Walk A Mile (Camren)

XXXII

"What?" Lauren asked of her again. Her demeanor was indication enough to let her in on the context. She just wanted her to get it over with now.

"Uh, maybe you wanna sit down?" Camila motioned towards her desk chair, or even the bed. Lauren's features darkened as she stood there defiantly and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, okay... No sitting. That's fine."

"Camila... What's going on?" Lauren urged her to cut the dramatic setup and get to the point.

"Um..." Camila swallowed uneasily. "We might be moving a little further away than I anticipated..."

"Where..." Lauren asked hesitantly, uncertain that she even wanted to find out. Camila was fidgeting and avoiding eye contact, and Lauren just wanted her to come right out with it. "Camila? Where?"

"North Carolina?" she raised her voice an octave and peeked at Lauren apologetically.

"What? That's ridiculous, how do you even know that-" Lauren began to immediately discredit this new piece of information. She was rejecting it. That wasn't happening.

"I heard my dad talking to your dad about it..." Camila countered. There was a very strong possibility. It was almost a certainty.

"Okay, so he's moving... That doesn't mean that you're moving out there..." Lauren disassociated Camila from the situation and plucked her from the idea in her mind. It was alarming to Camila.

"Lauren, they were discussing houses and living conditions... He even talked about me and said that he wouldn't feel bad about taking me away from Palm Island. I know we are. It's better to just accept it now and see it the way it is instead of being in denial about it," Camila advised her to prevent her from deluding herself.

"Fuck," Lauren forced herself to accept their predicament and closed her eyes. One thing after another just kept stacking up. Every time things seemed like they were looking up, another obstacle was waiting for her to tackle. The odds were definitely against her.

"Don't be mad, please," Camila pleaded tentatively and held her hands out to gauge Lauren's reaction. Quietness was so misleading.

"I'm not," Lauren shook her head. It would be dumb to place any blame on Camila for what was undoubtedly Alejandro's fault. And she didn't feel comfortable enough in her emotions at the moment to discuss them. She was hurt and jaded and annoyed with just about everything regarding it. But she was tired of being emotional. She'd had enough of that for the day.

"Are you sure?" Camila tried to clarify, because she was being distant again.

"It's not your fault, why would I be mad at you?" Lauren ruffled her hair and let out a great sigh.

"I don't know, but could you not treat me like you're mad? Because you do that when you're upset. I want to talk to you," Camila posed a reasonable consideration.

"I won't," Lauren assured her and pitched forward to grace her with a quick peck on the lips to prove her point. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, are you going to talk to them about it?" Camila grabbed her arm frantically.

"No," Lauren slid out of her hold.

"Oh," she breathed. "Where are you going?"

"To get the snacks," Lauren answered just before passing through the door. Camila saw no reason in staying there and waiting for her somber return, so she merely followed behind her. Lauren was on a mission now.

Lauren made more noise going down the stairs than Camila did. She always jogged down them quickly whereas Camila scaled them step by step, just to prevent a fall. Her timid footsteps probably hadn't tipped off Michael nor Alejandro. Lauren's did. They both noticed the way those hushed voices ceased completely, and they also gathered that the information Camila had picked up was premature. It was obvious that they didn't want them to know of it yet. It was a horrible note for Lauren to pick up on, because it only confirmed what she said.