A Light in the Dark

Chapter 34

Three days. Three whole days had passed and she still hadn't told Lauren or anybody else what she was suspecting. She didn't have any evidence to prove her theory, so was there even anything to say? It was probably all in her head anyway...

Camila looked up from the blank paper and glanced to Lauren who was sitting in front of her. After their talk no one had to convince her to move in with the green-eyed girl. She couldn't bear the thought of being alone in the apartment. Maybe she could convince Lauren to move into another building or even another part of town.

No, she was really getting paranoid, but she just couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling every time she had to go somewhere alone. Lauren had already picked up on it. Which wasn't that difficult to do since she always asked to accompany her whenever she went somewhere. Lauren probably thought that she was getting clingy...

She wasn't even in any danger, but ever since hearing about what happened to Hailee, she overanalyzed every word that he and his friends had ever said to her, every prank they had pulled on her. Could she have seen it coming? Was it her fault? Had she told someone, would they have been more cautious? Would they have learned that they couldn't get away with everything? That it was wrong?

Camila shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She hadn't been their only victim, the others never said anything either. She couldn't blame herself... right? So maybe most of Gabriel's attention had been on her, but that didn't mean that she was to blame... right? If  they did it. Which was crazy. They wouldn't have killed someone. Bullying, yes. Ending someone's life? Surely not...

But someone at that party had done it. Why had Gabriel tried to force her into going to a party where... where something like that happened? Was it only another coincidence? Her life seemed to be full of them...

"Camz?"

Her gaze slowly met Lauren's concerned one.

Lauren had threatened Luis to stay away from them. There was no way that Camila would see him or Gabriel ever again. Not even Luis' or Gabriel's fathers could do anything against the story that would be published, if their sons contacted them.

That thought relaxed her slightly, but she felt as if she forgot something... something important...

She shook it off. This was getting ridiculous. No one was targeting her and why should they? She didn't have anything to do with them. They weren't in school. They weren't even in the same city or state. It shouldn't matter to him what she did with her life.

Gabriel was sadistic, yes, but she would have known, if she went with a psychopath to school. With a murderer. They had known each other since middle school... she would have known... right?

But what about Hailee? What if he really... Camila shuddered. Hailee deserved justice... but she didn't have any proof... if Gabriel and his group of friends were involved. There were probably many people at that party that could have done it... that didn't mean that they had done it... even though they were known for targeting others in school... and when she remembered what Luis had said in the forest...

"Camz?" Lauren's hand intertwined with her own that was lying on the table. "Are you okay? You look kinda pale..."

"Uh, yeah," she answered and smiled weakly. "I just... I just remembered that I still have to call my father because of... you know."

"Oh," Lauren breathed, looking very surprised. "You didn't do that yet? I thought you called him a few days ago? When you moved in?"

"I... forgot."

"Hm," Lauren narrowed her eyes slightly before she looked at something over her shoulder. "You know, maybe it would make you feel a little better, if you finally apologized to Ally. She just came in."