The Stage Door (Camren/Norminah)

A Family Home

Camila POV

It wasn't an overly hot day in LA and Lauren and I had headed out just shortly before six, the entire campus quiet. We stopped at a small independent coffee shop, quickly deeming it our favourite java spot.

We had been walking for what felt like forever, but right as I was about to complain I watched Lauren sit down on an old wooden bench, it looked as though it had once been bright yellow, but it was worn down and the paint was chipped and faded. I looked at Lauren sitting there, sipping on her coffee and wondered what she was thinking about.

She didn't seem to notice that I hadn't sat down, as she pulled out her Polaroid camera and set it on the empty space beside her on the bench. I followed her eyes and saw a familiar house.

"Lauren, you dropped this," I bent down and picked the photo off the wooden floor just outside our door. She stopped and turned around as I handed her a small pocket sized Polaroid with a picture of a pretty white house that had blue shutters and a red door.

She looked at the photo in my hand and nervously reached out for it, quickly stuffing it in the pocket of her green and black canvas backpack.

"The picture doesn't really do it justice," I said from the spot I was standing.

"I always wanted to live in a house with a tire swing in the front yard," she laughed taking in the view. There was an airiness about her right then, she wasn't sad. She had become comfortable watching from a far and standing there, I realized I had become comfortable with her.

She was wearing her burgundy ripped jeans, a black racer back tank top with a band logo on it and a pair of high top black converse, she had one leg thrown over the other as leaned back slightly against the old bench. She looked exactly as I had come to expect her too, a little edgy, with a soft smile and eyes that could melt even the coldest of hearts.

"Are you going to come sit with me?" She asked patting the empty side of the bench, her eyes not leaving the direction in which they had been looking since we had gotten there.

Silently I walked over and sat down, both of us watching the house. There was no movement and I noted that there were no cars in the driveway.

"So, how's your song coming?" She asked setting her coffee on the ground and re-positioning herself so she was on her back, her head in my lap and legs swinging over the opposite end of the bench. "I think Ally and I pretty much have our lyrics down," she noted. "Once we got going, it flowed out pretty easily. And I've heard part of Mani and D's song, because I overheard them practicing in class the other day, it sounds really good. Not that I doubted it, they can both sing and by sing I mean saaaang," she said laughing, drawing out the word.

"I've heard Dinah belt out Whitney before, so I agree with you there, about her at least. I still haven't heard Mani sing, not really, whenever I ask her to sing for me she does, but she does something weird to her voice, so I'm really excited to hear what she actually sounds like," I said shaking my head. Hesitantly I started to run my fingers through Lauren's hair, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile as I did. "I'm really excited to hear what you and Ally have come up with, I'm surprised I haven't heard it yet actually," I said honestly. "But you and Ally always seem to practice in her room, so.."

"Her roommate is always gone," Lauren commented. "And you always seem to want the privacy when you're writing."

"I have a weird process," I said with a shrug.

"Is it done yet?" She asked me. I watched her turn her head to see if any cars had come back to the white house and when they hadn't she turned her attention back to me. "Is it really about me or were you just saying that?"