Cupid's Crash

Part 5

A few days later, Camila passed the poster again - after having purposefully avoided it for a whole week now - and stopped in front of it this time to look at it now that she was alone. Now that she was really looking, they really did look like a couple in the middle of a moment. Lauren's hands were gently clasped under Camila's elbows, holding her close. She eyed herself closely and remembered the weak smile she gave Lauren was now somehow transformed into a soft and sweet dimpled grin.Shifting her gaze to the athlete's face, she saw that from this angle, her expression looked almost romantic and deeply affected. The slight curl on her lips gave the impression that she was smiling at Camila and her worried eyes looked intense and passionate. Camila nervously chuckled at the irony, they almost looked to be glowing because of their sweat.
If there was anything good that came out of the whole thing, it was that now, the school was definitely gonna buy those chocolates and roses. Things seemed to settle down now that Valentines Day was just around the corner. People were starting to forget about her, or at least care less, and that was just what she needed to focus on her club activities. Camila was starting to look on the bright side again, until she got a call from Ally telling her how Normani had flaked out from covering the softball game this Saturday, which was today.
Camila was at home working on a page from the yearbook when she got the call. She listened anxiously as Ally explained that nobody else was available and even she was too busy. They couldn't just skip the game, they'd planned out a page for it weeks beforehand and changing it now would only set their due dates back even further to make up for it. She glanced at the time on her phone, if she went now, she could make it just in time. Swallowing the heavy feeling in her stomach, she tried to hype herself up to just go and get the job over with. Take a few pics and perhaps conduct a few interviews, that should be easy, right?

Maybe Lauren wouldn't even notice her.

The game was a home match at the school, which made it easer for Camila to just show up as she didn't have to have an access pass. Parking her car at the edge of the lot, Camila hiked towards the softball field with her camera gear in hand. Dressed in faded jeans and a hoodie, Camila hoped she'd blend into the crowd when she got there.
Just as she thought, she was right on time. She climbed onto the bleachers and started to take a few wide shots. There were a lot of people as expected with Lauren's games. After awhile, she almost forgot about her fear of being caught - so immersed into her work. Halfway through the game, Camila had slowly migrated from the bleachers to near the fence now, practically leaning over it as she tried to get a perfect shot of each pitch and every swing.
By the time the game ended, with Lauren's team on the victory side obviously, Camila's paranoia of being seen by her had all but dissipated. Packing away her things, she decided to take a few more pics of the dispersing crowd and the teams leaving the field. So focused was she, she didn't even hear when someone called out to her until the person was walking right towards her. All of a sudden, a black blur invaded Camila's camera lens and she glanced up to see her worse case scenario: Lauren Jauregui. Camila froze in place and almost forgot to breathe. Fuck, she thought. Somehow, she managed to regain just enough control of her body to turn around in an attempt to leave, before being stopped by Lauren.
"Wait, don't go. I come in peace." Lauren cooly smiled. It really had been awhile since Camila last seen her. Seeing her again, she'd forgotten just how pretty the girl was. "I didn't even know you were watching. If I had, I would've said hi sooner. So, here to sneak a pic of me, again?" Camila gulped. "N-No, I'm here on behalf of the yearbook club. And...I had nothing to do with that picture."
"I'm just kidding," Lauren softly chuckled, "I didn't come over to duke it out with you. Really. I just wanted to talk." Camila watched the girl, searching in her expression of any foul play but finding nothing. Nevertheless, she was not prepared for any chatting with Lauren just yet. "U-Um, I-I really can't stay long. I really need to be going."
"I think I deserve an explanation, don't you think?" Lauren cut to the chase. Her expression was soft and her tone a bit playful although firm. She didn't seem to be leaning towards aggression with Camila and, if Camila was honest, she wasn't sure why. She wasn't really sure what Lauren's intentions were, but she couldn't deny that she owed her an explanation. She agreed, half accepting the possibility that she might get jumped and beat up by Lauren's teammates or something. She set her camera bag along with her other things onto the bleachers behind her and braced herself for their "talk."
"I'm Lauren, by the way." She simpered.
"Yeah, I know who you are. I'm Camila." She fidgeted around as she readied herself for what she hoped would be a convincing and earnest explanation. Breathing in, she told Lauren what'd happened. The girl listened silently, seeming to absorb the information with a sense of calm and was that intrigue Camila noticed?
All of a sudden, Lauren guffawed as Camila finished, startling her. Camila stared at her, dumbfounded about what was so funny.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh out loud like that," Lauren said as she wiped away tears, "you've got interesting friends, is all. To be honest, I thought the whole thing was kind of funny. Whoever took that picture really sold us well, even my close friends were on my case about it."
"You're not mad?" Camila asked quizzically.
"What? No, why would I? It was the highlight of my year. Although, I didn't get to see you at all ever since, so I wasn't sure how you were handling the whole thing. I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding and to know if you were doing ok?" Lauren trailed off and bit her lip. "...And I wanted to properly apologize to you about what happened in gym that day, too."
Like a weight off her shoulders, Camila sucked in a breath of fresh air at Lauren's revelation. So, she wasn't mad, then? Thank god, she sighed to herself. "It's fine, really. The bruises are almost gone and I'm a lot more spry than before. And now that I know you're ok with uh the poster thing, it makes all the little things that happened seem trivial and stupid."
"What 'little things?'" Lauren asked, suddenly serious.
Camila stiffened at the girls changed demeanor. "Er - well, it was nothing big. Just people saying things and being assholes. But it's fine, now. I'm over it, really. I mean, I get where they're coming from, me with someone like you? What a joke, right? And you're not even into girls which is the worst part, so sorry if that put you in a tight spot."
She stopped her nervous rambling. For some reason, the vibe in the air had suddenly gotten tense and heavy, not like it was before literally a few seconds ago. There was an awkward silence as Camila watched Lauren's frown grow hard and then soft again.
"Sorry you had to deal with that. I don't know where people get off thinking they have a say as to who's right for someone or not. That sort of ignorance pisses me off." Lauren ranted.
"I agree." Camila did not want to make Lauren even more mad than she already was. She'd never seen this side of her before. Lauren looked her over, seemingly calmed down now, making Camila stand straighter.
"You're pretty cute so I don't know why you'd agree with them." She finally said. Camila tilted her head. Did she just hear that right.
Suddenly, a grin formed on the girls face. "Hey, I know you said you had a hard time, but, don't you want to prove to them how wrong they are?"

"What do you mean?" Camila asked, not really sure where this was going.

"How about you and I pretend we're dating? It'll shut up those haters and put an end to all the rumors about us."
Camila's mouth was agape. "Umm, I don't really think-"
"Look, I feel like all I've done is cause you trouble. Let's have fun with this, make them eat their words. It'll only be until the end of Valentines week. I promise I wouldn't do anything without your permission. Unless, you're seeing someone, right now?"
"N-No God no, I-I'm not." Camila blurted. She didn't know why that came out so weird. "I mean...no, I'm not."
"Good, then how about it? Let me make it up to you, please?"
Camila was speechless. Would pretending to go out with her really do any good? Would they even be convincing? And then there was the obvious: a fake RELATIONSHIP with LAUREN JAUREGUI? People would die just to be in the same circle of friends as her.
Lauren batted her eyes, hoping for Camila to say yes. Forget about her being a goodie two shoes, the girl could be vengeful and mischievous. As if she had much choice with those emerald green eyes staring her down, Camila reluctantly said ok. Lauren hugged her in excitement, which unleashed a flush of bright pink across Camila's cheeks. The girls exchanged numbers and then went on their way after agreeing to meet at the parking lot on Monday morning before school.
Camila really hoped she knew what she was doing.
The rest of the weekend was uneventful, but it may as well have been a hectic two days as Camila stressed out about Lauren's proposal. By the time Monday reared its head, she was a complete wreck of nerves. Getting out of her car, she thought about telling Lauren she couldn't do it after all, and as she rehearsed the sentence over in her head, a hand suddenly touched her shoulder.
She whipped around to see Lauren smiling at her.
"Woah, it's just me. You're nervous." Lauren stated as she looked Camila over. "Look, I know what you may be thinking: 'they'll never believe us, it's a bad idea, blah blah' but trust me, I'm not pulling your leg. Of course, I won't do anything that'll make you uncomfortable, but, we do have to be convincing, so can you trust me? You still in?"
Camila tried to inhale without sounding rocky. Meanwhile, she noticed how willing Lauren was. She really wanted to do this and Camila wasn't entirely sure why. She didn't think her trouble was enough incentive for the girls revenge prank, so what could be the other motive, if there was one?
"Yeah, I'm in. I'm just...not sure how we're gonna pull this off. I mean - we aren't really friends, how are we gonna come off as a genuine couple?" Camila asked.