Ghosts (Camren)

Chapter 3

We ended up staying on the phone for seven hours. It was weird to think about, because in reality, it only really felt like a few minutes. Camila talked my ears off, but I enjoyed every second of it. Her peculiar way of saying she liked my voice rang true with me as well. I loved hearing her speak.

I found out a lot more about her as our phone conversation went on, like how much she loved bananas and how her favorite emoji is a cactus, but it varies. And the fact that she wants to get a ribbon tattoo on her pinky toe, and she sports a mole on her big toe. I don't even remember how we got to talking about her feet. What I do know is that I enjoyed every second of that phone call. I wish it could last forever. My annoying thoughts of Normani dwindled, and I focused solely on Camila. She was so interesting. I felt like she was a book, and throughout that seven-hour conversation, I'd only read halfway through the prologue.

The next day at school, I was kind of looking forward to seeing her. I know before I said that I wasn't looking for her, but I did keep an eye out. I just wasn't searching. But now, I was actually eager to see the little brown-eyed beauty. Based on last night, I knew good conversation was inevitable. I was just waited for us to casually bump shoulders in the hallway, or something cliche of that sort.

That didn't happen though. When I did meet Camila again, it was by chance. Everywhere she told me she'd be, she wasn't. I gave up on looking for her around fifth period and just replayed our conversations in my head to keep me sated. Our encounter was during seventh period. I'd excused myself to the restroom, and on my way back, I saw her perfect figure in front of the vending machine.

"Stupid freakin' dollar..." Camila grumbled under her breath as the machine refused to accept her money.

"Why do we keep meeting like this?" I laughed, inadvertently announcing my presense.

"Oh... Hi Lauren," Camila greeted bashfully. I supposed she was slightly embarrassed to be muttering to herself in front of someone.

"It's always money troubles with you," I noted with a smirk, leaning against the machine.

"I think it's your fault. Everything is just dandy before you randomly show up. You make my money forget how to work, I'm convinced," Camila giggled, trying her best to give me an incriminating glare.

"Oh, so this is my fault now?" I raised a challenging eyebrow, unable to wipe the stupid grin off of my face.

"Yes. And since this is all credited to you, I think you owe me a dollar in exchange for this crumpled one," she reasoned, ultimately giving up on forcing the machine to take it. "Stupid machine..."

"You're so mean to it. If I were that vending machine, I wouldn't let you buy something from me either," I sneered, folding my arms over my chest.

"Yeah? Well what do you want me to do, huh? Give it a hug and say please?" Camila deadpanned and copied my stance, leaning against the wall.

"You can try," I shrugged, failing to hide the smile this girl always seemed to rouse out of me.

"I've got nothing to lose. The dumb thing already won't take my money," Camila muttered and kicked the dense metal.

"See? You're a little bully," I pointed out. "Even though this thing is like four times your size."

"Whatever," she waved me off. "Sorry, Mr. Vending Machine. Will you please take my money?" Camila pleaded with the machine, even going as far as throwing her arms around it. I was taken by surprise, not really expecting her to do such a thing. What a dork.

"Good," I laughed. "Now try again."

I watched curiously as Camila reinserted the dollar tentatively. The vending machine hummed and finally accepted it. The way Camila's face lit up nearly gave me butterflies. She was the owner of an amazing smile. I got an even better view of it when she faced me, only for it to fall completely when the vending machine spit her dollar out once more.