Girl Crush

Chapter 19

Camila avoided her parents for the rest of the week. She would leave for school early in the morning, and go to Lauren's house right after school. There, she would finish her homework and hang with Lauren until late at night, when she would sneak in and go to bed.

Lauren's parents originally didn't think anything of Camila coming to see Lauren. But they started to get concerned when Camila came over every day. They sensed a little "more" with their friendship. So they asked Lauren about it Friday when Camila was at school.

"Lauren, we'd like to ask you something, " her mom said, sitting down next to her on the couch. Her father stood awkwardly next to the couch.

"Shoot," Lauren said casually. Her mother inhaled deeply.

"Well, we've been watching you and Camila's behavior together and we think that maybe there's more too it. My question is, Lauren, are you dating Camila?" Lauren tried to swallow but choked, causing her to cough awkwardly. She didn't know how to respond. She couldn't lie now. There was no way out.

"Well, um, it's kind of complicated..and...uh...well, yes," she stuttered eventually just saying the truth. Lauren felt the tears burning in the back of her eyes. She didn't want to cry about this, but the past week had been terrible for her.

"For how long?" Her father said.

"Um, unofficially four months, officially two months," she said quietly. Her parents looked at her questioningly.

"We both liked each other but didn't say anything from August to September, but then started really dating in October after we confessed our feelings to each other." They nodded. Her parents faces didn't show disappointment or anger, which surprised her parents.

"Are you mad?" Lauren asked nervously. Her mother and father shook their heads.

"No, no, we're not mad. You didn't choose this, you were born this way. It'll take some time to get used to, but we'll never be angry," said her mom soothingly. Lauren let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and wiped away her tears.

"But from now on our rules about bedrooms will be different," her father said. Lauren coughed awkwardly again. Her parents talked to her for a bit more and then left her alone. She sighed a sigh of relief. It hasn't gone terrible, her parents didn't kick her out of the house, it was cool.

Lauren's phone buzzed, so she pulled it out of her pocket to see who she had gotten a text from. It was Dinah.

Dinah💜: hey lauser, you still up for pizza friday tonight?

Lauren quickly typed back a response.

lauser❤️: yeah, i'll be cool. we can't watch movies tho bc of my concussion.

Dinah💜: cool. Camila says hi👋🏻

lauser❤️: tell her i say hi. i gtg, bah

Lauren turned off her phone and smiled to herself. She pushed the thoughts of Camila leaving out of her mind and tried to focus on good things. She couldn't think of a lot, but there were at least a few.

She tried to relax until her friends showed up. She still had around 45 minutes until Camila usually showed up, so she decided to shower. She knew that it would be a struggle with her cast as she duct taped the trash bag onto it, but it would do her good.

Lauren hobbled up the stairs, slowly but surely, and eventually made it into the bathroom. She started the shower and made the water a comfortable temperature. She then stripped and hopped in, nearly tripping and smashing her face on the way in.