Chapter 1- A Brief Encounter

1.1K 28 2
                                    

       Maths at 8am on a Monday morning was dull for most people. The grey sky looking above the school cast the room with a dull light, as students found their heavy eyes closing to the steady sound of their teacher's monotonous droning... but not Camila. She was awake... wide awake. Like every single Monday morning for the past two years, she had bound into school with excitement in her heart ready to enjoy a full hour sat next to the girl of her dreams... Lauren Jauregui.

        As students dotted around the room gazed at the teacher, their notepads, the wall, Camila's stare was pinned in fascination at the beautiful girl who was positioned next to her, and every single Math lesson, no matter how tiny or how prominent it was, Camila managed to find something new to adore about the girl. Whether it was a brand new speckle of freckle upon her perfect, smooth nose, or a chip in the black-painted nail that she was chewing, Camila was infatuated by every tiny part of Lauren's appearance.

     "Hey... Lauren?" She found herself whispering, beneath the loud voice of Miss Yolanda. The green-eyed girl beside her raised a dark, manicured eyebrow and the corner of her red lips flickered into a faint smile as she turned to face the smaller girl in curiosity. "Can I... can I borrow a highlighter?" Camila asked nervously, her cheeks flushing slightly as her brown eyes locked gaze with the emerald green, twinkling eyes of Lauren.

       "Sure!" Lauren said, fumbling in her backpack and then holding out two hands to Camila, who creased her eyebrows in perplexion. In one of Lauren's pale hands, she was holding a neon pink highlighter pen, which Camila had desired, however, in the other, Lauren held a compact palette with a shimmering gold powder in it. "Two types of girl... do you want a highlighter?" Lauren chuckled, thrusting the pen in Camila's face, "or do you want highlighter?" She smirked, and with the other hand, she jerked the small case of makeup. Camila's face was frozen with confusion and panic. A heavy, awkward silence hung over the girls as Camila tried to comprehend what Lauren had just said. "...chill, Camila, it was a joke?" The older girl suddenly burst into a fit of giggles, and the smaller girl simply sat there holding her breath in panic. Dammit, Mila, there was your chance to share a joke with her, and you blew it!

      "I'll take the pen kind, please!" Camila laughed nervously, taking the neon pink highlighter with a shaky hand, and her stomach erupted into butterflies as she felt her skin brush against Lauren's for a split second, her finger burning hot where it had come into contact with the taller girl's pinky.
     
      The rest of the hour ticked by painfully slowly, and as everyone else in the classroom focused on their quadratic equations,  Camila was playing with her dark hair and fidgeting a little too much, worriedly replaying their brief encounter over and over in her head. Had she ruined it? Did she look stupid? Did Lauren think she had no sense of humour? Oh god, every time she tried to have a normal conversation with the girl her mouth seemed to always close up and her lungs felt like they had collapsed.

         After a long 40 minutes of anxiously ruminating, the shrill bell finally echoed through the hallways of Miami High School, and Camila hurriedly threw her stationary into her bag, and ran down the hallway to meet her best friends who were in the ability group below her.

     "Oh god, guys I just fucked things up with Lauren massively!" Camila exclaimed as she approached Dinah, Ally and Normani, interrupting their animated conversation as she unloaded her worries onto them in a mess of stuttering and talkingwaytoofast.

      "Mila, I'm sure it was fine! You're worrying about nothing!" Dinah chuckled, patting the smaller girl's shoulder reassuringly.

      "Dinah's right... Lauren will have forgotten about it by now!" Normani sighed, but before Camila could respond to the kindness of her friends, a tall figure suddenly blocked her vision, and her heart leapt with surprise.
Lucy Vives.
Lauren's best friends... and Camila's worst enemy. Ever since seventh grade when Lucy had caught Camila staring at Lauren in the changing room before gym, Lucy had had it out for the smaller girl. Over the course of the next few years, the smaller girl was constantly subjected to a range of angry looks across classrooms, the occasional snide comment, and if Lucy was feeling brave, Camila would be tripped over in the hallway and her books would fly everywhere in a flurry of paper.

      "Are you talking about Lauren there, Cabello?" Lucy drawled, and Camila felt her heart pound anxiously as she gazed at the taller girl who was towering above her. The lump in her throat had grown so much that she didn't even have a chance to form a reply, before Lucy jumped in again. "Listen... I know whose team you play for! I've known since seventh grade, remember? And I haven't told a soul. But the way you stare and obsess over my best friend... it's just... it's just a bit creepy..." The taller girl sneered, and Camila's cheeks burned as she felt a gentle waft of Lucy's warm breath blow over them.

     "Hey, listen here, Vives! Camila hasn't done anything wrong, okay? So either you leave her alone, or I come at you, girl... Polynesian style!" A loud voice behind her suddenly boomed, and Camila grinned as she saw Dinah in full action, flicking her hair and pointing her long, confident fingers into Lucy's disgusted face. Relief washed over the small girl.

       However, it wasn't going to stop. It had been going on for years, and Camila's previous thought was proved correct, when as Lucy turned away from them, the tall girl shot Camila a bitter look with her eyebrows raised into angry arches and her mouth flattened into a thin line. Camila dreaded to think what would have happened if she was on her own.

-

Author's Notes- Hey guys! Hope you have enjoyed the first little introductory chapter of this book that I am writing!!! If you liked it so far, I would really appreciate a quick vote or even a comment somewhere! My message box is always open!
Em :)

Turning Tables (CAMREN) Where stories live. Discover now