Chapter 3
"You better wipe that drool off of your chin."
Camila quickly reaches a hand up to her mouth, then turns to glare at Dinah when she hears the girl snickering.
"Fuck off."
"Hey, not my fault you chose to pine after Lauren from across the halls instead of growing some balls all these years."
Rolling her eyes, Camila shoves some of her belongings into her locker. "I'm making an effort now. Doesn't that count?"
"Yeah," Dinah scoffs. "Three years too late. Haven't you liked her since freshman year?"
"So what? I always assumed she didn't like me. I'm still not sure how she feels about me now, even though I stuck up for her."
Dinah throws an arm around Camila's shoulders, and the girl unsuccessfully tries to shrug it off. "Aw, does the adorable little dorky Lauren scare the big bad Camila?"
"Shut up, Dinah," Camila mumbles as she slams her locker closed. "She's just... she's so pure and innocent and untainted and just like... she's perfect, you know? She's too good for this world." Her eyes are locked on Lauren who is standing halfway down the hall, talking eagerly with Tori.
"Jesus, Mila," she hears Dinah sigh. "You've got it bad."
Camila doesn't even try to deny it. "I know. Ugh. What is it about this girl?"
"I don't know, babe, but she clearly has you wrapped around her pinky. And you're not even dating," Dinah says, looking over her shoulder as Normani approaches. "I'm going to head to class with Mani now. Try not to drool all over the floor please. It's nasty enough as is."
Acknowledging Dinah and saying hi and bye to Normani, Camila leans her shoulder against the lockers, gaze fixed firmly on Lauren. She doesn't know how the girl has never noticed her staring, because she does it more often than considered normal.
Camila watches as Lauren animatedly tells Tori something that is apparently funny because the next moment, both girls are laughing, Lauren throwing her head back as she chuckles loudly. Camila's eyes zero in on the length of Lauren's neck that is exposed, wondering what it would be like to run her tongue along it. Their laughter dies down until Lauren is quietly giggling, and Camila can't quite understand how her thoughts can go from less than appropriate to finding Lauren the most adorable creature on the planet in the next moment. The girl's laugh is so precious, and her smile is even more captivating.
Lauren turns to speak to Tori at a different angle, and instead of staring at Lauren's right profile, Camila has an almost head on view of the girl. She runs her eyes over Lauren's face, and notices how the lighting in the hallway causes green eyes to glow radiantly. They look especially vivid and intense today, as if reflecting the girl's good mood.
The green of the school's lockers has nothing on Lauren's eyes.
Camila takes note of Lauren's appearance, her outfit consisting of a cute blue dress and a dragonfly necklace, her hair parted to the side and held back with a clip, and her usual glasses sitting low on her nose. Not even a moment later, Lauren reaches up to push them back up her face, and Camila has to stop herself from reacting, because seeing Lauren adjust her glasses is one of Camila's favorite Lauren mannerisms. It's so unbearably cute, and every time Lauren did it while they were talking, Camila would nearly burst a blood vessel from holding in her squeal (nobody is ever going to hear her squeal).
Lauren's lips look a little shiny from where Camila is at, and when she focuses more on the girl's mouth, she notices that Lauren is wearing lipgloss, which...
That's surprising.
Camila has noticed the few (rare) times Lauren has applied a little bit of makeup, whether it be some mascara, a little bit of gloss,or some blush (and that one time she wore eyeliner, which had Camila yelling into her pillow as soon as she got home because the way the makeup had made Lauren's eyes pop...). All Camila is saying is that Lauren seldom wears makeup, so when she does, Camila obviously needs to take time to appreciate it.
(Because if the girl is that gorgeous when she's got a clean face, just imagine how much more intense it is when she's highlighting her unique features.
Seriously.)
Lauren is gesturing wildly with her hands, and Camila catches sight of purple nail polish, which just looks too cute on the girl. And fuck, Camila shouldn't be finding shit like purple nail polish cute, but everything Lauren is and does is always cute. It's more than just cute though. Lauren is not only adorable, she's also stunning, and charming, and...
Camila watches as Lauren pushes her brown hair behind her shoulder while simultaneously licking her lips, her green eyes blinking slowly.
Shit.
Lauren is also sexy. So, undeniably, sexy. Camila can see the girl's curves outlined through her clothing, notices her plump lips and voluminous hair, and Camila just can't believe how sexy Lauren really is.
Yeah, the cute girl exterior hides it, but Camila knows. She can tell. The girl is sexy, and whether Lauren realizes it or not, Camila knows that it's true.
Camila recalls (vaguely, because her focus is a little preoccupied) their conversation in the bathroom yesterday, about how Camila promised to look after Lauren at school, making sure no one else tried to pick on her. She figures it's a pretty good reason to approach Lauren while she's alone because obviously she's just checking up on her. Camila decides not to do so right now though, because Tori is with Lauren and she seems to be doing okay.
Suddenly, Tori and Lauren switch places as Tori opens her locker, so now Camila has a direct view of Lauren's ass, and it has her mind going places it should not be. She bites her lip, because Lauren's dress is a little extra form-fitting today, and Camila is definitely not complaining.
Just as she's about to lose herself in what could be considered the greatest view known to man, two large hands cover her eyes, and Camila wants to whine at the interruption. She hears a chuckle in her ear and automatically knows who it is.
"What do you want, Zayn?"
Removing his hands, Zayn circles around to stand in front of Camila, completely blocking her view. "Don't look so happy to see me."
"Hey, I was just—"
Zayn raises an eyebrow, looking down at Camila. "You were just what?"
Camila shakes her head. "Nothing," she backtracks. "Ready to go to class?"
"Sure thing," he says, reaching out to ruffle the hair on top of her head. She pushes him and his stupid face away and turns around to head towards their classroom.
She supposes her leering will have to be saved for another time.
~~
Lunch time rolls around and Camila has yet to speak to Lauren because every time she saw the girl, either Ally or Tori was with her, so Camila figured she'd be alright.
Camila walks into the cafeteria with Dinah and Normani, but instead of sitting at their usual place in the corner, Camila leads them to the table that Lauren and her friends occupy, perpendicular to theirs (nobody knows that Camila deliberately chose the location of her group's table just so that she could watch Lauren during lunch).
They approach the round lunch table, walking up behind Lauren who has her back towards them.
"Hey guys, mind if we sit with you?" Camila asks once she's directly behind Lauren. She's close enough to hear the squeak of surprise the girl lets out when Camila speaks.
Ally eyes them for a moment, before hesitantly nodding and gesturing towards the empty benches. "Sure, take a seat."
Tori and Ally are sharing one of the two-seater benches while Lauren is alone on hers, so Camila slides in next to Lauren, bumping her hip since the girl is sitting almost in the middle of her bench. She watches as Dinah and Normani take the empty seat across from them, both with subtle smirks on their faces aimed at Camila.
Lauren squeaks again when Camila makes contact with her side, her fork suspended in midair (where it's been since they approached the table) as she stares straight ahead with wide eyes.
"Mind if I share the bench with you? These two" —Camila comments, jerking a thumb in Normani and Dinah's direction— "always like to leave me out."
Nodding wordlessly, Lauren slides over to the end of the seat, almost falling off of the bench because of how far she moved.
"Hey, you don't have to scoot that far over. There's enough room for both of us. My ass isn't that big," Camila jokes, enjoying the girl's deer in headlights expression.
Lauren inches closer to Camila, but only slightly because her left ass cheek is still suspended off of the edge, so Camila takes it upon herself to tug the girl closer until they're nearly shoulder to shoulder.
"See? Much better."
"Mhm," Lauren says quietly, staring wide eyed down at her food this time, keeping her arms as close to her body as possible. Camila watches intently as Lauren nervously licks her lips then swallows, her throat bobbing with the motion.
"You okay?" Camila asks as she begins picking at her lunch.
"Uh huh."
"You just seem a little tense."
"Nuh uh."
Camila has to hold in her adoring chuckle because Lauren is hunched over her lunch, still mindlessly moving her food around the tray, and her elbows are tucked in tightly against her body.
This girl is seriously too cute.
"Lauren, relax." She reaches out to place a hand on Lauren's right forearm, and it immediately stops all motion, but Camila does notice how the fork is gripped just a little bit tighter.
"We're all friends here, right?"
Lauren makes eye contact with Camila for the first time today. "Uh, w– we... we are?"
"Of course. I said I would look out for you, didn't I?" She smiles warmly at Lauren, hoping to relax the tense girl.
"R– right. You did, you did," Lauren mumbles quietly, almost to herself.
"Exactly. We need to be comfortable around each other if I'm going to be 'your bodyguard', right?" Camila asks, using air quotations in reference to their previous conversation.
Lauren finally cracks a small smile, and the sight makes Camila feel like she's broken through some impenetrable wall. "That's um, true."
"I thought a good first step would be to get to know each other better. Maybe we could swap numbers?"
"Bu–... you want my number?"
"Of course," Camila answers, removing her hand from Lauren's arm so the girl can continue eating her food (or playing with it; whichever). "Why wouldn't I?"
"I uh, um, I don't know..."
Camila reaches into her pocket to pull out her phone. "Here. Put your number in and I'll send you a text so you have mine too."
She hands the device over to Lauren who hesitantly takes it, glancing up at Camila curiously for a moment before focusing on the screen as she inputs her information. When Lauren hands it back, Camila taps on the contact name, firing a quick message off to the girl. Lauren's phone buzzes on the table next to her tray, and Camila knows the exact moment the girl reads her text because her cheeks flush a slight pink.
Glancing back down at her own still open phone, Camila smirks to herself at the message she sent to Lauren.
Camila: have i told u how good u look in that dress?
"I... um, thanks, that's uh... that's really nice of you to, um, say," Lauren stutters out, simultaneously pushing her glasses back up her nose.
Camila has to take a deep breath before she can reply to Lauren.
"It's the truth. Although..." Camila continues, glancing at the other four girls who are preoccupied with their own conversations before lowering her volume slightly. "You look great no matter what you wear. I'm sure you already knew that, though."
Looking up with vivid green eyes, Lauren timidly bites her lip as she shakes her head. "No, I mean, not really. I just... I know I'm not really like, wanted or, or, you know, attractive, so it—"
"Lauren, are you kidding me?" The girl stops mid sentence, blinking in shock at the fierce tone in Camila's voice.
This time, it's Camila shaking her head, because she just can't believe it. How could Lauren honestly think that? She's the most gorgeous person in this god damn school.
"Don't you ever, for one moment, say th— no wait, don't even think that, about yourself, you hear me? You are so fucking pretty, extremely adorable in like, the best way possible, beautiful, so, so beautiful, and, and, and... fuck, sexy too. I can't believe you don't see that. You're all of those things and more, and I hope you trust me when I say that."
Lauren is staring at Camila with wide eyes, taken aback at the girl's sudden outburst. Once she's absorbed all of Camila's words, her blush deepens into a red on her cheeks, and she looks down shyly, a small smile on her lips.
"You... mean it?" Lauren gazes back up, tucking some loose hair behind her ear. "You really think all of that... about me?"
"I have for a long time," Camila replies quietly, then widens her eyes slightly because she didn't mean to reveal that.
There's a precious smile on Lauren's face, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She nudges her glasses up bashfully, then rubs at her own arm softly. Camila doesn't miss the way Lauren's knuckles graze her skin because of the motion.
"No one has ever said that about me before." Lauren whispers, as if they're sharing some secret. "Well, I mean, Tori and Ally have, and my family, but I meant like, no one who doesn't really know me has ever told me that. So it just... it's..." Camila watches as Lauren struggles to find the right words, her nose scrunching up adorably in thought.
"Thank you," is what Lauren settles for. She stares deeply into Camila's eyes as if she's trying to express in actions what she can't convey in words. Her smile is genuine, and Camila feels like they've taken the first big step towards a real friendship.
(Of course Camila craves more than just that, but it took her three years to initiate a friendship; she figures she can wait a little while longer if it means she gets to call Lauren hers in the end.
[Then again, she's assuming Lauren would even want to date her.
She'll cross that bridge when she gets to it.])
Lauren's smile is suddenly cut off when someone places their hands over Camila's eyes, and she immediately knows who it is.
"Oh my god, Zayn, you're so obnoxious," Camila complains as she peels his hands off of her face.
"She doesn't really mean that," he stage whispers towards Lauren, claiming the empty bench next to them.
"Um, I really do."
Ignoring Camila completely, Zayn peers past her at Lauren. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Zayn," he says, offering a friendly smile towards the girl.
Lauren gazes shyly up at him, running a hand through her hair in nervousness.
"Hi, I'm Lauren," she mumbles, barely loud enough for him to hear.
"So how did you manage to steal my dear friend Camila away from us?"
Looking up in slight worry at the emphasis on friend, Lauren flits her eyes between Camila and Zayn. "Oh, I– I'm sorry, are you guys...? I'm sorry, I wasn't tr– she just asked to sit here– but like it's not her fault or anything, I just didn't reali– like she just stood up for me so that's wh– but that's all an—"
"Lauren!" Camila shouts loudly, grabbing the girl's wildly gesturing hands between her own. She ignores the other four girls' curious gazes on her. "Zayn was just being a douchebag. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."
The girl is breathing hard through her nose, eyes wide and distressed. "Ar– are you sure?"
"Yes, Lauren, I'm pretty sure," Camila explains through a laugh, dropping Lauren's hands. "Seen as I'm like, not interested in boys. Boys like Zayn especially." She throws a quick glare in his direction for the anxiety he caused Lauren.
"Oh," Lauren simply says, her lips staying puckered in an 'o' shape. She drops her head, tugging nervously at the hem of her dress. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assume."
Camila shrugs it off with a wave of her hand and a quick chuckle. "Relax. I don't mind. Also, you need to stop apologizing so much. You've literally done nothing wrong the entire time I've known you."
Lauren glances back up at Camila who has a cheeky smile on her face. Her face reddens under Camila's playful gaze, averting her green eyes towards the lunch table.
"Right. Sorry," Lauren says quietly, then realizes she just apologized again and blushes even harder (seriously, so fucking cute).
"So," Zayn interrupts, clearing his throat to remind the two girls that he's still there. "Lauren, tell me a little bit about yourself."
"Um, well... I like to sketch."
Zayn looks genuinely pleased. "Me too! I'd love to see some of your drawings sometime."
"Really?" Lauren asks with a grin, halting her fiddling with her dress. "I– I have some pictures on my phone, if you... if you want to see..."
"Yeah, definitely!"
Unlocking her phone, Lauren taps away at it for a few seconds before handing the device over to Zayn. Camila attempts to get a glance at the screen but Zayn grabs the phone before she can see anything.
"I made a folder of all of them, so, uh, you can just swipe through if you want."
"Holy shit, you drew this?" Zayn asks in disbelief, staring at the first picture in the album.
Lauren blushes. "Yes," she answers meekly.
"This is incredible! I have so much trouble with shading. And yet you just..." he trails off, eyeing the photo still.
"Thanks," Lauren says, then sits up straighter. "Swipe to the fourth picture. It's a variant to the first one, like from a different point of view," she explains excitedly.
Camila ventures another peek, but Zayn is so engrossed in the phone that she can't see.
"Oh my god, I love that concept. And you executed it so perfectly. It gives a totally different perspective on the situation."
Lauren nods eagerly, standing up from her seat. "And here, if you zoom in on the corner..." She walks over to Zayn's bench, sitting down next to him.
"I totally missed that! That's amazing. I'd love to see the picture in person."
"I can show it to you one day! I've got some others at home that I don't have on my phone too." Lauren leans in closer to Zayn, explaining each photo to him and beaming at his genuine reactions.
Camila stares at the two, mouth open in shock. How the fuck did Zayn do that? He says two words to her and has her all over him! Not only that, but Lauren had no problem engaging with him, smiling at him, sitting next to him... touching him, Camila thinks, glaring at Lauren's hand placed innocently on Zayn's forearm.
Turning away from the two traitors ignoring her, Camila frowns and glances up, only to notice Ally and Tori immersed in a deep conversation with Dinah and Normani.
"Great," she grumbles to herself. "Guess I'll just entertain myself."
She stabs at her lunch just a little too hard, but no one notices.
~~
Zayn and Lauren ended up conversing their entire lunch period, and Camila may or may not have breathed a sigh of relief when it was class time.
Her alleviation was short-lived, however, when she found them deep in conversation while she made her way to her locker after school.
Camila could see Zayn babbling on and on and how Lauren laughed with him as if they were childhood friends.
Arriving at her locker, Camila forces it open rougher than necessary, practically throwing her books into it. Her eyes are glued to the two speaking at Lauren's locker, and her eyes narrow when she sees them swap phones.
It took her three days to get Lauren's number. Here Zayn is getting it after three fucking hours!
Deciding she's had enough, Camila slams her locker shut and begins to make her way over. She doesn't get very far before she's accidentally shouldered, getting shoved into the lockers next to her.
She whips her head around to notice Justin, one of the football players, looking back at her apologetically.
"Fucking hell, watch the fuck where you're going!"
Justin takes a step back, because while he's bigger than the girl, he does know about her reputation. "Calm down, Camila, it was an accident. I'm sorry, someone bumped into me."
"You should be sorry! You're lucky I don't beat your ass right now," she snarls out at him.
"Jesus, alright. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Justin repeats before he turns away and heads down the hall, not wanting to deal with Camila's attitude.
Camila growls to herself and turns around, only to notice Lauren and Zayn standing in front of her, one of them looking unimpressed and the other looking startled.
"Mila, what the hell was that?"
"He's an asshole, that's what!"
"You're unbelievable. He didn't do anything wrong."
"Listen, Zayn–," Camila starts arguing loudly, but one look at Lauren's slightly anxious expression has her stopping. She takes note of the girl's wide eyes, how she's gripping her backpack strap tightly, and it brings Camila back to the first day of school, when she defended Lauren in front of Brad and Austin. It immediately makes Camila feel guilty because Lauren probably hates to see confrontation like that, and here she is causing it for no reason.
"Lauren, I'm so sorry, I–"
The girl shakes her head, not making eye contact with Camila. "It's okay. I'm not... you don't have to apologize to me."
"I just," Camila starts, dropping her head into her hands. "I shouldn't have done that. Zayn's right."
"It's really okay, Camila. D– don't worry about it. I have to go... though. Ally drove me to school today and, and, she's waiting. Plus Zayn was going to walk me to the parking lot."
Camila glances back up, nodding her head slowly. "Okay. I... okay. I'm sorry again," she says mournfully.
"It's okay," Lauren responds, offering a small smile as they walk past Camila. Zayn just gives her a disappointed look, shaking his head as he turns away.
Groaning to herself, Camila turns around and knocks her forehead against the lockers, feeling pissed and frustrated.
Good job. You take one small step forwards with her and three giant leaps backwards. Stupid stupid stupid.
~~
Camila: listen lauren. again, i'm so so sorry about earlier. i let the anger get the best of me and i shouldn't have let that happen.
It takes thirty minutes before she gets a reply back.
Lauren: Like I said, don't worry about it Camila. I know you have a reputation and all, anyways, right?
Camila stares at the text with wide eyes, because does Lauren really think that about her?
Camila: no, no it's not like that at all! it shouldn't have happened, period. i was being an idiot. i'm so sorry.
Lauren: It's fine, really. You give me a hard time for apologizing so much yet here you are doing the exact same thing :P anyways, Tori just got here so I have to go.
Camila: ok i guess... will i see u tomorrow?
Lauren: If you're at school then I'm sure you will.
Tossing her phone onto her mattress, Camila falls backwards onto her bed with a groan. This was not how she meant for things to happen. She was supposed to be gaining the girl's trust, not scaring her away.
Camila rolls onto her side, staring straight ahead at the wall.
What if this just proves that I don't deserve Lauren? She's too perfect for me.
"Ugh," Camila grunts into the empty room. "Lauren Jauregui, what is it about you?"
Camila figures she better start finding a way to make it up to the girl, because God knows she'll do anything for Lauren.
~~