The Materialists | Book 1 + 2 ✔

18 | The Game Of Life

Laura felt...ashamed. If her own mother thought she looked hideous, she couldn't imagine what her friends would've thought. What Ben would've thought.

Changing into the new outfit, Laura didn't feel excited, grownup, and proud anymore. Instead, she felt pathetic, her mother still picking out her clothes since she didn't know how to pair an outfit to save her life. At least Ben would think she looked pretty, at least mother would think she looked pretty. Laura slouched downstairs, and mother gave her a different, approving look, as they left the house.

At 6:09, Mrs. Strathen dropped Laura off outside the pizza place and gave her a tight smile before driving away. Hurrying inside to avoid the large raindrops, Laura took off her hood and looked around for a familiar brunette, redhead, and blonde. She didn't see them. Texting Kim's iPod, asking if they were all there yet, Laura sat on the waiting benches inside and stared blankly at the wall. The pizza place was very small and open, so she wouldn't spot the 3 of them very easily. And considering the fact Laura herself was late, she would've thought they'd be here already.

After 5 minutes, Kim hadn't responded yet. So Laura texted Taylor.

After 10 minutes, Kim and Taylor hadn't responded. So next she texted Ben.

After 25 minutes, and no replies from anyway, Laura sighed and opened snapchat. All the kids in her grades wouldn't shut up about the app so she downloaded it on her 13th birthday to figure out what all the hype was about. The app wasn't anything special, but somehow still quite addictive. Clicking through stories, she stopped when coming across a certain person's story.

Kim's.

And there they were, Taylor, Kim, and Ben all smiling in a silly selfie at Kim's house.

Without her.

She asked her mother to take her home, and she screamed at Laura through texts before finally obliging and driving the 10 minutes back to pick her up. Mrs. Strathen didn't talk during the car ride, and Laura struggled to keep the tears from falling out. The minute they pulled up to the mansion, Mrs. Strathen walked her daughter to the living room and sat her down on the couch, taking a seat next to her.

"What happened, Laurene?" She asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear.

Laura shrugged it off. "Nothing," She said, but the sniffle managed to convince her mother otherwise.

"Laurene, answer me honestly."

"They didn't show up. They were at Kim's house instead," Laura replied, keeping her head down, too embarrassed to face her mother. "They lied to me."

Mrs. Strathen didn't say anything at first, but she sighed, taking her daughter's hands into her own, giving them a little squeeze. "Laurene, since you are now a teenager, I feel like it's only proper of me to give you this talk."

And that's how it began. The lights dim in the living room, the only sounds coming from Mr. Strathen's piano room where he played beautifully sad music. Mrs. Strathen had dreaded this talk, but from her own personal experience, she felt it would only be right to inform her daughter of the cruel world the Strathen family was from. Their family fell apart piece by piece by tradition and the only thing keeping it together was a simple hope that the next generation would be better. Mrs. Strathen's parents failed her, she wouldn't fail her own daughter. No, Laurene would be the one to make a change in the legacy and not have a completely psycho family.

Or so she hoped.

"Laurene, people are going to use you."

"Use me?"

"Yes, use you. Use you for entertainment, for a good laugh, for their own purposes and there isn't one person in this world that will look at you and not think of all the advantages you may give them. That's just the place we come from and there is nothing you can do to change."

"I...I don't understand."

"Don't let people use you, Laurene. Don't let them walk all over you. You will be better, stronger, smarter. You will and have to be the best there is. Because if you are not, no one will fear you. And fear is the strongest emotion there is. What I'm trying to say, is keep your head up, keep your mouth quiet, and keep your brain smart. Stop showing your emotions, displaying them across your face like an open book. You're stronger than that Laurene."

"Mother-."

"Ah-ah-ah, let me finish. When you enter that school Monday, you are going to make Kim, Taylor, and Ben regret that they ever hurt you. You will do whatever it takes to make them guilty. Life is a game, Laurene. Play it to your advantage. Be the one using them."

"How will I do that?"

"You will find a way. I believe you will. But as time grows, you will learn quickly what I mean. Everything will go to accordingly plan, your plan if you think of everyone as a game piece. Play it to your advantage."

Laurene was still confused, but her mother was right. Within the next year, she knew exactly what her mother meant. And she followed what Mrs. Strathen said to heart. 

High school wasn't a game, love wasn't a game, people weren't a game, life itself was a materialistic game. It took whatever you could give, and if you couldn't give enough, you wouldn't be enough. But then again, Laurene herself was always quite attracted to the wealthier things in life.

Song Of The Chapter:

I re-created the outfit Laura picked herself for a better vision of it tehe: