Just A Job (Lauren/You)

Chapter 7

It was so dark outside that I couldn't see a thing.

You're on a plane, dumbass. Of course you can't.

I mentally had stupid conversations with myself to help pass the time. The attendant dimmed the lights inside the plane about thirty minutes ago so everyone could doze off. I tried to sleep too but to no avail. Whenever I closed my eyes, memories would play over and over again until I started to feel out of breath. So now here I am, wide awake, with nothing to do. Well, there was one thing to do.

I turned to my right and saw Camila and Lauren sleeping.

The morning before my flight, I found out that I had the same flight as them. Sinu called me through Camila's phone and asked me to ride to the airport with them. I politely declined her offer and assured her that my parents wanted to take me themselves.

Of course, that was a lie.

So I told her I'd just meet the girls at the airport. I was the first one to arrive but after a few minutes, I saw the two families walking towards me. It was so hard to muster the strength to smile when they saw me. I still felt exhausted and spent-like I just ran a hundred fucking marathons. Camila looked awkwardly at me like she didn't know whether to shake my hand, hug me, or ignore my existence. So I made the first move and wrapped her in a hug. I felt her body tense for a second then she slowly relaxed as she hugged me back. She might have hugged me a little bit tighter than what a friend should but it could've been just my imagination.

As I stepped back from Camila, I finally saw her looking at me.

She was looking at me expectantly. I felt my chest tighten when my eyes met hers but unlike before where it tightened because I loved her-now it tightened as the pain in my heart became unbearable. I wanted to step up to her so I did. But then I saw a hand wrap around her shoulders and saw Luis glaring at me. In a normal circumstance, I would've shot him a deadlier glare and watched him back away from fear. But now-I was just tired. So I ignored him.

And Lauren.

When the both of them were finished with their goodbyes, we boarded the plane. Lauren and Camila were seated on the two seats nearest the window while I was on the rightmost side of the middle row. So the only thing separating me from them was an empty space. Once the plane took off, Camila made small talk with me while Lauren sat there silently, reading a book. But once the lights were dimmed, the both of them closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

So now here I was, with no one to talk to and only one thing to do-stare at a sleeping Lauren.

"So who's the lucky girl?"

I looked to my left and saw an old man smiling at me. I looked around and realized that we were probably the only ones still awake.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

He pointed towards the two girls. "Which one's your girl?"

"None of them are."

"Really?" he asked with a look of surprise on his face as if he couldn't believe I wasn't dating one of them.

"Yes. I'm just-their friend. We're just friends," I said as I looked away from him and closed my eyes again. Maybe the memories wouldn't come this time?

"That's bullshit."

My eyes flew open at the old man's words. I'm pretty sure my mouth was wide open in surprise but he just had a knowing look on his face.

"A girl and boy can't be 'just friends'."

I felt my jaw tick as I glared at him, deeply annoyed by his prehistoric thinking. "No rule against it."