take a picture of all my flaws

4

Camila

She hasn't texted.

She's been obsessively checking her phone, waiting for Lauren to text, but she hasn't. She doesn't get why she'd ask for her number if she wasn't going to use it, and she can't stop thinking that maybe she'd done something wrong.

While she was in her last class the other day, she'd gotten an Instagram notification, informing her she had a new follower. Usually, she doesn't think anything of it, and at first, she thought it was a Lauren fan account because of the icon, and she would've had to soft-block it, because she's cleared any evidence of Lauren from any of her personal accounts.

But she'd tapped on the account, ssweetdispositionn, just out of curiosity, and requested to follow back. When her request was accepted, it finally clicked in her head that it was Lauren, just a private account, because it's full of pictures she's never seen, selfies that had never been posted anywhere else.

So she really isn't going to tell me about the show, Camila had deduced from the account, otherwise she'd have just followed me on her real account, laurenjauregui.

But, other than Lauren liking a couple of her pictures, she hadn't interacted with her at all. Camila is obviously disappointed, because she adores Lauren, and if she has a chance to be friends, then she's going to take it.

(Maybe even a chance to be more, but she hadn't told anyone else that Lauren was bisexual. Not even Dinah. It wouldn't feel right spreading that kind of thing around, because she knows that Lauren isn't out.)

"Has she texted you yet?" Dinah asks her, walking into the lounge and catching Camila on her phone again. "Or are you just staring at your home screen picture which happens to be of her?"

Camila rolls her eyes. "Um, I changed it! I don't want her to think I'm a stalker."

Dinah snorts with laughter. "Even though you are."

"I'm a fan, actually." Camila corrects her. "There's a very thin line, and I like to think I don't cross it. She approached me, remember."

Almost as if on cue, Camila's phone buzzes, and she pulls her phone from her pocket and reads the words on the screen. Dinah watches her in amusement. "She texted?"

Unknown (8:08PM): Hi, it's Lauren. I was wondering if you wanted to walk to class with me on Wednesday. There's a coffee shop on my way, I could grab us a couple of drinks. :)

"She texted," Camila announces, holding her phone out to Dinah and showing her the message. "What do I say?"

Dinah shrugs. "I think you should say yes, obviously."

"Okay, okay, is this good?" Camila asks, reading out the message as she types it. "Hey Lauren, I'm down for that, but I'll get the drinks since you got them after class last week."

"That's fine, but add something to keep her talking," Dinah says, "anyway, I'm going out. Want to come?"

"No, that's okay," Camila says, half because she's already in her pyjamas, and half because she wants to stay here and text Lauren. "Have fun."

"Later, Mila," Dinah calls out as she heads out of the room, and Camila quickly edits her message and sends it before she can stress.

Camila 🍕 (8:11PM): hey lauren i'm down for that but i'll get the drinks since you got them last week

Camila 🍕 (8:11PM): so how's your parents' basement treating you?

She hopes it's not too weird; it felt like a little in-joke between them. She waits for a text back, and she's not disappointed; her phone buzzes almost as soon as her message was sent.