"I'm feeling very vivacious in this moment so I swear to God, Dinah, if you say anything to ruin this mood I will not hesitate to stab you," Lauren speaks from her upside down position on the couch as the front door opens and closes. The blond haired girl smiles as shakes her head.

"Vivacious?" the blonde asks while making her way to the living room.

"Full of life and good spirits," she mumbles. Dinah nods, taking a seat across from her on the shaggy old rug with too many colors to count.

"So, why are you feeling vivacious?" Dinah picks at her nail polish.

"Fair question. It may or may not have to do with the fact that I skipped first to walk around with Lucy," the raven haired girl smiles proudly. Dinah gasps and starts to frequently question the level of coolness her best friend was on. The two go on for a while, the faint sounds of the television playing in the background as warm smiles were exchanged along with lots of questions about the girls upcoming relationship.

A scream along with several crashing sounds from upstairs interrupts them and Lauren fumbles to her feet. "Camila?!" she exchanges a concerned look with Dinah before both of them bolt upstairs, Lauren in the lead. They start to head towards Camila's room only to notice that the door was open so they both go to the bathroom. Lauren was ready to yank open the door when Dinah smacked away her wrist. She rolls her eyes, knocking on the door before opening the door when there's no response.

"I-I didn't mean to. I didn't..." Camila sniffles causing Lauren to come into the bathroom as well. There was a broken mirror on the floor, a few shards sticking out of her right hand that was now shaking and bleeding. Lauren grabs her wrist lightly to examine her palm while instructing Dinah to find the First Aid kit and a broom.

Camila sniffles again.

"I'm gonna take them out now, okay?" Lauren asks as Camila nods with a tear in her eye.

She flinches as she takes hold of the first piece and starts to remove it. How the hell did this fucking happen? Lauren had no clue but it didn't really matter at the moment. By the time the third piece was out, Dinah had returned with the kit and a broom just as Lauren notices Camila wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Did you step on any?" she asks, the girl held her own shaking wrist and bloodied palm in replacement of where her hand had previously been. She shakes her head. With a sigh, Lauren looks at all the broken mirror glass on the ground while trying to decide how to get her out of the bathroom. Sure they could sweep around her, but there was a possibility they could miss a piece or two and she needed to wrap up her hand soon.

Lauren picks her up bridal style with some hesitation, and carries her out of the bathroom. Camila was surprised but clung to her no less.

"Dinah would you mind cleaning that up?" she asks to which the girl tosses her the first aid and grabs the broom. Her hand finds the small of her back as she lead them into her room, Camila sitting on the bed with Lauren right next to her. They were silent, the air tense and their bodies too warm for the cold air around them because this wasn't a regular occurrence.

Lauren picks up her hand once again and begins to clean up her wounds before wrapping it up. Camila tries her best to avoid those emerald eyes as she glances up at her every now and then, her gaze set on counting and recounting her books repeatedly.

"You're all good," Lauren sighs, returning everything to the first aid kit and this time she does watch Lauren as she stands.

The raven haired girl was much taller than she remembered but then again, she'd never been this close. There was even more silence as Lauren tried and failed several times to close the kit to the point where she just left the room without closing it.

-

Tuesdays are basically just Mondays ugly twin sister.

Everyone is hungover from Mondays homework and the halls looked like a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Lauren slams her locker door closed before banging her head against the metal with a groan.

"You look like shit," Normani vocalizes.

"I stayed up till two in the morning watching a documentary about snakes," Lauren mumbles.

"Someone leads an exciting life," she laughs, earning herself a punch on the arm. Lauren may have failed to mention how hot the British woman on the documentary sounded. But Normani didn't really need to know that either. The first bell rings and the girls make their way down the hall towards Chemistry, Lauren praying God that Vero wouldn't speak to her. And she didn't. In fact, the flat chested girl chose someone else to prey on, a girl who was at a desk two rows away.

Classes went by faster than usual, a nap in Math, a video in History which was followed by another nap, and by the end of the day Lauren was glad her last class was Econ. As she strolled into class, Lauren immediately caught sight of Lucy and if it weren't for assigned seats, the girl would've been sat in the desk right next to her. Lucy passed her a note once or twice with some of the neatest cursive writing she'd ever seen and she would toss it back to the girl with a scribbled response that was barely legible.

The last bell rang, half the class literally running out of the school while others tiredly gathered their things. She felt Lucy poke her side as she passed, looking over her shoulder with a grin as she watched her leave. The air outside was warm with the promise of a hot summer and she shed her jacket on the walk to her black jeep. Two miles away from the school, Lauren presses on her breaks and stares out her window at an old building to her left.

She passed by the old diner everyday on her way home from hell, looking through the large glass window as she stopped at the light that never failed to turn red. Lauren didn't usually see people she knew, a few people she'd come to recognize as regulars and she would give them names based on their appearances.

But this time there were two people sitting in a small booth that Lauren was sure she knew. An older man nearing his fifties and a young girl with curls of dark brown topping her head. And Lauren was quickly furious. She licked her lips, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles and as soon as the light turned green, she spun out with the tires making a screech on the pavement.

But it was worse when she got home.

Lauren had made a quick detour to the gas station which only gave her anger more time to grow as she thought about it more. As soon as the front door slammed closed, the sheriff knew something was wrong. His daughter was hardly ever mad but when she was, it definitely wasn't half-assed. Throwing her backpack to the ground, she goes to the living room where Mr. Jauregui sat innocently on the couch.

"Why?" Lauren's voice was tired and weak but stern.

Confusion spreads across the mans face, "Why what?"

"You know damn well what," she practically yells. Upstairs Camila had opened her door as quietly as possible, crawling to the top of the stairs to get a better listen. She didn't normally listen in on private conversations but somehow she knew part of this had to do with her.

"I'm not sure I do."

"You took her to Mom's diner, Dad!" she does yell this time. Mr. Jauregui knew he was in the fault now. They hadn't been to the diner in years, occasionally a few times right after Clara had passed away but one day Lauren had had enough of trying to pretend her mother was still there and she refused to go there anymore.

Some days she regretted it, like when she got in a sorrowful mood and needed the comfort of the diner, the familiarity.

The sheriff sighs, standing, "Lauren, I-"

"You can't just pretend she's a part of this family!" she interrupts causing her father's face to drop even more than it previously had. It was too late to take it back now.

Lauren stormed upstairs in a hurry, tugging at her hair in an angry manner. She stops in front of Camila's room, the door open a crack to reveal bits of chocolate hair and tan skin. Lauren could tell she was hurt, her expression relaxing a little bit and she begun to feel bad. It wasn't the brunettes fault, it wasn't anyone's fault really, but the diner was a sacred place for her. One of the last things she shared with her mother.

She wanted to apologize, opening her mouth slightly but instead, she lowers her gaze and continues to venture to her own room. Duffel bag, clothes, charger, toothbrush... green eyes glance at the hoodie hanging off the back of his chair and she snatches it up, deciding to write a quick note as well. As she slams her door closed, she throws the hoodie on the ground outside of Camila's doorway before hurrying down the stairs as quick as she had gone up.

"Where are you going?" Mr. Jauregui asks as Lauren searches for her keys, duffel bag in hand and ready to go.

"Dinah's," the simple one word answer.

"When will you be back?" he continues as the girl finds her keys on the small table next to the stairway and flings open the door.

"Don't know, doesn't matter."

-

[ edited on june 5, 2019 ]