―❝ How do you love somebody? How do you numb the pain so well?
'Cause when you left I lost myself. How do you love somebody else?❞
OR
―❝ It was obvious to everyone but Jeremiah Fisher that Lauryn Carpenter was in love with him. When she gets hurt by...
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(lauryn's outfit for this part of the chapter)
The next morning was dance practice for the deb ball. Lauryn wore a dress that was light pink and sparkly and her hair was styled in a high ponytail. She still hadn't found a escort yet so she was just awkwardly standing there. She did text Conrad good morning though and she had a smile on her face when he replied back.
She was surprised when Nicole suddenly walked over to her and offered to be her dance partner for today. Lauryn would've done this with Belly, but she had asked Cameron to be her escort so she was dancing with him. "Thank you for doing this, you didn't have to." Lauryn smiled a little as she tried to follow Nicole's moves. She was never good dancer.
"It's no problem." Nicole reassured her.
Lauryn was happy Nicole was being nice. She hadn't expected that after the events yesterday. "Hey, I'm curious about something, so, uh, Conrad left me on read last night." Nicole starts. "Have you heard from him at all this morning?"
Lauryn doesn't really know what to say to that. She feels guilty since Conrad had been texting her. She also didn't know if she should lie or not. "I mean, we're good friends, so we have talked a little." She admits, hoping she could avoid telling her that he had texted her good morning. But she didn't want to lie to Nicole. "I don't know why he would leave you on read. I'm sorry. I wish I could help more."
"Oh, it's okay." Nicole reassures her with a sigh. "I was just hoping that maybe you could get through to him better."
"He's very guarded. It's not easy getting him to open up. Trust me, I've tried. And still trying After all these years I'm finally getting him to open up a little." Lauryn chuckled and Nicole chuckled along with her.
As the dance continued, the dance instructor had made the dance sped up and that's when Lauryn was doing worse. She then had accidentally stepped on Nicole's foot and she felt so bad.
Lauryn gasps, her brown eyes full of concern and worry. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"
Nicole grimaces a little, but she didn't let it show. She smiles reassuringly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's fine."
"Are you sure?" Lauryn asks in concern, biting her lower lip. "Really, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I did tell you I'm awful at dancing."
Nicole chuckles a bit at that. "No, it's fine. I'll live. Let's just focus on the dance."
Jeremiah was walking nearby when he noticed this and he couldn't help the smile on his face. He found it a bit amusing and he was glad that Lauryn was having fun. And he knew she needed this after the Fourth of July and with the news about her parents. So he was glad she was smiling again and actually having fun. But he also knew she needed some help with dancing so he walked into the room and went over to them.
"Hey, mind if I step in?" Jeremiah asked Nicole.
"Yes, actually, she's all yours." Nicole replied, letting go of Lauryn's hands.
