Camilla brushed her hair out of her face with her hand and readjusted her dress while Adonis was on the other side of the room fixing his shirt and suspenders.
âLike good old times, right Nis? Honestly, it might have been better than the time we snuck into the rafters during the musical senior year.â She said with a smirk at the end. Her and Adonis were never a
thing but more so the person to feed the impulse of a bad decision. Cam gathered up her things and made sure she had everything in her bag, realizing she probably only had enough for one or two more hits tonight.
âYou head out first, donât want people to get the wrong idea about us, plus I need to clean up the mess you made me into.â She commented looking around the room and spotting a mirror on the back of the door. She opened it let Adonis out, staying behind it to use the mirror.
Cam put on one puff of perfume to cover up any smells she might have on her, weather it was the smell of sweat, drugs, or anything, she wanted to stay at the top of her game. She had just finished applying a layer of her red lipstick, when she heard someone enter through the open door she was behind, humming to themselves. Camilla peaked around the corner and saw it was Lauren. Though she wasnât completely surprised to see the woman snooping around, probably trying to find more dirt on Erin to cause some drama.
âAhem.â Camilla said, followed by a fake cough as she touched up her make-up, letting Lauren know of her presence.
Lauren was beginning to feel that she may not be wanted at this party. Knowing that she would either have to leave or would probably end up being escorted from the apartment before long, she decided to use what time she had left to her advantage. Sorenâs room was locked (smart boy) so she tried Erinâs instead. As it had been earlier, it was thankfully still open. But not empty, as she discovered when she entered the room to a fake cough. She whirled around and found it was only Camilla.
âI was afraid it was Erin there for a moment. Sheâs being particularly difficult this evening,â Lauren said. Then she took a better look at Cam, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
âHope I didnât interrupt anything. You can tell Adonis to come out if heâs hiding under the bed or something,â she teased, scanning the room for anything that could be of use.
Camilla let out a light laugh, in response to her comment about Erin, but it immediately went away when she brought up Adonis.
âFirst off, youâre lucky itâs not her. Been seeing and hearing a lot during this party, and I doubt sheâs happy with you. And second off, heâs not in here, no one is in here.â She rolled her eyes. Cam was hoping that it wasnât obvious what had happened in here, but maybe others werenât as observant as Lauren, though Lauren usually observant for her own needs rather than for curiosity.
âIâd stay away from the desk though if youâre trying to steal anything.â She spoke still facing the mirror and adjusting her look.
âThough I heard from a birdy she has good things hidden around.âThough as she finished trying to fix her look as much as she can, Cam pushed the door with one hand and it quickly closed.
âAny specific drama youâd like to spill? Secret for a secret? Like how we used to Jade on Fridays after school.â She said, finally turning around and facing Lauren.
Lauren pulled a face of exaggerated disgust as Cam told her to stay away from the desk, instead turning around to face her friend. She grinned as Cam asked her if there was any specific drama she wanted to spill. She had to pretend to think for a moment. Hopefully Camilla would be more useful than Jade had done.
âThat depends. Who do you want gossip on, and who do you have gossip about?â She asked, going to sit on the bed where Cam had been sitting before.
âIâve got gossip about just about anyone here,â she said, her trademark wicked grin in place. Of course, she was curious to know who exactly Camilla wanted dirt on, and why, and that would determine what exactly she told her.
âWell, Erin carried Livvy out to the couch from the bathroom earlier, but you know how those two are. Dylanâs been pretty flirtatious with Adonis. Oh, and Julian and Simon have some sort of two week bet about dating Robyn.â Camilla leaned against the wall, checking her nails.
âSpeaking of the widow, I heard she gave you a little love tap.â Camilla smirked, pretending to squint towards Lauren.
âMight want a bit more touch up to cover the redness, or at least some blush to even it out.âOh, Lauren could always rely on Camilla for the good stuff. She raised an eyebrow and took a mental note about Erin and Livvy. That she could use. Sheâd had her suspicions about Dylan and Adonis, so it was good to get some confirmation. She honestly didnât care about Julian and Simonâs bet. That wasnât quite juicy enough.
She pouted at the mention of Robyn slapping her.
âI think you mean she attacked me in a vicious, unprovoked manner,â she said, a tad overdramatically for the sake of letting Cam know she was joking.
âThatâs interesting about Erin and Livvy, though. Considering Erin showed up at my place, yelling about how it was my fault that Evie starved herself and her heart nearly gave out. And the two of them looked rather cozy when I showed up. Sounds like Erinâs playing the field a bit,â she remarked.
âLet me see, what have I got to offer you? By the looks of it, Gabriellaâs back on drugs, which Iâm sure Jade will be delighted about. Meanwhile, Jadeâs up to her old tricks, Iâve heard sheâs been stealing meds. And by the looks of things, thereâs something going on with Declan and Soren, which Dean is not happy about,â Lauren listed off, dropping the last bit purely to see how Camilla would react to the news.
Most things Lauren was telling her were interesting. Letting out a laugh with Laurenâs overdramatic retelling of what happened with Robyn. Nothing was ever unprovoked when it came to Lauren, though she knew Camilla knew better from her. Though she was surprised to hear about Erin showing up and the bit between Evie and Erin.
âSeems like it.â She replied about Erin âplaying the fieldâ.
The news about Gabriella wasnât all that surprising, hearing a few stories about her relapses and being needed to be taken care of. But Jade stealing meds? That seemed pretty out there, especially since that could easily ruin her career in medicine. Though when it came to gossip hours between Camilla and Lauren, probably one of the few times the words coming from Lauren had some fact behind them.
But then she mentioned Soren. Of course she would, Lauren remembers their last meeting together and how she walked in on Camilla sitting next to Sorenâs bedside. Cam tried not to show she cared about what Lauren was saying, but doubted she kept her poker face.
âI know the Lauren Clark doesnât just hear things. Jadeâs really stealing meds? Like from her work?â Cam asked, hoping to change the subject from Soren, and legitimately curious.
To Camillaâs credit, she almost kept a straight face.
Almost. That flicker of emotion was enough to give her away, and anyone else might not have paid too much heed. But Lauren knew exactly what that meant. Even after all this time, Camilla still cared about Soren. She tried to cover it up with a change in subject, but Lauren had noticed, like she always did.
âPlease, giving away too many details might give away my sources,â Lauren said.
âBut it certainly seems that way. Not much, and just here and there. But if youâre looking for anything specific, she might be a good place to start, is all Iâm saying.â But Lauren didnât care about Jade. She was waiting for Jadeâs answer, and telling Cam about all of the things she was doing wrong wasnât likely to cause too much chaos.
âAnyway. Back to Soren, I know you and him have an⊠interesting relationship,â Lauren said.
âYouâll be glad to hear that Beautiful Strangers are going to have an absolute PR disaster on their hands before long, once I get this Instagram post finished.â She said vaguely, watching Camilla and her reaction the whole time.
Cam let out a sigh and a roll of her eyes when Lauren wouldnât elaborate about Jade, whatever it was, it seemed like something juicy. She just ignored the comment about going to Jade for anything specific. Unlike Soren, Camillaâs occasional drug use wasn't kept a secret, hell, even got a song or two about it and relapse. But then Lauren brought it back to Soren.
âWhat?â Camilla quickly blurted out, without much of a thought.
âWhat instagram post?â She asked, taking a step closer to Lauren. Taking a moment to think.
âAnd we donât have a relationship, if anything. We are rivals.âCamâs reaction meant that Lauren had to hold back a wickedly delighted grin, instead keeping it to a smirk. The way that Cam added that there was no relationship between them made Lauren chuckle a little. Seeing her lose her composure like that while she insisted there was nothing there was far too amusing for her.
âOh, I know thereâs nothing going on there, darling. Someone else has got his attention. But, well, weâll have to see how long that lasts.â She paused for a second, pulling out her phone and taking a moment to swipe through the photos until the one she found.
âWell, you know that âquirky airhead frontmanâ act Soren pulls all the time when he forgets the words to songs or spaces out in the middle of an interview? Well, Iâve discovered itâs not just an act. Heâs high off his ass on painkillers. And my sources say that itâs not just an occasional thing. By all accounts, heâs practically hooked on them. And I have proof,â Lauren said, holding out her phone to Camilla but keeping it clutched in her hand so the other woman couldnât snatch it from her.
âSo Iâm going to post this, talking about how there are reports of him not being able to function without them, and see how people respond to him when they find out heâs a junkie on the road to nowhere.â Camilla squinted, a scowl coming across her face as Lauren taunted her about someone else having Sorenâs attention. It wasnât jealousy that was getting Cam heated, but that Lauren was trying to make her jealous by saying these things. But her scowl dropped as Lauren showed proof of the words she was saying.
The photo was just an unmarked pill bottle in Sorenâs possession, much like the ones she took out of the cabinet and now had in her purse.
âIt wonât stick, Lauren. Itâs just a picture.â Camilla took a step back.
âPlus he doesnât have his pills anymore.â She said with a smirk coming across her face.
âI overheard you two earlier, it wasn't hard to figure out your plan.â She shook her bag, referencing something inside of it.
Lauren raised an eyebrow as Camilla insisted that it wouldnât stick. She clearly underestimated Laurenâs abilities if she thought that Lauren couldnât
make something stick if she wanted to. Then Cam declared that he didnât have his pills any more, with a gesture to suggest that she had them instead. Lauren paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow.
âSo whatâs going to happen when he notices that theyâre gone?â She asked, calmly.
âAre you going to confess? Say you were trying to protect him from me? Heâll think you were in on it too, Camilla. You wonât earn yourself any favours with him. He wonât change his mind about you. And what then?â She asked.
Cam let out a chuckle when Lauren paused, a bit of a slip up and surprise of her actions.
âEasy. I blame you. Youâre already in here snooping, already threatened him once or twice or half a dozen times.â Camilla got closer to Laurenâs face.
âYou donât have the upper hand. Drop it. Bitch.âLauren raised an eyebrow as Cam said that she didnât have the upper hand, smiling a little.
âOh, really? Iâve got plenty of dirt on you, too, by the way. I could say that you have the meds because you want to take them for yourself, because youâre really no better.ââThen itâs a case of she said she said Laur. And while some people donât like me, they despise you a hell of a lot more.â Camilla didnât back down, staying in Laurenâs face.
âBut good luck trying to get in the light Lauren. While it might be a disaster with whatever you may have planned for Sorenâs band or for me, itâll pass. No ones gonna care in a few months. Just like no one is going to care about you or remember you after tonight.âThe unfortunate thing about Cam knowing Lauren so well was that she knew exactly how to get under her skin. The concept of being a nobody was a horrific one to Lauren. She needed to be seen, needed to be remembered, and Cam knew that. And for the first time that night, her composure cracked. She shoved Camilla away from her, roughly.
âGet the fuck out of here, Camilla. I canât believe I ever wanted to keep you around,â she spat.