Should Have Known (Camren)

Chapter 22

The final sixteen days of my time in Miami passed by slowly and faster than I had expected all at once. I spent every waking moment with my family, packing up the necessities from my room and making sure everything was good to go before my flight to California. I hadn't seen Lauren since her dad's announcement in her living room, and the anticipation that accompanied my soon-to-be reunion with her grew harder and harder to bear each day.

I anxiously waited in the backseat as my parents stopped for gas before we could continue our trek to the airport.

"Do you want anything from inside?" my mom asked me, a solemn tone to her voice.

"No thanks," I answered.

She shut the car door and made her way into the store while my dad pumped the gas, leaving Sofi and me in the backseat.

"Why do you have to leave?" Sofi whimpered.

"It's for...work, I guess. It's not permanent, plus I'll get to visit," I explained.

She fiddled with the stuffed animal that she held, turning it over in her hands and staring down at it as if searching for answers.

"Why isn't Lauren going with you?" she continued.

I laughed and unbuckled my seat belt, sliding closer to her and wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "She is. She's just not riding with us, remember? We couldn't get on the same flight."

"Oh," she remembered. "I like Lauren."

"I like Lauren too," I smiled.

"Yeah, you like like her," Sofi teased, poking my side playfully.

She recollected herself and stuck out her bottom lip, clearly thinking about something that she was too reluctant to share.

"But..." she started.

"But what?"

"But...why is she a girl? Aren't you supposed to like boys?" she wondered. "I like boys."

"Yes, you do, and that's fine, but not everyone does," I explained. "Sometimes people can't help who they fall in love with, and sometimes it turns out to be a boy, sometimes it turns out to be a girl. Everyone has different opinions."

"Why do you like a girl though?" she pressed. "You just couldn't find a boy that you liked?"

"I wasn't looking," I recalled. "Lauren came along and swept me off my feet before I could even look at a boy. Don't get me wrong Sofi, boys are great and I'm happy you like them, but girls are just so gentle and caring and they can offer much more than boys can, at least for me. You'll learn one day."

"Do you like boys at all?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I know a cute boy when I see one, just like you do. I like boys, but I love Lauren."

My parents got back in the car, cutting our conversation short. It was too hard to explain to her anyway. She was young and didn't get it. I didn't get it. I still recognized a cute guy when I saw one, and if not for Lauren, I probably would have ended up with a boy in the end, but something about her changed my mind. Her green eyes hit me like a ton of bricks and I fell in love for the first time in my life. She just so happened to be a girl, and as confusing as it all was, I was okay with that.

"Let's get this show on the road," my dad said, starting the engine and pulling back onto the highway.

We continued our journey silently, Sofi contemplating the conversation we'd had and my parents too distraught about my soon-to-be absence to say anything. We arrived at the airport moments later and my dad retrieved my bags from the trunk and carried them inside, my mom and Sofi following close behind us. We went through the normal check-in routine and soon enough, I was seated in the lobby waiting to board my flight to California.