A Sister's Heart

Chapter 16

After all of the heightened emotions of the night before, Diana made sure to be up early enough to check in with Lauren, especially since she was going through some stuff with her friends on top of her Grandmother's death and the truth about her Dad coming out. It had been playing on her mind since they had last spoken and she hadn't heard anything since the other night.

Her thoughts were broken when her niece interrupted her. She was dressed for school with her hair in a high ponytail and flawless make-up. It took her a moment for her to notice her Aunt sat at the kitchen island, and she jumped when she finally realised. "Damn, you nearly have me heart attack!" The over-reaction from her niece put a smile on Diana's face.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. I know your Mom spoke to you about your Dad, and with everything going on with your friends at school and all..." Diana trailed off, noticing how upset Lauren seemed and shutting up, allowing her niece to take the lead.

Sipping her coffee, Diana waited and watched as Lauren grabbed a bagel and a carton of orange juice. She did all this in silence and when she finished, she looked her Aunt dead in the eyes. "Things at school are better. "She started. "I tried to talk to Emily, but she just brushed me off and Logan overheard everything. I was so embarrassed, but then he told me that it was me he had wanted to go with all along and that he had only said yes to Emily because she lied to him and told him that I already had a date." Diana listened intently, but felt her mouth fall open at the revelation. "So, we confronted her and she admitted the whole thing! Logan ditched her and asked me to ask him to the dance, which I did and... " The suspense was killing her. "... he said yes!" The excitement radiated from Lauren and Diana was happy for her.

She was about to declare as much when Ivy rushed in, completely oblivious, with Matthew trailing behind. "You ready?" She asked; the question aimed at her daughter, who once again had her sights firmly upon her phone as if the last ten minutes hadn't happened. "I said, are you ready?" Ivy asked again, and Lauren mumbled something under her breath, which her mother took as confirmation. "Okay. Hurry up or we're gonna be late."

Lauren grabbed her bag off the back of the chair, waiting until she thought her Mom and brother were out of earshot, and turned to Diana. "Thanks for the chat." She said, flashing her Aunt a smile. Then she hurried to catch up to her Mom and Diana heard the click of the front door closing behind her.

Diana knew that her sister would have questions when she got back, suspecting that Ivy hadn't been quite as far away as Lauren would have preferred. She didn't have long to consider how she would answer those questions however, as twenty minutes later, the car could be heard pulling onto the gravel driveway.

She tried to make a getaway up the stairs before her sister made her way into the house, but Ivy had moved quicker than expected and managed to block the stairs just as Diana reached them. "And where do you think you're going?" Her voice was light and jovial with a hint of seriousness behind it. "We need to talk about Lauren!"

Guiding her sister back through to the kitchen, Ivy made it clear that she wasn't letting the matter go, leaving Diana in a tough position. She had promised Lauren that she wouldn't say anything, but still needed to ease her sister's worries. What she had to do was find a way to do both without giving too much away.

"Lauren? What about?" First, she decided to play dumb; a move that she knew would instantly be thrown out the window.

"Don't give me that!" Ivy snapped back. "I know something's up and I know that you know what it is!" The fear in her voice was stronger now as she worried that it was something really bad. "I need you to tell me what's going on."

To Diana, it was obvious that Ivy was only being protective of her daughter, but Lauren had chosen her to confide in and she was not going to betray her trust. "It was nothing. She had a bit of an issue with a friend at school, that's all." The truth; sort of, but Ivy wasn't convinced. "Look if it was something serious I would tell you, and besides, it's all sorted now anyway."

That seemed to placate her sister a little, but Diana knew that the situation would not be forgotten and that Ivy would be keeping an eye on the pair of them from now on. "Fine" She relented. "But promise me that if it escalates again, then you'll tell me!" Diana agreed and Ivy backed down, for now at least, allowing her sister to retreat back upstairs.

Author's Note - Hope you like this new little chapter x