Chapter 18 #2
Camila rises, the mattress sighing under her, as she grabs her bag from where she left it earlier—digging everywhere for her sunblock. When she finds it, she slips her feet into her closed-toe Birkenstocks and shrugs into a button-up, leaving it open over the tank.
She steps out but immediately stops. Lily, Ella, Clara, and Alejandra are in a tight knot around Valeria, all laughing about something Camila can’t quite hear, but she doesn’t have to.
Camila can see all over Valeria’s face how happy she is, how happy her friends make her, and she can’t for a second understand why Brooke felt so threatened by something so beautiful.
Lily’s head lifts, her eyes glancing toward Camila’s tent, and she spots her immediately. Her expression softens, and she gives Camila a tiny nod, as if to say, “Come closer.”
The others follow her gaze as Camila takes a step toward them. Alejandra shifts her arm to make room for Camila between herself and Valeria.
“Ready to go?” Ella asks.
They all nod. By the boat, a small pile of bags waits: towels, snacks, someone’s oversized beach tote decorated with fading sunflowers.
Ella’s boat is cute, a deep green Bowrider with cream seats.
They all hop on board, knees knocking. Valeria reaches for Camila for balance.
Once they’re all seated, Clara throws on some music, and Ella twists the key.
The engine growls before settling into a steady purr that vibrates through the soles of their feet.
Wind rushes in, tugging Alejandra’s hair free from its ponytail and completely messing up everyone else’s hair. The smell of lake water rises. Valeria leans back, eyes closed, one hand lifted as if feeling for the rhythm in the air.
They cut toward the middle of the lake, where the water darkens and smooths out. Ella cuts the engine, and the sudden quiet makes the music feel louder, thumping through open air. The lake stretches wide and blue around them, their camp barely visible.
Once Ella anchors the boat, Clara pops open a can.
“Drinks, anyone?”
Everyone nods, hands reaching over until they all have a drink in hand.
They cheer, they laugh, and Camila hears all about how Lily and Ella got together after a decade of miscommunications, along with Clara and Alejandra’s failed attempt at fake dating.
Both stories sound like they came straight out of one of Camila’s romance books, and she can’t decide which she likes most.
“Your guys’ stories are going to make my standard impossible now,” Camila jokes, and they all laugh. “I hope a romance like yours finds me someday.”
“Me too,” Valeria adds softly, and the mood shifts slightly.
“How are you doing?” Lily asks Valeria.
For a second, Camila thinks Valeria won’t say anything. She wants to reach for her, offer her some comfort, but then the words come.
“I’m okay . . . just feeling a little lost, that’s all.”
“Lost how?” Clara asks, and everyone leans in closer.
Valeria shrugs, looking around at all of their worried faces. “I was expecting this to destroy me, but I feel fine.”
“You’re fine?” Ella asks, almost with disbelief.
“I’m just as surprised as you are,” Valeria answers. “It’s been months since it all happened, and I keep waiting for something to set me off, but I just keep waiting.”
“Could it be shock?” Lily asks.
“I thought so, but then Camila offered a different perspective, and the more I’ve thought about it, the more it makes sense.”
“What did she say?” Ella asks, her gaze moving to Camila.
“That maybe with each time Brooke left, I was building up for this moment, slowly falling out of love, my heart gradually preparing itself. The truth is that I’ve felt single since the cabin, which was almost two years ago.
In some hidden part of myself, I knew Brooke and I would never make it, and I was holding on because it’s what I’d always done. ”
Lily, Ella, Clara, and Alejandra all turn to look at each other, a silent conversation going on between the four.
“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Alejandra says, breaking the silence.
“It does,” Clara agrees.
Everyone’s face eases, and their shoulders drop. A collective sigh at the fact that Valeria is okay, that the worst-case scenario they were all bracing for won’t come.
“I’m sorry about all the worry I caused and all the drama I brought. I don’t know how you all stuck with me through it, but I’m so grateful. You’re what kept me tethered to myself. If I hadn’t had you, I think Brooke would have swept me up and erased every last thing that made me, me.”
The words hit Camila, and her chest collapses in on itself, turning into a physical ache. Camila knows intimately what that does to someone and how hard it is to remember and rebuild yourself, piece by piece.
The girls’ arms loop around Valeria. With heads bowed, their hands rub circles on her back and arms.
“We would never have let that happen, Val,” Clara says.
“Was it the easiest time seeing you with her? No, but I can guarantee it never crossed our minds that you were too much, or that your issues with Brooke were enough to make us leave. We love you, we will always love you, and we will help you and be with you through it all,” Lily adds.
They squeeze into Valeria more tightly.
Camila watches them with a big smile. Happy to see the support in Valeria’s life, and again, she can’t imagine why Brooke would have ever wanted to destroy it.
Valeria’s hand, which was wrapped around Alejandra, extends.
“Cam?” she says, and Camila reaches to hold her hand, offering her as much comfort as that small gesturecan.
When they all step back from the embrace, Valeria doesn’t let go of Camila.
“You guys don’t have to worry about me, I promise,” she says, looking around at everyone.
“We will always worry about you, Val,” Ella says, reaching for Valeria’s shoulder. “You’re our sister,” she adds in an uncharacteristically sweet moment for her.
One by one, they all nod and move in closer, arms wrapping around each other, until Valeria is swallowed into a big hug again.
When the sun starts to dip, they all decide to head back to make dinner and start a fire before they lose sunlight.
On the way back, Ella takes a particularly sharp turn, and the boat jumps, making them all jerk slightly.
The sudden jostle sends Valeria tumbling onto Camila’s lap, and a jolt of adrenaline runs through her.
Camila’s heart leaps in her chest, and a wave of nervous laughter bubbles up.
“I’m so sorry,” Valeria laughs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You’re fine,” Camila says, thankful for the slight darkness that makes the blush on her face less noticeable.
“Sorry,” Ella says, before turning and winking at Camila.
Did she do that on purpose? No, Camila corrects herself before the thought can take root.
That night, everything is calm. They all change into something warmer as the temperature drops.
They have a few more drinks, throw some hot dogs on the portable grill Clara brought, and sit by the fire, everyone talking about what to do tomorrow—something Camila barely pays attention to. The drinks have her brain feeling hazy.
Valeria sits next to her. “How are you feeling?”
“Drunk,” Camila answers with a smirk.
“Same.”
“Do you need anything?” Camila asks, sobering up a bit.
Valeria shakes her head. “No. I want to be this drunk, so I don’t think too hard about being in the tent all by myself, or I’ll climb into one of the girl’s inflatable beds. Can’t imagine Ella or Clara would be too happy about that.” Valeria laughs.
“Yeah, I’ve never stayed in a tent by myself, either. Maybe you can climb into one, and I’ll take the other. Ruin everyone’s plans.”
“Or,” Valeria says.
Camila’s eyes widen as the word hangs in the air. “Or?” she echoes, needing Valeria to finish the sentence.
“We could share a tent?”
Camila’s stomach bottoms out, and she feels herself blink rapidly, more than would be considered normal. “Share a tent,” she echoes again, because apparently, when she’s nervous, that’s all her brain is capable of around Valeria.
“Yeah, I mean, only if you’re comfortable. I figure it makes sense, since we’re both not looking forward to sleeping by ourselves.”
“Makes sense,” Camila says, trying to make sense of it herself.
“Perfect, do you want to stay in mine or yours?”
“Huh?”
“Do you want to stay in my tent or yours?” Valeria asks again, and that’s when Camila realizes her parroting Valeria’s words accidentally made her agree to share a tent.
“Mine,” Camila says, not wanting to seem more awkward than she’s sure she’s already being. “It’s bigger.”
“Perfect, I’ll leave mine up so I can still go in there and change.”
“Yeah,” Camila answers, feeling slightly out of her body.
A few seconds later, the girls came back with sticks and all the ingredients to make s’mores. Alejandra passes everything around, and everyone makes their own. Clara leaves hers in the fire a little too long, and it melts right off, sending tiny flames sputtering.
After they each have about thirty s’mores, they all say goodnight and retire to their tents.
Valeria slips into her own to change while Camila does the same and moves her cot around a bit to make space for Valeria, trying not to obsess over the fact that Valeria will be sleeping right next to her.
Her heart already hammered wildly when Valeria was in her living room; she can’t imagine the emotions having her an arm’s length away will do to her.
A few minutes later, Valeria whispers Camila’s name. Camila unzips the front of her tent, and Valeria walks through with her folded up cot in hand before she lays it right in the middle of the tent.
“Why is yours all the way in the corner?” Valeria asks.
“I figured they could be on the edges, leave enough room to walk in the middle.” Which is true, but what Camila doesn’t tell her is that she also did it to add as much space between them as possible to keep Camila from overthinking their closeness.