If You Knew Me
Lauren Tanner, the so called "bitch" of Make It or Break It, has so much more to her than what is met at the surface. In this story, I hope to provide you with a plausable explanation for her behavior on the show. I drew from past facts given (for example, that her mom was a druggie and left her) to make it more real. I hope you enjoy but also look deeper into the actual Lauren Tanner.
Disclaimer: I don't own MIOBI.
Lauren Tanner stared at the picture on the front of the local newspaper her father had left on the kitchen counter this morning before he left for work (which was early). He hadn't said good-bye, he hadn't said good-morning. Nor did he leave a sweet message on a pink post-it for her just telling her that he loved her. He didn't wake her up in the mornings, he left the garage door to do that task for him.
Her eyes scanned the headline once more: KAYLIE CRUZ ONCE AGAIN REIGNING CHAMP! Lauren sighed to herself. Carter was upstairs showering after a long night the two had shared intimately. She felt her eyes start to water slightly, and she quickly brought a perfect manicured finger up to her right eye and brush away any tear that just might have left during that moment. She took a deep breath, focused on the fridge, and pulled out some orange juice and poured it into two crystal kitchen glasses.
She took a sip from hers and felt a bitter taste go down her throat. She felt a few strands of pulp catch at the roof of her mouth and scraped them off with her tongue, slowly and methodically. She went through this every morning. Whenever her dad went to the grocery story, which wasn't really often to begin with (they usually ate out), he always made sure to buy the OJ with pulp. Now, a normal person may enjoy it that way, but Lauren had always disliked the pulp aspect. She could deal with it, but it just wasn't one of those things she had learned to love.
She remembered when she was younger, age five, and she told her dad after his return from the store that she hated the orange juice he got, his reply held no care. With his back turned to his young daughter, who was busy stocking the fruit prettily in its bowl on the counter, he said, "That's nice sweetie. Now I have to go take an important phone call. Go see if Miss Nancy can play with you outside on the swings for a while."
She remembered feeling so hurt, so cut, just by his simple nonchalant response at what she wanted. She ran up to Miss Nancy, her nanny, who was in the dining room cleaning the china. Lauren ran up to her and grabbed at her apron strings. "Daddy has a phone call. He won't get juice without those weird things in 'em."
"Oh?" was Miss Nancy's reply. "You should learn to love it, child. Your dad is busy. He can't possibly remember things that you want as simple as that."
"But why?"
"He's a busy man, Lauren. So you shouldn't bother him with that sort of talk. He works hard all day, that Mr. Tanner. You shouldn't bother him so." Miss Nancy turned around and gave Lauren a slight smile. "Now go along and practice your tumbling downstairs on the mat."
Lauren never forgot Miss Nancy's words. She left a while later, after having a short affair with her father (as all of her nanny's preceding her and after her held). She was replaced by a multitude of nannies from different countries and with different looks. From each of them, she learned about beauty…
"Now, Lauren," began Miss Kathy, "nails should always look impeccable. They are the first part of a woman that a man is meant to touch. And just like the woman she is, they should be perfect. Give me your hand and I'll do yours for you."
Seven-year-old Lauren handed her delicate hand over to her nanny, Miss Kathy, who began to place bubblegum pink nail polish on each of her nails. When she finished, Lauren gently blew on them to dry. Then she ran down the hall to her father's room to show him.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look what Miss Kathy did!" she ran up to him and wiggled her fingers in front of her father's face from where he sat at his desk.
"That's nice, sweetheart. I'm on the phone with an important man. Go see if Miss Kathy can go play with you outside for a while."
Lauren's smile froze and drooped slightly at the corners. She gave a curt nod and then walked slowly back to Miss Kathy, who was now cleaning up the beauty supplies. She asked Miss Kathy if she wanted to play dress up, too.
"No, Lauren," she began once again, "I'm busy. How about you practice your gymnastics downstairs on the mats instead? Your new beam would be fun to play with instead of me."
That was always someone's excuse, "Go play downstairs with your gym equipment." The only thing she could turn to, ever since she was really young, was her gymnastics equipment. It was there for her, always. The mat caught her when she fell. Every single time. The beam gave her a path to walk when she didn't know which way to go. Every single time. The spring board always pushed her to new heights, pushed her past the gravity and into the air. It shot her up away from the earth and reality's reaching. Every single time.
She heard two feet hit the wood stairway steps with a thud, thud. And a few seconds later she saw Carter in his gym wear grabbing the glass of OJ she left out for him. He gulped it down, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "This is good. I love OJ with pulp," he said briskly to Lauren. "Off to the gym. Catch you later, babe." He gave a small wave and then headed out through the front door.
All Lauren could do was fake a smile.
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