The Voice (Camren)

20. Studio time

Lauren let her fingers wander aimlessly over the white and black keys of the piano. Different tunes ran through her head, overlapping one over the other to a catchy beat. Seeds of songs for the singer's next album developed into her brain, effortlessly. Composing music felt as natural as breathing to Lauren, it was an ability she had born with. Melodies, chord progressions, rhythm and harmonies took form, sounding softly, as if they were a movie soundtrack, in the back of her mind. The front, however, was exclusively occupied by the image of a certain Latina, who was, by the way, late to rehearsal.

The Battles were to start on the next Tuesday, leaving the contestants a week to practice before moving on or not to the following round. Later that day, Lauren had to announce the couples she had put together for the singing duels, although she hadn't​ made up her mind about how to pair some of her team members, Camila being one of those. She went once again over the names of all the singers, but none of them seemed to be suitable to sing a duet with Camila. The guys seemed too rough to match Camila's voice sensibility, but, at the same time, the coach didn't want her to sing with another girl, that wouldn't work out either. It was as if Lauren couldn't find a partner for Camila.

Camila entered the studio in a hurry, knowing she was a bit late. She mumbled an apology as she left her things on a chair next to the door and then anxiously approached her coach. She and Lauren hadn't interacted since Camila had gotten​ out of the van and the girl wasn't sure of how the dynamic they had had the previous week during rehearsals would be affected by the series of most recent events. The only thing she was absolutely positive about was that kissing Lauren had been a mistake, a mistake that she could not afford to make again. Camila hadn't been quite able to unravel the whirlwind of ineffable feelings that had been revolving her stomach​ since she had visited Lauren's dressing room, but she knew that kissing her, no matter how good it might have seemed to be, was wrong.

"Good morning," Lauren's husky voice made Camila abandon her thoughts and return abruptly to reality.

"Hi," she offered, shyly, in return.

"I've chosen your song for the Battles already," Lauren informed her.

"Oh," Camila said, frankly surprised by the fact that Lauren was addressing her as if nothing had happened last weekend. In fact, Camila had prepared a small speech in which she tried to explain why they should forget about having ever kissed, thinking in advance that Lauren would want to talk about it and get it out of the way before rehearsing. But, the green-eyed girl had surprised her once again. Maybe Camila didn't know her as well as she thought she did. Maybe the kiss hadn't meant anything to her. Or maybe she, as a whole, didn't mean anything to Lauren. Could that be possible?

"Don't you wanna know the title?" Lauren asked patting the spot next to her on the piano bench, signaling Camila to have a seat.

"Yes. Tell me, please," Camila answered as she sat down, trying to keep a safe distance between the older girl and her, and failing miserable due to the limited dimensions of the bench.

"This song is what I like to call a modern classic", Lauren explained. "You're going to sing Born This Way by the one and only Lady Gaga," she finally revealed as a radiant smile appeared on her face.

"Ok," Camila agreed, apparently unaffected by the song choice.

"Don't ok me, Camila. You know you can be honest with me, do you like it?" Lauren pushed the younger Latina to voice her thoughts.

"I never really understood all that madness around Lady Gaga. I mean, she's a good singer, but I don't see what's special about her music," Camila elaborated.

"Well, I think you're going to discover it as soon as we start working on this song," Lauren joyfully replied.

"And who is going to be my rival?" Camila asked cautiously. She'd be lying if she didn't admit she was worried about being partnered up with Ariana.

"I can't tell you yet. Now, I've got to go see Normani for a second," Lauren said as she got up from the bench, causing Camila's thigh and hers to slightly brush in the process, making the younger girl feel a wave of uneasiness​ flow up and down her spine. "Why don't you practice a few scales until I come back?" Lauren suggested, right before leaving Camila alone in the studio.

The Latina did as ordered and started doing some exercises in order to warm up her vocal tract. Although those were an essential part of the singing routine, Camila hated them because of how repetitive and boring they were. However, she wouldn't be bored for long. A few minutes into the exercises, a buzzing sound detracted her attention from her practice and made her look at the lit up screen of Lauren's phone, which lay on top of the piano. Inevitably, Camila's eyes focused on the lock screen which displayed a picture of a scantily clad woman, and that was a delicate way to describe it, because in fact she was barely covered by a bedsheet. The woman, who was what could be considered standardly hot Camila noticed, stood in front of a full-length mirror, holding her mobile phone and the bedsheet with one hand while the other held a fine piece of lingerie, a black satin bra, specifically.
The phone buzzed once again and a text popped up under the pic.

Megan: I believe you forgot something, Lauren...

Camila stood there, eyes fixed on the phone screen for a while, until she was drawn out of her trance by the sound of the studio's door closing right behind her.

A/N: Love y'all :) I don't know if you'll love me after this, though.