IV.

Camila's POV

"I already informed them you're alright. They're worried though, especially Dinah." Lauren smiles at me. It's more of a sympathetic smile than a real one. "So, are you gonna tell me now what happened? Why were you running like you just saw a ghost and crying helplessly?"

I like where she took me. This is one of the quietest places I've been. There are the midnight lights and the streets are as empty as what I feel right now. I can perfectly admire the trees freely dancing with the wind as they get along with each other. I can watch the stars from where we are sat. I can write stories and read books and never be disturbed for a moment. I can be calm and in all honesty, I feel better.

"Wesley." I am still looking up above watching the stars. "H-he harassed me." I start to feel helpless all of a sudden. I want to cry, scream and punch his face for making me feel weak. "The thing is I thought you were there, that you waited for me but I guess you didn't."

"I knew it." Lauren tells me. "When I got back to the mini bar, he's already gone. I asked Ally, Normani even Luis didn't know where that prick went. They just said he talked to some of his friends who were just around. I did wait for you though, I just went back because I forgot something and when I was on my way back to get you, you were already running away from something. I should've followed my guts and didn't leave you. That was it. He'll pay for what he did."

I look at her and smile weakly. "What are you going to do? Punch him in the face? Kick him in his balls? I almost got raped oh my God. I went there to check on my best friend and I tried to be nice and friendly with them. That Wesley thought he could do anything he wanted? I pretty sure want to punch him in the face at this very moment." I laugh sarcastically.

Lauren held my hand which took me by surprise. "You aren't weak, Camila. You fought back; he didn't get what he wanted. You did everything to stop him from thinking he could get anything he wanted. You are strong. Don't let them get into your head and change what you really are." She tells me in full honesty as she stares at me straightly into my eyes.

There are people who want you to be a better person and there are people who make you feel better for yourself. It is much better when you meet one person who is both. It is much better to meet someone who can actually make the word "better" be a part of you in your everyday life.

"Yeah, thanks." I let go of her touch and look at the stars once again. There are really amazing to look at. Whenever I try to write something, I open the window and look up the sky, wondering how beautiful night becomes with stars giving light to streets and people wandering the streets at night. Maybe it's not always people walking down the streets are the ones wandering, maybe if you just watch the stars in the sky, your mind does a little bit of wandering too. "You know what's funny? I would never commit myself to someone who doesn't admire watching the stars at peace in the night sky." I tell Lauren while still admiring the stars in the night sky.

"Actually, there's one thing funnier than that." She replies and I look at her quickly. She seems to be smiling at me and I can't help but wonder why.

"What is that? What do you mean?" I ask her.

She laughs lightly and continues on what she's about to say. "Well, we haven't even introduced ourselves properly to each other yet. We don't even know stuff about each other except our first names, if I get it right? So yeah, would you like to share something like... just... basically answer the typical 5 w's. That would be really great!" It's now my turn to laugh as reality hit me that we're technically strangers and I'm acting a total mess in front of her.

"Oh. Well. Hmmm hi! I'm Camila. Short for Camila Cabello." I extend my right hand to shake hands with her. "It's good to be meeting you Lauren..."

"Jauregui. My full name is Lauren Jauregui. Nice to meet you too. So what do you do in life?" It's starting to sound funny to me because she's like an interviewer and I've got to answer her questions for my fans.

I smile at her before answering. "Well I may have mentioned before, I do study and basically just trying to surviving this whole school year. I've taken Eng Lit as a course because as you can see I really love writing and reading various genre of books. I can go from Young Adult to Contemporary to Thriller. Anything really I just love to read so much."

Lauren stares at me as she speaks. "Well that's good to hear. You know they say that when you fall in love with a writer, you can never die."

"That's pretty nice to hear. I'd love to say that to the certain person I'd luckily end up with." She nods. "So how about you? Anything more interesting facts about your life than I shared?"

"Well they're pretty much not as interesting as yours but I fortunately do study too. I took Fine Arts, not that obvious I know, but it's because I just really love painting and staring at things and places I love to analyze, you know like a code we try to break down or something." That may be a bit kind of a shocker to me but I don't judge her. "When you told me to watch the stars, I kind of felt the familiar feeling I used to have when I was a kid. Whenever my parents fought on something, I would open my window and just sit there and watch the stars. The thing is other people watch the stars because they're happy or it's romantic. It's different for me. I watch the stars because I'm sad and alone. I had no one with me that's why I watch them to remind myself that the stars watch you as you watch them. I would feel less alone then." I feel like I'm getting into tears listening to her story. As much as I want to hug her, I don't. Maybe because it sticks to my mind that we're still strangers; yes we are talking but that doesn't mean that we are already friends. I'm not even sure if she tells the truth in her story or she just makes it up. Why am I even judging her when I just told to myself a while ago that I didn't? She tells the truth. Probably that's why she acts like a rebel because her parents don't care about her. Probably.

"I know it's weird that I just blurted out some childhood story of mine but yeah I'm sorry it's just... It's too much feels especially when you are like that."

"Like what?"

"Like my mom. She used to tell me to watch the stars every night because it'd make me feel better."

Maybe this girl telling me stories she probably never told a lot of people about trusts me. Maybe I just have to open my mind that she's much more of a good person inside. "I'm sorry for that, Lauren. How are your parents now?"

"Funny you asked well they both already passed away." My eyes form O_O in shock. I don't even have a clue and don't even think that her parents must have already passed away because in my mind I assumed that they've just divorced and such.

I bite my lip before I reply. "Oh God! I'm sorry Lauren! I swear I don't even know I don't have a clue that they might have already passed away. I really thought they just you know... drifted away or did the divorce thing..."

She laughs. This time I can feel it's a genuine laugh. "Don't feel sorry. I don't even feel sorry for me. Anyway, I assume your parents are doing great since they have a perfectly born child who is, I am grateful of, talking to me."

I look at her furrowing my eyebrows. "I'm not a child! I'm a teenager for future references." I take back what I said. "I'm j-just kidding of c-course. How about you? Have you had a boyfriend before?" The wind blows harder and I thank God for I have thought of wearing a hoodie instead of a simple rubbish shirt. We are sat on a darker shade of green bench and there are really no people around, it's like a quiet time of the night I've always wished for. Although I have these thoughts there will some car cops that would be roaming around in no time.

"Well for starters, I did have a boyfriend." She smiles and continues her story. "We lasted a little longer than normal relationships go because it was like we were close friends, you know? It's like we were close friends and kind of felt like we had a connection so I got in a relationship with him."

"What happened? You seem really in love with him."

Lauren smiles lightly. "Well, I do love him. Trust me, I do. But there's a really massive difference between being in love with someone and loving that someone." Her green eyes stare right into my eyes once again. It almost feels like those eyes are corrupting my soul. "Like if I tell you I love you, you'd be flattered and if I tell you I'm in love with you, you should be in love with me back." My mouth can't form words I should be answering her at the moment but my mind seems to not function at the very moment. All of a sudden, I hear her laugh. "You have a funny way of showing how it got you speechless."

I pinch my cheeks and cough a little before speaking up. "N-no I'm s-sorry. It's not that! I j-just understand what you just said and it's true. It's scary but it's true. Do you have a new boyfriend now though?" I try to interact with her at ease.

"I don't. Although I'm in a relationship right now."

I look at her confused. "W-what does that mean?" My eyes get bigger at the sudden realization covers my mouth with my two hands. She just laughs back. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I w-wasn't really considering the thought..."

"Looks like you've already mastered the art of saying sorry to someone."

"Are you serious though? What's her name? Why didn't you bring her at the party a while ago?" She grabs ahold of my hand and it honestly took me by surprise but one thing I learned is to listen to one's opinion before you reject.

She smiles at me once again. "Actually, she was there a while ago." She lets go of my hand and stretches her arms and legs as she stands up. "This seems to be a long day huh? Aren't you planning on going back to your dorm?"

Reality hit me as I stand up and look away from her. "Y-yeah. Y-you're def... definitely right! I d-don't even know what time it is. M-my phone ran out of battery."

"Shall I walk you back to your dorm?

I almost said yes because it's really refreshing to have a company after quite a long time. Although Dinah is a real company to me too but she goes to parties recently and it's been often. "N-no. I mean n-no I can manage. That's just our dorm. I'll just walk like minutes. D-don't worry I'll be fine!"

She smiles showing her teeth. "Right. Probably I'll just wait here and watch you walk back to your dorm if that's fine."

"What? I d-don't like... I d-don't have to bother you that much anymore. You accompanying me tonight is already a big thing. I am thankful really. Thank you for tonight. Thank you for telling me some facts about your life. Thank you if you trust me. I s-swear----."

She cuts me off by shooing. "You talk too much. Go now. Walk now so I'll be able to leave too. I'll watch you, no matter what you say." When she notices that I'm still staring at her and weighing my thoughts she speaks up again. "C'mon. We'll both be screwed if you don't start walking."

"Okay! Okay! Take care of yourself." She nods.

As I walk back to our dorm I feel like smiling. It's better to smile when the person that causes it doesn't see you. And so when I turn my back at her, I smile. A big, genuine, content one. I can still feel her presence at my back though, like she's following me from behind. My thoughts are answered when she called out for my name and I noticed she's a bit far now.

"Camila!"

"Yes?" I answered.

"Thank you for today. See you tomorrow."

And just like that, I appear in front of the door of my dorm and everything goes black as I fall on top of my bed and close my eyes for a deep sleep.

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