publicity stunt ⊸ a lauren/you story

two

"Well, that's that," Dinah yawned as the movie came to a close and the credits rolled down. "You guys want to play a game? It's still early."

Camila snorted, drawing the attention her way and said, "What are we? Five?"

"You are," I quipped with a smirk, earning hardy chuckles and giggles all around. "But anyway, what game?"

Dinah thought for a moment, then raised her pointer finger to the ceiling. "Let's play hide-and-seek! I'll count! Go hide, dimwits!"

We all dispersed, and me being me, my first instinct was to go upstairs to get as far away from her as possible. When I climbed the stairs, there were multiple doors, some of which were the girls' room, and others being guest rooms and closets and such. I opened one of the doors and ran in, hiding in the walk-in closet inside. I looked through the crack and noted the white walls, band posters, and quote above the bed. At first glance, the room was very Tumblr-esque, but it had a homie, personalized feel at the same time.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Dinah shouted, just as the door to the bedroom busted open. However, it wasn't Dinah, and it wasn't long before someone joined me in the dark closet. Though, she didn't see me.

Her giggle filled the enclosed space, and she was breathing somewhat heavily, trying to even it out before Dinah found her.

"Psst."

She jumped, hitting her head on the wall when it shot up. "Who's there?"

"Banana," I chuckled.

"Banana, who?"

"Psst," I repeated, much to her annoyance.

"Who's there?" she said more sternly and agitated.

"Banana."

"Banana, who?!" she whisper-yelled, aware of the possible consequences if she was too loud.

"Psst."

"What the fuck?! Who's there?!"

"Orange," I giggled, covering my mouth to muffle the laughter.

"Fucking- Orange, who?!" she shouted, much, much louder.

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" I laughed again, only louder this time.

"Are you serio—"

"Ha! Gotcha, Lauser! Better be quieter next time," the Polynesian said, slapping her friend atop the head. "You're it next time!"

"That's not fair!" she whined, as if she was actually a five year-old. She crossed her arms and pouted, looking oh-so cute while doing so.

"Aw, is wittle ol' Lauren sad she lost? Boo hoo, suck it up, Buttercup." Dinah walked out, continuing her quest to find the other girls, whilst Lauren grabbed me by my ear and pulled me out into the light to get a clear look at my face.

"Ow! Ow! Take it easy, Lauren!" I whimpered, holding my red ear when she let go.

"You! It was you! You screwed me over!" she shouted angrily, spitting in my face while she ranted.

I took a step back out of fear and the strong desire to get out of the splash zone, then held my hands up in defense, saying, "Calm down, Tiger. It's just hide-and-seek."

"Yeah, well I take my hide-and-seek very seriously," Lauren said with a straight face that soon turned into a smirk. "Oh, and I never invited you into my room, did I?" she teased playfully, strutting out of the room thereafter.

As I shook out of my strange trance, I recuperated and threw myself back into Lauren's closet, not wanting to be spotted. But then it occurred to me: what if Lauren rats me out?

"Oh heck no," I mumbled to myself. Time seemed to fly by, but about 10 minutes later, I heard a stomping that continued to get louder and louder. "I know she hates me and all, and I kinda did make her lose hide-and-seek, but it's only fair if—"

"Found you too! Thought you was sly, didn't you?" Dinah screeched in my ear as Lauren stood behind her with her arms crossed, hip popped and that smirk still plastered on her face.

I stood up and walked over to Lauren, trying to be as intimidating as possible, to which she just scoffed and rolled her eyes with a smile. "You told on me, din' 'cha?!" I huffed, sticking out my jaw to give myself an underbite.

"I did!" she chuckled, pushing my face away with her palm and walking out.

Dinah laughed from behind me and threw an arm over my shoulder, whispering, "She told me to find you because you ruined her chances of becoming 'The Hide-and-Seek Queen.'"

"She's literally five!" I complained, making Dinah laugh again. The tall girl and I walked out together, then split up as I went downstairs to sit on the couch while Dinah continued searching for the rest of the hiders.

Across the room sat Lauren, staring daggers at me from the armchair. She seemed to be reading me—my every thought and planned action.

"Can I help you?" I sneered skeptically, watching Lauren's eyes shift.

She shook her head and chuckled bitterly. "You're useless to me," was all she said before standing up and walking to the kitchen.

I furrowed my eyebrows, but shrugged off the irrelevant comment, assuming it must've been her period talking. I know Lauren is much sweeter than she's played off to be so far. She'll come around eventually—I hope.

"Hey, Y/N," Camila's voice sounded as she sat next to me on he armrest. "How goes it?"

"Well, I was just told I was useless, but other than that, I'd say I'm swell," I jested, earning a small pinch in the arm.

"Who told you that?" she asked me, looking down with a warm smile. She met my eyes that were already staring at her intently and finished, "'Cause you seem far from useless to me."

"Thanks, Cammie," I grinned back, "but I think Lauren thinks otherwise. She absolutely hates me, I'm telling you!"

"She doesn't. I guarantee it," she replied. "But, 'Cammie'? Where'd you come up with that?"

"I'm a Harmonizer, what do you expect?" I giggled, making Camila laugh at the slightest too. "So when do we leave for tour?"

"Soon. Two weeks I think," she answered confidently.

That was until Dinah walked downstairs with Normani and Ally, correcting Camila's small mistake. "Next week, Mila. Next week."

"And I'm gonna be sad when it's over," she pouted. "I think we all are..."

"Why're we thinking about the end when it hasn't even started?" Normani pitched in, sitting on the couch. Dinah took the seat next to her and Ally stayed standing.

Soon enough, Lauren joined us in the room, a bag of chips in one hand and a small can of soda in the other. "What're we talking about?" she asked, popping the Sprite open and taking a sip.

"Tour," we all answered in unison.

It fell silent. I think we were all thinking about how the next few months would play out. At least, that's what I was thinking about. I could either have the time of my life, or get screwed over by Lauren. The thought that she'd somehow warm up to me still wandered in my mind, but the thought that she may not was still there too.

"I'm sure we'll have lots of fun, guys," I spoke up, earning hums and nods of agreement. "We'll just have to hope for the best."

•••

A/N: Lauren's being pretty bipolar towards you, so whatcha gon' do about it?

anyways, if I'm correct, tour ended a few days ago and now I'm sad :(: but das okay, 'cause it was a good run and there's still a few more tours left (I hope)

thanks for reading xx

~yours truly