Yours Truly

Part 4

"And that honestly surprises me," she says. "But you don't make things uncomfortable for me. In fact, you kind of do the exact opposite," she smiles shyly as she reaches over and gently overlaps Lauren's fingers with hers, Camila's fingertips rough and calloused, which doesn't surprise Lauren in the slightest because Camila shared in one of her letters that she's a guitar player. "So thank you for that."

Lauren hopes and prays that Camila can't hear her heart beating violently in her chest and she's officially lost all control of herself, her body frozen against her soft and innocent gesture. Then the bell obnoxiously rings, forcing Camila to tear her eyes and hand away as she turns back around in her seat, leaving Lauren blushing madly.

——

The rest of the class, unfortunately, was pretty much Ms. Ashworth speaking the entire time which didn't allow Lauren to really talk to Camila and because it would be rude as hell. So she just let her favorite teacher go on and on about the racism and societal background that was present during the time in which Huckleberry Finn was written while her mind kept repeating Camila's proclamation of fondness for her "anonymous" partner. The best part about it was that Camila meant every word considering she has no idea it's actually Lauren she's been writing to. Lauren was just someone she confided in with the genuine information and surprise, surprise! It's about her.

Boy, what a lovely Monday morning.

Lauren hopes to god no one noticed her during her random moments of grinning from ear-to-ear while Ms. Ashworth discussed the awful thing that is racism. How horribly inappropriate that must make Lauren look like to others if they caught her in the act.

The bell rings and Lauren's temporary daydream gets interrupted when she hears the collective sound of desk and chair legs scraping against the tile floors, folders and binders and notebooks being shoved into backpacks, and the increasingly loud clamor of her classmates' voices fill her ears.

Lauren quickly puts her things away and slides her arms through her backpack straps, the heavy weight causing her to ever so slightly stumble backwards. She really needs to empty out the crap in there before she strains her spine and shoulders.

Camila noticed Lauren's little misstep and she chuckles. "Now look who's the clumsy one," she teases, her nose adorably scrunching up. Oh dear god. Camila is actually trying to kill her.

"Still you," Lauren throws back sticking her tongue out like an immature little 5-year-old, which at that age, was a teenager's equivalence of sticking up their middle finger.

Camila rolls her eyes playfully but smiles nevertheless. "So where you headed?" she asks curiously, her voice still quiet and small, but at least she's comfortable enough to initiate conversation and that makes Lauren feel really good about herself. It's flattering to know that someone as shy as Camila feels pretty okay with speaking to her.

"I have physics next, then history, then math," Lauren answers as they begin to walk out the door. "What about yourself?" Lauren then chivalrously steps aside and gestures for Camila to walk through first.

Camila smiles appreciatively as she passes by the taller girl and once Lauren is right by her side again as they maneuver through the sea of what seems to be a million students, she says, a little louder this time for Lauren to actually be able to hear over the commotion, "I actually have the same classes as you, but different periods. So next I have history, then math, then physics."

Damn. Of course she would have different periods.

"Also, I'm really kind of nervous about this presentation in English in a few days," Camila adds, fumbling with her hands a bit as they walk rather slowly together, Lauren very much enjoying every second of the way.