Facade (Laurmani)

eight

"Daddy!" "Papi!" The two Jauregui girls threw their arms around their father as soon as he walked through the door. "Hey munchkins. I've missed you. How are you doing?" Lauren just snuggled into his body and closed her eyes. "Daddy will you play with me?" "Of course I will honey. Go find your toys and bring them out here while I talk to your sister." Taylor nodded excitedly and rushed to their room. "Are you okay Lolo?" "I just miss you so much. Everything feels so out of place. I don't like it." "I know honey. I miss you too, and I'm doing everything I can to get you back." "Why is it taking so long?" "I-" "Daddy!" Taylor ran up to the man with crayons and white card. "Lauren will you draw with us, pretty please?" Lauren smiled and wiped her eyes. "Later little one. I have to go to school." Taylor simply huffed and grabbed a crayon. "Dad will you still be here when I'm back?" Micheal nodded. "I'm here 'till lights out baby." Lauren kissed his cheek and then Taylor's nose. "Love you guys, see you later." Lauren decided to walk to school that day. The weather was nice and she just needed some air. "Lauren!" Lauren turned her head to see Normani jogging over to her from the other side of the road. "Hi Normani." "I've never seen you walk this way before." "What can I say, I guess I blend in." "Hardly. So, are you okay?" "Yeah, fine." "I'm sorry I didn't call. My phone got taken away cause I got home late. I really wanted to though. I was gonna call you later." Lauren smiled sweetly. "Mani, it's okay." The girl sighed with relief. "So uh, the weather's nice today." Lauren groaned. "No, no, we're not doing that." Normani looked down at the floor. "Can we hang out later?" "I'm busy. How about tomorrow?" "Stupid family dinner. Are you free this weekend then?" Lauren hesitated with her response as she thought about Taylor, she'll be fine for an hour. She's usually okay when she's at school. "Uh, yeah. I can be free." "Awesome. How's Saturday? Starbucks round the corner from school at 11?" "Sounds good." Lauren agreed as they walked into the school. "Lauren!" Lauren smiled when she saw Camila with a wide smile on her face. "See you Saturday." Normani grinned. "See you Saturday." "Hey Camz." Camila hugged the girl tightly. "How're you doing?" "I'm okay. It sucks though cause my Dad's visiting but I'm here." Camila frowned. "So? Why don't you just ski-" "Good morning girls. See you in Biology next period." Lauren gestured at the teacher who was now walking away. "Cause 99% of the time that happens." "Anyway, you and Mani walked to school together." Lauren chuckled lightly. "I decided to walk to school and she ran over like she'd been starved for a week and I was a plate of chicken wings." "But, you're not.." "I know that!" Lauren exclaimed. "Hey chicas." Dinah joined them as they walked into Homeroom. "Hi Dinah." "I heard you and Mani are meeting up this Saturday." "Lauren! You never told me that!" Camila gasped. "It's not a big deal." "It is to Mani. She came up to me like a bouncy ball." Dinah told Lauren. "Jeez. What is it with the metaphors today?" Camila muttered. "It's just Starbucks. It's a causal coffee." "Starbucks tend to be first dates Lo." Camila said pointedly. "Oh man." "But you said you think she's cute." Camila reminded her best friend. "Yeah and she is, and I want to explore us soon. But I just can't invest myself into a new relationship with everything going on right now." "Why not? She might be good for you, support wise." "What do you mean by that? What's going on?" Dinah asked. "Camila shut up." Lauren scolded her. "She's a nice girl Lauren, what's the worst that could happen? A peck on the lips?" Camila shrugged. "Look, I do like her. But I'm just not ready for a relationship, and what if that's what she wants?" "I know my best friend." Dinah started. "Just explain your situation, I don't know what it is but I do know that she'll work something out between you two." "You think?" Lauren asked warily. "Yeah." "So you wanna give her and you a try?" Camila asked excitedly. Lauren shrugged. "We'll just see what happens Saturday."