Kick Start

Chapter Seven

“There you are,” Normani announced loudly, slipping into the room where Lauren was currently hiding and closing the door shut behind her.

It was amazing, the difference between sound levels in the rooms, with the front living room loud and boisterous, while this quiet bedroom basically blocked all sound out of the square insides.

Lauren watched as her blue-haired best friend strode up to her, and without any warning, latched their mouths together in a rough kiss.

Her painted fingers quickly made their way to Normani's hips, settling right above the edge of Normani's jeans, and Lauren kept their bodies close together, although not fully pressed against one another.

They kissed with precise, practiced movements, ones only gained from years of practice, and when Normani's hands made their way to her curls, she melted even more into Normani's touch.

She knew that it was probably not normal for best friends to do this, especially when one of them had a girlfriend that they loved very much, but Lauren was so wound up from school and soccer and she-who-must-not-be-thought-of and Normani knew exactly what to do to wind her down.

It also helped that Ally knew everything that Normani did, and probably suggested that Normani should find her and do this because Ally knew her almost as well as Normani did.

Normani broke the kiss, pressing one more soft kiss to the corner of her mouth before fully pulling away.

“Now, do you need me to help you out as well? Or can we save that for later when Ally will join?” Normani questioned, and while her tone was light and lilting, Lauren knew the offer was very, very serious.

It was kind of crazy how she had been joining Normani and Ally for the past two months, hell, it was crazy that two months had already gone by.

The team had been doing amazing, winning almost every single game- really, they only lost one thus far- and now, they were in the Championships.

If they won their next game they would make it to Regionals.

Regionals.

This was what Lauren had worked her entire life for- okay, maybe not singularly this, but still, it was that big, and they had a chance to make it and to win.

Regardless, it was two weeks before the big game, and as with every other season, Lauren's parents had left town under the pretense that they needed a vacation.

In reality, ever since her freshman year, when they really had gone on vacation and Lauren had thrown a party, they left Lauren alone for the exact same weekend so that she could throw this party.

They always said the same thing, ‘Be safe, Lauren Michelle Jauregui,’ and they all pretended to be ignorant as to what Lauren really was going to do that weekend.

But it had kind of become a tradition for the past three years, to have this party two weeks before the big Championship game.

Lauren viewed it as a precourser to the celebration that would occur if they actually did win, and also, hoped it would help the team let enough steam loose for them to focus for the next two weeks.

So, she supplied enough alcohol to get the entire team drunk- but not too drunk, they did have nine a.m. practice the next day- and opened her house up to the guys and girls soccer teams (and no one else; she was a pretentious soccer prick, so what?).

And it seemed to be working because everyone was enjoying themselves, well, everyone but herself, that is.

She just…it was hard not to worry about things getting broken, or if they would win the Big Game, or what the scouts would think of her, or what was to come after this all- meaning high school- and she just had a really hard time letting go and not worrying, even with Normani right there, still close to her.