Bad News

Bad News - Chap. 19

Chapter 19

 

Lauren was trying to process everything Camila had just said. It would be amazing if Camila could show Normani and Dinah that she is actually a good person. That way, Lauren wouldn’t have to lie to them, and maybe they will finally accept her still growing crush on Camila.

 

So she nodded. She let Camila help her, again. And again, Camila had no idea why she wanted to.

The bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch break. Lauren and Camila made their way back inside and went together to their next class. All the way there, they were looked at. Everybody they passed in the hallways was looking at them and whispering to their friends.

Camila was used to the whispering and the looks. She didn’t even notice them anymore. The only thing she did notice, was Lauren’s tense body language. Camila could feel how nervous they made her, and she felt bad for her. Just because Lauren was simply walking next to Camila, she was being judged and felt uncomfortable.

Camila was debating whether to walk away from Lauren or not. She didn’t want her to be uncomfortable because of her. But she couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to walk away from Lauren, she wanted to be close to her, no matter what everybody else would say or do about it. But what if Lauren didn’t want that?

While Camila was having an inner battle between her thoughts and feelings, Lauren was focused on other things. She was feeling very uncomfortable with everybody staring at her, and it made her feel very self-conscious. She tried to avoid making eye-contact with any of them by looking down, just like Camila, when she saw two feet standing in front of her.

She stopped walking and looked up. Camila had stopped walking too and looked up just enough to see who was standing in front of them, blocking the way. Dinah Jane Hansen. Camila smiled and looked down again. She knew she would have a confrontation with Lauren’s friends sooner or later, because they wanted to protect Lauren from her.

‘’Lo, what are you doing?’’ Dinah asked Lauren, completely ignoring Camila. ‘’N-nothing.’’ Lauren answered. Dinah was glaring at her. She had to make up her mind now quickly. Was she going to defend Camila but possibly lose Dinah’s friendship or was she going to please Dinah and keep her as a friend while maybe losing Camila?

Camila waited patiently. She wished she was alone with Lauren now, so she could tell her that it didn’t matter to her what she would do. Camila had encouraged her herself to not stand up for her in order to keep her friendship with Normani. The same would go for Dinah. Camila hoped that Lauren would just ignore her and walk away with Dinah. She didn’t want her to lose something or somebody because of her.

Lauren looked up at Dinah, who was still looking at her sternly. ‘’You know, you shouldn’t surround yourself with bad people. Let’s go.’’ Dinah said, taking a quick glance at Camila before looking back at Lauren and grabbing her arm. ‘’She’s not a bad person.’’ Lauren muttered softly.

Dinah gave her a pointed look. ‘’Lo, all she does is fight. You’ve seen it yourself at lunch. What if she’s going to fight you? Who’s gonna help you then, huh?’’ Lauren didn’t know what to do. She knew that if she said anything to Dinah in Camila’s defense, she would lose her as a friend. She looked at Camila, who was still looking down and decided that it might be best if she just went along with Dinah.