Lou's Diner is considered a sanctuary in the town. It's got the nicest jukebox in a 20-mile radius, the best coffee money can buy, and some of the most delicious pie Lauren's ever had. That's why she goes there every Saturday afternoon with her friends.

Shawn and Ally sit together in one booth while Lucy and Lauren sit opposite them. The four of them are enjoying their milkshakes and singing along to Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel.

"And be so, where they'll be so lonely, baby

Well, they're so lonely

They'll be so lonely, they could die."

The girls all cheer as Shawn perfectly imitates Elvis' signature high baritone. He smiles and the three of them blow him kisses, which he pretends to swat away.

"So, are you guys gonna go through with your plan?" Ally asks. She takes a sip of her chocolate milkshake and winks at them. "I'm so excited to be in cahoots with you guys."

Shawn laughs. "If Lauren's willing to, I'll be more than glad to be her new man."

The green-eyed girl in question winks at the boy. "You gonna treat me right, Mendes?"

"Only the best for my dolly."

The four teenagers burst into a fit of giggles. They're sure this is going to work, as Shawn's sexuality has never been questioned by anyone at school, and he's much more sought after than Brad.

"He should be here any minute then. He knows I come here every Saturday, and he's gonna wanna chat about what happened last night."

Lucy playfully shoves her best friend. "You guys basically got caught necking."

"Keep your voice down! And we haven't even kissed!"

"Soon you'll be playing backseat bingo at the drive in," Shawn tells the girl, throwing her a wink. The mere thought of kissing Camila, much less seeing her shirtless, makes Lauren feel extremely warm.

The bell rings and Lauren sees a crowd of football boys spill into the diner. She knows Brad is in the group, he always is. Her heart races with excitement at the idea of finally ending things with him.

"Hey Brad, your girl is over there," Lauren hears one boys voice. She steadies her breathing and prepares for the onslaught of insults that are sure to be fired at her. She knows she can handle anything Brad says to her, there's nothing he could say that could make her still want him.

The boy pushes past all of his friends and makes it to Lauren's table. She hasn't seen him since she left with Camila that night and she can't help but snort when she sees his face.

It's obvious he's much worse off than Camila. While she has a black eye and a couple of cuts, Brad has one hell of a shiner as well as a swollen nose that's probably broken, and bruises blossoming all over his jaw. "Yikes," Lauren catches herself saying.

The boy narrows his eyes at her. "Where the hell did you go yesterday, I'm your boyfriend, you're supposed to be there for me."

Lauren sighs. "Brad, listen, I really liked you when we first started going steady. I really did, but I can't be around you anymore. You kept trying to go fast with me when I wasn't ready, you don't let me just hang with my friends, and you punched Camila in the face."

"She was coming onto you-"

"She was being nice to me. Plus, you were so caught up with thinking I'd be into a girl, you didn't realize how much I was falling for Shawn."

Brad's eyes widen and he shoots his teammate a glare. "Shawn?"

The taller boy shrugs his shoulders. "Sorry ace, guess Lauren prefers me over some wet rag."

All of the football boys are watching with rapt attention. They know Brad won't try and fight Shawn, he's far too big compared to the curly haired boy. Brad just shoves himself away from the table and scoffs.

"Whatever, you're ugly anyway," Brad directs at Lauren before leaving.

The green-eyed girl rolls her eyes. She really couldn't care less about what he says, and she's just glad she's finally rid of him. She knows her mom and dad will be disappointed but they've also always liked Shawn, so she knows it'll be fine.

Once all of the football boys are gone, Lauren sinks into her seat.

Relief washes over her and she feels like she can breathe properly for the first time in a year. "Finally."

-

The convenience store is bustling with customers of every age and Camila's head is pounding from all of the noise and the throbbing in her black eye. She may hate Brad, but he really did get a good hit on her.

All she wants is to ditch the store and go find Lauren and take her for a drive. She wants to hold her, kiss her, sing to her. Her mind is racing with thoughts of the younger girl but she's trapped in this convenience store prison for the next 4 hours.

"Excuse me, miss, can you help me?"

Camila looks up from the cash register buttons to the man asking her for help and she instantly shoves the customer away.

"Harry, get outta' here. I bet the heat are still on your tail."

Harry Styles is one of the biggest troublemakers in the town. He's known for bedding multiple men and women, and has been walked in on by many people. Not only that, but he loves causing trouble for the police so that way they don't bother any innocent black people or greasers.

He once set a car on fire to distract the police from harassing a black family that was simply sitting on their front porch.

The boy runs a hand through his long, dark hair and throws his friend a wink. "Aw, you worried about me, Mila?"

"Gross no, I just don't want you ruining business for the shop."

The two kids stare at each other for a second before bursting into a small fit of laughter.

"What're you doing here? I thought you had work."

"Zayn told me to go home. No cars in the shop," Harry responds. "But, a little bird told me that Lauren and Simpson are finally done."

Camila's eyebrows raise and she smiles. "Really? How'd you find that out?"

"Keana told Luke and Luke told me. Says that she broke up with him because she's in love with Shawn Mendes, as if he isn't the biggest fairy out there." Harry whispers the last part, making sure no one is paying attention to them.

"Okay, Mr. Switch-Hitter," Camila responds, causing Harry to crack a smile. "He likes you, ya know."

Harry rests his arms on the counter. "I know. I just don't wanna get him caught up in anything, you know?" He pulls out his switchblade and cleans his nails. "He's cute though, and really sweet."

"Talk to him then. He knows who you are and he knows your reputation. He wouldn't want to date you if he cared about that stuff.

Harry nods his head. "You're right, and hey, we could go on double dates with you and Lauren."

Camila pushes the boy away from the counter. "Whatever. Now scram, you're takin' away from my business."

Harry shakes his head and fixes his denim jacket. "I'll see you later, Mila."

-

Lauren gulps as Lucy, Keana, and Veronica sit her down in front of the vanity in Lucy's room. She came over to prove to her mother she's spending the night at Lucy's, but the girls are getting her ready to see Camila at the train tracks. Anxiety is bubbling in her throat, because what if the other girls find her disgusting for being with another girl?

"So, a greaser, huh?" Veronica says with a smirk. "Can't believe Miss Goody Two-Shoes is going steady with a greaser."

"And a lady greaser no less," Lucy adds teasingly. "I'm proud of you though, Laur."

Keana moves behind the seated girl and kisses the top of her head. "Okay, now ladies. Alexa is coming later but she doesn't know about Lauren and Camila so we have to get Lauren dolled up fast."

The two other girls nod their heads and move to arm themselves with make-up and applicators. They begin beating at Lauren's face with a foundation pad and eye make up and the poor girl feels like she's going to come out looking like a circus clown.

She can hear Frank Sinatra's rendition of The Lady is a Tramp beginning to play in the background and she simply attempts to focus on the music as the girls test lipstick colors on her and Keana begins straightening her hair.

"Are you nervous?" Veronica asks. She's biting her tongue as she attempts to do Lauren's eye make-up while also avoiding Lucy's hand that's painting her lips.

Lauren doesn't respond until Lucy's done, which she's sure the girl is appreciative of. "I'm so scared, she's just so... wow. She's such a cool cat, and I'm just me, you know? I want to get her cranked."

"Oh please Laur, that girl is cranked over you. She looks at you like you just invented rock and roll," Lucy responds. She seems to want to say something else but she stops herself, and it makes Lauren curious.

"Penny for your thoughts, Lucy?"

The brown-eyed girl gnaws on her lip. "Okay, I want to tell you something just so that you know and I'm sure Camila's going to want to talk to you about it too."

Lauren raises a brow and looks at her friend with interest. She and the other two girls stay silent, so Lucy takes this as her time to speak. "This summer, Camila and I saw each other at an integration rally. We started talking after that and well... we kind of... slept with each other all summer."

"I thought that was impossible..." Keana murmurs. "Like... how do two girls do that?"

"Oh it's definitely possible," Lucy says. She looks towards her best friend to gauge her expression but Lauren's face is blank. "Are you upset?"

That causes Lauren to scrunch her face in confusion. "Upset? Why would I be upset? You slept with Camila, I know her reputation. Plus, she told me last night."

"When? Before the fight?"

Lauren smiles at the memory, the fact that Camila took her to such a special place truly makes her feel cared about by the other girl. "She took me to this lake on the north side of town, it's where all the kids that live over there go to hang out."

"What'd you guys do? Did you kiss?" Keana asks, she sounds extremely excited about the prospect of the two girls kissing.

"Hey, I'm not easy. I have to be jacketed to kiss someone." She stops moving for a few seconds to give Veronica some time to touch up her eye make-up and then continues. "We just talked, for about an hour."

"Talk?" Veronica scrunches up her nose. "Sounds boring."

"It was really nice actually. I got to learn all about her. You know she wants to go to Barnard?"

"Can she even afford that?" Keana ask. She doesn't mean it in a rude way, she's just genuinely curious.

Lauren looks down sadly. "She's trying to figure it out. That's why she's always working. She wants to have enough money to pay for school and to leave a lot for her mom and sister. Her mom works but she gets paid less than all the white people even though they're all working as waitresses and stuff."

All the girls stay quiet for a moment. None of them have never even thought about not being able to go to college, it's always been a given for them. They all know they're going to apply to women's colleges and any good schools that accept women, but it's never been a thought that they won't go. Really, none of them have thought about the differences in opportunities that they have in comparison with all the greasers and black children on the north side of town.

"I think I really like that about Camila though," Lauren starts again. "I like that we come from such different worlds but when we're together none of that matters. I like that we both just breathe."

All three of Lauren's friends coo a that and she rolls her eyes. "Okay now finishing dolling me up, we might end up necking in her car, so..."