Dreamin'

Chapter Seven

Her alarm buzzes softly besides her as the late morning sunlight slips through the curtains, bathing the entire bedroom in a warm, pink glow. Lauren stretches happily into the thick pillows. She is heading to the studio today to hopefully finalize some songs - maybe singles. Finally, she'll get a chance to focus on her music, something that truly erases her mind of all the pain or anxiety she feels in daily life. It's the perfect stress reliever. Today is going to be a chill day, just sweatpants and good music.

There might be three more days until Friday, but that doesn't mean she can't turn this Tuesday around and make the most of it.

Lauren climbs out of her bed, stepping over a lazy Jameson and she heads straight to the bathroom to rid herself of this strong morning breath. Her routine starts as soon as she picks up a hot pink toothbrush and gets to scrubbing. Everything is normal, up until her elbow knocks something over, and it lands with a clank in her porcelain sink. And then suddenly, her toothbrush comes to an abrupt halt inside her mouth.

A blue pill case, marked with sleek white letters for every day of the week, sits under the dripping faucet. Normally, there are a few multi-colored pills resting inside each section. But this morning calls for a different story.

There are no pills inside. The case is completely empty.

Lauren almost chokes on the foamy toothpaste as she spits out minty whips into the sink. Her heart starts beating a mile a minute as she puts two-and-two together. "Oh no. This can't be happening."

The singer has been on birth control since she was a teenager, and in eight years, she's probably forgotten to take the pills maybe five times. For someone is usually a very forgetful person, this is the one thing she's always made sure she's taken care of, even back in the day when she didn't even have a boyfriend. So what happened? She clearly hasn't taken them in a few days. Lauren starts to ponder up a thousand different excuses as to what has had her distracted enough to forget something so important, but it doesn't take long for her to realize the source of this problem...

Fucking Jermaine.

Lauren sprints out of the bathroom, forehead breaking out in a cold sweat, stomach dropped to the floor. The air in the room is suddenly too thick and she feels drunk, like her vision is already blurring. Laur stumbles over to the bed, grabs her phone lightning quick and opens up the calendar app. It's the 3rd of the month, the beginning, meaning that her cycle should be here today. But, oh wait, it's not! It's boarding a plane now about to head on a vacation for nine months.

The naturalista reaches out on the side of the wall to steady herself. She might be pregnant! Lauren has been having sex with more than one man, and not to mention two famous men. She's a cheater, and this possible baby will probably break up Lauren and Chance's relationship, and a marriage.

Jermaine definitely did not use protection the other night; the whole process went rather fast, as both of them had been waiting for that moment for a long time now, but even though some of it was a blur, Lauren is 100% he didn't.

"Hey girl!"

Lauren spins around to find Kaya leaning in the bedroom doorway with a bright smile and smoothies in hand. However, upon seeing her best friend's strained facial expression, Kaya frowns as well, instantly noticing that something is up.

"Um, you look - sick, Laur. Are you okay?"

Lauren thinks about lying as a natural reaction, but then she remembers exactly who she is dealing with. It's Kaya Johnson, the chick who can read people better than any English scholar. K has lived a pretty interesting life, and through all her years, she's become ten times better at picking up on things most people can't even see. Essentially, there is no other option than to tell the truth.