you make me sick (for being so perfect)

Forty Three.

"This is so weird," Dinah announces as she stares at the chair that was Ally's, "Lauser, you should've taught her all the wrong stuff so she'd be here with us this year."

Lauren looks up from her book in confusion, not expecting to be addressed. "Who? What are we talking about?"

"Ally," Dinah replies as Camila giggles and starts rubbing circles on Lauren's back. "You should've conveniently taught her the wrong things for her classes last year so she'd still be here."

"You're making it sound like she's dead," Normani laughs. "Her college is ten minutes down the road and we're going to see her at the weekends."

Dinah frowns, but her expression lightens completely when Normani takes hold of her hand and gives it a small squeeze. "Yeah. I guess so. It's still weird though, like an empty hole where she should be."

"Lauren and Mani could've been gone too." Camila points out. "We still have two of our responsible adults."

"Look, I still swear that my second grade teacher hated me. Like, who even needs the second grade anyway?" Normani rolls her eyes. "Not my fault she held me back for no reason."

"Actually, you did miss like two months of school." Dinah argues, turning to Camila to explain. "She got pneumonia in second grade and her teacher held her back. That's why she's with us."

"Again, not my fault." Normani argues, "I blame my immune system and my evil teacher."

"Our teacher wasn't evil," Dinah counters, "if she really hated you, she would've moved you up to seventh grade so you'd be out of that school completely. She'd hardly keep you for another year."

Lauren looks up from her book. "She could've at least given her a chance to catch up on all the missed stuff. But then you'd be somewhere at college instead of here with us, and I'd miss you. So I'm glad your teacher held you back."

"I wouldn't have met you guys." Normani points out. "And that'd be like hell. So I guess it was okay. I still hold a grudge though."

As Dinah and Normani continue to bicker, Camila turns to Lauren, who is incredibly invested in the novel she's reading – Stephen King's It. "I'm glad you started school a year late, babe. I wouldn't want my girlfriend to be off at college somewhere without me."

Lauren hums in response. "Yes."

"Sociable," Camila comments, raising her eyebrows at Lauren's one word response, "but I guess you're too busy reading to pay attention to me."

Lauren frowns to herself and seems to remember something, closing her book quickly. "You said we'd go to the counsellor today. We can go at lunchtime."

Camila lets out a reluctant sigh, because she'd kind of hoped Lauren would forget about that. "Do we have to? Nothing has happened since the... incident, so I think it's safe to say I'm okay."

"No, we're going," Lauren is quick to reply, "and you can't convince me not to, because I know you're going to try by kissing me and telling me nice things, but it won't work this time. Because I'm not going to be a pushover with this. It's serious."

"Fine," Camila rolls her eyes, "we'll go at lunch. Anyway, what do you think is going on with Norminah? We know they went on their date, but they haven't specified any changes to their relationship. Do you think they're together?"

Lauren closes her eyes, tapping on her leg. "They are holding hands. Maybe they're not girlfriends yet. Maybe they're just dating friends."

"Ah, dating friends. Forgot about that crucial point in a relationship." Camila sends her girlfriend a teasing smile, but when Lauren opens her eyes and doesn't smile back, Camila's look changes to one of concern. "Are you okay?"