Hours later, Lauren threw on her black and white flannel and made the three minute ride to Ally's house- which she was surprised to find out how close they lived to each other.
As quickly as she pulled out of her driveway, she was pulling into the driveway of the average-sized yellow house. While the color of the siding on the house was an interesting choice, another feature of the home caught Lauren's eye.
Sitting just under the front patio was a tiny garden filled with lilacs and daisies, lined with plain coloured bricks. Lauren got out of her car to get a closer look. Up close, she could see paint handprints covering a few of the top bricks. Each one was a different color. She couldn't help but smile when she noticed a tiny handprint with the name 'Ally' written in the middle.
It brings Lauren joy to see families who do things like this together. It helps her remember that things like that still exist.
She reached out and traced the handprint with her index finger, just amazed at how small we start out. No matter who you are or how much money and power you have, everyone starts the same. Everyone starts small. Something about that brought Lauren a sense of serenity.
After taking it all in, she made her way up the small steps and knocked on the front door. Almost immediately, the door swung open to reveal a texting Dinah.
"Allyyy! Lauren's here!" Dinah's voice echoed through the house. Huh, maybe this place wasn't so 'average' after all.
"Well let her in!" Ally yelled from another part of the house. Dinah, who was still texting, motioned for Lauren to enter.
Entering the house, Lauren looked around in astonishment as she realized that it was far from average. She stopped two feet into the house just to study the living room. Glossy, dark brown wooden floors and nice leather couches with a large flatscreen television on the wall across from them. This was your classic family home.
Her gazing was interrupted when Ally and Normani made their way into the living room.
"Ally your house is so...homey," Lauren said, joining the others in the living room.
"Why, thank you," Ally said with a Southern accent. "So I take it Camila won't make it tonight?"
"Probably not," Lauren shrugged. Dinah's head shot up.
"Wait, why isn't Camila coming?"
"Wish I knew," Lauren shrugged once again and pulled out her phone.
"She's probably just tired. It's the first day back at school in a week so maybe she just wants to sleep. I know that once I get home I'm gonna crash right on the welcome mat," Normani joked.
"I swear, if she ends up leaving all the work for this project up to us I'm gonna-" Dinah began before she was cut off by the doorbell.
Ally rushed to her feet to answer the door and was taken aback when she saw Camila standing on the other side.
"Hey," Ally said, opening the door so Camila could enter. Camila flashed her a small smile and entered.
The other girls looked up from their phones to see who was at the door. When they saw who it was, they all shot each other confused looks but composed themselves as Camila and Ally walked into the living room. Camila with a big smile on her face.
They all said their hello's as Camila took a seat on the floor right next to Dinah. Lauren sat there with her eyebrows raised. Camila was, oddly enough, back to her bouncy self that Lauren had met that same morning.
"We thought you weren't coming," Ally said.
"I just had some stuff to get done first and I wasn't sure if I'd get it finished in time but I did and now I'm here," she laughed. The other girls just nodded and shrugged it off. But something was still off and Lauren knew it. She decided to ignore it, though. Camila seemed back to normal so maybe she was just overthinking it.
