FORGET YOU LAUREN

CAHAPTER 49

Track 34. Forget You, Rachel
CAMILA POV

"I just tried to..."

I couldn't stop crying. I wiped tears away for what felt like forever, feeling my heart race as memories of that night flooded my brain. Then I raced through the remaining fourteen chapters, reading them faster than I'd ever read anything before. When I reached the epilogue, I had to force myself to stop.

She didn't say that I had to read the epilogue. I need to save something for myself.

I returned to a section that I wanted to reread once more, paying special attention to lines I never knew. It was the last paragraph in the chapter about our senior year in high school, and I couldn't help but stare at it for a very long time.

"I never told Camila why I did what I did in that bathroom—why I told that guy that she was a slut, while she was in earshot. I tried to convince myself that it was because she wouldn't believe me.

To this day, it's my biggest regret. I should've gone to her house later, sat her down, and told her the entire story. Because even then, I had feelings for her. I just didn't think I was ready for them"

"Um,Camila ?" The sound of someone saying my name made me shut the binder and look up, right into a spotlight.

How the hell is it this late already?

"Are you okay? You look distraught," the voice spoke again, and I blinked a few times. Then I looked to my left and saw one of the ship's female supervisors.

"I'm fine," I said. "I was just reading."

"Well, when you get done 'just reading,' you can write your professor a letter about why you decided to skip her class today." She shook her head and thrust a yellow post-it in my face. "After you deal with this, of course. The lead counselor received this for you a few minutes ago."

A woman named Stella has an emergency message for you. Wants you to video/Skype her ASAP.
Feel free to use extra satellite minutes, if need be.

I immediately stood to my feet. Grabbing the binder and the extra sheets, I rushed down the hall and took the elevator to the eighth deck. With my mind racing a mile a minute, I tried not to panic, but all types of thoughts crossed my mind.

Please don't let anything happen to my dad. Please, please, please.

I took a seat at a computer and typed in the passcode, nervously tapping my fingers as the internet connection slowly dialed.

Once it was set, I opened Skype and dialed Stella's number.

It rang once. It rang twice.

The screen blurred, and she and my father appeared.

"Hey, there, Camila !" they said in unison, waving.

"Hey." I let out a sigh of relief. "What's going on? Are you sick, Dad? Are you losing the house? Filing for bankruptcy?"

The two of them exchanged glances and burst into loud laughter.

"Oh god,Karla ." He held a hand against his chest. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"This note," I said, holding it up. "It said you had an emergency message for me."

"We said it was urgent, not an emergency." He wiped away a few stray tears. "No one is dying, and no one is losing anything."

"Then what's the message?"

"We just want you to know that we've talked to Lauren ," he said, smiling.