Heartbeat (Lauren Jauregui)

Chapter 26

Olivia's POV

"Miss Jauregui!" Ally exclaimed when she realised that Lauren had agreed with the rest of us, even though she was a teacher. I giggled at Ally's shocked look on her face and Lauren looked at me and smirked. I felt my heart rate increase with the look on Lauren's face. I tried not to make it obvious how I was feeling. What was she doing to me, this wasn't fair? Nobody deserves to have this much control over me.

"If I didn't risk losing my job, I would kick her ass. So, all I can do is support Dinah." Lauren said. I just smiled at her, whilst the other girls laughed and agreed with her.

"We need to get rid of these pictures now." Normani stated. She began tearing them off the walls and shoving them in the bin. Ally and Dinah quickly joined in to help dispose of all the pictures. I stood back, unable to move; Lauren's hand was still in mine.

"I will go talk to Principal Smith and explain that you girls won't be attending your first classes." Miss. Jauregui said. She squeezed my hand slightly before leaning over and kissing my forehead gently.

"You will be okay. I will be right back and will help get rid of all of this." She said. I nodded and thanked her quietly. She gave me a small smile before letting go off my hand and making her way back to the offices.

I made my way over to the girls and started ripping the paper off the walls. The girls gave me words of comfort to try and calm the panic attack that they knew was coming on. The wall began to look bare as pictures of me filled to surrounding bins. Was Ashley lying when she said that she only dated me out of pity. I don't know why she would pity me, well I can understand now, but not before we met and dated. Before we became a couple, I was fine. There was nothing to pity, so was she lying? Was she telling the truth and I was completely blind to how I truly was? Maybe there was something to pity.

"Hey, you okay? We lost you for a second." Mani said. I felt her hand rest onto my forearm.

"I was just thinking." I replied. A sympathetic smile made her way onto her face, although the sympathy didn't last before she began to grin cheekily. She turned back to the wall and took a few more of the pictures down that we hadn't got to yet.

"So, you and Miss. Jauregui then?" She said as she nudged me gently. I let out a deep breath and rolled my eyes.

"No." I mutter, "there is no Miss. Jauregui and I." She just raised her eyebrows at me.

"Really, because I saw the moment you had back there."

"She was just comforting me Mani." I uttered.

"Well, comforting or not. It was cute as fuck." Mani emphasised. I huffed in response and walked to a different wall to strip that one of my face.

"Hey girls!" Miss. Jauregui hollered catching our attention. We all made our way to the beautiful teacher. She smiled and explained that we will be exempt from our first class and that a few janitors will be around to help us get rid of all the pictures. She handed us all a bag to put the paper in as we had already filled the three bins. I thanked her profusely, making her giggle cutely.

"There is no need to thank me Liv. Shall we begin to get rid of these horrible pictures." She said as she walked towards a wall that was still covered in them. She stopped and quickly turned and looked at me, her green eyes wide with shock. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"I just meant the slander on the pictures are horrible. Not the pictures of you. You look really nice in all of these pictures." She rambled. I bit my lip trying to contain the happiness. Now really wasn't the time for me to be overly happy, not with what has happened.

"It's okay Miss. Jauregui. I know what you meant." I said. She just smiled back, her cheeks reddened, she probably just realised what she said to me.

"I mean this picture is not the best." Lauren said, holding up the picture of me and Ashley. She tore it in half and threw it into the bag she had held off. I could see the girls smirking at me with the eyebrows raised.

"What?" I sassed.

"Nothing going on." Mani snickered and walked away from us. Ally and Dinah laughed and walked away as well. I rolled my eyes and turned my back on them all to get rid of the disgraceful pictures. I tried to focus on the task at hand, but I couldn't stop myself from sneaking glances at Lauren. She was truly beautiful. Not just physically, she is a beautiful person. The fact that she is more than happy to help me in this moment and that she stood up for me. Most teachers wouldn't bat an eye at what had happened, but Lauren she cared. I don't think she only cared because it was me and we had a small connection, but I think Lauren would care if this happened to any student that attended this school. Lauren is an amazing person with a heart of gold. I studied her side profile whilst I could.

Suddenly, she turned her head and looked at me, a wide smile spread across her face. I immediately replicated her smile. I just wish me and Lauren could have met under better circumstances. I wonder what would have happened if we did, but unfortunately imaging those scenarios won't make them true. We are in this one, the one where anything that could happen between the two of us romantically was forbidden. Quickly, I shook my head and brought myself back to reality. I was still focused on the green-eyed beauty and she definitely knew that I was staring. I groaned loudly and turned my attention back to what was important in this moment, getting rid of these awful pictures. I could hear Lauren giggle from down the hall. I smiled at the sound.

I was falling for my teacher and there was nothing I could do to stop myself.