Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!
"Mom, where is my uniform?" Lauren yelled as she frantically threw her things into her duffel bag. It had been a long hard week. Between dealing with Lila's tantrums about relearning her part of the routine and avoiding Charity as much as possible and being nervous about the competition this weekend, Lauren was spent. She needed five minutes to relax and get her emotions in check, but they had to be on the bus in thirty minutes and she couldn't find her uniform.
"It's in the dryer, do you need some help?" Her mom called from her room. Lauren would love some, but none that her mother could give. She needed to get over the awkwardness with Charity that had sprung up about the time Charity found Lauren's mother in bed with their father. Charity had told Lauren about it last Monday and since then they'd been avoiding each other like the plague. The tension between them seemed to spread like wildfire through the rest of the squad, which made their practices less than productive.
"Here's your uniform. Do you have everything else you need?" Her mom asked, tossing her uniform to her. Lauren nodded and they grabbed their bags and took off.
Lauren tried to use the drive to the school to breath deeply and relax. She planned to talk to Charity at some point on the ride there to sort of clear the air between them. She hoped that if she showed up as her usual calm, cool, collected self, that the rest of the squad would follow suit.
Pulling up, she took one last deep breath and smiled at her mom before grabbing her bags and heading out into the sea of people who were mingling in the parking lot.
"Lauren!" She heard Jenny yelling for her. She glanced around but didn't see her, so she kept weaving around people to get to the bus. Finally she got her things stowed away.
"Lauren, there you are." Jenny said, brushing by people to get to her. Lauren smiled, at least she and Jenny hadn't changed, Lauren could always count on Jen for anything.
"Lila and Charity still aren't here yet." Jenny told her, worriedly. Lauren sighed loudly. Her worst fear was that Lila would no-show today and totally screw them.
"Calm down. Charity will be here, I'm not worried about her. Lila, on the other hand…"Lauren trailed off. She bit her lip as she scanned the parking lot. Most of the people had gone, leaving just the basketball team, the cheerleading squad and the coaches and parents who were chaperoning. She spotted her mom and Jake chatting with a group of parents. No Lila or Charity though. Just then she saw Lucas's car tearing into the parking lot.
"Well, there's Charity." She said, pointing out the car to Jenny. Lauren watched as Charity jumped out and grabbed her bag and quickly made her way to the bus.
"Sorry guys, we are running behind today. Dad forgot that he agreed to chaperone in mom's place since she won't be back till next weekend." Charity explained. Lauren' eyes widened at Charity's words. She hadn't realized that Lucas would be coming. She wondered if her mother knew. Lauren quickly scanned the crowd and found her mother watching Lucas walk towards her and Jake. She saw her glance at Jake, then turn to Lucas with wide eyes. Her mom quickly shook her head at Lucas.
"Oh, I didn't know your mom was coming." Charity said slowly, following Lauren's gaze.
"Yeah, well, for this weekend it's their problem. We have other things to worry about. Like the fact that Lila still isn't here." Lauren said, forcing herself to turn her attention back to Charity and Jenny.
"Everyone, on the buses! Let's get this show on the road." Their principal called out over the megaphone. Lauren waved at Tyler as he boarded the team's bus. She was glad that the squad got a bus to themselves. They needed the extra space for all their stuff.
Lauren's shoulders slumped as she got on the bus and sat down. What were they going to do now that Lila hadn't shown up? There wasn't enough time to rework the routine and they couldn't do it without Lila. Just as she was on the verge of tears, the doors opened and Lila hopped on the bus. Lauren stared daggers at her. She knew that Lila had probably shown up at the last second on purpose.
"Sorry I'm late." Lila said brightly, giving Lauren a sarcastic smile. Lauren vowed to herself that she was kicking Lila off the squad the second they got back.
The ride was mostly long and uneventful. The girls chatted and then listened to the music for their routine and visualized it in their heads. They didn't perform until Saturday afternoon, but they had to cheer for the guys tonight and tomorrow morning, first. That didn't leave a lot of time for extra practice.
Finally they got to the hotel. Lauren noticed Charity light up when she saw that Bear Creek was arriving at the same time.
"Down girl, you don't want to scare him away with your over eagerness." Lauren joked with Charity as they got off the bus. Charity was smoothing out her shirt and fluffing her hair.
"Do I look alright?" Charity asked nervously. Lauren laughed and nodded.
"You do have it bad for him don't you?" She asked, giggling.
"He's so hot Lauren, and he's really sweet and funny and ugh, it's obvious isn't it?" Charity moaned.
"What's obvious?" Tyler asked as he joined them.
"Charity has a thing for your boy, Derek." Lauren informed him. She frowned as his expression darkened for just a moment. Lila had said that Charity was going after Tyler, which she had denied. Lauren never considered that maybe it was the other way around.