Gold Dust Woman

Chapter 9

She probably would've hesitated to knock if she wasn't too drunk to even stand up straight, but she was, so she just pounded her fist against the door, losing count until it violently swung open. It almost knocked Camila off her feet.

"What the hell do you – Camila?" Lauren stepped out of the doorway a little to get a better look. Camila had a lopsided grin on her face at the sound of her name and had to lean against the wall for support. It felt like her eyes were vibrating, she could hardly see straight. And the stench of Jose Cuervo emanating from her skin was strong enough that she could smell it on herself. So she wasn't sure why Lauren's eyes lit up like that, like she was looking at something beautiful when Camila was sure she looked like a drunken train wreck, but she was far too gone to question it.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren asked after a beat.

"It's her, Johnny!" Camila yelled, turning to the parked cab behind her. He flashed his brights twice before taking off down the road.

"Who was that? What's going on?" Lauren ran her hands through her hair, grabbing onto Camila with both arms in search of an explanation. Camila didn't mean to let another little burp escape from her lips, but she did. And she didn't mean to giggle at the taste, blowing her bitter breath right onto Lauren's nose, but she did. Lauren didn't move though. Just crinkled her nose a little and repeated her question.

"I'm drunk," Camila finally answered, like it wasn't painfully obvious-.

"Clearly," Lauren rolled her eyes playfully, pulling Camila inside. She felt a little surge of pride at being right; all the lights were on, the TV was on, and something was beeping in the microwave; Lauren had definitely been awake.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren repeated, slowly, carefully putting Camila into a chair and pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Kiss me."

"What?" Lauren dropped the water. It bounced along the tile but neither of the girls payed attention.

Camila stood up and Lauren didn't move, didn't even twitch.

"Kiss me." Camila repeated, more assertively, taking a few steps towards her. She could've sworn Lauren was holding her breath; her chest wasn't even moving.

"Kiss. Me." she demanded, her voice low as she mumbled once more directly onto Lauren's lips, and before Camila knew what was happening, she felt her back slam against the refrigerator door and Lauren's tongue dive into her mouth. She was too drunk to really do much but stand there, just moving her lips took all of her energy. She tried to grab onto Lauren's hips to pull her closer, even though the older girl was already flush against her, but her hands were kind of numb and she couldn't really get the buzzing in her head to stop long enough to think. So she just let Lauren's lips attack her and hoped with everything she had that it was enough.

It wasn't. It hadn't even been a minute before Lauren pushed away from her and took a step back like she was afraid she'd get burned. She almost looked guilty.

"Camz," Lauren shook her head, her cheeks flushed, "we can't."

"You always say that," Camila pointed out, taking another step forward. She felt dizzy and she couldn't tell if it was because of all the alcohol or because she could still taste Lauren's tongue in her mouth.

"No, you're drunk."

"I don't care," Camila pouted.

"I do."

"You said you wanted to prove it," Camila muttered. Lauren cocked her head to the side, not understanding.

"Prove what?"