My Favorite Camren One-Shots (Part 3)

Stranger Danger

It all started with a selfie.

Lauren was never one to brag about her looks. She knew God had blessed her, but she still tried to remain as humble as possible. One of the ways she managed to stay so meek was through tumblr. It allowed people to see her personality rather than her looks, the only indication her followers had of how pretty she was was the little icon box that appeared next to her URL.

The theme of her blog frequently changed, varying from hipster style photos with deep captions to faceless soft porn to social justice rants. As time went on, the followers poured in. Lauren was proud of herself, to say the least. Back home, in real life- so to speak- everything was practically handed to her because she was a pretty girl. Nobody cared about her intellect, nobody cared that she went to one of the most expensive schools in Miami on an academic scholarship. Nobody cared about anything other than what she could do with her body.

That's what made getting to 100,000 followers so special to her. These people, these strangers, they knew Lauren. They knew her dislikes and likes, they knew what her stance on social issues were, they knew about her problems back home that she would frequently rant about, they knew her. Yet they still followed, they cared about what came out of her mouth more than what she could do with her mouth and that's what mattered the most.

On the night she hit 100k followers, she was delighted. She wanted to scream and shout and most importantly- brag. When scrolling through her phone, looking for people to share the news with, she realized she didn't have anybody to text.

Over time, the idea that people could like her for more than her aesthetic took over her life. Tumblr became her 1 and only and she would spend day and night debating with people online over the angles of gifs or supreme court decisions. Lauren didn't regret any of the conversations that came out of having her tumblr, but she did regret how she subconsciously began isolating herself from people in real life.

 A few moments of silence was all it took before Lauren decided, why can't we mingle the two? Social interaction AND tumblr, why can't they become 1 in the same?

Lauren, in the spur of the moment, scrolled through her camera roll and chose the most modest yet hot photo she could find on her camera roll. She settled on one of her lying in bed, holding her phone so that it covered most of her face but still showed off enough. She clicked on the tumblr app and made a new post.

"Hey guys! Thank you for 100,000 followers(: Do any of you live in Florida?" she attached the photo and clicked send.

She tried to make the post as vague as possible so no creepers could stalk her, but friendly enough so that people would actually reply. It only took a few moments for her to refresh the page and have her ask box full.

People congratulated her on hitting 100,000 followers, complimented her for having a visually pleasing face and a few stragglers sent asks about living in Florida.

 Lauren, excited about the comments but also a bit disturbed at some of the sexual things people sent her, decided to take down the photo a few minutes later. She sifted through her asks, replying to people who sent her compliments off anonymous and looking for her fellow Florida dwellers.

 A surprisingly low amount of people lived in Florida, Lauren expected at least 15 but the sad reality was that only about 4 people replied. Out of the 4 people, literally only 1 girl seemed like she wasn't cat-fishing Lauren.

 Her bio read, "Camila, Young wild and free<3 Born and raised Cuban but current Florida dweller. Love. Live. Peace"

 She was a bit too hipster for Lauren's liking but she couldn't exactly afford to be picky right now. Lauren needed friends in real life who were competent and cared more about her mind and Tumblr was the place to find them.

 She scrolled through her blog, relishing in the fact that this girl had similar taste to her. They both seemed to enjoy the beach and mellow music and soft grunge photos. This girl seemed to be the perfect person for Lauren to approach, so she did. She replied to her ask and from that, a friendship sprouted.

 It all started with a text

 They exchanged numbers after a few asks and Camila became Lauren's new #1. Quite literally, they would text 24/7. Whenever a problem arose in the outside world, Lauren would immediately reach out to Camila for advice or solace. Camila knew the ins and outs of Lauren's life and she wasn't complaining.

 Lauren was a talker and Camila was a listener. For hours and hours, Lauren would complain about problems in her life to Camila and the brown eyed girl would respond with advice.
They exchanged selfies and a lot of their texts were a little too flirtatious for simply "internet friends." The more they spoke, the more Lauren ached to meet Camila in real life.

Sometimes, when she wasn't texting Camila, she found herself daydreaming about the younger girl and what it would be like to be able to hold her in her arms. What is would feel like to kiss her cheeks and move hair to the side of her face. She needed to meet her.

Lauren wasn't stupid though, she knew Camila was a stranger and she knew that she could quite possibly be a serial killer. She knew she would have to meet her in a public place at first, but after that everything is fair game.

Ever since Camila came into her life, Lauren hardly ever left her phone alone. People at school began noticing her increasing attachment to the inanimate object.

It all started with an invite.

One of Lauren's most cordial real life friends, Allyson, invited Lauren over to a party at her house. As much as she wanted to reject the offer, the green eyed girl knew she needed to get her priorities straight and sitting in front of a computer was not going to help her gain social skills.
At this point, Lauren and Camila had literally been texting every day for the past 2 months. A few phone calls were riddled into their conversations but other than that they remained completely anonymous.

C: Hey Laur How you doing?

L: Well, today I'm going to a party, actually

C: Why do you always text like you have a stick up your ass? (; Loosen up before you implode

L: Haha. :/ you know it's hard for me not to have a stick up my ass when I've got so much shit going on irl. Nevertheless, I'll take a shots for the both of us tonight... Anyway, I'm glad you texted me. I've been thinking about this for a while and I was wondering what you'd say to finally meeting up in the outside world?(:

C: actually...yeah.. I would really like that(: I predict we'll be meeting soon

L: Okay fortuneteller, how about you tell me what your favorite food is so I can predict a place to go eat when we decide to meet. ß rhyme scheme bitches. Anyways I have to go get ready for the party. Talk to you tomorrow babe

C: see you later Dr. Suess

Lauren ditched her phone and decided to get on her party pants, figuratively, of course. After she slipped on a white t-shirt and some faded blue jeans she got in her car and headed to the party.
When she arrived, people where already drunk. The second she entered the house, she heard whispering coming from the corner of the room saying something along the lines of "I thought she was dead" and "It feels like I haven't seen Jauregui in 3 years."

She wasn't dumb, the brunette expected this response, so she did what she does best, went straight to the kitchen for alcohol. After becoming moderately buzzed, she had to fight the urge to pull her phone out and text Camila. The people around her hollering her name brought her out of her bubble and back to reality.

The truth is, Lauren really liked Camila in a more-than-a-friend way. She wanted to talk to her about everything because she took Lauren out of her comfort zone, she called her out on everything she did wrong, and she knew how to effectively communicate with her. Camila knew Lauren better than everybody in this room combined and no matter how loud the people around her called her name, she was only receptive to Camila.

Lauren drifted from group to group at the party, making sure they were aware of her comeback. Finally, as the uneventful night began to end, she settled on a pair consisting of 2 of her closest friends—sort of.

"Hey Laur, How's your crush?" Normani greeted her with a smirk on her face and a hug.

"Yeah, Laur, you guys married yet?" Ally added her comment into the mix before joining the hug which seemed awfully tight at the time. They pulled away and Ally and Normani shared glances before walking away claiming "bowel impairment" as their reason for departure.

 Lauren chugged the rest of her drink as she watched them walk down the hallway, this has been a long night. She instinctively reached for her phone in her back pocket to tell Camila about it when it dawned on her what had just happened.

 She ran down the hallway, reaching Ally and Normani in less than a minute. The duo was going through Lauren and Camila's text messages.

 A few months back, after getting significantly drunk, Lauren jokingly gave Normani her password to her phone in case she "died of alcohol poisoning." Lauren completely forgot about that event a few hours later and never bothered to change her password. Now she was starting to regret it.

"She called you BOO" Ally cooed in Lauren's face, making her cringe at words that once made her smile.

After a struggle, Lauren grabbed her phone, huffing with ferocity as she stormed away.
Lauren drove home while moderately intoxicated. Lucky for her though, the streets were empty
so she arrived at her house safely.

All the lights were off, indicating that her family was asleep. She tip-toed up the stairs to her room where she laid down on the bed, facing the ceiling, pondering life. Tears brimmed her eyes as she thought about how unfair life was. How can somebody that makes her feel so warm and fuzzy inside also make her so embarrassed?

Ugh.

Her house was quiet, which made Lauren's heartbeat seem even louder than it was. Her "silent" sobs were loud and obnoxious. She was just about to go to sleep when her phone chimed.
It all started with a call

Incoming call Camila...

L: Hey Mila.. why are you awake? how are you?

C: I could ask you the same thing, how did the party go babe?

The way Camila's voice sounded when she said babe made Lauren's heart flutter. She wished so badly that she could hear it in real life

L: I want to meet you, please lets do it this weekend, I feel like we've been talking forever and I've never even been able to hug you

Lauren heard creaking coming from inside her house, thinking that Taylor was awake and could hear her, she hushed her voice and continued the conversation from under the covers.

C: Aww that's so cute. Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before. We'll meet soon, I promise.

Lauren heard another creak and this time she swears she heard it come from inside her room. Maybe it's just the wind, she tried to get comfortable by distracting herself with Camila

 L: Soon will never come fast enough. Dude, I think somebody is in my house right now.

C: Good night, Lauren. Stay safe.

At this point, Lauren swears she could hear an echo coming from the phone. Almost like Camila was close by. Maybe she lived next door and she's just never noticed before? No, that's ridiculous. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her.

L: Please don't go.... Im still a little freaked out. Just stay on the phone with me until I fall asleep? Please  Camz?

C:

L: Camila... Are you there?

The phone went dead. Silence proceeded. Lauren assumed the line has simply cut off but she was jolted back to reality when she heard footsteps approaching her bed.

This was definitely not the wind.

"Yeah babe, I'm here." Lauren slowly lowered the covers, revealing a dark shadow standing in the corner of the room. Lauren had the sense to run but her legs were paralyzed. Half of her thought somebody slipped something into her drink and she was hallucinating. But as the figure approached, she was sure of what she saw.

"You know," the person who Lauren vaguely recognized as Camila from tumblr began, "My mom warned me to never talk to strangers on the internet" A knife in Camila's hands could be seen reflecting from the moonlight through the window. She spoke slowly, making sure to pronounce every work adequately.

"Funny how things work out, huh?" Camila took a few steps forward and suddenly she was towering over Lauren's body.

She leaned down towards Lauren, who was trembling with fear, staring at her with wide eyes.
Camila placed a delicate kiss on the green eye's girl's forehead and just as Lauren thought she was in the clear, Camila stepped back, ramming her knife through Lauren's heart.

Green eyes turned blue and the hope that once filled them was replaced by a glazed over look. He body relaxed and Camila placed her fingers over her eyes and shut them closed.

"Didn't your mommy ever tell you not to talk to strangers?"