MY LITTLE ARTIST

TWENTY

Lauren awoke the next morning fully expecting to see the younger still by her side, unfortunately however she had disappeared at some point in the night. Still, she dragged herself out of bed and began painting on her makeup before heading out to school

It was unusually quiet on campus, barely a sole walked the halls and her class was thankfully empty. With half an hour left until her prized students would arrive however, Lauren made ways towards Sam's office to try and diffuse the situation she really hadn't meant to become sensitive

"Hey" she spoke gently, knocking upon the wooden door only to see Sam busy working with his eyes floating up to greet her "Can I come in?"

"Sure" he sighed "What's up"

Lauren paced the room slowly to make ways towards the couch, slumping down against its leather with a small huff she folded one leg over the other "I don't like us hating each other like this" she admit "I miss you"

Sam placed down his pen and leant back within his chair "I miss you too, but you're making it difficult for me to be normal with you Lauren?"

The elder sighed "You're making it hard for me too?" Sam didn't want to argue with Lauren, they'd been friends forever and now more than ever before did they need each other "I'm not going to hurt her?"

The man glanced across at the wall "I know you'd never intentionally hurt her, Lo" he spoke back "But like I said, she's fragile, she's a special education transfer that I am solely responsible of looking out for!"

"She's fine!" The woman kindly protested "Yeah she's having some issues with a girl in my class but we all had our occasional little spark, right?"

Sam's face was dull, his expression one Lauren almost recognised "What about when your little play date gets boring huh Lauren?" He replied quietly, trying his best to soften his tone "What happens when you go out one night and find some other pretty girl to screw and Camila's left behind wondering what happened?"

Lauren felt a flutter in her chest "For right now, I'm kind of enjoying it being just her and me"

"For right now.." Sam reiterated "Lauren she is not someone you can just put down when you want to try something else?"

Lauren worried her mind over the future for only a moment before reminding herself that she needed to focus on the now "I have no intention of doing that"

Sam tilted his head "So you want a real relationship with her now?" Lauren shook her head back quickly "No! No, I don't!" Her tone was sharp "We have an agreement that works for both of us and it's working! We don't need to get married to keep it that way"

"So what about summer vacation?" The man continued "When she leaves campus and has to be without you? What happens then?"

Lauren rolled her eyes with a scoff, again getting annoyed that the man had little to no confidence in the girls' arrangement "I can't keep doing this with you Sam! How many times, she's an adult and has her own mind? If she chooses or happens to have a rough day, that's on her not you?"

The man clamped his jaw for a moment, trying his best not to escalate into a raised voice and spiteful tongue "I had her sent to my office after pushing Olivia into a wall yesterday morning" he began, spiking Lauren's interest "Olivia's big sister is Summer Walker, the year above"

Lauren furrowed her brows confused "So?"

"So!" The man pushed "Summer and Camila go back a few years, lived in the same town and had more than their fair share of issues"

"Like what?" Lauren mumbled quietly "They had an argument or something?" Sam grunted quietly "Summer got Camila into a lot of trouble, she saw vulnerability and used it"

Lauren immediately felt her chest tighten at Sam's explanation "What kind of trouble"

"Lauren-

"Look, I know it's in her file but like I told you, I don't want to invade her privacy like that?" She interrupted, sitting on the edge of her seat with a passionate tone "If you just give me a brief run down I can protect her"

"Unfortunately Lauren, it's your job to keep that girl safe whether you're having sex with her in your spare time or not!" The man's tone was firm now "That file will allow you to do that! I hate to be a broken record here but this is important!"

Lauren stood from her chair and grunted as she walked towards the door "Don't talk to me about safety!" She spat, turning around with a pointing finger "Who was doing this shit for me when I was in school huh?"

"Lauren-

"No Sam!" She hissed with a gentle tremble in her chin "Whatever is in that file, it won't help her if shit goes wrong!" Her voice was weak "Nobody gives a shit about girls like her! People just pretend to do their best because they know everything about you!"

With that she slammed out of the door and made ways towards her class. The eruption of emotion in her chest one she quickly pushed away with the cracking of her red-bull can now drifting towards her lips

Across campus, Camila began her rather late walk towards class, after leaving Lauren's at around 2am she couldn't help but feel the bags under her eyes weighing her down. She loved spending time with Lauren, it was great and felt almost familiar

She padded across the green with a rush in her stride, stopping before the entrance when seeing Summer quickly approaching "Hey Camila" she winked, tucking her hair behind her ear "How's it going?"

Camila slid her hands into the straps of her backpack "Good, you?" She mumbled, watching carefully as the elder girls facial expression changed from kind to stern "I was great!" She beamed "Well, until I found out you were giving my little sister a hard time?"

Camila rolled her eyes "She was being rude! Laughing and making fun of me" she bit "How did you expect me to react?"

The elder shrugged "I did tell her you had some anger issues" Camila felt her chest deflate at the reminder "God she is a pain in the ass! You know, I'm not sure she understands how to make friends!" the sarcasm was evident

Camila rolled her eyes "She has a fair few"

"Well, I guess she just likes to joke around then!" Summer continued with spite "Maybe she doesn't like the fact that we were friends first!"

Camila scoffed "I'd hardly call you my friend! You must be stupid if you think we had any kind of connection" Summer cocked a quick brow in response "Harsh!" She laughed "We could change that though?"

The younger furrowed her brows to look up at Summer's expression "What are you talking about?" She bleated "I have no interest in hanging out with you!"

"Oh come on" Summer laughed "Give me a chance! Come out with me and my friends tonight?" Camila mentally slapped herself for considering the offer, she really did sound like she wanted to make amends "You can leave whenever you want, we'll just have some fun?"

Camila glanced down at the floor quickly, biting at her lips anxiously before sighing out a weak but honest "Fine"

Summer elated into a fit of clapping and squealing "Great! We will meet you at the club tonight!" Camila watched her walk away with a smile as she continued on to class, rounding the corner with a gulp when Olivia waved at her with a sarcastic grin

"What am I doing.."