Talk Me Down (Camren)

Chapter Twenty-Four

       

"Hey, Camila?"

Camila is raking through her locker for the textbook she knows is in there somewhere when she hears the voice. She glances around, and sees Ariana, flashing her a small smile before she starts digging through her locker again.

"Wow," Ariana looks over her shoulder at the mess that is Camila's locker. Lauren's always telling her to organise it but Camila had been putting that off since she'd started at their school. "A tornado happen in there or something?"

Camila laughs. "Nope. Just me being unorganised as usual. Did you need something, or...?"

"Oh, yeah, my history teacher says I still have a lot to catch up on, and apparently you're his best student," Ariana says. Camila is a little shocked by that – she didn't think she was that good at history. "Do you think you could help me?"

"What, be like, study buddies?" Camila asks, and Ariana nods. She's a little confused, but she shrugs it off, because she knows what it's like to be new, and while Ariana's been there since January, it took a while for Camila to settle in. "I mean... sure, yeah. What do you need to cover?"

"Basically all of last semester." Ariana replies. "Everything I've missed. We did a test today on the whole course so far, and I barely scraped a forty."

"Alright, well..." Camila gestures to her messy locker. "I'll include my notes in the great archaeological dig that's happening here."

When Ariana actually laughs at Camila's terrible attempt at a joke, she's a little surprised. "Can you meet me in the library after school? Even if you don't find your notes, we can go over the stuff in the textbook."

"Yeah..." Camila trails off, "if I manage to find that, too. But- uh, I can't do tonight. I told Lauren I'd go to hers. We're going to get started on Lost since neither of us have ever seen it."

"Oh," Ariana's face falls, "I guess I'll have to ask someone else. I'm redoing the test tomorrow, so... it was kind of an urgent thing."

"Well, I mean, if it's urgent, I can always talk to Lauren and see if we can push it back to tomorrow night," Camila supplies, because as much as she likes to deny it, education is more important that television. "I mean, she won't mind, I don't think-"

She's cut off by a familiar, raspy voice. "Hey, Camz, did you find your-"

Camila cuts Lauren off by pulling her in for a kiss. "Textbook? No. Do you want to try?"

Lauren takes one look at Camila's locker and snorts. "How do you not literally get attacked by loose papers every time you open your locker?"

"I guess it's a talent," Camila laughs, "um, anyway, I have to ask you something. Can we do our Lost marathon tomorrow night? Ariana needs my help with history after school."

"That's fine, babe," Lauren squeezes her hand, "I'll go to art or something and tell the girls to get a ride home somewhere else and wait for you."

"You don't have to do that," Ariana says, "I can give her a ride home when we're done."

Lauren looks the other girl over for a moment, and Camila swears that her girlfriend's grip on her hand gets a little tighter. "It's fine. I'll wait."

"No, really, you shouldn't have to," Ariana continues, "I mean, the other girls rely on you for a ride home, don't they? Camila can get a lift home with me. It's no problem, we only live a few blocks away from each other."

"She's right," Camila agrees with Ariana, squeezing Lauren's hand. "Don't worry about taking me home. Go with the girls."

After a few moments, Lauren relents. "Okay. But... text me when you get home, please? I want to know you got home safe."