Insane Love

Chapter 2

Lauren used to be a complete bitch. Although I'm sure she would say the same thing about me.

I think when you are young, or at least during your schooling years, when you come across people that are so different from you, you tend to clash more. I think that is why whenever people talk about clique culture, they tend to use examples from high school. The popular crowd, the drama club, the nerds and such. People find personalities that match theirs, or at least that is what it was like when I went to school.

Lauren and I clash. We are polar opposites, jigsaw pieces that fit together but it took us a while to figure that out. 14 years, if anyone is counting.

We met first day of primary school, I struggle to remember that far into my own past, Lauren distinctly remembers me pulling on her pig tails and that is how I became her archnemesis. Quite a heavy duty to bestow upon a 4-year-old, and I don't think I came anywhere close to fulfilling my role. Had I known, I probably would have played to the audience.

We butted heads a few times over the years, but by the time high school came around, our rivalry consisted of plastering on fake smiles laced with passive aggression when passing each other in the hallway. It wasn't until we ended up sharing a class at the same university that we realised we might be good as friends. I was doing my maths degree; she was studying business and took one of my classes as an elective for extra credits. Despite her hatred towards me, she knew no one else in the class and my excellence in mathematics spoke for itself, so she begrudgingly asked me for help. Being the bigger person, I let bygones be bygones. The rest, as they say, is history.

Her borderline obsessive needs to make sure everything is organised has been a saving grace to me since I asked her to take a chance on my – at that point – small business. We were living together at the time, and my ordered chaos was driving her to the edge, but she knew I had something. She was also the one who made me realise that I didn't like maths. Too late that she shared that insight after I spend an absurd amount of time and money working to get my degree.

Between her and Bella, who we met at university and then shared a flat with in our second and third years, I now know what a real family is. We are always there for each other, and despite what we might say, we love each other unconditionally.

That truth is why at this moment in time, I want to rue the day that I ever met Lauren Robinson.

Glancing around the room, I realise that everyone is looking at me and I suddenly feel like a caged animal. I can't remember how long I have been stood here, frozen to the spot unable to speak a word.

My eyes dart about, taking in the two other security personnel stood to the left of Lincoln. Lincoln. Lincoln is here. I can't breathe. I need to get out of this room.

I take in a deep inhale, waking up my body to realise that there is a hand on my shoulder, shaking me.

"Ava." I don't know if that is the first or the thirtieth time Jenna has said my name, but my tongue still feels weird in my own mouth. I am still not functioning on 100%, but I manage to get my wits about me just enough to back away, towards the door. Then, before I completely collapse into a useless husk, I am out the door, then backstage, then outside.

I double over just in time to hear the hurried click of heels coming towards me.

"Ava," Lauren grabs my face and pulls me up straight. "Why aren't you ready yet?"

"What?"

"It is less than 15 minutes until that show in there starts and you aren't ready." Surely, she must be joking. I really do not give a crap about the show right now. I can't think of anything other than the fact that my lungs aren't working, and I am pretty sure if I was to type my symptoms into WebMD, it would say I'm having a heart attack. I scoff at her, regretting doing so when I promptly return to gasping for air. What does a girl have to do to get some oxygen around here, and why aren't there any trees. Fucking humans destroying the planet. "There are also about a million problems to fix, and apparently there is a tit tape shortage."

"Did you know?" My voice is barely a whisper at this point.

"Also, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this but there is a stain on your dress, we don't know what happened."

"Did." Gasp "You." Gasp "Kn- What do you mean?"

"One of the assistants came to tell me just before I saw you."

"But, I had it in its cover."

"Someone took it out, people at your station were starting to set up so you would be ready on time."

"I can't wear a stained dress."

"Your backup dress is fine."

"It's a backup for a reason, Lauren! It isn't as good. I spent so much time on it. I made it myself. I spent days down in production working on it, so it was perfect. It was an absolute masterpiece, and someone just spilt something on it and now- why are you smiling?"

"There you are," I don't know what my face does in response to her stupid comment, but she laughs at me.

"Bitch."

"Right back at you, love. Now, what's going on?"

It's around this time that I realise I am stood upright, and my breathing is back to normal. "What did you do to me?"

"It's not my first rodeo, I've done my research. Now, what's going on?"

"Is my dress okay?"

"It's fine, Ava. Your dress is stain free."

"You lied to me! I was ready to kill somebody!"

"But it stopped your panic attack, so I think a fake stain was worth the cost." I am stunned to a stupor, but I soon shake it off and realise that before I rip into her about scaring me into a murderous rage, there is a bigger problem.

"Did you know that Lincoln was here?"

"Lincoln Winters?"

"No" I snap back. She knows exactly which Lincoln I am talking about. I don't even think we know another Lincoln, except Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln from The 100.

"Why is he here?" That's my first clue that she didn't realise either.

"He's working security!"

"No!"

"Urm, yes. Either that or I'm having some kind of psychotic break."

She heads over towards the door, to where she left her clipboard on a ledge, and begins frantically flipping through the wad of paperwork she has on there. I know the instant she finds proof of what I already know to be true. Her face is a picture of 'what the fuck'. I nod, wide eyed. "But he moved away..." She is trying to rationalise how this slipped through the cracks of her iron clad system.

"Well clearly not." I guarantee she can hear the eyeroll in my voice. "How is he here, Lauren. He can't be here."

"I mean, Ava, it's been five years, and it's just tonight." She is still flipping through the paperwork, trying to work a solution. The words she says going against what she knows, what she remembers. I was a shell of myself for months after him. It almost ruined me. It almost ruined everything I had built.

I walk over to Lauren, still pouring over everything, seeing if there is a way she can make this work for me. I know she can't. It's too late. The damage has already been done. I place my hand over hers, gently easing her grasp on her precious plan. The plan she has spent months putting together to make sure everything goes perfectly for the both of us. "It is just tonight." I smile weakly at her before making my way back in to go get changed in record time. It isn't just tonight. We both know it. It's every night.