mending the pieces ~ camren

chapter five

Lauren's POV

Three weeks have passed since my conversation with Camila. Whilst those three weeks my mom and her mom have been getting know to each other. They spend an insanely big amount of time together yet Sinu never came to our house. She keeps using excuses, the main one being not wanting to bother us. Generally they get coffee and go for a walk or stop at a café. I went out with them only two times, although I'm a bit saddened about this, it was my choice. Sinu is amazing, I love spending time with her and seeing my mom have such an amazing time with us feels wonderful, but she's my mom's friend. I'm 17 and as much as I love hanging out with these two, I should reunite with my old friends or find new ones around my age.

The problem is, it's easier said than done. I rejected my friends' help when they tried doing at least something to help me and my family. They really tried their best. Eventually they stopped trying, because there was really no point.

Well, not all of them. My best friend Leigh still texts me from time to time, checking how her Lauren is doing. We used to be really close, she made school a bit easier and we basically grew up together. I owe her a lot of things, basically I became the person I am right now, well, more like the person I was before the accident, thanks to her. She made me realize that I don't have to fit in, that society can't make me be someone they want me to be. But her parents are pretty unusual and they suddenly decided to move to Europe, claiming they were looking for an adventure. They've been traveling around Europe for almost 3 years. Leigh made a deal with her parents that she'd come back to her native country at least once a year, but since she's their little girl, we manage to meet even 4 times a year. I miss her dearly and I wish I had her by my side 24/7 like I used to, but she's always been quite wild, I know she's enjoying the life she's having and I'm honestly happy for her. She made a promise that after my graduation she'll take me on one of those trips and she'll even try to convince my mom herself, I'm looking forward to this day.

Anyway, in the end I was too ashamed to reach out for help and too stubborn to accept any of my friends' suggestions, and I ended up alone. The visits, the calls and concerned texts finally came to an end, leaving me to myself.

Laughter and agitated voices tore me away from my thoughts and painting. Wait, voices? It'd mean my mom didn't come home by herself. I sprinted down the stairs to see what was up, curiosity being in control of my other instincts. The second voice must have belonged to Sinu, since she was standing next to my mom, hanging her bag.

"Hello! What finally made you come here? I'm genuinely surprised." I smiled and walked up.

"Hi, Lauren! Well, your mom managed to convince me. It started raining and our favorite café was full, so we came here." She said whilst leaning in to hug me. I wasn't fast enough to react and let Sinu get all dirty because of paint. I reciprocated the embrace anyway, and heard my mom say "Ladieeees, why won't you join me in the living room?"

I made a quick apology, but, thankfully I ended up not leaving any paint on the woman's clothes. We went where my mom suggested and sat on the sofa. I was catching up with Sinu as my mom was making coffee for all three of us.

What I didn't realize immediately, was that the after a minute with this woman, I felt more giddy and happy than I remember. I don't really know how it was possible. I didn't give it a second thought, though. I just let it be, I decided I'd let her make me and my mom feel better, because I'm sure she was experiencing this as well. I just hoped she was to stay for a long time, we still needed her.

We spent some time together, drinking our coffee and talking, but she eventually had to leave. We suggested staying for dinner, but Sinu explained herself with the need of going home, because her daughters would destroy their house. I couldn't stop myself from imagining Camila and her sister, Sofi playing hide and seek, building blanket forts and dancing. The mother of those two really enjoyed talking about them, you could tell by the way her whole face lighted up every time she mentioned at least one of them, and I gladly listened to those stories. I could definitely see the resemblance between the Camila from the stories and the one that I talked to on the phone. What I didn't quite understand, was why Sinu wasn't afraid to leave them by themselves. They sounded a bit reckless, and most importantly, young. There certainly wasn't any babysitters, because then, Sinu wouldn't have to worry about the girls 'destroying the house'. I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't notice both my mom and our guest stand up. I quickly got up and went after them. We said our goodbyes and promised to visit each other more often. Clearly all of us had a great time.