By the time Lauren made it back to Florida State, night had fallen over the city. She'd been gone for two days, but it felt like she'd never left. All of her responsibilities came swarming back as soon as she set foot on campus, it seemed. While she was spending that time with Camila, she chose not to worry about anyone else or her assignments or anything that would distract from being with her. It was all there waiting for her when she returned.
Before she could dive into her assignments and homework she'd missed, she had to answer to Normani. As soon as the darker girl was aware that she was back on campus, she hightailed it to her room for an interrogation. Lauren opened the door without a clue of what was coming.
"Hey, Mani," Lauren greeted her happily and pulled her into a hug.
"Hey," Normani hugged her back and stepped inside. "I'm surprised I actually caught you here this time."
"What do you mean?" Lauren asked and sat in her chair as Normani leaned against her bed.
"I came by a couple different times for different things and you were never here. Zara said she couldn't find you either. Where have you been?" Normani shared with her distractedly. She was looking around the room at nothing in particular and noticed her bag. "Wait, where are you coming from?"
"I had to go visit someone for something important," Lauren answered vaguely, knowing how she felt about Camila and their situation. "Just got back."
"Oh, well we got a new assignment sheet in history. I grabbed an extra one for you," Normani retrieved a folded piece of paper from her pocket. "I know you never make it to the 8 am class."
"Thanks," Lauren laughed and didn't discredit her statement. "Did I miss anything else?"
"No, not much..." Normani mumbled when she noticed the shirt she was wearing. Lauren didn't attend the University of South Florida and had no business wearing their school's clothing. She knew who did go there, though, and she was disappointed.
"Good. I don't have time for him tonight. I have enough shit to do already," Lauren giggled lightly and rested her arm on the desk. She noticed the shift in Normani's countenance and thought it strange. Something had obviously happened. "What?"
"Lo, what are you doing?" Normani sighed and crossed her arms.
"What?" Lauren looked at her directly.
"You went to see her," Normani announced and gestured to her USF shirt. Camila's USF shirt.
"Yeah? I did. I wasn't trying to hide it," Lauren shrugged it off.
"But what did we say? I thought you were doing better... Why did you go all the way down there to see her?" Normani tried to understand.
"I had to," Lauren answered her.
"Lauren..." Normani said in exasperation. "You don't need to start going in circles with this..."
"I had to," Lauren repeated calmly.
"She lied to you," Normani reminded her. "Don't you remember that? She hurt you, Lo. I don't care how much you like her, I really don't think she's good for you-"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Lauren shut her down without offering explanation. "Camila is-"
"'I don't know' about how I had to camp out here almost every night because you couldn't stop crying over her and what she did to you?" Normani interrupted as sensitively as she could, because she had some choice words to use in regards to Lauren's lapse in judgement. "I've never seen you cry over anyone but her. I don't want to see it again."
