Wings

Nostalgia

Lauren thanked her lucky stars that she had been able to stop the message she'd wrote for Normani from sending. It could've been a disaster.

She had been a little afraid and a little worried the next day when she still hadn't heard anything from her and went into her messages again to send her a text but the sight of the paragraph she'd typed out and the red 'not delivered' sign beside it made her anxious.

Suddenly, she was regretting her last minute decision. It was never good to act without thinking but she still wished that she had had enough courage to tell Normani what she'd wrote. She was hoping that she'd get that burst of energy back when they met face to face again but by that Friday morning she was starting to fear that she'd never get the chance.

Lauren had decided that she'd let Normani come to her rather than the other way around, not sure if she was still upset or hurt by what had happened in her room that day but she hadn't heard or seen her all week.

Ally and Dinah had told her that it was because she had been studying for her exams and that they'd barely seen her either. She'd gone by Dinah's room a bunch of times in hopes that she'd catch her instead of Dinah and was a bit relieved and disappointed every time Dinah opened the door to greet her telling her that Normani was once again at the library.

Studying was a valid reason to be MIA but Lauren had a feeling Normani was avoiding her as well and she couldn't figure out why. She also hoped that whatever the reason, she could fix it before it was too late.

Lauren spent that day in class and then headed to lunch with Dinah.

They stood in line and chatted as they waited to pay "So I want to cordially invite you to Mani's going away party. It's a surprise so don't tell her." Dinah said as she handed the cashier a $10 bill and waited for her change.

"Well, in order to tell her I'd have to be talking to her and I haven't done that all week so the secret is safe with me."

Dinah took her changed and then stood on the side and waited for Lauren to pay for her food.

"Why didn't you and Ally tell me about the party earlier? I would've helped." Lauren knew that Ally and Dinah were planning something for Normani though they hadn't given her many details on exactly what and when it was. She'd noticed bottles of booze in Ally's room that she knew the lightweight wasn't drinking by herself and as they were walking to the dining hall Lauren could hear Dinah whispering the details about the party to some of the people they knew around campus.

"We figured you wouldn't have wanted to help. You've been kind of bummed out lately and besides we've got everything covered, we just need you to be there."

The truth was that Lauren probably wouldn't have wanted to help if they had asked her, just another reminder that Normani was leaving and never coming back.

Lauren smiled "I'll be there."

Dinah nodded and they walked towards the exit "And you're going to talk it out right?"

Lauren sighed, Dinah had been persistently pushing Lauren towards talking with Normani since the night she'd went to their room looking for her "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Dinah smiled sweetly at her "I think you'll really regret it if you don't."

In an attempt to end the conversation before it turned into another lecture from Dinah about doing things before it's too late, Lauren placed her hand on Dinah's shoulder and nodded "I'll be at your room at 7:30 to help you guys set up, K?"

Dinah nodded and squeezed Lauren's arm before leaving the hall and disappearing into the crowd of students outside.

Lauren took a deep breath before going outside. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked away from the crowd of people and towards the arts building. She went inside and up to the welcome desk where the same woman that had given Normani a key to one of the practice rooms sat reading a book.