Lauren

**Lauren** is a student at Yale University and Johnathan Edwards College. She resides in the Vanderbilt Hall dorms and is roommates and friends with Alex Stern and Mercy Zhao. She is a Economics major and member of the field hockey team.

## Biography

### Early Life

Lauren grew up in Bucks County, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In high school, in which she attended a Philadelphia prep school, Lauren was captain of the field hockey team. With solid test scores, Lauren got accepted into Yale, attending Johnathan Edward College. Lauren is a pre-med student.

### Ninth House

Lauren shares her dorm room with Anna Breen, which conjoins with the larger dormitory they share with Alex Stern and Mercy Zhao. Lauren brought an old recliner, a box of records and a vintage record player along with her to university. Mercy, Lauren and Alex clicked very quickly as roommates and friends, however, Alex's activities at Lethe often take her away from experiencing normal college life as Lauren and Mercy do.

During that first day of moving in, the four roommates would meet Darlington, who introduced himself as Alex's cousin. After learning Darlington lives off campus, Lauren asks if he has a car, to the amusement of Mercy. Lauren shrugs in response, asserting they had to get to Ikea somehow to get a couch. Darlington apologetically refuses, taking Alex away from the room with excuse of his mom asking for her. Before she leaves, Lauren asks if Alex would pitch in for the couch, and Alex skillfully recalls Darlington's mom's promise of chipping in. While Alex was being introduced to Lethe House, Lauren stayed at the dorms and ordered pizza along with Mercy. When Alex returned, they settled in for the night, with Lauren immediately asking if Darlington was single, to which Alex claimed ignorance, and Mercy quipping that he smelled like money. Alex playfully forbid the two from dating her fake cousin.

On Halloween, Mercy, Lauren and Alex did a group costume themed after Shakespeare's *Midsummer's Nights Dream* after Lauren found a Puck costume in the Dramat closet. Mercy went as Tatiana and Alex as Queen Mab. The trio of girls had plans to meet at Pierson Inferno, although Alex would eventually abandon those plans after Darlington got drugged at Manuscript's Halloween gathering.

In the winter semester, Lauren comforted Mercy after she was drugged and sexually assaulted at Omega Meltdown. With Alex dealing with Tara Hutchins' murder, she forgot about her and Mercy's plans. Lauren was shown the video that Blake Keely recorded and sent Mercy the morning after. Angry and concerned, Lauren tried to convince Mercy to go to the health center but Mercy refused. When Alex finally returned to the dorms, Lauren, with frustration, asked her where she had been, and scoffed at her tired family emergency excuse. With Mercy's permission, Lauren showed Alex the video and filled her in on what happened. To Lauren's surprise, Alex resolves to set the situation right, leaving the dorms set on confronting Keely at the Omega fraternity house on Lynwood St.

Lauren would give Mercy an Ambien and put her to bed. After a few hours, Mercy was persuaded to let Alex and Lauren escort her to the Johnathan Edwards Dining Hall for dinner. All three girls were tense, especially as the abuzz of new gossip filled the dining hall. Lauren angrily asked what was Evan Wiley's problem when he suddenly swooped down to the trio's table to talk about the news about Blake. Lauren and Alex's phones buzzed with notifications. Unable to look, Mercy prompted Lauren to just get it over with and see if its her video. Lauren gasped in shock and each of them watched as Blake Keely bent over a dirty, clogged toilet and ate shit.

With Evan gone from the table, Mercy and Lauren stared at Alex, incredulous as they recalling how she went to mysteriously fix the situation. Alex kept silent on her methods. After a beat, Mercy gave her blanket approval over Alex' actions and happily dug into dinner. After dinner, the trio had a quiet evening in their common room. They had to hold in their laughter as they heard Anna speculate that they might be witches to whoever she was talking to on the phone.

A few days later, Lauren overheard Alex and Mercy talking from her bedroom, hearing as Alex idly said she was meeting someone for coffee. Lauren joined the pair in the common room and expressed her kindly-meant delight in Alex going on a date, with a town man no less.

### Hell Bent

Lauren moved into the residential college of Jonathan Edwards along with Alex and Mercy. While Alex and Mercy shared the double, while Lauren won the single room. Friday night, Lauren went with Mercy and Alex to a party on Lynwood St. and was there the morning after in Jonathan Edwards dining hall to eat breakfast with the two girls.

After the death of Dean Beekman, Alex joined Lauren and Mercy's lunch in the JE dining hall. Lauren felt upset at Beekman's death. Listening to Mercy praise Beekman's character despite the bad advice of other professors, Lauren commented that she was barely passing Econ, but faculty were trying to keep Mercy in their departments. Before leaving to nap before practice, Lauren told the two girls that they'd have to plan something for Halloween.

The three girls attended the EE 101 class before Halloween, using most of class time to plan to serve tequila shots and gummy worms for Liquor Treat. After class, the trio walked back to their dorms. When Mercy expressed disapproval at Alex's Quaker-like outfit, Lauren lent Alex a headband as a solution.

A few days before Halloween, Lauren, Mercy, Alex, and another girl from the field hockey team set the common room of their apartment to look like a gloomy garden for Liquor Treat.

## Personal Attributes

### Personality

Lauren is blunt, assertive, and cares for her friends.

### Physical Description

Lauren has thick, honey blonde hair. She has a muscular athletic body.

## Trivia

* Lauren has Queen’s 'A Day at the Races' album and a 'Rimsky-Korsakov' record.
* While Darlington assumes that Lauren is "likely pre-med" (Ninth House, Chapter 1), Lauren decides to pursue a Economics major in her second year. (Hell Bent, Chapter 20).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 *Ninth House* Chapter 2 (Last Fall)
2. ↑ *Hell Bent* Chapter 20
3. ↑ *Ninth House* Chapter 10 (Last Fall)
4. ↑ *Ninth House* Chapter 14 (Winter)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Ninth House* Chapter 16 (Winter)
6. ↑ *Ninth House* Chapter 17 (Winter)
7. ↑ *Ninth House* Chapter 25 (Winter)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Hell Bent* Chapter 5
9. ↑ *Hell Bent* Chapter 16