Disguised In Lavender

Part Nine

Neither of them moved, the caw of a crow echoing blandly between them as they dropped their gazes to the ground. "I'm not trying to be uptight, I just need you to trust your rider a little bit." Lauren whispered, poking the toe of her boot into the rubber tiles on the ground, picking at a seam without looking up. "I know you're not. Let's just keep everything about us about riding an shows. It'll be easier, thanks for the invite." Ann muttered slowly, her footsteps growing further away as the sting stayed lingering in the air.

It was all Dalla's fault, she'd gotten into Lauren's head and she'd won, the most important award fell through her fingers. "That's rough." The laughter following those words made her wheel on her heels with fire in her clenched fists. Fall twirled her curled hair around a manicures finger, scowling down at her rival as if she were a speck of dirt. "I told you to stay away from her, but you messed it up just fine on your own, how sad." Her expression changed from a mocking pout to the sadistic cackle of a hyena.

Lauren didn't say a word, her fists flew without a second, or even a first, thought to them, fueled by her bitterness. They landed square, shoving Dalla back and leaving a red blister already taking up half of her right cheek. Stunned disbelief reflected din the brunette's face, her mouth gaped open as she touched the bruise. "You're insane." She spat, stumbling back to her feet and launching herself at Lauren, taking her off guard and landing a cut to her jaw. Her nails drew blood from the riders chin and across her cheek bones until she could shove Dalla aside.

Blood trickled down her lips and turned them a stinging shade of crimson, the taste of salt coating her tongue. Taking a shaking breath, Lauren watched Dalla stand, her back pressed against the wall, her hands shaking in cat-like claws. Neither spoke as Dalla scoffed and trotted back the way she'd come, leaving Lauren spitting blood from her mouth. Her knees buckled, sending her sprawling across the floor onto her elbows and knocking the wind from her lungs.

Pretty good for a first fight, the thought out a smile across Lauren's face as she pushed herself back against the opposite wall. Leaning her head against the panels, Lauren let her eyes flutter shut to catch her breath.

Nothing had happened, that was the unspoken vow that Lauren and Dalla ironically possessed from that morning as they collected their books. Faux light made the brunette's bruise turn a nasty shade of brownish purple, a sense of pride forming for Lauren. Though she honestly wasn't much better, the cuts along her face were deep and a ring of swelled pink flesh made them turn even more unattractive. An undiagnosed bump on the side of her neck had also formed from a stray punch to her throat. The pain seemed to have died down though, Lauren shook out her sore wrist as she shifted her bag onto both shoulders.

Tanner froze on his way towards her, his smile falling and in place left a look of disgusted concern which surely wasn't helping. "Stop staring." Lauren grumbled as she swept past him, tugging him by the sleeve of his button up black shirt along with her. "JK is going to need full details so expect me to be listening in." He sighed back, glancing over at her with one hand hovering in the air as if he weren't sure what to do about it. "Whatever, it was just a fight with Dalla." Tanner's eyes widened even further and he stumbled as his shoes caught on each other, shocked. "Just tell everyone it was a riding accident, sounds better, good luck in Calculus, test sucks." Lauren spun in a swift circle, shooting finger guns as she vanished down the stairwell leading to the Seniors classes.

Letting out her breath, Lauren slumped against the railing and glanced at the mirror hanging on a weak hook on the landing. Her fingers lifted towards the worst cut just under her eye and down to her cheek bone, wincing at the stinging pain. A hand landed on her shoulder, turning her around with a surprised jump but she instantly went numb. Ann's eyes focused on the cut as her hands pinned Lauren against the wall, she'd lost the shyness Lauren had taken from her at first. She was entirely serious as she lifted a hand and wordlessly let her fingers hover over each cut as if trying to assess them.

"What happened?" Their eyes locked when Ann lifted her gaze, instantly letting it soften at the surprise and confusion in Lauren's stare. "It's just a scratch." She insisted under her breath, finding herself frozen under Ann and unable to pull her eyes away from the star scattered blue. "It's bad." The trainer insisted, lifting one hand to tilt Lauren's chin to the side, carefully examining the long cut. "This has nothing to do with showing, we had a promise." Lauren stammered, swallowing hard when Ann let her chin drop and looked through her again,scoffing lightly. Without answering, she took Lauren's wrist and tugged her after her, moving swiftly through the crowded hallways to the exit.

Pulling away was the last idea that crossed Lauren's mind as Ann jogged with her grasp tight around her wrist towards the rider's dorms. Zack glanced up and leapt to his feet when he noticed Ann with Lauren, tossing his phone backwards onto the bed. "Who's this?" He asked, pointing accusingly to the stranger as she sat Lauren on her bed and let her go. "Where's the medicine cabinet?" Ignoring his first question, Ann set right to work, striding into the bathroom where Zack wordlessly pointed, turning wide eyed to Lauren for answers.

There wasn't much to explain, she pulled her legs up criss cross and leaned back on her palms. "Don't break anything, I've got class." He lied smoothly, Lauren well aware that he rarely got to class anyway but she was grateful to be left alone with Ann. Being alone made her heart flutter, thinking back to the night before where they'd had such a great time. Zack shook his head and pulled the car keys off the hook, shooting a peace sign before slamming the door behind him.