Seeing Camie's tears made Théa grimace:
"May I hug you?"
Camie nodded and Théa immediately pulled her into her arms. She surrounded Camie and held her with all her strength. Camie was held tighter than during the fight but she didn't mind. She could feel Théa rubbing her head gently, her other hand around her waist:
"Cry all you want. Let it all out."
Hearing that, Camie let go completely and her tears started streaming out. She grabbed Théa's clothes and pulled her even closer. She clung to her with all her might and didn't want to let go. She buried her head into Théa's shoulder, her body clinging to Théa's. She had no idea how long she cried but she spent a long time in Théa's arms. By the time she calmed down, Camie did feel a lot better. Hearing her sobs lessen, Théa started rubbing her back without letting her go:
"You did amazing, Camie. You did everything you could and it is way more than enough. You don't realize how much it meant.
-Didn't I destroy your life?"
Théa laughed:
"How could you have destroyed it when you are the one who saved me? You are truly a gift Camie. I am so grateful that I met you.
-On a scale of 1 to 10, how much sadder have you been since you've met me?
-Sad? Camie! I haven't spent a single sad moment around you. Just thinking about you makes me smile. You should be asking me how happy you made me instead.
-Okay, on a scale of 1 to 10 how happy have you been since you've met me?
-A hundred thousand. If I had to go back I wouldn't do anything differently.
-You can't take that back.
-I wouldn't even dream of it."
Camie surrounded Théa in her arms and exhaled, relieved.
"I may have lied a bit."
Camie immediately tensed up.
"If I went back, I would come to find you immediately. I wouldn't be able to wait until you ran into me."
Camie blushed at the memory of their first meeting. It didn't feel as awkward as before but Camie still preferred not to think about it. Seeing her all curled up and red, Théa couldn't help laughing:
"You really are the cutest."
Théa pulled Camie even closer. She didn't think that was possible and she suddenly realized the position they were in. She had never hugged someone for that long before, especially not someone who wasn't from her family. She couldn't understand what she was feeling and she placed her hands on Théa's chest to push her away. However, when she felt her chest, she suddenly forgot what she was about to do and just stood there. Her mind went completely blank and she felt weird. Théa froze as well and waited to see what Camie would do.
They didn't have time to figure it out because they suddenly heard someone coughing behind them. Camie looked behind her and noticed her friends. She suddenly realized what position she was in and she immediately pushed Théa back. She pushed her back with such force that she almost fell and Théa had to stabilize Camie before finally letting go of her. If that wasn't enough to embarrass Camie, when she turned around she saw her friends smirking. They weren't even trying to be discreet about it. Seeing her friends smiles made Camie blush from head to toe:
"It's not..."
She stopped. Why was she trying to explain herself? Nothing happened. Nothing that needed to be explained. She clenched and unclenched her fists a few times. Looking back at Théa, Camie suddenly noticed the huge water stain that she left on Théa's clothes. She jumped back towards Théa and started touching her clothes:
"Was that because of me? I am so sorry!"
Théa blushed even more and she did her best not to move:
"Camie...
-I am so sorry! I shouldn't have touched you. You are all wet now.
-Camie... It's okay.
-You can make the clothes that the girls brought me if you want."
Hearing that made Emma frown:
"What the hell are you talking about? You are the most drenched out of all of us. Speaking of which, let's get you changed immediately. You stayed outside more than enough. You shouldn't catch a cold. We will find clothes for Amaltheia later.
-But..."
Théa proposed:
"I am not cold at all, Camie don't worry. I will get you some warm tea. I was the one who kept you outside for so long. I wouldn't want you to get sick because of me. I'll join you as soon as I'm done."
Emma nodded and the four girls went to the bathroom. Camie didn't notice before but there was something weird about Théa. She seemed... Angry. She wasn't as scary as before but she still sounded... Cold when she left. Was it because of what happened? Camie promised herself not to show Théa how bad a person Lula was but it came out despite everything. It was inevitable but Camie still wanted to avoid it. What if she was mad at Camie? Camie shook her head. She told her she didn't do anything wrong. She couldn't be mad at her. But Camie did scream at Théa's oldest friend.
As Camie was wiping herself and getting changed, Topiary started crying:
"I am so sorry, Camie. I shouldn't have texted you. This is all my fault.
-No, don't cry. I don't know what to do when people cry.
-I'm sorry... I can't help it...
-Please don't cry. I am glad you told me."
Nylora soon started crying too:
"Seeing you cry makes me cry...
-No!"
Camie started panicking even more:
"I will get you a cookie. And I'll give you a massage... I..."
Seeing her friend cry even more made Camie panic even more:
"I'll do all your projects for a month!"
This finally made the girls laugh and Camie sighed. The air grew a bit warmer around them and they started laughing. Emma on the other hand still didn't calm down. Seeing her frown made Topiary rub her back:
"It's okay. We are all fine, that's all that matters.
-Look at her face!"
Emma pointed at Camie.
"Look at the state she's in! That bitch! I am going to seriously kill Lula! I am not even kidding. The second I am sure that Camie is fine, I am going to find her and will make her regret today. She is the reason why bad things have been happening to Camie lately. She never was on bad terms with anyone and as soon as that girl appears everything turns bad! I am going to rip her nose off! She will look like a naked mouse when I'm done with her."
Emma's face slowly turned red as she was remembering the events:
"And once I am done with her I am going to find everyone that was present. I am going to choke them in a Lake and their bodies will never be found. And if they do find them, I am going to kill the policemen as well."
Nylora opened wide eyes:
"Emma... You can't kill innocent policemen.
-You're right. I just won't get found out. I'll take the bodies to a cemetery. Not Lula's of course. Lula can't die. That would be way too easy. She will have to spend the rest of her life terrified of not knowing when I would show up next to finish what I started."
Topiary and Nylora nodded slowly:
"How childish is she? Is she making Camie's life miserable just because she became friends with Amaltheia? How can she be so pitiful? We are grown adults for God's sake! We do whatever we want and talk to whoever we want! And Camie is the best friend anyone could ever dream of. She may be in her own world, but she is always there when she is needed and she never asks for anything in return. She has been there for us in our darkest moments and she is the reason why we are here today. I won't let anyone hurt her.
-Emma..."
Seeing their friend getting more and more worked up, the girls thought that they should try calming her down a bit. But Emma was too far gone:
"Lula should be happy that Amaltheia met Camie and if she isn't then she deserved Amaltheia not talking to her anymore. Lula should be expelled from the University! I am so angry! Something very dangerous could have happened back there. She could have put Camie's life at risk! I am calling the Director. I won't let this pass without a word."
Having screamed her lungs out, Emma exhaled slowly:
"Anyway... We should get you all dry first."