Broken Home Bar

:: 5 :: L A U R E N :: 5 ::

Lauren was sure that school would be a safe haven for her. Her home was hostile now, and Lauren spent as much time as possible away from that place. Alas, Lauren's initial assumptions are wrong. School is not a safe haven for her.

Her 'friends' have abandoned her and have begun harassing her. Her parents yell at her more with each passing day. God, if only she had kept her mouth shut for once in her damn life, maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't be like this.

But of course, Lauren just had to have opened up her big mouth and come out to her family and close friends. Big mistake. Now-

Lauren's inner self-reprimands are quieted by the voice of the teacher.

"Lauren, please continue where Wesley left off. Paragraph three on page 173" her science teacher reminds her. Snickers fill the classroom, and Lauren looks down at her book, face flushed in embarrassment.

She finds the paragraph and begins to read, stumbling over words every few sentences. She finishes and waits for the bell to ring. It's her last period, she can't wait to leave the school. The 45 minutes she has on the buses before she gets home is one of the best times of her day.

Soon enough, the bell rings, and Lauren is the last person out of her classroom. She makes her way downstairs and out to where the busses are parked. Once on bus 34, the one she always takes, she pulls out her phone and her earbuds. Into her ears they go, and the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman is soon playing.

After ten to fifteen minutes, she's at transfer. Lauren makes her way through the crowd of people, across the lot, and to the bus that will take her home, bus 42.

She steps off of the bus, dread filling her stomach. Her sister is at cross country practice, her brother at soccer, and her parents are still working. It's Lauren all by herself. Even alone, the house is toxic, suffocating. An hour of solace does nothing to replace a summer of screams, tension, and thrown objects.

"Y'know what?" Lauren says into the silent house. "Fuck it. I'm here alone, I've wanted to do this forever, I'm going to do it." She turns and races upstairs to her room. Inside, there's a small wooden box pained purple and black. She grabs the box, sitting down on the floor and opening it. Inside is two years of saved money, a slip of paper at the very bottom of the box reading "for when you're ready".

Lauren smiles sadly. Her Nana had given her the box and $50 for her birthday two years ago, when she was 13. Lauren can still remember the conversation she and her Nana had weeks before her birthday.

"Lauren, why don't we have a chat?"

"What is it Nana?" The elderly lady never failed to make Lauren happy.

"Who's the lucky lady?" Her Nana asked with a smile.

"W-what?" Lauren had asked, not believing what she was hearing.

"I may be 87, but I'm not blind, love. I did my fair share of skirt-chasing back in the day. So who's the lucky girl that's caught your eye?"

14-year-old Lauren blushed, she couldn't believe that her Nana had figured out her secret. She kept silent though, afraid of her parents' view on people like her.

"It's okay darling, you can trust me. That granddaughter of mine, your momma, might not appreciate the finer parts of other women, but your Nana here can. I can tell from a mile away that a little lady has caught your eye. Now tell me all about it, I can be our little secret."

Lauren had told her great-grandmother everything. What she wasn't expecting was for her Nana to tell her stories in return. She did not need to know about her bisexual great-grandma's female adventures. It was her Nana who encouraged her to be herself. Her Nana was the reason why she now has just over $400 saved in this little box.

"When you're comfortable with who you are, you're going to want to change things Laura." Her Nana had explained after Lauren had asked her about the box. "This box is going to help you. Those $50 are your starting point. Save up until you feel ready."

Lauren's Nana is gone now, died last March from respiratory failure. It crushed Lauren, she didn't talk for a month. She cried often. She became depressed and even suicidal with grief. She scared herself, especially beachside she didn't know why. Yes, she was close to her Nana, yes she loved her, but even Lauren had to admit, the emotional and mental reaction she had, looking back on it, was extreme.
Her parents forced her to go to therapy. She still visits the therapist once a week, though the reasons are different now.

Lauren shakes her head to clear her thoughts. She puts the box back, closing it.

Not today. She thinks to herself. Some day soon, but not today. Instead, Lauren walks back downstairs, grabs her backpack, walks back upstairs, and does her homework.

She's not going to change anything today. The last time she changed something, it all went to shit. It's better for her to stay under her parents' radar for now.

A/N: 895 words. I feel so shit about this chapter you guys don't even know. I just wanted to get Lauren introduced. Future chapters will be better, I promise.