Through Her Eyes (Camren)

Chapter 14: Cohabitation

Lauren liked living with Camila.

Camila had some special, devoted love for all aspects of the house. All the things that were simply there to Lauren, Camila cherished.

Camila liked the portraits on the walls, seemed happy to tell them about the toaster and her friend Elvis and her soul mate Lolo and of course the stars. Lauren didn’t even know who the paintings were of. They’d been on the walls when her grandmother had died and Lauren had never taken them down.

She’d taken all the family photos down – her parents getting married. Her grandmother, with deep smile lines, holding a guitar above her head like a trophy.

The photos were left in a heap in her grandmother’s old room and the paintings of strangers stayed on the walls.

They weren’t strangers anymore. Camila had introduced Lauren to them all. The man with a mustache, painted on velvet and odd and dark looking was Elf. Lauren didn’t know why, except that Camila had decided that was his name, and so it was. The child with her dog that hung by the door was unnamed, but her dog was Simon Cowel, courtesy of one of Lauren’s awkward jokes and Camila’s over enthusiasm. The largest painting in the house hung in the study, a picture of a family camping under the stars. None of the family members had names, as Camila was entirely unconcerned with them. The grouping of bright stars above their heads, however, was named Leo.

Strangely, Lauren could remember all the names of Camila’s painted friends, though she could hardly remember the names of her own coworkers.

Camila befriended more than just the paintings. She was a social butterfly as far as inanimate objects went. To Lauren, a toaster was just a toaster. To Camila, it was her new friend David who conveniently provided toast.

Living with Camila was an interesting experience.

Camila liked to eat dessert before actual meals. Lauren had bought more sweets in less than a week of living with Camila than she had in the last year. Lauren wasn’t complaining. Camila tried everything they bought, even chocolate, which she seemed to hate. She made the funniest displeased faces when she tried it, but then Lauren would take a bite of her own chocolate bar and Camila would pout until Lauren gave her a piece, which she undoubtedly wouldn’t like the taste of either.

She still liked to climb up on the roof but never alone, to Lauren’s great relief. Just as everything else with Camila, Lauren grew fond of being on the roof. High up, yes, but Camila liked it, and so Lauren started to like it too.

Camila liked to stand directly under the air conditioner vent when it was on, laughing and gulping up the cold air until her throat went dry and her voice hoarse for hours afterwards and Lauren decided that it really wasn’t that hot.

She liked it when Lauren made promises to her, stupid things like promising to be friendly to Elvis even though the cat got hair on everything, and promising to give Camila’s cherished sweatshirt back after she washed it.

Unsurprisingly, Camila had very specific opinions about what Lauren was allowed to throw away, and even then she went through the trash every night. There were three apple cores buried in a makeshift garden in the backyard and candy wrappers arranged lovingly as a centerpiece on the kitchen table.

Lauren had started throwing away a variety of shiny things when Camila wasn’t looking, just to entertain her. Camila gave them back every time, rolling her eyes and not fooled a bit, but she looked pleased, and so Lauren kept doing it. Two days ago she’d thrown away her car key, expecting Camila to find it and give it back, but Camila never had. Lauren had gone through the trash herself to find the key but, low and behold, it wasn’t there.