beyond the monotonous city

six

Lauren woke up covered in sweat and she shut her eyes, trying to forget what had transpired in her dreams, though it's been the same occurrence for a year now.

She didn't tell her mom because she would worry so she went off to school trying to focus on her academics.

Ms. Campbell handed back their papers and Lauren sighed in relief to see a letter 'A' stamped in front. She felt her teacher's arm pat her shoulder. "Never lost your touch."

She smiled to herself. This was her first test during her senior year and she did well, she knew she had to tell someone. She was proud of herself and there was only one person she could think of, though she had to wait until the end of the day.

During lunch, she decided not to sit alone for once. She was feeling good about herself today and thought she could try her luck.

Some eyes followed her as she stood there holding her tray but she tried not to care. She didn't know these people, and there were always eyes staring at her back then.

Most of the seats were occupied and she didn't seem to find them of interest. She stopped at a table empty except for one tall girl. The tall girl waved to her and asked her to sit down, to her surprise. She followed. The tall girl looked vaguely familiar to her.

"You're my classmate in English class. You're really smart." She smiled, baring almost all her front teeth. "I'm Dinah by the way." She offered her hand which Lauren realized was twice as big as hers, she shook her hand.

Lauren sat opposite the girl and spent the entire time listening as she discovered Dinah was a talker. She discovered the girl was the oldest of seven children in the family, and that she did a lot of singing on the side as it was her hobby. She figured Dinah knew about what happened to her just like everyone in her grade, and school for the matter.

"What do you like to do, Lauren?" Dinah then asked after talking non-stop.

"Uh I exist." Lauren said, not really wanting to make conversations.

"You're funny." Dinah laughed.

"That wasn't supposed to be a joke,"

"Nah I feel like you're funny. You seem very interesting. I'd love to be your friend." Lauren felt touched at the comment, that someone wanted to be her friend. She started to feel better as she spent the rest of lunch listening to Dinah's stories.

When lunch ended, she said goodbye to her new friend. Class was a blur and she remembered grabbing her things when the final bell rang. She made her way into the gymnasium where she knew the cheer practice was at. It was fairly empty apart from the group of cheerleaders doing stunts. She eyed Camila immediately, dressed in her outfit, as she shouted and clapped orders.

She stood there at the sidelines just watching. When Camila was serious, it was like someone else, she was so focused almost like she had a different personality reserved for her sport.

When practice eased, Camila made her way to the benches and Lauren waved at her as she approached.

"Oh hey Lauren!" Camila's serious face turned into a smile.

She waited for Camila to drink in her water bottle before she continued. "I wanted to tell you something. I aced my first test this year."

"Aw, I'm so proud of you Lauren. Knew you could do it!" Camila looked at spoke to her with so much sincerity she suddenly felt choked up.

"You look busy there with practice," Lauren remarked.

Camila looked back and shrugged. "Yeah it's a tough day. Got to make sure my team is top notch."