Caught (Camren)

•11•

I walked briskly down the hallway towards Ms. Lloyd's class, my worn Converse squeaking on the tile below. The final day of school had arrived, and I was more than eager to get the day over with and head off on my way for the summer. I pushed open the door and found Lauren in her usual seat, her attention shooting up to me from her notebook. She smiled and I found my seat, retrieving my folder and laying it neatly on my desk. I heard delicate footsteps behind me and turned around, smiling up Lauren as she approached my desk.

"Morning," she grinned. "Do you have the paper?"

"Yes, I do," I answered proudly, tapping the folder that contained our essay. "I told you I wouldn't let you down."

She squeezed my shoulder and made her way around to the front of my desk, taking a seat and staring at the clock impatiently.

"Anxious for the end of your senior year?" I asked.

"You have no idea," she huffed. "I just want the day to be over so I can go to graduation and finally be done."

"Meanwhile I'll be preparing for yet another year."

"Yeah, right," she laughed. "Like I actually believe you're going to prepare for school an entire year early."

"Who knows? Maybe your graduation ceremony will inspire me to do better next year," I teased.

She crossed her arms over her chest and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, not bothering to hide the smile that formed on her lips.

"You're coming to my graduation?" she questioned.

"Well...yeah, I mean...Andrew's graduating too," I stuttered. "I'd already planned to go."

"Oh," she nodded, a trace of disappointment in her tone.

The bell rang overhead and she pushed herself off of my desk, nudging my arm as she walked past and took her seat. Ms. Lloyd entered the room and shut the door, wasting no time in getting the final day started. After attendance was called and the classic "have a fun and safe summer" speech was made, she announced that she would be collecting our essays. I pulled ours out of my folder and sat it on top of my desk, waiting for her to come by and pick it up, only she didn't budge from the front of the room.

"I think we're going to try something new this year," she decided. "Would anyone be opposed to reading their essay out loud?"

"I would," I answered quickly, my hand shooting into the air.

"And why's that, Camila?"

"I just...don't want to read it out loud," I said quietly.

"Well, if you can't come up with a valid reason, then we might as well," she shrugged. "In fact, why don't you go first. I'd love to hear what you two came up with."

I turned around and glanced at Lauren uncertainly but she didn't meet my gaze, only stared straight ahead at the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. I didn't have a problem with reading out loud; I had a problem reading the content out loud. It was a spur of the moment writing, completed the night before it was due with only my heart as my inspiration. If I read it out loud, I risked ultimate humiliation, but not from the class- from Lauren. I'd offered to write it as a way to pour my heart out without having to open my mouth, thinking that it would be read by Ms. Lloyd and forgotten, but once again, nothing was going my way. I should have known better. I pushed myself out of my desk with my heart in my throat and made my way to the front of the classroom. I tried desperately hard to keep my eyes off of Lauren. All I had to do was read and I could return to my desk in silence. I could get through it. Maybe she wouldn't even suspect anything. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, gripping the paper and planting my feet firmly on the ground.