Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 30

Saturday night, two weeks later; the girls were all gathered at Normani's house getting ready for the winter formal together. Dinah, Normani and Camila had locked themselves in the bathroom over an hour ago; Lauren and Ally commandeering the bedroom in order to finish getting changed and to apply their makeup. "What do you think they're doing in there?" Lauren asked Ally from her position on Normani's bed, playing with a strand of her long dark hair mindlessly. She was sitting with her legs curled up underneath her, her left shoulder resting against the head of the bed as she faced the smaller girl, who was mirroring her position, applying another layer of nail polish to her fingertips. "They've been in the bathroom ages," Lauren complained, resting her head against the wall behind her and sighing dramatically. "Aww," Ally began, lifting her eyes from the

task she was doing to look over at Lauren, a smile on her lips. "Why don't you just admit that you're desperate to see Camila in her dress?" She finished. Lauren dropped her gaze to meet Ally's and found herself smiling in response to the knowing smirk that was plastered across her friends' face. "She's so annoying," Lauren moaned, a small chuckle escaping her lips. "She wouldn't show me what she'd bought to wear," Lauren informed Ally frustrated. "She said she wanted it to be a surprise." "That's really sweet though," Ally commented, blowing on her nails lightly in an attempt to dry them. "I know," Lauren agreed, lifting her head away from its resting position, "but...it's so annoying." Lauren groaned again. "Ijust want to see her." "She'll be out in a minute," Ally laughed, enjoying Lauren's annoyance and finding her desperation to see Camila charming. "Are you seriously telling me you can't wait one minute?" Lauren glanced at the clock on Normani's nightstand before answering. "I've been waiting for over an hour Ally. Eighty six minutes to be precise." She told her seriously. "Eighty six minutes! What the hell have they been doing in there all that time?" Lauren asked her rhetorically. "I was ready half an hour ago!" "There are three of them in there," Ally replied logically, still chuckling at Lauren's irritation. "Give them a chance..." "Am I being ridiculous?" Lauren asked sensing Ally's amusement. "I'm ridiculous aren't I?" "I think you're cute," Ally said, turning her attention to the unpolished nails of her left hand. "Ugh," Lauren grumbled. "I hate it when you guys call me cute."

"You are cute though," Ally told her, lifting her gaze again to meet Lauren's. "You're just too stubborn to admit it."
"I'll admit Camila's cute," Lauren conceded smiling to herself at the thought of how adorable her girlfriend was. "I'm more..." "Whipped?" Ally suggested and Lauren rolled her eyes. "I'm not cute alright?" Lauren protested. "I don't think anyone has ever called me that before in my entire life." "Yeah well," Ally started. "That's because you've never been in love before." She told her. "You're definitely cute when you're in love..." "I'm not cute!" Lauren whinged again, resting her head back against the wall. "You are in love though..." Ally pointed out as she finished the nails of her left hand and put the nail polish on to the nightstand behind her, safely out of the way. She blew lightly over them again, waving her hand in front of her to help dry them quicker. Lauren dropped her head again and smiled, a blush creeping on to her cheeks at Ally's observation. "You know I am," Lauren replied and Ally's smile grew to match her friends. "I've known ever since the first day of school," Ally told her, waving her hand as though it had been common knowledge all along. "Normani knew too for that matter." Ally paused for a moment considering. "In fact," she continued thoughtfully. "Even Dinah knew." "Great," Lauren said, "so the only person that didn't know was Camila?" she asked. "No," Ally replied shrugging. "You didn't know either...at least, you didn't admit it if you did." "I

knew," Lauren admitted. "Fucking hell, did I know..." she trailed off. "Really?" Ally asked interestedly. "Jesus Ally," Lauren said leaning closer to her friend and lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "I can't even begin to describe how hard and fast I fell for her. Was it like that with you and Troy?" she asked curiously. "Not really," Ally admitted. "Troy and I were friends for ages before we finally started dating. Don't you remember?" "Yeah, I remember," Lauren confirmed, "but, Camila and I were friends first too..." "Oh no," Ally disagreed. "You and Camila only became friends because you had a crush on her. Troy and I were friends for almost two years before either of us started to develop feelings for one another. There's a massive difference." "I never really believed in love at first sight before," Lauren admitted sheepishly. "Then Camila came along and it was like someone suckerpunched me in the gut so hard it left permanent and irreparable damage." "I don't get the metaphor," Ally confessed making a face. "You mean, like...she's left her mark on you right?" "Right," Lauren confirmed. "I swear Ally," Lauren shared. "When she turned around that day to look at me, my stomach churned so fiercely that I thought I was housing a whole swarm of butterflies and it's never really gone away since. Every little thing she does sets them off again Ally," Lauren continued. "Just thinking about her sends them fluttering around frantically in the confined space." "See..." Ally said, smirking again. "You are cute." "Oh shut up," Lauren groaned again, hitting Ally playfully