Ain't That a Kick in the Head (Camren)

Chapter 12

Camila burst through the door of the diner with her phone in her hand and a confident smile on her face. She spotted Lauren at the counter, or the back of Lauren's dark brown head and a faded red dive sweater, next to Clara. Camila gave Dinah a wave and nearly skipped across the diner to slide into the stool next to Lauren.

Lauren didn't seem to notice, with her head on the counter and a plate of half-eaten waffles in front of her. She could just feel the buzz of energy that plopped onto the seat next to her, and she squinted her eyes open to see Camila looming overhead.

"Good morning, Camila." Clara greeted, smiling.

"Hello, Clara!" Camila chirped. She sat up straight, excited, with her palms flat against the counter and her feet bouncing on the rungs of the stool.

Lauren's lips tipped up. She took a bite of waffle without lifting her head from the counter. "You're spry this morning." She drawled.

"Lauren, you're getting syrup in your hair." Clara observed, reaching out to remove the brown strands from Lauren's plate.

Camila chuckled, maybe a little uncontrollably. "I'm spry every morning!"

"You're going to need to wash this out." Clara frowned at Lauren's hair.

Lauren sat up and shook her head. "It's fine. I'm going in the ocean later." She stretched her arms over her head and laughed abruptly because Camila and her mom pulled the exact same face. The almost repulsed, fond face of disbelief.

Lauren tucked her hair behind her ears to get her mom to ignore it and looked at Camila. "What's got you so bouncy this morning?"

Really, it was lack of sleep due to the balmy, suffocating climate in Camila's hotel room combined with the fact that she wasn't absolutely sure how the air conditioner was supposed to work. It provided for a lot of thinking time, when she wasn't rolling around and sweating and cursing the state of Florida.

"Just watch." Camila winked, holding up her phone.

She dialed Harry while Clara watched curiously and Lauren tried to get Camila to taste a bite of her waffle. Camila batted her hand away.

"If you don't have a yes or no then I have nothing to say to you, Camila Cabello!" Harry trilled.

"Harry." Camila took a deep breath and locked eyes with Lauren, smiling widely. "I wish to formally accept the role of Reno Sweeney in the upcoming film adaptation of Cole Porter's Anything Goes."

Clara gasped slightly. "Oh my!"

Harry heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief into the phone. "Well thank heaven above she's finally decided, ladies and gentlemen!"

"Hey now." Camila said absently, more focused on Lauren's reaction.

Lauren was smiling genuinely, lips pressed together. She said nothing, mostly because her throat may have closed up a bit, and she was proud and excited and suddenly wide awake. Camila held her gaze until Harry's shrieking in her ear finally distracted her.

Clara leaned forward to see Lauren's face. "You used to love that musical." She mused, smirking into her coffee.

Lauren hummed, unable to wipe the small smile from her face.

"Old musicals and sixties swing." Clara tilted her head. "It was odd. I suppose it was better to have Dean Martin turned up in your room than whatever rap nonsense the kids were listening to those days."

Lauren snorted, amused. She wondered if her mom remembered seeing Camila perform in high school. If not, Lauren wasn't about to inform her.

She glanced around for Dinah and waved her down from the end of the bar. "Cupcakes, DJ!" she called.