Cant't help falling in love (CAMREN)

CHAPTER 1

April, 1965

Camila held her drink high as she navigated the crowd. It was as if the room were made of nothing but elbows as people pushed past her and into her, the threat of beer being sloshed onto her clothes an all too real danger. She jostled past Marlena Autten, all long red hair and even longer legs, and she smiled at her, stopping a moment on her way to the back of the house.

"Killer party, huh?" she said over the dull drone of people talking and the music flooding from the dining room. Camila nodded, grinning a little, using the back of her hand to push her glasses back into place. Marlena giggled and touched the white collar of her shirt, kissing her on the cheek.

"It's so good to see you out of the library. Finals are torture!" she laughed and Camila shrugged, pulling her drink down to chest level now that she wasn't moving so much.

"Tell me about it."

"You think you did okay?" she said, stepping closer, and she could smell her perfume and the powder she had used on her neck. It stood out on her white skin as a delicate film from the heat of the party and all the bodies packed into the tiny Sorority house; she was tempted to wipe away a smudge that hadn't blended correctly out of some absent desire to fix it.

"I did as well as I could. You?" She answered, watching her roll her eyes to the ceiling, moving one shoulder casually.

"Same, I guess!" she suddenly smiled, pushing her slightly, "Don't be so modest! We all know you aced!"

Camila could feel the blush creeping up and coloring her ears, but she continued to shrug the compliment off.

"Well, enough talk about school. I'm glad you're having a good time," she tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, "there's lots of guys here, you know," she pushed her again with her hand and Camila laughed nervously.

"Yeah," she trailed, looking around. Marlena was right. There were plenty of guys.

"Here," she stepped forward and put her hand on Camila's back to make her stand up straight, and smoothed her hands over her shoulders, "and remember to smile! You could get lucky tonight!"

"I doubt it," Camila coughed, and she let her hands swing back down by her sides. She gave her a long look and smiled.

"I don't know," she sing-songed, "Come on, for you it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel!"

Camila scoffed, taking a sip of her beer while Marlena laughed at her. Finishing her swallow, she was just opening her mouth to say something else when there was a displaced roar from the front of the house. Several people turned to look, some fidgeting nervously. +

An engine gunned and from the archway to the foyer, Camila could see a bright beam of yellow light spearing through the front window. +

"Cops?" someone said, a girl, her voice nervous. A friend shushed her and everyone was quiet, the music pouring out of the dining room seeming louder than ever in the gathered silence. A group of guys moved to the window, and though she could barely see over them she craned her neck to watch as they crowded around it, their hands on the glass.

"Who the hell invited them?" one of them said, pulling back from the pane to glare behind him at the party goers. Camila frowned and the engine cut off, the light going with it. "They parked right on the lawn!" +

Camila's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Parked on the lawn? So that was the light she had seen. She felt her pulse quicken - whoever it was, they had guts parking on the Delta lawn in the middle of the night, especially when they were apparently not welcome.