Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 42

"Hi," Lauren greeted Camila softly. "How was the rest of your morning?" she asked wrapping her arms around Camila's waist protectively whilst her girlfriend emptied some of her books in to her locker at the beginning of lunch the next day. Camila closed her locker carefully and leant back against Lauren's body, visibly relaxing as she sunk further in to her girlfriend's arms. "It could have been better," she told her truthfully and Lauren tightened her hold around Camila's middle supportively. "Why what

happened?" Lauren asked her concerned. "Is everything alright?" Camila placed a hand over both of Lauren's as they rested on her stomach and started to gently rub one of her girlfriend's forearms reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm just sick of people staring at me," Camila shared with her honestly. "If possible it's even worse than the last time I managed to show myself up at school." "Camz," Lauren said, turning her head slightly to look at her girlfriends' face and plant a quick, soft kiss against her neck. "I know it must be horrible but, just try to ignore them. They're probably just curious about what happened." "I know," Camila acknowledged; her hand settling back over Lauren's again. "It's just, if they're curious why don't they just ask me about it?" She questioned sighing. "Even the teachers are acting strangely around me today." she disclosed. "I had Mrs Edwards for French after home room and she spent the whole lesson watching me out of the corner of her eye like I was going to collapse any minute." "She was probably just worried about you," Lauren tried to comfort Camila, pulling her body into hers further. "I mean, it's actually really scary watching you have a seizure Camz," she told her from experience, "and the last one that you had was really bad. You can't really blame her for wanting to make sure that you're ok." "She didn't ask me though," Camila groaned, extending her neck so that it arched over Lauren's shoulder slightly. "She just kept looking at me." Camila explained and she felt Lauren's hold on her strengthen. "If she was concerned she could have just asked me if

I was alright, couldn't she?" Camila rambled. "I would have told her that I was and then that could have been the end of it," she continued. "I guess I'm just feeling really selfconscious today or something." She admitted. "I don't think it helped that I didn't sleep very well last night either." "Perhaps you should have taken today off?" Lauren said thoughtfully. "You know, had an extra day to get yourself back to a hundred percent again?" "I'm not sick," Camila said defensively, dropping her head forward again and Lauren knew she'd struck a nerve. "I don't need to stay at home and I can't afford to miss any more school, I'm already behind enough as it is." "I'm sorry," Lauren apologised sincerely, cursing herself internally for even mentioning it. She knew how much Camila hated being thought of as someone who was ill or an invalid and she'd just inadvertently managed to suggest that she was both. "It's ok," Camila reassured her, stroking the back of her girlfriend's hand with her fingertips soothingly. "I've just got a bit of a headache." She admitted. "I forgot how tiring and stressful school is." "Have you taken something?" Lauren asked her and Camila nodded the back of her head against her shoulder. "It'll settle down in a bit," she responded, twisting around in Lauren's arms to meet her eyes at last. "Hmm..." Lauren murmured thoughtfully, reaching up a hand to brush a stray lock of hair out of Camila's eyes and tucking it behind her ear securely. "Well..." she continued, her hand lifting

up to caress her girlfriend's brow restfully, her fingertips grazing the spot above Camila's left eye out of habit, tracing the outline of her scar instinctively. "Maybe I can do something to make you feel better in the mean time?" she finished, Camila closing her eyes in response to Lauren's light touch, the sensation pacifying her as it normally did. Camila leant forward slightly to rest her head against Lauren's chest, her eyes still closed. Lauren wrapped her arms around Camila's waist again, hugging her warmly and she felt Camila's small arms reach up to enclose her own torso in return. She smiled to herself briefly before tilting her head forwards and planting a delicate kiss to Camila's forehead, her lips lingering there for a moment as she gently rocked the smaller girl in her embrace. "You already are," Camila informed her simply, her voice muffled as she spoke into Lauren's jumper, her hand clinging on to the back of it contentedly. Lauren lifted one hand up to stroke the hair at Camila's brow and kissed the top of her head. "We should go and meet the others," Lauren said, her hand still playing with Camila's soft dark hair. "They'll be wondering what's taking us so long." Camila lifted her head to meet Lauren's gaze, a small smile creeping on to her lips. "Knowing them they're probably concocting all kinds of possible scenarios in explanation for our absence," Camila laughed. "I'm sure that the majority of them would involve an unused janitor's closet somewhere too." "We really have the most deviant group of friends," Lauren noted, chuckling to herself. "Surprisingly though Ally seems to be the