much about cars, it fascinates me. I would probably follow into my dad's footsteps of becoming an auto engineer if my singing career didn't take off.

"You know what I'll do when I get back from camp? Just for you?" I said with a smile. "And what's that?" My dad asked. "I'm going to end up flipping a car, all by myself." I replied. "Alright little missy, if you think you got what it takes to take dead engine and make it into something great, then I have faith in you." He said while smiling. "Get in the car, before your mom comes out here yelling, you know how annoying her angry voice is."

I got into the car, I got the window seat. I love the window seat, I hate being in the middle, I get so claustrophobic. But my sister sat in the middle and Chris sat at the other window seat. I put in my headphones and leaned against the window. I shut my eyes and just let the music flow through my ears and into my brain.

"Lauren, Lo, Lauren!" I felt my sister tickling my side. "Wake up dude, you gotta catch that plane!" I unbuckled my seatbelt and exited the car. My dad took out my suitcase and we walked towards the arrival. We all stood before the line to say our goodbyes. I held out my arms and said, "Alright, give me some love."

Taylor was the first one to run into my arms. She hugged me tightly, and I reciprocated the gesture. She released and then looked at me, "I'm gonna miss you dork." She said with tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "It's gonna be alright Tay, we'll be back into fucking things up in no time." I said with a wink and a laugh. She came closer to me and said in a whisper, "My down bitch." I laughed at her comment and hugged her once more.

Chris came up to me next, he hugged me and said, "Alright, enough with the emotional shit, I love you dude..have fun. But if you see a hot girl there be a good wing woman and help me out." I shook my head and punched his shoulder, "Alright bro. I'll give you the second hottest because you already know I got first dibs." He slightly smiled and said, "that's what sucks about being a brother of a lesbian, you have more luck with girls than I do because you're always around them. But then you put in good word for me. So it's a slight advantage." I hugged him once more and nodded.