utopian ➳ camren

Part 4

       The following week went by pretty fast, the two girls enjoyed theirselves as usual and the Miami heatstroke that found place in both worlds only benefitted them in one of those, Camila finally had an excuse to go swimming in the ocean with Lauren, may I remind you that gave Camila a perfect view of her girlfriend's body and her beautiful behind she brought with her.

"Camz?"

Camila looked up from her book she was currently reading in, taking off her sunglasses. "Yeah?"

Lauren played mindlessly with the sand next to her, drawing all different sorts of shapes and things. "Why is it that you can take your book from your real life to here, but you can't take me to reality?"

Camila hummed, she hadn't thought of that before. It just kinda spoke for itself. "I don't know," She thought for a moment and then snapped with her fingers to empathize her words. "I fell asleep with the book in my arms."

Lauren narrowed her eyes and scrunched her nose, one of her quirks when she was trying to figure something out. Camila thought it was endearing. "Does that mean if you hold me very tightly that I'll come with you?"

"I don't know, we could try though." There was a slight hint of hesitation on Camila's end, she didn't want to get her hopes up that maybe, maybe if the universe felt generous today, she could bring Lauren with her.

"What if it works? I'll introduce you to my father.. and Sofi! They'll love you," Camila already failed miserably at not getting her hopes up too high, she was always way too naïve and optimistic. "I can already imagine Dinah's jaw hanging, too stunned to even make jokes.. She's-"

"Camila." Lauren interrupted her as she placed a hand on her thigh which sent chills up her spine and definitely shut her up. "The chances are very slim, you know that right?"

Camila's smile faded and she looked down, nodding. "I know, it just makes me happy thinking about it."

Lauren gave her a sad smile and pecked a kiss on her lips. "Well, as long as you'll visit me every night then I'm cool with everything."

"Can we still try? You never know." Camila pleaded, she would hate herself forever if she'd never try just to find out later that it does works.

"For you, always."

——•——•—–

"Camila, it's happening." Lauren warned her approximately thirty minutes after their conversation. Her arm was already gone and it was only a matter of time before she'd disappear completely.

Camila got up immediately and inhaled deeply, praying that their plan would work. It's insane how she loves a girl that only lives in her head, but maybe now they could make it a reality. "Come," She opened her arms and waited for Lauren to accept the invite, which she did. Even though her arm was transparant, Camila could still feel the girl's skin and she felt herself relaxing under her touch.

The brown-eyed girl shut her eyes closed and held onto Lauren as if her life depended on it. One thing she hadn't realised is that her eyes started watering and her breathing got unsteadier as the seconds passed.

"Camila, are you okay?" Lauren whispered in her ear but Camila couldn't bring herself to open her mouth, afraid that she'd burst into tears. The girl didn't know just how much this situation effected her, but who could blame her?

"Camila," But this wasn't Lauren's voice anymore. Camila opened her eyes and at first she was confused as to where she was.

"Camila! Wake up." The man raised his voice, and when her vision sharpened, Camila recognised the man as her father. "It's 5am honey, why are you crying?"

Her hands moved to her eyes and rubbed in them, feeling it was indeed full of tears. "What?" Her sleepy voice mumbled, in utter confusion.

Alejandro smiled sadly and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "You probably had a nightmare, go to sleep honey. It's a big day tomorrow."

A nightmare, he said. A nightmare. Little did he know it was anything but a nightmare. Alejandro didn't know the only safe place where Camila was truly happy existed in her dreams, and would never be a reality.

***

"Mila, this is the third time you've dozed off in the middle of my story, what's up with you?" Dinah complained as they walked past a few stores. Her bestfriend forced Camila to go shopping with her and try on dresses for prom later that day.

"Hm?" Camila snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the girl. "Right, sorry. Focus, I got it."

Dinah rolled her eyes but continued with her story nevertheless, even though Camila still wasn't paying attention anyways.

There was only one reason why the girl was quieter than normal: Lauren. Another thing that bugged her was the fact that they had prom in just a few hours, and Camila still didn't manage to get a date. Which was understandable, because someone in your dreams couldn't be your date right?

"I was thinking that boy Austin, he's hella fine and he's had a crush on you for years." Dinah explained, walking into one of the stores that looked super fancy with the perfect prom-dresses.

Camila raised her eyebrows and laughed. "Yeah, I'm not really interested. He looks like one of those fuckboys." Her gaze dropped on a fire-red dress and she looked at it intrigued. "Do you like this one, DJ?"

"Oh hell no, you're not gonna change the subject again." Dinah looked at one of her own interests. "I'm gonna make Austin cancel his date so he can take you to prom. Don't try to stop me, Walz." Her tone was playfully but Camila knew her bestfriend was dead-serious and she wouldn't win this argument, so she just let it be.

How bad could Austin really be? Camila thought to herself as she skimmed through the dresses mindlessly, unable to find the dress that would caught her attention. He was always nice to me, it can't be that bad. And maybe Dinah was right, Camila should invest more and put in more effort to make friends, be social for a change.

But most of all, Camila just wanted one night without wondering how life could be if Lauren truly existed.