{ c h a p t e r n i n e }
lauren's pov ;
Lauren craned her neck over the windshield to study the vast city that spread before her. It struck her then how wide the world really was, and how far she was from home. Lights from the city shimmered like a reflection of the star speckled sky, amongst towering palm trees that served as a burst of life amongst a concrete jungle. Tiny vehicles scurried like ants, each one rushing along intricate tangles of streets, creating twisting threads of blinding light.
Soon, the looming city was upon them. Lauren shielded her eyes from the bright lights that followed them every way they went. Her house was a little outside of Arizona, where there was nothing surrounding her house other than an open field of sunflowers and the hum of vehicles and chatter merely echoed from the city. Here, in the heart of Los Angeles, was the epitome of everything but.
"You excited?" Lauren asked, an infectious smile spreading across her face.
"A little." Grayson admitted. "Although I think I may die."
Lauren rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh. "You're such a drama queen." She teased.
Grayson smiled a little, but Lauren could tell he was thinking about something else. His thoughts were elsewhere throughout the rest of the car ride, until they pulled up at the entrance of a hotel with gleaming golden lights.
"We're staying here?"
"Yeah." He said with a grin. "You like it?"
"It's beautiful." Lauren said in awe. She didn't know much about hotels, since she'd never stayed anywhere besides the her home and on some rare occasions, the hospital. But she could tell this hotel would be costly.
"Wait here."
"Why?" Lauren asked with her eyebrows raised.
"Just wait." He said firmly before getting swiftly out of the car and running over to the other side of the car. He opened the door for her with a goofy smile on his face.
"Grayson," Lauren started, as they walked into the fancy entrance of the hotel. "I don't care if we stay in a dingy hotel room. We don't have to stay at such an expensive hotel-"
"This is your first time outside since you were, what, five?" She nodded.
"I want to make this the best trip of your entire life. I want to make it special, Laur."
"Yeah, but I don't need a five star hotel for this to be special." She argued. "We could stay on the side of the road for all I care. You make this trip special not some fancy hotel."
"Damn, I wish I thought of sleeping on the side of the road sooner, sounds like a way better option." Grayson teased, flicking her on the nose.
Lauren scowled at him. She didn't want Grayson feeling as though she needed money spent on herself.
Grayson noticed her frown and sobered up. "Oh come on, don't be mad. I can afford it, Lauren."
"Besides, you deserve only the best." He added with a smile.
Grayson brought their interlocked hands to his mouth and kissed each of her knuckles softly, his lips lingering there for a second. He seemed to have registered what he did soon thereafter and he brought their hands down quickly, barely meeting her eyes.
Lauren's heart did backflips in her chest.
Why on earth did he do that?
* * *
Grayson knew the city by heart. He knew the streets like the back of his hand and the crowd as if they were his own family. The way his eyes lit up whenever he saw little things that reminded him of his childhood nearly made Lauren's heart melt. She could see how much this city meant to him.
Los Angeles was his home. She couldn't imagine how heartbroken he must've been when they moved to Arizona. Grayson said his dad had gotten a better job, and they had no choice but to move. He had told Lauren about how much he loved the city, how every single little blade of grass and every speck of dust was the very soul of his memories. His whole life was here, and his smile said it all.
Grayson didn't talk about Ethan much. Lauren didn't ask about him. Whenever his brother was mentioned there was a feeling of prolonged sadness that hung in the air, and Lauren didn't feel like pressuring him to tell her all the details of Ethan's death. She knew it was a touchy subject and he would only tell her when he was ready.
"So where are we starting?" He asked, breaking the silence.
Lauren scrolled through the map on her phone. "The Groove."
"The outdoor mall?" Grayson questioned with his eyebrows raised. "Why there?"
"Because I said so." She responded with a grin. Grayson shot her a hesitant look. "Oh, stop staring at me like I'm an axe murderer- it's just a mall, Grayson."
"Remind me again why I agreed to this." He mumbled under his breath.
Lauren rolled her eyes. "Shut up, would you? It'll be fun, I promise."
* * *
The Grove was a shopping mall with elegant pillars of untouched ivory that seemed to hold up the ever darkening skies. The moon hung a lazy shadow over their faces as they made their way through the dense mall, hand in hand to ensure that they wouldn't lose each other.
Lauren could see how uncomfortable Grayson was. His face was paler than usual, his eyes popping out of their sockets in a desperate attempt to stop the little tears that stung behind his lashes. His jaw remained clenched from the moment they stepped out of their car.
Lauren grabbed his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Hey." She said softly. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to. We could always go back to the hotel and order pizzas or something and stay in-"
Grayson shook his head profusely. "I'm fine, Laur." He said. "I'll be okay."
After buying ice cream, Lauren and Grayson decided to see what all the fuss was about in the center of the mall, where a large crowd stood huddled together. After they fought their way through the crowd, they finally reached the front where a long table stood with dozens of cream pies. An eating contest, no doubt, with a plump, jolly host that seemed more interested in the pies than the actual competition.
"Who's up for the challenge?" The man spoke into the microphone, his eyebrows raised as he searched for willing contestants.
Grayson glanced at Lauren who was already looking at him with a smirk. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Lauren, no. Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"It's not even on the list-"
"Do something embarrassing in public just for the hell of it." Lauren retorted with a Cheshire grin. "Sounds familiar?"
"Lauren, listen to me. You don't understand; I can't stand up in front of all these people and take part in an eating competition. Have you seen the size of the others? I don't stand a chance. Not to mention that it's absolutely humiliating and that I simply can't-"
"He would like to participate!" Lauren yelled, stopping Grayson mid sentence by pushing Grayson forward.
Grayson's face contorted in absolute horror, his mouth comically ajar. Lauren giggled to herself. Grayson was right: he had absolutely no chance of winning whatsoever. All the other competitors were much bigger than him and they each sized him up like he was a piece of meat at their dinner table.
"I can't-" he squeaked out but the host roughly patted him on the back and ignored him, not taking no for an answer.
"Alrighty we've got nine contestants- who will be our final one?"
Lauren glanced at Grayson to see if he was okay. All signs of terror were gone from his face and his eyes danced with mischief. Before she could even register what he was doing, he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her forward too.
"Grayson what the fu-"
The crowd erupted into cheers muffling Lauren's profanities. Everyone took out their phones, obviously amused at Grayson and Lauren in amongst the beefy contestants.
"Together." Grayson teased.
Lauren gave him a light shove and flipped him off. "Dick."
Before Lauren could say anything else, the host began instructing them about the rules of the competition. "When I blow this here horn, ladies and gents, these ten contestants will run up to a place on the table and try to finish the pile of exactly thirty cream puff pies first. The winner will receive a four hundred dollar gift card for Dave and Busters!" The crowd cheered and roared, causing Grayson to jump a little in surprise.
Suddenly it seemed as though the crowd doubled in the last few moments, from about fifty people to at least a hundred. Grayson fidgeted with his fingers and kept his gaze stuck to the ground, as if it fascinated him. Lauren brushed her fingertips against his, trying to reach his hand when the host started to count down from three.
The horn sounded and Lauren scrambled to the table just like all the others. Grayson pushed his way through and landed up right next to her.
It was a strange sight, for two scrawny teenagers to be shoveling pies down their throat at the rate of a tortoise compared to all the other contestants whose piles were decreasing rapidly. Lauren heard Grayson grunting as he struggled to finish his twelfth. She snorted and Grayson looked over at her, offended.
"Are you laughing at me?" He asked in a high pitched tone, his voice muffled by the cream.
"Me? Laugh at you? Never."
Grayson huffed, taking a handful of cream off the top of his pie and throwing it at Lauren from point blank. Lauren gasped in horror.
Her hand reached to the back of her scalp, where a foamy, sticky substance embedded in the roots of her hair.
She picked up her pie without hesitation and smashed it over his face. Grayson yelled as the host tried to break them apart but failed to do so.
He fumbled for his pie, blindly throwing it in the direction which he assumed to be Lauren's. To her horror, the pie hit another contestant instead.
And that's when all hell broke loose.
* * *
i'm so sorry for not updating in a while, i had the worst writers block but i've thankfully seemed to have recovered now.
dedicated to irregularthoughts yet again bc I absolutely love her and she is literally the reason this chapter is up rn.
also im still shook over the fact that this has over 1K reads- can someone please explain how lmao bc i don't understand????? but fr thank you so much wtf that's insane.