take a picture of all my flaws

5

Camila

"Nice timekeeping."

Camila sends the older girl a proud grin, holding out the latte for her as she sips on her own hot chocolate. "Good morning to you too."

"Thank you for the latte," Lauren smiles, taking a sip, perfectly bushy eyebrows raising in surprise. "Caramel latte. Should I be worried that I have a stalker? Because that's my usual coffee order."

Camila had known that from an interview; it's one of her favourite interviews Lauren has ever done, because it was after all the insistent 'I'm straight and my boyfriend and I' interviews that would always break her heart just a little. Plus, it was a BuzzFeed puppy interview, and seeing Lauren playing with puppies is the cutest thing in the world. The older girl kept getting distracted by the puppies, and it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen.

"That's what you got last time, I vaguely remembered glancing it on the receipt," Camila shrugs nonchalantly, "once I ordered it I was a little anxious that it was actually a vanilla latte that you'd had, or maybe you'd just been trying something new, but..."

"Not to worry, I always get the same thing," Lauren laughs, "although this tastes like a single shot of caramel and I usually get a double."

Camila had known that too, but she felt like it would've been a little too accurate for it to be brushed off as her just remembering what was on their receipt. "I'll keep that in mind for next time. Come on, we should head to the lecture hall, I like to get sat at the back and usually the back row fills up fast."

Lauren frowns. "Why specifically the back?"

"So the professor can't walk behind me and see that I'm actually browsing Twitter and not writing my lecture notes," Camila quips, and Lauren snickers in amusement. "I don't get how you managed to pull yourself away from the obvious entertainments of your parents' basement when watching the online lectures. If the risk of the professor yelling at me isn't there, I don't think I'd pay any attention."

Lauren snorts. "Oh, the basement was where I was locked until all my work was complete. Obviously."

Camila smiles, studying the face of the woman she's idolised since she was seventeen, still a little shocked that she's even talking to her. "Anyway, have you done the seminar prep?"

Lauren hums. "Admittedly not all of it, but I intend to finish it in my break after class, which I'm pretty sure is more than you've done."

Camila is surprised by the sass, but she has to agree that she doesn't even have the intent to do it. "You're not wrong. But you totally don't have to let me copy yours again."

"I will if you need to," Lauren sends her a soft smile, "anyway, do you have any other classes today? You know, except for the seminar."

"Yeah, I have this other music one right after our lecture, but I've got an hour and a half for lunch before our other class later," Camila says, wondering why she's asking, "Today isn't actually a bad day."

Lauren looks like she's debating something in her head, but before Camila can ask what's up, she blurts out, "do you want to meet for lunch? I mean, no pressure if you already have plans, but..."

The way she asks it is so foreign to Camila; she's used to seeing Lauren on the show, where she's so cocky and confident that it's weird to see her anxious. Vanessa would walk up, tell her that they were going out, and that would be that.

Except she's not her character, Camila reminds herself, before she nods quickly. "Yeah, that'd be cool."

"Nice," Lauren smiles, taking another sip of her drink before she pulls open the door to their building, holding it for Camila. "I'll meet you here at one?"