A/N: This chapter is exceptionally disturbing.

Camila was beginning to hate weekends because Lauren was home for most of the day. She got tired of waiting for Normani to wake up, so braved her way past Lauren in the living room and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Lauren was sitting on the couch studying again for the CPA exam. Camila quickly downed a bowl of cereal at the table and returned to the back of the house.

The guest was about to go back to her room and watch movies on Normani's laptop, but she instead decided to check on her. It wasn't normal for her to wake up so late. Camila opened her host's bedroom door and found her still sleeping in bed. Camila crawled in and shook Normani in an attempt to get her to wake up, but all she got was a groan as Normani stirred a little.

"Wake up. It's a beautiful day outside."

"I wanna stay here," Normani mumbled.

Camila shook Normani again trying to annoy her into getting out of bed. "You're wasting the day away. Let's have a water fight in the backyard."

Normani abruptly pulled the sheets down from her face. "That sounds like fun."

Normani brushed her teeth, took her medicine, and ate a Nutri-Grain bar before putting on a bikini. Luckily, Camila had gotten a bathing suit on their shopping trip because Normani planned to take her to the water park one day. Normani went to the hall closet to pull out leftover balloons they had bought when they threw a party for one of her nieces. Outside in the backyard, the two women filled up the balloons using a water hose.

It was now time for battle, and the water balloons were their ammunition. They were like kids again running around ducking behind things, laughing, and throwing water balloons at each other. When Normani ran out of balloons, she grabbed the water hose to attack Camila leading to her surrender.

"If there is one thing we Earthlings are good at, it's war," Normani boasted.

"Hey!" Lauren could be seen poking her head out of the slide door. "Can you keep it down? I'm trying to study in here."

With the aid of Normani's hand, Camila got up off the ground. "I hate Lauren. I've never hated someone so much in my whole entire life," Camila admitted.

"This exam is really important," explained Normani.

"So was the audition you skipped yesterday," said Camila.

"Let's go dry off and change." Normani wanted to avoid the subject.

After slipping into some clothing, the two made their way to the living room to see if the TV would be free, but they found Lauren napping on the couch.

"I have something fun we can do," Camila proposed. "There's this machine that mental health doctors use on my planet. I was going to share the technology with Dr. Cowell. It scans the mind for its most prominent memories and displays them on a screen."

"And, what would we do with this machine?" Normani inquired.

"We would find the root cause of Lauren's evil," Camila responded.

"Hmmm. I don't know. That seems like an extreme invasion of privacy. And, what if she wakes up?"

"I have a sedative to inject into her. It's safe; I promise," Camila grinned.

"Alright," Normani conceded. "I'm trusting that you aren't going to hurt my girlfriend."

Both of them went to Camila's room to pull the machine out of her closet. It wasn't very large. It had a monitor with built-in speakers, a small computer with several buttons on it, and a cap hooked to the computer with a wire. Camila also pulled a syringe out of a small bag and filled it with a substance that was held in a vile. They then went back to the living room where Camila injected Lauren with the sedative to make sure she would stay asleep during the process. She also fitted the cap on her head.

"Take a seat," Camila instructed Normani. "This is going to be good."

They waited a few minutes before an image popped up on the monitor. They could see a little girl who was around the age of nine. She was fair-skinned and had dark hair and green eyes. It had to be Lauren. She could be seen looking at a Valentine's card that said "Will you be my Valentine?" The little girl signed the card and stuffed it in an envelope which she licked and sealed.

Lauren skipped happily out of the house and down the sidewalk with her backpack on making her way to school. She walked into the classroom before anyone else had arrived. Promptly, she went to a desk with a name tag that said "Jennifer" and placed the card there. Jennifer was the only person in her class who was nice to her and even bothered talking to her during recess.

Lauren was a tomboy and a bit awkward. It also didn't help that she had just gotten a short haircut that turned out bad. She had a crush on a couple of boys in class, but they never paid any attention to her. When she went to Jennifer's birthday party the previous month, none of the boys would dance with her, but Jennifer did. Lauren liked Jennifer the way she liked the boys she had a crush on. At such a young age, she hadn't learned yet that these feelings for someone of the same sex were different from what most others experienced. She naively waited at her desk for Jennifer to come in and see her Valentine's card.

By 7:45 am, most of the class had walked in and taken their seats. Jennifer was one of the last students to arrive before the bell rung and the morning announcements played over the PA system. The class said the pledge of allegiance and sat down waiting for the teacher to tell them her plans. It was expected to be an easy and fun day since they were going to have a Valentine's Day party.

Lauren stared at Jennifer across the room as she opened the envelope that laid on her desk. The little girl pulled out the card, read it, and turned to find Lauren's eyes meet hers. Lauren smiled, but Jennifer didn't. Instead, she poked another student sitting at the table and showed her the card. That student then passed the card to another student. Eventually, the card made its way around the classroom with everyone either frowning in confusion, smirking, or breaking out into laughter. Lauren was horrified. The last thing she needed was another reason to be bullied.

During recess, Lauren approached Jennifer and asked if they could speak alone, but Jennifer turned her back to her and continued talking to a group of girls. Lauren stalked over to the sandbox knowing that she would be spending recess alone again. The girl shoveled sand into a bucket with no plans to do anything with it. She just needed to pass the time. Suddenly, a group of four boys stepped inside the sandbox with Lauren.

"I knew you were a dyke," said a tall boy with blond hair. "My brother said that you're going to grow up to be a fish-breathed, carpet muncher."

Lauren stared at the boy perplexed. She had never heard those terms before and couldn't figure out what they meant.

"Hey, stupid!" shouted a shorter boy with light-brown hair. "Jennifer wants you to leave her alone. She's not lesbian like you are."

"I'm not a lesbian," countered Lauren.

"Yes, you are," argued the blond-headed boy. "You're not only a lesbian, you're a bull dyke."

"Admit it. Admit that you're a bull dyke," demanded another boy with curly, red hair.

"I don't even know what that is," cried Lauren.

"She wants to look like a boy, but she's crying like a little girl," teased a fourth boy who also had brown hair.

"Leave me alone," Lauren pleaded.

"No. We're not leaving until you admit that you're a lesbian and promise to leave Jennifer alone," reiterated the red-headed boy.

"Admit it you fucking dyke," yelled the blond boy.

Lauren sat silently in the sandbox sobbing with her head down. She was hoping that the end of recess would be announced soon so that the boys would be forced to go back to the classroom and leave her alone. However, the end of recess didn't come soon enough. One of the brown-haired boys grabbed the back of her hair and shoved her face into the sand. Another boy jumped on top of the girl to help keep her down. Her head was rubbed around in the sand and held there for what seemed like an eternity. When the boys had enough, they released her and left, but not before the red-headed boy kicked Lauren in her side.

"If you so much as look at Jennifer again, we'll do this again," warned the boy with red hair.

Lauren was left alone crying with her whole head covered in sand.

After the monitor went black, Normani and Camila stared at each other shocked and extremely uncomfortable. Lauren and Normani had been with each other for a long time, but they never talked about their early childhood mostly at the insistence of Normani. It's not that Normani didn't want to hear about Lauren's past, but she didn't want to have to reveal hers. The old memories were just too painful to bring up. She was now thinking it was a mistake. There seemed to be things in Lauren's past that were important for understanding who she is now. This made Normani feel guilty. Lauren's behavior could be a cry for help. Normani was so consumed with her own problems, that she wasn't able to recognize Lauren's. The monitor then started showing another memory.

Lauren was around the same age she was in the previous memory. She could be seen riding her bike up and down the sidewalk near her house. When she was about to ride past two boys standing on a lawn, one of them stuck out a big stick in Lauren's path. Before she could maneuver around the obstacle, she ran over it resulting her flying off the bike and hitting the ground hard.

The little girl had landed hard on her left arm. It wasn't broken, but it felt sprained. She wept like any kid would after such an injury, but the two boys standing on the lawn laughed at her and ran off into the house before an adult saw them.

The front tire to Lauren's bike was bent rendering it inoperable. The girl slowly walked her bike back to her house as she continued to cry. She was used to being bullied, but not in such a violent manner. It became much worse after the incident with the Valentine's card. She had had enough. Without anyone seeing her, she went to her father's shed and searched through his barbecue supplies. Finding what she wanted, she ran out of the house and down the street to the house where the two boys were.

Lauren looked around for her terrorizers until she heard them giggling in a treehouse in the backyard of the house. She threw her supplies over the fence and climbed over. Picking up her stuff and placing them in one arm, she climbed up the treehouse unseen and unheard by the playing boys. She noticed the large stick that was used to trip her bike lying on the platform that formed the foundation of the treehouse. It looked to be something that was used to lock the treehouse door when no one was inside.

Lauren picked up the stick and placed it in the slots on each side of the door so that it would be difficult for the boys to get out. Then, she poured lighter fluid all over the house until the container was empty. The boys were so loud inside, they were oblivious to what was going on outside. Lauren then struck matches and threw them all over the outside of the treehouse and quickly scurried down the ladder until she reached the ground. She briefly took a moment to watch the treehouse catch on fire and turned to hop over the fence and run home. On her journey, she could hear the boys screaming as they struggled to escape the burning enclosure.

Camila and Normani didn't even get a chance to collect themselves before another memory came on to the screen.

Lauren's hair was a little longer now. She was wearing what looked like a pajama set and sitting in a chair in what looked like an examination room in a medical facility. In the room with her was a woman who was dressed as a nurse. Soon, a man who looked like a doctor entered.

"How is she doing?" the doctor inquired of the nurse.

"She still isn't talking," answered the nurse.
"Okay," the doctor sighed. "Give me a minute with her."

As the nurse exited the room, the doctor took a seat in a leather chair across from the girl.

"How are you today, Lauren?"

No response came out of the girl.

"The faster you cooperate, the faster we can complete your treatment, and you'll be allowed to leave here."

There was still no response from the girl.

"One day, you're going to have to face what you did. You won't be able to move on until you do. Can you tell me what you did?"

Lauren was wide awake, but her lack of reactions would say otherwise. Her eyes were open, but she showed no physical reaction to anything the doctor was saying.

"I know you know what you did was very wrong. Two families are without their sons because of an action you took. You can't block this out forever. You will have to live with this for the rest of your life and accept the consequences of your actions, but at the same time, you can move on. We are here to help you to do that."

There was still no response from Lauren.

"You are very young. You have a whole life ahead of you. When you're ready to get better, you know how to get a hold of me."

The doctor rose up from his chair and left the room. The nurse returned in order to walk Lauren back to her room in the psychiatric hospital.

"This is intense," Normani commented.

"It is," Camila agreed. A few moments later, another memory popped on to the monitor.

Lauren didn't look to be much younger than she is now. She was wearing the same type of business clothing she currently wears to work as she entered the house.

"Manibear! I'm home," she called out.

The woman took off her jacket, placed it on a hook by the front door, slipped off her pumps, and laid her briefcase on the coffee table in the living room. She plopped down on the couch noticeably tired.

"Today was a loooong day. I wish we were still on our honeymoon," Lauren shouted hoping that Normani would be able to hear her wherever she was. "Mani, are you home?"

Lauren waited for a response, but never received one. She struggled to lift herself off the couch and walked around the house and peeked out the slide door to see if Normani was in the backyard. The last place to search was their bedroom. Normani was never one to nap, so Lauren didn't immediately think she would be in there despite the door being closed. It was normally left open when no one was inside.

Lauren opened the door and found Normani sleeping on the bed. "There you are. I missed you," pouted Lauren as she climbed in the bed.

Normani didn't move, which concerned Lauren. "Mani, get up," she demanded while shaking the girlfriend she had just committed herself to.

"Normani, stop playing. Wake up. I miss your kisses." Normani still didn't move, and it was scaring Lauren.

"Babe, get up. This isn't funny." Lauren then placed a finger under Normani's nose to check her breathing. She was breathing, but her breaths were very shallow. The green-eyed woman didn't know what to do, so she shook her girlfriend harder. When there was still no response, she lifted up Normani's eyelids. Her eyeballs were moving, but she was clearly unconscious.

Lauren looked around for Normani's cell phone since hers was still in the living room. When she spotted it on the nightstand, she noticed two open, empty pill bottles. "Normani, what did you do?"

Lauren started to cry, but she managed to calm herself down enough to dial 911.

"San Antonio 911. Do you need police, fire, or EMS?" asked a dispatcher on the phone.

"I need EMS," Lauren sniffled.

Instantly, a man came on the line. "San Antonio EMS. What is your emergency?"

"My girlfriend won't wake up! Please send someone quickly," Lauren screamed.

"Okay, ma'am. We have someone on the way. Let me verify your address. Are you at 24306 Bird Lane?" questioned the dispatcher.

"Yes," Lauren sobbed.

"We have someone on the way. I'm going to need for you to be calm and tell me what happened with your girlfriend."

"I just came home and found her unresponsive. She's breathing, but she won't wake up. There are empty pill bottles on the nightstand. I don't know what she did," cried Lauren.

"What is your name, ma'am?"

"Lauren Jauregui."

"What is your girlfriend's name?"

"Normani Kordei Hamilton."

"How old is she?" asked the dispatcher.

"22."

"Is she less than 300 pounds?"

"Yes," answered Lauren.

"Can you tell me the names on the pill bottles?"

"Please, just send someone!" Lauren pleaded.

"Ma'am we do have someone on the way. I just need to get more information to help the paramedics," explained the dispatcher.

"Shouldn't I be performing CPR?" Lauren inquired.

"If she's breathing, then CPR won't do anything. I do, however, need you to give me the names on the pill bottles."

Lauren wiped the tears out of her eyes so that she could see the labels on the bottles. "One says Xanax and the other says Prozac."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'm going to stay on the phone with you until EMS arrives. Let me know if there are any changes in her condition, especially if she stops breathing," instructed the dispatcher.

"Okay," Lauren sobbed. She covered the mouthpiece with one hand and stroked her girlfriend's hand with the other. "Oh, Mani. Why did you do this? Why do you want to leave me? I can't live without you. You can't leave me. You're all I have to live for."

Lauren scooped Normani up into one of her arms while still holding the phone with the other. "I only wanted to make you happy. Did I know do that? Baby, please stay with me. Where is the fucking ambulance?"

"Ma'am, they are just a couple of minutes away. I need you to be patient."

"Patient? My girlfriend is going to die!"

"We are getting there as quickly as possible. The best you can do for her right now is to stay calm and keep an eye on her condition," the dispatcher informed Lauren.

Lauren smothered her face into Normani's hair and muttered, "I knew I wouldn't be good enough for you. I'm not good enough for anyone."

"Turn it off," Normani demanded with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Normani. I should have stopped this earlier," Camila apologized.

Without another word, Normani marched to her room. Camila removed the cap from Lauren's head and turned off the equipment. A part of her felt as if this was the worst idea she had ever had, but on the other hand, she felt that this provided vital information on Lauren's mental health. She needed help just as much as Normani did.