A World Where Roses Bloom || Camren

Chapter XVI, Moving On.

Turns out that over the course of the next week Camila makes it official with Emily.

Lauren is not surprised at all, though. Since the last time they spoke, she has been seeing less and less of the brunette and if she is being honest, Lauren saw it coming. It was a matter of time anyway.

That doesn't mean that it hurts any less.

The confirmation coming from Dinah's mouth was like a punch in the face for her. But hey, Lauren feels like this is a wake-up call to start forgetting about her feelings for Camila so it is fine. She doesn't know how much time it will take, but she is willing to try, now more than ever.

She doesn't want to know the details either, or when it happened and who asked who. Simple as that, Lauren is not interested. In fact, the less she sees Camila now, the better.

The same weekend is Dinah's birthday and as Lauren thought, she wanted to celebrate it at Kelly's. Since Lauren has not been looking for a job like she should, she is kind of broke, so she doesn't have a present for her best friend, which makes her feel miserable. On top of that, Dinah deserves the world because she has been nothing but supportive of her this past week.

Thankfully, the person she least expects a call from brings some good news to her.

"Hello?" Lauren asks when she reaches for her phone that was on the nightstand beside her bed.

"Lauren? It's me, Ally," the smaller girl replies on the other line, making Lauren smile softly at the sound of her voice as she idly draws something on her sketchbook.

"Hi, Ally, what's up?" Lauren finds herself asking, already in a better mood.

"Nothing much," Ally replies nonchalantly. "But I'm calling you because I have an offer that might interest you," the older girl lets Lauren knows with a mysterious and playful tone laced in her voice.

"I'm listening," Lauren plays along, dropping her tone of voice an octave.

"I was wondering if you would like to work for my parents at the bakery. You know, Harry works there but the girls that worked with us left for the summer," Ally explains, sounding a little bit desperate on the other end of the line. "I'm pretty sure Mani is going to say yes but still..."

"Wait, you called Normani too?" Lauren asks raising an eyebrow and stopping the pencil over the paper.

"Yeah, she told me she wanted to work this summer too so I thought about you two..."

"Hell yes! I'm in, Ally," Lauren answers excitedly, not really needing any more convincing from Ally's part. "I mean, if Mani says yes, that's it," she adds just in case.

"Are you serious?" Ally asks just as excited as Lauren is and the green-eyed girl can easily imagine the huge smile tracing Ally's lips.

"Yeah, I mean," Lauren says, rolling onto her back to look at the white ceiling distractedly. "I'll be working with my friends, what else do I need?" she says in good spirits.

"Okay, cool. That's fantastic, Lauren," Ally recognizes happily. "I'll let you know the details, is that okay?"

"Sure," Lauren accepts smirking and closing her eyes. "See you tonight?"

"See you tonight," Ally confirms with a nod and a smile that Lauren can't see.

Well, at least some things are looking up.

She tells Dinah about the job offer and the Polynesian seems to be extremely happy about it. Lauren also tells her that she doesn't have a birthday gift for her yet, but Dinah quickly dismisses her, saying that that is not really important. She just wants to spend a good night with her best friend.