Chapter 27

"Babe wake up." I feel someone shaking me but I just nudge my body and pull the pillow over my head.

"Lauren it's almost 8 we are late for school get up." I hear Camila and I jump up.

"Oh my gosh why didn't you wake me up earlier!" I jump up and throw on a pair of sweats.

"Don't you think I would have if I were up." Camz replies and I just roll my eyes and look for a shirt that matches my sweats. I probably shouldn't have taken out the frustration that I overslept on Camila and I instantly feel bad.

"I'm sorry, you know me, I just hate being late." I turn to Camz who just shrugs her shoulders. "It's fine Lauren I'm not a stranger to people taking their anger out on me, I'll be downstairs when you're ready." she says and my heart hurts even more now.

I softly grab Camila's arm and pull her into a hug.

"I'm not him. I never will be but I am sorry that I snapped at you, I won't do it again. Also, I won't let you go until I get a kiss." I flash my smile at the younger girl and as much as she tries to resist smiling, she smiles and gives me a small kiss.

I grab her chin and bring my lips to hers softly, leaving it there for a few seconds before pulling back.

"Much better. You ready?" I question as I slip on a pair of black Nikes.

"You should probably brush your teeth first, your breath stinks SO bad." Camz teases.

"Like yours is any better." I combat with a smirk.

After we brush our teeth and drive to the school my day went pretty quickly and good until I went to lunch and saw Camila and Hailee talking. I stood there watching them laugh and watching Hailee playfully slap Camila's arm and I don't want to feel jealous but I do.

"Lauren.." I turn around and see the last person I expected and wanted to see.

"What Brad? Don't you have something better to do than to come and bother me?" I ask, irritation evident in my voice.

"I just wanted to apologize about the way that I treated you after the breakup and for the party. My ego was just bruised but it doesn't change the fact that I did care about you and I just want to warn you about Hailee. She's really good at getting what she wants and she wants Camila. Just keep an eye out for her." He said and gave me a small smile. As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of missed him, he was always a good friend before we started to date.

"Well thank you for the warning but Camila wouldn't cheat on me." I reply matter of factly. Brad and I just stare at each other for a few seconds before he speaks up again.

"Can I ask you something?" Brad questioned.

"You just did but go for it." I answer as my eyes turn back to the two girls laughing in the distance.

"Do you love her?" He asked and I found myself incapable of replying. Camila and I have never said those words to each other and we have been together for almost 6 months.

"Does she love you?" Brad asked another question that I was unable to answer and I hate that I don't know how to answer his question.

I turn to reply to Brad, he was already gone but his questions and what he said about Hailee keeps running through my head.

I decided on pretending not to see Camila and instead going to the library to catch up on work. My grades have been slowly deteriorating each month and I need to start getting them back up if I want to get into a good college.

I sit down at a table in the corner and take out my chemistry book to review a few notes in case Mrs. Hernandez wants to give us a surprise quiz.

"So you're the one standing in the way of what's mine." I look up and my eyes connect with Hailee. I have never spoken face to face with her but I can't help be intimidated by her confidence and beauty.

"What exactly am I standing in the way of?" I question even though I know the answer. Just like Brad warned, she wants Camila and I have her; but for how long?

"To be the top in chemistry class of course. I'm a teachers pet but you're the only one with a higher grade than me." She sits down at the table I was sitting in and I can't help but wonder if she followed me in here.

I let out a nervous chuckle "Feel free to take it, my grades are falling this semester anyway."

"Oh I'm sure they are. Camila can keep someone quite busy. I know when we were together we stayed in her room all day every day. That girl never gets tired, I kind of miss that. That's why I asked Mrs. Hernandez to partner me up with Camila, I had to reconnect our... friendship. Anyways I should get back to what I was doing, chow!" and just like that she walked away and my insecurity rose to an even higher level.

The fact that the two girls spent so much time together made me question if you can really just let go of all of the feelings that you had at one point. I feel my eyes starting to tear up but I refuse to let her come in between Camila and I.

As soon as the bell rings I walk to chemistry with one thought in mind, show Hailee she can not take what is mine.

I walk into class and spot the younger girl sitting on a table with Dinah, Hailee and Normani. I walk straight up to her, grabbing her gently by the neck and kissing her extremely passionately. I can feel the amount of passion and surprise as Camila kisses me back and wraps her arms around my waist.

I hear a few whistles but it doesn't stop me from prying my tongue into her mouth. Our tongues battle for dominance but of course I win and take full control.

After I hear someone uncomfortably cough I break the kiss and turn towards our teacher. I feel slightly embarrassed by the amount of eyes on me but I only pay attention to one person. I smirk at Hailee who looks like she's between wanting to kill me and wanting to cry and I don't feel bad at all.

"What was that for?" Camz whispers and I smile.

"Just because I want everyone to know that you're mine." I smile and look towards Hailee. Camila follows my stare and looks hurt.

"You wanted to show everyone or you wanted to show Hailee?" She asks and now I can feel Hailee's eyes piercing into me.

"Maybe both." I answer honestly and apparently it wasn't what she wanted to hear because she stormed out of class.

"I'm sorry.." I look at my teacher who just nods towards the door allowing me to go after her. Chasing after Camila has become a habit because I always manage to do something that either pisses her off, hurts her or does both.

"Camila wait.." I sigh and the girl turns around.

"What Lauren? Do you not trust me?" she yells.

"Of course I trust you Camz, I just don't trust her. Brad told me.." I started.

"Oh Brad! You're going to trust your piece of shit of an ex boyfriend over me?" She cut me off and asks.

"Camila you do not know Hailee the way you think you do." I reply getting a little irritated that she's so quick to defend her ex.

"Neither do you! It's not like you ever gave her a chance. She's not a bad person Lauren you're just too obsessed with the idea of me cheating on you that you can't see that." she defends again.

"Lauren are we real?" She questions and I can't help but stare at her in confusion.

"You and I, are we real?" She repeated. "What we have, is it real?" She simplifies and I nod my head.

"Of course we are real Camila, this is the realest thing I have." I reply.

"Nothing real can be threatened. If you are so easily threatened by someone that I never even dated then maybe we aren't as real as I thought we were which really sucks. I have to go, please don't follow me. I just need some time to myself to think." Camila walks away as my mind tries to register what she just said.

Was that her way of breaking up with me?

I don't even bother going back to class and instead I walk straight to the art room. I haven't been in this place in so long because I lost sight of how important art was to me after I became a cheerleader. Back when I was a nerd and had no one, art was all I had.

I would take out all of my pain, nervousness, anger, hurt, depression, loneliness and anything else I was feeling and I would channel it into my art. I would paint and draw until that numbness went away and for the first time in so long I pick up a paintbrush and stare at the empty canvas.

Before I know it my hands are painting intricate designs on the canvas and something inside of me clicked. Something about this art felt so right. By the time I was done I knew Camila would love it; I needed a huge gesture to make sure that she knew how I felt about her and I wanted her to know that no matter what I will not let anyone or anything come in between us.

Even though I knew that the painting was enough for the younger girl I wanted to give her more. I grab my phone and text a family friend asking for a huge favor, hopefully they get back to me quickly.

My heart skipped a beat when I got a reply and my favor was granted. I know that Camila is going to love this surprise, maybe more than the painting and that hopefully it will make her forget that I was a prick to her earlier.

After I figure out a few minor details for the surprise I race to Camila's house. I knock on her door nervously. A part of me is actually scared that she is going to tell me to go away and never to come back. I wouldn't blame her, since the beginning of our relationship my insecurities and ego have affected her.

"Hey." I smile awkwardly as soon as she opens the door.

"Hey Lolo. I'm sorry for earlier, I over reacted." Camz apologized and I let out a breath of relief. She didn't hate me and that is all that matters.

"No, I'm sorry I let my insecurities get the best of me again. I just don't want to lose you but we are real. We are so real it's terrifying honestly. Please do not ever doubt that and I promise I will try my best to let go of my jealousy towards Hailee." I plead with the younger girl who just pulls me in for a hug.

After a few moments I broke the silence and let go of Camz. "So the thing is I have a really huge surprise for you. Two actually." I smile nervously.

"What's the surprise?" she asks.

"Well I can't tell you or it wouldn't be a surprise anymore." I chuckle and motion for her to follow me to the car.

I close the door and walk to the drivers side getting in. I drive as fast as I can without getting a ticket because I couldn't contain my excitement. I pull up to the huge building and park the car.

From the outside the building looks pretty broken down it made me question if I was actually at the right place or not.

I double check the text that I got and confirmed it was the right place so I decided to go with the flow.

"So what exactly is this place?" Camz asks with skepticism.

"Just wait and see." I smile and open the door to the building allowing my girlfriend to go in first.

"Wow." Camila exclaims as soon as she stepped inside. The inside is definitely way better than the outside. The walls were decorated with so many plaques, awards and pictures of huge artist like One Direction, Nicki Minaj, Demi Lovato and Beyonce, when they were younger.

''Lauren what is this place?" Camz asks in astonishment.

"This is where it all started for so many people, and this is where it's going to start for you." I kiss the younger girl quickly before someone approached us.

"Hey I'm John I'm going to be helping you in the studio today." He greets and the look on Camils's face was priceless. Her jaw was practically on the floor and her eyes were already starting to tear up.

"Lauren you didn't.." She replied flustered and I just wrapped my arms around her.

"Demi said she wanted a demo, I figured we should give her what she wanted." I smiled as the tan beauty jumped into my arms.

"Lauren thank you!" The smile on her face was enough for me.

"Let's get going." I held her hand and followed John to the recording studio we would be working in for the day.

"Do you write your own music? If you don't we can write a new song and record it or I have a few songs by other people we can sample, just let me know what you're looking for." He smiled and I looked at Camz who had her adorable thinking face on.

"Well I wrote a song a few months ago but I'm not sure it's very good." Camila looked down.

"Well let us be the judge of that, what is the song about?" He questions.

"Uhm.. It's kind of just about somebody making you feel really amazing and not wanting to let go of them." Camz looks at me and I can tell she wrote the song about me.

"Well we'll start off with an acoustic performance and then we can figure out the rest. Mr. Jonas spoke highly of you, so did Demi." John smiled reassuringly at Camila.

Camila grabs a guitar and I can see her hands trembling. "It's just you and the music, close your eyes and forget we are here." I say to the younger girl. As soon as she closes her eyes I can feel her tension loosen up a little.

Her fingers strum beautifully against the guitar before she starts singing.

You lift my heart up when the rest of me is downYou, you enchant me even when you're not aroundIf there are boundaries, I will try to knock them downI'm latching on, babe, now I know what I have found

I feel we're close enoughCould I lock in your love?I feel we're close enoughCould I lock in your love?

Now I've got you in my spaceI won't let go of youGot you shackled in my embraceI'm latching on to you,

I'm so en-captured, got me wrapped up in your touchFeel so enamored, hold me tight within your clutchHow do you do it? You got me losing every breathWhat did you give me to make my heart bleed out my chest?

I feel we're close enoughCould I lock in your love?I feel we're close enoughCould I lock in your love?

Now I've got you in my spaceI won't let go of youGot you shackled in my embraceI'm latching on to you

Now I've got you in my spaceI won't let go of youGot you shackled in my embraceI'm latching on to you

I'm latching on to you

As soon as the song was over Camz looks at me with a nervous smile as John and I both get up to clap. I never knew Camila's writing skills were so incredible but I love the song and I can't help but be a little flustered thinking she wrote the song for me.

"Camila darling the song is AMAZING! Now I can see what everyone was talking about, you're a star. We have got to start recording this now I'm so excited!" John exclaimed and he seemed even more excited than Camila.

I stare at the smile on my girlfriend and I know this is what she was meant to do and I will never stop supporting her, she's going to be someone that everyone knows the name of.