Empty Gold

3. Dark Paradise (Part 1)

Part one:

The next time it happened, it was Dinah's fault.

They were all having breakfast. Lauren was far too interested in her pancakes, and Camila had been going on for at least ten minutes about how Austin Mahone had actually asked her on a date, like it was some kind of surprise.

Like there was anyone who wouldn't want a date with the prettiest girl in the world, Lauren thought, as she chewed her pancakes with more force than necessary.

She did her best to ignore Camila's excitement, shoveling her breakfast in her mouth at an alarming rate just to make sure she had a good excuse to keep from participating in the conversation, and it wasn't until Camila's revelation about never having been on a date and having no idea what to do or what to expect that Dinah stepped in and broke Lauren's heart.

"Just have Lauser take you on a practice date. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

So of course, Lauren's head shot up at the sound of that, and she just stared at Dinah like a deer in headlights with her cheeks stuffed and syrup dripping out of the corner of her mouth.

"What," Lauren deadpanned, the sound barely intelligible through the pancakes half-chewed between her teeth.

"Lauren Michelle Morgado Jauregui," Ally started, dropping her fork onto the table, "what did I tell you about talking with food in your mouth while we're in a restaurant?"

Lauren's eyes shot to Normani's incredulously as she finished chewing, silently begging her to save her from Dinah's suggestion and Ally's impromptu parenting, but Normani was too busy looking at Ally with wide eyes and her mouth in an 'O' at the small girl's sudden outburst.

"It makes us all look bad," Ally grumbled in defense, when she realized they were all staring at her.

"So what do you say, Ralph?" Dinah clapped her hands together, changing the topic back to her previous suggestion. She seemed awfully proud of herself.

"I say not gonna happen," Lauren snapped back, but immediately regretting it when she saw Camila's eyes fall.

"C'mon Lauser, it's just –"

"It's fine, Lo," Camila interjected, cutting Dinah off. "It's not that big of a deal."

"If it's a big deal to you then it is a big deal, Chancho," Dinah argued. She kept her gaze trained on Lauren, eyes pointed like she was personally offended.

"It's just, like, it wouldn't be the same, you know? Part of what makes a date so exciting is that you don't know what to expect," Lauren tried to cover herself, but she meant what she said (mostly).

"Except that if you were listening, at all, Lauren, you would've heard the part where Austin told her to plan everything. Boys this generation are so lazy, I swear," Dinah replied, shaking her head.

"So why don't you help her plan something for them to do? You'd be much better at it than I would be," Lauren countered, not missing the way her and Dinah were bickering about a practice date for somebody else over breakfast while their friends just stared at them in disbelief. Sometimes she hated the effect Camila had on her.

"Because I have plans with Mani today," Dinah shrugged.

"You do?" Normani cut in.

"Yes, I do," Dinah answered too sharply.

"Wait, you want me to do this today? That gives me, like, no time to plan anything!"

"Well, Lauren," Dinah replied, once again spitting out Lauren's name like a curse word, "since apparently your pancakes were much more important to you than your best friend's needs, I'll say it again. Her date with Austin is tomorrow night. It's now or never," Dinah told her, stealing the last piece of bacon from Lauren's plate. Sometimes she really wanted to strangle that girl.