Snippet #2821726

After leaving his friend in the Den, he made to follow after Lauren. He looked around as he went, searching for the platinum blonde that was his best friend, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he managed to find Lauren in the kitchen, sitting on the island with her phone in one hand and a drink in the other.

His hands clenched into fists as his sides and he took a deep breath before approaching. He vowed he would try to do this carefully. ”Hey, Lauren,” he greeted, ”Have you seen Livvy? Last I heard she was with you.”

Lauren was vaguely aware of someone approaching her, but she didn’t as much as look up from her phone, just taking another mouthful from her drink. She shrugged. “She started being all weird and stormed out of the room after I was talking to her. I thought that it was probably best to just let her be. You know what she can be like,” she said, finally glancing up at Simon.

Simon raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t help but feel like there was more to this conversation than she was letting on. Especially with the nonchalant tone she took while speaking about it. She didn’t even look at him until she had finished her response. ”That’s it? What did you say to her.” He crossed his arms over his chest, indicating that he was going to need more information before he left her alone.

Lauren had glanced back down at her phone, scrolling through her Instagram, and had intended on further ignoring Simon. However, at his question, she looked back up at him. “What does that matter to you? It’s none of your business, go find her yourself if you want to know,” she said.

Simon frowned and took a deep breath, releasing it through his nose audibly. ”It matters because she’s my best friend and you have a tendency to cause trouble.” He uncrossed his arms, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. ”Look, you’re not my frist choice, but I can’t find her and you were the last one she was seen with. So if you could give me something, for once instead of,” he waved his hand at her phone, ”whatever it is you’re doing, I can get out of your hair.”

“Ugh,” Lauren said, looking up at Simon. “Fine. We were in Erin’s room, we were talking, she made a move on me, I politely turned her down, and she lost it. She left and I don’t know where she went, probably to drown her sorrows even more. Okay? Happy now?” She asked. “I don’t know where she is, and to be honest, I don’t care.”

Simon scoffed. ”Yeah. I don’t buy that. You don’t do polite.” He gestured between the two of them to make his point. ”What’s with you anyway? Isn’t the gossip and ruining people’s lives thing a little… juvenile for you? You’ve been like this since high school. Only back then, you had friends. Do you see the people here? Everyone is interacting with the people around them. But not you.”

He couldn’t stop himself. This girl changed Cam, she teased Livvy, and he still wasn’t entirely sure what happened with Soren, but he knew it wasn’t good. He felt like his friends were behind him as he continued. ”You don’t have any friends left. You spend all your time digging up dirt to keep them under your thumb until they’re sick of it and leave you. Friendship is knowing people’s secrets and keeping it to yourself. So do everyone a favor and grow up.”

He turned and started to walk away. ”I’m going to find Livvy. And the truth.”

Lauren rolled her eyes as he made his big speech, questioning her motivations, and calling her juvenile. She didn’t need friends. She needed power, she needed control, and that much, she was getting. She was tempted to just let him go to find Livvy; and then the temptation to play her games became too much.

“Funny how you talk about friends so much, Simon. I know your family has some very interesting friends,” she called. “I would have thought that you of all people might have understood the importance of making sure that your “friends” don’t try stabbing you in the back, even if it does mean that they’d rather not be your friend,” she said. “What with the… business they’re involved in. But maybe not.”

Simon was stunned for a moment. Then sighed. He should’ve known she would have something on him too. He turned to face her. ”Don’t bring them into this. They have nothing to do with this.” He pointed a finger at her like a disapproving father. ”You don’t get to make your problems my problems.”

Lauren smiled at him, the perfect venomous smile. “I’m just reminding you that even you and your high horse have secrets that you’d rather I keep. Just remember that, Simon. Before you go and start spreading too many stories and lies about what actually happened, just remember that I have stories of my own to tell,” she said.

”Yeah well, good luck with that, Lauren. You’re going to end up on someone’s bad side and it could get you into trouble.” He said, turning and heading off in search of Livvy.