Bad News

Bad News - Chap. 9

Chapter 9

 

The next week went by without any big events. Lauren went to school in the morning, sat next to Camila’s empty table in most of her classes, had lunch with Normani and Dinah, had some more lonely classes, and went home after school to do her homework. She greeted her parents and sister, and went up to her room.

While she was doing her homework, her mind repeatedly went back to everything that had happened almost a week ago. She was still shocked at what happened. She couldn’t understand how Camila was able to fight three boys all at once. Each one being bigger and seemingly stronger than her.

She couldn’t get their short conversation out of her head, and those brown eyes kept looking at her in her dreams. Her soft and gentle but still strong and confident voice kept talking to her, telling her over and over again to leave. Shivers ran down her back when she thought about how close they had been sitting next to each other.

Then there was Tyler. The boy didn’t seem to leave her mind either. She kept thinking about the way he replaced her bandage, and how sweet and caring he was to her. She could tell that Tyler was a good guy, and meant everything he said about being sorry for Lauren being drawn into that fight.

Then there was another thing he said that Lauren couldn’t seem to stop thinking about. ‘’We both never wanted anyone to be a part of our messed up lives.’’ What did he mean with messed up lives? What was going on with them? These, and many more, were questions that Lauren couldn’t stop thinking about.

It wasn’t until the second week of Camila’s three week’s suspension that Lauren noticed a black car in the parking lot. It was parked close to Lauren’s car every day, but just far enough to not make it suspicious.

Lauren was the only one who noticed it, because Lauren was the only one who knew who the car belongs to: Camila.

She was curious to know why she was here, since she obviously wasn’t allowed in the school building until her suspension was over. The car was there every morning when Lauren arrived, and was there every afternoon when she left. The car would follow her a few blocks, and then change directions disappearing from Lauren’s sight.

Lauren started hanging around her locker longer after school, to see if the car would still be there if she were later than normal. She also tried to take different routes to her house after school to see if the car would follow her everywhere. Just like Lauren expected, the car was always there.

Strangely though, it didn’t scare her at all. She felt some kind of safety when the black car followed her home. She hoped that Camila actually did care about her enough to make sure she got home safe every day.

In the third week, on Friday, she walked out of the school building with Normani. She scanned the parking lot and spotted the black car just a few spots away from Lauren’s car. She smiled to herself while half listening to Normani going on and on about some boy that asked her out. She thinks his name is Arin, but she can’t tell for sure.

They walkk past the black car together and up to Lauren’s car. She knows she doesn’t have to try to look inside the car to see if Camila is sitting there, because of the tinted windows. When they walk past the black car, the door opens slowly.

Lauren doesn’t notice it until she opens the driver’s seat door from her car. Normani had already gotten in the passenger’s seat, when Lauren hears a voice behind her.

‘’Hey there gorgeous.’’ Lauren turns around, and a smile forms on her lips almost immediately at the sight of the brown haired boy in front of her.

‘’Hi.’’ She says shyly and looks down, not expecting to see the boy again.

‘’How are you doing?’’ Tyler asks her, smiling. ‘’How’s your neck?’’ he adds, reaching his hand up to lower Lauren’s scarf. Lauren quickly closes the door behind her, so Normani won’t be able to hear their conversation.

‘’Uhm, I-I’m fine.’’ She answers.

‘’Good.’’ He smiles, touching Lauren’s neck softly. ‘’You know, I’m actually not allowed to talk to you, but I couldn’t help myself when I spotted you.’’ He says, his charming smile never leaving his face.

‘’Why aren’t you allowed to talk to me?’’ Lauren manages to ask him without stuttering. Tyler furrowes his eyebrows and his smile disappeares for a few seconds as he thinks about a good response. Then his smile returns.

‘’Camila just wanted me to make sure that you got home safely. She didn’t want me to contact you, but.. yeah.’’ He says. Lauren can’t help but feel her stomach flutter at his words. Camila wants her to be safe, so she does care about her at least a little bit.

‘’So, Camila has followed me home every day just to make sure I was safe?’’ Lauren asks, a smile appearing on her face.

‘’No.’’ Tyler answers.

‘’Oh.’’ Lauren’s brow furrows and her smile disappears quickly. The fluttering in her stomach being replaced with slight hurt. ‘’Then who was it?’’ Lauren asks.

‘’Me. She made me check on you every day. I thought it was a bit overdone, because you’re not the one that they’re after. But Camila almost forced me to go, and you know what happens if Mila doesn’t get things her way.’’ He rattles, secretly endeared with how sad Lauren looked when he told her Camila wasn't the one following her.

Lauren nods, still feeling a little bit happy that Camila wants her to be safe. She didn't drive after her herself, but she did make Tyler follow her. It's the thought that counts.

‘’You know she’ll be back Monday right?’’ Tyler asks, changing the subject.

‘’Yeah I know. I’ve been-‘’ Lauren stops herself from saying she was counting down the days, because that would just be embarrassing. Tyler smiles at her understandingly, and Lauren thinks she can see the faint marks of a smirk on his lips.

‘’Well, she’ll probably be looking after you a bit more, just to make sure nobody is after you after the whole.. uhm, you know.’’ Tyler says, and Lauren can feel her smile grow. She won’t mind Camila looking after her at all, especially if that means being able to look at her and talk to her. She didn't think she'd have that chance ever again, so Tyler's words give her a new wave of hope.

‘’You know Lauren,’’ Tyler starts, ‘’I’m sure that you’ve got a lot of questions about everything that happened, and I’m also sure that Mila won’t provide you with answers.’’ Lauren nods, not really understanding where he was going with this, but unable to deny his statements.

‘’So I was thinking, if you want to, you can come over tomorrow and we’ll answer some of your questions. Or at least, the ones we can talk about.’’ Tyler suggests questioningly.