Disguised In Lavender

Part 14

Ideas flew between them as they tried to come up with something to keep them busy but because Ann wasn't technically allowed they had to keep it low scale. "We aren't creative enough for truth or dare." Zack mumbled, he'd flopped backwards against his pillow staring up at the ceiling as Ann leaned her cheek on her palm. Lauren leaned back on her palm with her hand lingering close to the trainer's who hardly seemed to notice. Half without knowing she was doing it, Lauren lifted her hand and fumbled loosely with the bottom of her sweater on Ann. She glanced down and then into Lauren's eyes, shifting sideways to show off the shirt when the rider caught her gaze.

It looked good on her, a little big so that half of her shoulders were exposed and cuffed at the tips of her fingers rather than the wrist. Yet that sweater was Lauren's and something felt so right seeing Ann, already shorter, shrink into something of hers. Her half dried hair was caught in the hood and Lauren reached around to gently pull it out, feeling Ann comfortably lean into her touch. "What about a movie?" Zack sat up and glanced across at them, quirking an eyebrow as Lauren pulled her hand away and Ann sat stiff. "Sure, The Office?" Lauren tried to keep the stutter from her voice as she glanced over at Ann for confirmation, smiling as she nodded.

Noise filled the little dorm room as Zack scrolled through Netflix, starting halfway through the second season on a random episode he'd last finished. Lauren was only partially concentrating on the show as Ann and Zack picked up conversation, obviously more caught up than she was. She scrolled lazily through her last texts, trying to find a time to meet Mr. Terence and ride the next day. A weight settling on her shoulder made her turn her face from the screen, the illuminating light of the TV lit up Ann's face as she laid her head on Lauren. Her eyes closed and her mouth formed a pout as she slept peacefully with her knees tucked up to her chest and her arms tucked into her shirt.

As if sensing that Lauren was watching, Ann's eyes fluttered open and she blinked up at her slowly for a moment. Wordlessly lifting her hand to Lauren's cheek, she gently ran them over the cut from that morning. The rider herself had nearly forgotten about it, she tried to go cross eyed to see it which made Ann giggle. Assuming everything was fine, the blonde pulled her hand away and let herself drift off, this time, Lauren followed.

It was the tingling shock of a phone ringing that woke Lauren even before the sunlight sparkling between the drawn blinds did. The commotion of the dorm showed everyone had awakened before her, even Ann who had found her forgotten folder and was flipping through it. Zack had apparently already left, he worked at a gas station but everyone knew he was at the club across the street. "You gonna answer that?" Ann asked calmly, glancing up and gingerly trying to pull the blinds further closed as Lauren squinted at her.

"Hello?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes with her palm and leaning forward against her outstretched legs. "Get to the barn right now, Laur, the show schedule just got posted." Mr. Terence's scratching voice only registered with Lauren about a minute after she'd heard him and he'd hung up. Ann was watching her with a quirked eyebrow as she crossed one leg over the other in her seat. "Oh my god." Lauren's eyes went wide and she jumped out of bed, pulling her tangled hair into a messy ponytail and pulling the rolled edges of her pants down.

"What? Who was it?" The trainer stood up with more composure as she grabbed her jacket from the hook in anticipation. "Mr. Terence posted the show dates and we need to grab a time and horse before the scouts get here." Both paused for a moment, eyes locked on each other in prepared silence before they broke their separate ways. Lauren grabbed a hoodie and wriggled her head through the hole as Ann grabbed the keys to the dorm door and dashed out.

Pounding splashes of rain hit the ceiling before either could even see it but neither slowed down as Ann shoved her shoulder against the door. Mud flew up around them and they squealed in surprise, Lauren pulled Ann's hood over her head as she ran by. Nobody would want to be out in this weather, Mr. Terence was even sheltering in the barn when the trainer and rider skidded in the mud beside him. "You're lucky the sky opened up, no one's here." He grumbled, a sour grimace crossing his unshaven face as he led the girls to the empty tack room. "Hopefully neither of you are too bad off." An older lady with a round stomach and rosy cheeks smiled from behind the desk as she rolled back to grab the show papers.

Lauren had seen them hundreds of times and instinctively uncapped the blue pen on the desk with her teeth. A sheet of twenty or so horses with gold boxes beside their names was printed in smeared ink on the crumpled paper. "You liked the buckskin and dappled grey, he's a new addition." Ann leaned over Lauren's shoulder and pointed to a dark gelding with a white ringlet tail. "He's flashy but I don't know about that hind slope, might just be the angle." Lauren whispered back, crossing out the bottom half of horses and narrowing their selection. "Wasn't on the first few interview sheets either, it's a risk but he has a nice neck curve." Mr. Terence crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on his right foot, tilting his head at the girls.

It may have been his idea to assign Ann to Lauren but it was clear he didn't know just what the young freshman was capable of. "Sure, he definitely has a better winning streak than the mare but that might be just in dressage, I want a jumper. Plus, maybe the buckskin might be the way to go." Lauren tapped the pictures individually and managed a glance up at Ann, instantly glancing away. They were close in the stuffy tack room, even closer than they had been the night before when the lavender had intoxicated her.

Blond hair neatly brushed down around her doll-like face and her thumb nail clenched in her anxious teeth. "Explain." Ann broke the trance, self consciously shaking her hand down to her side and digging the toe of her boot into the ground. "If I can win on a horse with a bad record, it could mean more to the judges, playing it safe isn't playing at all." Nodding in agreement, Mr. Terence tapped the buckskin's picture and Ann gave a shrug of approval as Lauren left a curved 'L' in his box. Ann tried to hide her smile but the dimples on her cheeks curved and her eyes glistened with excitement.