Say You Won't Let Go

Quiet Night

"I think my favorite noise is the sound of that last bell ringing." Normani shares as we leave math class.

"Yeah?" I hum, looking over at the girl beside me.

"Hell yeah." Normani laughs. I roll my eyes and look down at my hand. I see the glittery ink from earlier.

I quickly pull out my phone and send the number Lucy put into my phone a text.

My phone: Hey! Turns out glittery pen works!

Shoving my phone away, Normani stops suddenly. "Dinah's going to sit with me today. She said something about Lauren not being up for it."

I frown. "Oh, okay. Uh, when did she tell you this?"

"Before school." Normani answers, shrugging. "If you see Lauren, tell her that I hope she feels better."

"Will do." I promise. Normani pulls me into a tight hug before skipping to dance practice down the hall.

As I'm exiting the school, I feel my phone buzz. Pulling it out, I read the message.

Right now: LUcy: I'm guessing this is Camila? Mostly because I don't use my glittery pen for just anyone.

Typing back, I feel someone bump into my side.

"Camz," Lauren's voice fills my ears. I whip my head toward her and send my response blindly back to Lucy.

"Hi, Lauren." I smile, stuffing my phone back into my pocket.

"I'm heading to paradise tonight to sleep. Do you want to hang out there until dark?" Lauren asks.

I frown. "No way," Lauren's features drop before I get to finish. "You're not sleeping outside tonight."

"But there's no where for me—"

"Come to my house." I cut her off, taking her hand in mine.

She sighs but holds my hand tightly. "I don't know if your dad would like that."

"Please," I scoff, smiling at her. "He loves you. I'm sure he won't care."

Lauren takes a deep breath. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude—"

"Lo," I squeeze her hand and look into her hopeful eyes. "I'll call him right now and put him on speaker. I'll ask if you can stay the night. Yeah?"

"Mhmm." Lauren nods. I shoot her another tender gaze before pulling out my phone. I find my father's contact and call him while putting it on speaker and holding the phone out in front of me.

The phone rings but on the second ring, my dad's voice picks up. "Hello, mija."

"Hi, Dad." I can hear my smile in my voice.

"Is everything okay?" His line crackles a bit but I can still hear him.

"Yeah, don't worry. I was just wondering if Lauren could stay the night." I bite my bottom lip worriedly. What if this whole thing backfires and he says that she can't? Then what would I do?

For a second, I'm afraid he lost connection or something but his voice quickly streams through the speaker.

"Yeah, of course. Just don't stay up too late, there's school tomorrow."

Relief floods over Lauren's face and a small breaks out on her lips.

Leaning over slightly, I whisper in her ear. "I told you it would be okay."

She nods gently. "Okay, thank you, Dad." I tell him. "See you when we get home"

"Okay, dear. See you soon." He hangs up after he's finished.