The Perks of Being a Lesbian (Camren)

Chapter 14

This day had quickly gone from the day that everything was supposed to go right to the day that everything went wrong. Camila had woken up more than excited for her sleepover with Lauren that night. She was determined to let the older girl know how she felt. She even planned on dropping hints throughout the day so that her confession later wouldn't seem like it came out of nowhere (because she did have a tendency to overestimate other people's abilities to know how she was feeling and she didn't want to take that risk with Lauren).

She'd woken up just a little bit earlier that day so she could put a little more effort into her morning routine. She couldn't do much about the crappy school uniform, so what she lacked in style when it came to her outfit, she made up for with her hair and makeup. Yes, she was wearing makeup. Usually she just stuck to mascara, but today she added some winged eyeliner (something that she'd been practicing for a while now on Sofi and had become pretty good at doing) and some tinted lip balm since she didn't care much for lip gloss. That was pretty much the extent of her makeup abilities, so it was going to have to do.

She brushed her hair as usual, but also tried her best to curl it a bit, trying to emphasize the waves in it a little more. She topped it all off with her signature bow and left her room feeling content enough with her look to go downstairs for something to eat. Elise had prepared breakfast since her parents had left early that morning. Camila didn't mind though, the bacon, egg, and cheese scramble serving as the perfect meal to prepare her for the day.

Unfortunately, no amount of preparation could have readied her for what she was met with at school. All of the lockers had been covered in posters with a smiling photo of herself from her instagram photoshopped onto the body of some naked woman. And that's when her good day hit a wall.

Now, a couple of hours since discovering the posters, she was recovering from her little crying fit in the bathroom. She really did hate crying. It made her feel pathetic and the results never helped. Her nose would get stuffy, her eyes got red, and she always got headaches afterwards. It just wasn't a fun time. PLus her makeup was probably completely ruined by now. She couldn't even think about it without tears pricking her eyes again.

She wasn't even that upset about the posters. What really worried her was the fact that after Austin's dumb prank, she would most likely end up in the exact same position that she'd been in back at Patton. Surely, now that she'd been marked as a target by her ex, the other students at McKinley would start treating her just like they had Lauren. The older girl had been wrong. Charlotte and Ariana were not the ones who had been turning the school against her. Austin was the real influence over the student body.

God, why did she have to let her frustration get the better of her and confront him? Why did she have to date him in the first place? If she'd never been with him then she never would have made that rash decision. She wouldn't have made that mistake and everything would be fine.

But then she was reminded of Lauren. Lauren was the one she'd done it for. Lauren was who she was trying to defend. And Lauren was the one comforting her at the moment, showing her exactly why it had been worth the humiliation and frustration, exactly why it wasn't a mistake.

She did it because there was a beautiful human being who was being mistreated and Camila couldn't stand to watch from the sidelines anymore. Because she was starting to see just how deceiving McKinley was with its prestigious reputation, pristine classrooms, overpaid staff, and strict school policies. They preached to them all the time about following the Bible and living a life of love, yet when it came to Lauren or anyone like her or associated with her, their morals suddenly changed, students and teachers alike. She had done this because she was tired of injustice and inconsistency. She was tired of the pretending.