A Simple Folded Paper

8

The weekend came. Lauren was definitely not in the mood for anything during those 2 days. Her mother didn't come back nor said anything to the family in general. She just vanished. Lauren didn't even bother to call her, if her mother didn't have the guts to at least say goodbye, it wouldn't be Lauren making that move. 

Hannah was exactly the opposite. While Lauren was not really being affected by the whole situation - or so she thought -, the little one didn't stop crying when she arrived home after school on Friday and when they all sat on the couch and the oldest members explained to her that their mother seemed to not be going back to that house anytime soon.

Lauren spent the 2 days in her bed, with her little sister, watching movies since neither of them was in the mood for anything else. When the younger one fell asleep and it was already the end of the afternoon or night, Lauren would carry the child to her own bed. Not that Lauren didn't enjoy the company and the warmth that her sister provided, but she just liked to have her relaxation moment before falling asleep, a moment where Lauren would write about everything and anything, depressing thoughts or positive messages to herself or just listen to music and reflect on her life.

On Sunday night, Lauren couldn't fall asleep. After a couple of episodes of 2 Broke Girls, Lauren got up from her bed to grab a snack. Once she was in the kitchen and was about to open one of the high pantries, she heard keys entering the locker of the front door and then heavy and stumbling footsteps coming towards the kitchen. "Of course.", she mumbled to herself.

Her suspicious were correct when her father came stumbling into the kitchen with a bottle of Porto wine in hand, his hair disheveled and his clothes crumpled. 

Lauren was not surprised, her father always had the tendency of trying to drown his problems in alcohol. So, Lauren just stood there, her hips resting on the counter while she was drinking a glass of water and eating some crackers. 

Once the man looked around and saw his older daughter just there, he spoke. "What are you doing up so late?". His voice was ragged and sloppy, full of laziness and sleepiness. And a lot of alcohol.

"Couldn't sleep.", Lauren answered, looking at the crackers in her hand, never meeting her dad's gaze.

"You have classes tomorrow.", her dad stated.

"And you have work."

"I don't, actually. Do you really thing I would go out if I had to work on the day after? Who do you think I am? A 16-year-old teenager?", her dad asked, waving his hands in the air to emphasize his perplexity. 

But Lauren just continued to look at the crackers. She counted the chocolate smithereens on one of them. 8, it was the number. "You sure do look like one.", Lauren turned around and opened one of the pantries and grabbed a glass. Then, she filled with water from the faucet and placed it in front of her dad while he was giving her some speech about how she had to respect him no matter what. After that, she opened one of the drawers and grabbed an aspirin. After placing it next to the glass of water on the table, she just got out of the kitchen, ignoring her dad's conversations and the multiple requests for her no to turn her back to him while he was talking.

Once Monday morning came, Lauren was late for school. With all the commotion on the night before, Lauren forgot to set her alarm and woke up at 9. 10 minutes after, she was entering her car and heading to school. This day was being a shitty one already.

15 minutes into the class and the students were dismissed. Lauren changed classes and once the second period was over, the girl made her way to her locker to grab the necessary books for that shitty morning. Once the locker was opened, her mouth hung open.

3 folded papers.

Lauren smiled. She smiled for the first time since Friday, almost 3 days ago. She smiled because even when everything was wrong and falling apart, there was one person who made everything alright for a couple of minutes.

She grabbed carefully de 3 papers and the books she would need. With all of that placed in her arms, she made her way to her next class. 

Mr. Sinoa was late, so Lauren had the time to read the notes who were capable of turning her day upside down. Picking up the bottom paper, she unfolded and read what it said on the inside, the writing being sloppy but not making it too harder for Lauren to comprehend what it said.

I can't imagine my life without you.
And I have a very active imagination,
so I should totally be able to do it.
But I can't.

Lauren's smile grew even wider, her cheeks were tinted in a dark yet soft shade of red. She put down the note and opened the next one with her hands slightly shaking in anxiousness and nervousness, but with excitement at the same time.

You're so sexy,
people 17 and under
aren't even allowed to look at you,
without parental supervision.

Again, she put down the note and opened the next one.

I need you like Cookie Monster need cookies.
Wait...
Does he need cookies to live?
Like, does his species survive only with cookies?
Wait again!
Is he one of many cookie monsters?
Are there more cookie monsters out there?
Oh my god, this changes everything!
But I still need you like the cookie monsters need cookies.

Lauren let out a soft laugh. This person was a god damn dork, a pointless and funny one.

The words got stuck in her head. If they needed her that much, why didn't they just approached her or something? It has been 4 weeks since the first note and Lauren just wanted to meet this person, to actually thank her for everything.

It may seem cliché but the notes were actually the one and only thing that made Lauren happy at that moment of her life. She was actually laughing on a Monday morning, when was the last time that happened? The answer was: more than a year ago.

Mr. Sinoa entered the classroom, interrupting Lauren's thoughts. She scribbled the respective numbers on each note and put them in between the pages of her book. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down her embarrassment. Lauren's cheeks were still hot from the blushing and she was smiling like an idiot.

What she didn't know was that the reason of that, was looking at her from across the classroom.