Summer Nights (Camren)

Chapter 20

Lauren's POV

My eyes barely focused on the person standing in front of me because of the sun blocking my view. As soon as my eyes met his gaze, my fists clenched and I jumped up to face him head on.

"Does your girlfriend taste as good as she did a few days ago?" he chuckled, wiping his mouth with an evil grin. His messy hair stuck out of his snapback slightly as he tried to fix it. 

"Screw off Austin Malonely," I scowled, taking another step toward him aggressively. He began to step back slowly, but I continued closing the space he attempted to create between us.

"Nah...watch it Jauregui," he warned. Camila stood up carefully and walked over to stand behind me. I wanted to protect her from whatever he wanted and make sure that she didn't get hurt in any way, shape, or form.

"No. You watch it," I responded defensively.

He laughed and covered his face with his hands in amusement, causing me to get even more angry. My skin turned bright red and everything in my body told me to knock him out right then and there. Camila held onto my arm to stop me from doing anything I would regret, but I knew that he was never going to get away with this.

I ripped my arm out of Camila's reach and connected my fist with his nose violently. He immediately fell straight to the ground and started crying out in pain, holding his nose. Blood fell onto the grass as tears streamed down my face, knowing I was going to get into some sort of trouble for it. 

"Help! Holy crap!!" Austin cried, hitting his fists against the ground in pain.

Camila started to move backwards in awe of what had just happened and I instantly felt horrible for scaring her. I wanted to apologize, but had no idea what to say to make the situation better. I fell onto the ground and buried my face in my hands.

"Lauren...just go. You'll get into more trouble if you stay.." Camila whispered. She never looked me in the eyes, but instead continued staring at the ground.

"I-I'm sorry," I mumbled before storming away in a hurry.

---

I flipped my hair to the other side of my head and waited patiently for Ann to come out of her office. My heart was beating so fast that it sounded like the bass drop at a rave. Austin was sent to the nurse to get cleaned up and Camila was nowhere to be found. I wanted to break down and cry, but also didn't need Austin to get the satisfaction of seeing that happen. 

"Lauren. Come inside," Ann demanded annoyed, opening her office door to allow me in.

"I-I," I stuttered before she cut me off.

"Save it. I don't care what the reason was behind you punching Austin and almost breaking his nose! I don't know what to do with you," she thought out loud, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"I know and I'm sorry. He forced Camila to kiss her and then he was trying to bring it up...I got upset and couldn't control myself," I explained truthfully, hoping that she would allow me to leave with a warning and not send me home.

"I understand that everyone makes mistakes...but this is a big one. Now...you mentioned that he had made her kiss him. Was this by force? That could be classified as sexual harrassment," she responded.

"Well he did make her do it and I really don't want to go home because of this."

I tried to make myself sound as innocent as possible, knowing that I did not regret punching Austin at all. He was being a rude womanizer and needed to be taught a lesson. Everyone at camp thought of him as a sweet guy and they all really needed a wake up call.

"I am going to file a report and let you go for now. Do not do anything stupid. Oh! I have to warn you...Camila is still a bit frightened, but she's in your cabin right now. Try to apologize...I would really hate to see you two break up because of this," she admitted, opening the door for me on my way out.

"Thank you Ann."

I didn't even realize that she was actually supportive of our relationship instead of skeptical like most adults. I knew that I had to make this up to Camila, especially in time for our date tonight. I never wanted her to feel uncomfortable or scared around me because I would never have hurt her in any way. I was just trying to protect her and was hoping that she understood that.

---

I found Camila curled in her bunk, crying her eyes out because of what I had done. Everyone else was out doing their daily activities and they all had no idea what was going on. I slowly tiptoed over to where she was sitting and sat down next to her.

"Camz..." I whispered, rubbing her back gently as her whole body shuddered.

"I-I'm scared...I don't want you to hurt anyone.." she whimpered, pressing her head into my chest as she continued to cry. Her lips quivered as her body pratically shook in fear and she looked into my eyes hesitantly.

"Baby...I'm sorry. I just love you so much and couldn't let him treat you that way. I tried my best to not hurt him, but I did and it will never happen again. I would never do anything like that to you and I promise you that. I know it's scary and I wish I would have just walked away. Please...believe me," I explained, pressing my forehead against hers while stroking her hair calmly.

She took a deep breathe and looked at me to see if she could sense if I meant what I said. A small smile appeared on her lips as she nodded her head and pulled me into a tight hug. I wiped the tears off her face gently and made sure that I was able to see her beautiful features with nothing in the way.

"I forgive you Lauren...but I hate violence. Please never do that again...no matter what. I do love that you're protective and care about me enough to risk getting in trouble. Thank you Lo," she admitted, kissing me quickly before leaning back into her bunk.

"No problem and I really am sorry. Are we still on for our date later?" I asked curiously.

"I would love to, but I think we need some rest after today. Do you mind if we do it tomorrow?" she winked, pulling me on top of her.

"Sure thing...I really hope we actually end up doing whatever you have planned," I joked, giggling at the thought of how many times we cancelled so far.

"We will...and we don't have to do this if you don't want to," she smirked.

"No, no, no. I have no problem with this," I smiled, pressing my lips against hers.