Cupid's Crash

Part 2

On the first day of class, Camila had seen her in the corner of her eye, walking out the gymnasium doors with her friends onto the big football field. Instantly, she regretted her stupid decision to take a culinary class back in junior year in an overly optimistic way to "improve her cooking skills." The class was a waste of time and evidently, a waste of credits.
She couldn't believe the bite on her ass - it was goodbye smooth sailing and hello suffering. Camila wasn't exactly an athletic person, but now, having to be subjected as a loner as well as having to be in the blinding presence of the school's biggest celebrity only rubbed the salt in the wound. As always, Lauren radiated with beauty and confidence and it made Camila grunt in vexation. It wasn't like Camila had a dislike for the girl, in all honestly, that wasn't the case at all. It was just, they were polar opposites - like water and oil. Not to mention she casted an even darker shadow over Camila's already non-existent presence in the class. The period was just warm-ups and stretches until the last bell that day, but anyone would've thought they'd underwent some intense cardio circuit with the way Camila sluggishly crawled back to the girls locker room. "What a shitty first day," Camila bemoaned. She lamely hoped she would eventually see the bright side of things. Soon. A couple of months later, and before Camila knew it, love was in the air. It was almost Valentine's Day, a sickening excuse for mass PDA and torture porn for all the singles left on the holiday. But even so, Camila had a job to do.Every year for Valentine's Day, the yearbook club would make a page for the school's "cutest couples." Hundreds of couples would submit their application to be on the page and then the school would vote for the top 20. It was just another way to entice more people to buy the book. At the same time, the club also helped the student council with their Valentines sales by making posters advertising reminders to buy roses and chocolates before the big day.
It was still a couple of weeks before the holiday, and as far as Camila knew, the club was still in the middle of handling the application process and making those posters. The application bit was the easy part - all filing and organizing. The posters required a little field work. What they usually did for the posters was snap candid photos of anything remotely romantic and print out 24" x 36" images of them. As long as the theme was the same, anything could be used, really. However, the yearbook club didn't own the equipment to print large images with most of the school's funds pouring into the sports programs year after year, so they'd send them to a printing company to be expertly enlarged and finely laminated before there return to their possession. Real professional shit. In addition, the posters would be plastered with "important" information at the request of the student council regarding their flower and cocoa sales. "Exactly as we've written for you. Word for word. No deviations, please," as the student council would pompously command every year the holiday came around. Camila herself wasn't tasked to scout for pictures nor was she in charge of overseeing applications. She just monitored, really. She trusted the other members and her Managing and Photo editors who were also her best friends for the success of that process. Camila still had the actual yearbook to manage. But enough of that, that was just another day to Camila. What was and had been stressing her out was her dreadful gym class. It was a big downer considering it was her last period, so she always ended the day on a sour note. She really tried hard to be positive, but as the days went by, she found herself more sweaty and isolated than the first. Camila wasn't a shy girl in the slightest but she wasn't overly outspoken either. Her journalism skills relied more on her stubbornness and guts, not her social tactfulness. Camila had a close circle of friends along with some close acquaintances and that was her bubble and she stuck with that bubble. If every once in awhile there was an easy opportunity to make a new friend, Camila was all for it. However, this class was really pinning her to be some kind of anti-social nerd.
It was really hard to insert herself amongst her gym peers since it seemed everyone had already formed their cliques, and being seniors, nobody cared for new additions. "What the hell," Camila thought. It was beginning to feel like she was some new student who'd transferred in in the middle of the year. "The school's population isn't that big, so how the hell do I not know anybody besides the obvious in this class?" Whatever the case, she couldn't change her situation, so she supposed she might as well deal with it. It was just one lousy class. After some time, even sharing the same space as Lauren Jauregui didn't unnerve Camila anymore. She hardly ever noticed Camila, yeah, but still, she felt better. It was actually steadily becoming a painless routine for her to quietly get the class over with, and before she knew it, Valentine's was almost around the corner. "There's that face, again. Chancho,if it sucks that bad, maybe you could appeal to find another alternative? Maybe do some volunteer work in exchange like picking up trash around the school or helping out the lunch-ladies?" Dinah, the yearbook club's Photo Editor and Camila's best friend, jested as she nudged Camila's arm. "Hardy har-har. It's not funny, that class is such a joke. All we do is warm-ups and whatever sport of the day Mr. Hannigen decides to throw at us so he doesn't actually have to do his job. Yesterday, it was ping pong." Camila uttered, rolling her eyes at her friend. Dinah was such a troublemaker and jokester, even her appearance was wild with her rose dyed messy hair and nose piercing. Dinah snorted a hearty laugh, one that was unsympathetic to Camila's peril, which earned her a harsh jab in the ribs. Dinah yelped in between her uncontrollable laughing. Ally, who was on the other side of Camila, patted her on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. "You're gonna be fine. Want to hang out afterward when class lets out to make it up?" Ally was always the sweet angel of their trio. Being the Managing Editor in the club, Camila could always trust her to help her out. Camila glommed on her and pouted; hugging her in a tight exaggerated embrace. The girls mousy blonde hair floated lightly around Camila's forearms. "No, my love, that's ok. This poor soul has things to do after, anyways. At least you love me, though!" Camila  cried dry tears as she shot Dinah daggers. Dinah only laughed louder as Ally blushed with that shy smile of hers. "Anyways," Dinah continued, wiping away some tears, "how's hanging out with Lauren Jauregui? You guys best friends, yet? Buying each other lattes?" "Shut up," Camila retorted, "we don't even talk like we haven't since the start of the year. Stop asking about her, I don't even care anymore." "But it's Lauren Jauregui! The big shot, the wowser. Hey, you think if you touch her you might be able to deadlift a car?" Dinah joked with a smug grin. Camila rolled her eyes. "At least tell me if she's a bitch or not." She chuckled. Camila slowed down a little and thought about it. Lauren Jauregui a bitch? She'd hardly considered her attitude until now. In her experience and from what she saw - no, Lauren didn't come off as one. Whenever she saw her in class with her friends, she was always smiling and laughing, and whenever she overheard her conversations, she was never gossiping or bad mouthing anyone. Now that she thought about it, Lauren was kind of an ok person. So, why was she so anxious and uncomfortable around her? The tardy bell rang its first warning signal; interrupting Camila's train of thought. "Shit! I gotta run, catch you later!" She exclaimed as she sprinted down the hallway into the other adjoining building where the gymnasium was located. Dinah and Ally waved her goodbye and headed off to their respective classes, not before Dinah could yell out one more tease in ear shot, however.

"Say hi to your girlfriend for me!"

Camila groaned. She was so gonna get it later.