You Don't Know Me

Chapter One

"Anyways isn't a word, Dinah." the green-eyed latina said frustratedly for what felt like the hundredth time. She hated her job as a tutor, but she needed to move out on her own and that took money.

Lauren loved her parents and her younger siblings, but she couldn't agree with them on anything.
See, Lauren's family believed in tradition and order, while Lauren believed in free will as well as logic. She loved to read books and listen to music that challenged what she was taught growing up.

For a while, she was able to separate "Tumblr Lauren" from "Straight A getting, church attending, parent respecting Lauren" but the older she grew, the less ability she had to differentiate between the two.
By high school she was a free-thinking, liberal feminist who believed in Lana Del Rey more than she believed in the New Testament.

She smoked weed on occasion, but contrary to popular belief, still managed to maintain a B average. She was captain of the debate team and the finer things club where students met monthly to discuss classic literature and art and she was the shortstop on the softball team.

Needless to say, she was different than most of her peers. She found it really difficult to make friends aside from the few she'd had forever.
She went to a school which was highly populated with kids who were more interested in being as identical as possible in order to make sure they were well liked, rather than being themselves, which was the exact opposite of her own philosophy.

They were sheep, and right now, she happened to be tutoring the shepherd of the flock, Dinah Jane Hansen.

* * *

Ugh, this girl is so ignorant, Lauren thought to herself as the Tongan girl blasted yet another song off her playlist filled with racial slurs and anti-women sentiments.

Dinah saw Lauren glaring at her Beats Pill with contempt and raised her eyebrows. "You know I can change the song if you're not feelin' it?" she asked suggestively.

Slightly embarrassed at being called out, but more concerned with getting her point across, Lauren said, "how in the world can you listen to this crap? No self-respecting women of color should ever support this type of music."

To the older girl's surprise, instead of making fun of her like most people did when Lauren went off on one of her feminist tangents, the younger girl bowed her head ashamedly and said, unsurely, "but it's just music."

Hoping she was on the edge of a break-through, Lauren continued, "listen to these lyrics! He's literally saying that women are only useful for sex and nothing else! Do you want that for your life?"

"Nope. It's a good thing I don't play for that team, then," Dinah replied bluntly, causing Lauren to blush again in embarrassment.

How had it never occured to her that she might not be straight? Lauren wondered to herself. Every guy in school wanted to bone her yet she remained single.
Lauren had never seen her flirt with anyone at all, actually, and this girl definitely had options.

She had long blond hair that was almost as thick as her perfectly toned tan legs which confused Lauren to no end. She wondered how someone could manage to be thick and fit at the same time? It just didn't make sense.

Lauren turned back to the English Lit book to distract herself from thinking about the other girl's body just as she turned off the playlist and switched to something much more desirable.
It was a song Lauren hadn't heard before, which surprises her because it was reggae and that was one of her favorite genres of music.

The song was rhythmic and sultry, but down tempo and really chill at the same time. Lauren was beginning to doubt everything she previously assumed about this girl; she thought popular kids only listened to mainstream music.

The song was kind of sexual, which was a little awkward, but Lauren still really liked it. She liked it even more when Dinah starts humming along, perfectly in pitch. Dinah then opened her mouth and began harmonizing smoothly with the song while the older girl watched in awe.

She sang a few octaves higher than the original singer, higher than Lauren could ever dream of hitting, and it fit beautifully. Honestly, that was what heaven would sound like if it existed.

Lauren was still recovering from Dinah's angelic vocals when the younger girl then stood up and started dancing to the song.
Lauren didn't even care that she's staring anymore as she watched the girl sway back and forth to the strings.

She was trying to be comical with her dramatic movements, but Lauren found it extremely sexy. Although Lauren didn't necessarily identify her sexuality by societal standards, if she had to in that exact moment, she would definitely be Dinahsexual.

Dinah caught Lauren staring and shook her head with a smirk on her face. Instead of calling her out and adding to her embarrassment, she just sat down and stated plainly, "it's called Wade in your Water by Common Kings".

If she was going to pretend she didn't just catch her staring then Lauren would too. "I really like it. I didn't know you listened to reggae", she added honestly.
"Girl, I'm from the islands, if anything, I'm surprised you like it." Dinah responded, once again, causing Lauren a great deal of embarrassment.

They worked for another half hour with Common Kings playing quietly in the background. There were no disruptions, save for a little hum here or there. "Well, that's enough studying for today. Thanks, Lauren." Dinah said cheerily before grabbing her wallet from beneath her pillow, pulling out a crisp hundred dollar bill and handing it to Lauren. "See you Wednesday."

Lauren said a quick goodbye before rushing out of the house. She was in a hurry to leave, but only in anticipation of their next study session.

She would never in a million years admit it, but guess who was excited for Wednesday?