phoenix academy for extraordinary girls (camren/norminah) ➸ unfinished fic

chapter 5

"Where the heck did you disappear to?" Camila asks once Ariana hurries back over to their table in the corner of the dining hall. Camila had been struggling to peel an orange when she looked up and her best friend had been gone, leaving her at the table all by herself.

I gave green eyes your apple.

Camila's head whips up to look at her tray, where sure enough, her apple is gone. She glares at her friend. "Why?"

Don't act like you were planning on eating it anyway. Ariana drums her fingers against the table and scans the room slowly. She didn't get any food. And she looked like she needed someone to do something nice for her.

"Was she nice to you?" Camila asks. She's always been protective over her friend, knowing that Ariana can't stand up for herself. The smaller girl simply nods and picks at the lint on the sleeves of her sweater.

"Hey, Annabelle, I need your help."

Both girls jump when Dinah pulls out the chair across from them, turning it around straddling it backwards. Camila glances at Ariana, who looks as confused as ever.

"It's Ariana," Camila corrects the girl across from them.

She can call me Annabelle if she wants...

"No she can't," Camila turns to her friend and gives her a serious look. "Your name is Ariana."

Dinah watches the exchange between the two, which is quite hard to follow considering Ariana hasn't spoken a word out loud. Camila gives her friend a firm nod before turning back to Dinah and raising an eyebrow.

"What do you want?" she asks, ignoring Ariana's pleas for her to be polite. Camila hates seeing people use her friend like a doormat. She hates how Ariana lets them.

Dinah ignores Camila and turns to face Ariana, glancing behind her for a moment. She folds her arms on the table between them and leans in to keep her voice down.

"I need you to tell me what she thinks about me," Dinah says quietly, giving the tiniest nod of her head to a few tables behind her. Ariana and Camila exchange glances before craning their necks to see who the girl was referring too.

"Ally's new roommate?" Camila asks in disbelief. Dinah glares at her for raising her voice, but gives the girl a quick nod. Camila takes a moment to look at the girl once more.

"Why can't you just go talk to her?" Camila asks, tilting her head to the side. Ariana watches her friend, silently amused by her actions. "You've never had a problem with that before."

Dinah shakes her head quickly and scoots over to block Camila's view of the girl. "Stop staring," she hisses between gritted teeth. "She's gonna see you."

"And so what?" Camila laughs. She's never seen Dinah get this worked up over a girl. She usually makes it pretty clear that she doesn't do anything but hook ups. Camila doesn't blame her, though. Long term relationships have got to be hard when you live forever. Literally.

"She can't know I'm interested," Dinah whispers, causing Ariana to giggle from beside them. "I just need to know what she thinks of me."

"Ariana doesn't do that," Camila pipes up before her friend could do anything. It's true, though. On most occasions Ariana refuses to reveal other people's thoughts to Camila. She considers it unfair, which Camila understands. And she's not about to let someone else swoop in and use her friend for personal gain. "Why can't you just talk to her like you usually do? You never seem to have a problem with that."

"I don't know," Dinah whispers, and Camila can hear the frustration in her voice. Dinah glances back at the girl a few tables back, and Ariana starts giggling wildly because Dinah is making heart eyes and her thoughts aren't any different.