As much as she tried to deny it, Georgia's comments were starting to get to her. Well, more so Corey agreeing with her. Every day, bit by bit, Laney's confidence was diminishing. As a child, Laney had always been confident and proud, rude comments about her personality or her looks rarely ever phased her.
But now things were different. Ever since she turned 16, ever since Georgia entered her life, Laney began to have doubts about herself. She started to entertain ideas about a different version of herself, a version that Corey would like. If she looked differently would he finally see her as a girl instead of one of the guys? What ifs began to plague her mind.
What if she had bigger breasts?
What if her figure resembled a model instead of a door?
What if she wore more feminine clothes?
What if she ditched the heavy black eyeshadow for a pastel pink?
What if…
What if…
What if…
What if she was more like Georgia? Would Corey see her as a woman?
As much as Laney disliked Georgia, she was envious. Georgia managed to get the one guy she wanted in less than 3 months while Laney is stuck if the 'guy friend zone'.
Staring blankly out of the car windows Laney imagine scenarios where she managed to steal Corey away from Georgia. But she knows that's never going to happen. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that Corey genuinely loves Georgia.
What kind of friend would she be if she sabotaged her best friends happy relationship because of her own insecurities and jealousy?
Laney lets out a quiet sigh, there's nothing she can do. She wants Corey to be happy and he's happy with Georgia, she knows that she is forever going to be one of the guys.
This car ride with Corey and Georgia might've just been the worst Laney has experienced in a while. Or maybe she's just being overdramatic after witnessing her childhood crush whisper sweet nothings to his girlfriend at every red light. As Corey is pulling into the garage Laney gets a text.
Kin: Hey Laney! Me and Kon are going to be late, those 8 day old burritos Kon ate for lunch is fucking up his stomach. We'll be there in an hour.
Just as Laney is about to curse out Kin for leaving her alone with the lovebirds she gets another message.
Kin: Make that 2 hours…
Thankfully Corey and Georgia are already out of the car by the time Laney lets out a loud annoyed grunt. Laney really doesn't want to be stuck with Corey and Georgia for another two hours. She begins to contemplate on whether she should just suck it up so they can have practice or if she should walk to her house, neither option is good.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The gentle tap on the car window knocks Laney out of her trance. "You good in there Lanes?" He opens the car door "You've just been sitting in here alone."
Laney looks at Corey with wide green eyes before taking a quick glance in Georgia's direction. She can clearly see the annoyed look on Georgia's face. She looks back at Corey before replying to him. "Um…oh yea! I was just texting Kin. The twins are going to be late, Kon is having some…stomach issues."
Corey laughs a bit, it's not an uncommon occurrence, being friends with the twins has taught him that those two always have something going on. "Haha I told Kon not to have those burritos. Welp at least I get to spend more time with my favorite bassist, right fella?" He smiles down at her.
His smile is probably one of Laney's favorite things about him. His smile never fails to make her heart flutter. His smile carries so much joy and love. Everything about his smile is perfect. Laney swears that if Corey wasn't so set on becoming a famous musician, he'd have a great career as a model for a dentists office.
Rows of perfectly straight and blindingly white teeth put her own to shame. Laney's smile can't compare to Corey. Whenever she smiles she can only think about how big her gaps are, how crooked some teeth are, how her teeth are stained from the unhealthy amount of energy drinks she drinks, about how her smile can't even compare to Georgia's even though hers are covered by braces.
Laney feels herself getting lost in Corey's smile and her own insecurities, so much so that she almost fails to respond to Corey's question. "Oh! Yea, definitely Core! Lemme just ge-" Before she can even finish her sentence, Laney is cut off by Georgia who runs up to Corey.
"Oh Corey baby I need your help with my music theory homework" Georgia pouts and whines to Corey while hugging his left arm between her breasts. "I didn't understand a single thing in Mr. Perez said in class today~ Do you think that you could help me?"
Music theory is another thing Georgia ruined for Laney. That class is the only class Laney got with Corey this year and guess who's in it too. Laney might as well not exist in that class because Corey pays her no mind, all his attention goes to the lesson or his girlfriend. Laney knows that Georgia doesn't even care about the theory behind music, she just knew that Corey was going to take the class and wanted to make sure to take up all of Corey's attention.
"Of course babe, you've come to the right place. I've got all the time to help my angel with her homework." And with that he gently cups her chin before kissing her, out in the middle of the open garage in front of Laney.
Laney feels awkward, there's no way she can get out of the car without interrupting them. It's not the first time the two of them forget about Laney's existence. Anytime those two connect lips its like the whole world vanishes. Laney wishes that she was in Georgia's position. She still remembers her first and only kiss that she shared when she was thirteen with Corey that fateful New Years Day. Oh how she wishes she could just kiss Corey whenever she wanted to.
Before the two can have a full blown out make out session in front of her Laney clears her throat, getting the attention of Corey. "Oh sorry Lanes" He rubs the back of his neck "Lemme go help Georgia real quick and then I'll get back to ya fella." And with that Georgia whisks him away but not before Laney feels a pang in her heart after seeing the residue of Georgia's pink lipgloss on Corey.
"Two hours my ass. I'll get back to ya fella my ass." Laney grumbles under her breathe. It's almost 7 and the twins still weren't here and Corey was still doting on Georgia. Well doting was a bit of an understatement, they were in the middle of a make out session.
Laney has been bored out of her mind for the past hour.
Kin and Kon weren't answering their phones, Corey was ignoring her, she couldn't even do any homework since she got done with it early. She can't even play her bass since Corey likes them playing together. She's so bored that she can feel herself falling asleep.
Laney has no idea how long she was out but all of a sudden she's awake and…wet? "What they fuck?" Laney slowly gets up and looks down to see something pink soaking through her black shirt. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry Laney. I was trying to wake you up but I accidentally spilled my smoothie over you" Georgia gives the redhead a fake pout.
"Is everything okay?" Corey peers over Georgia's shoulder to see the mess. "Lanes are you okay?"
Laney groans as she full sits up straight. "I'm fine Core, I just need a napkin to get this off me." Corey shakes his head, "no no no. You need to change your shirt Lanes, that one needs to get washed. Come on, I'll give you one of my shirts in the meantime."
Laney's heart starts to beat faster but it quickly goes back to normal as soon as Georgia chimes in. "Wait Corey baby! Don't you think that you should give her one of the shirts Trina left? I mean they're probably closer in size."
"Good idea babe, c'mon Lanes." Laney begrudgingly follows him into his sisters old room. As they are walking Laney doesn't speak and Corey picks up on it. "Im pretty sure Trina has left something in her closet for you. I doubt she took everything to her dorm." Laney mumbles a yea as they enter the very pink room.
Truthfully Laney didn't want to wear Trina's old clothes, not just because she'd rather wear Corey's clothes, but because she doesn't like Trina's style. All the pink and frills and glitter wasn't Laney's style.
Laney isn't paying much attention to the clothes that Corey is rummaging through. Most of them are way to risqué or small for Laney. After a while Corey manages to find a shirt. Unfortunately its definitely not Laney's style. Its a slightly cropped baby pink shirt with white bows alongside the sleeves and back. "I think this will have to do for now Lanes" Corey says as he passes Laney the shirt. "Hurry up and go change so I can put your shirt into the wash."
Just as Laney expected, the shirt wasn't for her. At first she got tangled in the ribbons that crisscrossed in the back. It was much tighter than the shirts that Laney usually wears. She was also having the deal with the fact that the shirt didn't cover everything, her freckled shoulders and back was exposed and the shirt barely covered her navel.
Never before has Laney felt so uncomfortable in an outfit. All she could think about was how exposed she felt and how someone like Georgia would look better in it.
Laney's train of thoughts is broken when she hears a soft knock at the door, "You done in there Lanes?" She quickly replies to him as she gets ready to leave the bathroom.
"Maybe Corey will see me differently if he sees me in this" She thinks to herself as she opens the door.
"Took you long enough Lanes." Corey gives her a light chuckle before taking the soiled shirt away from her. On the small walk back to the garage, Corey doesn't mention the shirt at all, he doesn't even spare her a glance much to Laney's disappointment. She was hoping that he'd say something. But instead, he just goes straight to the washing machine.
The first comment she gets about the shirt is from Georgia. "Look at you Laney~ I forget that you're a girl sometimes you always wear such boyish baggy clothes. If you put on a pushup bra then you might actually look like a girl. Maybe if you grow out your hair too." Georgia turns her head to her boyfriend who's turning on the machine.
"Don't you think so too Corey boo? Wouldn't she look so much better if she had some boobs or if she wore a push up bra." She turns back to Laney and scans her body some more before giving her a smirk. Corey sits down besides his girlfriend on the sofa and wraps him arm around he shoulder. His blue eyes start to eye up Laney and she feels her insecurities creep up.
"Yea I guess if Lanes had more boobs it be flattering."
Hearing that crushed her. Laney slowly started to cover herself with her arms, suddenly feeling cold and exposed. She gives him a nervous laugh, avoiding his eyes and instead opting for looking at the floor. "Haha… I guess so. I guess I'll buy a new bra." Laney wanted him to say something about the shirt, but now she regrets it.
A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. College has been kicking my ass and I kinda forgot that I was doing a rewrite. Despite all of this I still managed to write all of this in a day, so I hope you guys enjoyed it~