Fatal Attraction

Chapter 11

Fuck, Lauren thought to herself. Good job, Lauren. Way to be subtle.

Camila, to Lauren's surprise, took out her headphones, and started walking towards Lauren. It was hard to keep her balance since the train was moving, but she managed to be as graceful as ever.

"Listen, I'm not trying to stalk you, okay?" Camila stated, finally breaking the silence between them.

Lauren stared at her in return. "I just don't understand why you would even want to talk to me, after everything that had happened."

Camila sighed. "Well, I'm not going to lie to you.. At first, I wanted to hit you-"

"Again?"

"Wait, let me finish," Camila said, cutting her off. "Although I wanted to hit you, I was kind of.."

She stopped speaking instantly, and she looked extremely uncomfortable. Lauren noticed her biting her lip, and was trying her hardest not to stare.

"Kind of..?" Lauren asked, trying to get answers out of the brunette.

"I was kind of intrigued. I mean, don't get me wrong, what you did was fucked up.. But something about you.. Stuck with me. If that makes any sense."

Lauren felt herself blushing, and tried to turn away from Camila. "Well, I can honestly say that I understand, because the same thing happened to me, with you."

Camila opened her mouth to reply, but Lauren cut her off.

"But why don't you hate me? Shouldn't you be angry with me, or something? I mean, after what I did-"

"To Ally?" Camila asked, slowly regretting the words that came out of her mouth.

"Of course," Lauren said, sighing deeply. "I fucked up so badly. This is the absolute last thing that I ever wanted in this world. That girl is the love of my life, the sun in my sky, the-"

"Listen, as much as I love hearing the girl that tried to mug my friend talking about my ex girlfriend, who I'm not completely over yet, I'm going to have to cut you off right there."

Lauren suddenly felt terrible. Initially, Lauren figured that Camila just wanted to tell her about her to protect her, but the idea that she could still have feelings for her never entered her head.

"Wow, I'm sorry. I just-"

"I know. I'm sorry, too. I know that I should be more sympathetic, but-"

"Why are you apologizing? What have you done wrong?"

Camila took a deep breath, then shook her head. "Apologizing is sort of my thing, I guess you can say that I'm an extremely nervous person."

Lauren nodded, taking in every word that Camila said.

"However," Camila continued, "I apologized because you have the right to vent. It's fresh in your mind, I don't blame you for wanting to talk about it. Besides.. I actually understand why you would think that you would have to steal money to buy her beautiful things."

Lauren frowned. "You do?"

Camila nodded. "Ally deserves the world. She will never know just how much she deserves. Ally is such a genuine, sweet human being.. It only makes sense that you would want to go out of your way to spoil her."

Lauren shrugged. "I mean, that's what I thought, too. But.. Having her look at me that way just wasn't worth it to me. One disappointed look is worth more than a thousand smiles from that girl. I never want to hurt her, ever."

Camila sighed. "I know the feeling all too well, unfortunately. When you love someone so deeply, it's almost as if you go crazy, you know what I mean?"

Lauren nodded, smiling at the brunette. "Yeah, that's exactly how I would describe it. You go from being a normal person, thinking about normal things, until one day.."

".. You find yourself thinking about them, in everything you do. Your favorite movie turns into your favorite movie that you've watched together.."

".. Your favorite record turns into your favorite record to make out to.."

".. You find yourself in the supermarket, trying to look for their favorite cereal.."

".. And just like that, your life is changed. Forever. Or at least for several months, or so."

Camila sighed. "Being in love is the best feeling, but also the worst feeling. In a way, you lose yourself for a little bit because your minds are in the process of intertwining with each other, but once that's over.."

"You become one," Lauren finished for her, smiling.

And for the next ten seconds or so, Lauren and Camila were smiling at each other, completely unaware of each other's surroundings. Until, that is, Lauren noticed someone approaching them from the corner of her eye.

"Hey girls, listen, it's the last stop for tonight. Are you gonna get off, or what?"

Lauren looked around, only to find that they were in Brooklyn.

"Fuck," Lauren said, rolling her eyes. "Of course this happens on a day that I have class in the morning."

"Hey, you can always not go," Camila replied, smiling ever so slightly.

Lauren frowned. "Is this something you do regularly? Just not go to school?"

Camila rolled her eyes. "Absolutely not. I'm paying my full tuition myself, however.. I don't think one day of sleeping in would kill me."

Lauren thought about it slowly, silently making a pro/con list in her head.

"Come on, what's the worst that can happen? Let's go on an adventure!"

Lauren slowly nodded. "Sure. I mean, is it safe?"

Camila laughed. "How bad can it be? Besides, I know the last person who tried to mug me definitely won't try it again."

Lauren's jaw dropped, which received a small little wink from Camila, as she grabbed her hand and escorted her off the subway car.

Lauren found herself smiling, and then realized that for a total of ten minutes, she hadn't been thinking about Ally.

Maybe everything really does happen for a reason.