Can you keep up?

Chapter 2

Lauren's POV

I've only been at Jackson High since the beginning of September so I've just about settled in to life here in Nashville. I've made some cool new friends and I've actually seriously surprised myself with how much I'm actually enjoying school here. I thought I'd struggle a bit, not with making friends so much as fitting in. I'm not gonna lie, I was genuinely concerned about the amount of fans there might be and I was right to be to be fair. Literally on the first day Dani and I were swamped. People would not leave us alone! Seriously, screaming everywhere, "oh my gosh, it's Cimorelli!" "Lauren, Dani, over here!" I was ready to go back to home schooling, then and there. I knew I couldn't be such a pathetic wimp though so I just dealt with it and eventually after a couple of weeks the hype died down. I guess people have just come to terms with the fact that they have a couple of famous kids at their school. Good news for us. Put it this way, I'd be surprised if there was a single person at Jackson High who doesn't know who we are now. 

So Thanksgiving break is almost over and I have to go back to school tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about it really, like I mean, I've become quite popular and all the attention is nice sometimes but it can be a bit overwhelming when you're in a small corridor. Obviously I'm used to it from the band and stuff but ya know, I can generally control it there, not so much at school. There's like all these guys who don't seem to understand what the phrase 'not interested' actually means. They just do NOT give up! They keep asking me out and flirting with me and I just don't care for them. Not that they aren't good looking because some of them are really cute. This guy, Jake, he's like the most popular guy in the school and he's asked me out like 5 times. He's very attractive but I can smell a douchebag from a mile away and believe me, he reeks of it. So yeah, I prefer to keep myself to myself when it comes to dating, like I don't generally date that often. I've had a couple of boyfriends in the past but nothing serious, and I was never in love with them or anything. 

Anyway it's getting late so I better get some sleep before tomorrow. 

The Next Morning

I woke up at 7 and rolled out of bed. Dani was still snoring away in the next door room so I banged on her door, "DANI! Get up, it's 7, you gotta get ready for school." I heard a groan and chuckled to myself then headed to my bathroom to shower. I brushed my hair and my teeth and applied some light make up before getting dressed in some jeans, a black and white t-shirt, with a grey flannel tied around my waist. I put on my black sk8 hi Vans and picked up my bag with all my books in. I headed down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast before I had to leave. 

My older sisters all live together in an apartment not too far away so my mom and younger brothers were the only ones downstairs. "Hey," I greeted them as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi sweetie," my mom answered. I smiled at my brothers who were already arguing. It wasn't even 7:30 and they were already debating which video game character was better. "Where's Dani?" Christian asked me as I sat down with an apple and a bagel. 

"Probably getting ready," I replied with my mouthful. "Oh lol, never mind, ugly's here.'

"Haaaa, not even been up for an hour and you're already being a delightful sister," Dani said sarcastically as she walked into the kitchen. 

"I just like to remind you how much you're loved," I smirked as I downed the rest of my juice and went to find my car keys. "Dan let's go."

We pulled up to school and climbed out of the car. Together we headed through the school doors. That's one thing we can't seem to shake, the eyes. Literally we get watched like every time we arrive at school I swear. It's worse when we're together, and oh my gosh, when all 6 of us are here, don't even go there. The fangirls just have a field day. 

"What have you got first?" I asked Dani as I opened up my locker. She leaned against the wall and sighed, "English."

"Hey, don't freak about that test, you'll be fine," I encouraged her, she nodded. "I'm gonna go talk to Stella, I'll catch you later," I told her. She walked off with her friend, I think his name is Kyle or something.

I joined a group of girls who were chatting away in the corner, "Hey Stella, how was your break?" I asked her.

"It was sooooo good, Calvin was amazing, like seriously, I didn't know he had it in him." She gushed. I cringed, realising what she was talking about. To be honest, I didn't feel the need to know that. Calvin is her new boyfriend and she never shuts up about him, it's kinda annoying. 

"Agh, Stell, I really did not want to know that." I scrunched up my nose and made vomiting noises.

She frowned and folded her arms, "why would you not want to know that? We're best friends, we tell each other everything right? So obviously I'm gonna tell you about my sex life."

"Yeah I get that but some things should just be kept private."

"You're such an innocent," she laughed and rolled her eyes, giving me a patronising stare. 

"Hey, I am not innocent, I just prefer to keep things to myself." Her eyes widened.

"You mean, you're not a...?"

I choked and blushed, "that's none of your business," I laughed nervously, "anyway come on, we're going to be late for homeroom." I grabbed her hand and dragged her through the mass of people. 

When the bell rang for first period I managed to pull myself free from the group of guys and girls who didn't want to let me go and headed off. I had calculus first, I don't mind it too much, I'm not bad at math, not amazing, but not bad. I found an empty seat in the second row from the back and started getting my books out when the teacher walked in and promptly announced that we all had a test. Great. Just what I wanted to hear in my first class back. I looked for my pencil case and realised I'd left it in my locker... shit. I guess I'll have to borrow a pencil. I turned round and asked this girl if she could lend me one. She's super pretty I'll give her that, really really pretty actually. She has such a nice face. Okay this got a bit weird...

She was just staring at me with her mouth open. I looked at her awkwardly, clearly she's a fan, I thought. Eventually she mumbled "uh sure," and gave me one so I just said thanks and turned around. I don't know, after I turned around, I started to smile big. She's cute. I just shrugged it off, I'm probably just glad to know that I still have fans or something stupid. She is seriously cute though. Okay, okay, Lauren, I get it, now get on with the test.