(i think) there's a flaw in my code | camren

day 5

It takes Camila a few seconds to figure out who she's talking to, but then, "Lauren?"

"Y-yeah," Lauren sniffles. "I—something's wrong. I need—can you—I can't—"

Camila draws in a sharp breath, and she swears her heart stops beating in her chest. With cold, anxious blood she says, as calmly as possible, "Lo, try to breathe."

On the other side of the line, Lauren's breath is quick and shallow. Every now and then she grinds her teeth to the point of Camila wanting to throw her phone out the window.

"I can't—" Lauren says, a slightly desperate tone in her voice. "I need to go home, I can't—" Her breath quickens again, and a loud bang tells Camila she either hit or kicked something.

"Lauren," Camila says sternly. "Focus on my voice. Can you do that? Yes or no."

"Yes."

"Okay. Now breathe with me. In and out, slowly."

Camila makes a point of breathing as loudly as she can, hoping Lauren can hear her loud and clear. It takes a while for the other girl to breathe normally again, and the entire time Camila feels a paralyzing fear creeping up her spine.

"I'm okay," Lauren says, eventually. "I'm okay."

Camila lets out a relieved sigh. "What's going on, Lauren?"

"I took ecstasy."

Camila's mind races. "You did what?"

"Ecstasy. Can you come pick me up? I feel like I'm gonna die." Lauren's breathing hitches again for a second, but she gets herself together before Camila can say anything about it.

Camila closes her eyes for a moment. This wasn't what she expected. Yes, she'd seen Lauren go overboard with alcohol, but drugs? Actual hard drugs that could potentially be really dangerous? She'd never expected Lauren to stoop that low.

"I don't have a car," she says. Now that the initial shock is over, she feels pissed more than anything. She just doesn't understand—

"I have two. It's the black one on the other side of the road. The keys are in the hallway."

For less than a second, Camila's inclined to say no and just let Lauren deal with her own problems, like she wanted. But she can hear teeth grinding and feet tapping and fear in Lauren's voice. So she nods and slips out of bed. "I'm on my way. Where are you?"

Lauren says the name of some club, and of course Camila has no idea where it is. She opens her laptop to google it, and it's not even that far away from Lauren's house. But she'd rather Lauren wait at the club than have her drive herself home.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Call me if anything happens, alright?"

Lauren sniffles and promises to call, and Camila hangs up. She sinks her head into her hands and groans. "Fucking hell, Lauren."

After changing into actual clothes and making the mistake of googling the effects of ecstasy, she runs down the stairs to find Lauren's car keys. As it turns out, they're on the rack with the rest of Lauren's keys—obviously.

Lauren's car is, indeed, black, and a little less fancy than the one she usually drives. Still, it's probably worth more than Camila could ever afford, with blinded windows and light leather covering the seats.

She tells Siri to lead the way, and puts the car in drive. As she races through the still busy streets of LA, she almost forgets why she's out of bed in the first place.

Part of her wants to call Ally to see if she knows what to do if the girl you're sort of in love with calls you in the middle of the night to pick her up because she took hard drugs, but then she remembers the time difference and decides not to wake her friend over something she can't do anything about anyway.