A/N: I survived camping!
I really don't want to go back but my friends are going to make me, I can feel it LOL!
BTW: a new one-shot just dropped called "What Just Happened?" This was based on a suggestion from a fan, so show it some love.
Lauren groaned in her bed, unable to emerge from under the covers. She called out for her mom, but she was barely audible. It hurt way too much to say anything above a gentle whisper.
The girl grabbed her cell phone to attempt reaching her mother, but it slipped out of her hand and landed hard onto the floor. The noise echoed enough through the otherwise silent house and Louise came running.
"Are you okay?" she asked, bursting through the door.
Lauren couldn't manage much of anything in response.
Her mom rushed to her, concerned. She first felt her head.
"You're burning up, baby! Can you open wide for me?"
She opened her mouth, the strain of her voice evident. The woman used her phone's flashlight app to shine a powerful beam to see better. Sure enough, Louise could make out redness and swelling in the back of the throat all the way to the tonsils.
"It might be strep," Louise sighed. "Let me call Doctor Meade."
Lauren shook her head and tried to sit up, but her mother stopped her.
"Lauren Jackson! You stay in that bed; you're in no shape for church today."
The poor teen mouthed the words that she was supposed to sing and gestured pleadingly with her hand.
Louise shook her head.
"Baby girl, you aren't singing anything right now! Before this fever goes down and you can talk again, you aren't even leaving this bed!"
Her eyes were so sad and desperate, but she knew her mom meant business when it came to these matters.
"Do I make myself clear?"
Lauren gave a silent sigh and turned away with a frown.
Louise leaned over and kissed her daughter on the head.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey!"
Jade glanced up briefly and smiled before returning to her phone.
"Everything okay?" asked Tori.
"Just reading an email from my publisher. 'The Better To See You With...' had just come out in paperback and they asked me to do a promotion at the local Barnes and Noble."
Tori lit up like Christmas morning and hugged her girlfriend.
"Jade, that's so great! When is it?"
"Uh..." the former goth scrolled to double-check the date. "This Wednesday."
"Wow!" nodded Tori. "Well, that sounds like fun."
The paler one held up her hand.
"Babe, you don't have to go out of you way to..."
Tori pressed her fingers on Jade's lips to keep them shut.
"Guess where I'm going to be on Wednesday? At my awesome girlfriend's book signing!"
"Really?" Jade asked, muffled.
"Yeah, silly! You were there for me with my career..." Tori then clapped her hands. "Of course I'm going to be there for you."
Jade chuckled.
"Just don't freak out, hon. You know a bunch of my fans are women, right?"
Tori scoffed and out her hand on her hip.
"If you think I'm the jealous type, you are way off base! I've got nothing to prove. I know you only got eyes for me."
Jade stood up and kiss Tori's forehead.
"And don't you forget it, Vega."
Jenna was getting ice cream with Billy at the new soft serve shop near Hollywood Arts.
"What did you get again?" she asked him.
"Graham Cracker Crunch," he replied. "See?"
He pointed his cone toward her nose, and she took a whiff.
"Whoa! That smells just like graham crackers."
"Tastes it, too!" Billy added. "I think next time I'll have them add marshmallows and hot fudge and make a s'more flavor."
"You're a true visionary, babe" she smiled.
Her phone buzzed and she steadied her ice cream while she checked out her message with the free hand.
"Oh, no!"
"What's up?" he asked.
"Lauren's sick. She's got strep throat."
Billy frowned.
"Oh, that sucks. Had that when I was a kid. She has a fever still?"
Jenna licked her lips with worry as she chatted with Mia who relayed the message, who heard it from the patient herself. Or, read it since she couldn't speak.
"Still just over 100 last time her mom looked. The doctor made a visit because he didn't live far and yeah, it's strep."
"Shit," he sighed. "Tell Mia to tell Lauren we're pulling for her."
The tall girl nodded and typed her reply.
"Come on," Billy motioned toward the car to lean against. "Let's finish these cones before the sun does."
"Right," Jenna nodded.
The blond boy thought for a moment.
"You think Chase knows?"
"Dude! Slow down."
Chase was going up and down the aisle of the florist, muttering to himself.
"Daisies, no she doesn't like daisies. Or was it orchids she didn't like?"
He pulled at his long hair with a grumble.
"Chase, take a breath!"
Neil put his hand on his shoulder and the boy started breathing normally.
"Lauren is sick, Uncle Neil. I can't be there for her, so I really want this to be perfect."
"Chase," he chuckled. "Nothing is perfect. And no-body is!"
"She is to me!"
Neil smiled.
"This isn't just puppy love, is it? You really care for this girl."
The teen nodded silently.
"Okay," the man sighed. "Let me help you. Now...if Lauren's wardrobe is any indicator, she likes bright colors. And if I was sick, and feeling drab, some color would brighten up the room."
"Well, don't you sound knowledgeable" smiled a lady with brown hair and glasses. "Could I help you two?"
"This lad here needs something for his girlfriend who isn't feeling well. The more colors, the better!"
"Follow me," the florist said.
They walked over to a display of good-sized bouquets for more informal occasions. The really massive displays were for like weddings or baby showers. She hand-picked one with bright red chrysanthemums, orange Asiatic lilies, hot pink roses, big yellow sunflowers, with some lavender and green pom poms to tie it all together. It was like a rainbow.
"This is a very popular one," she indicated. "We can also have a personalized note to go with it, look very nice."
"Okay, we'll take it. Thanks!"
She nodded with a warm smile.
"I will set this aside and young man, maybe you would like to browse out greeting cards?"
He nodded and headed for the section.
"Isn't he sweet?"
"Definitely a good kid," Neil said.
"Haven't seen you here before and I have a pretty good memory for my regulars."
Neil shook his head.
"Nope. Never set foot in here before."
"Don't believe in flowers?"
"Nobody to give flowers to, I guess" he shrugged.
She gave him a quick look and started heading to the register.
"Well, that's too bad."
Alice went to call Becky since their day's plans have changed. They were going to hang out with Lauren and Chase but since she was sick that kind of torpedoed things.
"Hey, Becky!" grinned Alice. "How are you?"
"Oh...uh, FINE! Everything is fine."
She figured her tone was one of surprise, not apprehension since she called out of the blue.
"Sorry that it's been a few days since I called. But I've got some good news!"
"What?" asked Becky.
"That album you ordered came in."
"Oh," she sounded a bit disappointed. "That's nice."
"Look...I was thinking...since the day's wide open, I mean IF you're not busy, maybe you could come to my house, and we can listen to it together?"
Something being dropped was audible on the other line.
"Becky? Becky, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good! You're inviting me OVER? It would...just be...the two of us?"
"Sure, we always have fun, right?" Alice sighed. "I was about to leave with my mom and head home."
"NO! No! Let me just...erm...text me the address, okay?"
"Can do! I could grab the CD really quick, and you can meet me at my house. Your parents won't mind dropping you off?"
"Hold on!"
Alice could hear a commotion grow fainter and fainter. Becky must have run to a completely different floor in her home to ask permission. Then the footsteps came back louder and louder until Becky's voice returned.
"It's cool!" she huffed, out of breath. "My dad can take me."
"Great!" Alice bounced. "I'll see you about one o'clock?"
"Uh...okay?"
That afternoon, her dad was driving her to Alice's home.
She had to give herself a pep talk.
(Play it cool, Becky. Just play it cool. it's just a friendly invite.)
She couldn't believe this was actually happening. Becky was aware of a trip to the beach being planned sometime in June and Alice invited her to join them. She had that to look forward to but didn't anticipate some one-on-one time with the brunette.
"Hey, Becks?"
The girl turned to her dad.
"I heard this Alice is a freshman, huh?"
He always meant well but was rather clunky starting conversations. Becky wondered if she inherited that because she has trouble initiating those things.
"Um, yeah. I mean, she was."
Her dad chuckled.
"I remember back in high school," he sighed. "Freshmen were the lowest on the food chain. It was super rare to make friends with an upperclassman."
"Actually, most of her friends will be senior next year."
"Wow, impressive. Alice must be quite a girl."
Becky took a deep breath.
"She's great! Super nice and smart and she can be funny, too."
"Well, I'm glad she's nice to you."
(Not even my girlfriend and I already felt the need to hype her up for my dad!)
"This should be the turn," he said.
They pulled up and waved goodbye. Becky walked the stone path and knocked on the door.
Jade answered and smiled at her daughter's friend.
She looked up and acknowledged Mr. Hoult and he drove away.
"How are you, Becky?" Jade asked.
"I'm good," she chuckled nervously.
Jade regarded her with curiosity.
(Why is she shaking? I thought I put my pleasant face on.)
"She's upstairs," indicated Jade. "First door on the right."
"Thanks, Mrs. Doyle" Becky nodded as she bounded up the stairs.
"Mrs. West, please!"
Chase knocked on Lauren's door and about half a minute later, Louise answered.
"Hello, Chase" she huffed, looking tired. "I take it you heard?"
"Yes, ma'am" the boy nodded.
He then bent over to his side to pick up the flowers and hand them to her.
"Would you mind giving Lauren these? We can talk later when she's better. I just wanted her to know that..."
The woman smiled and accepted the bouquet.
"These are beautiful. She will love them."
Chase sighed; glad he picked a good one.
"Oh, and there's a card I see."
"Yes," he nodded. "But she doesn't have to read it now. She's probably asleep and...um..."
"Chase," she grinned in that firm but pleasant motherly tone. "Lauren will be fine in a few days, sweetheart."
The doctor prescribed some antibiotics, and her fever is expected to go down before tomorrow. But she is not recommended to leave the house until the medication is all gone. It's just as well as speaking above a moan hurts really bad. Fortunately, it was only strep and not tonsilitis from the redness Louise had seen. But if that pesky temperature doesn't improve, then a hospital stay would be needed. The woman had her fingers crossed.
"Okay, Mrs. Jackson. Thank you."
"Take care and don't worry, alright?"
Chase nodded.
"Okay."
"You have a good rest of your day."
"You too," he smiled. "Bye."
Alice was laying on her bed while Becky was swaying back and forth in the computer chair.
They were about halfway through the record.
Imagine Dragons had been established for a handful of years, releasing some extended plays. Over the years, those tracks were re-released digitally. But 2012's "Night Visions" was their album debut. Unless you were following them in those early days, this was how a lot of people heard them for the very first time.
"Isn't it weird?" Alice mused.
"Is what weird?"
Just thinking about how this music existed before either of us were ever born. I think my mom was still in high school then.
Becky giggled.
"I like a lot of old stuff, too."
Alice sat up with interest.
"Really, like what?"
The blonde steadied the chair while she thought about it.
"I mean, I've always dug The Cure and Pink Floyd. I dunno, I just vibed with English rock."
"You like the Stones, or the Beatles?" asked Alice.
"My grandpa listened to the Beatles," smirked Becky. "But I liked Sgt. Pepper. It was pretty fun. What about you?"
The brunette nibbled the one side of her lip.
"Older stuff...oh, I like Prince and um...The B-52's. I'm pretty all over the place. I even listen to some jazz."
Becky was impressed.
"Jazz? You?"
Alice jumped off the bed and went to her shelf, which was packed with CD's. She thumbed through the spines and found one.
"This was amazing!"
She handed her Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" from 1959.
"Wow, where did you get this?"
"I was a little stuck on a writing project," Alice explained. "And I was asking my dad about some music he might have had for inspiration. He then gave me this; he had the CD for years but recently got it on vinyl, so he said I could keep it."
Alice took out the Imagine Dragons CD and put on this one.
Track 1 "So What" began and the modal jazz masterpiece did its thing.
Time just flew by as they were well into the colossal "All Blues" which would have been side B of the LP release.
"Whoa," breathed Becky. "I guess I never really gave it a chance before."
"I might have spoiled you by playing one of the all-time masters."
Becky smiled at Alice who paused the music.
"Let's get some snacks," the pale one suggested. "Then we can finish the album. Come on."
"Okay."
Lauren was absolutely despondent being sick. Not only there was the pain and overall bad feeling from being under the weather. She was especially saddened that she missed out on church today because she had wanted to sing. When some gals sought to go clubbing so that they could dance off the week they had had, Lauren's release was singing before her family and friends.
The teen felt she was robbed of that.
Her back was to her bedroom door, so she didn't see Louise enter but she heard her.
"Hey, Lauren! Someone dropped off something for you."
She breathed deeply and rolled over, immediately noticing the cornucopia of colors. They were already in a pretty glass vase with water.
"Chase brought them," she told her with a head shake. "He worries, that boy."
Louise took a sniff of the flowers, and it was a pleasant collection of aromas.
"You need some water, babe?"
Lauren nodded.
"Okay, I'll be right back!"
She then turned to the bouquet.
"And I will check on your water later."
When she left, Lauren just stared up at the gorgeous flowers.
(You know what? I think things are going to be okay.)
A/N: Poor Lauren. To be a songbird and lose your voice has got to be the worst.
And yeah, "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis is a mood. Just sit back and let it play. Harry is a jazz fan; we can just add that to the redeeming qualities pile.