iridescent ↠ grayson dolan ✓

↠ s i x

{ c h a p t e r  s i x }
lauren's pov ;

Lauren had never received stranger looks in her entire life.

The two ran into the car rental soaking wet with wild grins plastered on their faces, still laughing at their insanities. Lauren's loose curls were reduced to straight, wet clumps that clung to the sides of her face and their clothes were practically dripping with water.

Grayson cleverly dropped their umbrella and claimed to have only realized after they had walks seven blocks away from it. Lauren decided that there was no way in hell that she was going to go back another seven blocks just to retrieve it, so the two walked in the pouring rain all the way to the car rental, with little to no coverage at all on the way. Although Lauren pretended to be a little mad, they both didn't mind.

Upon reaching the car rental, Grayson unzipped his large backpack and fished for something in his bag. Once he found whatever it was, he walked to the front desk and dropped it on the table, giving the woman at the desk a rude shock. She jumped a little and let out a surprised squeak, before regaining her pride and straightening up in her seat.

"Hi. How may I help you?" The woman asked, a hint of coldness in her voice.

Lauren looked at Grayson. He looked beyond nervous. He refused to make eye contact with the woman, and he kept fiddling with the hem of his shirt. She understood that Grayson wasn't much of an extrovert, and that she should probably take over. She laced their hands together and shot him a reassuring smile

"We'd like to rent a car."

"Of course." She replied. "I'm going to have to see a document of identification and a driver's license."

Lauren shifted her gaze to Grayson. She had never gotten her drivers license, despite the fact that she was almost eighteen. Grayson pointed at the items on the table.

"Ethan Dolan." He said softly, pushing them closer to the woman.

Lauren was took by surprise, her memory instantly jolted by his diary. She quickly skimmed her eyes over the ID and drivers license, which showed a boy who somewhat resembled Grayson. Their features were similar but Lauren could easily spot differences within a seconds glance. Perhaps it was because she knew Grayson so well.

The woman studied the ID and the drivers license. She glanced up at Grayson and looked back down again with slight uncertainty. She heard Grayson suck in a small, sharp breath. Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, still confused at the situation.

"Alright." The woman said monotonously. "I have a few more things I'd like you to fill out but other than that you're good to go."

"Perfect." Lauren beamed.

* * *

As it turned out, most of the so called luxury cars were immensely expensive. The only one within their price range was a slightly battered, mint green, 1963 retro Beetle. Lauren couldn't for the life of her understand why the car rental would even have such a car. The woman, who still hadn't given them her name, handed them the keys and walked off, without another word.

Rude.

Grayson opened Lauren's door for her with a cheesy smile, and he walked over to the drivers seat. The interior of the car was rickety and almost falling apart. It was a quaint little vehicle, but obviously extremely close to being broken. The light grey seats wobbled if you weren't completely centered, and Lauren had to practice sitting in a way which balanced it. The seat belts fitted a little to snugly around her waist but it seemed that it wouldn't get any looser than that.