The Voice (Camren)

4. The Assignment

Lauren walked into the room and the whole atmosphere changed. An aura of confidence and power surrounded her, an aura she knew how to use in her favor. And right now, all she wanted to do was to impress her three team members, to show them who was in charge there. She didn't want any of them to relax, now that they had made it to the Battles round. All three had a lot to improve and she had to make sure they knew that.

As she walked in, Camila gulped. She hadn't really got a chance to check Lauren out before, since she had had her eyes closed during most of her audition. But now, her eyes were open wide, not quite able to believe who was in front of them. Breathtakingly beautiful as always, Lauren was all dressed in black wearing tight, ripped jeans, a simple crop-top and a leather jacket. There had been a Harley motorbike beside her, and Camila would've sworn Lauren was the female version of her hood's fuckboy. The very same fuckboy that had been after her since the beginning of summer. Not only pulled Lauren and Dave similar outfits off, but also their piercing green eyes resembled one another. Camila smiled at the thought of Lauren standing out of her window, asking her to get on her bike, as Dave often did. Wait what? Camila, you're day dreaming again, stop it! she scolded herself as she redirected her attention to the actual Lauren.

"Hi , my name is Lauren Jauregui, as you probably know by now, and I'm gonna be coaching you throughout the Voice" she said confidently, as she walked across the room and took a seat right next to Camila.

"You two, come over here" she ordered Ariana and Sawyer, who moved closer.
"First of all, I want you to always keep in mind that you are here for a reason. And that is that you're excepcionally talented. This contest is going to become pretty tough soon, and it'll take you down, make you feel like you are not good enoght, make you wanna quit. At those times, I want you to remember this piece of advice, ok?" she said looking at Camila intently, as if she knew she was the one who'd need the counsel the most.

"Yeah, sure" replied Ariana with conviction.

"With that being said, all three of you have a lot to work on. Sawyer, your voice is amazing and that low register of yours is unbelievable. But, I need you to put more emotion into your performances. I need to see that you're really into what you're singing, because without feeling music is pointless. Do we agree on this?"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll try to improve" he spoke softly.

"I don't want you to try. I want you to improve" Lauren said firmly. "Now, Ariana, you have the very same problem as Sawyer. Your delivery lacked emotion as well. Apart from that, I have nothing but praise for you. Tuning was perfect, so was the song choice, Lana's Born To Die is one of my favorite songs ever"

"Thank you, Lauren. I'll improve, you'll see" Ariana said cockily. Wow, this girl is really self-confident, she's gonna be a hardcore rival, Camila thought.

"As of you, Camila" Lauren savored the girl's name as she carefully pronounced it. "Your performance irradiated passion and sensibility, that was what drew me into it so quickly. You were feeling every single word you sang and, correct me if I'm wrong, but that is a natural talent of yours, since your delivery was so effortless. On the technical part however, it's obvious that you lack a strong musical education. You had trouble sticking to tempo and singing your runs smoothly" Camila nodded nervously. "But don't worry girl, we'll work on it together" Lauren said reassuringly, as she lightly squeezed Camila's thigh in order to calm the girl down, achieving quite the opposite actually.

"Now that you have all received an individual evaluation, it's time for you to get homework." Lauren said excitedly.

"Yay!" Ariana butted in ironically, earning a glare from Lauren.

"As I was saying, what you'll have to do is come to the rest of the Blind Auditions and take notes about your rivals. What you like about them, what they are bad at, anything that comes to mind when you listen to them perform. Is the assignment clear?" The three of them nodded convincingly.

"Ok. Now you can leave. Meet your families, hang out with friends, get drunk or do whatever the hell you want" Lauren dismissed them.

Ariana, Sawyer and Camila stood up and headed to the door. It was almost 8 pm and considering Camila had entered the building at 11 am, she was eager to get home and take a relaxing bath, in order to let everything that had happened to her sink in properly. Lauren Jauregui had chosen to be part of her team! It was too good, too perfect to be true. Just like Lauren herself. Camila, still inmersed in her thoughts was about to leave the room, when she heard Lauren's voice calling for her.

"Not you, Camila. I wanna have one more word with you" Lauren commanded.

Camila turned around, still grabbing the door handle, unsure of what to do next. Should she seat next to Lauren again or should she stay right where she was? Her doubts dissapeared as she saw the older girl pointing to the spot on the couch right beside her. She took a seat, avoiding to look directly at Lauren's eyes. It was overwhelming enough to be alone with her. Camila wasn't sure she'd be able not to stutter, let alone maintain a proper conversation with the older girl, who was, on the other hand, quite amused with the situation. Lauren didn't hesitate for a second when she put her index finger under Camila's chin and delicately raised the girl's head up.

"Camila, why won't you look at me?"