the r o a d less traveled }}

[Lauren Marie Richards]

Lauren looked down at her small silver watch.

2:00 exactly... she thought. Where could she be?

She normally wouldn't be so impatient, but she was really looking forward to this visit with her sister. Lauren hadn't seen Clarissa in over a year. But Clarissa was in Seattle and decided to make a trip across the border to visit her littlest sister.

Minutes passed. Lauren whipped out her new chocolate phone, hoping to reach her that way. The phone went straight to voicemail.

Hmmm... she thought to herself. Maybe I should sit down. It looks like I may be here awhile.

Lauren bought a Dr. Pepper from the concession stand and made her way to a red booth in the lobby. She looked around at the people passing by, hoping one of them would be Clarissa.

[Aurora Audrina Noble]

oh boy.

Deciding to see a movie last moment was not unusal for Aurora, so she was off to the movie theater. She arrived with about a half an hour until the movie started. Well, so much for thinking she was going to be late. Rory shuffled her feet over to a bench and sat down, not really noticing the other girl sitting on the bench.

Aurora pulled a bottle of water out of her bag and took a drink, sighing and resting her head on the back of the booth gently, she could rest a little before going into the movies. She had been in dance classes all morning, so relaxing was a good idea for her.

[Lauren Marie Richards]

Lauren continued sipping her drink and sifting her eyes around the crowd of people. The theater was certainly busy for a Saturday afternoon. Still no sign of Clarissa, though. Lauren wondered whether this was the time she was supposed to start worrying. Because she definitely was.

Gosh they always put way too much ice in these drinks. Lauren thought. She checked her pockets. No more change. And she was still thirsty.

Lauren opened the lid to her drink and picked at the ice cubes with her straw. She was so thirsty, that she was pondering sucking on the ice cubes. Before she could think to do that, the ice cubes slid down ::plop plop plop:: onto the lap of the girl next to her.......

[Aurora Audrina Noble]

One second, Aurora was enjoying her little rest in the movie theater, the next second her legs were freezing. "JESUS CHRIST!" she screamed out and she threw her head forward, standing up quickly to let the cubes fall from her jeaned legs.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked, turning towards the girl she had been sitting next to. Sure, the girl probably didn't mean to do it, but she still had, and Rory was pissed.

[Lauren Marie Richards]

"Oh my gosh, I'm sooo sorry," Lauren cried. Then she finally got a look at the girl who she spilled the ice onto. It was a girl she recognized from school. It wasn't like they were friends or anything, but it was nice to see a familiar face in the crowd of faceless Canadian nobodies. Still...just her luck, the one girl she knew here, she spilled half her drink on. What luck.

Lauren stood up. "You know what.." she started, "I'm going to go get some napkins or something. You just...You just wait here."

She disappeared for a moment. When she returned, she had paper towels in her hand. "I hope this helps a little." Lauren smiled nervously. She always has a way of getting herself in these kinds of situations. For such an intelligent girl, she does a lot of dumb things.