Beacon in the Darkness

25. Fragile Joy

"I can't believe they both agreed to let you see each other." Lauren leaned against the locker next to Camila's and stared down at her fingers, picking at a loose piece of skin beside her nail. "I mean, especially given the fact your mom totally caught you in the middle of a make out."

Camila rolled her eyes and turned to the stack of books in front of her, pawing through to find the one for her first class. "We weren't making out, Lauren."

She snorted. "Well, what would you call it, then, if it's not making out?"

"I don't know, kissing, maybe?"

Lauren dropped her hands to her hips and stared at Camila. "Seriously? Do you not know anything about the parameters of kissing verses making out?"

Camila turned toward her and raised her brows. Lauren sighed.

"Plain old kissing does not involve wrapping your legs around a guy and being slammed against bookshelves. That would be clearly in the make out territory."

Camila frowned. "That's the last time I tell you anything."

"What? Don't you dare hold out on me! I have to live vicariously through you, since the ratio of delectable to geek in this school is seriously skewed."

Camila laughed and turned to Lauren, shaking her head. "Okay, so this school isn't crawling with hotties, but there are plenty of great guys around." Her eyes strayed to her approaching dark-haired, bespectacled best friend. "Speaking of which, here comes one now."

Lauren's brows shot up into her hairline and she whipped around just as Michael approached. His hair looked as though he'd been in a wind tunnel and his shirt was stretched out and bunching at the collar.

Camila closed her locker and appraised him. "What happened to you?"

He shook his head quickly and averted his eyes. "Nothing. Just a couple of football jocks being their moronic selves. It's no big deal."

"The hell it's not!" Lauren stepped closer to him and straightened his collar.

Michael's eyes grew wide at her touch. Camila bit her lip to disguise her grin.

Lauren looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "Who was it? I'll totally throw down with guys—and I will kick their asses too."

"Oh, yeah." Michael slung his bag over his shoulder. "Like I'm going to tell you and have the entire school think I need a girl to fight my battles. Yeah, no thanks." He started moving away.

"But ..." Lauren followed after him.

Camila chuckled to herself and turned to make her way toward class when someone knocked against her shoulder, hard. Her books tumbled from her hands and spread across the tiled floor. The pages flew open and her notes fell from inside, twirling and floating down the congested hallway.