Breaking Walls (Lauren Cimorelli)

Chapter 20

Lauren's POV

"Are you ready?"

"I don't know."

I felt Coley grab my hand and intertwine our fingers, making me look over at her. "I know this is scary, okay? But I'll be right beside you the entire time, and so will Lisa."

I gave her a sad smile. "I know, but you've never met Christina. She's... not gonna take it well."

"I know," She sighed, "But I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you. Besides, you're telling Amy and Katherine too. I'm sure they'll be fine with it. Christina might be outnumbered."

"Amy and Katherine are probably gonna hate me too."

"They love you."

"They've had a funny way of showing it lately."

I felt my phone buzz from my pocket and I pulled it out, trying not to throw up as I read the text.

"Hey, when are you guys gonna come in? Christina's starting to get suspicious."

"Lisa?" Coley asked, making me look up at her again. I nodded. She smiled before opening the driver door of the car and getting out, me following behind her. She could still drive despite her swollen left ankle, which, thankfully, she didn't need to drive. We reached the front door of my house and took a deep breath before I slowly opened the door, ready to face whatever could be standing there. Surprisingly, no one was there waiting on me, and the house was quiet. Coley followed me inside, taking in her surroundings and trying to reassure me with a small smile. As we started walking towards the kitchen, I heard someone talking.

"You said you told her to come back."

"I did! She must've taken a longer walk this time-"

Lisa stopped talking when she saw me walking in behind Christina, and smiled. They along with Katherine and Amy were all sitting down at the kitchen table, probably waiting on me to come home. Katherine gave me a small smile when she saw me, like she always did, as if to somehow make up for all the time she's spent ignoring me. Amy, on the other hand, didn't do anything except look down at her hands.

Christina caught on and turned around to see me, one eyebrow raising when she saw Coley standing beside me. "Who's this?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Coley beat me to it. "Coley," She said, reaching her hand out to shake Christina's.

Christina hesitantly shook her hand while standing up, looking at me suspiciously before looking at Coley again. "Lauren's... friend?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice. Coley looked to me before answering her.

"Yeah, kind of-"

"She's my girlfriend." I didn't want to lie, and I definitely didn't want to drag this on longer than it needed to be. Christina's expression didn't change, and she didn't speak, but if looks could kill, Coley and I would both would've been dead.

"Girlfriend?" Amy asked from the other side of the room. I didn't take my eyes away from Christina's, but I didn't need to see Amy to know she was surprised.

I smiled a little, but Christina's glare continued to make me nervous. "Y-yeah. Girlfriend." I felt Coley's hand grab mine and intertwine our fingers immediately, making me feel safer.

Christina took a deep breath. "So, you're gay now? That's what this is?" She asked. "God, you really love attention, don't you?"

"Christina-"

"Don't start," She said calmly, cutting me off, before walking over to the counter to grab her purse. Lisa tried grabbing her by the wrist as she walked out of the kitchen, but failed to do so.