Remember My Name - Camren

『 Chapter 3 』

Lauren, can we talk now?"

Lauren turned around to only be met with her teammate, Veronica, one of her other closest teammates after Dinah and Normani. Lauren only met Vero after signing herself to her current team, Orlando Pride, and then met the people she'd be with most. Some of the girls had a problem with Lauren, for some reason, and Lauren never understood why. She never missed a practice, dedicates all of her time to soccer, plays her best that she can. Lauren was a team player and communicated with them on the field, but off, neither Lauren or those girls communicated or tried to.

"What's up?" Lauren asked, wondering why the girl stayed behind to talk to her.

"Lauren, you know that I know you. Right?"

"Of course?" Lauren said confused. Not sure where this conversation was going.

"You came to practice earlier completely out of it. You were definitely off your game. You can see some type of conflict in your eyes, even when you were laughing. Somethings wrong, and even if you don't want to talk about it right now, I'm always here for you." Vero placed a friendly hand on Lauren's upper arm, gently squeezing it as a gesture.

"I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind-"

"Nobody is ever fine when they say 'I'm fine'. I'm not going to force it out of you. But its good to talk about your feelings, to get them off your chest."

Veronica smiled softly at the other soccer player. Lauren was a little stunned. Lauren was close to the girl, but not close enough to have girl chats about feelings. She was taken by surprise with this conversation that showed up. Maybe Lauren wasn't as good at hiding her feelings as she thought.

"Thank you, Vero, I appreciate you." Lauren grabbed onto her hand, returning the squeeze to her hand, as Vero did to Lauren's arm.

"Of course. I'll see you later. Take care of yourself for the night." She hugged the taller girl one last time and headed out of the restaurant.

Lauren left the restaurant feeling a little better than when she had entered it. She realized she did have good people in her life, people that consider her feelings. Maybe Lauren should open up, speak what is going on in her head, instead of keeping it bottled up and doing her more harm than good.

Lauren just has had so much past of not being able to share her feelings. People always denied her of her feelings. People always made her feel like her feelings weren't valid, weren't relevant. They made Lauren feel not important. People would always want to talk about themselves, and not Lauren. So, Lauren figured nobody would ever pay attention to her so she kept to herself. Eventually when people saw maybe she had some talent, soccer, then suddenly she was valid as a person. Camila listened to Lauren, she always made sure she was okay, she would sit and listen to every word Lauren had to speak until she was finished. And Camila still wanted to listen to more. That's one thing Lauren loved about Camila. When Camila left, Lauren didn't have that with anyone anymore. Lauren's parents always said they were there for her, but that's just a tales parents say to make them feel like better parents, and for the kids to feel better for themselves. Anytime Lauren tried, they were too busy, or at work, or any other excuse in the book.

Lauren now had people who would sit and listen, but she has been shut down so many times that she feels like a burden any time she speaks about feelings.

Lauren arrived back to the apartment, which felt rather quickly. Her feet lead the way, as her brain didn't even realize she was walking, she was far too gone in thought. Lauren was instantly met with the familiar scent of her warm apartment, feeling somewhat comfortable. She changed out of the now uncomfortable dress, and the God awful shoes that caused blisters and put on an oversized t-shirt. Lauren pulled the duvet back and got into bed. She pulled the blanket over her body and grabbed a book on her side table, reading until complete tiredness took over. Lauren's body falling into a deep and peaceful sleep.