Summer Nights (Camren)

Chapter 25

Lauren's POV

A day had passed since Camila found what Vero had to leave me. A day that we could have spent together. I applied my makeup, already late for breakfast, and tried my best to cover up the dark circles under my eyes that I had gotten from not sleeping. I didn't want to dream of anything except Camila, and to wake up without her by my side would have killed me. 

I rushed out of the door, pulling my hair into a high ponytail and ran to the Mess Hall nervously. Camila was sitting next to Brittney and Rob eating as I took a seat next to them. I could already sense the awkwardness and the fact that they knew what was going on. I didn't feel like eating, so I just waited for someone to say something other than mumbles. All I heard was their forks hitting around the plate and pushing the food around. Brittney gave me a sympathetic smile and Rob just looked as though he didn't want to get involved at all.

"Camz?" I asked, trying to get her to at least look at me.

"Lauren....I-I can't," she shook her head. "Not now."

I shrugged my shoulders and looked at the ground, not knowing what to do. There was only a few minutes left of breakfast and then we had free time for an hour. I wondered what Camila's plans were, and what I was supposed to do without her.

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We all entered the cabin to find Patricia crawled up in a ball playing with a calculator. I was debating whether or not to say anything to her, but decided not to. Brittney put her things down on her bunk and gathered a few items that consisted of her ipod, speaker, and some sunblock.

"Heading out to hang with Rob," she smiled. "See you all later."

I waved goodbye as Camila shuffled past me and settled onto her bed to read. I had lost track of what she was reading at this point...but I assumed it was something good. She bended the cover, revealing that it was in fact The Catcher in the Rye. I never usually read and relied off of Sparknotes for almost everything...from what I knew the book was about a baseball player that liked bread. I only really enjoyed reading novels and books about how we think...nothing the school would ever assign.

She looked too into the book to want to even look at me. I hated distracting her because it was so adorable to see her nerdy side...but I couldn't go on any longer. I slowly walked towards her bunk and shifted my body back and forth nervously. Camila furrowed her eyebrows, although she never took her gaze off the words. Her stare remained focused on one spot now, no longer moving her eyes back and forth and actually reading.

"Um.." I started as she placed her bookmark inside the page and put it down next to her.

"Ok...I'm sorry. I don't know what to do to be honest. I want to work this out, but I need you to be honest with me. I know I can trust you...but I don't understand why you didn't tell me everything," she stated blankly. "Please..tell me the truth."

"Ok," I began, taking a seat on the edge of her bunk. "I was going to tell you...but I didn't know how. We only have a week left at camp and I didn't want it to be ruined because of my mistakes. I used to sell drugs back at home...weed. I also did drugs as you already know, as well as I still smoke cigarettes. I wasn't the best person in town. I got in trouble for ditching class, being sassy with teachers, pulling fire alarms, you name it. My mom sent me to this camp because it's for people that want to fix something. She never really minded me getting high, but I don't think she wanted to just sit back and watch me waste away my summer. I didn't want to come here...but I did. And then I met you and everything just went away. I stopped worrying about what I was missing back at home and I fell in love with you. I'm in love with you Camz. I don't want to lose you...ever. I told myself I would never go back to the life I used to live and I wanted to change for the better. This is the real me...it's been the real me the whole time," I explained, pouring my heart out and hoping to be forgiven.

"Well...I love you too and you know that. T-That's amazing. I wish you had told me that because it definitely wouldn't have ruined anything. Lauren...you'll never upset me if you tell me the truth. I know who I love and I trust you. I don't want to have anymore fights while we're here. I want to spend every minute with you," she admitted, taking my hand in hers. 

I blushed and nodded, knowing that it was important to both of us that we made the most of the time we had.

"Ok. We have one week left and we're going to make the most out of it. Come here," I smirked, picking her up and placing her to lean against me in the bunk.

"You always know what to say and do," she giggled, pinching my cheek lightly.