Chapter 2
"So, you ready, Laur? Either Tori or I will be with you for a majority of the day, except for that little portion where neither of us can make it, but I'm really considering being tardy to that class so you won't be alo-"
"Ally," Lauren calmly interrupts, halting the girl's musings. "You are not going to be late for your class, okay? I can be alone for a few minutes, nothing bad is going to happen. If it'll make you feel better, I can hide in the bathroom or something until the bell rings. How does that sound?"
Taking in a deep breath, Ally nods stiffly, trying not to stress too much about her friend. "Yes. I... yes, okay, that sounds good."
"Plus," Lauren continues. "I can't cower and hide like this for the entire school year. If something happens, it happens. I can't do too much about it."
"But we don't want anything happening to you, Laur. We're trying to prevent it," Tori chimes in from Lauren's right.
Lauren shrugs her shoulders, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "I know, me either, trust me. I've made it this far, though, right? What's one more year?"
Ally gazes sympathetically at Lauren, placing a hand on her arm. "Laur, no, that's not how it should be tho-"
"Seriously, Ally." Lauren turns towards the smaller girl, placing her own hands on her shoulders. "You need to stop stressing about it, okay? I'm okay, which means you need to be too."
Ally goes to argue once more, but the pointed look and raised eyebrow from Lauren halts her words.
"Fine," she mumbles, defeated. "But if anything, anything at all happens, you let me know as soon as possible, alright?" Sometimes Lauren forgets how motherly Ally can be.
"Quit bugging her, Ally. Go go, shoo shoo. I've got this." And she also forgets how sisterly Tori can be.
They say goodbye to Ally as they walk through the school doors, making their way towards Tori's locker first, since it's closer.
"I'm not going to ask if you're okay, because we both know Ally did more than enough of that." The two girls share a good-natured eye roll.
"Thank you, it's greatly appreciated," Lauren jokingly says with a smile on her face.
Tori pauses her thought as she finishes rifling through her locker, shutting it with a bang. She leads the way as they walk towards Lauren's locker. "But, like Ally said, anything happens, you let us know, okay?"
"Yes, okay, mom," Lauren teases, lightly shoving the other girl before opening her locker.
Tori scoffs, regaining her balance and lifting one hand in the air. "Please, we both know Ally is the mother in this relationship." (See, what did she say?)
Once Lauren is finished with swapping her books, Tori turns back to her, looping their arms together as they head for class. "Shall we?"
~~
Ally nearly had a breakdown at the thought of neither her nor Tori being able to accompany Lauren for these few minutes their schedules didn't line up. Tori had to practically drag the girl away towards her class; it almost looked like a scene out of a horror movie. Lauren had just laughed as they walked (Tori walked, Ally was towed away) towards their class, shoving down her apprehension at now being vulnerable to anyone who wanted to mess with her. She had decided to listen to her earlier words and hide out in the bathroom until it was time for class. Better safe than sorry.
Luckily for Lauren, the restrooms close to her next class are usually empty, so she won't have to face anyone's wondering (judgmental) stare.
Propping herself against the far wall, Lauren places her bag at her feet, pulling out her phone and checking her Instagram while she waits. There isn't much to see though; she doesn't have many people on there besides Ally, Tori, and her own family. The celebrities she follows take up the majority of her newsfeed.
A few minutes pass of mindless scrolling when suddenly the bathroom door is opened, slightly startling Lauren. She quickly stands upright so that it won't look like she's hiding out in there to whoever is at the door. But Lauren soon realizes that doesn't matter, because clearly her hiding spot did not work. Camila is standing in the threshold, one hand holding the door open while she stares at Lauren.
Lauren shrinks in on herself, feeling small, even though she's taller than Camila. When the girl steps forward and the door shuts behind her, Lauren realizes that Camila is most likely here alone, but that thought only makes her feel a little bit better.
Camila keeps steadily making her way towards Lauren, having to cross the entire bathroom to reach her, and Lauren silently wishes she had either hidden in a stall, or settled herself nearer to the door for a quick escape. Her thoughts are interrupted when Camila stops a few feet away from her, and Lauren nervously runs a shaky hand through her hair.
"Finally."
"Um... what?"
"Finally," Camila repeats, keeping her eyes on Lauren. "I've been trying to get you alone all day."
Lauren furrows her brows, not quite understanding the girl. She opens her mouth to reply but nothing comes out, too agitated to know what to say.
"I wanted to talk to you alone," Camila explains. "But one of your friends was always nearby."
"Wh- why did you want to talk to me?" Lauren finally finds her voice, but she's still extremely unsure and still a little worried about the whole situation.
Rolling her eyes slightly, Camila turns to start checking all the stalls, wanting to know if they're in the bathroom alone. She doesn't answer right away, and that, mixed with what she's currently doing has Lauren on edge. She glances towards the restroom door, expecting Austin and Brad to burst through at any moment and corner her helplessly.
"What are you going to do to me?"
Letting the second to last stall door fall closed, Camila turns her head distractedly towards Lauren. "Huh?"
Lauren ignores the girl's puzzled expression, her mind running through all the possibilities of what could happen to her. "A- are Austin and Brad waiting outside?"
That question has Camila pausing from where she's checking the last stall. "Austin and Brad?" She asks, but it's said quietly, almost to herself. "What do they have to do with anything?"
"You know," Lauren says, gesturing anxiously towards the door. She's working herself up into a slight panic, worry growing by the second. "They always target me when I'm alone. Is that why you're in on it too? To help them out? Make it easier for them?"
Camila is at a total loss now, and she makes her way back over to Lauren to try to understand what the girl is going on about. "Lauren, what the hell are you talking about?"
Her tone and choice of words shuts Lauren's rambling up, and she nervously looks away from Camila, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "I- I- I... just thought that, yesterday, and..."
Camila runs through everything Lauren has said since she entered the bathroom, putting the pieces together.
"Whoa whoa, Lauren, Lauren. Relax. I'm not here to bother you. I just wanted to check up on you, see if you were okay," Camila quickly reassures, wanting to calm Lauren's fears.
"You... you did?" Lauren's green eyes focus back on Camila, going back and forth between making eye contact and glancing at the door.
"Yes, I did. Lauren," Camila exasperatedly breaths out, stepping forward so that the girl will look at her. "Lauren." Camila's soft voice finally has Lauren's wild gaze slowing down, not as nervous as before.
"Uh huh?"
Camila bites her lip and looks away, a faint smile on her face at Lauren's cute response. She composes herself and focuses back on the tense girl in front of her.
"I was serious about yesterday. I had no idea those assholes were doing something like that for so long. God, it got me so angry. Trust me when I say that they'll never bother you again."
"Wait, are you serious?"
Nodding in reassurance, Camila hesitantly reaches forward to place a hand on the girl's bicep. "Yes, I am. I'm so sorry that all of that happened to you, but it'll never happen again. Alright?"
"Um, um." Lauren locks her eyes on Camila's arm, because she's never seen the girl's tattoos this close before.
"Lauren. Okay?" Camila pulls her arm back and ducks her head, attempting to catch Lauren's gaze.
Lauren snaps out of her slight trance and nods her head quickly, causing her glasses to slide down her nose.
"Okay. Why should I believe you though? I... I don't really know you," Lauren hesitantly points out, cautious about angering the girl in front of her.
"Fair point," Camila says with a shrug. "You don't really know me. But, uh... I just, you have to trust me that I would never hurt you."
Lauren is pretty sure this is the first time she's ever seen the girl lose her cool, and it has her wondering why Camila looks embarrassed all of a sudden.
"Um, I guess..." Lauren trails off, because she's still not really sure.
Camila pauses to think for a moment, squinting her eyes in thought. "Let me prove it to you."
"Prove... it? Prove what?"
"Let me prove that you can trust me."
Raising one eyebrow in confusion, Lauren tilts her head, reaching to slide her glasses back up. "Okay... how?"
"At school. I'll make sure no one ever bullies you again. I could be your own personal bodyguard."
That comment has Lauren letting out an involuntary giggle, causing Camila to smile at Lauren's reaction.
"Bodyguard? That, uh, that seems a little odd, doesn't it?"
Camila shrugs again, waving a hand dismissively. "What do you say?"
Running a hand through her hair in thought, Lauren ponders over Camila's suggestion. "I mean... I guess? Can we not call it bodyguard though? Makes me feel like a pop star or something."
"You're pretty enough to be one," Camila says with a flirtatious wink, and it's the first time during this whole interaction that Lauren messes with her hair in bashfulness, not nervousness.
This entire situation went from one end to the other in the blink of an eye, and Lauren honestly doesn't know what to make of it.
"Uh, uh..." Lauren attempts to fight the blush on her cheeks, but she knows she's unsuccessful by the way Camila laughs softly at her.
"I'm sorry if I scared you. But I promise I'm not trying to hurt you, and I also promise that those two dumbasses will stay far away from you if they know what's good for them."
"You didn't." Lauren reaches down to pick up her bag, looking back at Camila. "I believe you."
Camila nods with a smile on her face and turns to head out of the bathroom. Right before she walks through the doorway, Lauren calls her name.
"And... um, thank you for sticking up for me. That was, it was really cool."
Camila doesn't reply, just throws a wink and a smile over her shoulder at Lauren before exiting the restroom.
Lauren takes a few extra seconds to calm her red cheeks down before she heads to class.
~~
Contrary to what Lauren promised her friends, she doesn't tell them about what happened in the bathroom. Mostly because she's still trying to make sense of it herself. One moment she's preparing herself to be humiliated, the next moment, Camila is telling her to trust her. They're most definitely not friends, and to be honest, she didn't even think that Camila knew her name. Why would Camila be so nice to her, someone she barely knew, and defend her like that in front of Camila's own friends?
It doesn't make any sense to Lauren.
She goes through the rest of the school day in deep thought, brushing off Tori's and Ally's concerns when they ask about her mood. She doesn't want them finding out about the bathroom confrontation. Not yet.
The problem is, the encounter is the only thing on her mind, and it's starting to give her a headache, so she really needs a distraction. When Tori suggests that they grab dinner at a diner, she agrees, hoping it'll take her mind off her rampant thoughts.
They decide to head home after school and meet up at Lauren's house a couple of hours later, since her house is on the way. Ally drives all three of them to the restaurant, dropping her two passengers off at the entrance while she finds a parking spot.
Tori and Lauren find a booth along the wall, and Ally joins them a minute later, sliding onto the seat beside Tori. After placing their orders, they settle into a comfortable conversation, content to be spending time with each other.
"So, you're sure nothing happened today, right?"
Lauren rolls her eyes at Ally to try to sell her lie. "I'm sure. I'm think you guys being around me put them off whatever they wanted to do." Lies.
"I guess... did you wait in the bathroom like you said?"
"Yes, Ally, I did, and nothing happened." More lies.
"I wonder why Camila did what she did yesterday. I mean, she's probably known about them bullying you for a while now," Tori pitches in.
"Probably." Liar, liar, pants on fire.
('God, Lauren, what are you, five?' she thinks to herself immediately afterwards, as she tears apart her straw wrapper piece by piece.)
"Hey, Lauren."
She whips her head up at the sound of her name and speak of the devil.
"Uh, hi... Camila..."
"I didn't know you guys come here to eat."
"Yeah, um, we like the uh, burgers." Lauren glances over to see Ally glaring at Camila, but Tori looks about ready to pounce. "And the milkshakes," Lauren adds on quietly.
"What the fuck is it to you, huh? Trying to find every opportunity to bother Lauren? Can't you just leave her alone for once!"
Camila stares at Tori with wide eyes, because it's well known that most people would never talk to the girl like that. She has a reputation for a reason. Lauren does appreciate how protective Tori is of her, though. It makes her feel happy that her friends care so much.
Lauren jumps in before Camila can tear Lauren's best friend a new one. "Tori, relax, it's fine. Um, Camila wasn't part of the, you know... none of that."
This time it's Ally who speaks up, because Tori still looks ready to beat someone. "How do you know that? Did she tell you that?"
Camila doesn't look fazed by Tori's outburst. "Yeah, I explained it all to her earlier today in the bathroom. I told Austin and Brad to back off, and if they know what's good, they'll listen to me."
Tori and Ally give Lauren a disappointed (Ally) and betrayed (Tori) look. "You didn't tell us you spoke to her," Ally says quietly.
"It's... um," Lauren tries to explain. "Can we talk about this, you know, later?" she asks quieter, gesturing with her eyes towards Camila.
They all turn back to Camila, only to then notice the two other girls standing behind her. "By the way, these are my two best friends, Dinah and Normani," Camila attempts to change the subject, her friends waving hello behind her.
"Oh, yeah, I know who you guys are," Tori says, going along with the subject change, although Lauren can tell she's still a little tense. "I shared a couple of classes with you two last year."
"Didn't we have the same gym class?" Ally asks, directing her question towards Dinah.
"That's right, we did! I remember that you always struggled with basketball," Dinah jokes, attempting to lighten the mood.
Ally chuckles softly, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "Yeah, well, when you're four feet eleven inches, things like basketball can be a little difficult."
They all share a quiet laugh, Camila being the next one to speak up.
"I wanted to introduce you to one of my other friends, Zayn, but he didn't come with us today. Maybe you can meet him tomorrow, Lauren?"
Biting her lip anxiously, Lauren nods with wide eyes, aware of her two best friends staring holes into the side of her head.
"Yeah, sure, yeah um, that sounds good," she agrees, itching to run a hand through her hair to calm her nerves.
"And we'd love to get to know you better, Lauren," Normani, Lauren remembers, says from Camila's left, gesturing towards herself and their other friend Dinah with a friendly grin on her face.
"Well, I'll let you guys get back to your dinner. Talk to you tomorrow, Lauren?"
Lauren shrinks under everyone's gaze, nudging her glasses back up her nose. "Ye- yeah, uh, I... sure."
Camila smiles warmly at her, all three girls offering a quick goodbye to Ally, Tori, and Lauren before heading towards her own booth with her friends.
Lauren sees the looks on her friends' faces and knows that they're going to say something before they actually do.
"Explain."
So Lauren walks them through the encounter, minus a few details here and there, but throughout her entire explanation, she keeps feeling Camila's eyes glance over at her from their perpendicular booth. Lauren can see from the corner of her eye every time the girl looks over, and it makes her feel uncomfortable under the watchful gaze. She doesn't know why Camila keeps looking at her, but she tries to ignore it as she answers her friends' questions.
"So, what exactly was all that about 'talking to you tomorrow' or introducing you to that Zayn guy?"
Lauren doesn't hear Tori's question, too preoccupied with picking at her fries while eyeing Camila subtly.
"Laur?"
"Huh?"
Tori gives her a strange look but repeats her question. "Why did Camila say that she'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Well, it's for the whole 'looking out for me' thing, I think? I... I don't really understand it myself." Lauren runs a hand through her hair in exasperation. "Why don't you ask her?" She literally whines, a little fed up with the questions and the fact that she can't make sense of the situation.
"And how do you feel about Camila's actions?" Ally asks, not unkindly, but the way she asks it makes Lauren feel like she's speaking to a therapist.
"Ugh, I just..." she trails off, unsure how to answer. "I'm confused, I guess? And I'm not really sure where it's all coming from. I mean, if she really is genuine about this whole thing, then... uh, I guess the question is... why?"
"It's so out of left field," Tori agrees.
Ally sighs, like she doesn't have an answer either. "I guess the only thing to do is wait and see."
"Yeah, I suppose," Lauren says, deciding she's done with this conversation because she's barely gotten to eat her burger with all the talking they've been doing. It's significantly less delicious when the patty is room temperature and the bun is soggy from the ketchup.
Lauren realizes just how long they've been talking when she notices Camila and her friends standing up from their table, clearly done with their meals (she wasn't deliberately watching them, she's just hyperaware of them right now because of Camila's staring). They have to walk past Lauren's booth to get to the exit, and apparently they decide to make a quick stop along the way.
"Either you guys eat slow, or we eat too fast," Camila jokes as she approaches their booth.
"Pretty sure you eat way too quickly, Chancho," Dinah says as she comes to stand next to Camila.
"Yeah, you eat way too much way too quickly," Normani chimes in with a grin on her face.
"Jesus, alright guys, you done making fun of me?" Camila asks with an eye roll.
Dinah smiles widely and throws an arm around Camila's shoulders. "Never."
To be honest, Lauren's kind of surprised with how laid back Camila appears right now, especially surrounded by her close friends. She's only known this girl based on the rumors and stories she's heard whispered through the halls, and has failed to realize that Camila is still human and apparently has a different side to her. Lauren knows that not many people would be able to make fun of Camila and get away with it (at least according to the rumors).
Smiling politely, Ally places her burger down and wipes her hands on a napkin. "I think we just talk too much." Camila lets out a soft, genuine laugh at that, and Lauren decides she kind of likes it when the girl looks happy.
"Anyways, I feel like we're bothering you guys again," Camila says, a smirk on her face. "So we'll leave you be."
Lauren mumbles a quiet goodbye to the three, pushing her glasses up her nose, but right before Camila walks away, she turns back to Lauren. "By the way, Lauren." She glances up, making shy eye contact with Camila. "You look really cute in that skirt."
Camila doesn't give anyone a chance to reply, walking away after her friends who are waiting for her by the exit.
Lauren's eyes go wide, feeling the warmth in her cheeks and praying praying praying that it goes away, but the smirk on Tori's face tells her that it hasn't.
"Cute, huh?"
"Tori," Lauren whines (again; what is it with this girl and making Lauren whine like a little kid), lowering her head to hide her face behind her hair.
"What was that, Laur?" When Lauren glances up, even Ally has a mischievous look on her face as she waits for an answer.
She hides her face behind her hands, because nothing makes sense and everything is weird and Lauren is confused and it's only the second day of the school year for God's sake.
Now, Lauren knows for a fact that she doesn't have a crush on Camila. She still barely knows the girl and she's still slightly intimidated by her. But, like she admitted before (to herself only, thank God), the girl is definitely attractive, and the attention she's been showing Lauren evokes a reaction out of the girl mostly because no one has really ever given her that kind of treatment before (there was that one time, but Lauren doesn't like to talk about it because it's not a nice memory for her). She doesn't really know what to do with all of it.
After some questioning ("I don't know, Ally") and lighthearted teasing ("Shut up, Tori"), they pay for their meals and decide to head home.
Later that night, when Lauren is lying in bed and scrolling through her phone, she receives a notification on Instagram and pauses for a moment when she sees it's from Camila. It shouldn't mean much, the girl requesting to follow her, but it does to Lauren because Camila is attempting to reach out to her. Camila has no problem with interacting with her on social media and in front of her own friends, but it could be a different thing altogether to be seen with Lauren at school.
Her finger hesitates over the accept button, but she decides to go for it, figuring she can always delete Camila later on if she changes her mind. Plus, she doesn't have anything embarrassing on her Instagram, just a couple of politically based posts, some family pictures, and a couple of selfies from when she was feeling confident.
Lauren heads to her bathroom to brush her teeth before bed, and when she comes back, she sees a few notifications on her phone from Instagram. One of them says that Camila accepted her own follow request, and the other is a comment on one of her more recent selfies. She decides to read it before stalking Camila's profile (please, everyone does it).
laurenjauregui So, Ally told me to post this because she said I looked cute. I expect a selfie in return but... this is for you Ally :)
camila_cabello holy shit planet green eyes attack u. god damn, like for real though, ur eyes are just... but i don't think 'cute' is the right word to describe u if u get what i'm saying ;)
Lauren smiles despite her mixed emotions and the conflicting past two days (also despite the slightly fuckboy comment Camila left) because the girl's compliments are making her feel really good, and she seems so genuine about them. She never thought someone like Camila Cabello could make her smile; actually, she never thought someone like Camila Cabello would put forth the effort to make her smile.
Deciding to save her stalking for another day, Lauren locks her phone and turns her lamp off, snuggling into bed. She falls asleep feeling a little less apprehensive about what the next day will bring.
~~