| “ | I've never been good enough at anything. | „ |
| ~ Laura |
Laura Holloway is a minor character in the Jem animated series. She is a 14 year old girl who arrives at the Starlight Mansion after her parents were killed in a car accident. Her emotional issues caused her to take drugs, to which she quickly became addicted.
Her speaking and singing voice was provided by Jamie Weisberg.
History[]
A month after her parents were killed in a car accident, Laura is sent to to live at Starlight Mansion for a few weeks until another foster home is available. Laura is shy around the other foster girls and has a low self esteem, not realizing her own musical potential. After hearing Laura prove to be quite proficient with her guitar, Jem invites her to play at The Holograms' next concert. Even though she agrees, Laura quickly becomes stressed at the prospect of having to play in front of a large audience and worries that she will make a mistake.
Bobby offering drugs to Laura.
Later on, Laura sits outside by herself in a playground while in a deep funk. It's in this state that a teenager named Bobby Braddock approaches her, displaying sympathy and concern for her. Bobby offers Laura pills, claiming they will allow her to relax and focus on her music. Laura accepts them, which she takes back to her bedroom in the mansion. At first, she feels that her music is improving, although she is actually playing off-key. After a moment, she begins to hallucinate, seeing her guitar become a monster and her lunchbox become a bird, which flies off. Laura gleefully wishes to fly as well and climbs out of her bedroom window.
Laura hallucinating on the roof of Starlight Mansion as Jerrica tries to save her.
Jerrica overhears her excited shouts from the ground floor and shouts up at Laura to not jump. Laughing, Laura gives Jerrica until the count of "10" to get to her in time. Jerrica makes it up in time and tries to convince Laura to come inside, but the girl slips. Jerrica barely reaches out in time to grab the girl, hauling her back up to safety. Jerrica asks Laura is she's taking anything, but Laura angrily denies it.
The next day, Bobby and Laura are at the playground again. When Bobby offers her more drugs, Laura asks if he has any drugs that won't cause her to hallucinate. Bobby offers her a different variety of pills, which Laura gratefully accepts. She rushes back to her room to take them.
Laura on drugs (notice how the drugs caused her to look older).
Laura gradually becomes addicted to the drugs and her emotional problems intensify as she becomes even more reclusive and restless. Unable to sleep at night, she decides to play her guitar at 4:00 o'clock in the morning. Ashley and the rest of the girls are woken up and ask her to stop playing, but Laura's attitude causes the two girls to fight. Jerrica is then forced to come down and break them up. At dinner time, she accidentally spills orange juice on Ba Nee's lap and hysterically asks why everyone blames her for everything.
Laura seeking out Bobby at school.
Laura later tracks Bobby down at school and requests more drugs when her supply runs out, but discovers that he is now charging her $30 for them. She reveals that she cannot afford that much money and Bobby's attitude toward her becomes uncaring and unsympathetic. Distraught and requiring her fix, Laura breaks down, hallucinating that she's performing badly at the concert. Her youthful beauty is replaced by a weathered look, which upsets her, and she imagines herself alone in a scorching desert, which symbolizes the effects the drugs are having on her mind and body. Desperate for a fix, Laura steals $30 from Jerrica, although the latter catches her in the act.
Laura in a rehabilitation group.
Laura seeks out Bobby at school, although she runs into Ashley first. Laura gets agitated and walks off, but shortly after notices that Bobby is offering Ashley the same deal that he offered her and even uses the same words that he clearly gives to all of his victims. It's at this point that Laura realizes she has been duped and runs out of the school crying. She runs into Jerrica and apologizes to her, explaining the situation. Laura is taken to a group that has girls like her in it for rehabilitation.
A much happier Laura is introduced by Jem at her concert.
Shortly after her first meeting, Laura and Ashley are at an arcade, where they are approached by Bobby. He asks if they have the money for his drugs and they make the exchange. At that point, two nearby people reveal themselves as undercover police officers and arrest Bobby. Laura reveals she is carrying a wire, while Ashley helped her get Bobby to verbally admit his crime. Ashley explains she would never touch drugs under any other circumstance.
Later, at the concert, The Holograms and Laura perform "Look Inside Yourself" together, a song written by Laura herself. The song talks about overcoming one's internal struggles by looking deep inside yourself and finding the strength in who you are.
Songs sung by Laura[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Laura was created exclusively for the episode Alone Again by writer Sandy Fries.
- Laura is the first known character in the series to demonstrate drug addiction and what it can do to a person.
- Laura's signature song, "Alone Again", seems to shed some light on her past. It hints she may have been in other foster homes before arriving to the Starlight Mansion, where she had to leave behind people she once knew over and over again, making her feel to be all by herself in the world. It was also shown during the music video that she may have been ostracized a lot by others, which may imply why she has trouble making friends.