Election [Laurinah]

Student Election

Ally Brooke was a model student. Anyone who knew her could confirm that she was a dedicated perfectionist who put her absolute everything into any task or challenge. Whilst other teenage girls spent their free time hanging at each other's houses, thumbing through old magazines, going on awkward dates or spending hours chatting on their phones until they absolutely had to do their school work, Ally was forever consumed by her need to do more. Every piece of homework she put 110% into, every pitiful boy she rejected, every eye roll she ignored, furthered her her pursuit for the best. In her opinion, it was what made her a superior person. She was going somewhere in life.

She was also a ruthless bitch who didn't mind stepping on others to win. Those who considered challenging her, whether it be on a spelling bee or a question in class, were soon muted with a snap of a head in their direction and an eyebrow raised threateningly high. If that failed, Ally would talk rapidly in an indignant, confident voice as she answered the question, giving little room for argument until the other student gave up in defeat or frustration.

And every high school year, the epitome of her strive for power lay upon one thing: the Student Election.

Did it matter that no one had run against her since freshman year? Of course not, she knew they were too weak to even try. This did not stop her running a vigorous campaign every year in which her poster perfect face plastered the walls of the school.

"What are you doing?" She remembered Lauren Jauregui had spitefully asked her one time when she was admiring a particularly striking poster in Junior year.

Huffing in annoyance at having to spare such a mediocre person the time of day, Ally replied in a terse voice. "Just checking that I look good in this photo."

"And...?" Lauren questioned, a sarcastic tilt to her lips.

"I do. Not that I really doubted that anyway." Ally spoke in a clipped but pleased tone.

Lauren had rolled her eyes and strutted off, muttering something about Ally being full of herself.

It was presently 8:30am in the morning and students would be filtering into school any minute now, dragging their feet belligerently as they committed themselves to a 6 hour, monotonous school day. Ally planned to add a little cheer to their lives- whilst achieving the 100 signatures she needed to run for student president of course.

She was setting up a table in the hallway, with her jar of wrapped gum pieces adjacent to her, when Mr Bankhead strolled in. He eyed Ally cautiously and seemed at first to try and slip past her without her notice when she gave him a slightly manic grin, "Morning Mr Bankhead!" She greeted cheerfully.

He paused for a moment and regarded her, a weak smile on his lips as he took in her stall. "Morning Ally. All set up I see."

Ally nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. Want a piece of gum?" Ally desperately wanted Mr Bankhead to like her, she'd always felt he didn't for some reason. She honestly didn't get why, she was always very eager in his classes, in fact, she put her hand up for every single question he asked!

"No I'm good. Better go get ready for class actually." He waved a suited arm half heartedly in a direction away from Ally, meaning really to go make a coffee in the staff room. If he was to handle a day of Ally Brooke yelling in the corridors and getting up in people's faces for signatures, he was gonna need that coffee. Offering a final, and hopefully convincing smile, he spun on his heel and started off in a different direction only to be halted by Ally's voice, "But Sir, you have Grade 12 English first, don't you? You're going the wrong way." She giggled, voice pitched in confusion.

Not wanting to know why she had memorised his timetable, he turned around again, this time avoiding eye contact. "Right you are." He walked hurriedly to his class, Ally's affectionate eyes following him the whole time.

Just then, it was like someone had opened a dam as students of all ages and levels of enthusiasm poured into the school. Ally shrieked and stood quickly in her seat. Throwing on her brightest grin she reached out an arm and snatched a small Asian boy- a freshman from the uncertainty he held in his gait- and tugged him to her table.

"Hi there! I was wondering if you'd be interested in signing something for me..."

***

Lauren Jauregui was in a grim mood. In her opinion, everything majorly sucked. Well, it always had sucked, but it had sucked a hell of a lot less when she'd had a tall, blonde, gorgeous cheerleader as her...girlfriend? They hadn't really ever labelled things; themselves or their relationship. And she hadn't particularly cared. Spending time with the obnoxious but colourful, stimulating and witty girl had been enough to make broody, dorky, cynical Lauren happy. When she knew she had Dinah, other things didn't seem so shit. It stopped mattering so much that her creepy psychology teacher always lingered too long at her desk, his head craned over her shoulder "looking" at her work as he breathed out his stale coffee odour, hand placed uncomfortably on her lower back. It stopped mattering so much that the atmosphere at home was always tainted irreversibly by the constant arguing of her parents; stuck in a sexless, dead, middle class marriage that neither could be bothered to end. It stopped mattering that Lauren was shit at Math, as Dinah was a genius and always helped her with it, or that often she found herself slipping into periods of time where she just felt low, as Dinah had always cheered her up by bringing a pile of gossip magazines and a range of nail varnish colours over, entertaining her with her conspiracy theories over celebrities whilst she delicately painted her nails. Dinah would then kiss Lauren's pouty lips and furrowed brow until the cloudiness in her mind dissipated enough for her to smile genuinely again.

it stopped mattering that everyone preferred her twin brother to her, even her parents. Because Dinah didn't, Dinah preferred her. And that meant a lot to Lauren, who'd spent her whole life feeling inadequate and second best.

But all of a sudden that had been snatched away from Lauren and she didn't know why. Yesterday was a blur of pain and confusion, in which certain lines from the heated argument would float mockingly to the forefront of Lauren's memory. I'm no dyke. Dirty little secret. We were just experimenting. Every word was a stab to Lauren's confidence and happiness that she had been nursing and allowing to grow tentatively for the past few months that Dinah had been in her life.

Don't cry. Don't be pathetic. Lauren repeated to herself furiously as she rested her forehead against the wheel of her car and willed away the tears bubbling up, yet again, in her eyes. Her car was parked in the school carpark, far enough away from school that no one was really walking by. If they did, they hadn't shown any interest in a gloomy girl seemingly trying to gather enough motivation to enter the school.

Taking a deep, determined breath, Lauren shakily raised her head. She lowered the car mirror and checked her reflection, wiping away any smudges from her mascara, and spare tears that had somehow managed to escape the steel gates of her eyes. Today she was wearing grey to match her mood. Grey knit sweater that hung loose around her frame to expose soft shoulders and sharp collarbones, matching grey headband that kept her dark hair pushed out of her eyes, and grey schoolgirl skirt. I'm like a walking cloud of misery, Lauren thought as she pushed open her car door. Good, maybe I can rain all over Dinah and ruin her hair.

A/N: To anyone actually reading, thanks! I hope you enjoy this Laurinah story as I thought that Laurinah was greatly lacking in this fandom:) any comments/votes encourage me loads.

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