Are You There? ("Those Eyes" sequel, Camren Fan Fic)

Chapter 9: Late Night

Lauren's POV:

"Did you guys hear about Camila?" Dinah says as we sit on our van, and I had already thought it was weird we were leaving without her. "No, what happened?" Ally asks and I have to pretend I don't care because of this stupid fake fight. "She just texted me, apparently Simon wants her and Austin to pretend they're dating for the cameras." Dinah says and my jaw drops. "What? Why?" Normani says sounding almost as surprised as me. "He says people still think there's something between her and Lauren." She answers looking at my direction. "And he thinks everyone ships Camaustin so, why not bring it back?" Dinah says. "Who the fucks ships Camaustin? Not even Austin, dude." I say annoyed and forget about the fact that I shouldn't even care. The girls laugh softly, but I'm pissed as fuck! Why would Simon force her to date someone? That's screwed up! "So where is she? Why didn't she come with us?" Ally asks and Dinah shrugs. "I don't have a clue, I guess she'll come home later." She answers and then silence fills the vehicle. Why am I the only one truly worried? This could wreck her and hurt her so badly. She's way too sensitive and in touch with her emotions, which sounds ironical considering she's sleeping with me just for the pleasure of it, but still, I'm sure this will be too much for her. I care about her so much and I hate to see her upset. Simon is going to pay for this shit, I swear to God he will. I decide to text Camila and check up on her, even though this breaks the rules of our "relationship", if you can call whatever we are that.

To: Camila

Hey, I heard about everything. Are you okay? Where are you?

I send it and stare at my phone waiting for an immediate answer, but that doesn't happen. Instead we get home and I still haven't heard from her. Maybe she's already in her room with her little headphones on and I'm overreacting. I remember about her invitation to her room earlier, but I don't think she'll be in the mood to see me. I walk into our apartment and immediately check up on her, but she's not in her room. "Hey Ingrid, have you seen Camila?" I ask casually, I don't want her to make any ideas. "Simon called, she's with him." She answers and my head starts spinning. Is she really with Simon? Its been too long, I don't think she'd stay with him for so many hours, specially after what happened. I walk into my room, jump on my bed, and look at my phone to see if she has texted me, but nothing. Why did she tell Dinah about what happened and not me? I mean, I know I'm not exactly her best friend anymore, but she could've at least said something. Ever since she stormed past us going out of the building I haven't heard anything from her and that scares me to death. I look at my phone once more and decide to text her.

To: Camila

I know you're upset, just let me know you're okay, please.

I send it and my phone buzzes a couple of seconds later, making my heart flutter.

From: Camila

I'm okay, I'll see you later.

And that text was more than enough to make me mildly calm She's alive. Thank God she's alive! I lay down on my bed and close my eyes. I can't stop thinking about how fucked up this is. You can't just force two people to like each other and go on dates and shit just to protect your reputation. Camila is a human being with feelings and a heart, and if someone breaks it again I'm going to be so pissed. We don't need more stress in our lives, but Simon clearly doesn't care about our fucking feelings, he's just using us. There's got to be a way we get rid of him. I don't care for how long I've been dreaming about this life, my feelings and integrity come first. I'm a person and then a performer, not the other way around, and I'm sure Camila feels the same way. "Hey Lauren, can we talk?" I suddenly see Normani standing outside my room. "Hey, sure! Come here." I say patting my bed and she sits next to me. We haven't really talked since the night they picked me up from New Mexico and I was a huge asshole with her. "I just wanted to apologize for everything, I should've never kissed you and it wasn't fair to ambush you like I did in the car. I should've supported you, I know things between you and Camila are kind of shaky again and I should've been there for you instead of forcing myself on you." She says softly and I give her a warm smile. "Its okay Mani, I was a bitch and I should've never treated you like I did. Sometimes feelings can be overwhelming, I get that, trust me. So, are we cool?" I ask her resting my hand on her leg. "Of course, I missed you!" She says hugging me and I softly rub her back. "I missed you too." I answer sweetly. "So have you heard from Camila? I know you're not close or anything anymore, but I'm started to get a little worried." Normani asks me with a concerned look on her face and I realize she has always supported us. Maybe I shouldn't lie to her anymore, it doesn't make any sense and I could really use a pair of ears willing to hear me talk about how my arrangement with Camila is slowly killing me. But at the same time I had promised to keep whatever this is a secret, and I know Camila still trusts me for some reason. "Not really, but I'm sure she's fine." I finally decide to answer lying to one of my closest friends. "I hope so, she seemed pretty upset." Normani says and I nod. "She's alway's been a little overdramatic though, I'm pretty sure she's fine." I say trying to pretend I'm not completely freaking out about the strange disappearance of my special bandmate. "Yeah, you're right. Well I better go to bed. I'm so happy we're okay again!" She says walking towards the door. "I know, I'm glad everything's cool. Goodnight." I add and she waves goodbye before leaving. I close my eyes once more and try to think about something else. I should be happy at least one of my problems was fixed, but my mind keeps drifting back to the beautiful brown eyed girl. I know how sure she was about Austin being the one sending us those texts, and since I'm pretty sure Cole is innocent, then maybe Austin was the one after all. And now she has to spend time with him, and I'm a little jealous to be completely honest. Okay, enough about Camila, just think about something else. I wonder what Cole is doing right now. Oh, I wonder what Cole would think if he found out about Camila and I! God, he would be so pissed, I hope I never have to tell him. Shit, why am I thinking about her again? Just think about your birthday in a couple of weeks, that should be fun, right? Just partying, chilling with Cole's friends and his roommate he has been talking so much about. Its going to be fun, no doubt about that. My brain starts to get tired and I can finally feel myself drift to sleep when I feel my phone buzzing under my pillow. I squint my eyes trying to read the blurry text.