Second Chances

Chapter 1

Life is complicated. Shit happens, it doesn't not make sense. But it happens.

People leave your life and people come into your life, sometimes at the time it seems like it's the right thing to do. It could be the right thing to do, it could also be the bad thing to do. But how do we really know what is right or wrong?

Loneliness is the worst feeling in the world. I would never wish being lonely on anybody. It was a Saturday night and I decided to go out with my one friend that I had left. She was heading into the city with a few of her friends and I decided to tag along because what else did I have to do on a Saturday night? My life had taken a dramatic turn in the past few months, it was a downward spiral and I was tumbling out of control. I needed an escape, I needed to get my mind off things and take away the pain. Tonight, alcohol and drugs were my escape, it what was what I needed to take away the heartache that I was experiencing. I hadn't been out in a long time, it made me anxious thinking about going out but I was high and I was drunk. I walked into a place that I had been to before, a nightclub full of single people, non single people, drunk people, non drunk people. The night was young, and I needed to feel free. I went up to the bar to order some drinks and downed them just as quick. I wanted to forget, I didn't want to be lost and alone in my own thoughts. "You doing okay?" My friend asked me, I nodded and pointed to the dance floor. Music and I had a love hate relationship at the moment, some songs I couldn't listen too, whether it was the lyrics or just the song, it hurt too much, but on the other hand some songs just made me feel like I wasn't alone and just knew the right things to say. I closed my eyes and let the music take over, I had to be really drunk to dance but I needed to let go.

I looked at my phone, no messages, no nothing, of course. It was 2:42am and I was starting to get tired. I had lost my friend in the club, I looked down at my phone again and started walking slowly when I felt a thud, my phone flew out of my hand and onto the floor and I noticed the person I had crashed into had done the same. I quickly scrambled and picked up my phone putting it in my pocket before looking up to apologise to the person I had ran into.

My heart stopped, this couldn't be. I must have been so high and drunk that I was imagining things. "Lauren?" My name snapped me out of my thoughts, I wasn't dreaming, my ex was standing right in front of me staring into my soul. "C-camila I am so sorry" I hadn't seen this girl in 2 years and here she was, out of all the people in the club to run into, I ran into her. "It's okay, are you alright?" I must have looked like I just seen a ghost. "Yeah, sorry, you're just the last person I expected to run into." I chuckled, she smiled, "yeah same." I was lost for words, what do you say to someone you hadn't seen in 2 years, someone you loved and used to spend every living second with? "I'm sorry for running into you, I should have looked where I was going, especially in a place like this." I said. Before she could respond one of her friends came up to her, "Camila! There you are." She turned and looked at me and her eyes widened, "Lauren, hi." I think I now know what my face looked like when I saw Camila because her friend is giving me the same look right now. "Hey." I simply said, I know she probably hated me or didn't think very highly of me. "It was nice to see you Lauren." Camila said, giving me a small smile and wave before she turned around and walked in the other direction. I let out a deep breath, that was definitely the last thing I expected tonight.

I wandered off and found my friend, I didn't say what had encountered, I kinda just wanted to forget about it and continue my night. "You are so drunk" my friend said laughing at me, I just shrugged my shoulders. Good I thought, I needed a good night out. "It's getting late, I think my friends are thinking of heading off, you good to go?" She asked. "Yeah definitely, I'm getting a bit tired." She nodded and we all made our way outside to head home. The fresh air was definitely what I needed, clubs need air conditioning so that you can actually breathe inside. "You want another hit?" My friend asked me, showing me a joint as we made our way to the train station. "Absolutely." I was feeling very happy, very stress free, exactly what I needed. We got on the train when I felt my phone ringing, it was like 3:30am who the hell would be calling me right now? I took it out when I realised, the phone that was in my hand was not my phone at all. Fuck. I must have grabbed Camila's phone when we knocked into each other. 'Dinah is calling' fuck, it was her best friend, I swiped to answer. "Hello?" "Lauren? Oh my god thank god you have my phone." She let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't even realise until you called, sorry I must have grabbed yours instead of mine." I was actually pretty proud of myself for not looking at my phone that whole time. "It's okay, where are you?" She asked. "I'm just on the train home, where are you?" "At home, I caught the train home by myself but I couldn't call you because I don't know your passcode so I had to wait and use Dinahs phone." I guess that makes sense as to why it took her so long to realise. "That's alright, I haven't passed your house yet did you want me to come over to exchange?" I couldn't go without my phone, even if I didn't have anyone to talk to on it. "If you don't mind, but I don't live at home anymore." Many thoughts quickly flew through my mind, she had a boyfriend, did she live with him? Where was she living she was only 20? "Oh, where do you live?" I asked, eager to know. "With Dinah, it's literally around the corner from mums house though." Oh wow, I didn't expect that to be honest. Her and Dinah were always close, but I never imagined them living together. I guess I missed out on a lot in 2 years. "Okay, well I'm almost at your stop so I'll be over soon." I was still super drunk and super high so I was trying my best to not sound like an idiot. "Thank you, I'll wait out front, I live in the apartment building across from the shops, do you know where that is?" She asked. "Yeah" those were some nice apartments, she must have been doing well for herself. "Okay, ill see you soon." She hung up and for the second time that night, I let out a deep breath.

I walked off the train and headed toward her apartment. This was not what I was expecting on my night out. As I got closer, I noticed her standing out the front wrapped up in a blanket, it wasn't exactly the warmest night out. "Hey." I said when I reached her front step. "Hey." She said, smiling at me. I reached my hand out handing her the phone, "once again I'm sorry for grabbing the wrong phone." I said, chuckling at how I even did that. "It's okay, maybe you were meant to grab it." She said, handing me back my phone. "Everything does happen for a reason I suppose." I said. It was weird, it didn't feel awkward with her. "What were you doing out, you don't really go clubbing?" She asked frowning at me. "Yeah I don't, my first time this year." I laughed, "I suppose I just needed to get out and get my mind off shit." I shrugged. "That's fair." She said, wrapping the blanket around her tighter. There was a brief moment of silence. "I'll let you go, it's cold out here." I said, starting to shiver myself. She opened her mouth to say something, she looked hesitant. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Did you wanna come in?" She blurted out. Well I didn't expect her to say that. "Ah, sure." I said. She turned to walk inside the apartment when she stopped and turned around, "oh, just be quiet because Dinah is asleep and would probably have a heart attack if she knew you were here." She whispered lightly laughing. I smiled and nodded, "got it." She guided me through the apartment, it was dark so I couldn't see too much however the place looked really nice, just like Camila. When I had known her she lived in her parents house with her siblings, and they all quite messy and I remember Camila hating it, so of course when she got her own place it would be spotless. We walked into her room and it was exactly how I imagined a Camila bedroom to look like, there was pictures all over the wall with the colour pink splattered around the room with pillows and accessories. She must have noticed me taking in her room "what?" She asked. I laughed, "Nothing, your bedroom... it's just so you." She smiled, "It is a bit different from my old bedroom hey?" I nodded, "I always knew when you had your own bedroom it would be like this." I said. She blushed, "do you mind if I get changed?" She asked, I shook my head, "no, go ahead." I said turning around to give her some privacy. As I was looking around her room, at the photos, I noticed that they were all of her and her friends, and none of her and her boyfriend Shawn.

"How's work going?" She asked, "Yeah, I haven't done anything exciting in the past 2 years, I'm still working at Walmart and helping my Aunty out." I confessed. "You can turn around" she giggled. I blushed and turned around noticing she was tucked up in bed, I went over and sat on the corner making myself as comfortable as I could. "What about you? I heard you're a personal trainer now or something." I mentioned. "Yeah, it's been really good, I've worked there for over a year now I think, I love doing it, I love helping people and keeping people fit, the only issue is getting up really early but I enjoy doing it so if I'm doing what I enjoy I guess that's the main thing." "What hours do you usually work?" I am not a morning person, or a gym person to be honest. "I usually do 5am to 12pm, the early morning is usually the most busy so I start off busy and it starts to die down just before I finish." "At least you have the rest of the day to do your own thing." I said. She nodded, "yeah sometimes I have personal sessions but it's not too bad, doesn't feel like such a long day." She looked at me and patted the space next to her, "you can come sit if you want, you don't look too comfortable sitting on the edge there." She giggled, I looked at the spot next to her, wouldn't it be awkward if I laid next to her in bed? Doesn't she have a boyfriend? I thought she hated me. I slowly made my way over and got under the covers next to her. She sighed, "are you okay?" I asked for the second time that night. Once again she seemed hesitant and she seemed down. "I know I shouldn't be talking to you right now, if anyone knew you were here they'd be so mad at me." She said honestly. "I know exactly what you mean, everyone would be mad at me too." I chuckled. "I've been through a rough time lately and when I saw you tonight, it kinda felt like I was meant to see you and then you accidentally grabbed my phone... I feel like maybe you were meant to come back into my life." She looked down playing with her fingers. "I'm sorry." I said, "for what?" "Everything. I've had a rough few months too and I've had a lot of alone time to think and I regret everything I did to you when we broke up. I was a real asshole and I treated you like shit." She looked upset, "I didn't mean to upset you." I said. She shook her head, "no it's okay. I did fuck you over and I should have just been honest with you from the start." "We both made some crappy choices hey." I didn't want to upset her more than I already had. I heard her softly start to cry, I looked over and saw tears falling from her beautiful eyes. "Hey, don't cry." I was in two minds whether to comfort her or not. She wiped her tears away and looked at me and
smiled. "I'm okay." She said, I frowned "are you sure?" She nodded and started to yawn, "I can go?" I offered. "It's okay, I made you come all this way, just stay." Stay... with her? In her bed? Dangerous. She stood up and turned the light off and got back into the bed. "I'm really glad I bumped into you Lauren." I smiled but my heart started to race a little bit. "Me too."