The Inevitable

Chapter 17

Dinah winked at her friend, then continued organizing.

"Ally, baby, open your eyes."

She did, a small smile forming on her face at the word "baby".

"Let me see it." She reached for her wrist, and the smaller girl pulled away.

"No, it hurts." 

"Ally, just move you're hand, we're trying to help you." Lauren said gently. 

The younger girl's wrist was swollen, and beginning to turn a light shade of purple.

Lauren sighed. "We have to get her to the hospital."

"Mani, Dinah!" Camila called from in front of Drew and his friends who were already starting to look a little sheepish. "We're leaving: now."

Normani sighed and wished everyone wasn't staring at her so she could give Ally a kiss on the cheek and tell her that she was going to be okay. "Call me on Ally's phone when you get the details, okay?" She whispered to Lauren who nodded. She spoke at normal volume to Ally as she stood up from her spot on the ground: "Keep that elevated, okay?" The smaller girl nodded and gave her a half-smile.

Dinah carefully placed the neat stack of books next to the two girls still on the floor. "Thanks, Dinah." Ally managed. The taller girl smiled sincerely and joined Camila and Normani with the guys. Lauren helped Ally up and grabbed all of their stuff.

"Do it!" Camila snapped at Drew in a hushed tone.

He cleared his throat and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, Ally? I-I'm really sorry. I didn't actually think you would get hurt." Both of the scholarship girls stayed silent. "I-If you want me to pay for anything I totally will I just...need to know..."

Lauren slit her eyes a little, trying to make sure that he was being honest. None of his friends laughed or even looked at each other. They seemed to be truly sorry. "We'll see."

~~

"Broken?"

"Fractured. But yes, it's broken."

"What's the difference?"

"It's not a clean break, and its relatively small." Lauren explained. She and Camila were sitting in the back of a local coffee shop. They took up the entire couch with all of the papers and worksheets that they were paying no attention to. They could clearly see every person that walked in the shop, and they were rating their outfits from 1-10 as well as talking about pretty much everything that wasn't related to chemistry.

"Ugh," The smaller girl made a sound of disgust. "That is a two."

Lauren wasn't big on fashion, but the long, yellow maxi skirt and brown, ruffled top the middle-aged woman was wearing reminded her of a toilet. So, that's what she told Camila.

She threw her head back and laughed, the beautiful and mesmerizing sound making Lauren giggle a little as well. Camila immediately covered her mouth when she realized how loud she was, and the look she gave Lauren made the taller girl laugh even harder. With her wide brown eyes and childlike expression on her face, she reminded the younger girl of Bambi. But she didn't tell her that.

"Don't you need help with this stuff?" Lauren motioned to the papers they were practically drowning in.

"Nope." Her grin was smug, which made the other girl suspicious.

"What do you mean 'nope'?"

"I've been studying since you left on Saturday. My mom gave me a practice test yesterday and I passed, so she told me I could take a break with the studying."