Pretty Brown Eyes (Laurmani)

VII

The ebony girl stared at Lauren for as long as the seconds went by in silence. She wasn't one who liked to keep secrets but this one would cost her her life.

Gaining the courage to find her voice again, Normani immediately shook her head to turn down the question, "I don't want to talk about it."

The Cuban girl snickered and gently grabbed Normani's hand in hers and looked in her eyes, "I'll let you off this time but later on, you know I'm gonna find out."

The dark girl nodded her head and proceeded to head out the door, not knowing she had her hand intertwined with Lauren's. She ended up pulling her friend with her downstairs to where everyone else was. But Lauren had no complaints.

Reaching back to the dinner table, both of the girls sat back in their original places. The table seemed awfully quiet though and Lauren hated the awkwardness.

Her dad nor Jim were trying to make conversation and this was their business dinner. Sighing, the Latina girl finished eating her food and got up from the table.

Her mom gave her a puzzling look, "You going somewhere?"

Lauren was already moving, "Yeah. Outside," She said as she opened the front door to walk out the building.

"Finally, some good fresh air," The green eyed girl mumbled as she sat down on the footsteps of the house.

All she could hear is her steady breathing, well, until her friend showed up. "Want some company?" That mellow voice she loves to hear, asked.

Lauren immediately nodded her head and the dark girl sat besides her. They weren't talking for a couple minutes until the front door open again.

When they turned to look, all the children were walking out the door. Lauren squinted her eyebrows, "Chris, why are y'all out here?"

Her brother shrugged his shoulder as he sat down on the other footsteps, "Jones wanted us to have bonding time while they discuss business I guess."

Normani looked and her step siblings were all on their phones, not even bothering to be apart of the conversation. So, she had a plan.

The ebony girl looked at Lauren and her siblings, "There's a playground that Mrs. Jones had finished right around here. You guys wanna see?"

That was enough for Chris and Taylor's attention, "I get to feel like a kid again!" Lauren younger sister said happily.

Normani smiled as she pulled Lauren up to walk to the playground.

~

Chris and Taylor couldn't get enough of the automatic slides. Let's not talk about the merry-go-round. That was entertaining to watch all together.

Lauren and Normani were some ways off on the swings, just making small talk. Lauren still couldn't get over how good her friend looked. Like damn.

"You were saying something Lauren?" Normani asked as she swung back and forth on the swing.

Lauren shook her head, "It's not nothing but I do have a question." She said looking at her friend.

The brown eyed teenager stopped her swinging, "I told you I don't want to talk about it Lauren," Normani said in a monotone voice.

"I know but answer this for me," Lauren asked, looking in Normani's eyes, "Are you happy here?"

Normani was looking back at Lauren and all Lauren could see was the sadness in her eyes. It's like the same time she saw her eyes in school. Nothing but sadness and emptiness.