Vanilla

Chapter 16

The day of La Lune's concert arrived.

My grandma ended up agreeing since I studied hard enough for me to go.

I wore a casual outfit with some wedged boots. I bought a transparent bag to wear to the concert-also for the security check. Lauren already owned one in her possession and wore it with an outfit like mine except for wedged boots she wore sneakers.

Melanin and Lexie wore their own style outfits. Melanin wore a colorful style - a short-sleeved shirt with jeans. Lexie wore the artist's merch hoodie with leggings. They looked cute.

The concert was about to start, so we rushed inside to find seats close to the stage.

The crowd grew restless waiting for the famous singer to appear on stage.

I held onto Lauren's hand and cheered La Lune's name with the rest of the crowd.

"La Lune! La Lune! La Lune!" the crowd chanted as their voices echoed throughout the arena.

The lights shine to the middle of the stage, and we can see her slowly appear from beneath the stage while waving at us.

"Hello everyone! How are we doing today?" she smiles while walking to the front of the stage wearing a skin-tight dress, and heels that I could never pull off.

The crowd screamed "Good!"

She does her usual sign to us before saying. "That's great. I'm going to sing my album 'lumières éteintes' for you. Are you ready?"

We shout "Yes!" and the first song begins to play.

Lauren and I moved to the words as we kept our eyes on La Lune's dancing.

By the fifth song, I was unconsciously singing along as I always do when I'm by myself.

"The days aren't worth the tears, if I can't be by your side, my mind tells me it hurts, if I try to cry all night, I love you so bad, that it hurts, and I know I might be losing my mind. It's alright for me to go insane, if you'll be there by my side, when I awake. When I awake. When I awake in the morning, and you're there holding me tight."

Lauren eyed me as I sang and I didn't notice her tears. I was too sunk into the song.

By the seventh song, I had swung my arm with hers and was shouting my words with La Lune's singing.

"I met you by the river, where you looked so lonely, my eyes met yours, and you told me that you love me. Tell me those words a thousand times, you might need to show me. What does it mean to fall in love, if I can't get you to see me, the person before I fell for you, I think this is destiny. Baby do you love me?"

I looked at Lauren as the instrumental played, and saw her tears flowing down while she mouthed 'I do'.

I yanked her through the crowd without caring if I stepped on someone's shoes or anything. I pulled her through the doors, where we could be outside without anyone eavesdropping on our conversation.

"Lauren, why are you crying? Did someone hit you in there? Do I have to punch someone else?" I asked, panically. I barely see her cry and I hate it. I hate seeing her cry - especially when I wasn't aware of her sadness.

She shook her head. "No, I just, I just remembered something upsetting. It was from a long time ago."

"What is it? Is it about someone you know?"

"Yes..." she avoids my eyes and looks down at her hands. "They were my childhood friend, but something happened one day that caused them to forget me."

"What happened?"

"They lost their memories of me. We were inseparable, I mean other than their other friends, we did almost everything together. That song...That song was our favorite to sing on karaoke nights. I never meant to lose them that day, but hearing that song brought back memories."

I pulled her into my arms and sighed. "It's okay, Lauren. Don't cry. It's going to be okay. I'm here for you."

She silently sobs and hugs me back.

I rubbed her back in circles as I waited for her to calm down. My heart stung hearing her cries. I wanted to do anything to ease her pain, but I couldn't-I had to hope that everything gets better for her.

She whispers, "I'll always remember you."

"She said that to me." I thought. "She said 'I remember you, but you don't remember me' and looked sad then too."

As I tried to figure out the connection, my head started to throb in intense pain.

I grabbed my head as one hand stayed on her back. "Ugh..."

Lauren looks up at me. "Dani? Are you okay?"

I couldn't nod or my head would hurt worse. I couldn't reply because I couldn't think. My brain felt like hell.

I groaned as I tried so hard to ease the pain with one hand.

Then I saw it for a split second. A blurry image of someone.

I felt like I tried to remember something important, but I couldn't figure out what I forgot. Is it about Lauren? Did I really meet Lauren before?

That would explain how she knew I loved art before.

How she spoke to me as if we met before high school. That would explain so much.

If I did meet Lauren before high school, and we were friends back then. How did I lose my memories in the first place?

And why did I think of these words after my headache eased?

Mommy said it's time for bed.