Tails and Ears (Camren)

Chapter Seven

"Lauren, hey come on in! Camila's in the room sleeping right now, but I think it's nice to start a session with just the owner and me." Ally said, and Lauren shifted uncomfortably as she walked in.

"I really don't like to think of myself as an owner. Maybe just a..." Lauren thought for a second.

"A roommate. I get it. Sorry for my wording." Ally apologized, leading her to the kitchen. She pulled out a bar stool for the both of them so they were sitting across from each other. "So I think what I need from you first is to describe the problem with Camila at the moment. What seems to be the biggest concern of yours right now?" Ally asked, subtly looking at both of Lauren's hands, which were tucked into her sweater sleeves.

"Um, I guess the biggest problem right now would be maturity. I mean, she acts like a five year old when she doesn't get her way." Lauren said. Ally wanted to bring up the bite, but she knew it wasn't her place. She could see Lauren's left hand though, the white bandage barely visible.

"Okay, I'm not an expert with children, but I'll try to help you from a friend standpoint. I think you need to teach her a little more about the real world. Put your foot down. You know? I know you want to believe the relationship between the two of you is fair, but you need to have some more authority than her if she's expected to learn." Ally said, placing her hand on top of Lauren's in the middle of the table.

"That's exactly what Normani said. In fact, that's why she suggested I come see you for help on Camila's case." Lauren sighed

"Lauren, this can't be the real reason you're here. I know it's not." Ally admitted, tapping her thumb against Lauren's hand. She pulled it back immediately, but then let out another sigh.

"Yeah, I know too." She said, raising her hand and pulling down her sleeve.

Ally was a little shocked when she saw it. The bandage covered almost half of Lauren's hand. She hadn't expected something that bad when Camila said she had bit her.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened? Camila told me what happened, but I feel like there's something she's not telling me." Ally said, furrowing her eyebrows with concern.

"It wasn't anything big. We should just go back to the maturity issue. That was the root of the problem anyways." Lauren suggested, not wanting to talk about it, especially if Camila could wake up and walk in at any moment.

"Lauren, no. We need to talk about this. If you just forget what happened neither of you are going to learn." Ally said. Lauren was hesitant to answer.

"Okay. It wasn't anything big. I was just trying to get Camila to take a bath because Normani was especially pushy about her taking one that night. She kept telling me she didn't want to take a bath but that wasn't an unreasonable thing to ask was it?" Lauren looked for somebody to side with her.

"No, not really. I mean I've had people with problems getting their dogs into the tub before, but I think this is different." Ally said.

"Well she bit me when I tried to make her." Lauren finished.

"She just straight out bit you? She didn't give you any warnings, other than "no"?"

"She growled." Lauren admitted, finally realizing she should have taken the hint and tried to talk it through with the girl when it happened.

"Lauren that's not even something I should have to tell you. When a dog growls it means no." Ally groaned.

"I get it but I imagined she was just being stubborn. I didn't think she would bite me. Yesterday she barged into the room when I was using scissors and she freaked out. She even kissed it better." Lauren said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't understand why she would overreact so much..."