Playing the Court (Lauren/You/Camila)

Chapter 53

Ally's pov

I watched as Camila and Lauren walked back in the café after they had left for a few minutes.  Camila ultimately snuggled up to (Y/n)'s side on one of the couches.  Lauren migrated away from the two and ended up leaning against the counter.  The last act finished a minute or two ago, so I walked up to the makeshift stage and grabbed ahold of the mic.

I cleared my throat, "Okay, so, just a reminder that the stage is open if anyone has any hidden talents they want to reveal."

"I'll give it a shot." I heard from the middle of the throng.  Once I found the source, I waved them up.

"Thank god." I mumbled, thankful the open mic night wasn't that much of a failure.  "Ladies and gentlemen, Zendaya." 

Everyone clapped as she walked to the stage carrying something with her.  I moved to the side of the stage and once she was fully on, I noticed it was a baby in a carrier. 

"Um," Zendaya spoke softly into the mic as the curious looks and chatter died down at her voice. "So, normally, I only sing for my daughter. But, um, something that a friend said convinced me that I should open up to a wider audience. This seemed like the right time and place. So, everyone, this is my daughter, Jenny. And, Jenny... this is my whole world." She awkwardly laughed at the end.

"Zendaya has a baby?" I heard Camila ask (Y/n), and she only smiled in response.  I noticed Lauren watching the two on the couch intensely, almost longingly, so I walked over and stood next to her.

"You okay?" I asked as Zendaya began singing a song.  She glanced over st the two once again and just half smiled.

"Yeah." She practically whispered.

"Okay." I smiled at her and moved away, letting her continue her light stalking.

I went into the kitchen to call Demi, because she hasn't called me back in a while.  The phone continously rang, so I hung up and called again.

"The jerk never called you back, did she?" I immediately hung up the phone and pulled her into a tight hug.  She smiled, "Believe me, you didn't want to talk to her anyway."

"What are you doing here?" I asked as a grin consumed my face.

"Oh, look, I'm sorry." She started to apologize, but I pecked her lips.

"No. I'm glad you're back."

"Yeah, me too." She sighed. "It's like every time I'm with him, I just get caught in this riptide, you know? The harder I try to get out, the harder it is for me to keep from drowning."

"Maybe you just need to steer clear of the water for a while."

"Hey, Al- Demi, you weren't supposed to be back til tomorrow, what happened?" Demi's mom walked into the kitchen with a few plates.

"We were keeping score, mom. What do you think happened?" Demi shrugged.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I should have known."

"Whatever. I'm used to it." Demi sighed and pulled me into her embrace before leading me out the kitchen to the music.

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Lauren's pov

Once Zendaya finished, I walked over to her.

"So, what, are you, like, married too?" I asked.

She laughed, "Nah, it's just me and Jenny."

I looked over at Jenny and analyzed her face. "She has your eyebrows." I commented.

"Ooh. That's not a good thing." She made me laugh.

"She's beautiful." I assured her.

"Thanks, Lauren." Zendaya smiled, and after what seemed like an hour long staring contest, she awkwardly smiled and walked past me.  I turned to look around the café and noticed Gavin walking in.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Thanks for coming."

"I thought this was gonna be low key." He whispered to emphasize 'low key.'

"Sorry. Is it still cool?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's all right." He nodded and made his way to the stage.

"All right. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Gavin DeGraw!" Ally excitedly spoke into the mic before scurrying off the stage- well, as fast as her little legs could go.

I don't need to be anything other
Than a prison guard's son
I don't need to be anything other
Than a specialist's son

I don't have to be anyone other
Than the birth of two souls in one
Part of where I'm going
Is knowing where I'm coming from

I don't want to be anything other
Than what I've been trying to be lately
All I have to do is think of me
And have peace of mind

I'm tired of looking round rooms
Wondering what I've got to do or who I'm supposed to be
I don't wanna be anything other than me

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After they performed, everyone went down to the river front to watch the team play a pick up game.  Camila and I were on the hood of my car as Jenny sat between us in her little carrier, so that Zendaya could play.  Demi made an awesome pass to (Y/n), who immediately dunked it when she saw she had an open lane.

"Hey." Ally greeted as she walked up to us.

"Hey, tutor girl." Camila replied.  The other team just made a shot, and the ball rolled over to me.  I hopped off the hood to toss it to whoever was in bounding the ball.  I look up and see Zendaya jogging over to claim the ball.  I gently tossed it to her as she gave me a beautiful smile in return.  A flash resonated in the corner of my eye, so I turned around to see Camila waiting for the picture to come out the Polaroid camera.

She took the picture out and handed it to me as I bit my lip, seeing the content- a very sweaty, but still gorgeous Zendaya.

"I guess this answers the gay question." Camila laughed as I took the camera from her and shook the picture.  Ally, then, took the camera from me and made Camila and I pose with Jenny.  I'm fairly certain I looked pretty flushed in the picture.  Once we took the picture, I focused back on the game and watched a certain player or two.