Not Like Before

Chapter 26

Mature language
Sexual content
Mentions of sexual assault
Be safe !

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(Saturday)

Laura's POV

I woke up to the smell of burnt bacon and the sound of my phone ringing. My parents are gone for the weekend on a work trip, and my brother is convinced that he's the man of the house when they're not here.

He's thirteen and can't even cook bacon, but who am I to squash his fantasies.

Jamie is on an air mattress next to my bed, we decided last night it would be fun to have little sleepover. We stayed up talking for like two hours before falling asleep to an episode of Friends.

I notice I've waited too long to answer and now it's Jamie's phone that's ringing. She sits up tiredly and answers, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hello?" She says groggily and puts it on speaker.

"Hey do you guys mind if we come over?" I hear Zay ask. He sounds as fresh as a daisy. I check my phone to see that it's 12 pm already and that I have a missed call from Chandler.

Chandler.

The boy who kissed me last night to make my ex jealous. I feel my face heat up as I recall everything that happened.

I look up and realize Jamie is waiting for me to answer. I shrug and nod, climbing out of bed and unplugging my phone.

Jamie finishes up the call and hangs up, sighing.

"Why does it feel way earlier than noon?" She asks, stretching her arms.

"Probably because we didn't go to sleep until 2 in the morning." I say, pulling out the ribbon in my hair that I forgot to take out last night. I make my way over to the mirror on my door and realize I look horrible.

There's mascara smudged under my eyes and my hair is an absolute mess. I look back at Jamie, who's looking at herself in her phone camera, seemingly thinking the same thing.

"I think we should've gotten ready before telling them they could come over." Jamie says, laughing.

I laugh too, but then the doorbell rings and interrupts both of us.

"I'll get it!" I hear Elliot call from the living room.

"Jesus, that can't be them right?" I say, looking out my window. They asked to come over like 2 minutes ago.

Sure enough though, I see Zay's car—well his mom's car, parked in the driveway.

"What the hell? How did they get here so fast?" Jamie asks from beside me.

I sigh and furiously wipe under my eyes to get the mascara off, while Jamie finger-combs her hair at lightning speed.

And then of course, Zay and Chandler appear in the doorway, holding bags of gas station snacks.
Chandler looks at me with an amused expression on his face, and Zay just full on laughs.

"No offense, but you guys look wrecked." He says through his snickers. I sigh and roll my eyes.

"Well most people ask to come over before they start driving." I say sarcastically. I'm trying to play it off like I'm not bothered, but truthfully I'm mortified.