Breaking Walls (Lauren Cimorelli)

Chapter 9

Coley's POV

"So you broke up with her, just like that?" Katie asked from across the room.

"Pretty much. I didn't wanna sugar-coat it or anything. I needed to do it." I said, laying on my bed and throwing a basketball up in the air repeatedly and catching it.

"I guess that it's for the best. I just don't get it. You've been dying to just talk to her for years, then you guys started dating, and now you break up with her?" She asked, sitting at my desk on my laptop.

"I told you. I don't wanna be in a relationship with her if I have stronger feelings for someone else. And yes, I know that makes me sound like an absolute bitch, but I couldn't keep fighting with her about Lauren." I told her.

"So, how do you really feel about Lauren?" She asked slowly as if she was focused on something.

"I like her, I guess."

"Just, 'I guess'? You broke up with Amber over an 'I guess'?"

"Okay, fine. I like her a lot, and I know that for a fact. Happy now?" I caught the ball one last time before putting it down on my bed. She turned around and looked at me, smiling.

"Why do you even still have that ball? You haven't played basketball in years." She said.

"I still like to throw it around and stuff. It's a part of my childhood. Don't judge me." I threw the ball at her and she barely caught it.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." She laughed. She threw the ball back to me and turned her attention back to the topic at hand. "You need to talk to Lauren, though. She needs to know what's going on. She deserves to know."

"I know she does. I just don't know how to bring it up without it being awkward. And what exactly am I supposed to say? 'Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I broke up with my girlfriend because I have feelings for you and I wanted to know if you liked me back'? And if she doesn't, I don't want her feeling like it's all her fault. She always feels like everything is her fault, and I don't want this to add onto the list."

"Didn't you say something's up with her that we don't know about?" She asked.

"Yeah." I responded. She immediately turned around and started typing on my laptop. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Just Googling her name." She said causally.

"What? No, don't do that. I don't wanna know until she tells me!" I ran over and tried to stop her, but she pushed me away.

"Relax, okay? I'll type in her name and click on the first thing that pops up. Nothing else. And if it's that bad, I won't tell you." She said, trying to calm me down.

"Fine." I gave in. I heard her typing and a few clicks before she waved me over.

"Hey, come check this out." She stared at the screen. "She has her own YouTube channel... with five other girls. They have like three million subscribers."

"What?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah, they look like a girl group. Look, here's one of their last covers they put up." She clicked on a video and turned up the volume. Six girls, one of them being Lauren, appeared on the screen and started to introduce themselves one by one. I immediately noticed how happy Lauren looked in the video, and how she wasn't wearing baggy clothes. I was interrupted by Katie talking about something.

"Did you hear that? They went on tour in Europe. Wow..." She sounded amazed. I was extremely confused, since everyone hated Lauren so much. If they were so big and so loved, why did everyone hate her?