Serendepia

Lilith had developed a certain distaste for Wednesday mornings this semester in particular for her math classes. 

It wasn’t that she hated math, she was actually pretty good ar it, but she didn’t want to slove long, complez equations in her first hour of class of the day when her brain still hadn’t fully finished waking up the extra caffeine in her coffee wasn’t enough to help her. 

She stopped paying attention to her teacher more than ten minutes ago in the middle of the second problem and now the older man in front of the blackboard was explaining the third one so Lilith made sure to look up from time to time to appear to be listening and not look disrespectful. 

It’s not like the professor cared, if he could even notice, as long as no one interrupted his class everything would be fine; as was obvious from the two boys who were asleep in their seats without bothering to try to disguise it in the slightest. 

Luckily for everyone, the professor preferred larger blackboards than the average classroom in the building, so his classes were held in a small auditorium with much more comfortable chairs and where they could spread out freely around the place. 

The morning Lilith was farthest away from the blackboard, so the possibility that the professor could see the scribbling she was doing in her notebook, instead of taking notes, was nonexistent. 

Her mind was practically blank, she wasn’t even thinking about the lines she was drawing in she notebook, her hand was moving automatically with the pencil between her fingers. 

“Cute duckling” Adriel commented next to her, leaning a little over her personal space to get a better look at the drawing in her notebook. 

The brown’s presence was enough to get Lilith out of the little trance she was in, making her look carefully for the first time at the drawing she had been making; the lines were not precise, there were some on top of the others in an uneven way, but the drawing of the rubber duck was clear. 

“What are you doing here?” Little questioned as soon as she recovered from the little surprise, “shouldn’t you be in the front row trying to earn some extra points with some flattery?” 

“I have enough points for now, so I thought I’d give compliments to someone who really deserves it.” 

“You can spare me the compliments; I don’t need them.” 

“I know, a beautiful lady who can beat four men at once in a fight doesn’t need compliments.” 

“So, you heard about it.” 

“I hear about everything around here, especially the interesting stuff.” 

“Why would you find that interesting?” 

“Because as soon as I heard the real story and especially the description of the beautiful girl, I was sure it was you; besides, I bet you must have looked pretty hot kicking those guy’s asses.” 

“The real story?” Lilith questioned curiously. 

“Three of those idiots were trying to cover up that a girl kicked their asses, but one of them told the truth to someone and now everyone knows.” 

The brunette didn’t like what she heard; she would be in a lot of trouble if her mother found out what she did. 

“Does everyone know it was me?” 

“I doubt it” Adriel replied indifferently. “They were so drunk or you hit them so hard in the head that they think your name is Lila and they don’t even remember the other girl’s name.” 

Lilith’s body tensed up when she heard about Camila’s presence that night. “What do they know about her?” she asked, trying to sound and look calm. 

“I don’t know, but she’s not who they care about.” 

“What does that mean?” 

Adriel moved a little closer, as if he was about to tell her a secret. “I heard last night that they want to find you and I doubt it’s just to thank you for the free fighting lessons” he said with a little touch of humor at the end. “Do you want help to take care of them?” 

Lilith put her attention on the drawing in her notebook, thinking about Camila; she didn’t want to do something that could make the situation worse, she already had enough problems. But she was afraid that not doing anything could make those idiots look for Camila instead. 

Involving the police didn’t seem to be the best of ideas, she doubted the authorities could, or would, do anything about it; the injuries to the victims, which also made it impractical for university officials to apply a meaningful sanction that would force them to stay away. 

“How much weed can you get?” asked the brunette the instant an idea crossed her mind. 

The brown-haired man’s face lit up and a big smile formed on his lips. “As much as you want, angel.” 

||||||||||||||| 

Camila was walking to her next class, it was not far and she still had enough time, so her steps were slow while her gaze was on the screen of her phone, readin a message from Yasmine. 

She met Yasmine Amunet in the university library, they weren’t classmates and didn’t even study the same major, but they had hit it off and kept in touch; now Yasmine even teased her love life, that included Todd and more recently Lilith. 

She hadn’t told JC or Ava what happened three nights before, after the party, she didn’t want to go into details about what happened or what might have happened if Lilith hadn’t come to help her, but she could tell Yasmine that she slept in the tall brunette’s bed without going into the details that led her there because Amunet didn’t know Lilith. 

Her friend was having a lot of fun with the little crisis she was having, it was one thing the physical attraction she had for Lilith before that night, but now she was starting to have feelings she didn’t know how to handle and had turned to Yasmine for advice, though she had only gotten some teasing so far. 

Yasmine’s last message made her remember what she had seen earlier that morning; Lilith was walking around campus accompanied by the boy who had been with her inside by the boy who had been with her inside the bathroom at last Sunday’s party, which made something in her stomach twist a little and made her feel sick. 

“Camila!” 

The curly-haired girl stopped abruptly, raising her eyes in search of the young British girl who was looking for her. “Bea?” she called in bewilderment as she saw her friend running toward her. 

“Thank you for waiting” Beatrice exhaled as she stopped and tried to catch her breath. 

“What’s wrong? Is Ava all right?” 

“Yes, Ava is fine, she answered my message and told me where to find you.” 

Camila sighed in relief when she heard Beatrice’s reply. “Good, that’s good” she muttered to herself. “So why do you need me?” 

“I wouldn’t want to bother you; in fact, you don’t have to accept if you don’t want to, I would understand perfectly well and...” 

“Bea, relax” said the shorter girl, placing her hands on the British girl’s shoulders. “I want to help you, but I can’t accept or refuse anything if you don’t tell me what you need me for.” 

“Right...” Beatrice replied with a more controlled breath, taking a last gasp of air before continuing. “My laptop is not working. Yesterday I was on my way to one of my classes when some kids ran past me and pushed me, which caused my laptop to end up on the floor after rolling halfway down the stairs; Lilith and I tried to fix, it last night even though we had no idea how to do it, we watched some tutorials on YouTube and then, when it obviously didn’t work, we called Shannon, who is in an out-of-town robotic contest and couldn’t do much to help” she explained as quickly as she could trying to give the necessary context without leaving anything important out. “Shannon is back until tomorrow afternoon, but I have an essay due first thing tomorrow, I still have to finish it and the only copy I have is on my laptop; Lilith even offered to run me over with her car so I have an excuse and can hand in the essay later, although she also offered the option of running over my professor, but Shannon stopped her and told us that you could help me.” 

Camila was silent for a couple of seconds as she processed all the information Beatrice had given her, especially the last part involving the tall brunette and her car. 

“Lilith doesn’t have to run anyone over with her car, I’ll help you.” 

“Really?” 

“Of course.” 

“Oh, thank God” Beatrice exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the curly-haired girl. “I owe you one.” 

“Don’t even mention it.” 

Beatrice’s face went from relief to, again, concern. “I left my laptop at home” she said before taking a second to analyze her options. “Lilith and I have classes all day and then we have to go to training until late...” 

“I could pick up your laptop at your apartment” Camila proposed, “if that’s okay with you.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’ve been there before, although I didn’t pay much attention on the way, so you’d have to send me the address.” 

The British girl was surprised to hear that last statement. “Was that you?” she questioned in a puzzled murmur, but without waiting for an answer. “I mean, yeah, that would be great.” 

“Well, then I’ll tall JC that we’ll take a little detour before we go to lunch with his friends.” 

Beatrice looked at her phone to check the time. “I have to go now, but I’ll ask Ava for your number so I can send you the address and guest passcode for the apartment.” 

“Yes, yes, go” the curly-haired girl encouraged, nudging the British woman. “I’ll take care of retrieving your essay.” 

“Thanks, Cam, really” Beatrice added before turning around and leaving for her next class. 

Camila watched her friend walk away and smiled to herself before unlocking her phone again to let JC know about the slight change of plans. 

[…] 

“Are you sure this is it?” asked JC as they parked in front of the luxurious building. 

“Yes, this is the address” reaffirmed Camila even though she wasn’t entirely sure, the last time, and the first time, she had been there she hadn’t paid attention to the façade, she only remembered the subway parking lot. 

“Ava owes us for helping his girlfriend instead of going to eat the best tacos in town” the dark-haired man commented, expressing his thoughts aloud before turning off the car’s engine. “Okay, let’s go.” 

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked the curly-haired girl, grabbing her friend’s arm to stop him. 

“Upstairs with you” JC replied in confusion. “We have to get the laptop, don’t we? That’s why we are here.” 

“I’ll get the laptop” corrected Camila, “you stay here.” 

“Why?” JC pouted. 

“Because I know you and if you go in there you’re going to touch and look at everything.” 

“We need to know who Ava is in love with” JC justified himself. “Beatrice could be a serial killer.” 

“Bearice is not a serial killer and if she was, she wouldn’t have anything that could give her away in her apartment, she lives with Lilith.” 

“Lilith is her friend, she could be covering for Beatrice; besides, you like Lilith, so you wouldn’t have a fair judgment towards her.” 

“What?” I don’t like Lilith” Camila answered while she left her cheeks getting hot. 

“Aha! You blushed, so that’s a lie” JC pointed out victoriously. “Besides, that’s another big reason why I should go; maybe Lilith is the serial kiler and Beatrice is the one helping her cover up her crimes” he argued. “That would make more sense, she’s scary; no offense to your tastes, she’s obviously hot, but also very scary.” 

“This conversation is pointless” muttered the shorter girl. “Stay here, I’ll be right back” she ordered as she opened the passenger door. “Watch videos o TikTok or find out what today’s fighting topic is on Twitter.” 

“I’ll watch puppy videos because it’s not good to eat tacos when you’re angry.” 

“Okay, just wait for me here.” 

“I could also help you find out the things Lilith likes” JC suggested in a last attempt to get up to the apartment as Camila got out of her car, “so you could get closer to her.” 

The curly-haired girl closed the door and peeked through the open window of the door. “No one’s going through Lilith’s or Beatrice’s stuff, we’re just here for the laptop.” 

“Fine, be a coward like Ava and don’t make a move” JC replied as he crossed his arms over his chest and sank into his seat in front of the steering wheel. “I just don’t want to hear them complaining about their non-existent sex life later.” 

“You’re the one complaining about his non-existent sex life, so don’t project” Camila pointed out before finally turning around and starting to walk away from her nosy friend’s car. 

Camila entered the building and then the elevator at the back, the metal doors closed a couple of seconds later the floor number that Beatrice had indicated in her message was pressed along with all the other instructions. 

When the elevator doors opened again, this time to the floor she had indicated, Camila stepped out into the hallway and immediately remembered the door to the apartment she had been in two days earlier. 

She had to look at the access code on her phone again before entering it into the small touchpad and getting the door to open for her. 

The first second she was inside the apartment, after closing the front door, something felt strange, it was as if she wasn’t alone there as she was supposed to be; the place wasn’t completely silent, there was sound that seemed to be muffled by the walls. 

“Hello?” Camila called as she slowly walked down the hallway, recognizing the sound as music behind the nearest door. “Lilith?” 

The door to her left suddenly opened, making the sound of the music more audible and understandable, making way for a considerable amount of steam that immediately rushed out the door into the hallway. 

Lilith emerged through the same door just a second later, holding a towel over her head in one hand and her phone with the music blaring in the other, wearing nothing but a bra and tiny women’s boxer shorts. 

Camila froze in place and couldn’t help but stare as Lilith seemed to be typing a message on her phone, totally ignoring the presence of the curly-haired girl a couple of feet away. 

Lilith’s long hair was not wrapped in the towel, so it fell over her back and shoulders, letting small drops of water slide down her hot skin that was still emanating steam; the steam somehow gave an even hot touch to the tattoos on the brunette’s arms. 

Almost immediately after, Camila felt bad for looking without the taller girl’s consent, so she tore her gaze away from the taller girl’s abs and looked Lilith in the face as she tried to figure out how to get her attention. 

Just as she waved her had closer to the brunette, her brain finally paid attention to the song playing through the speakers of Lilith’s phone. 

«If you wanna blame it on me 

Heat of the moment 

We could fuck up my apartment...» 

Lilith raised her gaze and met Camila’s when the singing man uttered that last sentence, causing the curly-haired girl to become even more nervous than before. 

The taller girl hurried to stop the music on her phone. “Camila?” she called in confusion as she returned her attention to the shorter girl, not seeming uncomfortable with her lack of clothing on her body. 

“Hey!” Camila greeted with a nervous wave of her hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, or look; Beatrice said you wouldn’t be here” she hurried to justify herself. “In fact, I should stop looking, shouldn’t I?” she asked, though she didn’t wait for an answer and simply turned her head to the right to look at the white wall. “I swear it wasn’t on purpose, I would never try to see you in your underwear with your consent” she added even more nervously feeling her cheeks heat up. 

Lilith laughed a little before answering something. “Give me a second” she asked before going back into the bathroom. “There, you can look now” she added a few seconds later, as she went back out into the hallway. “What are you doing here?” 

Turning her head to the front again, Camila took a second to process that the brunette was now dressed in a dark red silk robe that only covered up to mind-thigh, which helped, but didn’t stop the curly-haired girl from getting distracted and nervous. 

She wondered if Lilith always came out of the bathroom after a shower wearing only her underwear or covering herself a little more with silk robes, but whatever the case Camila was sure she wouldn’t have Beatrice’s willpower to resist making a move that would definitely ruin their friendship completely. 

“I.. Oh...” the shorter girl took a deep breath in order to calm down a bit and be able to continue. “Bea asked me for help with her laptop and since she couldn’t come and get it, I offered to do it” she finally answered. “She gave me a password and said you wouldn’t be here, so I didn’t knock... I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay, I’m not supposed to be here, but I decided to take the day off.” 

She remembered seeing Lilith that morning walking next to the same boy who had been with her at the party a few days ago, which made Camila wonder if he was in the apartment at that moment, in the brunette’s room, or if he had been in the last few hours. 

“I’m sorry if I interrupted you, I’ll just get Bea’s laptop and leave.” 

“Don’t be sorry, you’re not interrupting anything” replied the taller girl taking a step further to the center of the hallway. “Come, the laptop is this way” she said before starting to walk towards the back of the apartment. 

Camila nodded and silently followed the taller girl to the last door at the end of the hallway; Lilith opened the door and walked into the room. 

That room was bigger than the brunette’s, at least twice as big, and it seemed to be a small gym at home. 

There was punching bag hanging from the ceiling near one side wall, a training dummy that only simulated a person’s torso and head, some weights hanging on the other side wall and also some mats on the floor. 

Lilith walked to the back, stopping in front of a large desk the length of the entire width of the room against the glass wall overlooking the outside of the building; Camila followed her and looked at some of the items on the desk as the brunette picked up the bag on the chair next to her. 

What stood out most on the desk was the old typewriter that was perfectly place on the wooden surface, next to it was a book by Emily Dickinson and a little further to the right was an inkwell with an elegant pen next to it. 

“Is all this yours?” Camila asked, unable to contain her curiously. 

Lilith looked up from the bag in her hands where the laptop was carefully stored and observed what the other shorter girl was referring to. “No, this half of the desk is Beatrice’s” she said without giving too much importance to that fact before taking the laptop charger that was also on the desk. “She likes to write.” 

Camila stored that information in her mind, butt focused mostly on the fact that the other half of the desk was not Beatrice’s and, from what she had seen before she approached it, the entire desk was cluttered. 

Motivated again by her curiosity, the curly-haired girl took a couple of steps back so that she could look at the side of the desk, noticing that it was a bit messier than the part that belonged to Beatrice. 

Unlike the right side, the left of the desk did not have writing things on it, but was filled with artistic drawing and painting materials, which most likely belonged to Lilith since she was the only other person living in the apartment. 

What stood out most on the left side was not something on the desk, but what was next to it, a drawing beard against the wall that had a white sheet with a drawing on it. 

The drawing did not appear to be done in pencil, or with any drawing instrument with a fine point, but Camila did not stop to think too much about that and simply dedicated herself to appreciating the art captured on the sheet; she moved a little closer so she could look at all the details that made up the upper body of a man who was covering his face with his hand. 

“Not my best work” Lilith admitted, standing just behind the shorter girl. 

“Did you do it?” asked Camila in surprise, looking over her shoulder at the brunette. 

“Yeah, about twenty minutes ago, I wanted to practice with the charcoal” said the taller girl pointing to a container of black powder, “and I ended up with more charcoal on me that on the sheet, so I had to take a shower.” 

Camila smiled before returned her attention to the drawing and giving it one last look. “It’s very...” 

“Dark” Lilith interrupted, looking at her own work. 

“I was going to say beautiful, but yes, I think it’s a bit dark too, though in a good way.” 

The taller girl smiled at the answer. “That’s not exactly what I intended to do; besides, I have better jobs.” 

“It’s obvious you have talent” said Camila. 

“It’s just a hobby” Lilith clarified, trying to play it down. 

“I’d still like to see more.” 

“Really?” 

“Of course, it’s beautiful.” 

“I don’t think Beatrice thinks so.” 

“Why do you think so?” 

“Sometimes I paint nudes and hang the pictures in the hallway just to annoy her” the brunette admitted with a small smile. 

Camila’s smile became wider, but when she was about to answer something, her phone started ringing in the back pocket of her jeans. “It’s JC, he’s waiting for me downstairs” she reported as she rejected the call. “I think I should go.” 

“Of course, I won’t keep you any longer” said Lilith, stepping back. “I’ll walk you to the door.” 

The shorter girl nodded and followed the brunette across the room and the down the hallway to the front door of the apartment. 

“I’m sorry again for...” Camila vaguely pointing to the silk robe the taller girl was wearing, “you know...” 

“It’s okay, it’s okay” Lilith replied with a calm and carefree attitude. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” 

“I still feel bad about it.” 

“If it makes you feel better, you have my full consent to accidentally loo ay me in my underwear again.” 

Camila felt her cheeks heat up, most likely blushing. “I, uh...” her phone rang again for another call form JC. “He’s very impatient when he doesn’t have candy to eat” she added to divert the topic of conversation. 

“Here” said Lilith, holding out her hand with the one that held the laptop bag, “don’t keep him withing and get on with it.” 

“Thank you” replied Camila with a smile as she took the bag. 

“It’s me who should be thanking you for helping Beatrice and keeping her from losing her mind.” 

“It’s no problem, I’m sure she would have helped me too if I needed it.” 

“I bet she would have done anything, as long as it didn’t involve making a move and finally flirting with Ava.” 

“It’s not like Ava actually knew how to make a move of her own?” joked Camila, earning a smile from the taller girl. “I’ll, uh, see you later?” 

“Of course.” 

“Well, great...” commented the curly-haired girl stepping back, walking completely out of the spartment into the hallway. “I’ll be going then; bye, Lilith.” 

“Bye, Cam” replied the brunette with a big smile. “Take care of yourself.” 

“You too.” 

Wich one last smile, Camila finally started walking towards the elevator, avoiding looking over her shoulder until she heard the apartment door close; being sure that Lilith could no longer see her, she let out a long sigh full of relief knowing that she would no longer have to strain to look only at the taller girl in the face and avoid letting her gaze stray to the brunette’s long legs or the neckline of her robe. 

“What took you so long?” JC questioned, slightly annoyed, as she returned to the car, though as he looked at her more closely his face turned from anger to confusion and concern. “Are you okay? Your face is red.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine” Camila assured him. “It was hot in there and the laptop wasn’t where Beatrice had told me.” 

“Okay, then let’s go get some tacos I’m starving and Channel and the guys’ patience is drowning fast.” 

Camila nodded and left the bag in the back seat of the car while JC started the engine and drove them to the diner with their other friends. 

Not thinking about Lilith half-naked for the rest of the day wasn’t going to be easy, but Camila would try her best.