Always Be Here

Chap 10

When I went to school the next day, I saw Lauren talking to her friends Troye and Zendaya at lunch time, laughing at Zendaya trying to balance a fry on her nose. Her sister, Dani, was sitting by them too, typing away on her phone. I guess she had just got enrolled this week. I remembered what Normani said. She was in my future. Lauren was... The one. I started to walk over to her, but not before Tori walked right into me with a plate of food, purposely slamming it into my chest.

"Oops. Sorry." She said, the whole cafeteria erupting with laughter. I felt myself getting angry but just turned around and tried to walk to the bathroom. I didn't get too far before I heard someone yell, so I turned to see what was happening.

"Hey!" It was Dani and Lauren, walking up to Tori, who had already sat back down by Demi and Dinah.

"You talkin' to me?" Tori asked her with an attitude, standing up.

"Hell yeah I am. What the fuck is your problem? That was rude as fuck. Apologize." Dani said angrily, stepping right into Tori's face.

"Pfffftttttttttt. And who the fuck are you?" Demi said. The whole cafeteria was quiet. It almost as if everyone had stopped breathing, just to see what was going to transpire. I adjusted my backpack on my back and walked a little closer to Lauren and Dani.

"She's my sister and THAT'S my fucking friend you just poured your tray on. From now on, you leave her the fuck alone, all of you, or you're gonna have to deal with me." Lauren snarled.

"And? Fuck you gone do?" Dinah said, standing up next to Tori. Zendaya had walked up now.

"Don't be salty all ya life Dinah. Lauren don't want you. So just accept it and move the fuck on. Lauren Cim is cuter than you anyway." Zendaya said with a smirk. That earned a few chuckles from some of the other kids.

"What the fuck ever. Fuck y'all and that dork." Dinah said, getting up. The others followed suit.

"Hey!" Dani called after them. Tori turned around, but Dinah and Demi kept walking out of the cafeteria, talking angrily amongst each other.

"Apologize." She said. Tori rolled her eyes and looked at me.

"Sorry, Cim." She said, then ran to catch up with her friends. Everyone went back to what they were doing and I walked up to Lauren, Dani and Zendaya.

"Th-thank you." I said softly. Dani tapped my shoulder and smiled, walking back to the table.

"Don't sweat it Cim. And foreal, you are cuter." Zendaya said and playfully punched me, walking back to the table to mess with Troye. Lauren smiled at me and grabbed my hand, walking me toward the cafeteria doors.

"Come on princess. Lets get you cleaned up before your shirt starts to mold." She joked, making chuckle.

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After school, I walked home with Lauren, Dani, Zendaya and Troye. Zendaya is hilarious, Troye is kind of reserved like me, and Dani is really sarcastic. I think I like them already. After Zendaya ran off home and Troye went to his house, it was just the 3 of us left. Dani made a heart with her hands and ran off toward their house.

"Later lovebirds!" she called after us.

"Later loser!" Lauren called after her little sister, causing Dani to put her middle finger up at her. After doing some thinking about what Normani said about our waiter at the restaurant, it dawned on me. She said he knew about someone who hurt a lot of women. That man was obviously not it, he was too young. But maybe, just maybe Normani knew that he was related to the person who did hurt the women. And her as well. Whatever the case was, he knew something about the way Normani had died and who had done it.

"Hey, Princess. You okay?" Lauren asked me, snapping me from my thoughts. I nodded yes and smiled at her.

"Does this mean you'll be my friend again?" she asked me. I shook my head yes.

"Yeah. For now." I winked at her and her cheeks turned bright red.

"Sounds good to me Princess." She said, grabbing my hand in hers. I may never find out exactly what happened to Mani, as bad as I wanted to. But it was okay. Because I knew that where she was now, she was safe. She was safe and happy and not suffering. She was with her family, even her younger sister now.

"Look, I know I didn't say something sooner. I should've. I should've stopped the bullying a long time ago." Lo said, playing with her fingers, looking down at the ground.

"Its okay Lo. Its not like its your job." I said, smiling at her, patting her shoulder. She looked up at me, her green eyes full of anger. But I knew it wasn't towards me.

"Its everyone's job to stop bullying Princess." She said, a smile creeping on her face. I just nodded and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"Huh?" Lauren asked. I shook my head nothing and looked up. I mouthed the words "I love you" and smiled. And I swear I could hear her say it back.

"I love you too Lauren."

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