"I had a really great night with you," Lauren beamed at Camila, despite her sleepiness. They were facing each other, just outside of Camila's room. Lauren had walked her here out of a desire to protect her and ensure that she was safe for the night.
"I did, too," Camila matched her grin, a little less sleepy than her due to her nap on her shoulder.
"By the way, you were really fucking cute when you fell asleep," Lauren curled her fingers into Camila's as she took her hand. "Even when you were drooling on me."
"Oh my god, did I really?" Camila's eyes widened in horror.
"No," Lauren teased her, unable to contain her smile.
"Jerk," Camila lightly slapped her on the arm, although she was relieved. How embarrassing would that be? "What time is your game tomorrow? It's tomrrow, isn't it?"
"Yes. We're supposed to play at four. I trust I'll be seeing that gorgeous face in the bleachers, yeah?" Lauren presumed and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Count on it," Camila smiled. "We play a little bit after you. Will you stay?"
"Of course, of course. I'm your number one fan, babe."
"I like the sound of that," Camila grinned, referring moreso to babe than her being her number one fan.
"Yeah. If we win it tomorrow, I'm officially calling you my good luck charm."
"You're already mine," Camila mentioned with more meanings than one. "I've had nothing but good luck since you showed up."
"That makes two of us," Lauren seconded, making the mistake of looking into her eyes again. Then, it began to happen again. Just like that, she'd started to tune her out as she seriously got absorbed by her essence. Camila was hypnotic.
"I hope you win tomorrow, just so we can kick your butts," Camila swayed as she continued to stand there with Lauren.
"Stop stealing my lines," Lauren admonished her when she emerged from her brief trance, and Camila yawned adorably in response. "You should probably get some sleep."
"Yeah, I'm like this close to passing out... Any second now," Camila agreed reluctantly, choosing to listen to her body.
"We can't have that," Lauren pouted and swayed her hand back and forth.
"Yeah," she yawned again. "Good night, angel," Camila bid her good night with a lingering kiss on the cheek.
"Good night," Lauren took her by surprise by encasing her in a brief hug, just to prolong their contact. They stared at each other a beat longer and impulsively leaned forward to end the night officially with a kiss. Although just a peck, it managed to leave them both feeling fulfilled. Begrudgingly, they broke away and Camila entered her room as cautiously as she could. She slid her key into the door with a grin that consumed her face, and Lauren stood there until she'd disappeared inside. The smiles they both wore were massive, but Camila's dropped very quickly.
The next thing Camila saw couldn't have been a real image. It was delusional. She was delirious. That had to have been a subconscious hallucination of some sort. It must've been way past her bedtime for her to see that.
Coach Sylvester was perched on her bed, sipping from her water bottle. Reclined against the pillows and watching some crime television series, she calmly set the bottle down and leaned up. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up and stretched, warm up suit and all. Camila was speechless, but she woke up real quick.
"How nice of you to return," Coach Sylvester said snidely as she wiped excess water from her mouth.
Truly unable to form any kind of response, Camila only stared at her in front of the door. Fear had gripped her so suddenly, she remained in a state of shock.
