the love archives | camren

three

"Are you mad at me? I'm sorry for not telling you, but I didn't really think that it'd come up... ever," Normani speaks over the phone.

"Of course not, I can't be mad at you for that, I'm just very shocked and surprised," Lauren explains to her. She puts the phone on speaker and sets it down while she finishes her makeup.

"I know, me too. Do you think Dinah will be mad that we found out? It's not like we went through her phone, Camila told you," Normani questions. It's a given that Dinah is usually the peacemaker in all situations, but Lauren feels different about this one.

"I don't know, Mani, this just seems like something I wasn't supposed to know about. I have no idea why Camila would tell me," she says as she swipes a brush back and forth.

"Maybe she thought it was the right thing to do?" Normani suggests.

Lauren ponders the idea while tilting her head side to side. It's a possibility, but a weak one. Camila brought it up totally out of the blue, as opposed to being forced to reveal that information. Lauren hadn't almost found out about her and Dinah. There was no reason at all. Not one that Lauren could think of anyway.

"But what was she doing that was wrong? It wasn't wrong of her to talk to Dinah, and it's not like she had to tell me because I was catching on. Even if she made Dinah promise not to tell anyone, I really feel like she still would've told me. One girl is trying to keep a secret, the other girl is revealing the secret, I'm so confused," Lauren trails off while getting ready to apply the mascara.

"It kinda sounds like... maybe... the secret is something else. Feel me?"

Lauren pauses and sets the cap down. Dinah is good at keeping secrets, especially when they affect certain people. And if Camila had told Dinah something about Lauren, or her and Lauren, Dinah would've kept that, not only at the request of Camila but for both girls' sake. It's not like the others were clueless about what was going on between the two, but it wasn't necessarily a conversation starter.

"Fuck," Lauren spits out.

"Uh, did you just realize something? Because It'll probably take me a minute even if I know what's going on—"

"I'll talk to you later, Mani, I've gotta get to the bottom of this," Lauren ends the call without a proper goodbye. She immediately goes to Dinah's contact and calls her.

"Pick up," she whispers while attempting to finish her other eye without messing up.

The ringing stops as the call is sent to voicemail, causing Lauren to gasp.

"Excuse me?" she squeals to herself. She attempts one more time.

-Answer me Dinah
-I just want to talk to you
-I am not mad
-I promise

The texts go through, and after a few more rings, Dinah picks up.

"Listen, Lauren, I'm sorry I never told you guys but she asked me to keep it a secret, but not in a malicious way, just to protect me and let her express herself ever since..."

Dinah stops and Lauren furrows her eyebrows. She grabs her phone and exits the bathroom—her makeup situation doesn't seem too bad.

"Since what?" Lauren snatches her keys off of her nightstand and slips on a pair of tennis shoes.

"Uh, s-since the night she left. Yeah, she needed someone to talk to that wasn't her mom or her dog, so," Dinah's delivery sounds suspicious to Lauren's ears. Maybe Dinah is good at secrets, but under pressure, she cannot lie to save her life.

"The truth, Dinah," Lauren sternly eggs on. She hears a sigh from the younger one.

"I really shouldn't be the one to tell you. I know you guys didn't end on a good note last night but it's something that she should tell you, not me," Dinah says. It doesn't give Lauren any hope to hear that. Her biggest fear right now: Camila telling Dinah she's still not over her. She sighs extra loud for Dinah to hear clearly.