Kinda like fate?

Fated

It is raining outside, the rain splattering against the window of Casey Blake’s window, almost loud enough to drown out the shrieks and laughs of the preteens huddled in a circle in the middle of the room.

The air is almost suffocating with the smell of chips, popcorn and whatever else garbage food those nine 8thgraders—five boys and four girls—had brought over.

Somehow Lauren got robbed into playing this ridiculous game where the bottle is spun and the first pair it lands on have to go into Casey’s closet and do whatever they want for seven minutes.

7 minutes of heaven and its scandalous enough for a group of 13 year olds to have them all blushing and giggling except Lauren.

The bottle spins and it lands on Austin Mahone. Nearly all the girls seem to sit up a bit straighter, even Camila who’s sitting next to Lauren and Lauren is surprised when the bottle lands on Camila. She looks at her friend and finds a red blush high on her cheeks, her brown doe eyes spilled wide, fingers curling in her dress.

The boys hoot and the girls giggle. Jessy Lee looks jealous and Austin Mahone is smirking.

“You don’t have to do this,” Lauren says. She thinks this is ridiculous. Camila has always talked about how she wanted her first kiss to be a big, romantic thing. Kissing a dirty middle-school boy with breath that stinks of sour cream and onion chips is the least romantic thing Lauren can think of.

Everyone is persistent.

“Of course she has to do it!” Casey exclaims. She’s always been bossy and Lauren has to wonder why she let herself get dragged to this stupid party.“That’s the rules. You can’t break the rules, Camila.”

“It’s Cameela,” Lauren corrects her irritated. They’ve gone to school together for 8 years and for some reason, Casey still insist on pronouncing Camila’s name wrong. While Camila doesn’t seem to mind, it’s one of the things that can really grate on Lauren’s nerves.

She looks at Camila who looks younger than she is—more than she usually does—with her pretty, polka doted bow in her silky hair and her pretty dress, the one she’d specifically bought for this party.

Austin Mahone has gotten to his feet with that cocky smile of his and he holds a hand out for Camila. Camila blushes harder and Lauren knows she has a crush on the boy. Lately, she hasn’t done anything but talk Lauren’s ears off with Austin thisand Austin that.

Camila slips her hand into his and they disappear into the closet.

That’s how Camila gets her first kiss and her first boyfriend.

Lauren has always disliked Austin—he’s that one obnoxious, white boy from your class who’s constantly doing some annoying shit to get attention. Her dislike for him increases tenfold when he becomes Camila’s boyfriend. In her humble opinion, Austin Mahone doesn’t deserve Camila—she’s made of everything sweet and bright while Austin is the incarnation of everything wrong with a middle school boy; immature, annoying cocky. The list goes on.

But Camila doesn’t see that.

“He’s actually really sweet, if you’d only give him a chance and get to know him,” she says to Lauren one day after school when they get to Lauren’s house and raid the fridge.

Lauren is skeptical.

Then Austin goes and confirms every negative opinion Lauren has of him; he goes with his stupid, big chapped mouth and boasts to his stupid little friends that he’s had sex with Camila. Two weeksafter they get together.