Ghosts (Camren)

Chapter 5

"Thanks for letting me take you out yesterday," Camila said into the receiver.

We were on the phone once more. After we left, she called me about fifteen minutes later to make sure I got home safely. That little check up turned into another two-hour conversation. We stayed on the phone until I heard faint snoring, and unlike with Normani, I simply hung up. But here we were on the phone again. It wasn't even twelve yet. I was kind of glad that her voice was the first thing I heard in the morning.

"I was just surprised you could pay for both of us," I joked in good nature, knowing she wouldn't take that offensively.

"Hey," she said in an admonishing tone.

"Kidding," I laughed into the phone. "No, but seriously, I'm the one who should be saying thank you."

"For paying?" she inferred.

"No, Camila. I should thank you for actually showing me a good time. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. And I haven't smiled as hard either," I shared openly. "So... Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. Thanks for laughing at my bad jokes," Camila returned.

"They were pretty bad," I played along. "But no, really... You're actually really funny. I think you were funniest when you were just sitting talking instead of when you tried to make jokes."

"I love your laugh," Camila complimented me in return.

"Me too. It's really cute," I gave back, picturing the way she looked when she laughed in my head. I found her most attractive while she was giggling. In that state, she had this careless essence about her that I found really captivating.

"You're really cute," Camila countered, turning my words back on me. My cheeks were aching from how cheesy I was.

"You're really cute," I did the same thing to her.

"Really original," Camila laughed.

"You're the one who stole my compliment first," I reminded her. Because I felt the need to get up and stretch, I rolled myself out of bed and bent over first. Then I leaned back and an inhuman sound escaped. That was a powerful stretch, giving me no control over what came out of my mouth. I just hoped Camila didn't hear it.

"What was that?" Camila questioned after a few moments.

"I was stretching," I excused myself with a short laugh before rubbing my eyes.

"You're pretty much the most adorable person on the planet," she stated, as if it were fact.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

-

I've never liked talking on the phone much. It was always an inconvenience in some way. Either the sound was muffled or it was killing your battery or you had a shitty signal or your neck and hand cramped from holding it to your ear for so long. But surprisingly enough, I adored being on the phone with Camila. She made everything worthwhile with her antics.

Each day, we stayed on the phone longer and longer. Our record up to date was nearly nine hours straight, until she had to go eat dinner. I'll admit, I was a little saddened to hear the dial tone after being blessed with her voice for so long. It was crazy. Things with other people had never happened this soon nor this easily. As much as I'd like to deny it to myself and everyone else (just Normani), I couldn't get enough of Camila.

She had such a pretty soul. After learning that she volunteered at a daycare center, I knew I was fucked. I could tell she had the most genuine compassion for almost everything. We even discussed horrible people like racists and murderers one day on the phone, and she claimed not to believe in the death penalty - that they just needed to go to a really intense rehabilitation center. It was the first and only thing we'd disagreed on thus far, but I wasn't complaining.