If I Were A Boy (camren)

Chapter Twenty

"She kissed you? Again?" Normani questioned me as she tangled her legs together like a pretzel at the end of my hospital bed. "And then just left?"

"You have no idea how confused I was, Mani," I sighed. "One second she's going at me and telling me that she will never like me back, and the next she is just kissing me!"

"Did you tell her to stop?"

"I-I couldn't," I mumbled, making Normani's posture shoot up with widened eyes.

"What the fuck, Lauren! You could've ended this whole messed up story right then and there!"

"Maybe I don't want it to end!" I argued with tightened fists. "Maybe a part of me still has deep feelings for Camila and I just can't let her go!"

"It's a little too late for that," Normani pointed out. "Camila and Austin are official now."

"And after she kissed me, she told me that she'd miss me," I lowered my voice while maintaining eye contact with Normani. "But I mean, I'm not going anywhere."

Normani instantly hopped away from the bed, "Maybe she put some drug in your IV! Shit Laur, she's trying to kill you!"

"Normani, sit your ass back down," I commanded with furrowed eyebrows; Normani followed. "Camila isn't trying to kill me, my god if she was I would've been dead by now."

"How did you even respond to that, Lauren?"

"I told her that'd I'd miss her too."

"So, you do know why then," Normani slowly raised an eyebrow. "Why she said 'I'll miss you'?"

I shook my head miserably, "No, I don't."

"Why'd you say it back, Lauren! Now she thinks that whatever she's going to do is okay!"

"Do you think" -I paused to take a gulp of air- "she's going to try and kill herself?"

"We don't fucking know that, Lauren."

"But what if she is," I felt my cheeks begin to heat up and my forehead bead with sweat droplets. "I basically gave her permission!"

"Lauren, I promise you, Camila isn't going to try and-"

"Lauren! It's time for you daily test!" The doctor's tone seeped through the crack under the door into the room.

"I'll try and visit later, but we have a rehearsal," Normani whispered and gave my hand a light pat as the doctor rolled an unusually large, yet familiar cart into the room. Once Normani had left, the doctor and her assistants began connecting different wires to me in different places- not technically caring how much pain these tests actually caused me.

"Ready, Lauren?" The doctor gave me a smile that I returned with a slight nod. Before I could reassure myself that everything would be okay, the doctor jammed her finger into a button that was constructed into the crate; sending a horror-movie like scream to escape from my mouth. Electricity jolted through my body and seemed to singe at my insides.

It broke me down, but I was doing it for Camila.

*

After my test the doctor informed me that I was allowed to leave the hospital for a few hours, but was to return at the requested time. For emergency reasons, they had chained a tracking device to my wrist so that if I did decide to escape the horrifying science being put inside of me- I could be found.

I informed Normani about the miracle of being released, and she immediately responded that we were going to get lunch together. A few minutes later, a black van that I recognized right away pulled up in front of the hospital. I cautiously opened the door and slid into an empty seat, eyeing around and realizing that it wasn't just Normani; it was everyone, including Austin.