Authors Note: Thank you to anyone who has reviewed this … I know there is only one of you guys so far but thanks. And here I thought no one would review lol
To the one special reviewer: Evelina: Thanks for the review. My favorite character is Kaylie as well and my second favorite is Payson so we have something in common there. I may or may not keep the couples. I am a fan of Max (but I'm probably going to rewrite the bisexuality thing since that came out of nowhere with almost no development) but I am not a fan of KayAus. No offense to people who like them, but I think Austin has sort of a "hero's complex". He constantly wants to save people. First its Emily in France when she couldn't get a ticket back, then it was Emily with her floor routine when she was all doubting herself and feeling like she wasn't good enough (oh right … that's ALL THE TIME with her character rolls eyes) then it was Kaylie with her eating disorder, then it was Emily again with her ankle monitor/leg warmers, then it was Payson with her trying to be "sexy" (BTW funniest scene EVER!) and now its Kaylie with her eating disorder again. I'm sorry, but I don't see anything romantic between them. He just wants to "save" her. So to answer your question, maybe to Max/Payson and probably not to KayAus.
And in conjunction with the no KayAus, would readers rather have Kaylicky (Kaylie/Nicky Russo) or Kaylie/OC (someone original that I make up)? Let me know in reviews! Thanks. Onwards with the story!
Lauren Tanner had never been one to have many keepsakes. Unlike her best friend, Kaylie Cruz, who she has known since they were both four years old and in the Tumbling Tots program at the Rock, she doesn't save every little thing that has sentimental value. It just clutters things up.
Now don't get her wrong, she isn't some sort of devil child who doesn't care about sentiment and whatnot. She is just … how shall we put this? … Smart about it. She keeps a few things that have a lot of sentimental value rather than a crapload of things with a little sentimental value. It saves space when you need to pack, like Lauren is doing right now.
Off to New York she goes, off to show the world what a gorgeous model she can be. Sure, she isn't the right height to be a model (doing hardcore gymnastics for the past twelve years had stunted her growth and although she had grown a bit in the year she took off after the Olympics, she was still only 5'4, not nearly tall enough to be a model) but Lauren has always been someone to challenge the system and to what she wants when she wants. She will be the most gorgeous short model there is. Take that Tyra Banks.
Lauren had already packed up her most of her room. Her clothes, accessories and makeup alone took up a trunk and a one and a half suitcases and she was now gathering the bedsheets, pillow cases and comforter that Summer (her father Steve's wife and Lauren's adoptive mother) had bought for her. She packed them into the less full suitcase admiring the splashes of orange, yellow, and red on the sheets and loving how Summer had chosen the perfect sheets for her.
Lauren then gathered the few sentimental keepsakes she had. She first put her bronze medal from the meet against China, her gold Team medal and her Silver medal on Beam from Worlds and her gold Team medal and Silver on Beam from the 2012 Olympics in between the bedsheets (the rest of her medals and trophies from various competitions would stay home for the trophy case that Steve had built especially for that purpose). Next she put some photos (one of her and her mother from a long time ago, a family photo taken in Rio the day after Worlds where Steve and Summer got married, a photo of her, Kaylie and her old team member Emily Kmetko from the "Rock Rebels" photoshoot, a photo of her, Kaylie and another one of her best friends, Payson Keeler and finally team photos from various gymnastics events) into an album which she put into the suitcase on top of the bedsheets. Finally she picked up the letter her mother had given to her before she died, folded it carefully and slipped it into the zipper pocket of her Louis Vuitton tote bag. She liked having a bit of her mother with her all the time.
Lauren looked back at the room with the pale orange (the paint was called "Creamsicle" and even Lauren could admit that she was having a craving for the not-allowed-for-gymnasts-to-eat popsicles when she picked out that color) and saw the empty walk-in closet, the bare vanity style desk, and the queen sized canopy bed stripped of its sheets. She could hear Summer cooking breakfast and Steve complaining about how there wasn't any bacon and why did the whole family have to go along with Summer's "vegetarian thing" and Summer argue with him about cholesterol. At that moment she realized that there wasn't anywhere else she would rather be and sure hoped this modeling thing wasn't going to be as awful as she thought it was going to be right at that moment, a moment of not wanting to be alone, a moment of wanting to stay with her family forever. But life goes on and Lauren couldn't wait to go to the next chapter of her life.