Jauregui.

twenty one

Author's Note: The girl in the media is how I imagine Averi. I know I said she's a younger Lauren, but I figured to be more realistic, it should be another character.
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Averi's POV
I woke up to silence. Which was strange living in this household. Usually, Normani would be screaming at Dinah to wake up, Ally would be making breakfast while telling them to knock it off, Camila would be helping her or watching TV, and Lauren would be cussing them all out. But not today. Today it was dead quiet. And that's how I knew something had happened last night.
I thought long and hard, but I couldn't remember anything from last night. Sighing, I got up to brush my teeth, when I saw the shirt I was wearing yesterday  on the floor of my room. Instantly, every memory came back.
My head started spinning and I felt sick.
They know.
They know.
They know.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I brushed my teeth and walked out, in fear.
I entered to see Dinah, Normani, and Ally all discussing something quietly, while Camila was asleep on the couch and Lauren was asleep in a sitting position with Camila's head on her lap.
I stared at them for a couple minutes, trying to grasp the reality of what had happened, but a cough broke my thoughts.
"Good morning AJ," Ally said softly and I smiled before looking down, embarrassed of what had happened.
"How are you feeling?" Dinah asked, cautiously and I put two thumbs up before walking into the kitchen to get a cup of water, with their eyes on my every move.
I grabbed the glass, and filled it with ice and water, in pure silence.
Feelings of embarrassment and fear filled the pit of my stomach.
"Why are you guys staring at me?" I yelled, slamming the cup on the marble countertop.
"Don't treat me like I'm broken!" I screamed and ran into my room, in sobs.
Lauren's POV:
Don't treat me like I'm broken!
The terrible memories of last night overflowed my brain, and I jumped up, fixing Camila's head before running to the kitchen, where the three other girls were there, in shock.
"I swear Lo, we didn't do—" Dinah begun.
"I know guys, I told my three friends. I think I'll let her cool down before I go talk to her. I'm so worried about her–and Camz. Did you see her face yesterday?" I truthfully told them.
"Yeah. We have to help AJ and keep Mila healthy," Normani said and we all nodded.
"I don't know what to do now. Do I take her to a treatment facility? Do I take her to a psychiatrist? What do I do?" I asked them, begging for answers.
"What you DON'T do is take her to rehab. That would kill her," a soft voice from the hall said.
We turned to see Camila leaning against the wall. She walked towards us and sat down at the table.
"I'm going to tell you guys something I haven't ever told anyone. When I was 12, I was bullied a lot. You guys know that. What you don't know, is that the bullying was physical and continued onto cyberbullying. I couldn't ever get away. One day, I was eating lunch in the cafeteria, when one of my bullies came up to me, and threw my food at me. Then, she proceeded to punch me, and punched my stomach. She made a comment about how 'jiggly' it was, and her posse pulled me out of the cafeteria to the bathroom and made me take of my top and shorts, and called me fat numerous times. Every time I didn't listen to them, they punched me really hard in the gut. I had no choice. Anyways, they took pictures and sent them to all the students, and I was called fat many times during the day. People would throw weight loss pills and powders at me, and laugh about it. That's when my eating disorder started. Of course, at first it was missing a dinner or lighter meals, but it continued and got really bad. Finally, I recognized how bad it had gotten, and I helped myself get better. And the first full meal I had without feeling guilty was the first night of the live shows," Camila finished and we all looked at her, full of emotions.
I got up first," I'm so fucking proud of you Camz" I told her and pulled her into a hug, everyone else following.
"You did that all by yourself?" Ally said and Camila nodded.
"You have always inspired me, Walz, but now, you will be a symbol that anything is possible," Dinah told her, pulling her into her lap.
"I'm so proud of you Mila, but if you ever have a hard night, please come tell one or all of us. We are here for you" Normani told her and she nodded.
"Thanks guys. I'm fine, I promise. Just last night was unexpected and hit closer to home than I thought. But now let's help Averi," Camila said and we started making ideas for a plan to help our little girl.
About an hour or so later, I got up to check on Averi.
"Guys, I'm gonna go talk to Aves now," I told the four and they nodded at me.
I walked to my daughter's room and opened the door. She had her headphones in and was on her laptop.
"You know, we should really think of moving to my apartment. We're all living in Camz's apartment right now, and it's really not practical. What do you say?" I asked, trying to ease into conversation.
She looked up at me before shrugging.
"We can paint your room and buy you a new bed, and this can be your other room." I continued on the topic, but she just turned back to her laptop screen.
"Babe, can you please look at me?" I asked gently, and she turned towards me.
"I'm not going to ask if you are okay. But, you are going to tell me how you're feeling," I told my ten year old.
We sat in silence for a few minutes before she sighed and shut her laptop, taking out her headphones, and placing her head on my lap.
"I'm mad," She whispered and I nodded, stroking her hair softly.
"At who, babe?" I pushed.
"I'm mad at Ally, DJ, and Mani for treating me like a China doll, I'm mad at the orphanage, I'm mad at the haters, I'm mad at myself, and I'm mad at y—" She stopped, and I took a breath before talking.
"Finish your sentence, honey. You were gonna say "you" or me, right?" I asked her and she looked at her nails.
"It's okay to be mad, Aves. Hell, If I were you, I'd be furious. But sometime, you gotta let that anger go and think of the future. You have the close that door, and start a new one. I know it's hard, but at the end, you will be happy you did it. So let it go, all the pain, anguish, hurt, exhaustion. Close that chapter. Fucking burn that chapter. Open a new one. Start another story." I told her.
"What if there's no more story left to write?" She asked.
"There's always something to write about. It's a matter of how much you are willing to look for it," I told her, and she got up, hugging me.
"I love you Mommy" She whispered.
"I love you so much, baby," I told her.
"I have to go apologize to DJ, Alz, and Manibear. They were just trying to help," She said after she released me from the hug.
Together, we got up, and walked out, where the girls were on their phones.
Immediately, Averi let go of my hand and ran to the three,  pulling them into a hug.
"I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to snap. I love you guys," She told them and they hugged her back.
"We're sorry too. We shouldn't of been staring at you or treating you differently," Ally replied.
"I love you Mini Jauregui," Dinah pulled Averi into her lap.
"I want love too!" Camila pouted and Averi giggled before jumping off Dinah's lap and pulling Camila into a hug.
She whispered something inaudible to her and Camila replied with a kiss to her temple.
Averi stood up and walked up next to me, grabbing my hand again.
"I-I have somet-something to say," Averi begun.
"I want to get better. I don't want to feel this way. I'm closing that chapter in my book, and starting a new one, no matter how hard it'll be to begin," She said looking up at me.
"I'm so fucking proud of you," I whispered in her ear, for the second time today.
One by one, each of the girls stood up, and hugging Averi once more, telling her things of kindness, and as I looked at all my girls together, united as one, I realized that maybe I could do this. And maybe, it will all be better.
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Holy crap. Long time, no see. I'm so sorry, dudes. And i'm sorry for this crappy chapter:(
Summer break is here(: I'm so happy. I'll try to update a lottie.
Next update:
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