This first chapter is in Lauren's POV, so some of you might be immediately turned off, but give it a shot and stay with me past the first couple of paragraphs, when the banter starts. I had tons of fun writing this. =)
Oh, and update: I will include a sneak peek of the next chapter in every chapter. Enjoy and please review!
One Week, Day Four
Lauren Tanner knew she was smart, and on a level that set her apart from her Rock peers. Sure, she might have to strain her mind to remember what exactly a Pythagorean Theorem was supposed to be—despite having a paid-for-by-her-father tutor whose annual income rivaled a US Senator's—but she knew people, and that was more important. Lauren could read body language like no other, could tell from someone's eye twitch whether they were lying, and knew how to pick apart people's motives.
Toying with others' psyche was fun; make it obvious enough and no one took her seriously. When it was necessary, though, she could be all sorts of discreet and make people think and do what she wanted them to. The point of her manipulations was to favor her, but she wasn't heartless and genuinely wished she could help her friends. Problems arose when her interests clashed with those of people around her and she had to make the choice. Lauren sometimes took the time to mentally debate and weigh her options, but who was she kidding. Just like her father, who supposedly loved her above everything else, she was going to be selfish and place her needs and wants before others'. And just like her father, she admitted she was inclined to believe she knew people better than they knew themselves, and therefore was better suited to sort out their interests. Maybe her father was right and her mother should not have a place in her life. And maybe she, Lauren Tanner, was right, and Kaylie Cruz should be with Nicky Russo.
Of course Carter had something to do with her wholehearted support for "Kaylicky." Lauren could not count how many gallons of tears she had shed when she found out her best friend and the love of her life were swearing eternal love behind her back. The first time Lauren saw them grin stupidly at each other from across the gym, she heard her heart crack. And when Kaylie finally confessed it to her, eyes beaming and smile outshining the sun, it seemed as though she was getting her life force sucked out of her. So yes, if Carter could give up on Kaylie and begin to see that Lauren Tanner would take a bullet for him and die happy, that would be great.
However, there was also something else. Lauren did want Kaylie to be happy with someone. She didn't shy away from the shame that was having backstabbed her friend in such a heinous manner. Love spoke louder at that kegger, but that wasn't how she would have handled it, had she been thinking a little more clearly at the time. She wondered whether something else could have broken up Kaylie and Carter, and given her the opportunity she was having now to show Carter there were other fish in the sea. Would they have outgrown each other? Would they ever had fought over anything?
Was Nicky the sort of guy that would cheat on his girlfriend if he was ever upset? Never mind she, Lauren, was in love with a guy who had cheated on his previous girlfriend... she figured Kaylie just wasn't the one for him. But how good of a guy was Nicky? Lauren didn't want Kaylie to be disappointed yet again. Kaylie deserved a good guy.
Nicky hadn't even crossed her mind until she saw him standing awkwardly next to Kaylie in the post-Nationals photoshoot. The tension between them was mostly hate, but she could see that turning into attraction in the blink of an eye. All their arguments and debates that ended in eye rolls or indignant huffs began to give Lauren silent encouragement. Then after they buried the hatchet and began to help each other, Lauren thought that settled it: these two could work.
What about Payson? Did she really like Nicky? If yes, then... wow, Lauren was stumped. Well, in the end she always sincerely hoped Payson would find a nice high school boy who wouldn't remind her of the world she was no longer part of. And the good thing about being Lauren Tanner was that she could prioritize things most people couldn't. In this case, Nicky should go to Kaylie because she, Lauren, loves Kaylie more than she loves Payson. Period.
Lauren pushed these thoughts aside. She had three days to get Kaylie and Nicky together before he left for Denver. This "mission" seemed easier before they had a gymnastics exposition in Denver, coincidentally in the very club that had been recruiting Nicky. The exposition was explained by Sasha as an opportunity to train before the meet against the Chinese pre-pubescent elementary-schoolers—oops, she meant, gymnasts--and it had taken place two days after the Valentine's Day sleepover in Payson's house. Payson and Kaylie seemed to be on the same page about Nicky—leave him alone—which disappointed Lauren. But then she had been told he was only leaving in the next week, and Lauren figured seven days would be plenty of time to put her plan in motion and get Kaylicky to 'fess up to their obvious attraction and possible feeling for each other.
The exposition had gone over smoothly. The boys had been splendid, and Nicky had been the stand out, obviously. Lauren's routine on the beam was perfect, as it always was, and even the unrefined and sometimes amateurish Emily had managed to wow most critics. The real treat, of course, was Kaylie, and her flawless floor routine and vault. Lauren was used to being jealous of Payson, and accepted it, but lately she's had to get accustomed to eyeing Kaylie's catapult to international glory with weariness. Lauren doesn't focus on this too much, however, because immediately afterwards, MJ is pulling Nicky and Kaylie off to the side for some more publicity and interviews, and Lauren's attention is on Carter and his resentment that Nicky's routine on the still rings was more polished than his.
Lauren only heard about the "monumental misunderstanding" (MJ's words) the next day. Apparently, both Nicky and Kaylie had traveled to Denver a day before the exposition (therefore a day after the sleepover) with MJ's posse. After the exposition, it was assumed they would return to Boulder with their parents. Somehow, one of them changed his or her mind, the wires got crossed, and the two got locked inside the club while MJ thought they were with their parents en route to Boulder, their parents believed MJ had them in their hotel in Denver, and the club's administration thought no one was inside. Their bags, cellphones included, got locked in the locker rooms and they spent the entire night in the auditorium.
Once this was discovered—the next morning, mind you—the two "castaways" were retrieved but something had definitely changed between these two. Lauren was the first to notice, however, that same day, and only a few hours into their training at the Rock, everyone was trading looks. Nicky and Kaylie were by no means considered friends. But their night in Denver had apparently been World War Three, because their back-and-forth was unusually impassioned and they seemed unable to agree on anything.
Lauren was walking towards the water fountain, when she overheard a snippet of one of their conversations.
"I landed it!" Kaylie was insisting heatedly. "Even if it wasn't perfect, I landed the jump, so stop criticizing me."
"You started it, after I messed up on the horse," Nicky snapped back, "what was up with 'you seem unfocused today,'" he said in his best Kaylie impersonation, complete with high pitched and slightly nasal voice, "'so egomaniacs get distracted too?'"
"Yes—because it's official. Your own greatness distracts you," Kaylie spat.
"At least my distraction is not a guy whose hair looks like a disaster cloud."
"At least my ego can't be seen from space!"
With that, the two swapped equally hateful glares and turned their backs to one another before returning to training. Lauren was frozen with horror. What the hell. And neither Kaylie nor Nicky would elaborate on the reasons behind their uncivil behavior.
And their disagreements continued to worsen. Over the next day (day 4 of her "mission time") Kaylie and Nicky's tension had escalated into the sort of verbal battle people walked through the other side of the gym to avoid. Lauren had the luck of overhearing another conversation while on her way to the locker room.
"All right, you two have a press conference tomorrow night," MJ was saying, examining the distance between Kaylie and Nicky with curiosity, "in regards to the meet against the South American athletes. Only about 3 hours in length. Kaylie?" Of course, MJ was calling out Kaylie's attention because of the disgust that overtook her features when MJ added the "3 hours in length" part.
"Yes, MJ?"
"Do you have an objection to accompanying Nicky to the press conference?"
Kaylie offered an ironic smile. "I'd rather chew sharded glass for three hours, but aside from that, no. It'll be my pleasure."
Nicky produced his best fake laugh and said, "wit, check. Gymnastic talent...hmm where could that one be?"
Another glare, another defiant huff, and both had crossed their arms and were staring at MJ expectantly and impatiently. Lauren suddenly felt a rush of sympathy for the agent.
Later on, a Denver gymnastics magazine wanted to take pictures of Kaylie and Nicky for a spread on the two highlighted athletes from the exposition. Lauren overheard their fiery argument once again.
"He told us to stand closer together," Kaylie said with irritation. "So stop shuffling and smile."
"I wouldn't stand closer to you if I were being held at gunpoint," Nicky murmured back between gritted teeth that he was unconvincingly trying to pass for a smile. "And don't tell me our proximity doesn't affect you at least a little bit."
Kaylie turned to him with anger, now that the photoshoot was apparently done and the photographers were packing their equipment away. "Now that you mention it, it affects my gag reflex, if that counts."
Lauren released a mental groan.
After the day was over, Lauren was dismayed to remember that in only three days, Nicky would be transferring over to Denver and once again Kaylie's attention would be on Carter. She was about to give up and accept the imminent circumstances—the same she had had to battle before Nicky entered the equation—when she caught two curious sights.
She was throwing her bags and equipment in the backseat of her car, when she spotted Nicky out of the corner of her eye. He was apparently unaware of her, because he stopped by Kaylie's car and eyed it for a few seconds, shoulders low and jaw firmly set. He slowly let his hand hover over the handle of the driver's door, before turning to walk to his own car.
Immediately, Lauren locked her car and sprinted to the girl's locker room, where she slowed down and stealthily tip-toed towards Kaylie's locker. Lauren hid behind a large trash can and watched Kaylie to see whether she, too, would betray something—anything—that could clue Lauren in on the current Kaylicky front. She wasn't disappointed. Kaylie was holding a few pictures in her hand—and Lauren vaguely remembered MJ telling Kaylie she had brought a few "leftovers" from their pre-exposition photo shoot—and Lauren could clearly see Nicky in a couple. Kaylie was very still as she examined them, and the locker room was in such silence that Lauren was afraid Kaylie would hear her breathing. After what Lauren guessed were two or so minutes, Kaylie sighed, shoved the pictures inside her bag, and slammed her locker door shut.
Lauren sat down in her car afterwards and attempted to sort out all the questions these two scenes had risen in her. Why were they publicly mistreating one another while possibly pining after the other? What had happened in Denver?
Now that she thought about it, they had spent more than eight hours locked in that auditorium. Eight freaking hours. Had they fought the whole way through? Well, that couldn't be... as far as she knew, Kaylie and Nicky were actually getting along before going to the exposition. So what exactly had happened? She was determined to find out, even if the two were determined to hide it from everyone.
Lauren Tanner knew she was smart, and on a level that set her apart from her Rock peers. Including Kaylie and Nicky. She was definitely getting to the bottom of this.
In the next chapter:
Kaylie decides she will go to his room, drop by, and attempt to ease her current burden by talking to him for a bit. She figures being with him is horrible, but being away from him is making it worse—ohmygod she can't even imagine what this means—so she should do her best to just react rationally.
After her third knock on his door, she wonders what, exactly, in the world, she was thinking when she figured dropping by his room was a rational reaction. She turns around to leave, but the door opens and reveals a shirtless, wet Nicky, holding a towel just below his navel.
Kaylie is speechless. But at least her mouth is closed.
"Yeah?" he inquires after a few seconds of her staring at him as though he has a second head.
"Uh... I was... wondering whether... you needed help," she says and wants to roll her eyes at her own words, "unpacking."
"Oh." By the shampoo bubbles in his hair, she figures three knocks led him to think there was an emergency at his door. Great. Very smooth, Kaylie. "I don't have a lot of bags. I'm done." He moves his towel just a bit to the side and as soon as her eyes unconsciously wander down his torso, she snaps them up. "Why? How many bags does a spoiled princess like you bring to a hotel she'll be staying in for one night?"
"One..." she says, then murmurs, "or five," which makes him smile, which in turn makes her feel giddy. Which is very, very bad. She must leave his presence immediately. "Anyway, I just dropped by to offer my help. So... good body. I mean—good bye," she corrects instantly, and can feel a bead of perspiration forming just above her brow.
A/N: I've been meaning to start writing my own fanfics for a while, after years of reading other people's. Once I read the awesome Kaylie/Nicky fics Love's Crash Test Dummy has been posting, I was inspired to write my own. So this is my very first fic (yay!), and I hope you guys like it. The structure will be a bit unconventional, as it doesn't strictly follow a timeline, as you've probably noticed. Lauren is narrating this on Day Four, but she begins by referring to Day Three, in which the exposition happens and Kaylie and Nicky get locked in, and Day Two, in which the two arrived with MJ in Denver (Day 1 being the sleepover at Payson's house and the night Nicky announces he'll be going to Denver). As a basic guideline, the chapter titles will tell you guys which day of "the week" we're on. If you have any questions, PM me. Thanks and enjoy!