Thinking Out Loud ➵zauren

Chapter 1

The alarm clock blared and Lauren rolled over sluggishly to hit the snooze button. She sat up slowly with a puzzled face, wondering why she had set her alarm so early. She realized that today was the day her family was leaving to Orlando. After the final bell rang at her high school she'd be heading north to Disney World during the happiest time of the year.

Lauren's brother Chris and sister Taylor had been angsty about the "Very Merry Christmas" event in Disney for weeks now and as she got up to go to the bathroom she knew they had been up for at least an hour now, anticipating the day ahead of them. Lauren wasn't excited for the fact she was going to a "Very Merry Christmas", I mean Disney world was still exciting, even if she was about to turn 18 in six months, but the fact that she was finally going to be able to get away from her daily life and routine for a while was what she had been waiting for.

Her boring, average life had her reflecting on herself a lot since the start of her senior year. Lauren had been stressing many things in her life lately. She'd been applying to many universities while maintaining her grades in her final year of school and also trying to maintain the few friendships she had. She had four best friends; Camila, Dinah, Normani and Ally. They all grew up on the same block and went to the same day care, elementary school, middle school and now high school. Everything seemed to be piling up on her lately but her girls where always there to help Lauren maintain sanity.

As Lauren looked at herself in the bathroom mirror she thought, this is it, time to relax, forget about everything and everyone after 2:30, just think about you. Though her mind wanted that to be set, she still had to focus on school so she put it aside till she knew it was time and she got ready as she did every morning.

When Lauren got to school she realized it was a little chilly, a rare thing in Miami, even in December. As she walked towards her homeroom she saw one of her four best friends waiting outside the door for her as she always did.

"Hey Camzi" she said with a warm smile.

"H-hey lo" Camila responded while shivering. "It's f-freezing out here, don't we live in m-Miami because o-of it's w-warmth?!"

Lauren laughed at her best friend, "Camz it's not that cold, you're so dramatic" she stated while rubbing Camila's arm in attempt to warm her a bit.

"S-s-screw you Lauren. You know I'm always c-cold. It c-could be 90 degrees out and I'd probably still be c-c-cold" Camila gave Lauren a glare.

"Okay thanks for proving my point drama queen" Lauren laughed. "Let's get inside before you get frostbite" she said while putting her arm around her best friends shoulders and leading her into their homeroom. Ally, Normani and Dinah were already waiting inside for them at their usual table and the girls took a seat next to them.

"LO!! ARE YOU EXCITED!?" Ally screamed.

All four of the girls cringed. Ally was always unusually chipper, even this early in the day.

"Ally you are literally my little ray of sunshine and you know I love you but can you tone it down just a bit..it's barely 7:30" Lauren responded.

"Ugh sorry, I always forget you guys aren't morning people" Ally sighed.

"Anyways, are you talking about my trip to Disney?" asks Lauren.

"YES!!" screams Ally.

This time a couple others in the class turn around and shoot a glare at Ally. Lauren giggles a bit as Ally realizes what Lauren meant by her needing to turn down her excitement a bit.

"It's just so exciting to talk about, I mean, it's Disney world during Christmas time. What's better than that??" whispers Ally.

"I'm not sure" Lauren says while giving Ally a warm smile. "But yes, I'm a little excited. I just can't wait to get away."

"We're gonna miss you Laur" says Normani with a frown.

"Shoooo, I won't" says Dinah.

Lauren laughs, typical Dinah. "I'll miss you guys, too."

The girls continue with small discussions as their homeroom period begins. After a couple minutes the door to the class swings open letting in a cold breeze from outside and in he walks. Brad, or the jerk Lauren has yet to get over. She had been stuck on Brad since her freshman year, and they amounted to nothing more than a brief fling, they tried to remain friends but after Brad noticed Lauren still felt something for him he started to distance himself and now they were practically strangers. Lauren thought Brad would have been her first boyfriend but she was so wrong. At first, Brad looked like a sweet guy but in reality things turned out to be the total opposite. There is/was no better way to describe Brad other than a jerk. He and his friends used to joke about how easy and desperate Lauren was and how quick she was to do anything Brad asked her to. This first started towards the end of their freshman year, only about 3 weeks after the start of their fling when Lauren lost her virginity to Brad. In retrospect, the entire situation was nothing like Lauren expected it. He was violent and quick with her when she expected her first time to be slow and filled with love and tenderness. To this day she didn't even know what it was about him that grabbed her attention, he wasn't even the best looking guy out there, but there was still something. Even now as he walked into the class late and she saw him, her heart seemed to flutter. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she heard Camila complaining.

"Ugh what an asshole. Not only does he walk in late but he opens the door all the way letting the amazing warmth escape!?"

"Shut up Camz" laughed Lauren.

"Stop staring at him like that and maybe I will" shot back Camila.

"Oooo that's a fight on my block" Dinah joined in.

"D, we literally all live on the same block" stated Normani.

"Ugh you know what I mean" Dinah groaned.

"Camz that was mean" said Lauren sadly.

"I'm sorry Lo but he's so gross. I just want you to move on" Camila said apologetically.

"And you think I don't?" questioned Lauren.

"I'm sure you do but-JESUS REALLY" Camila screamed abruptly as the door swung open again letting in more cold air. Everyone turned to the door as the face that just walked in was one that was not recognized by any of them.

"Woah....who is that" says Normani.

"Dayuuuum he is one fine slice of cake hunny" blabs Dinah.

"I'm kinda not even mad that he just walked in letting all that cold air in..happy even" states Camila.

"Looks like you're not the only one" Ally says pointing at Lauren.

She still wasn't able to look away from him. The new face was chiseled in such a way that made this guy look like a Greek god. His tan skin and dark hair contrasted so nicely with his light brown, almost hazel eyes. He wasn't extremely tall but he still had long extremities. Lauren noticed he had some tattoos hidden underneath his long sleeves. Hot, she thought to herself.

"See, told ya!" says Ally.

"What?" questioned Lauren

"You just said 'hot' while staring at the new guy!!" Camila squeals.

He had now made his way to Mr. Diaz's desk and was talking with him.

"Whoops..thought that was in my head" Lauren laughs nervously.

"He's obviously new, you should offer to show him around once the bell rings" says Normani. And with that, the bell rings and everyone begins to stand and collect their things.

"Hold on!" Mr. Diaz says loudly. "This is a new student, his name is Zayn. If any of you can please volunteer and show him to his next period."

Lauren felt Dinah nudge her in the ribs. Lauren shot her a look that said 'hell no'. And with that they noticed someone had already volunteered.

"Maybe next time" Lauren said sticking out her tongue at Dinah as they all walked out the door and went on to their next period.

A/N: hi! So this is very short (I think) but I have a lot that I am still editing. This is my first fan fic so make sure to comment and let me know if it sucks or not! Thanks for reading :) -Michelle