colours. (camren)

Chapter 6

Camila POV 

Lauren rushed past me making it obvious that she just wanted to drop this entire situation. I know I should respect her wishes but it worried me, so I made a mental note to ask her about it sometime later when we were alone. 

I made a push to catch up to her on our way for food but she was walking so fast. It was so clear she didn't want to bring up what she just saw in 'that painting'. I settled on just being behind her because she was walking way too fast and I'm subtly out of shape. Meanwhile, Lauren was the furthest from my stance. It's so clear that she works out and regularly; from her biceps threatening to protrude through the sleeves of her flannel as she wipes away her tears at this very moment, to her slim stomach that looks hard without you having to even touch it. 

This isn't the time to observe and appreciate her...

She can't actually escape me at lunch because Ally invited me to eat with them and we all know that she's part of Lauren's group. But I promise I won't badger her about what happened. It's clear it's very personal but it made her sad, and if it's anything I want for Lauren, it's for her to be happy forever and always. 

As I entered the cafeteria, it was chaos but I managed to pick Ally out as small as her stature may be. I quickly walked over to the table and was surprised to not see Lauren sitting there. I tried to hide my disappointment and confusion and just greeted the girls and sat down. 

"Hey Mila", Ally said not looking up at me from her plate and shovelling a forkful into her mouth. 

"Uh hey guys", I say looking around the crowded room to see if Lauren just went in the line to get her food and come back. 

"What's wrong Mila?", some girl across from me said. I looked at her with a puzzled look. I guess she just called me that because she doesn't actually know my name, so I forgave her. 

"Oh! My bad! Mila this is Dinah", Ally said pointing to the girl with a smile. 

"Uh hey, I'm Camila. Mila for short", I said extending my hand to shake hers. She quickly reciprocated the action. 

"You're cute dawg. Imma call you Chancho", she said flipping her hair with a smirk on her face.

I could only look at her with a confused look as I furrowed my eyebrows. I gave up trying to understand why she named me that and returned to looking for Lauren. I was twisting and turning my neck trying to see if she was anywhere in the vicinity. 

I was really worried about her...

"Where's Lauren?", I asked trying to keep my worry low key. 

"She said she had to go to Mr Brand to ask him about our homework assignment", Ally said. 

I didn't respond to her statement, I simply nodded. We went quiet for a while after that, mainly with Ally and Dinah happily eating their food and me deep in thought. Our extended moment of silence was suddenly interrupted by someone sitting themselves down at our table. 

"Hey Mani", the girls said in unison while I sat there unable to say anything. Simply because I didn't know who she was, and also because she was simply breathtaking. Everything about her was just the epitome of perfection. For some reason, I found myself comparing her with Lauren's features. Yet, there was no competition, as in my eyes, Lauren always prevails no matter the situation. 

"Hey guys. Any of you seen Lo? She said she was going to show me something for our history presentation right before lunch. She left Math so fast just now, I had to ask Mr Brand if he saw where she went", Mani said offloading her bags and settling down next to Dinah. 

The ending of her sentence caused my head to shoot up and my eyes push out of my head. 

"Wait so she's not with Mr Brand right now?", I said with a slight pang of anger in my voice. My gaze didn't move from hers. I even narrowed my eyes slightly to get slight fear from her so she'd answer my question faster. 

"Well hello to you too stranger. I don't think we've ever met before. I'm Normani", she said with a facetious smirk on her face like she knew that'd anger me more because she didn't answer my question. I let out an exasperated sigh and reached my hand out to shake hers. 

"Camila", I said calming down and regaining my composure. 

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Lauren POV 

I had to get out of there. It was too many memories and too overwhelming. I felt like I was suffocating in those four walls. I didn't know where I was going, I just needed to leave for a bit. No matter how quickly I wanted to get away from that school, my body wouldn't let me exert too much energy at once so I settled on a fast-pace walk along the noisy streets. My mind wasn't in what I was doing; I was just walking, no destination and no purpose. 

When finally snapping out of my trance, I took in my surroundings and felt a pang of hurt in my heart just remembering how it used to be. 

Why did I have to come here? Well since I'm here, I thought to myself. Finally I had a destination...

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Nobody POV

"Your friend is back", he said behind me. 

Seeing her in that state, knelt down, in such pain because of this. I couldn't help but feel a immense amount of guilt and sympathy. I mentally hit myself every time a tear fell from her forever-enchanting eyes. Whether they were filled with pain or happiness, they just captured the label of beautiful. 

Don't worry Lo, I miss her too... 

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Camila POV

I had to suffer through the rest of the day without knowing her whereabouts on top of these exceedingly boring classes. They usually capture my undivided attention, but today, I had absolutely no motivation to do so. 

This history class always made me uncomfortable but I didn't for listen for more five seconds at a time to even figure out the topic in this lesson. Outside the window sparked my interest, as that was where my gaze was mainly focused for the entire forty-minute period. 

I was practically forced out of my deep thoughts by the unnecessarily loud twang of the end-of-day bell. Even though it hurt my ears, I welcomed it. It signalled a lot; I could go home and sleep off today's prior encounters or I go on the hunt to figure out Lauren's whereabouts. 

I knew I couldn't sleep with the recurring images of her in my head, but I had no idea where to even begin to look for her. I had only known for a short while and didn't really know much about her because all of our encounters involved some form of pain. Whether physical or emotional. 

All I know is that she has a past that is what some people might think is dark, but I see it as a chance to get her to trust me with her problems. She is always on my mind and I don't even know why. It's not like we've been friends forever. Maybe that was it, there's so much about each other that we don't know. 

Yeah that's it, I thought, or so I disguised it as. 

"Maybe she'll come to school tomorrow", I said just above a whisper so that only I could hear my revelation or sad attempt at cheering myself up about the situation. 

I made no hesitation in rushing for the exit of this school. I just wanted to get home and rest my head. I was in no state of mind to even think about food, even though I hadn't eaten for the entire day, because my lunch hour was focused on me trying to find Lauren and hiding my worry for her. She needed someone but she ran away from her that would gladly hold her in their arms until she felt better about everything. 

What are you saying Camila?