The Party (GxG) (Camren) **EDITING**

Chapter 16

The incessant beep of a machine pervaded Camila's consciousness, arousing her from her fitful slumber. She stretched her limbs out awkwardly, her muscles stiff and painful after spending the night in a hospital chair. Her tired expression was marred by an enormous yawn that practically swallowed her entire face. Her eyes sleepily gazed about the room, hoping to meet with green emblazoned eyes, yet knowing it not to be likely. When her brown eyes fell on the motionless body, she was forced to suppress the disappointed sigh that overwhelmed her entire being.

They had been by Lauren's bedside for three days so far, and there had been no change whatsoever. To say it was disheartening was a complete understatement. In some ways, having the three other girls had been comforting despite one another being strangers. It made the stifling silence somewhat more bearable. Pointless small talk seldom broke the heavy silence between the girls before once again falling into the uneasy lull that haunted the room. Camila still felt as though, in those empty hours, she had found herself an unlikely friend in each of the three girls. To see genuineness in the people that Lauren had surrounded herself with warmed the young Latina's heart and reassured her that Lauren hadn't completely lost herself over the years.

She tore her eyes away from the pale Cuban letting her head loll back so that they could focus on the blank ceiling above. Her thoughts still revolved around Lauren no matter how hard she tried to focus on anything other. She could hear her stomach growl in adamant protest of its recent neglect, yet could not bring herself to find the energy to move much farther than Lauren's bedside. She took note of the three other girls sprawled out on their own uncomfortable armchairs, Dinah and Mani somehow managing to share just the one. Her mind was torn as her gaze fell back upon her green-eyed neighbour. She knew that she had already been pushing boundaries with her recent inexplicable feelings, but it was as if Lauren's wounded soul had baited her and now had her hooked, reeling her in at an alarming fast speed.

Almost against her will her feet shuffled hesitantly toward the top of the bed until she was hovering above Lauren's peaceful face. The urge to touch her ivory skin had never been so prevalent to Camila until that very moment. The girl seemed so young and innocent, her frail body lost in the sea of equally pale sheets. Camila was instantly reminded of the sweet and charming girl Lauren had once been, a stark comparison to the twisted and tortured form that life had warped her into. It was cruel, Camila thought, how the world had distorted such a beautiful mind and forced it to become a puppet to the discordant tune of perfectionism only to defect to immorality.

Perfect imperfection. The phrase struck her suddenly, almost overwhelming Camila with its befitting nature in regards to the raven-haired girl.

In an automatic reaction to her conflicted emotions, her hand had raised in preparation to stroke the smooth skin of the peaceful face, yet cognition had reinstalled into her brain leaving her hand frozen between herself and the motionless form before her. Her eyes closed and she released a breath through her trapped lips, the lower settling unsurely between two sets of porcelain white rows. Thoughts were over-complicating every movement and every breath so unnecessarily that her own mind began to war with itself.

Perhaps she was going crazy, after all it is commonly known that only crazy people talk to themselves. In her humble opinion, she definitely qualified. After all, she had two entire debate teams arguing with one another in her head!

Frustrated beyond belief with her indecisive and self-judgmental habits, she came to the decision that she was tired of being dominated by her petty insecurities. With that decision prominent in her mind, she mentally manifested a metaphorical jar to collect every scattered thought that currently plagued her existence, sealing them away and leaving her mind free of clutter.