beyond the monotonous city

three

She forgot exactly how the loud bass made her heart feel.

The place was jam packed but one of the bouncers recognized her from before and let her in easily. Lauren made her way to the bar to just drink a glass of alcohol-free cocktail. The familiar taste was something she missed, though she kept away after a glass since she hadn't had one in a while.

Her eyes roamed around the dimly lit place, looking for familiar faces but to her dismay, most of her friends have moved into the city and for some, to other states.

But at the end of the room, near the emergency exit she saw a pair of brown eyes that were following her. Upon closer inspection, she saw they belonged to a face that was unknowingly familiar to her, a girl she never met before. The face disappeared in the crowd and Lauren shook her head, blaming it on the weird fluorescents.

Suddenly a familiar tune of the electric guitar sent the hairs at her arm to stand up. Lauren felt herself tense up. Her breathing started to get faster. She was remembering. Remembering wasn't good. Lauren balled her fists, until she couldn't feel them.

She took a step towards the crowd of people in an attempt to get lost.

She found herself running to the door that led up the stairs. Don't trip. Don't trip. Her breathing was labored. She felt cold sweat at the back of her neck. She couldn't breathe. She felt like she climbed 3 floors. Her vision became blurry. Was she spinning or was it because of the tears? She felt the cool breeze of the night sky around her. The lights grew fainter. She closed her eyes shut. She put her head in her hands and lifted her head and opened her eyes. Dark blue.

She could see the sky before and above her. She was on top of the building. Her hands were shaking, her legs were shaking. She fell to her knees. She was crying, but she didn't know why. It was around the same time of the night. She thought of him. The tears. They came. She couldn't stop them.

Why was she still alive? She was so selfish.

She carefully made her way to the edge of the building, where there was a ledge. Her shaking hands made their way and she tried to pull herself up.

She felt herself calm when she finally stood, the wind against her, gravity pulling her steady. She took deep breaths.

"Don't do it," said an unfamiliar voice behind her.

Lauren turned around and saw it was the same girl she saw, the girl with the dark and mysterious eyes. For a second she was entranced. She shook her head.

She took a step closer from behind one of the generators and under the night sky. "Trust me, whatever reason you want to do it, it's not worth it."

"Why should I trust you?" Lauren's voice was still quavering.

"Because I never let people down," there was something about the way she said it that made Lauren take her hand and step down. She collapsed on the floor afterwards, her knees giving in. She dried her eyes from the tears that pooled in them.

The girl knelt beside her, putting her arm around her comfortingly.

"Don't tell anyone," Lauren said, which was weird since she was a stranger.

"I promise,"

"No promises, I don't believe in those." Lauren said in between deep breaths. The other girl just nodded.

"Alright, be my friend instead?" she asked, which was odd. Lauren looked up, sizing up the girl clearly for the first time. She did look familiar, but she was also really pretty with her dark locks and sleepy eyes. The girl held out her small hand, "I'm Camila by the way,"

Lauren took her hand in a handshake. Before she could reply, Camila interjected. "You're Lauren, you're my neighbor."

From being awash with strong sadness, guilt, and emotion, she suddenly felt confused. "But Karla's my neighbor-"

Camila shrugged, pouting at the name. "That's my first name, I'm Karla Camila."

Lauren realized that was why she seemed so familiar to her. She was her estranged childhood friend. "C'mon let's get out of here."

Lauren found herself following the girl. They made their way out of the busy club and found themselves walking the streets, on the path towards home.

"What were you doing in there Lauren?" she asked, pulling her brown coat over her sleeveless shirt.

"Wanted to live a little." she said to which Camila chuckled. "That wasn't supposed to happen though, it just did."

Camila nodded to Lauren's surprise. She didn't push further. After a while of silence she spoke, "Listen Lauren, I know what happened to you. We all did. Stories travel far in this town of ours. I know we only met each other now after years of never meeting again since our childhood but I do sincerely hope you know you have a friend in me. If you need anyone to talk to, I'm here. After all we're neighbors."

Lauren looked at her in astonishment. Normally people told her they were sorry for her. She was tired of their pity. "Thank you, usually people just pity me afterwards."

"Yeah, pity is tiring when you get a lot of them." affirmed Camila.

They reached the road where their houses lay. Camila stopped just before Lauren's. "That was definitely a night."

Lauren smiled at her. "Uh thanks Camila. That was something I would regret, you're right."

Camila smiled back as if it was nothing. "Hope you'll feel better, things will be up from here." She said though as if to convince herself as well.

"I'm a downward sloping line, always been since y'know." Lauren said shyly, kicking at her feet. Camila put both her arms on her shoulders, forcing Lauren to look at her, to her surprise.

"It's only like that when you say it is. For now you're a flat line, okay?" she said with a hint of amusement to her voice which made Lauren laugh.

Lauren walked to her porch but stopped and turned back to Camila who didn't move. "Why were you there anyway?"

She held both arms up, "Same as you I wanted to live a little."

"No I meant on the top of the building."

Camila frowned, her expression unreadable in the shadow casted by the street lights. "There is life beyond this monotonous city." was all she said before she waved goodbye and disappeared inside the house across from her.

-

A/N: A double update for now cause I'm excited for y'all to see what's gonna happen.

-Sofia