Afternoon Run (Camren)

thirteen; ❝don't make noise❞

"I can't seem to get you off my mind," I tell Lauren as she stares at her bedroom window, slowly shutting the window blinds.

It had been a few days since the incident with Michael. After almost going crazy with how much I was thinking about my father, I had decided to spend even more time with Lauren, partly as a distraction.

"Well, I can't either," she tells me.

I get up from her bed, checking on my phone that's on her desk and I notice that I have a few missed calls from my father.

Who cares about him.

I shut my phone off and then, I'm pushed against the wall.

"Lauren," I say breathlessly as she pulls me into a kiss.

The moment is indescribable, as she somehow always ignites this powerful fire in me. My worries immediately disappear and instead, I focus on her and our kiss.

"Lauren!" Someone yells into the room, knocking loudly on the door.

Our moment is interrupted, and so we pull away from each other wordlessly.

I recognize the voice as a feminine one and I wonder who it is.

"In a minute!" Jesenia yells and she tells me, "Sorry, that was cut short."

"It's fine," I assure her, though I obviously wish that we hadn't been interrupted.

Once we're both fixed up, she slowly opens up the door.

"Ally!" She exclaims, instantly wrapping the girl at the door into a hug.

"Hey, L. I got back early from my trip with the authors and I was in the guest room next to yours. I didn't know if you were home but once I heard all the noise from your room, I knew you were."

Lauren's sister, Ally, is much shorter than her by a few inches. The same sweet smile is a characteristic among all of the family members, which is something I've just noticed now that I've seen her sister.

I fall into a deep blush beside Lauren and she laughs, saying, "stooop, she's getting embarrassed."

"Well, the walls are very thin so you could have been a bit quieter."

"Shut up!" Lauren tells her and she turns to me, "This is Camila. Camila, Ally and Ally, Camila."

"Nice to meet you," she says, giving me a small hug.

I look at both of them, still taking in the small features of resemblance and the small differences.

Ally rolls her eyes, saying, "Anyways, past all of that, I want to catch up with you and get to know Camila."

"Really? Don't you have to leave already? I know the job awaits and so does Liam."

She clears her throat, "I told you, the meeting with the authors finished earlier than expected. Also, Liam and I broke up."

"Wow," Lauren says. "I'm sorry that you and Liam broke up."

"He said that I put my job too much ahead of him."

"What the hell? You nearly lost your job once because of him and he says you put your job ahead of him?!"

Lauren had mentioned her sister's history to me already, specifically her troubling dating history, so I wasn't surprised to hear that about Liam. I don't say anything though, because this is between them.

"Don't make it a big deal. We're done now so instead of making a big deal of it, be quiet so that I can get over it."

"Fine — sorry."

I notice the new, awkward tension between them and I decide to speak up with, "we should get going now."

"Yeah, you're right. Where do you guys want to go?"

"No idea," Lauren responds. "Let's just get in the car and find somewhere that seems decent to go to."

************

We're sitting at the mall's food court with our food in front of us when I hear Ally's phone go off. I curiously glance at Ally's phone that's buzzed with a message and I read it.

Hubby Liam 😍| 6:37 pm
Babe, where are u??? Don't leave ur husband waiting!!!

I may not know Ally very well but I know that she said she had broken up with a guy named Liam, not married him!

"Camz," Lauren calls. "Something wrong?"

She brings back my attention and I quickly respond, "no, I'm fine. I just spaced out for a minute."

Ally looks at me, frowning as she sees that my eyes still lie on her phone. She snatches her phone from the table and looks at the screen, reading her message from Liam.

"Don't say anything," she harshly whispers to me.

I hesitantly nod my head, thinking about what I actually should do.

Yes, I made Ally into Lauren's sister. Thanks for reading!