There For You (Laurmani)

The Trip

Normani Kordei. 18. Black and proud, best friends with her textbooks. "Straight" A student, no infractions, no tardies, no detentions. Constantly stressed. Always has a football player boyfriend with a squeaky clean smile and perfectly cut hair. Prefers a predictable lifestyle. Never been in love. Wasting her life.

Lauren Jauregui. 17 and 3/4ths. Cuban and proud, best friends with Mary Jane. Yes, that Mary Jane. Bisexual, C+ student, 17 infractions, too many tardies to count and the detention hall is her home. Constantly high. Had a boyfriend, now he's in jail. Hops from meaningless sex partners and drug dealers, prefers the go with the flow, seize the day lifestyle. Never been in love. Wasting her life.

Well, let me spoil the ending for you. They both fall in love. And it's the worst thing they could have possibly done.

And now that I'm done being dramatic, let me tell you how this shit went down.

The "trip" actually happened years before the fall, and leaving Normani stumbling for five years afterwards. As Lauren Jauregui placed banana peels on the ground in hopes she'd slip on one (figuratively of course), Normani continued to avoid them, denying her obviously unbalanced emotional state. They are seniors now, but the trip occurred in eighth grade, after Lauren comforted her in a dirty bathroom stall after she caught her date to the school dance kissing another girl. It was her first heartbreak, and also her first time feeling something more than an elementary school crush. Normani gazed at her loving green eyes through her salty tears and her heart stuttered and stopped, and a consuming flame settled in her chest. The feeling was fuzzy and warm and absolutely terrifying. She tripped and she didn't even know it.

Lauren sealed the deal further when she convinced Normani to skip the dance with her, and they went and got ice cream, talking about anything and everything while sitting in an empty diner. It was nostalgic and sweet, and arguably the best night of Normani's life. Lauren was incredibly attractive inside and out, protective and intelligent. When they were in middle school, Lauren would make sure Normani always had a lunch and protected her from bullies who made fun of her for getting good grades. She always had her comfort, her emerald eyes always showed undeniably that she cared, asking about her day and her family at home. And no matter how much Normani tried to deny her attraction towards her, she always found herself ranting and confiding in the younger girl at her lowest points. Lauren was perfect for her, in so many different ways, and she knew that...there was just one big problem.

Normani Kordei did not want to be gay.

* * *

"Normaniiiii. Normaniiiiiiii. Earth to ugly headass." Dinah Jane snapped in front of her, trying to get a zoned out Normani back down to earth. The chocolate skinned teen comes out of her daydream and sits up in her chair, glaring at the blonde who continues to tease her.

"What, were you thinking about Keith's Vienna Sausage of a dick?" Dinah chuckles, leaning back in her chair with a teasing smirk.

"No, I was thinking about what kind of horrible monster would lay your edges like that." Normani snaps back cheekily, gesturing to Dinah's hair, which actually looked good today, but the dancer knew how insecure she was about it.

"I'm pretty sure the real monster is whoever put your eyeliner on today, you look like a raccoon sis." DJ roasts her back, taking a bite out of her food, picking up a sandwich from the lunch table.