Chapter One

“Let’s go crazy, crazy, crazy till we see the sun. I know we only met but let’s pretend it’s love.  And never ever ever stop for anyone.  Tonight let’s get some, And live while we’re young. Lalalalalalalalalalala…”

 Lauren tossed and turned in her queen sized bed, mumbling and groaning.  The blaring of her alarm clock and the sound of Luke’s horrendous singing assaulted her ears, making her develop an early morning migraine, while the morning sunlight beat at her eyes mercilessly.  However, despite all of that Lauren had no intention of getting out of bed anytime soon.  For although it was a beautiful morning, her demeanor was as crappy as ever.  Just another Monday morning and another day of highschool.   Groaning, Lauren turned once more in a futile attempt to escape the harsh reality but the only thing she succeeded in doing was knocking the last of her covers onto the hardwood mahogany floor.  

“I’ve been here all night… I’ve been here all day… And boy… got me rockin side to side!”  

“Luke I swear if you don’t shut up! You sound like a screaming banshee that’s trying to swallow a dying moose.”

“Good morning to you too sunshine, and no I don’t. I sound beautiful. Listen to this voice,” he replied jokingly and started to sing No Limit when Lauren let out a plead.

“No!” she exclaimed to the top of her lungs as she tumbled out of her bed and hit the hardwood floor along with her covers.  Mentally cursing herself, she reluctantly arose barefooted and stalked to the window. “I already was awakened from my amazing dream thanks to you and that stupid ala-” she paused when she realized the blasted thing was still ringing.  Trudging to the small shelf beside her bed, she picked up the wretched contraption, marched back to her  window and threw it out as hard as she could then closed it with a slam. Dusting off her hands,  she trudged back over to her bed barefooted and assess the damage done.  Her zebra-striped covers were all sprawled out onto the rich mahogany floor along with her matching pillows.  All in all her bed looked like a tornado hit through it and had a party.  The messy bed looked so out of place in the beautifully organized room she called her ‘safe haven’.  Huge, rich purple letters spelled out her name on the wall behind her bed, providing a nice contrast to the purple wall it was fastened to.   Surrounding it were pictures of her and her family making her inwardly smile.  On the other side of her room were two clear bookshelves with her closet door standing between them.  On one was a mini library having a whole plethora of books ranging from The Shannara Chronicles to Harry Potter to the In Death Series- her favourite.  She absolutely loved to read.  It was her way of escaping everything.  On the other shelf was various trophies and ribbons she had won over the years.   All in all, the entire room screamed “Artist!” and was her favorite place in the house and in the world.  It was the one place she felt safe from the horrors of the outside world and felt truly at peace.  Running a hand through her messy red hair she let out a sigh.  

“Time for school, I suppose.”

“Yep, and don’t forget we have that Chemistry test today, so I hope you studied,” he replied.

Just then her eyes went buck wide.  “What!? Oh shoot” she exclaimed rushing to her closet.  However before she could reach it she slipped and fell to the floor with a loud thud.  

“You know, for an athlete you’re awfully clumsy,” he chuckled, earning a scowl from her.  She was just about to come back with a witty response when the sound of footsteps approaching her door stopped her.  Her door creaked open to reveal a curvy woman with long, red hair reaching her waist, wearing a black jacket fastened together by a belt at the waist with a white u-neck shirt underneath it and a white skirt, showing off her perfect hourglass figure.   To complement the outfit she wore black strapped heels, black and white dangles and a black prada purse.  All in all she had a look that screamed “Chic!” She had white sunglasses in her hair and was staring at her gawking daughter with her piercing green eyes.  

“Lauren Alexander Stone.” she frowned, “What in God’s wonderful name are you doing sprawled out on the floor? You know you have school today.”

She was so busy admiring her mother’s perfect body that she didn’t even notice the question that was directed at her.  Why didn’t God bless her with an angel’s body, she wondered.  Her mother was perfect in every way: she had a perfect sized chest- generous, but not overpowering- and a good sized rear to match.  Her stomach was always flat no matter how much she ate.  Basically, her mother had a perfect body and flawless skin to match.  However, she never flaunted it which made Lauren admire her mother even more.  She was sexy, chic, smart, and savvy.  She couldn’t nearly compare to her mother’s beauty.  She was lost in thought until she heard her mother’s foot tapping impatiently.

“Well?” she asked.

“Huh,” her eyes went buck wide when she realized that she had made no move to get up off of the floor and get dressed. “Oh! Sorry Mom… I just had… a-a sl-sleepy start,”

Bolting up, she sprinted over to her bed and proceeded to repair the damage she had done to her poor covers.  Her mom just stood in the doorway watching in baffling fascination.

“What?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just… honey why were you screaming?”

“Oh that?” she chuckled.

“Yea, oh that.” Luke decided to butt in.

“Can it, you!” she hissed.

“Lauren?” her mother snapped her fingers again. “Honey are you feeling okay?” Her voice registered genuine concern for her daughter.

Lauren had never told her mother about Luke’s presence out of fear that she would think that she had gone bonkers.  However from time to time she would find herself talking to herself, thinking that she was just having a mental conversation with Luke.  When her mother would question her about it, she would try to play it off by saying that she was thinking out loud.  However, she had stopped doing that when she was ten for she had then learned to be more careful of behaviour like that.  She didn’t want anyone to think she was crazy or to look at her the way her mother was looking at her now: with utter concern.

“I’m fine, mom” she waved her off, “I just have a headache is all. You know I’m not a morning person so this headache is making me cranky.” she smiled hoping she sounded convincing.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” Luke scolded.

“I said, put a sock in it.”

“Oh,” her mother said, sounding relieved. “Well, I have some ibuprofen for you if you want some,” she said.

“No, I’ll be fine, it’s just the crappy mornings,”  she replied.

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing young lady,” her mother playfully scolded. (Thank god that awkward moment was gone.) “It’s going to get even crappier for the both of us if you make us both late thanks to your procrastination.  Look at you, you’re still in your pj’s and school starts in thirty minutes.”  

Taking three long, meaningful strides she gripped her daughter’s firmly and started out of the room towards the bathroom. “Come on, little baby, let’s get you dressed now,” she teased.

“Ew, mom!”  she squealed shaking her wrist loose from her mother. “I can dress myself, thanks.” she ran into the bathroom for dear life.  

“You need to hurry or you’ll be late,” her mother ended and her footsteps began to recede earning a sigh of relief from Lauren.  Sliding down the bathroom door, she waited a beat to release the breath she didn’t know she was holding.   She examined the bathroom for a moment.  The bathroom was a generous size  having beige-colored walls with a large, ivory tub and separate walk-in shower.  There was a double vanity sink with plenty of space for her makeup and for Nikos and Ezio’s- her two little brothers- hygiene products.  Rising she ambled over to the right vanity and studied herself in the mirror.  She looked at her pale, acne-filled face and her hazel-brown eyes and sagging red hair with streaks of brown and her dry flat lips and mentally compared hers to her mother’s perfect round face with her lively green eyes that could lighten up any room and her long, luscious red hair that glossed in the sunlight and her pink plump lips that would have any man’s mouth watering. Why couldn’t you make me look like that? She asked God.  

“Because you, my child, are NOT WORTHY!” Luke replied in a deep voice before bursting out in fits of laughter.  

“Shut up! I know I’m ugly but I don’t need you to reiterate that to me,” she pouted.

“Now you know you aren’t ugly… your eyes are a wonderful shade of hazel and you don’t even have that much acne on your face so I don’t know what you are talking about.  And what’s wrong with your brown streaks in your hair?  I think it’s cool.  You just have natural highlights.  And there’s nothing wrong with your lips, they’re fine.  You are too insecure for you own good.  Now stop depressing yourself and get ready while I test you on our Chemistry since I’m obviously the only one who was paying attention while we were reading.”  he said.  

A pout formed on Lauren’s face as she grabbed the comb to fix her hair.  “I did study… I just don’t remember everything,” she muttered.

“More like nothing… and if you don’t remember then you didn’t study. Now shut up and get ready while I test you,”

Author's Note

I hope you enjoy. Constructive criticism is both encouraged and requested. Thank you. :)

Reviews

[Cy!]

Five Seconds of Summer ? Ariana Grande? I approve. *Thumbs up*

Also this is relationship between Lauren and Luke is just too cute to handle. >w<

Suggestion: When it comes to dialouge you should index it into another paragraph. It's easier on the eyes of the reader.

[Sira YR]

Okay thank you for that, I will definitely keep that in mind, Locket Grey. :)

[matrixmark]

I really liked how the beginning was just so 'blunt' - Lauren came across really well just from the second paragraph. Luke singing 'No limit' made me giggle and that would be enough to infuriate me too. Again you have put great vivid images in my head of the bedroom and hername behind her bed was a nice touch. REALLY WELL DONE WITH ALL THE OTHER DESCRIPTIONS - I actually did feel like I was standing in the room and looking around as you took me on a guided tour with your descriptive words. Also when you described the mother - that too was really nicely penned and I can see that quite a bit of thought had gone into it. - Good work.

So as I got the end, It then twigged - Luke is a voice in her head - geeezzz, why didn't I pick up on that.

This chapter, much like the first was REALLY WELL thought out and structurally sound.

Good work Raysira. Please do keep writing this one.

Mark.

[Sira YR]

Again thank you so much matrixmark for your detailed review :). I'm really excited for this story; i cannot wait to see where it goes :). Thank you so much!

[matrixmark]

Ita not so much as detailed, but more of my way of expressing how good i thought it was. I really do like what is going on with this piece. Keep persuing it.

Mark.

[Sira YR]

I will and thank you again, Mark :)

[matrixmark]

You are more than welcome Raysira. Always a big fan of your work.

Mark.

[Sinbulvinter]

I like Lauren's character. She's very real and relatable. I like the time skip and that her and Luke are still friends.
Again, your chapter structure is very easy to read and flows great, feels very natural and kind of like a "slice of life" piece. I'm impressed with your writing skills, hun.
Keep up the good work

[Sira YR]

Thank you so much for your review. I'm glad you liked it :)

[Sinbulvinter]

You're very welcome