Fool Me

Chapter Twenty Three

Fool Me

Chapter 23

"You're lucky y'all worked things out cause I was about ready to have Dinah hold you down while I got at you for what I thought you were pullin'," Normani directs to Camila as Dinah is setting out the pizza and wings they brought over.

"I'm sorry you all got dragged into this drama with Ari. We barely saw each other when we were together, so I didn't think I'd run into her anymore once we split. But I guess she has other plans," Camila hypothesizes.

"Joke is on her. She's gonna be lookin' reaaalll stupid when the papz find out you got a sidechick," Dinah reasons as she passes out the plates so they can start serving themselves.

Lauren clears her throat and Camila gives her a knowing look.

"Um...actually. There's something Lauren and I need to explain," Camila announces once everyone has a full plate.

Normani, who has already started biting into a slice of pizza, and Dinah both look over at her expectantly.

"Well, that first night when you ditched us at the concert, we also ditched. Lauren took me to a restaurant and we spent a majority of the time ranting about how annoyed we were with you two for not respecting our decision to take a break from relationships," Camila begins, pausing to evaluate their expressions before Lauren gives a nod of encouragement and finishes the story for her.

"So instead of calling you out on your weak attempt to set us up, we came up with a plan to pretend we hit it off and fake that things were getting serious because then you'd have to give the nagging a rest. And it was working out apart from Ariana being persistent about wanting Camila back. That threw a wrench in the whole thing, and that's why we decided to come clean now," Lauren summarizes.

Their friends look between Camila and Lauren in disbelief.

"Hold up, are you trying to tell us that you were never together?" Dinah asks suspiciously.

"And you managed to lie about this for over a month?" Normani added with a raised eyebrow.

Lauren shrugs and Camila nods, confirming.

"Unbelievable," Normani breathes out before biting into one of her hot wings while she takes the time to process the new information.

"You went through all that just so you wouldn't have to date other people?" Dinah adds incredulously.

"Seems a bit extreme if you ask me..." Normani mumbles between bites.

"If you need to be mad at us, please mostly be mad at me," Camila insists. "Lauren primarily made the decision to tell the truth tonight. Before Ari interferred, it never even crossed my mind to do so."
"I'm not mad. I just think you crazy," Dinah teases before grabbing a fresh slice of pizza from one of the boxes since her plate was emptied.

"Ditto. Just thinking about the way y'all made out at my party. I'd definitely never be comfortable doing that with one of my friends," Normani explains with a shudder.

Lauren and Camila glance away from each other awkwardly, both fighting a blush at the memory. Neither of them realizes how willing the other would be to have a repeat encounter. The tension doesn't go unnoticed by their best friends, but they decide it would be better to individually confront them later rather than call them out on it while they're together, and only minutes after they've demoted their love story to a tale of scheming friendship.

"It's uh...no different than stagekissing," Camila defends. "Minus the stage, minus the camera. Standard acting."

"Exactly," Lauren agrees. "We had to make it believable, right?"

Their friends nod in agreement as the subject shifts and they finish off the rest of the food while socializing casually. Camila is ready to kick them out by 9 o'clock, still exhausted from the previous night. Lauren offers to take Normani in her car since Dinah drove over, so the roommates leave first while Camila's best friend hangs back. She helps clean up the dishes and take out the trash before starting her interrogation.

"Does Lauren know when you stopped faking?" Dinah inquires after everything is in its place.

"What do you mean? We mutually agreed to end it today," Camila reminds her.

"I'm not talking bout the relationship, Mila. I'm talking bout when you stopped faking your feelings for her, cause you don't have to no more. You really like her," Dinah accuses.

Camila gulps before excusing herself to get a glass of water.

"Avoiding the question is as good as a confession," Dinah concludes as she shouts to Camila from the living room.

"So what? It's a crush. We can move passed it," Camila argues as she returns to the living room and takes a seat while sipping on her water.

"Why move on? Ask her on a date. It's not like you haven't already been on several," Dinah encourages.

"Come on, Di. This is exactly why I lied to you in the first place. You've known I'm single for less than an hour and the nagging is back full force," she replies with a groan of annoyance.

"It's different. I'm not telling you to go out and meet someone new or find some random hook up for the night. This is a woman you already care about and you know there's potential. Look me in the eye and tell me that's not what you want."

"Lauren is everything I didn't know I was looking for and I want to be the same for her, but I'm not."