Bully or friend (Camren)

Chapter eight

With an awkward silence, the two girls peacefully drove in Lauren's very old, rusty car that had peculiar squeaky noises echoing from underneath which worried the brunette because she was pretty sure the engine was about to blow up any minute. They exchanged a brief conversation about their school that lasted a maximum of two minutes but these two drifted friends didn't know how to talk to one another and nor did Camila want to talk. Lightly, Lauren turned up the radio which played a trashy pop song that Lauren bopped her head to and tapped her finger in beat to. Eventually, after their awkward car ride, they arrived at the diner Lauren had suggested. It was quite empty compared to their regular diners in the centre of town apart from singular people all quietly enjoying their meals; it was clear they were just bypassers. Soothing music faintly played in the background as the bell dinged when the two girls entered which alerted everyone's heads to perk up; it had been a while since they had heard that sound. They seated themselves in the corner of the diner in one of the leather booths which was surprisingly clean apart from the layers of dust collecting on the menus. It was a change from their usual diners where every table had some sort of indestructible stain forever attached to it or rips in the seats with fluff pouring out of it. It was like the place had been frozen in time.

"What are you ordering?" Lauren asked from behind the menu as Camila stopped taking out maths revision books from shock.

"Lauren, we're not here to eat," Camila stressed to her, slamming the books on their table which made the green-eyed girl jump out of her seat.

"Come on," She pushed, "They have Nutella milkshakes and cheesy curly fries."

For a few seconds, Camila paused then, without hesitation, she sighed out, "order me both of them."

Right on time, their server appeared at the table wearing a wide smile with a black pen gripped eagerly in her hand and a tiny notepad in the other. Her curls were tucked and tight which demonstrated how little work she had to do in a nearly empty diner so this was her time to shine as a waitress. As Camila flipped through endless stacks of sheets, Lauren had ordered their meals and was waiting patiently for the brunette to begin their first lesson of tutoring but she tried hiding her nerves by regularly clicking her fingers and swallowing a little too often; she was desperate for the milkshake to hurry up. Sure, she was bad at maths but now Camila, a super smart student, was about to witness her horrific mathematical skills in all its glory. She was going to look like an idiot so she plotted more ways of procrastinating but the diner was full of nothing.

"What would you like to start with? I was either thinking something you struggle with the most or starting from the beginning of the curriculum?" Camila's mouth moved quicker than the cars driving down the highway next to them and Lauren found herself squinting confusingly at her.

"I guess I struggle with the topic that has numbers in it," She replied dumbfounded and nearly speechless; she didn't even realise maths had different parts because, to her, it was all the same and all just as difficult.

"Right," The brunette exhaled anxiously because she was responsible for someone's future and not just anybody; it was Lauren. They had history and this was personal for her. Yes, she hated her but she wasn't going to let her bitterness prevent somebody from reaching their full potential. Either way, she was going to get sweet rewards whether Lauren did well or not.

Eventually, the brunette decided on starting from the beginning which was the easy stuff and she hoped that maybe Lauren would understand it if she actually paid attention this time. Yet, every time something remotely mathematical came flying out of her mouth, Lauren's face became more and more complexed with each passing second. She knew the first few lessons would be difficult because there were multiple ways of working different equations out and Camila needed to work out which one would suit Lauren and she would also have to understand all diverse ways of working out. The more stressed Lauren got, the more curly fries she would pick up and the more slurps she would take from her Nutella milkshake. The brunette had to admit that the milkshake was rather addicting and so were the fries. After forty minutes of explaining and answering questions, it was Lauren's turn to apply the fresh knowledge to a maths sheet Camila had made and pre-answered for herself. Picking up a pencil, Lauren's hand shook very discreetly but she could feel the worry racing through her and she swore the beating of heart was so loud that she could no longer hear the music in the background or the news channel above on the TV above the counter.