Talk To Me (Camren)

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15

Mrs. Brunner sat at her desk, reading one of her barf-worthy romantic novels. Like everyday, she had turned her hearing aids off. Meaning, kids were chattering amongst each other at a normal volume. There were kids who didn't give interest in talking to people, and were just enjoying the (basically) free period. Lauren was one of those kids today. She was exceedingly exhausted from lack of sleep and a messed up sleep schedule. The day after breaks is always awful.

You can imagine how horrifyingly awful it became after Darren Moreno basically fucked up her relationship.

It started when Luis scooted his chair closer to hers. He said something sweet and she smiled, kissed him, and was about to whisper something cute back, but there was a loud slam of a book. Lauren took a look at the boy responsible and frowned. He was one of Luis' friends. His large jaw was clenched and his steely blue eyes were glowering solely at Lauren.

"Would you look at that," he abruptly shouted. Heads turned at his purposely loud voice."It's our favorite couple."

Darren's mouth raised in a knowing smile as he looked about. More and more students listened with eager ears like they did with anything that could be related to drama. The green eyed girl shifted her gaze in confusion.

"Tell me, Lauren, what did it feel like?"

Darren paused dramatically.

"To cheat on this lovely lad here."

Her heart dropped. It was so sudden. Everything was fine then, all of the sudden, it wasn't.

The room exploded with hushed chatter. There was an, "Oh shit!" from across the room. Lauren felt Luis remove his arm from her shoulder but she didn't dare look at him.

"Because, folks, I saw it happen and she did not look that sorry. So do you regret it? Actually, I think the real question is, who's the better kisser?"

Don't say it. Don't say it.

"Luis or Camila?"

Boys and girls were now shamelessly talking about the new buzz. Lauren sat, paralyzed in her seat.

Darren smiled, enjoying his moment of total wreckage. He leaned in to whisper in Lauren's ear. His hot breathe made her flinch. "By the way, you and the mute are a cute couple. Invite me over the next time you two have a make out session. Just don't hurt my boy Luis or this is what you get."

Mrs. Brunner had seemingly seen all the commotion and said a, "settle down" then went back to her book.

Luis' muffled voice could be heard to Lauren's left but she was too scared shitless to hear what he was saying. She did, though, involuntarily hear conversations around her. She cocked her head and sat very still.

"I always knew they'd get together," someone said from across the room.

"No wonder Camila talked to her."

"I can't believe Lauren did that to Luis."

"What a bitch."

"Finally, some lesbian activity."

"I knew Lauren and Luis wouldn't last. Did you see the way Lauren would look at her?"

The green eyes girl slowly looked up and glanced meekly around. Her fellow peers were staring at her. Every so often, one of them would whisper to each other or gesture to her in some way. Lauren wanted to slug them. And it was only going to get worse. The bell rang and she leaped to my feet, snatching up her folder and bag, pleading that that did not just happen.

She should have gone straight to Camila. She should have, but she didn't. Lauren ran to the outside of the school and leaned her forehead against the nearest object which happened to be a tree. She stood for what felt like hours, waiting for her brain to slow enough to pick out a single thought.
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"Chemistry is stupid."

"Why did I choose you as my partner? Why?"

"Because, Normani, we are best friends and best friends always choose each other. Even if one complains the whole time."

"That was a rhetorical question, Dinah."

"A what now?"

Dinah and Normani stood at their table, bickering as they filled beakers and organized hydrogen tablets.

"Did you fill it to the 2 mark?" Normani asked as she examined the glass.

"Yup," Dinah said.

"Okay, drop the..." Normani looked down at their chart, "aluminum hydroxide which is marked Al(OH)3."

"So where do you think Lauren and Camila are? I saw them earlier this morning, but they didn't come to lunch."

Normani was about to reprimand Dinah on being distracted before the chair in front of them scraped back against the floor and suddenly Austin Mahone was leaning against their table. He kept his eyes trained on getting baking soda from the box to his spoon while saying, "Probably in an empty room doing who knows what."

"What does that mean?" Normani snorted, lifting her vile up to the light.

Austin's lips curled into a lopsided smile. "It means that I knew there was a reason Camila wouldn't catch on to my charm. I should have guessed she digs girls, it's the only explanation."

Dinah blinked.

The small test tube almost slipped between Normani's fingers as she gaped at the boy.

"Excuse me?"

Austin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" Dinah demanded, getting all up in the boy's space.

"Man, they're dating!" Austin- who didn't seem fazed by Dinah's glare- said.

"What!" they shrieked simultaneously.

"I can't believe you two are best friends with Lauren and you haven't heard. Darren told everyone what he saw last hour. Apparently she's been getting it on behind Luis' back. It's kind of a big deal. Very dramatic and exciting."

Shell shocked, Dinah and Normani looked at each other as if to say "are you hearing this?"

"How is that- but Luis is..." Normani tried to sort out her thoughts.

"Apparently she cheated on him...or not. I'm not quite sure. There's a lot of different stories going around. They may not even be dating. All I know is they kissed during winter break."

"I'm having a long talk with Lauren." Normani grumbled and threw the liquid into the sink.

"Yeah, it must be a dumb story Moreno made up." Dinah brushed it off nonchalantly.

"Then again, Lauren did have a that crush on Camila. She told you, remember?"

"They were literally infatuated with each other yesterday." Dinah was becoming more convinced that it was true.

"Oh my god, I can't believe something has been going on and we haven't had a clue."

"Let's just finish this assignment. People are already done and I don't want to have to fill out the worksheet at home."
________________

Camila stood up and walked to her locker. Eyes watched her.  Students looked and pointed. She didn't know why the hell they were doing that but she wanted to yell at them to mind their on business and go away. She's had enough with people scrutinizing her.

A student fairly close to her was subtly pointing at Camila, showing her friend, "That's the one. The girl with the brown hair in the red shirt."

More people stared at her. Camila held her breathe and looked around in confusion. Unknown faces surrounded her, asking her questions that confused her further. She searched frantically for Lauren's familiar face, but there was no sight of her.

"You're Camila right?"

"What really happened?

It was like it was one of those cliche scenes straight out of a movie. She knew that if she stared straight at them, she'd crumble. The disheveled girl ran past the crowd, having no intention of going to lunch and hid in the bathroom. In the sterile lavatory, Camila tried to slow her breathing, but it only sped up. She couldn't suck in enough air; her mind went into overdrive. There was wetness on her cheeks. She could feel herself starting to hyperventilate.

Suddenly there was a weight on the small of her back. Camila jumped away from the touch and slowed her breathing, but tears continued to stream freely.

"Sorry. It's just- are you okay?" the mystery girl asked before taking a small step forward.

Camila furthered herself from the girl.  The very deep brown eyes were not the striking green bursts. The downturn lips weren't the wide, welcoming smile. This girl wasn't Lauren. She needed Lauren.

"I'm Sandra...by the way."

Camila hastily wiped away the tears, finally seeing the girl better without blur. Sandra had dark eyes that were lined with prominent eyeliner, pale lips, and a cross necklace that reminded Camila of Lauren's. Black thick rimmed glasses sat atop the bridge of her nose, though they didn't make her look nerdy, more hipster. Loose tendrils of long brown, flowing hair kept having to be pushed away from her face. She wore a long sweater, jeans, and Uggs. She was quite pretty and that made Camila even more on edge.

After a long, nerve racking silence of Sandra studying Camila, she spoke.

"Okay... Well if you're okay..." Sandra trailed off.

Camila hated these awkward silences entirely. She was still overwhelmed, but she didn't mind this girl's presence. Still, this girl didn't exactly send vibes of comfort.

"Why were you freaking out?" Sandra's eyes bored into her for answers.

Camila thought about just running out of the restroom, but stood her ground.

"You're not going to tell me anything, are you? That's fine. It'll just be another mystery unsolved in my book."

A few months ago Camila would have fled without a second thought, now she was thinking about saying something.

"I'm going to go to my class now," Sandra inched towards the door.

It was now or never.

"Thanks," Camila squeaked.

The corners of Sandra's lips twitched upward and she stepped out of the room.

Camila let out an enormous breathe, tears still behind her eyelids. Everything was so confusing. Still, she had nowhere to go. She couldn't stay here, that's for sure. But she didn't want to go to her house either. She wished Lauren was there, but she had no idea where Lauren could be on campus. After calling Lauren and going to voicemail, it hit her how alone she was. The panting starting again. She felt pathetic, but couldn't stop. It felt as if someone had cut off her air. Rapid inhales and exhales turned into sobs. Her arms rapped around her knees, hugging herself.

Time passed and all she heard for hours was the sound of her own choked breathes and strangled sobs, echoing through the empty restroom.