The Curse

Chapter 14

"Next," Camila said. She was getting drowsier the longer she sat there.

A small brunette woman wearing the tightest pair of skinny jeans came scurrying along. Her beautiful, sleek Fender guitar resting around her neck.

"Name?" Camila asked dryly.

"Ally Brooke,"

"It's nice to meet you, Ally," Normani offered her a welcoming smile. "What brings you here?"

"I heard you guys were looking for a new guitarist and," Ally lifted up her Fender to show them. "I feel like I'd regret not giving it a try at least,"

Dinah sat forward, placing her elbows on the table. "How long have you've been playing?"

"Only six years, give or take,"

"Do you think you can keep up with this one over here?" Dinah pointed her finger directly at Camila who looked visibly annoyed. "I'm sure you've seen her move those pretty fingers before,"

Ally lightly dragged her pick against the strings, tuning her guitar as she nervously glanced at them. "I can show you better than I can tell you,"

-

Lauren stared at her broken camera, carefully picking apart the equipment in an attempt to save her memory card.

"You're going to hurt yourself doing that,"

The camera almost fell out of her lap as she jolted in her seat. "I have almost a week's worth of photographs on here. If I lose this then Simon's going to—"

"Cry about it?" Camila's lips pulled into an amused smile. She sat next to Lauren on the plush couch and held out a poorly wrapped box. "I tried to see if the guys at Best Buy could wrap it for me, but they were pretty useless,"

Lauren eyed Camila cautiously as she took the box and slowly peeled off the wrapping, her heart racing as she looked at the brand-new camera in her hands. "What's this for?"

"Simon was going to buy you a new one, but I told him I had it covered. My mom likes to take pictures with this one at home. Says the filters and grains make everything feel more realistic. So, I figured you'd like it as well."

"I don't know what to say," Lauren murmured. "Thank you, I really appreciate it,"

"Don't worry about those old photos," Camila added. "You'll take new ones that are better, I'm sure,"

"You never mentioned that your mom was a photographer,"

"I wouldn't really call her that. She just liked to hold onto memories wherever she could."

"I'm sure her work was amazing,"

A sad smile pulled at Camila's lips. "The greatest, actually,"

Sensing Camila's discomfort, Lauren opted to change the subject. "Have you talked to Selena?"

"She's ignoring all of us," Camila answered. "She said we were all backstabbing bitches to do something like that to her, but she'll get over it. It isn't the end of the world."

"Maybe for her, it is,"

"Maybe. The only person she can blame is herself, though. I'd rather her hate me instead of me finding her in the cold with a needle sticking out of her arm."

"You're a good friend,"

"I think everybody else in my life would disagree with you,"

"Why do you do that?"

Camila furrowed her eyebrows. "Do what?"

"It's like... You find it so hard to believe that somebody sees something good in you."