Table for 8; Part 1.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Lauren and a group of best friends known as Table for 8.

They all officially started hanging out in 2006, but the story begins just a little bit before that. This story starts with Lauren. Lauren grew up with two brothers and no sisters {she doesn't mind this one bit}. She always thought fairy tales were kind of stupid and she didn't really care for those high school movies where the popular boy falls for the unpopular girl. Her movie preference of choice were stories about best friends.

Lauren didn't really have all the luck with best friends {they always moved} and she didn't go to her home school so her friends usually lived all over Los Angeles County {they still do} so it kind of made it impossible to hang out.

She decided high school would be different.

It was.

In fact, she had heard so many great things about this place, she knew it would change her.

It did.

But, Lauren started high school the wrong way. You see, she was still immature and cared about those things that didn't really matter.

It took one really stupid rumor, a handful of silly handwritten letters, and a bit of shunning for her to realize she hadn't made the best choice in the friend department and that being yourself really is the best. Sometimes a 15 year old doesn't make the best life decisions.

The timing couldn't have been better.

Lauren was working on a Lord of the Flies project for Ms. Chavez's sophomore English class with Michelle Jauregui. And so she spent her nutrition and lunch breaks in Ms. Chavez's classroom for a week; she had never felt so grateful for a school project.

Fortunately, Lauren and Michelle were good friends. & Michelle didn't ask her any questions about why she started hanging out with her group of friends during lunch breaks at their table.

Others at said table were a little more reluctant.

Don't get her wrong, people were nice, but they had been friends for a while and sometimes things could get cliquish.

Then one day Lauren met Jeniffer. Jeniffer with two fs and one n. Lauren recognized Jeniffer from a lunch birthday party thrown for a mutual friend freshman year.

Years later, Jeniffer would tell Lauren about how people had told her not to hang out with Lauren. Jeniffer really didn't understand. & she decided not to listen to the girls who weren't really her friends anyway.

& that was the day that 1/8th of the table was filled.