six.
I got to Miami pretty early, and when got to the house, everyone had been still sleeping besides dad. He had been moving around the house, setting up breakfast, preparing the lunches, and even making sure the dogs had been fed.
"You caught an early flight to Miami for once," dad joked, laughing at how I rolled my eyes. He placed down the rag he had been cleaning the counter with and came and wrapped his arms around me for a hug. "Glad you made it." He smiled.
"I wanted to surprise them before they headed off to school. It would be nice if I took them, so you can relax a while before work." I stated, knowing that would be much needed for him.
"They'd love that, and I would too," he sighed, throwing the rag into the sink.
"When do they wake up?" I asked, walking over to the kitchen and helping him with the breakfast.
"Fifteen and ten minutes."
"Taylor is waking up in fifteen because she takes the longest huh?" I guessed.
"You know it, she gets it from you." He laughed, flipping over the bacon.
"I only took long because my hair. Other than that I was good." I explained to him, remembering how I used to take forever in the bathroom. That was only because my hair didn't want to cooperate with me. That's all.
"So have you written anything yet?" He asked me, pulling out the dishes.
"Ugh," I sighed, rolling my eyes, grabbing the plates from him. "Not yet. Scooter doesn't want me too."
"That's a bit strange. Wouldn't you think?"
"Well, I mean yeah. But I'm pretty sure there's a reason behind what he's doing." I said, thinking positively on why he doesn't want me to record the album. Maybe he wants my name to be cleared out of the media before I do anything.
"I'm tell you Lauren, he's focusing on his other artists right now. He's doubting you that's all. That man's a joke." He huffed, placing the food on the plates.
"You never know what he has in store though." I started, placing the plate on the table. "Plus, you've always thought that about him."
"He just needs to stop ignore your talent and let you do what you want. You need your freedom. You need to express yourself in the way you want too, not the way he wants you too."
He did have a point. For the past couple of years I haven't really had say in what I wanted to do. Scooter did all the talking for me. Obviously he was doing a good job since I was at a good point in my career. But I just followed what he had done. Half the time I didn't even know what was going on, I just went with it.
"I just need to be inspired to write this song. I really want to release something, but you know." I smiled sadly.
"You have so many unreleased songs," he paused once he same my face already knowing the answer was no. "That was an amazing time period of your life. Just saying."
"And I'd like to be the only who knows about it, just saying." I replied, knowing that those songs are probably not going to get released at all. I want to keep them to myself. I'm not ready to share them with the world honestly.
Couple minutes later, Chris and Taylor came downstairs and they both came up to me and hugged me.
"Dad didn't tell us you were coming!" Taylor exclaimed, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing her plate of breakfast.
"Well I thought I should surprise you guys this morning," I said, watching the two shove each other wanting the last bit of orange juice. I chuckled at them as the argued who had the most the other day. "I'm taking you guys to school if you don't mind."
They had been to into the argument, so I walked over to them all took the juice away and poured it for myself. "You guys are annoying sometimes," I sighed, sipping the juice as both of them looked at me with their jaws practically on the floor.
"Here," dad said, sitting out the drink that he bought again. "If you hadn't heard, your sister is taking you guys into school today."
I smiled at them and Taylor's smile faded quickly. "What's wrong? You don't want me to take you?" I asked her, leaning against the counter.
"No," she shook her head. "It's not that, it's just I remembered I forgot something up in my room. I'll be back." She said, heading towards the stairs.
I arched my brow and looked at dad and he shrugged. I looked at Chris who had already been at the table eating. "Hey, Chris," he turned around with his mouth had been full of food. "What's up with Taylor?" I asked, taking a seat next to him.
He shrugged, "She's been acting weird for awhile," he stated, wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "We aren't on the best of terms if you haven't noticed, so I haven't really invested time in asking her what's up with her."
I hit him on his shoulder and looked at me confusedly. "She's your sister. Little sister at that. If she isn't feeling good, you have to make it better. I'm not here everyday, so that would be very helpful."
"She's been snappy lately, no one can really talk to her." He mentioned, rubbing his shoulder. "I've tried and I just decided to give her some space. That's the best thing to do."
She came down seconds later, and sat and the end of the table. She scrolled through her phone and ate her breakfast. Quietly.
"Hey you," I said, she looked up from her phone, not really amused to hear what I was about to say. "How's speech and debate?" I asked, trying to spark up a general conversation.
"Good." She simply said, going back to her phone.
"Win any matches recently?"
"A couple."
I watched as she used her phone, basically ignoring me. I furrowed my brows noticing how she didn't seem amused with me.
I arched my brow and sat back in the chair. She was pissed about something.
"Alright, you guys gotta get going, you'll be late." Dad told us, picking up our plates.
"I just started eating!" Taylor stated, watching as dad put her plate away.
"You have that granola and yogurt you always take when you're late." He mentioned, nodding his head in the direction of the refrigerator.
"I don't want that."
"You asked me to buy you some more the other day?"
"I just don't want any today," she replied picking up her bag off the floor. "I have volleyball tryouts, I'll call you when it's over to pick me up."
"Lauren is picking you up," He told her smiling at her.
She dropped her gaze and nodded, brushing passed me and heading out the front door as well as Chris.
I looked at her as she walked by me then back at dad. "Is she mad at me?"
He shrugged, "if she was I probably wouldn't have asked you to come out here. She's mad at everyone." He frowned.
I reciprocated and grabbed my keys off the counter. "I'll see you later on today. What time do they get out?" I asked before heading out the door.
"Taylor's tryouts aren't over until six and Chris doesn't get out till six forty five." He informed me.
I nodded at him, and went to the car. We drove in a silence since they both had been on their phones. This wasn't the way I was expecting the morning with them to be. I thought they'd be a little happy to see me at least. Well Chris seems to be.
I pulled up to Taylor's school which was my old high school. "They changed up this place since the last time I was here," I said, looking at how they had new school colors. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be right at home." I informed her.
"Smoking is bad for you," she said, looking at the cigarette that had been in my opposite hand hanging out the window. She turned on her heels and headed towards the gates of the school.
I honked the horn, and she turned around. "What?" She hissed.
"Love you." I told her. Her face softened and she reciprocated. "Ditch the attitude too," I told her before she turned on her heels.
She probably was mad at me, but for what? I haven't spoken to her in a while, but I texted her. She never replied to it though. Did she see something in the media? She knows if she has any concerns on what she reads, she can always call and ask me if it's true.
Instead of going straight home, I went to a coffee shop and tried to write a few lyrics. I had a piano and guitar track I had recorded a while back and I thought I should put it to use.
I tapped my fingers on the table, looking at my laptop with the first couple lines of lyrics. I tried to focus, and stared at the document. "What is this even about?" I asked myself, sipping my coffee.
"Ma'am, there's no smoking in here," a voice said, hovering over me.
"Calm down, it's not even," I looked up and saw a fellow friend of mine from high school. "Liam!" I said, jumping up from my seat and wrapping my arms around him.
"How've you been?" I asked, excited to see him.
"Hanging in there, surprisingly I still work her," he laughed, looking around the local coffee shop. "Well, it is owned by my parents." He added on. "How've you been?"
"Alright I guess," I shrugged. "I'm trying to write a song, but nothing's working out so far."
"You haven't had an album in two years! It's so different not hearing you on the radio." He stated, sitting across from me.
"I'm trying to get back on the radio," I told him, looking back at my laptop. "It's difficult though." I frowned.
"If it makes you feel any better, I brought you a muffin. The one you always used to order." He smiled, pushing the muffin in front of me.
My eyes widened surprised that they still made them. I took a bite out of it, forgetting how they used to taste. It brought back a flood of memories of when me and old high school friends including Liam would come here after school to eat.
"Does this happen everywhere you go?" He said randomly, nodding his head towards the window.
I looked up and saw about five paparazzi's outside. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Every fucking where I go, they're always there. It's annoying."
"The cons of being famous," he joked.
"I hate it. Sometimes I just wish I could go somewhere without paparazzi following me." I mentioned, trying my best to ignore how all of them crowded the window.
Liam's dad eventually went out there and told them to leave or else he would call the cops.
"Well, if you want to take your mind off of things, there's a college party my friends are throwing tonight,and I was wondering if you wanted to come along?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Sounds nice, just text me the address," I told him, writing my number down on a napkin. "Don't give this to anybody." I laughed, handing it to him.
He laughed as well, and told me he'd text me tonight. He went back into the kitchen, and I stayed at the shop until the paparazzi left.
Before heading back home, I decided to make a stop. I wanted to see someone who I haven't seen in a while. I rang there doorbell, and the small women I expected to see opened it.
"Sinu," I said, opening my arms and bringing her into a hug. "How've you been?"
"Alright," she answered, moving out of the way and letting me into her home. "How about you?"
"I miss her," I frowned, looking at the pictures of her on their wall. "I've been thinking about her lately, and it's just been hard."
"She'd want you to be strong," she said, disappearing into the kitchen. "Be strong for her. That's what I'm doing."
"I know," I frowned, stepping into the kitchen. "I'm trying."
"That's good," she smiled, taking a seat at the table. "How's the music coming along?"
"Hard," I chuckled. "I haven't released anything and I really don't know when I will."
"Just take your time, it'll come to you." She said. It was good to see her in a good mood. She has always been happy and positive, the only time you saw her mad was when Camila wasn't listening. But other than that, she's always been a happy women.
"Thanks," I smiled. "I've just been stressed. This is like a comeback after everything that's happened these past couple of years, I just want it to be perfect."
"Don't stress yourself out about it." She shook her head. "It's not good, you have to be happy about it and you have to feel it. Don't force it onto yourself." She advised.
I stayed at her house for a couple of minutes since I was getting sleepy. We talked about Camila and how Sinu wants me to get better, and how much Camila wants me too as well.
-
It rolled around the time I had too pick up Taylor and Chris and I left early. I went and got Taylor from tryouts, and she had been sitting on a bench outside the gymnasium. I honked the horn, and she shot her head up and walked over to the car once she noticed it was me.
"How was school?" I asked, ignoring all the unpleasant looks I was getting from high school girls. She ignored me, and continued to look out the window. "Hey I'm talking to you. I didn't fly all the way out her for you to ignore me."
She sighed, adjusting herself in the seat and continued to ignore me.
"Dad told me how you were acting, and I came out here to see why. If you're just going to be this way, I will just fly back to LA. It's not a problem."
"I get shit because of you," she finally spoke. "Everyone here calls me 'the sister of a slut' or they say 'are you going to turn out like Lauren?' It's annoying and it's all because you want to screw up all the time!"
I paused and furrowed my brows at her. "Who calls you that?" I asked, since that was my only concern. I could careless about what these teenage girls thought of me, everyone's going to have different opinions on me, but if they're bothering Taylor it's a different story.
"Alyssa and Brittany." She said softly.
I remembered the two girls that had been best friends and Alyssa was the sister of this girl I didn't like in high school. I couldn't recall her name, but I remembered her face.
"Has this been why you've been so mad recently?" I asked her, driving off and staring at the two girls that had been bothering her.
"Mainly, yes. And mom. She hasn't called at all. The last time I talked to her was when we all came out to LA." She mentioned.
"Okay."
I tried to keep my calm, but I had been furious. She hasn't told anyone about this. It's been going on for awhile and she's been putting up with it. She shouldn't have to deal with what these people have to say about me. It was wrong.
After I picked up Chris, I went down to moms job. The receptionist said she was in a presentation, but I could careless about it. I bursted through the two doors and almost everyone in the room jumped.
"What the hell," I said, looking at the women across from me. "What the hell."
"Lauren I'm in a meeting, go wait in the lobby and I'll come talk to you." She said, pausing her PowerPoint.
"I'm not one of your fucking clients, I'm your daughter did you forget? I'm not waiting in the lobby for you to forget about me once again!"
"Lauren, go in the lobby." She gritted her teeth.
"Did you forget you have two other kids or do you not care for them either? Have you even talked to Taylor recently? Do you even what college Chris goes to? Or do you just care about your stepchild?"
"Lauren," she started.
"Shut up! You haven't even talked to them in a month! I don't care if you don't talk to me, but at least your own children. The ones you birthed!"
A few of her workers tugged on me, trying to get me out of the office. "You know what, fuck you." I laughed, yanking myself out of their grip and leaving the office.
"Have a nice night!" The receptionist said, watching as I stormed out of the office building.
It wouldn't hurt her to at least check up on them. See how they're doing, be an actual mother to them. But she's too caught up in this fucking job. She could careless about us.
It's been that way for years and there's no changing her.
-
Liam texted me the address, and I headed to the party after hanging at home for awhile. It was convenient that this party was tonight, I needed to get my mind off of a few things. So this was a great break away.
"Look who made it!" Liam exclaimed, coming at me with opened arms.
"I don't know anyone here," I said not recognizing anyone from high school. "But who cares," I chuckled, grabbing the red cup he had offered me.
Tonight was a good night. I practically forgot about everything, drowning my sorrows away with alcohol, and making out with random strangers. I got to experience a college party for once, and it had been on my bucket list since I didn't make it to college.
I was having so much fun, until I saw the blonde. She had been staring at me as well as her group of friends. I remembered her from high school. Perrie. Alyssa's sister.
"Is there a problem?" I asked her, walking up to her.
"Yes, who invited you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Liam, the guy who you've been trying to get at for two years straight." I mentioned recalling how she tried to get him to date her in high school but he turned her down multiple times.
"This party clearly said no sluts allowed, you didn't get the memo?" She said, tilting her head.
My fist had already been balled up, and I brought it back, connecting it with her jaw. She stumbled falling on to the floor, and I took the opportunity and hovered over her. Her torso between my legs, and I repeated punched her in the face.
Many people had been crowded around us watching us fight. There phones had been out and I completely forgot about everything. I blacked out.
Multiple people picked me up off of her, but then, she charged at me, swinging, and the fight went on. We rolled on the grass, and she was a hair puller. I pinned her arms down with my knees, and hit her one last time, before I remember being picked up.
My hands had been behind my back, and someone had picked her up as well, but I couldn't tell who it had been. "The number of scratches and bruises on your face will determine how fucked up you got by me, once again." I said.
I took a few deep breathes and until I came back from the trans and wonder what had been preventing me from moving my arms up.
"What the fuck," I cursed, turning around and noticing a cop had been behind me. "What are you doing. Why am I in handcuffs? Do you know who I am."
"You've been arrested for under aged drinking and battery." He said, dragging me to his cop car.