A Light in the Dark

Chapter 4

She never would have looked twice at the little building in front of her. Truth be told, if it weren't for Lauren, she would have just walked by without noticing it at all. But as soon as she walked into the small café, she felt strangely at home. It was cozy, warm and light. At one side of the room were a few tables with comfortable looking chairs. On the other side, she was surprised to see an entire wall consisting of bookshelves. What was this magical place and why didn't she find out about it sooner?

Lauren took her to the back of the room where a small young woman was standing behind a dark wooden counter. She looked to be around their age. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar, but she shook it off. She had probably seen her at NYU or had passed her on the streets.

"Allycat! How are you?" Lauren called out, before she reached the brunette girl.

The girl smiled brightly and Camila was taken aback. If she had thought that Lauren's smile could light up a room, then this one's could certainly light up an entire arena.

"Good morning, Lauren! I'm fine, how are you? Can I get you the usual?" she asked with a subtle Southern accent.

"Actually, I feel more like hot chocolate this morning. And we need your famous muffins. I promised Camila that they were the bomb," Lauren explained.

"How rude of me! Hi, I'm Ally," the small brunette said, clearly excited, and held out her hand.

Camila hesitantly shook it and nodded shyly. "Hi."

"Camila is my next door neighbor," Lauren explained and leaned against the counter. "Is it cool if she comes to our weekly movie marathon?"

"Of course it is! Don't be silly!" Ally shook her head. "What can I get you, Camila?"

"Oh, um... hot chocolate sounds awesome."

"You know it," Lauren agreed and looked around. "Dude, where are the other customers?"

"Probably in their beds," Camila grumbled lowly, but apparently not quietly enough.

"Hey! The early bird catches the worm... or the best muffins as I like to say." Lauren stuck her tongue out and Camila had to suppress a smile. What was this girl doing to her?

She watched Ally as she prepared their hot beverages and tilted her head. Where had she seen her before?

"I'm sorry, but do you go to NYU?" she finally asked, not able to hold it back any longer.

Ally looked up from her task. "Who, me? Dear Lord, no."

"She's saving up for her own bakery," Lauren chimed in and Ally nodded.

In that moment she saw it. A glimpse before her eyes at a performance that had been years ago. "Wait – I saw your audition for the X Factor! You were the girl who wouldn't stop singing, right?"

Ally's eyes widened and Camila clamped a hand over her mouth. What was she doing? Why would she say stuff like that? She was so awkward...

Lauren snorted amused. "Oh my God, I totally forgot about that!"

"It wasn't funny." The small girl shot her friend a stern look, before softening her glare and turned back to Camila. "It wasn't how they displayed it on tv. It was a normal audition, but I guess they wanted something more exciting and edited it to make it look bad."

"Oh..." Camila trailed off, unsure what to say. "I'm sorry."

Ally shook her head. "It's fine. That was years ago, I'm over it."

"Didn't look like it," Lauren mumbled and Ally shot her a playful glare.

"You seem to forget who's making your drinks and your food."