Facade (Laurmani)

three

"Morning Lauren." "Hi." Lauren mumbled, her mind elsewhere. "What's wrong Laur?" Camila nudged Lauren when she came to her locker. "My Mom's trying to fight for custody of Taylor and I." Lauren whispered, still in shock. "Oh my god. How did you find this out?" "It's complicated." "Are you okay?" "What do you think?" Lauren snapped, making Camila flinch. "I'm sorry, I-" "It's fine, I get it." "We'd better get to Homeroom." "Heyyyy, Lauren Jauregui, just the girl I was looking for." Dinah wrapped an arm over her shoulder. "Dinah this isn't the time." Camila warned her. "I'll be super quick." Dinah reassured Camila. "My friend Normani, she likes you." Lauren looked up at the girl curiously. "We'll see you at lunch later so you two can talk." Lauren gave a small smile and nodded. "Okay." "Are you sure you're up to meeting someone new today?" Camila asked, full of concern. "Not even a little bit." Lauren mumbled, rubbing her eyes frustratedly. "I'll be with you, if you feel uncomfortable I'll make up an excuse for us to go." "Thanks Camz." "Sure thing." "I just want today to end and it's barely stared." Camila rubbed the girl's arm and have her a small, warm smile. "C'mon, just focus on school and try and forget about stupid life for a change." Lauren sighed and nodded, entering the room after Camila and smiling as if it were real as can be. She cast her eyes over to Dinah who smiled and winked, probably referring to her friend "liking" her. Lauren gave Dinah an awkward wave and sat at her desk, waiting for their teacher to begin the register. The first few lessons passed by quickly, but too slowly for Lauren's liking. "Hey. You ready for this lunch?" Camila asked out of nowhere, making Lauren jump at her sudden appearance. "Sorry, did I scare you?" "Little bit!" Lauren laughed breathlessly. "And no, not really. I thought I wanted today to go quickly, but now I wish it would slow down." "Well, maybe she's nice." Camila said as they walked to the cafeteria. "I hope so." Lauren said. The pair got their lunches and scanned the crowd of people and various tables. Camila pointed to a table in the corner. "There's Dinah over there." "Is it too late to run away?" Lauren asked, only half joking. On cue, Dinah noticed and waved them over. "Yup. Let's go." Camila said, leading the way. "Hi guys." "Hey Dinah." "Hey." Lauren said. "So where's this friend of yours?" Lauren sparked conversation. "She's just getting her lunch-oh, there she is! Hi Manz." Normani smiled and sat at the table before her eyes widened and she put her tray down and pulled Dinah up and away from the two girls. "You never warned me about this!" "You wanted me to talk to her right?" "Yes but this is so fast!" "It's lunch at school Mani, not a date. Calm down. She won't bite you." Normani took a deep breath. "That's right, just breathe, count to three, and then come eat with us. I'll be there right next to you. You have nothing to worry about." Normani took a deep breath, counted to three, and followed Dinah back to the table. "Oh! You're the girl who bumped into me yesterday!" Camila realised. "Yeah, sorry about that.." Normani blushed. "It's okay. It's forgotten." "What's your name?" Lauren asked. "N-Normani, what are your names?" Lauren couldn't help but giggle at her nervousness, her mood was slightly lifted by this interaction after all. "Lauren, and this is Camila." "Hi." "Hi Camila." Normani turned back to Lauren and gazed into her eyes. "H-Hi." "Hello." Lauren smirked. Normani seemed entranced by the girl making Dinah groan. "Oh boy." "She's got it bad." Camila laughed. "But they'd be cute right?" Dinah said, meaning Normani and Lauren as a couple. "Agreed. We gotta make it happen." Lauren ate a forkful of pasta and looked at Camila and Dinah questionably. "What're you guys talking about?" "Nothing." They said in unison. "Okay, it was cute at first Normani, but your staring..I mean it's kinda uncomfortable now." Normani shook herself out of her daze. "Fuck I'm sorry, I totally zoned out." Lauren's phone rang and she picked it up to see who was calling, her eyes became a mix of emotions when she saw the caller ID. Mom. She hung up immediately. "I gotta..I need to go. I'm sorry." Camila peered over and her eyes widened. "Lauren wait-" "I'm sorry." Lauren ran into the crowd and out the cafeteria before anyone could figure out where she had gone to. "Is she okay?" Dinah asked worriedly. "Um, yeah." "Was that my fault?" Normani asked sadly. "No, no of course not. She's just, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'd better find her." "Of course, go." Dinah said quickly. "Tell her it was nice to meet her." Normani threw in as Camila got up. "I will." Camila ran down the corridor, thinking of where Lauren might be. Maybe the toilets. "Lauren? Lauren are you in here?" Camila went into the girls toilets hoping to find her best friend. "I can't-I can't breathe." Lauren panted as her hands gripped the white sink. "What's wrong? What happened? Did your Mom call back?" "N-No my D-Dad." "Well what did he say?" "Taylor's gone! She's taken Taylor!" Camila's eyes went wide. "Shit."