strangers » camren

five

Waking up in the middle of the night has been a daily thing for the brunette. She'd wake up, covered in a thin layer of sweat and she'd be out of breath. Her heart was constantly beating rapidly, Camila actually thought it might stop one day.

It's been a whole week since she came back. Camila always had to remind herself where she was, or she'll have a panic attack. The flashing images comes and goes but each time, they come back stronger and always lasts longer than the previous one. Camila had considered talking to someone but she couldn't even admit what happened to herself so how could she open up to a complete stranger?

She could try Lauren. The green eyed girl wasn't a complete stranger. But Camila feared that once Lauren knew the truth, she'd leave. Just like everyone else in her life.

Camila didn't go back to school. She couldn't. Luckily, no one expected her to. No one knew what happened to her but they knew that she'd been through a lot in that two years. It wouldn't even matter if she went back. No one missed her. No one even knew her until the incident. The incident changed everything and it was a major reason to why she ran away. And if Lauren knew, Camila would lose her. Just like everyone else.

Camila sat on her bed, holding her knees close to her chest as tears streamed down her face. She sat in the dimly lit room, surrounded by her thoughts and memories.

"Stop crying," she repeated to herself quietly.

Camila shut her eyes as the flashes of images in her head were too much for her to handle. She held her head as she rocked back and forth, silently begging for them to stop.

Suddenly, it stopped.

The images. The pain. The memories. They all stopped. Camila blinked her tears away as she tried to catch her breath. She looked around and was painfully aware that the room was quiet. So quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Camila decided that that was worse than the thoughts and images in her mind. Instead of calming down, the silence worked her up even more.

Camila jumped off her bed, grabbed her backpack and jacket and climbed out of the window. She walked towards the ledge and climbed down a tree nearby. It seemed way too familiar to her. The flashes came back. Camila stumbled back as she tried to regain control. She saw the lights turn on in her house. Her heart sped up as she took off and ran. She didn't know where she was going. She just had to get out of there.

~

The alarm clock went off as Lauren groaned in annoyance. Lauren reached up and shut the alarm. She stretched as she sat up and let out a big yawn. Lauren rubbed her sleepy eyes as she checked her phone and cleared any notifications she had before getting up.

After she showered and got dressed, Lauren walked down the stairs with her backpack on her shoulders. She stopped when she felt that something was wrong. She headed to the kitchen and saw her mother with Sinu, Camila's mother.

"What's going on?" Lauren asked.

Sinu and Clara exchanged a look before the latter let out a loud sigh.

"Camila ran away again," she said.

Lauren felt her heart drop, just as her backpack did, "What?"

"Sinu was just telling me that you were the one who found her," Clara said.

"I was hoping you'd know where she might be," Sinu said.

"I wish I knew, Mrs Cabello," Lauren said sadly, "I barely know her."

"If you see her, will you call me?" Sinu asked with pleading eyes. Lauren nodded.

"Yeah, of course," she said as she blinked away the tears in her eyes.