The Perks of Being a Lesbian (Camren)

Chapter 5

Camila was emotionally exhausted by the end of the school day. She had spent most of it avoiding Austin, which was really hard since he kept following her around like a lost puppy. Multiple times he had tried apologizing for what he'd said at dinner the night before, but each time his pleas kept sounding less and less genuine. In fact, by the end of the day, he sounded exactly like he had last night. This frustrated Camila even more because even though she was refusing to forgive him it didn't mean that she wasn't paying attention to him.

She started noticing who he was around her versus who he was around other people. What she found was disheartening. Around his friends, he was just like them and kind of a jerk, if she was being honest. But around her, he was a complete sweetheart or at least seemed that way. He'd tell her how miserable he was without her, but then she'd see him laughing it up with his friends at lunch, displaying behavior quite contrary to that of someone with a broken heart.

And so, now whenever he spoke to her, she started to see the cracks in his disguise just as well as she'd seen the cracks in Lauren's. The only difference being that Lauren's disguise was to protect herself and Austin's was to deceive Camila. She didn't know why he had to lie to her so often or what he was hiding aside from his slightly unsatisfactory personality. It is for this reason that Camila was so glad that school was done and she could go over to Lauren's house and finally get some answers.

She had her mother stop by their home first so she could change into something more comfortable, but soon after they were back in the car on their way to the Jaureguis'. The ride there was filled with casual conversation between Camila and her mother about her day, but it didn't last very long since it was only about a twenty-minute drive to where Lauren lived.

Camila was quick to say goodbye to her mom and get out of the car, excited but starting to get a little nervous as she approached the house. The large mahogany front door to Lauren's house looked intimidating now that there was no party full of people on the other side and no parents with her. As Camila looked over her shoulder, she saw that Sinu was still parked nearby, waiting to make sure her daughter was let in okay. Camila smiled at that, glad that her mother was so considerate.

Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell. Had it been any other house, she would've just knocked, but the front door was thick and Lauren's house was huge. If Camila tried to knock hard enough for anyone to hear her, she would most likely end up breaking her hand.

About a minute passed before the door opened to show a slightly familiar young brunette woman in a black uniform. It only took a beat for Camila to remember her from the party. She didn't know the woman's name, but she knew that she worked for the Jaureguis. Before she could say anything, the older brunette smiled at Camila, making her feel much more relaxed and welcome.

"You're Camila right?" the woman asked, making Camila straighten up and smile.

"Um, yes. I'm here to see Lauren," she answered, not sounding nearly as nervous as she felt. The woman only smiled again before leading Camila inside.

Without all of the people in it, the house seemed very empty. It wasn't empty in the sense that there wasn't much filling the space; it just felt empty. There was plenty of art and family pictures and furniture, but no feeling of comfort or warmth there. Camila felt like she was walking through a museum rather than someone's home.

"I'm Natasha, the Jaureguis' maid, in case you were wondering," the woman that Camila now knew to be Natasha said over her shoulder as she led the girl further into the house.

"If you need anything just let me know. Lauren should be up in her room. You think you remember where that is?" Natasha asked as they stopped by a staircase. Camila simply nodded, vaguely remembering the direction Lauren's room was in.