Finding Franco

17 | thanks

"And the crowd goes..." Carlos whispers dramatically.

I ignore him and walk on campus. The hallways seem foreign. "Which way is my dorm room?"

Carlos looks at my information sheet. "Right over there," he points to the room down the hall.

I hesitantly walk over and stop in front of the door. "Should I knock?" I ask. "I should knock, right? Let's knock. I'm going to knock."

Carlos rolls his eyes and bangs on the door loudly. "Why do you have to knock like the damn police?" I groan.

"It makes people to open the door quicker," he states.

I play that over for a moment. "Hey, that's actually pretty smart. Points for you, Carlos."

He grins proudly. The door opens and a girl smiles. She looks between Carlos and I. "Oh, I thought there was only one person..."

"He's just a friend," I brush off. "I'm your roommate...hopefully," I mutter at the end.

"Oh, well, come on in!" We walk inside and take in the room. It was cozy and neat. One side of the room was empty for me and the other was creative with art.

I hold up a sketch drawing of a building. "Are you an art major?" I ask.

"Yeah," she smiles sheepishly. "I'm Lauren by the way."

"Aurora," I introduce and nod to Carlos. "And that's Carlos, who's taken by the way, so don't hope."

Carlos grins. "I love the way you greet me to women."

Lauren chuckles. "It's okay, I'm totally taken."

"Yeah, and so is everybody I know apparently," I say.

"So where did you come from?" Lauren asks. "You look like a Europe kind of girl..." she thinks for a moment.

"I'm actually from the city," I inform her. "About twenty minutes away."

"You're like four months late, though," she says, confused.

"I dropped out freshman year," I say flatly.

Carlos says, "Yeah, this girl was failing all her glasses and partying too much. It's a miracle NYU took her back."

I glare at Carlos who grins innocently. "You heard him," I flip him the bird. He catches it and places it on his heart, mouthing, Love you too.

"Well, I can't wait to be roomies! After I come home from the holidays, we can get to know each other!" Lauren suggests.

I scratch my elbow awkwardly. "Oh, I'm not sure I'm even coming back...it's just an approval," I say, feeling bad for ruining the mood.

Lauren's face falls. "Oh, sorry to hear that. Sorry for pressuring you."

I smile. "No worries."

♠♠♠

Christie's Cafe is full of surprises. I keep seeing people. First Franco and now Lana, Brandon's girlfriend who disappeared.

"I'll be right back," I tell Logan slowly, wondering if I should approach her.

Logan looks at where I'm looking and asks, "Who's that?"

"Franco's brother's girlfriend," I say, taking off my apron and running across the street.

Lana sits on the bench, sipping tea. She looks sad and lonely, I can't help but approach her. "Hey, Lana," I greet.

She looks up at me in shock. "Aurora!" She stands up and hugs me tightly. "Oh God, you're actually here, you're not a hallucination."

I pat her back awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm here," I assure her.

She pulls back and looks behind me frantically. "Where's Brandon?" she asks. "Is he here with you?"

I shake my head softly. "No, he's not here...what happened? Where'd you go? He misses you, he's devastated."

Tears fall down her face. "I miss him too," she whispers. "My parents are giving me an ultimatum. If I don't stay away from him, they'll disown me."

"Seems like the only way out of this is to elope," I try to lighten the mood.

Lana's eyes light up. "Aurora, that's a great idea!"

I gape at her. "Really?"

She nods vigorously and jumps in delight. "Brandon and I will elope and if my parents decide not to talk to their daughter or son-in-law, then so be it!"

"Woah, woah, wait!" I say. "How old are you and how long have you and Brandon been together?"

"Twenty two and we've been together for a year and a half," she says dreamily.

I bite my lip. "Well...let's go get Brandon then."

♠♠♠

Brandon looks at Lana in surprise. "Princess...are you sure?" he asks hesitantly.

She nods confidently. "I want to do it."

Brandon chuckles and shakes his head. He puts his hand in his pocket and takes out a small box. "Well it's a good thing I already got this, isn't it?"

Lana gasps when he opens the box and a diamond ring stands out. My jaw drops at the large diamond. It must've cost millions.

He scratches the back of his head nervously. "I got this the day before you went to rehab...I wanted to wait until you were okay to do this," he gets down on one knee and looks up at Lana.

I feel Franco hold my hand tightly. I glance at him and smile. I hope Brandon will take this as a gift of gratitude.

I hear Lana scream, "Yes!" Brandon lifts her up and twirls her before dipping her and seal their engagement with a kiss.

Brandon looks at us and comes to me with a smile. "Thank you, Aurora," he says sincerely. "This really means a lot. You're nicer than I thought." He nods to Franco and pats his shoulder. "She's a keeper, man."

Franco nods with a proud smirk and winks at me. "She really is."

"Aurora! Will you be my maid of honor?" Lana asks sweetly.

My eyes widen. "Uh...I don't know..."

"Pretty please!" she begs.

Brandon chuckles and wraps an arm around her waist. "We're planning this pretty quickly. Franco will be my best man. So when do you ladies want to do this?"

"Tomorrow," Lana says seriously.

Franco coughs. "Tomorrow?" He looks at Brandon and I. "Uh...we need to get dressed and a location."

"Vegas," Brandon cuts in. "Everything happens in Vegas."

I make a popping sound, pretending to pop champagne and raise my hands in victory. "We're going to Vegas and getting married!"