Afterglow ❃ l.m.j

• chapter twenty two •

An alarm blared throughout the house causing me to stir out of my sleep with a start. I rubbed at my eyes with my palm, looking around my room for the noise. It didn't sound nearby enough to be in the room. I did take note of the sun behind my curtains though; morning. I threw the covers off of my legs and stood up.

The brunette was still curled up under the blankets. She seemed to be a heavy sleeper because she didn't even move. Meanwhile, the fucking noise was irritating me. I made it a mission to find the source before a headache came on.

My hair fell haphazardly around my shoulder as I padded out of the room. The noise was getting louder the closer I got. Once I got to the living room, the sound was blaring directly into my ears. I looked around until I saw a phone on the table beside the loveseat. Normani's. I was on my way to picking it up to bring it to her when another phone went off. But this one I recognized was mine. I rolled my eyes with a groan.

The only good thing about hearing my phone go off was that it was in close proximity to me. I grabbed Normani's phone and walked over to the counter to check mine. A missed call from my mom. Why would she be... Oh shit, did I call her Tuesday? Fuck.

I was in the middle of shooting my mom a text to call her in a few when I felt a soft touch and someone coaxing the phone from me. When I looked up, Normani was inserting her password and clicking stop on the alarm. She gave me a weak smile.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

When I finished sending a text, she drummed her fingertips on the counter.

"Do you have a spare toothbrush?"

I paused my texting to nudge my head towards the bathroom. "Yeah, in the medicine cabinet above the sink."

She nodded her head feebly and turned on her heel to go to the bathroom. Meanwhile, I pressed send on my last text to my mom. When I was done, I filtered a hand through my hair and turned towards the kitchen with a yawn. Some food would be amazing right now.

I was still rummaging through my fridge when Normani came back.

"I still have some time if you wanna get breakfast. No pressure."

I turned from the fridge. "Um... Okay! What time is it right now?"

"9:13."

I made a face. "Fuck, that's early. Okay, just let me call my mom and then I'll go get ready."

"Okay, no problem."

When my mom answered the phone, she sounded irritated.

"You said you'd call me Tuesday morning, why am I just hearing from you now?"

"Ma, it's Wednesday." I drawled, opening the door to my closet. Off the top of my head, a pair of leggings and a shirt I didn't care about sounded like a suitable outfit.

"Yeah, and a lot can happen between Tuesday and Wednesday, Lauren Michelle. Did you catch the girl who did the thing to your car?"

I shook my head. "No. I haven't even given them a statement on whether I want her to know about the footage yet."

"Well, how long are you going to wait? You don't have forever, those videos are probably inadmissible after a point."