Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!
Lauren was torn. For a week she'd watched Chloe and Skylar make Charity's life hell. For a week, she'd simply sat on the sidelines and observed. So many times she had wanted to come to Charity's defense, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Every time she started to get angry and speak up, a little voice in the back of her head reminded her that Charity wasn't her favorite person right now, for good reason. Lauren was convinced that something had happened between Tyler and Charity. Each time she had spoken to Tyler, she dropped Charity's name casually into the conversation and each time, he shut down, end of conversation. His reactions only further proved Lauren's suspicions.
"All right ladies, let's run through the routine one last time." Coach Lee called as she walked over to their group. Lauren sighed as she got into place. Lauren was certain she could do this routine in her sleep, but Coach Lee wanted to win the little competition that was set up for them, so she wanted perfection from her squad. At least Charity was right about Skylar and Chloe being good cheerleaders. They might be obnoxious as all hell, but they could perform. The other two girls on their squad, Kelsey and April were decent, not excellent, but decent.
Finally Coach Lee told them to pack it up for the day. Lauren slowly threw her things into her bag. She had been dreading the end of practice today. It was officially the weekend and Tyler, Kyle, Logan and Derek would be arriving in a matter of hours.
"So Charity, Zach and some friends will be here tonight, can you try not to steal this car and destroy it?" Chloe asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Skylar laughed loudly behind her. Lauren stole a glance at Charity, as she finished zipping her bag. Lauren was curious as to why Charity had yet to defend herself to these girls. All week, Charity had stayed eerily quiet, ignoring every taunt these two threw at her. It wasn't like her at all.
"Are you ready?" Charity asked her softly, her lips set in a thin line. Lauren nodded and followed her out of the gym. As soon as the doors swung shut behind them, Charity let out a scream of frustration.
"Why don't you say anything to them?" She asked loudly, swinging around to give Lauren a look of disbelief. Lauren raised her eyebrows. She shook her head, she couldn't believe that Charity expected her to handle those two for her!
"Me? You're the one that they're attacking, why don't you stand up for yourself?" Lauren replied indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. Charity shook her head slowly.
"What can I say, Lauren, they're right." Charity admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
"No, they aren't. You aren't the same person that they knew, Charity. You aren't even the same girl that I met a year ago. Don't let them define you by who you used to be. Show them who you are, stand up to them." Lauren said, stubbornly. Charity gave her a small smile, but shook her head.
"What if I am still that girl?" Charity asked softly, then turned and walked away before Lauren had a chance to reply. Lauren pondered Charity's words and secretly admitted to herself that she could be right. Especially if what Lauren suspected Charity and Tyler had done, was true.
She decided to go for a walk, to clear her head, before Tyler arrived. She was digging through her bag for her I-pod, when she bumped into someone. Her bag slid off of her arm and spilled its contents on the floor. Groaning she bent down to start retrieving her things.
"Do you need a hand?" She heard a soft voice ask. It was then that she looked up and saw the person that she'd bumped into. He was, without a doubt, the best looking guy she'd ever seen. He had light brown hair that curled very slightly at the ends and the lightest blue eyes that reminded her of the ocean.
"Yeah, sure." She said quickly. She tried to put the rest of her things in her bag, but it was hard to do, since she couldn't seen to tear her eyes off of this mystery boy.
"There you go." He said, as he zipped her bag up and handed it back to her.
"Thanks. Oh, and I'm sorry I ran into you, I guess I should pay more attention to where I'm going." She said shyly. She noticed that his eyes twinkled when he smiled.
"Or not, I mean, if you hadn't ran into me, then I wouldn't get to tell my friends about the beautiful girl I met." He said, smiling widely. Lauren felt a blush rising in her cheeks.
"Collins, there you are. Figures that I'd find you with a pretty girl." A blonde guy said, walking up to her mystery boy.
"We ran into each other, I helped her pick up her stuff, it's no big deal." Mystery boy told the blonde.
"It better not be, you know how Sky can get." The blonde said, warningly. Lauren felt her smile drop slightly. It sounded like her mystery boy was taken. Not that it mattered to her, she told herself, after all, she was taken too.
"It was nice to meet you…" Mystery boy trailed off. Lauren realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet.
"I'm Lauren." She said, adjusting her bag nervously. She held out her hand, to shake his.
"Well, it was nice to meet you Lauren. This is Carter, and I'm Zach, Zach Collins." Zach told her. Realization dawned on her. Zach Collins, dating someone named Sky? She bit her lip as she realized that she was staring at Charity's ex-boyfriend. Suddenly, she wished that she had imagined the jolt she had felt as his hand touched hers.