Bad News

Bad News - Chap. 16

Chapter 16

Lauren follows Camila closely through the mostly empty hallways. Camila leads them out of the backdoor of their school and walks towards a small lawn and sits down under a big tree at the far end of it. It's quiet out here, it is perfect.

Maybe now, they can talk about things. Lauren has had several questions in her head since this morning. 

Why did Camila talk to her, after sending her away on Saturday? What made her change her mind? What does she want now? 

Lauren hopes that those questions could be answered before lunch break is over.

Camila pats the spot next to her on the grass, and Lauren sits down with a small smile. They are sitting close to each other, but not close enough for their bodies to touch. They're silent. Camila looks down, her fingers fidgeting with her bracelet, while Lauren watches her do it.

''Are you okay?'' Lauren asks after several minutes of silence, acting on the overwhelming urge to talk to her. Camila lets go of her bracelet and looks up at Lauren. 

She nods slightly and their eyes meet. Lauren feels that same feeling of safety wash over her again, that she felt multiple times before whenever Camila looked at her. Camila keeps her gaze firmly on Lauren, looking into her eyes to try and find an answer for her own questions.

''So, what changed?'' Lauren asks hesitantly after a while. Camila looks at her with confused eyes, knitting her eyebrows together slightly. 

''What do you mean?'' she asks quietly when Lauren doesn't answer her silent question. A light shudder runs down Lauren's spine at hearing her voice again. It's truly ridiculous how her body reacts to Camila's presence. 

''I mean, like.. what changed since Saturday? You know, with you getting angry... and telling me to leave..'' Camila looks down as Lauren continues. ''What changed your mind that you want to talk to me now?''

''Tyler.'' Camila answers simply with a small smile on her lips. 

''Tyler?'' Lauren asks, her being the one that's confused now. Camila nods.

''Yeah, Tyler. When I cooled down at the park after you left, I went home. Tyler was worried about you and asked me what happened. After that, he got mad at me and told me to move on.'' Camila explains. Lauren dropped her head down. 

Tyler wants Camila to move on from her?

She plays with some grass next to her legs and keeps looking down. She feels embarrassed for thinking that Camila actually wanted to get to know her. She is probably just going to tell Lauren that they can't talk anymore or that she should stay away from Camila from now on.

She feels Camila's gaze burning into the side of her head, but she can't bring herself to look up, too embarrassed to face her. Then she feels two fingers between her left cheek and her chin, gently pushing Lauren's head up and turning her to the right to face Camila.

Lauren looks up uncertainly and meets Camila's gaze again. ''Lauren, I wasn't mad at you.'' Camila says softly, letting go of her chin. Lauren swallows at the butterflies in her stomach only because she said her name.

''You weren't?'' Lauren asks, even more confused than she was before. Camila shakes her head.

''No. I was mad at myself for letting you in that easily. I didn't plan on doing that but.. I don't know. It was just easy to talk to you, I guess.'' Camila says. Lauren nods, trying to process what Camila just said.

Camila sighs. ''I was angry with myself, because everybody that comes into my life gets hurt somehow, and I didn't want that to happen to you. Then I just, started talking and that pissed me off. I promised myself years ago to not let anybody in again, but I broke my own promise just after a few minutes of sitting there with you.''