So chapter three is here, this fiction is spewing out of me in bits and pieces, so I hope someone is enjoying it.
Thanks for the reviews Emmalilley and Quinn James, glad I'm not the only one with Lauren affection. Would you let me know, do you prefer long chapters, or more regularly updated short ones?
CHAPTER 3 – REGIONALS
The Kmetkos had invaded her home, Lauren decided. So she was making a strategic retreat. Her room was the only safe place in the entire Tanner mansion.
In the last two weeks before regionals, she barely went into the rest of the house. Her father now regretted taking away her car, as she disappeared out of the house before he was even properly awake. By the time he'd had a cup of coffee and had reached the Rock, Lauren was sometimes training in the main gym, but more commonly tucked away in the annexe doing god knows what.
He'd never been on the receiving end of his daughter's defiance or temper before. He'd heard complaints, but to him she'd always been his wide-eyed little girl. Now she had no problem defying him. Her floor looked excellent though, if that could be considered a consolation.
So with regionals the next day, Lauren approached Sasha after finishing her floor training.
"What do you need?" Sasha didn't look away from the floor.
"Your opinion on my beam."
"Good Natalie." Sasha called to the level 9, running through her floor. "watch your arm, keep them strong."
He glanced down to Lauren just for a second. "If your serious about getting back to training with your team mates, have Tara take a look."
Lauren scowled "you know what, don't bother."
Before Sasha could blink she was back in the annexe, door closing behind her.
"Damn it." He swore. Teenage girls were the one downside to coaching women's gymnastics.
While Carter had been on vault rotation in the main gym, Austin was on parallel bars in the annexe when Lauren stormed in.
She bit her lip so the tears didn't well and turned to the beam instead.
"That's not a happy face." Austin called.
She just lined up her new beam mount and then performed it. Sticking it low to the beam. Carefully and flawlessly she moved through the routine.
Austin swung around to watch as she finished all but the dismount.
The door opening startled her as she twisted, but recovered.
"Don't mind me." Sasha told her. Austin dismounted to watch the rest as Lauren ran back through the routine.
Slightly bitter, Lauren left out the grigoras she'd been working on, but Sasha still clapped when she dismounted.
"That looks very solid." He told her "medal worthy."
"I know." Lauren told him.
"Austin, give us a minute." Sasha told him, leaning back against the beam.
Austin nodded, but made eyes as Lauren before slipping into the main gym.
"What's going on Lauren?"
"nothing." She crossed her arms defensively.
Sasha just cocked his head to the side and looked at her pointedly.
"The beam is good, right? And floor? Vault and bars are fine too." She checked.
"Surprisingly" Sasha told her. "But mentally you're all over the place so I can't imagine they'll stay there."
Lauren scoffed "so you're just waiting for me to screw up?"
Sasha took a deep breath. "No."
"Or suddenly you care about my mental wellbeing?"
"Lauren, there is only so far you can push." Sasha's tone held a warning. Lauren's scowl deepened.
"You think I don't know I'm a mess?"
"Perhaps if you spent more time with your team mates and less time with boys."
"Those boys are my friends. My team mates aren't."
"You've been at this club for how long? ten years?"
"Yeah, ten years, and Kaylie… well I'm not the only bitch here, okay? Payson's great, but she's not the person you can count. And Emily Kmetko? I'd trust Kelly Parker more."
"And I'm sure they've got some lovely things to say about you as well."
"Exactly, they don't like me, I don't trust them. Why exactly is everyone so convinced we should be friends?"
"Because you need to talk to someone and you're not talking to myself or Summer, or your father apparently."
Lauren shrugged. "There's nothing to say. You can go tell my father or whoever that you tried. That I'm the same inconsiderate bitch I've always been."
"Lauren…"Sasha reached out but Lauren skipped out of his grasp. "We're competing tomorrow, so I should get home. Call it a half day, or whatever."
When the door closed behind her, Sasha sighed. He really didn't understand teenage girls.
Lauren gave Carter a half wave and a nod of, "I'm okay" before seizing her bag from the locker room and sending of a text telling him she was done for the day.
"Wish me luck in Denver." She texted him, before nodding at Austin who'd moved on to the rings.
"Lauren, what's going on?" Her father caught her at the door.
"I'm done for the day. Are you right to give me a lift home, or should I call a cab?"
"You're done?"
Lauren nodded.
"Sasha says you're done."
"It's not high school. I'm not wagging. I'll call a cab."
"Wait, I'll take you." Steve told her "let me just tell Chloe."
Steve's attempts to talk were brushed off in the car. Lauren jammed her ipod in and pulled her tracksuit covered legs up to her chest.
When he went to say something she turned for the stairs. "I'm going to take a shower."
"fine, don't mind me." Steve told her and headed to his study but after a few minutes he dropped his pen, uncaring about the wineries details.
He knocked briefly on the external door and then opened it. She wasn't there and in his head he swore that if she'd gone out with Carter Anderson or Austin Tucker, he would lose it. Instead, it took him a second to figure out what he was hearing.
Sobs, consistently and slightly muffled.
"Lauren" this time he banged on the door.
Silence, then "Daddy?"
"Lauren, are you alright? Open the door!"
The door opened thirty seconds later, and Steve never would've guessed she'd been crying if he hadn't heard her.
"What's wrong?" he insisted, cupping her face.
She almost melted but instead dug her nails into her forearm and told him "Bad day." Before walking past. He politely looked away while she found some sweats and an old hoodie that Steve knew was too big to be hers.
"What happened?" he sat down beside her on the bed.
"Nothing." She replied. "My beam is awesome, so is everything else."
Her father just looked at her.
"I had a thing with Sasha." She admitted. "He wants me to be friendlier with Payson, Kaylie and Emily."
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea."
"No, its fine. We're just, not friends anymore. We haven't been for a long time."
"Maybe if you tried…"
"Dad, I know I'm not a great person, I've lied and cheated and stole."
"What did you steal?" Steve was aghast
"choreography, boyfriend, jewellery, clothes…" Lauren laughed a distraught laugh "but I don't care. They're not my friends. They've never been there for me. When Emily showed up they just let her take my spot, but Kaylie had her lie to protect her own. She lied to me! Her best friend! When you dated Summer, when I got drunk and had sex, they didn't care how upset I was, they acted like I deserved it, like I should be grateful they were paying attention to my drama but they're just as bad! Worse, because they pretend they're all perfect."
Steve tried to process the information but his mind was stuck on "got drunk and had sex."
"Well screw it." Lauren told him "I am just done trying to prove I'm good enough to be friends with them. Especially Kaylie!"
"Well it sounds like you've got good reason to be angry with them." Steve tried to be diplomatic "but so do they. Why don't you try talking and putting it behind you?"
"I'm not angry." Lauren told him "I got passed angry ages ago. Now I'm just done."
Sighing she ran a hand through her damp hair.
"Well you're going to be training with these girls for the next two years at least" Steve reminded her. "It's not a good idea to make enemies of your teammates, particularly considering you live with Emily. You can't live in your room or the annexe!"
"I know" Lauren insisted then shrugged "I should just focus on regionals, right? Its tomorrow, last chance to make an impression before nationals." She glanced around the room. They'd be leaving the Rock on the team bus at 8 the next morning, all the gymnasts and parents of the women's junior and senior elite teams travelling down together. At least it was only an hour.
Steve nodded. "We'll talk more about this later."
"It's fine." Lauren insisted. "I know what I want, and I'll do what I have to, to get it."
"Lying, cheating and stealing is not the way to get it."
"Like blackmailing Marty?" Lauren asked. When Steve froze she gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Daddy, I get why you did it. I'm grateful, except for the whole funding my competition thing."
"Lauren, that money doesn't make Emily competition."
"It doesn't matter, I'll beat her anyway."
"I hope so." Steve told her. "Alright? All I want is what's best for you."
Lauren shrugged. "Yeah. Sure. I'm going to go for a run in the gym then."
"Alright. I'll be downstairs if you need me."
"Sure."
"I love you." Steve reminded her "and I am on your side."
"I know." Lauren did. "and I'm going to win. You'll love my new beam."
Kaylie anxiously checked the scoreboard. She had not had a great floor routine, stumbling, loosing marks for her more artistic moves and coming in a surprising 3rd , but she was in first on bars and beam, her 15.2 and 15.3 marks meant no one should be able to catch her, so long as she didn't fall on her high start value vault.
She'd felt sluggish and heavy, and she'd never had that problem before. Emily had done quite well and was in fifth, Payson had blown the gym away with her floor so despite not being up to the top level on vault or bars, was still in eighth. If she didn't fall on beam she'd stay in the top ten and win the floor event, putting her back on everyone's radar. Kelly Parker was just four tenths behind her and Andrea not far behind Kelly, and they were all watching Lauren perform in the last of the third round on floor. She was in fourth at the end of the second round behind Andrea Conway, Kelly Parker and Kaylie.
Her floor was excellent though, and there was something there that hadn't been present in France. Competition always made things a little more extreme and Lauren had brought to her floor a new level of A-game. She landed her first tumbling pass without a foot out of place. She didn't budge an inch on the landing.
She wasn't as graceful as Payson now was, nor as crowd pleasing as Kaylie, but there was a confident strength there that indicated a new maturity as a gymnast and a precision no one else matched in her skills.
"She looks good" Payson stated, mostly to herself.
Coming up on time, Lauren under-rotated her switch-split leap.
"Was that supposed to be a full turn, or half?" Again Payson was the one who spoke.
Lauren lined up her final tumbling pass. She closed her eyes and ignored the pain in her ankle that caused by the poor landing following her under rotation.
She lined up her final pass, a two and a half twist fwd.
She took it at a run and hit it all, before bracing for final impact. She felt it run up her leg but braced, smiled and saluted. It was as close to perfection as she'd ever gone, even considering the under rotated leap.
Slowly, she walked over, silent while Payson hugged her and then Emily and Kaylie, less enthusiastic.
"That was great Lo." Payson told her, "You could medal in that."
Lauren nodded.
"Excellent." Sasha told her "well done."
Kaylie was staring at her.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Lauren could feel herself blinking back tears. She shook her head. No she wasn't okay. No, she was fine. She wasn't sure what she was saying to Kaylie while she waited for the scores.
Finally, they came up.
15.2 – Solid. Very solid, placing her well behind Payson and, closer, but still behind Andrea Conway. It did mean she beat Kaylie and Kelly Parker. Just, but she'd beaten them. Her mouth stretched into a smile. She'd beaten Kaylie on floor. Everything was possible now.
Payson hugged her again as the adrenalin drained.
An assistant coach handed her a drink. Gatorade. She sipped it and almost missed Austin and Carter entering the floor. She almost missed Sasha's demand of "can I help you gentlemen?"
She almost collapsed into Carter's arms she was so grateful. As it was, he was half-holding her up.
"Your ankle?" Austin immediately asked.
"fine" She mustered up, but now she was acknowledging the pain, it came back full force.
Carter easily put his arm around her waist and helped her to her chair.
"You injured your ankle?" Sasha surmised.
"it's just a sprain" Lauren insisted. "barely a sprain."
Austin came back with ice and she winced when he lifted her ankle and applied it. He pulled over a crate as Carter settled her into a chair and propped her ankle up.
"How bad is it, scale of one to ten?" Sasha asked. He was ashamed he hadn't seen this the moment she finished her pass.
"I'm more pissed I didn't stick that leap."
"Lauren" Carter said her name low and concerned "you don't have to compete on beam."
That was when Steve Tanner arrived, he'd hurried down from the stands but unlike the boys had to go around rather than just jumping down onto the floor.
"Are you alright?" He shot vicious looks at the two boys, but Lauren was more focused on the fourth round.
"I'm fine. Payson, you're up soon." She insisted, before looking from Sasha to her father and then back again.
"I'm fine" She squeezed Carter's hand and nodded at Austin. "I'm not up until the end of the round, I just need to tape it now, so it doesn't swell too much."
Austin stared at her long and hard
"You can't compete if you're injured" Sasha told her.
"He's right, Lauren. It's not worth risking serious injury" Her father insisted "if you're hurt..."
"I'm not" Lauren cut him off. "And I'm not letting Kaylie win on beam again just because I'm injured."
"They'll be other opportunities" Sasha told her.
Emily, Payson and Kaylie should've been warming up already but they were waiting. It was a small event and the elites were up last, all together. They'd be on soon.
"You can't compete injured, Lauren. I'm sorry."
"I can, and I am." Lauren insisted "your objection has been noted but I'm doing this. You competed in far worse conditions."
"This isn't the Olympics."
"Neither was the Euro Championships in 99, and you competed on a bad knee then."
She stared right back at him, undaunted. She wasn't Kaylie, or Payson or Emily. She had no confidence issues whatsoever.
"Go warm up" he told the other girls. They had to leave and Lauren should have been with them.
"I won't allow you to compete without medical clearance."
"Tucker, get the floor doctor."
Austin stood, but before he left the team area she added "and toss me some tape."
"Go" She told Sasha. "Emily's up soon."
He did, but not before telling her he'd be back.
When her Dad started speaking she just told him "Dad, please be quiet. I need to pull a Payson and focus right now."
Carter picked up the tape and shrugged off his own jacked. "you need to stay warm."
"Thanks"
Crouching he wrapped her ankle slowly, moving it this way or that and making sure he didn't overly restrict motion. He'd wrapped his own joints enough times to know how. Already it was too big.
"How's that?"
"Good, thanks."
The doctor was used to gymnasts and even more used to ones competing within injuries. For someone to even ask his opinion was rare as there was always the possibility he'd deny them the right to compete.
"You wrapped it" Sasha commented. He'd returned for the doctor's verdict. He really didn't like Carter Anderson.
"I know Lauren." She smiled slightly at her boyfriend.
"Rotate it" the doctor insisted. Lauren did, making sure to finish by pointing her toes fully. Her father stood stiffly.
"How's the pain?"
"okay." she insisted, and then rotated it again, just to prove it.
"I'll clear you." He said "but don't put any unnecessary pressure on it."
He knew she would, they all did, but it wasn't a life or even career threatening injury.
"Lauren" Sasha tried one more time but Lauren was determined
"I can do this." She insisted.
Warming up, Kaylie was nervous. Suddenly the victory didn't seem as sure. "I'm the National Champion. I'm the best." She told herself.
"First call round four." Finally the call went out. Lauren had spent the warm up, staying warm basically. It meant she'd never used a beam at this event, but that was the beauty of standardised equipment.
Emily was going through her new chorography one last time.
"First call, round four, Kmetko floor, Conway vault, Parker, Bars. Rosenburg, beam. Please go to your apparatus locations."
"Good luck Em" Kaylie insisted. It was echoed by everyone. Then they sat down again.
Emily's routine was solid. Lauren still could believe she'd stolen her choreography, but now she had her own, she found herself caring less. The routine was solid though. Nothing spectacular, which was what Lauren Tanner had always thought of Emily. She doubted she'd even place top 5, and when the scores came in she was right. Emily had a solid 14.3 placing her in sixth place on floor. The other girls on round four floor weren't a threat. She had third place secured.
Payson's routine on beam was lovely, and Lauren had no doubt she'd be a serious threat again. The difficulty was low, but she barely dropped marks on execution and held her 8th overall position. Lauren hugged her. Kelly Parker's bars were very, very, solid, and that worried her a little, but the difficulty wasn't huge. Still Kaylie and Emily's handhold almost broke of each other's circulation. Kelly Parker hadn't been the National Champ for nothing.
"Sorry Em" Kaylie told her, breathing deeply in relief when Kelly scored a 15.1, putting her in second below Kaylie but above Emily on the apparatus.
"Warmed up?" Sasha checked, as Andrea performed her vault first. At that point, Kelly had been first with a 15 on vault, Lauren second. But both Kelly and Kaylie had known high vault starting numbers.
Andrea Conway stuck her first one perfectly, with only a little over rotation to be marked down upon.
"Damn" Kaylie swore.
"I'm the national champion, I beat Genji Cho." She repeated to herself, "I'm the best here. I can do this."
"Ready?" Sasha confirmed
Kaylie nodded.
Stretching herself out she repeated it again "I can do this, I'm the national champion."
Her double-twisting Yurchenko landed stuck, and Sasha and her team was there once she'd saluted.
"Great job" Payson told her but she didn't breathe until 15.2 came up on the screen. 1st. She'd done it. She'd won the all-around again, she told herself.
"yes" was what came out of her mouth. She repeated it, quieter, and clenched her fist. "yes!"
Lauren was competing last and she walked, carefully, to the beam.
Sasha walked with her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sasha asked her.
"Yes" Lauren took a deep breath "but I want to say something first."
Sasha nodded as they made the first call.
"I am not the sort of girl who gets 'accidently' pregnant" she told him "and even if by some miracle act of god or negligent condom company I was, I'm not so stupid as to go to California to take care of it. I could've been to New Mexico and back on a Sunday without anyone noticing, not to mention the amount of places in Denver I'm sure wouldn't have required parental notification."
Sasha gaped. There was a reason Summer, and not him, had given the abstinence talk.
Lauren smirked at the look on his face.
"So I've never been knocked up, nor am I going to get knocked up."
"That sounds good. The not ever getting part." Sasha stuttered "but you know that contraception isn't one hundred… you are aware you have a beam routine?"
"I'm not a stupid whore, is my point. A bitch, yes, but I'm not a whore, and I'm definitely not stupid, so everyone needs to stop looking like I am. Alright?"
"That's not everyone's problem with you Lauren. People are concerned."
"Well they can stop. I am just as good as Payson and Kaylie. Better than Emily Kmetko."
"You have the ability." Sasha conceded. "But you have to prove it."
"I intend too." Lauren stated, as much to herself as to Sasha.
He took her by the shoulders "Alright. Now, take a deep breath. You're up. Time to prove it."
Lauren nodded and moved to the beam while Sasha went back to the rest of the team. For the first time he felt himself rooting for Lauren Tanner.
"Was she alright?" Payson asked.
Sasha nodded but didn't say anything. They all watched the routine, the Rock Girls, across the gym Denver elite girls and Andrea and the other girls from her Phoenix gym. She was the last chance to take down Kaylie Cruz at this event, as unlikely as that seemed, as well as the final routine of the day.
After one final stretch, Lauren stared down her beam.
A few people were already packing up when she started, but by the time she'd finished her Erceg mount they'd stopped. Her feet didn't move when she stuck the round-off Arabian salto mount and the bar felt solid underneath her. In a single move she'd established just how serious she was. This beam was her's.
"Oh my god" Payson declared.
"Was that a round-off Arabian?" Emily asked "since when does Lauren use a round-off Arabian?"
"no one uses a Erceg." Payson insisted
From there she performed a switch leap with a half turn to straddle and then into a Teza leap. She wobbled on her landing, but just a little. She could feel the heat of her ankle when she moved down to the low position and rotated 2 and a half time. On her good ankle thank god. She was lucky she'd sprained the right one. Slowly she came out of it and flicked a smile to the audience, then her attention was back on the bar. She'd never done this move in front of anyone but Austin and Carter but this was it. The Grigoras was her big wild card but she stuck it, solid. She didn't budge at all.
Had she been paying attention she would've noticed the silence that filled the gymnasium. Instead she stepped back into the Onodi and then paused before the sheep jump she performed with only a slight wobble. Setting it up once more, she used a simple flic flac into a back piked salto collecting the connection bonus.
"What's this worth?" Emily asked aloud. She knew she'd never seen Lauren do this before.
"A lot" Payson replied, but her eyes didn't move from Lauren. "This is worth a lot."
Finally, the dismount: Lauren had been landing this for at least the last year. She's been the first of them to ever land it and it had been the move to earn her the moniker Queen of the Beam.
The double-piked salto came as easy as muscle memory and the mat felt nowhere near as good as the beam did under her feet.
Finally, she paid attention to the crowd and smiled. It was a smile of relief but she didn't move.
Across the gym, Kaylie demanded of Sasha "did you know she was going to do that?"
They, the other gymnasts and assistant coaches, all wanted to know, but he was still watching Lauren Tanner. Her salute had come down and her eyes had closed. He could see her shaking from fifteen metres away.
"Sasha, she hasn't moved" Payson pointed out, but it was too late then, Carter was half way too her and she tried to meet him. She took one step and then fell, but he was there to catch her and she wrapped her good leg around his waist and he hauled her up quickly to prevent her eating mat.
"Amazing" he told her, wrapping his arms around her "Lo, that was amazing."
She pulled back and he could see her eyes were welling with tears "you think?"
"Yeah"
She managed to state a firm "good" before the tears started rolling.
"Let's get you some ice"
"okay" she laughed somewhat hysterically. "also pain killers. Ow."
He swung her around easily and carried her bridal style back to the Rock.
Despite his hatred of Carter Anderson, Steve Tanner couldn't fault the way he carried her carefully back, past her friends and set her down. Even from the stands where he'd returned to Chloe he couldn't fault his care.
The way she cried "Tucker" before he helped her transition from Anderson's arms to a chair bade him blink in surprise. How many boyfriends does my daughter have? He wondered. There was real affection there.
Tucker set her down and sat beside her, tugging her back into his chest. Carter stood, her, hand on her shoulder.
"Lauren, that was great!" once again Payson was the first of the team to speak and she threw her arms around Lauren. "when did you start using an Erceg or a Grigoras?"
"recently" Lauren told her. She was still shaking slightly. Carter picked up his discarded sweatshirt she'd been wearing after floor and she pulled it on after smiling at him. Payson, so focused on her routine, was the only one who missed it.
"Nice job." Emily told her
"yeah" Kaylie echoed "great job." But her heart was thumping like an oncoming train. She hadn't expected a beam routine like that. No one had expected a beam routine like that.
Austin handed her a bottle of something to drink. She wasn't sure what it was.
"Smile, gorgeous" he told her "you look like you're going into shock."
"I think I am" She admitted, but he made her laugh. "I can't believe I landed the sheep jump. God. I wobbled though. I wobbled a lot. I almost fell"
Carter squeezed her shoulder while Payson stared. "You seemed rock solid" She insisted. Lauren wasn't sure if she was making a pun but she giggled anyway.
"Lo" Austin nudged her and gestured at the screen. Scores were coming up. TV cameras had appeared to film her reaction.
The scores came up. "Oh my god" She whispered and then shrieked "oh my god"
Austin hugged her first "Congrats, gorgeous"
She looked to Carter. He just caught his hand in her hair, cupped her neck and didn't need to say anything. The camera caught her looking back to the scoreboard, framed by a smiling Austin, Carter and Payson, with a huge golden grin. Had it been taken a second earlier or later it would've caught her looking up at him.
She'd been avoiding looking at Sasha though. Debuting a routine like this, at a regional comp for one, and without your coach even seeing it, just wasn't something you did.
His jaw was viciously clenched but what could he say? He just nodded tightly but not even that could hold her grin back. She'd done it!
"I told you" Austin declared
"You were right" Lauren conceded "Wining does make me feel better."
He pulled her back into his lap and pressed a kiss to her neck. The tabloids got a photo of that.
"Feels good yeah?" Austin checked.
She looked up to Carter. "yeah. Feels good."
"The Rock is sure to win the club comp now" Emily managed to say. The Rock would've probably still won short of Lauren coming off the beam.
"Rock On!" Kaylie added. Lauren smirked.
"1,2 and 5. It's ours. Take that Denver Elite." Payson joined in and Lauren, now that she'd won, could conjure up joy to share.
"and 1st on floor" She hugged Payson.
Lauren hobbled up to get her trophy. She wasn't going to risk further wrath and photographs by having one of the boys carry her and she didn't think it was a good idea to ask Sasha for help either.
When they announced the results, they did the juniors first, and Becca Keeler came in 6th and placed second in two events. She was well on the way to becoming a top level elite and no one cheered louder than Payson. Lauren gave a whoop of her own. It was hard not to like Becca, except when she'd crashed their sleepovers but had Lauren been a younger sibling, she was sure she would have crashed as well. It was a great result for the Rock, and 5 other juniors had done well also, three in the top ten. Lauren was sure some of the older ones were resenting Becca's sudden rise, but that had happened when Lauren, Kaylie and Payson had been her age as well. It was the age you decided Olympics or College.
Of the elites, it had been a five-way shut-out with the exception of Payson's floor. All the others weren't at an international level.
As she was waiting for her name to be called, Lauren wished she could've seen Kaylie's face during her beam. She wondered if anyone had caught it, or Kelly Parker's. That wasn't the sort of thought she shared with Carter.
"Ellen Beals alert." Emily spoke up.
"Belov, girls." She looked them over as if she were hiring staff, not managing the national team, but then she fixed on Lauren with a bright smile.
"Well down. That mount was quite something. I didn't know you were working on that, or the Grigoras."
"I wasn't sure they'd be ready."
"Well you blew everyone out of the water. Queen of the Beam, right?"
No one had called her that since before the Chinese invitational, since before nationals maybe even. The world Queen was usually substituted for something else.
"sounds good to me"
She looked over Kaylie and Emily but didn't say a word.
"Well congratulations on the win." She paused "You looked lovely on the floor as well Payson."
Lauren kept her smiley, happy, face on until Beals was half way to the other side of the floor, talking to Kelly Parker and her team mates.
"Well thank you your highness" Payson stated, and they all laughed. For a second they felt like a team again and then Lauren added:
"When they make a movie of us, only Jane Lynch will be able to pull her off."
At their blank looks she added "the tracksuits?"
She rolled her eyes, but an assistant trainer scoffed to one side, which made her happier.
"Lauren!" The parents arrived and much to Lauren's relief, Chloe immediately went to Emily.
"that was amazing. That final rotation? Does anyone have a beam DOD that high?" She managed a smile for her father
"it was good, right?"
"it was fantastic. Congratulations."
"Thanks, Dad."
When they called her name she accepted the trophy smiling, and made sure to check her hair and make-up in a reflective surface before pictures were taken.
Austin and Carter hooted loudly, and so did everyone else when the Rock won the club title.
"As much as the girls appreciate your support, Mr Anderson, Mr Tucker, I'm afraid the pair of you will have to find something else to occupy your time this evening"
"yeah, that was what I came to tell you, as much fun as watching you own on beam is, we have a duel mission this weekend."
Austin leant in "Olly's flying in tonight."
"oh" her face lit up and she threw her arms around him "congrats"
When Carter hugged her goodbye she whispered "I'll text you when I get home, we need to celebrate tonight."
"no kidding"
He nodded and they both grinned as they split apart. He turned for one final look at his girlfriend before leaving the floor. She couldn't help the big grin.
"Are you even trying to be subtle? You can still get kicked out, you know?" Kaylie reminded her.
"oh look" Lauren held up her right hand and what was encased in it "my big shiny trophy. What colour is yours?"
Her exit was only slightly hampered by her hobble.
On the bus, she stuck her leg out and glared at anyone who might jostle it.
"That beam was amazing" Becca Keeler made sure to tell her though. She stepped carefully over Lauren's ankle.
"you weren't so bad either." Lauren admitted "if I wasn't planning on being in Nice by the time you're all grown up I might have to consider you serious competition."
"really? Thanks Lauren."
"What'd you say to Becca?" Payson asked
"congratulations. It's traditional." Kaylie and Emily took the seats in front of Lauren. She moved her leg
"are you sitting then?" she asked.
Payson sat quietly for all for ten seconds, but even before the bus was loaded she demanded "did you really upgrade your skill level that much, just by practicing in the annexe? With no coach?"
Lauren shrugged. "I guess. It didn't start that way, I just kept adding stuff, and I liked it in there. Just me and the beam, and the boys."
"and they don't impact your gymnastics at all?"
Lauren smirked "I've certainly increased my flexibility"
Payson turned bright red.
"the boys are great" Lauren insisted "anyway, do you have any idea how hard it is to keep up male gymnasts, just for conditioning?" she smirked and leant over "we do lots of conditioning."
In front of them Kaylie audibly groaned and grimaced.
When the bus finally arrived back in Boulder, Lauren was ready to get off, get to the boys house and figure out a way to have sex with her boyfriend and keep a bag of ice on her ankle. Instead she had to sit through a team dinner.
"Alright." Sasha stood up in front of them "just a few reminders. Firstly, a reminder that sitting here with us tonight are the All-Around and beam champion, Lauren Tanner, All Around-Silver, and Bars and Vault Champion, Kaylie Cruz, Floor Champion, Payson Keeler and, of course, our Junior stars, Alexis Dunthorp and Becca Keeler and Josh Hun." The bus cheered.
"Well done" Sasha reminded them. "Well done everyone, because of course, we're the club champions of the day, and that's due to all of you, and all the hard work you put in, parents too."
Cheering again.
Lauren almost groaned out loud.
As everyone chatted away, Lauren grimaced, which only increased when Summer appeared.
"Lauren, there you are." Summer reappeared "congratulations" she hugged her. "oh, I'm so proud of you."
Suddenly, it all came rushing back. "Why, you're not my mother? You're not even my Dad's girlfriend? You can't just show up and declare yourself on my side when you want to!"
"That wasn't what I was trying to do" Summer attempted to explain but Lauren would have none of it.
Lauren turned and attempted to storm off but her father caught her arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"To get some fresh ice for my ankle" she snapped right back. "not that it's any of your business"
"it damn well is my business if you're going to meet that boy..."
"For your information, that boy, is at home. Where I'm going as soon as this hell is over."
Watch your mouth!" Steve hissed in a low voice and glanced around. "I'm your father, and this is your team."
"So? Is that supposed to mean something? I just won." She reminded him. "I just won, and I did it without you. I don't need family and I don't need you, so just leave me the hell alone."
Steve was so surprised he let her go and she tore her arm out of his grasp and stormed off as best she could given her sprained ankle.
"We need to talk" Sasha stepped close to Steve.
"About what?" Steve was in no mood.
"About Lauren" When Steve glared Sasha insisted "we're on the same side here. Meet me at the bar."
Steve ordered the best scotch they had. Sasha ordered a European beer Steve had never heard of. Tanner thought that its presence was probably why Sasha had chosen this particular restaurant.
"Needless to say, I'm concerned" his daughter's coach told him. His first instinct was to defend her.
"She did just win today"
"Barely."
"A point"
"And in any part of her beam routine she could've fallen and broken her neck or damaged herself far worse than a sprained ankle."
Steve sighed "I know. I don't know what to do. She used to talk to me."
"do you know what this is about?"
Steve shook his head. "I know what I'm worried it's about"
"You still think she had an abortion?" Sasha surmised
"It's that boy" He insisted "she was never like this before."
"Lauren's always had issues with self-restraint" Sasha insisted. "and I'll be honest, it's not the dating that concerns me. It's a rule that existed before me, and I really don't care, one way or the other."
"you don't care she's having sex? That she might have had an abortion?"
"that's a different matter altogether." Sasha insisted "I care about what happens on the gym floor, and yes, getting pregnant would effect that, but what concerns me now is that she's bringing her issues into the gym with her. This isn't some fun she's having to de-stress when she's not training."
"Well he trains there. Can't you kick him out?"
"I could" Sasha insisted "but then that would bring Lauren's spot at the gym into question as well, and Austin Tucker's, apparently."
Steve scowled
"and I don't think the issues would go away even if I did." Sasha told him. "but your daughter needs to figure this out, and quickly."
"or what?"
"let me make this very clear, Tanner. What your daughter did today, changing her routine without my permission, competing when I told her not too, is not only risking career threatening if not fatal injuries, it also sets an extremely poor example for the rest of the gym, and I can't allow that. I can't allow that in my gym at all."
