ISOLATION

Day 14

We all dragged our suitcases along the winding dirt path, just like we had a mere fourteen days beforehand. I couldn't help but reminisce on the past two weeks, thinking about how different my life would've turned out if my mum had let me stay home from camp. I would've never known why Lauren bullied me all these years, I would've never had my first real kiss, my first time being intimate with someone, my first everything.

Two weeks, fourteen days, 336 hours, 20160 minutes, 1209600 seconds. That's all it took for me to fall head over heels with my enemy, and that scared the shit out of me. I didn't doubt that she cared about me, because I knew that she did, but would her kind demeanour last when we were back at school?

I made my way up to the bus with Dakota and Bella, both of us hauling our heavy suitcases into the storage cabin underneath the bus. I pushed it further back so other people could put their suitcases in, and when I stood up and turned around I came face to face with Lauren.

"Oh, hey!" I smiled nervously at her, wondering how she would treat me when we were surrounded by our classmates.

"Hey," she said softly, her hand finding mine and giving it a firm squeeze before letting it go.

We stood in a nervous silence, both of us most likely thinking the same thing but unsure of whether or not to say it. I wanted to ask her if this was the end of it, of us.

"Sit with me," she suddenly said, pulling me from my (hopefully) irrational thoughts.

"Your friends though...won't they talk?" I asked nervously.

"They're not my friends, Scar. Let them talk. I don't care, I want to sit with my girl," she told me.

Those two words were enough to make my heart stop and go into overdrive at the same time. 'My girl'. I had never been someone's girl before, and the thought of being Lauren's was so incredibly appealing to me.

"Y...your girl?" I stammered excitedly.

Lauren instantly turned bright red, her eyes nervously finding their way to the ground as she shuffled her feet awkwardly.

"I mean...I'd like you to be. But only if you want to be," she said anxiously, and I couldn't help but smile at her nervousness.

In the past two weeks I had seen a whole new side of Lauren that I had never seen before. Before camp, I had only ever seen a hard exterior that she showed off in front of everyone, but I had managed to break down her walls and see her for who she truly was.

"I'd like that," I smiled widely at her, and she looked up at me with a huge smile on her face.

"Really?" she asked excitedly, and I nodded.

I took a step closer to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, gently resting my head against her shoulder. I felt her exhale deeply, her arms wrapping around my shoulders as her chin rested on my head. It was crazy that someone who used to terrify me now made me feel so safe.

We pulled apart and she pressed a firm kiss to my forehead, then moving forward to place her suitcase in the storage cabin. I watched as she did so, the muscles in her back peaking through as she hauled her suitcase effortlessly onto the bus. I didn't feel guilty about admiring her beauty anymore, she was my girlfriend. I was allowed to.

"Let's grab a seat," she said, taking my hand and pulling me towards the bus.

We climbed on board the bus, both saying hello to the driver before making our way down the aisle. I could see her eyes flicker towards the back seat of the bus, her usual spot, before pulling me into a seat on the side of the aisle.