when we were us | camren

i

Grade 6

You're eleven when your parents move you to Miami from San Antonio. You think it's the worst possible thing they could've done. It's just as hot as Texas, it feels just as crowded, and now you don't even have any friends with you.

There are tears before you leave on the first day of school because you and your friend Celine were supposed to wear your matching green shirts together. Instead she's back home and you're alone in a new city. You wear the shirt anyways and hope that maybe Celine wore hers too.

Things don't seem so bad when get to homeroom and the girl next to you is wearing a green shirt like yours. Her hair falls in long waves past her shoulders, thick brows furrowed over eyes with forests trapped inside them. It doesn't occur to you that you're speaking until your mind registers that it's your voice you just heard.

"I like your shirt."

The girl smiles wide at you and you physically stop yourself from saying how you think her little bunny teeth are cute. Because they are.

You also completely ignore how her smile makes your stomach flutter. It's your first day somewhere new. You insist you're just nervous.

"Thanks! I like your chanclas," she responds sweetly and you return the gratitude, glancing at your plain sandals. It crosses your mind that maybe she's just being nice and the thought fights with the hope that she really does like them.

The class is put through icebreakers and you discover the girl next to you is Lauren. You like Lauren's shirt and she likes your chanclas. Later that day she asks you to sit with her at lunch and that's how Lauren Jauregui becomes your first friend in Miami.

You think maybe Miami won't be so bad.

//

Lauren invites you to the first sleepover your parents finally say yes to. They tell you it's because Lauren is in the neighborhood but you think it's really the guilt from having brought you all the way out to Miami.

When your mom drops you off, there's already two other girls with Lauren at her house, both of which are almost (definitely) intimidatingly pretty. You wonder if Lauren really meant to invite you of all people to this sleepover. There's suddenly a strong sense of feeling out of place and it doesn't help when you realise they're super nice too.

Girls that are nice and pretty?

You think that's entirely unfair.

(You learn later that it's normal and girls are just really great all around.)

They treat you like you've always hung out with them and it's comforting to be so effortlessly welcomed. Briefly, you wonder why you never managed to find friends like this in Texas.

Vero is easily the clown of the group and you appreciate her making jokes with you, not about you. She doesn't laugh at your jokes like Lauren does though. You think maybe Vero's sense of humor is just different.

Normani is probably the smartest girl in school. She just knows so much about everything. Even you. 

Like how you're from San Antonio and that you're kind of shy at first, before you get comfortable enough to never shut up. She knows that you're obsessed with bananas because you've eaten three since arriving. She also knows you speak Spanish, asking if you'd tutor her.

It's not too long into the night that Normani informs you she knows so much because "you're all Lauren ever talks about. She's like your biggest fan or something."

You laugh along at all the ways Normani pokes fun at Lauren, telling yourself the redness in your cheeks is from how hard you're giggling.

When it comes time to actually sleep, there are blankets and pillows all over Lauren's living room and the other girls are already getting situated. Lauren wraps herself in a large blue comforter, stretching herself along the couch. There's a small stuffed animal head sticking out next to hers and you cock your head to the side.