chapter three

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"You're hanging out with her again?"

Camila shoulders her backpack, turning around to meet Normani's gaze, and she has to admit, her friend looks a little judgemental. "Yeah. Why?"

"Be careful, okay?" Normani tells her, pausing to take a sip of her coffee. "From what you've told me, this girl really fucked you up before, and I don't want you getting hurt."

Camila smiles, and pulls her backpack onto her shoulders, before wrapping her arms around Normani as she eats her dinner. "Aw, thanks, Mani. Relieved you actually care about me."

"Alright, alright, get off me," Normani rolls her eyes as Camila finally releases her and heads over to the door. "Have fun."

"I will," Camila smiles, "see you tomorrow!"

She gets an Uber to Lauren's apartment, but she probably could've walked there, and makes a mental note to walk home tomorrow; then again, maybe it was further than it seemed. When she gets to the building, she rings the bell to Lauren's apartment, and the door clicks open to let her in. Double checking the apartment number from the text Lauren had sent her earlier, she gets the elevator to the third floor and finds the door, knocking loudly.

It swings open, and Lauren sends her the brightest smile. "Hey, Camz."

"I'm still sort of... socially awkward," Camila ignores the greeting as Lauren steps aside to let her in. "I'm sorry if your roommates think I'm some kind of psycho. Oh, and hi."

"Don't worry, I've explained who you are," Lauren laughs, "I mean, Lucy already knew about you, from what I told her at school, but Alexa and Keana didn't."

Camila, a little surprised that Lauren had mentioned her before, blushes, and lets her backpack slip off her shoulder. "Where should I put this?"

"My bedroom," Lauren says, and takes the bag off her, arm dropping a little from its weight. "Jesus, what do you have in here? Bricks?"

Camila laughs. "No, my overnight stuff, and I've got my vlogging camera and laptop in there. I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with me waving a camera around in your home, so it's totally cool if you don't want me to."

Lauren frowns. "Did you forget to film your video or something? You told me it goes up on Fridays."

"Yeah, it does, I've already filmed and uploaded that, at six," Camila explains, following Lauren across the lounge area, her gaze flicking to a girl sat watching TV. Lauren doesn't make a move to introduce her, leading her through the kitchen and down a little concealed hallway with one two doors. "This camera is just for vlogs. I film what I'm doing Monday through Friday, and edit as I go along, then post on a Monday."

"Oh, well, you can film this, I don't mind," Lauren assures her, pointing to the door on their right, "this is the bathroom that all my stuff is in, so you can use that one, and this," Lauren continues, pushing open the door straight ahead of them to reveal a little bedroom. "This is my humble abode. It's the smallest room in the apartment, but I have my own bathroom and I'm close to the kitchen for midnight snacks, so I think I win."

Lauren drops Camila's bag on a perfectly made double bed, and before Camila thinks about how much of an awkward question it is, she asks, "Am I sleeping with you? Wait, no, I didn't mean it in like, the sexy way, I mean-"

Lauren's snort at the initial question turns into a full-blown laughing fit as Camila continues. She sends her a grin and flops down onto the bed in question, smoothing out a little wrinkled part in the black sheets. "I knew what you meant, loser. And yes, unless you're not comfortable with that. I can take the couch if you don't want to share a bed with me."

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