Girl Crush

Chapter 23

Lauren had a hard rest of the week. She spent the rest of Wednesday in her room, crying her eyes out. Camila had to unpack and get settled at her new house but promised to video chat with Lauren the next day.

Lauren woke up fifteen minutes late and had to just throw on a pair of sweatpants. She left Camila's sweatshirt on and got into her mom's car. She felt the tears coming as she looked at Camila's house. She longed for Camila to come outside and greet her. But she didn't.

She arrived at school and met her friends. Dinah's eyes were red and puffy. Ally and Normani looked slightly better. They all just stood in silence.

"H-how is she?" Dinah asked quietly. Lauren put a hand on her arm and tried to speak without crying.

"She's...ok. Their flight landed safely and they're unpacking today," Lauren said. Dinah nodded and bit her lip.

"This isn't right," Ally said. The other three nodded. It felt like a piece of them was missing. Lauren's phone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket to see who texted her.

camz💕: hi beautiful. i know today will be hard but just remember that when you get home you can call me. i know it's hard and it hurts, but stay strong❤
A tear rolled down Lauren's cheek and she smiled.

"Was that her?" Normani asked. Lauren couldn't speak, so she just nodded.

"Tell her we say hi and that we miss her," Dinah said. Lauren nodded again.

lolo💜: hi babe. it sucks right now. the girls say hi. we all miss you. it feels like there's a piece of me missing. i'm wearing your sweatshirt. i love you, i gtg to homeroom but i'll call you later💙

The bell rang and Lauren slowly made her way to homeroom. The memories of her and Camila in the hallways haunted her mind. One specific memory stuck out to her.

"Ok. So, if you can make it down this hallway without grabbing my hand, kissing me, or showing any sort of affection, I will kiss the crap out of you at the end," Camila said. Lauren accepted the challenge, thinking it would be easy.

"You're on Cabello. Same rules apply to you," Lauren teased. Camila sent her a playful glare, making Lauren smile like an idiot. The bell rang, signaling the start of their challenge. They walked on separate sides of the hallway. It was going good, until Camila gave in and jumped on to Lauren's back.

"I couldn't do it," Camila said while peppering Lauren's face with kisses. Lauren laughed and carried her girlfriend to homeroom.

Lauren smiled at the memory and entered her classroom. She took her seat by the window, longing for the brunette next to her. Her phone buzzed again.

camz💕: i know u said that you're in homeroom but if you're in homeroom it probably means you miss me so i decided to shoot you a text to say hi. so hi.

Lauren laughed a little at Camila's silliness. She typed back a simply reply.

lolo💜: you're a dork. an adorable, beautiful dork. and you're my dork.

The bell rang again and Lauren left for her first period class. It was English with Mr. Kelly. Usually English was her favorite class. Not today, however. She would rather be at home. Lauren was staring off into space as the teacher taught his lesson.

"Miss Jauregui, can you answer my question?" He called out. The other students turned to look at Lauren. Lauren shrugged.

"Very well. I need you to stay for a minute after class," he said and other students laughed. Lauren felt alone, so she put her head down on the desk and tried to sleep. The bell rang and Lauren headed to her teacher's desk.