Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!
Lauren watched the exchange between Derek and Charity. She almost felt pity for the girl, almost. Worry consumed most of her thought. She had seen the hit that Tyler had taken. Before she had time to think about what she was doing, she flew off in the direction of the guys locker room. She crept in, hoping to get through unnoticed. She had made it all of two feet before hearing the indignant yells of the guys who were still in there changing. A blush rose in her cheeks, and she mumbled apologies as she tried to avert her eyes. She knew that she would laugh at herself later, but right now all she cared about was checking on Tyler. Finally she made her way to the coach's office. Slowly, she opened the door. Tyler was laying on a cot in the back, surrounded by coaches and trainers.
"Hey, you can't be in here!" One of the trainers said, finally noticing her. Lauren bit her lip, trying to formulate a good reason to be in here.
"Lauren?" Tyler croaked, sitting up on his elbows. He looked terrible. His left eye was swollen shut and he had dried blood caked to his lip.
"Yeah, it's me, how are you doing, killer?" She joked, coming to his side. She took the ice that someone had passed over and pressed it to his eye. Tyler groaned in pain and took the bag of ice from her.
"I've been better. Where's Charity?" He asked, glancing around the room. Lauren briefly entertained the idea of lying to him, but she valued his friendship too much for that.
"She's talking to Derek. I'm sure she's worried about you though." Lauren said gently. Tyler rolled his eyes and sank back down. Lauren suddenly realized that they were alone in the room. Everyone else had left already.
"Do you want to hang out in here for awhile or do you want to go back to the hotel?" She asked.
"I think I'll hang out here. I don't feel like running into Derek again and you guys compete soon, I can't miss that." He replied with a smile. Lauren nodded and headed for the door.
"Hey, Lauren, do you think you could hang out with me for a little bit?" He asked shyly as she turned the doorknob. She forced the grin from her face before she turned around.
"Yeah, sure." She said as she crossed the room and hopped up on the table beside him. She tried to ignore the effect that being this close to him had on her. She made herself picture him and Charity together. It wasn't helping. Her skin still tingled in memory of his touches and caresses. She tried to slow her rapid breathing.
"So, are you guys ready for today?" Tyler asked, turning to face her. She nodded with a small smile. Quickly she hopped up from the cot and paced around the room. She couldn't think when he was that close to her. He might be able to turn his feelings for her on and off, but she couldn't do that.
"Yeah, I think so." She finally answered as she got her bearings again.
"You know, I think I'm going to go and make sure everyone is ready." She said, giving a lame excuse to get away from Tyler.
"Okay, well I'll definitely be there. Tell Charity--" She heard him begin to say. She didn't hear the rest because she had already bolted out the door. She wouldn't be his messenger, especially not to his new girlfriend. She exited the locker room and was thankful to see Charity and Derek were already gone. Jen was standing up against the wall waiting for her.
"What was that all about?" Jenny asked, arching an eyebrow at Lauren. Lauren half wished that she was a better liar.
"I just wanted to make sure Tyler was okay. Charity certainly didn't seem in any hurry to do so." She said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the bitterness from her voice.
"I thought you and Charity were cool about the whole Tyler thing? I mean, you told her you didn't blame her, right?" Jenny asked, pushing herself away from the wall and walking over to Lauren.
"Technically, but she never asked if it was cool with me if they dated! Okay, so I'm not a robot and I can't just push a button and get over Tyler. I've liked him for years!" Lauren exclaimed angrily.
"Why don't you just talk to her about it?" Jen asked reasonably. Lauren rolled her eyes. This situation was wrong on so many levels, it wasn't funny. Usually she was the calm, reasonable one talking Jenny down. She hated feeling this way.
"I can't okay. We have to compete first. I won't jeopardize our chances at winning over a guy, no matter what I feel for him. I don't want to talk about it anymore." She said stubbornly.
"Alright, well we have an hour till we compete. Why don't we go and round everyone up?" Jenny asked, glancing at her watch.
"Hey, here comes some of the girls now." Jenny said, pointing over Laurens shoulder. Lauren turned and smiled as about half her squad jogged up to them. Her smile dropped as she saw the angry looks on their faces.
"What's wrong?" She asked as they neared.
"We've looked everywhere, we can't find Lila. All of her stuff is gone from our room and she's nowhere to be found." Bella explained, twirling her hair nervously. Lauren glanced around the group, waiting for someone to tell her it was all a joke. She needed it to be a joke, but when no one spoke up, Lauren knew that somewhere Lila was having the last laugh.