The Girl Next Door ➸ camren

fourteen

Lauren dips her spoon into the carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream resting on her bed in between her and Camila. She's got her spoon in one hand and her phone in the other, refreshing her email every couple seconds to see if the one from NYU admissions has come in yet. The first round of decisions are coming out today, and it has been her dream school ever since she was a little girl. She needs to get in.

"Anything yet?" Camila asks.

She shakes her head and refreshes again with no news still.

She wraps her arms around Lauren and pulls her into her chest. "You'll get in."

She sighs. "I hope so. Lucy and Dinah already heard and their last names are later in the alphabet than mine, so if they're going in alphabetical order, I should've heard by now."

"Just relax, Lo. It'll be here any minute now," she soothes.

"What about you?" she asks. "What are you doing for college."

"I'm not," she says. "I want to keep doing what I'm doing here. I'm going to keep working with my horses and teaching kids to ride, and I'm gonna keep working in the fields. I don't need no degree for that."

"I don't know what I want to do. I'm not really good at one specific thing to the point that I want to do it for the rest of my life," Lauren says.

"You can do whatever you want to do. You'll be great," Camila tells her and kisses her softly on her cheek.

Lauren smiles and nestles into the soft fabric of Camila's hoodie. With her phone still in her hand, she refreshes her email one more time, and a new message appears. It's the message she's been waiting for.

Lauren straightens up and tucks her hair behind her ears. She takes a deep breath and clicks on the email. Her eyes scan over the message, and then she looks at Camila.

"I got in!" she squeals. Lauren throws her arms and moves herself onto Camila's lap, kissing her.

"I knew you would," she murmurs, kissing her again.

She smiles against Camila's kisses. "I love you."

"I love you too, Lo."

Lauren cups Camila's face in her hands and plants a long kiss on her lips. "I need to go tell my mom, but I'll come back."

"I'll be here."

Lauren practically leaps off her bed and towards her bedroom door. Camila can hear her screaming "Mom" throughout the house. There's a pause and then the tell tale sounds of celebration. ⠀⠀⠀

Lauren comes running back into her room and jumps on top of her, pressing their lips together once again.