2012

Chapter 19

Camila's POV

 It's been a couple weeks since I got rejected by Lauren. Well, at least I felt rejected. But luckily it wasn't too awkward between the two of us. Kind of. The girls and I were still rehearsing but the pressure was getting to us. We've been so caught up with getting everything ready for The X Factor performance and also still balancing school that our fans missed us recording covers. So, we filmed a little cover of "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato which they enjoyed.

Also, we went on another local news talk show to talk about the band and stuff. It was fun and I felt like I was getting a lot more comfortable with this sort of thing. Sure, I've always been talking with the fans online and thought it was the coolest thing but now as it's kept growing, I was more happy and appreciative of it. The fan accounts reminded me of the one I had for One Direction a little while back which I finally deleted last month. But we loved all the support we've been getting. It definitely helped keep us going.

Thanksgiving was coming up in just two days and so that meant time off. Time off from school, rehearsal, and just pretty much everything for the next three days and weekend. I was glad about that since I really needed it. I had so much homework to catch up on and even start so I finally had time throughout the day without any class or rehearsal to do it all. The other girls were happy about it too that we could have a break from all the stress, especially Lauren. I've been a little worried about her lately. I think she's been handling her breakup harder than any of us thought. I mean, she's been talking like she had nothing bothering her, but I and the other girls knew her way better than that. We could tell she's been putting on a fake smile and that something's off with her. I hoped she would feel better soon. Not just because we all needed to be focused for our big performance but because I cared about her well-being.

"Mila, you gotta talk to Lo," Dinah told me as we were both in our art class. We were doing our painting projects where we had to paint a portrait of our partners. So, I was painting Dinah and she was painting me.

"What do you mean? I already talked to her and I definitely get the picture that she doesn't want me," I huffed, continuing my strokes with my paint brush.

"Not about that. I know she doesn't want you," she said, making me roll my eyes. "About what's been up with her lately."

"I think she's just sad about her breakup," I shrugged.

"She wasn't all that sad when she was the one doing the breaking up. I think she was happy about that. It was right after our rehearsal that night," she thought. That was when I talked to her about the ferris wheel incident.

"That's when I talked to her, Dinah," I sighed, looking at my best friend. "Do you think she's upset about what I said? Do you think...I've ruined our friendship?" I mumbled, looking down.

"No, you didn't at all. She acts the same around you like nothing happened," Dinah said.

"Well, yeah she's been 'normal' but there's still something off. It's weird...Lauren's not the person to be fake with people. At least not with us," I grew confused.

"Well, that's why you gotta talk to her."

"Ughh, I don't want to," I whined and Dinah glared at me. "Have Normani do it."

"Nope, you're gonna do it. She's happier with you."

I chuckled, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. And please, it's not just for the band. It's for herself too. We care about Lauren just as much," Dinah sympathized.

I thought about it some more. Even though I was a little nervous about approaching her again after our confrontation and that could have been the reason for her changed mood, I still wanted to be there for her. Lauren was my best friend and we said we would talk and be there for each other more now. No matter what my feelings for her were, I was still going to make sure she was okay.