Controlla (Discontinued)

1

Normani's POV

"I can't believe we actually did it." Lauren blissfully sighs, popping open a bottle of wine. That is hands down one of the most pleasing sounds on earth.

I set the glasses on the counter. "It doesn't even seem real honestly. I feel like I'm bound to wake up at any second now."

She poured the drinks before setting the bottle down and handing me my glass. I politely thanked her as I perched myself onto one of the stools.

"To new beginnings." Her green eyes sparkling as she lifted her drink.

"To new beginnings." I beamed, clinking our glasses together.

This was it. We can now say we live in sunny Los Angeles after two years of saving our hard earned money. All those late nights and long shifts at that God forsaken diner in Savannah. Every roast beef sandwich I had to serve has finally paid off.

I also owe a lot of this to Lauren. She's the one that kept me motivated everyday that I wanted to give up. It's because of her that I even had the balls to stand up to my parents and actually leave in order to better myself. If it wasn't for her I'd still be in college for another four to five years to become a lawyer.

Lauren and I met in the 6th grade when her family had moved in next door to us. At first I wasn't too keen on hanging out with her because she seemed kind of off. She would be outside in their front yard looking for bugs while me being the girly girl that I am, played with my pretend makeup on the porch.

I literally begged my mom not to make me be friends with her but she wasn't having it. She made me invite her over for a sleepover one weekend and we surprisingly got along really well. From that point on we were inseparable.

Taking a sip of my wine, I adoringly gaze at my best friend. Her dark hair wild and wavy as it perfectly shaped her pretty face.

She feels me watching her and gives me a questioning look. "The last time you looked at me like that we ended up drunk and making out."

"Let's go out and get wasted like that again." I beamed, grabbing her arm excitedly. "We deserve it after all this moving, honestly." We've been unpacking and putting things away for the last 3 days. I highly doubt a couple of shots will do any harm.

Lauren just side eyes me, continuing to sip from her glass.

I smacked my lips as I scooted off the stool. She playfully rolled her eyes at me while I pouted at her like a small child. "Come on, Lolo. It's our first Friday night in Los Angeles." I used my nickname for her to soften her up a bit.

"I don't know, Normani." She runs a hand through her hair. "We don't really know our way around here that well, our first audition is tomorrow and having a hango-" I held up my hand, cutting her off.

"We'll take an Uber if it makes you more comfortable than driving one of our cars." She opened her mouth to interject but I once again stopped her from doing so. "And, the open calls aren't until five in the afternoon so that's plenty of time to sober up. Although you're being a prude and probably won't get that drunk anyways."

Lauren contemplated my words, running a hand through her hair as she thought. I anxiously bit my lip watching her make up her mind.

It felt like hours before she let out a sigh, giving into my plan.

"Yes! Tonight is going to be so lit, I can feel it. Let's see what the hot spot is for tonight." I excitedly unlocked my phone, opening up my Twitter app. Lauren tries to suppress a smile as she sips out of her wine glass.

I really don't know why she's trying to put on this whole 'responsible adult' act when we both know she's the the wild one out of the both of us. I've lost track of the number of times I had to pick her up from a party at 3 in the morning because she was too intoxicated to make it home on her own. 

We both sat around looking online for somewhere to go for a good 15 minutes. There didn't seem to be anything major happening tonight so we'll probably just have to pick a random bar or club and hope for the best.

"Found something!" Lauren excitedly stands up, reading over what looks to be a DM. "I love Twitter so much, like it is literally a lifesaver. You will not believe what one of my mutuals just hooked us up with." Her eyes filled with joy as she beamed at me.

"Umm.."

She frantically waved her hand around to cut me off. "Okay so my mutual that lives here in LA is a backup singer for Zayn Malik and she said she'd be able to get us into his album release party tonight!"

My jaw nearly hit the floor at her words. "You're lying!"

Lauren shook her head. "Swear! Apparently Zayn is really chill and allowed her to invite a few friends." She nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders but I could tell she was throwing a fit on the inside.

"Our first time going out here and we scored our way into a Zayn Malik party." I happily squealed, hopping up from my stool once again. "I'm so glad you convinced me to come here. LA is going to be so good to us, I can already tell."

"Yeah, yeah. This all exciting and what not but please remember we can't get too crazy tonight." She warned me once more which caused me to let out a frustrated sigh. Once she gets a little alcohol in her system that's going to go right out the window.

I gulp down the rest of my wine before rinsing my glass out and placing it on the drying rack. After squishing the cork back into the bottle, I place it back into the fridge before turning to face Lauren again.

"You know what I think?"

"Hmm?" She types a text on her phone before looking at me, giving me her full attention.

"I think we should go out for lunch seeing as it is now," I glance at the time on my phone. "11:20 and then after we finish doing that, go check out some stores to find something to wear tonight."

Lauren carelessly shrugs her shoulders. "Sounds good to me."

--------------------------------------------

Laurmani apartment and room mood board for this story. 💞🌆