Thinking of Your Skin: The Truth Behind Camren - Book Two

Chapter 32: Are We Done Here?

August 27th, 2017

9:00 P.M.

Lauren

We were going on in mere seconds. This moment was going to go down in the history books of Fifth Harmony's career. We were finally addressing the issue that people refused to shut up about and we were doing it in an artistic way. The four of us were extremely nervous, but also indescribably excited.

We needed this statement to go out to the world, especially to all of the dumbass interviewers who found it more interesting to talk about potential drama with Camila than our actual music. We were so done with it, especially after our encounter with radio personality Dan Wooten almost two weeks earlier.

My biggest issue with all of this bullshit was that it was all going public. Not only was the interview obviously aired, but he had also decided to come after us on Twitter, a public social media platform. We were sick and tired of this being all that people were seeing and talking about during the month of our album release.

So, we were going to use the VMA stage to shut people up and tell them that we wanted the focus on us and our future, that we were still Fifth Harmony, regardless of whatever Camila was doing. Little did we know how drastically our plan was going to backfire...

"Ladies!", one of our managers called out, "You're on!"

................................................................

Camila

"Camila?" my mother's voice echoed in my ear.

My eyes were still glued to the screen, although I wasn't really processing what I was seeing. I had seen everything I needed to within the first five seconds. I felt my mom's warm hand wrap itself around my shoulder.

"Hija?" she spoke up again.

I slowly turned to face her, hating that my vision was growing blurrier by the second.

"Mija, no llores (don't cry)." she said as she pulled me into her, placing her arm around me.

"I'm not." I said weakly, willing it to be true.

"Olvídate te ellas. Ellas van a tener esa oscuridad en sus corazones pero tú no. Tú sigues siendo como eres, untando amor y felicidad. Ignóralas (Forget about them. They will continue to have that darkness in their hearts but you won't. You just keep being you, spreading love and joy. Ignore them)."

I rested my head on my mom's chest, appreciating her kind words and soothing touch, but at the same time wishing she wasn't being so comforting. It only made me want to cry and feel more.

The truth was, seeing them throw that Fifth person off of the stage had stung a lot. It had brought back all of the feelings I had finally been getting over the past month, but, at the same time, I felt nothing.

Months ago, I would've been bawling my eyes out, but now? Now, I was finishing up touring with Bruno Mars, releasing new music, surrounding myself with people who I knew cared about me and wanted my happiness. Now, I was only tearing up, and that was a good sign.

I replayed my mom's words in my head. She was right. They were the ones carrying around the animosity with them, clearly. I didn't have to stoop to that level to perform or to gain recognition, and I took pride in that. I wasn't going to let them break my spirit like they had done before.