Walk A Mile (Camren)

V

After emerging from the shower feeling fully rejuvenated and clean, Camila started to feel a little bad. It didn't feel as good to win if she'd done it by deceit. She felt like she was a much better person than Lauren, but those qualities weren't being portrayed the right way. She felt the need to redeem herself. It wasn't necessarily another stroke at friendship, but an endeavor to make amends. They could at least be cordial to one another.

She slowly opened the door and peeked out into the hall. Part of her felt like Lauren was waiting in the wings to attack her or something. But when she caught view of the girl distractedly scrolling on her phone on her bed, she let out a breath of relief. She put away her things, then showed up in Lauren's doorway. Lauren saw her figure from her peripheral vision and chose not to acknowledge her. She swore at her internally, but gave no signs that she sensed her standing there. It prompted Camila to announce herself.

"Hey..." Camila called out softly, but loud enough for Lauren to hear. The older girl simply kept scrolling. "Sorry I beat you to the shower," she apologized a little louder.

Lauren glanced at her and sighed. Then she looked back down at her phone. Tumblr was far more interesting than some privileged brat offering her apology.

"I shouldn't have done that. It was mean..." Camila persevered, despite the way she wasn't eliciting much of a response at all from Lauren.

Lauren was wondering why she was still there. Most people would leave after being ignored in such a manner. She found it kind of sweet that Camila kept pushing through it. She made it a fraction harder to blatantly ignore her. This was kind of commanding her attention.

"And sorry I made you fall," she added meekly with her hands behind her back. "I didn't know that would happen. I mean, I knew I was dripping... But I didn't want you to slip. Are you okay, by the way?" Camila questioned, fully expecting to be ignored this time around too.

"Yeah... I kind of did that to myself, though. I think that was karma or something. Sorry too," Lauren relented and finally acknowledged the apology. "For, you know, what I did in the car."

"It's okay," Camila granted almost instantly. It was taking way too much energy to feud with this girl. Whether they became friends or ignored each other for the rest of the summer, she didn't care. But she needed some sort of solace for this. "We're okay?"

"I guess..." Lauren tapered off. She was going into thought about the same thing Camila was. Although ignoring each other was really the only tangible option.

"Good," Camila smiled.

"Yeah... So anyway, I'm gonna go shower now," Lauren dismissed herself and left Camila no time to say anything else. Camila got the hint to leave her alone, then found herself downstairs. She opted to watch Dr. Oz with Clara and Sinu.

As the water beat against Lauren's skin, she tried to make sense of the way she was acting. There was no real reason she was so mean to Camila. Perhaps what Normani and Dinah said held a little bit of truth. Maybe she did kind of like her in a way. And maybe she was hiding it or overcompensating for it by being so rude to her. Camila wasn't a totally bad character. Lauren could admit that she was a lot worse to her than vice versa. She was somewhat cruel to the girl that just wanted to live in a friendly environment. In the shower she told herself she'd try harder.

Dr. Oz was great, but Camila really wished she was doing something else. She felt like she'd given her enough space. She didn't want to talk to Lauren, but she did want to retrieve that book she was reading the night before. She felt like Scout's journey could distract her from her undesirable reality. It could take her mind off of the way things were for a little while.