Just Off The Key Of Reason

Chapter 6: This Could Be the Real World Now

Camila had no idea when Fruit-by-the Foot got so short. When she was a kid they used to go on forever, like, she could tie it into belts and bows and eat it throughout the day. Sure, maybe some people made fun of her for it, but it was massive strips of manufactured fruity goodness from the freaking gods, and she loved it. Right now, she was stealing some from Lauren's stash, because it was either that for lunch, or four-day-old Chinese that she was pretty sure Barnaby had gotten into. She startled as her phone rang, dropping her ball of Fruit-by-the-Foot on the floor. Holy shit. Could Lauren tell she was stealing her disgusting food?

"Hello?" Camila said apprehensively, glancing around for hidden cameras.

"Hi, is this Camila Cabello?" A guy asked, sounding worried.

"Yes, this is Camila." She replied, throwing her snack in the trash and looking for something else. God, Lauren had four freaking boxes of Hostess Cupcakes. This was not acceptable. Camila contemplated just throwing them all out.

"My name is Barry. I work with your friend Lauren. Uh, she has you listed as her emergency contact, and she's sort of having a problem right now."

Camila processed that for half a second, her eyes still fixed on the Cupcakes. "What? What's wrong? Is she okay? Did something bite her?"

Camila's first thought was, 'ohmygod she got rabies from a feral puppy and is foaming at the mouth.' She was gathering up her stuff before the guy had even answered.

"No, physically she's fine. She's having, like, a panic attack or something...Like a really bad one. Is there, I don't know, is there something wrong with her?" Barry asked hesitantly.

Camila was about to blurt out a confident 'No!' But she realized she really had no idea. "I'm on my way." She told him instead, rushing out the door, and barely shutting it in time to stop Barnaby from following.

Two blocks away, she realized she was in sleep shorts and a six-year -old t-shirt.

Camila strode into the office area and right up to the woman sitting at the desk. "Hi, I'm Camila." She said quickly, looking around for any sign of her friend or loose, raging animals.

"Oh, Camila, you can come with me." The woman stood up and led her through some double doors, through a room with several kennels, and into a smaller room with a fridge and a table. A tall guy, who must be Barry, was hovering near the door. He looked relieved to see her.

Camila scanned the room and spotted Lauren sitting on the floor against the far wall, knees pulled up to her chest, hands over her ears. She couldn't see Lauren's face, and she strode quickly over to kneel down in front of her. Barry and the receptionist watched from the doorway.

"Lauren." Camila said softly. She could hear Lauren breathing rapidly into her knees, her toes tapping up and down randomly. Lauren didn't respond, probably because she couldn't hear her.

"Hey." Camila tried again, reaching out a hand and resting it lightly on Lauren's head. Lauren flinched and started rocking a little, definitely crying now. Camila had no idea what to do.

"What happened?" Camila turned around and asked Barry helplessly.

He shook his head. "I-I don't know, I wasn't there. There was this group of kids that came in on a field trip, and they got a little loud I guess, you know, and she just...came in here and hasn't moved..."

Lauren sounded like she was wheezing now. Camila leaned forward and cautiously pried the woman's hands off her ears. Lauren buried her face deeper in her knees and rocked a little more violently.

"Lauren, honey, you need to breathe." Camila pleaded. "You're okay, you're safe. There's no one else in the room." She gestured wildly with one of her arms for Barry and the receptionist to leave, without taking her eyes off the brunette head in front of her.