Blame It On Bad Luck (Camren)

Chapter 27

Lauren didn't know how she survived the end of the semester.

She didn't know how she made it through all the brutal make up work she had to do, the extra credit assignments she put herself through just to barely pass a class, the final exams and the papers and the never ending stress they all brought with them.

She also didn't know how she managed to do all of it while battling her addiction for a second time in the span of only two months. She didn't know how she was even still alive after everything that happened during the semester but she was. She was alive and she got to see her daughter once in a while and things seemed great with her and Camila.

It would have been better—Lauren thought—if after all of that she didn't end up failing one of her classes again anyway.

She had stared at the screen with a blank expression, reading the letters beside each class over and over hoping that the harder she stared, the longer she stared, maybe it would somehow magically change.

Camila had asked about her grades only twice, once when she received all of hers—naturally getting all A's, Lauren was proud of her anyway—and another on the morning of Christmas Eve when she finally got hers and told her that she didn't.

There was no point, really, in lying to Camila about failing. She was more surprised that she managed to not throw her laptop across the heavily decorated apartment at the time or snap at the brunette's questioning when her answers were short and monotonous.

She remembered squeezing her eyes shut tight, rubbing her temple as she felt a headache coming on after glaring at the screen all morning just to have that F still there, glaring back at her, mocking.

She didn't know how to broach the subject with her girlfriend. She wasn't even used to saying that word—girlfriend. Their relationship, though unconventional at first, was still brand new. Everything was brand new to her. And she didn't want to disappoint her or let her down.

She tried to ignore the nagging familiar feeling of failure still looming overhead, swirling in the pit of her stomach and deep within her chest, making it harder to breathe. She tried to ignore it when she would see Camila's happy, smiling face blissfully unaware of how hard she was trying to hold herself together.

She swallowed the feeling, the bitter taste it left in her mouth, and pushed it to the back of her mind along with everything else. Opening the door to her apartment she was met right away with the sound of Camila's laughter. It kind of made it a little easier to put on a happy face.

The brunette didn't notice her as she walked in, still talking animatedly engrossed in conversation with her best friend on the couch. It wasn't until she closed the door and set her stuff down on the table that she finally caught her attention.

"Oh look, the most annoying person in the world is here," Lauren said, casting a glance over towards the living room. "And Dinah."

"Hey!" Camila yelled indignantly before grabbing one of the throw pillows from the couch and chucking it across the apartment. Lauren ducked out of the way, laughing at her girlfriend's grumpy face.

"Nice try."

"You're an ass." She folded her arms, slumping back against the arm of the couch with her knees tucked into her chest as she glared at Dinah's amused face. "Stop encouraging her."

"Rude. I didn't even say anything."

"Yeah, Camz, gosh. Leave her alone," she called out from the kitchen, opening the fridge to find something to drink. She settled on a bottle of water and chanced a look in her direction, only to find her still glaring at her. "What?"