It's been a month. Or if you're one of those people, it's been four weeks.
"Jaureguis are coming over today." I crossed my arms, covering my mouth when I yawned shortly. I looked at my mother tiredly, wondering when she was going to get to the point. We had to clean; we always have to clean when people come over."Which means, I want this whole house spotless."
"Are they sleeping over or something?" Geoffrey spoke up, asking rhetorically, which made Camila elbow him. You never want to say something stupid in front of my mom when it comes to times like this.
It's Thanksgiving, which is why the Jaureguis are coming over in the first place. Clara had told my mother that they couldn't afford to visit their family because they had used all their money up on the cruise they had just came back from. So, my mom, being the kind woman she is, decided to invite the Jaureguis over.
Here's the thing though, as a family, we never really had a Thanksgiving dinner before. And it's not because we aren't grateful for anything, we just never really did it. I remember asking my mom what we were going to do for Thanksgiving, if we were having anyone over, but she said no. That she would just cook dinner and it would be a normal dinner.
Apparently my uncle does the same, because he came over to watch the soccer game once the day after and I overheard him say,"Why does everyone sit down at their dinner table and act like they're grateful for what they are grateful for?" He was a little drunk, like he always is whenever he sees his team losing."If they were really grateful, they would say they are grateful for it everyday, not just on Thanksgiving."
And in his drunk state, it sorta made sense. If you're grateful for what you say you're grateful for, then why are you only grateful for it on Thanksgiving. But hey, this is just me, and apparently my family too, so I don't judge what others do on Thanksgiving. If you want to tell everyone what you're grateful for on Thanksgiving, go for it.
"They should be here in four hours. So get to cleaning." My mom clapped her hands, then used hand gestures for us to go on. I stood up from the couch, making my way to grab the vacuum; knowing well that it's my job to vacuum.
I took my headphones out of my pocket, quickly plugged them into my phone and let myself get into a mood I didn't want to be my playing sad songs.
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M
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"'Sup."
I glanced at him, nodding shortly as I responded with a "sup" back before continuing to play the game on my phone. He let out a sigh, making me glance at him for a second before going back to my game. He let out another sigh, and I glanced at him again. I knew what was happening, I just didn't want to do what he was expecting me to do. I'm not one to ask if something is wrong, because I'm not one to give good advice or comfort. It's awkward, for me at least.
When he let out another sigh, I looked away from my game and looked around the living room. We were alone. Which left me having to ask him what was wrong. I let out a sigh myself, glancing at him as I held back a groan. It's not that I didn't want to ask, it's just that I didn't care. Which seems rude, like really rude, but it's the way I am.
But Chris is a nice dude, and I don't want him to think I'm rude.
"What's up with you, Chris?"
He let out another sigh, and I rolled my eyes from how dramatic he sounded. He then spoke up, but he sounded seriously upset about this."Lauren and her little boy are annoying as hell." I raised my eyebrow, catching him point over his shoulder. I turned my head, finding Lauren and that fucking asshole at the kitchen, too close to each other.
When the fuck did he get here?
"On the cruise they were like that, but ten times annoying." I looked at him, watching him cross his arms, letting out a huff. I hummed quietly, finding it weird; because this whole time I thought Chris liked Leonard. They always hung out, so chill, playing video games. Maybe he just did it for his sister.
I hummed, nodding my head to let him know I'm listening.
"He's an asshole." A quiet chuckle escaped my lips, and he glanced at me before he continued."You should see the way she treats her, and speaks to her." He shook his head, a frown on his lips. I mentally awed, he's such a sweet brother."I can't do anything about it, she doesn't listen..."
"You're telling me." I muttered quietly, sighing in relief when he didn't hear me.
"And my parents won't say anything either, because they know she'll only want to be with him more if she knows they don't approve." I hummed again, letting him knowing I was still listening. I then shrugged, which caught his attention."What?"
I shrugged again."Camila did the same. She wanted to date her ex, Austin, even more when she found out my mom hated the idea of them together." He raised his eyebrow."But you know, eventually Camila realized how toxic it was. She was leaving us behind, she would stop eating dinner with us, cancel plans we had made weeks before just for the asshole."
"How long did it take for her to realize?" He asked, a little hope in his eyes.
"Well," I counted my fingers, counting the years they dated secretly then the years they dated publicly. I hummed in acknowledgement."Three years." I nodded.
His jaw dropped."What?" I nodded to let him know he heard correctly."Lauren and Leonard have only been dating for almost a year."
I shrugged my shoulders,"Patience is a virtue?" I tried, unsure if that's how the saying goes.
He groaned quietly, laying back on the couch as he said,"My sister's going to marry an asshole."
I furrowed my eyebrows, but before I could ask him what he was talking about, I heard Camila's voice.
"Alright, children..."
"We're only a couple years younger than you." Lauren's voice was heard after, that's when I turned my head to find her walking in with Camila and Leonard. I turned my head back around, letting out a sigh as I stood up.
"No! Sit down." Camila yelled, her finger pointing downwards to show what she wanted me to do. I slowly sat back down in my seat, my eyebrows furrowed as I looked at her weirdly."No one is getting out of this."
Kenny took a seat beside me, a sigh escaping his lips, making me look at him. I elbowed his gently, whispering while Camila ranted on about us having to bond someway."What's she doing?"
"Something about you and Lauren being distant, and not liking that her best friend and sister are like that." He shrugged, resting his elbow on the edge of the couch. I looked back at Camila, who was actually lecturing Lauren right now.
"...no way you're getting out of this, missy." Lauren glared at her, swatting Camila's finger away. Everyone knows how much Lauren hates when people point at her.
"Come on, babe. This will be fun." Leonard spoke up, a stupid smile on his face.
I rolled my eyes, turning my head and found Kenny already looking at me. His eyebrow was quirked, and I understood what he was going to say because I was going to say the same. So together, we said, a little too loudly,"Babe."
We turned our heads back to find everyone looking at us. Chris has an amused smile on his lips, Lauren was glaring at me,(only me), Camila was shaking her head at Kenny and Leonard; that asshole was wearing a smirk.
"He's going to piss me off one day, and that day I'm going to be on my period and I won't have any control...." I muttered, glaring at the boy, making sure he knows that I don't like him. I make it obvious, so it would be so shocking if he doesn't know.
"Okay!" Camila clapped her hands together, breaking us from killing each other mentally. She ran out of the living room, then came back with an empty soda bottle and placed it on top of the coffee table; right in the middle."So, this game is called Five Minutes In The Guest Room..."
"What kind of game-"
"Shut your face, Kenny." Camila cut him off, glaring at him shortly before sending him a sweet smile."I mean, love you, baby."
I snorted, earning a glare from my older sister. I slouched down where I was seated, hating that my brother was at work right now. How does he manage to get his boss to call him in? Stupid jerk was smiling as he tried to act disappointed that he was called in to work. To be fair though, I'd do anything to get out of this Thanksgiving dinner because Leonard would not shut up.
"Okay. So the game is simple..."
It actually is simple. It's like spin the bottle. Except, instead of kissing, the two people that the bottle cap lands on have to go into the guest bedroom and spend five minutes there together. They have to share at least one thing about each other that no one else knows or they can't come out yet. It wad confusing, but Chris dumbed it down for me.
"Five minutes is enough for me." I heard Leonard say, smirking as he looked at the side of Lauren's face. I let out a breath, calming myself down before I did something stupid.
"You guys ready?" Camila asked excitedly.
We all mumbled okays, knowing that we weren't going to get out of this. So Camila then clapped her hands happily, before reaching forward to spin the bottle. I tapped my foot, watching the bottle spin and spin and spin–
Well, you get the point.
I watched it spin until it stopped. The bottle cap pointing at Lauren.
Who the fuck didn't see that one coming?
"Lauren!" Camila yelled, making everyone jump in our seats. We looked at her, and saw the excited smile on her lips. She then pointed towards the direction the guest room was."Second door to your left."
The green eyed girl let out a huff, shaking her head before she stood up. Before she taking a step, she looked down at her left hand and formed the letter L. I looked down at my lap, hiding my smile, that was really cute. She then mumbled an okay before she made her way towards the guest room.
"Okay. Let's see who's next?"
I usually don't pray for things like this, but when I saw the excited smirk on Leonard's lips, I bowed my head and began praying. I wonder how happy Ally would be now if she found out about me doing this.
I suddenly heard a groan, which made me lift my head up and see what happened. My eyes landed on the bottle, finding the bottle cap pointing right at...me. I furrowed my eyebrows, a frown on my lips when I realized what this meant.
"Can we do that again?" I tried. But Camila shook her head frantically, grabbing my hand and making me stand up. She led me all the way to the guest room, stopping right in front of the door.
She looked at me sternly, and told me,"Don't say anything stupid. Don't make her madder than she already is with you. Got it?"
"I don't–"
"Great!" She then opened the door, shoved me into the room, and shut the door before I could say anything else. I shut my mouth, looking at the door, staring at it for as long as I could.
"So," I closed my eyes when I heard her voice, clenching my fists."I guess you were the winner?"
"Or loser. Depending how you see." I muttered, releasing a breath before I turned around and sat down on the floor by the closet. I saw the frown on her lips, but avoided looking at her by looking down at the carpet floor.
"You don't get to do that." I lifted my head up when I heard her tone. My eyebrows furrowed as she started,"You don't get to act like you're the victim here. You're the one who called my boyfriend an asshole, who told me that the relationship we have is toxic...."
I swallowed the lump in my throat, stopping the tears threatening to escape my eyes as I listened to every words she was saying. And I realized that this shit wasn't good. This was toxic. The fact that I don't feel any ounce of hate for her now, now as she screams at me is toxic. She's practically screaming at me, telling me how wrong I was– or I am wrong. When really, she's the wrong one here.
Dinah isn't here now. But I'm sure if she was, the moment the first words Lauren had said came out of her mouth; she would have said something already. And I'm sure she would have harsher words to say than the words I'm about to say.
"You know what, Lauren?" I cut her off, my tone probably surprising her because she was looking at me like she just met someone new."I'm fucking done." I stood up from the ground, releasing a breath."I'm sick and tired of trying to be there for you, only for you to push me away. I'm trying to help you, Lauren! You don't understand that, do you? That's all I've been trying to do, even more since..."
I stopped myself, shaking my head. I took a small step back, running my hands through my hair frustratedly before taking my phone out. I really hated that I had to do this but I needed to get my mind off this.
"Ever since what?" Lauren's voice spoke up, I looked up from by phone to find her standing up, waiting for me to say what I didn't finish. I shook my head, not being able to take it anymore so I went to the door to leave. But Lauren seemed to be faster than me, because she pushed the door shut and glared at me before she said again,"Ever since what?" She said it more firmly.
"Forget it, Lauren. Are you happy? You won." I repeated the same words she had said to me last."It's over. Whatever the fuck we had, it's done. Whatever it meant, it's over. Don't come running to me when that asshole does break your heart." I tried opening the door again, but she was actually a lot stronger than I thought. I glared at her, getting more and more frustrated by the minute."Move, Lauren...or I swear to god–"
She moved aside, and before she turned her back to me, I saw the tears in her eyes. I didn't think much of it, now focused on my phone and found her number. I pressed call, walking out of the guest room as I heard the line ring.
"Hey! What–"
"Don't ask." I muttered to Camila, moving past her quickly and rushed into the kitchen to grab the car keys. I knew I was going to be killed by my parents after I come back home, but I needed to be as far away from Lauren as possible.
"Y/N?"
"Dinah, I need your help."
"Okay. Are you okay?" She asked, the background voices getting distant now.
"Physically, yeah. Emotionally, no." I let out a sigh, opening the car door and sitting the driver's seat. I looked out the windshield, trying to calm down before I started to drive."I just need to be away from her."
"She's there?" She asked, her tone now sounding worrying.
"Dinah," I breathed out, shaking by head because I felt the tears running down my cheeks. I pulled the phone away from my ear, covered the mic as I quietly said to myself,"Stop crying." I rubbed my eyes, staring at the steering wheel for a second.
"Y/N," I mumbled a response, letting her know I was still on the line."meet me at the school's parking lot. I'll pick you up."
So I did. I met up with her there. She held me as I cried, and I apologized countlessly for making her leave the Thanksgiving dinner she was having with family. And then I apologized even more when I found out that she was introducing Zendaya to the family, and because of me I made her leave Zendaya alone with her family. But she kept on saying it was fine, that Zendaya was actually getting along perfectly fine with everyone.
But I still felt guilty. I still felt like shit for making Dinah leave her family. And I felt like even more shit that I didn't hate Lauren, that I actually wanted to go back home to see if she was still there and if she was okay. I hated that part of me that loved her, the part of me that wanted to apologize for even raising my voice at her. I hated that I didn't listen to Normani and Dinah that one day when we were eating lunch.
I hated Lauren.
No I didn't. I love Lauren.
I love Lauren so much, so much, that I'm begging for mercy.