Glory And Gore (5H AU)

Chapter 1 - Welcome To The Academy

There's always been two kinds of people in this world- those who know and those who don't. Now, exactly what they know is always the variable, but the simple fact is, you're always going to be either one or the other.
In this situation, Lauren is the latter.
It was supposed to be any other Saturday, a full shift at the aquarium and then hang out by the lake. On her own, of course. It always had to be on her own.
So why is she dozing off in the backseat of a beat up minivan, blocking out the world with a pair of headphones and the Ultraviolence track list on repeat?
She is eternally grateful that the driver wasn't chatty, nor was the brunette boy in the seat in front of her. The entire drive up has been nothing but silence, and honestly, it was just what Lauren needed. Wasting words had always bothered her, so she prefers to speak as needed.
Lauren has never been to the west coast before. She's heard stories of them, with their surfer's accents and organic burgers and mellow disposition, but nobody ever mentions how gorgeous the scenery is. The rusted-gold forests, the dim gray sky, and the sun peeking out from behind a wispy cloud of white. She would happily leave Miami a thousand times over for this. Now specifically, she has no idea where she is. She's pretty sure she saw a sign for Seattle a few miles back, but she's so exhausted and irritable from the drive she doesn't want to bother trying to figure it out. Wherever she was, it was wet (just like home) and that's all that matters.
The car takes a smooth turn on a paved road into the woods, where some trees had been carved out to allow room for the cars to pass. Sensing that they were close, Lauren sits up and pulls her headphones off around her neck. She calls up to the driver, glancing around curiously at their surroundings. "I'll get to talk to my parents, right? Let them know what's going on?"
"They've been informed of what's going on," the woman replies after a moment, smiling kindly at her through the rear-view mirror. "We'll determine what more to do throughout your stay."
The car comes to a gradual stop, parking next to a full-sized bus in a neatly kept lot. Lauren quickly unbuckles and yanks her backpack over her shoulder, grabbing her duffel bag out from the trunk and practically leaping out of the car. Her legs buckle instantly beneath her weight and her muscles scream angrily at her, frustrated with the lack of movement for the past several hours. She wobbles for her first steps, before stretching her legs out in front of herself and happily restoring most of the feeling into them. The boy steps out tentatively and takes a moment to stretch, doing a few nice toe-touches and then bringing his knee up to his chest.
Their guide had already began walking ahead of them, taking quick, brisk steps towards their ultimate destination. Lauren scrambles to catch up, snickering to herself as the boy went wide eyed and raced to grab his belonging and catch up.
"Keep up, kids. This is pretty important stuff you're gonna be missing if you don't!" The guide calls out happily, bouncing along with all the energy in the world.
'I let this woman drive me this far and I don't even know her name,' Lauren thinks to herself, watching the bouncing chocolate ponytail, before a sheepish realization came over her. 'Nope. She told us her name. I just forgot. Way to go, Lolo.'
Lauren clears her throat, causing the boy to look over at her nervously. She gives him a quick once-over, taking in his scrawny frame and the guitar case he lugged over his shoulder. His hooded eyes flicker up to meet her's and narrow significantly at her before he hisses his first words. "I'm not Asian."
"Mind reader," Lauren hums impressedly. "That's mildly concerning."
"No, I'm not a mind reader," he clucks between gritted teeth, already massively irritated within the first 15 seconds of their conversation. "I just thought I'd clarify it."
Up in front of them the brunette guide giggles to herself.
Lauren continues on, unphased. She tucks her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, looking up at the massive architecture in the distance. "So what can you do, kid?"
The boy looks over her, taking in her messy dark hair and baggy sweater, before crossing his arms over his chest. "Aren't you not supposed to ask that?"
Their recruiter doesn't even stop to acknowledge the giant gated entrance, a cobblestone road leading up to the gate and past it towards a gorgeous building. The gates open for her instantaneously, swinging open fast enough to allow her to keep up her current walking pace.
Lauren chuckles at him, following behind the guide energetic. "This is training camp, buddy. Not prison."
As the group approaches the building, the woman turns to shake her head at Lauren in disapproval, clucking her tongue at her lightly. She pushes the giant mahogany door open, her fingers wrapped tightly around the bronze door handle. "Oh honey, trust me. This is no summer camp."
They enter the building, which has a vintage Victorian charm to it. The warm wooden walls and counters contrast with the stark creamy white of the marble floors and pillars. They approach a man at one of the first desks, who was smiling at the pair of strangers as if he had known them their entire life. Lauren doesn't mean to judge, but she can't help but feel entirely creeped out.
He grins at her first, folding his hands together and leaning back in his chair. "Lauren Jauregui."
Instantly hesitant as to how a stranger knows her name, she shifts her weight and narrows her eyes at the man. The hairs on the back of her neck are standing up, and she's certain she can take him should the need arise. "Who's asking?"
Unphased, he turns to greet the boy. "And Calum Hood."
"Yes, sir?" He asks, standing up a bit straighter than before and holding his hands in front of him politely.
"I've been wondering when you two would get here," the man laughs loudly, reaching under his desk to pull out two bundles. Each is a giant envelope and what appears to be two sleek silver cellphones.
"Clairvoyance does that to someone, wouldn't it, Alejandro?" The woman chuckles (and boy, does she have a nice laugh- Lauren can compare it to raspy bells) leaning forward to ruffle his hair. "New recruits. How exciting, right?"
"Welcome to the Academy," he congratulates them, smiling warmly as he rolls in his chair down the counter to help another group who had approached.
"That's your pager and a few documents you're going to need to read over," the woman with the gorgeous laugh tells them, beginning her rapid walk once again as she leads them out the hall and outside to a giant vast area of greenery. Other similar-looking buildings can be seen farther out, but the giant courtyard is a gorgeous sight, much welcome to Lauren's eyes, to see after having been cooped up in the vehicle for so long.
"Miss Bellisario, why exactly do we have pagers? We're not doctors, and this isn't the 90's," Calum questions, glancing over the small machine in his hand curiously.
"Those must be with you at all given times. This is how The Academy communicates with students. We had a student develop them a few years back, and now nobody is allowed to be without them. They serve as your ticket in and out of class, on and off campus, your ID, and your cell phone. Feel free to decorate them as you like," she explains, holding up her own device, which is a sleek golden color that starts giving Lauren a few of her own ideas.
"Why not just call them phones then?" He prods on, tucking his own machine back into his pocket. "And why can't we use our cell phones?"
"You can use your cell phone for music, a camera, games, everything but its actual designated use. The only device that will properly function up here for communication is your pager. The internet works, but we've got everything set up so you can't talk to the outside world using anything but your pager."
"Thorough," Lauren acknowledges, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"Pager is actually an acronym for something scientific-related but I can't be bothered to memorize it," she chuckles (Lauren's ears sing a hallelujah chorus), before spotting a group of boys wrestling boisterously by the fountain. Her smile falls and a loud groan instantly leaves her lips. Someone is definitely not in the mood to deal with stupid teenage boys right now.
"You're kidding me... Okay, check your schedules, they'll have your dorm location on there. You have a physical copy in your folder and a virtual copy on your pager. Rules are inside as well-" she glances over again nervously as the two boys smash into each other, quickly approaching the ancient structure of the old fountain. She gives the pair an apologetic look.
"Excuse me, for a second."
With a flick of her hand, she sends one of the wrestling pair flying, smashing him against a tree currently providing shade for other students. They all look up in shock at the floating boy, who has caused a mass of clay and gold colored leaves to fall in a parade of tiny parachutes from the tree.
She holds out her other hand, moving it quickly in the direction of the second boy. Lauren watches in astonishment as he stands up, only to be smashed on his back flat on the ground. She winces as she watches his body physically make a dent in the wet grass, sinking as Miss Bellisario focuses on keeping him down.
'I guess this really isn't summer camp,' she huffs to herself, watching in entertainment as the boy pinned to the tree slowly hovers towards them. The woman walks over to the boy near the fountain, bringing the other one towards them.
"Telekinesis," Calum observes, mouth agape as he watches the scene unfold. He shakes his head, letting out a low whistle as he watches by Lauren's side. "Fucking awesome."
Sensing an aggressive lecture about to ensue, Lauren pulls out her pager and promptly opens up the map, turning on her heel to quickly escape the scene. She pulls the schedule from her envelope, tucking the package under her arm as she continues walking. She has no idea where the hell the "Epsilon" dorm was, but it shows up in green letters on her map, so she wisely opts to go in that direction.
She doesn't even walk for a full minute before bumping into someone, who is obviously just as focused on their map as she was. Lauren drops her pager, stumbling a bit on her still-sore legs, before the stranger reaches out and plants a hand firmly on her shoulder.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention, that was entirely my fault." She swoops down to pick up Lauren's pager, trying to brush off the dirt that had caked onto it. Lauren's body tingles for a moment, but she assumes it's probably in anticipation of the rain. She smiles and shakes her head at the girl calmly.
"No, don't even worry about it."
Her eyes widen as the voice she hears is definitely not her own. As she reaches out to grab her pager, the long, dark arm extending in front of her is definitely not her's either.
"What the hell did you do to me?"
The girl looks up, her dark charcoal eyes bugging out of her head the moment she glances at Lauren.
"Crap, I'm so sorry!" She shrieks, tapping her on the arm and watching as Lauren feels the tingles, which leads to her skin receding to its normal color. "I was just really homesick, I was thinking about my mom and how much I miss her-"
"You turned me into your mother?" Lauren whisper yells in shock, yanking her arm away hurriedly as soon as the tingles disappeared.
"I'm sorry, it just happens sometimes by accident," the girl tries to explain, before hiding her face in her hands and taking in a sharp breath. "Oh god, coming here was a mistake."
After a beat of momentary terror passes, Lauren takes a second before acknowledging what has actually just happened. She tries to lower her voice, to indicate that she's not upset. "You turned me into someone else?"
"Yeah, it's pretty inconvenient when it happens at random times like this. It's usually much more under control- God, I'm sorry again. Let me just get out of your way and to the Delta dorm," she apologizes again, avoiding Lauren's gaze as she tries to step around her. Instead, the green-eyed girl takes a step to the side, avoiding contact but keeping her from walking away. Lauren glances down at her pager before looking back up at the girl.
"First off, you turned me back to normal. So quit apologizing, that was fucking awesome." The girl's eyes snap up, with a surprised expression that remind Lauren way too much of little Taylor back home. The green-eyed girl grins and points over the other girl's shoulder. "And Delta dorms are that way."
Those wide eyes give her a questioning look. "You're not upset?"
"A bit freaked out, yes. I'd shake your hand but who knows what else you'd turn me into," Lauren chuckles, motioning for the girl to follow as she starts in the direction of their adjacent dorms. "But once you get over the initial freak-out factor, that was pretty cool. I'm Lauren."
"Normani," the girl smiles, a dazzling sight which really warms Lauren's heart. She walks besides the slightly shorter girl, toting her luggage behind her. "It's nice to meet you."
"So you shape-shift?" She asks casually, hoping that somebody would finally talk about their abilities and not make Lauren feel like the fish out of water.
"Kind of," Normani wrinkles her nose, trying exceptionally hard to find the right words to explain her situation. "I can't do it myself. But I can do it to others."
"Interesting," Lauren nods, glancing down at the map on her pager, then up at the housing building that grew increasingly closer. "So if I wanted you to turn me into the president, you could?"
"Unfortunately, no," the girl laughs. "I have to know the person to change you into them. I think I have to touch them. But now, if you wanted to, I could change someone into you."
"Two of me walking around? I wouldn't," Lauren advises seriously, before breaking out into a smirk. "The world wouldn't be able to handle that much attractiveness all at once."
"Oh, so what's your talent, having a big head?" Normani counters, which leads both girls to laugh.
"Well if I told you, that'd ruin my mysteriousness, wouldn't it?" She questions, smirking playfully at the girl. The pair push open the giant doors and enter the building, admiring the gorgeous dark walnut walls and rich burgundy carpeting. "What if you forget what the person looked like, or you forget who you transformed?"
"That happened with my sisters once," Normani explains, a guilty and sheepish smile building on her lips. "Everyone was crazy confused. It turns out, after like a day or two, they switch back on their own. The only problem is that it hurts like hell, according to them. Arielle was throwing up all day and Ashlee broke three bones in the process."
"Long story short, remind you to change me back if I ever need it," Lauren notes, nodding her head with wide eyes. She looks up at the sign hanging from the ceiling, directing the Delta dorms to the right and the Epsilons to the left.
"Um, well I don't really know how these pagers work, but we should totally try to hang out again some time," Normani suggests quietly, her shy gaze looking down at the floor as she fiddles absentmindedly with her luggage.
Lauren grins and pats the girl on the shoulder, hoping the contact would indicate her approval. "Definitely. I'll be seeing you around, Chameleon."
The girl raises her gaze to meet Lauren's, her eyes lighting up at the friendly gesture and goofy nickname. She waves happily and flashes her dazzling smile as she heads nervously down her own hallway, staring down at the device in her hand to figure out where the hell her dorm is (or at least, where it should be).
Lauren herself prefers the feel of the paper and opts to pull the schedule out from under her arm. She traverses down the hall and up the stairs until she reaches the 3rd floor. The first door is wide open, and seeing as she had no idea where she is or what she is doing, Lauren finds it in her best interest to just stop and ask for directions.
"Hi, I think I'm lost. Could you help me out?" She asks, knocking on the door lightly to get the girl's attention.
"Yeah sure!" The voice calls out happily. A raspy tone, with a familiar accent that makes Lauren's knees weak and her body feel right back at home. "Come in."
She steps into the small room and is instantly met by the rich aroma of vanilla and cinnamon, from the candles placed on one of the desks. It's warm, Lauren's body relaxes entirely at the friendly scent. She turns and spots the room's sole inhabitant, bent over her bed as she straightens out a set of fluffy white sheets over the mattress. Long brunette waves cascade down her shoulders, flying up as the girl stands quickly to face Lauren.
Big brown eyes, warm and inviting, instantly melt Lauren right there and then. She feels herself freeze at the crooked grin the girl gives her, a goofy lop-sided one that would be forever burned in her memory.
"Moving in to the big kid building, how exciting. How old are you?" She asks cheerfully, turning to grab another candle out of a box next to her bed.
Lauren clears her throat. "Uh, I just turned 17."
"Well, welcome to the Epsilon dorm," she greets warmly, giving a perky wave as she digs back into the box. "I'm Camila! Give me a second and I'll help you out."
"No rush," Lauren assures her, looking over the room and the empty other half. When she finally gets a look at the door, she notes the golden letters on the front beneath the eyehole. Glancing down at the sheet in her hand, she lets out a solid content sigh. She tosses the duffel bag onto the floor and sets her backpack on the bed.
Her roommate looks over her shoulder, her warm eyes widening instantly. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"I found my dorm," Lauren grins, waving the paper in the air as she motions to the sign on the door.
Camila lets out a huff of entertainment, laughing aggressively. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Woah there cupcake, didn't mean to get your panties in a twist," Lauren chuckles, holding her hands up innocently.
The warm, friendly girl is instantly replaced with aggressive ball of anger (and it kinda scares the shit out of Lauren). She narrows her eyes at the taller girl. "I'm talking to the dorm manager."
"Okay, enjoy that. I'm just gonna make myself at home..." Lauren starts, reaching hesitantly for her bag.
"No, don't put anything away! This is not your dorm," Camila hisses.
"Epsilon, room 3A," Lauren reads off, handing the paper to the frustrated smaller girl. She reaches out for it, but promptly yanks her hand away before even touching the paper, clamping her eyes shut. Letting out a sharp breath to calm herself, she turns harshly on her heels and hurries out the door, leaving a very confused brunette alone in the room. Lauren follows her out, rubbing the bridge of her nose. This is honestly the last thing she wants to be dealing with. "Listen, princess, if this is a rooming mistake I'd be more than happy to-"
"Mila, you're gonna burn a hole in the carpet walking that fast!"
"That's rich coming from you," the small girl chuckles, stopping right in her tracks. She crosses her arms defensively over her chest, turning to face the direction of the voice. "Where's Jade?"
"Thirwall? There was a team Mr. Cowell thought she'd fit well with. And boy, did she fit."
Camila lets out a groan as the girl explains the situation. "They're not seriously getting field work already, are they?!"
"This must be the dorm manager," Lauren presumes, turning to find her kind-of roommate yelling down the hall at a taller woman with long lavender-tinted hair.
In a quick whoosh and a fuzzy blur, the woman appears right in front of them, taking a crisp bite out of a shiny green apple. "Actually, the dorm manager is out having lunch with her best friend. I'll be your Evasion Tactics instructor. Could I see your pager, to try and not stress poor Rita on her lunch break?"
Lauren digs the phone-like machine out of her back pocket and holds it out in front of her. The device hums to life and illuminates the screen in the palm of her hand. The woman pulls out her own pager and scans this one, reading over the screen pointedly. She hesitantly scratches at the back of her neck, giving Camila a nervous smile.
"Meet your new roommate, Mila."
The smallest brunette glares at the third girl. "Demitria, you useless track star."
"Boarding is final. Sorry Mila. You guys will learn to love each other, I promise."
Camila was about to start another fight before her pager beeps at her. Simultaneously, Lauren's does the same. Both girls check the notifications, which read in the same elegant font:
'Headmaster Cowell requests your presence. Please arrive at his office promptly.'
"No no no no no..." Camila chants quickly, her face reddening significantly as she clenches the pager even tighter in her hand. "Please don't be doing this to me."
"They're assigning you to a team, Mila!" Demi smiles widely, nudging her in the shoulder for a boost of encouragement. "Isn't this what you were hoping for?"
"I was supposed to get teamed up with Jade and we would lead a team and be the youngest collective group to start field work," Camila fumes, before pointing an accusing finger at Lauren. "And then Miss 'Tall Dark and Mysterious' over here has to barge in and rain on my parade!"
"Actually, she's got a pretty light complexion, I think it's the hair-" Demi begins, before the angry smaller girl glares her into silence.
"Just because we're walking to the same place doesn't mean I have to talk to you," Camila hisses, turning to face Lauren with a menacing glare.
"Then don't," Lauren simply suggests, smirking at the girl as she obviously grows increasingly frustrated. She huffs and turns on her heel, storming down the hall and towards the stairs. Demi gives Lauren a supportive pat on the back before motioning for her to follow, which she does after a beat to give Camila some space.
"Don't take it to heart," Demi advises, as Lauren begins to head down the stairs. "She's a great kid, she can just be a bit... Hot-headed."
Lauren keeps a solid 15 feet of distance between herself and the smaller brunette as she follows her, in the very likely case that she decides to spin around and snap on her (or blow up. Lauren is convinced that Camila is about to blow up). She takes in her surroundings and repeats the directions of arriving in her head, replaying them so she would be able to make it on her own should the need arise. Seeing as it was well into the afternoon, more students have come out, and it's at this point that Lauren has never felt so normal in her life.
She watches as a girl grows a flower straight out of the ground; as a boy soars above them; as a pair of students simply stare at each other, smiling and deep in a silent conversation. Everything about hiding seems so mundane now, watching how the others like her embrace their abilities, even going so far as to flaunt them. The years of hiding her gift seem barbaric now; the years of hating herself and aching for normalcy seem endlessly ridiculous.
By the time they make it into the office, there's another girl already sitting in one of the chairs, legs crossed and hands folded neatly on her lap. Her chestnut brown hair falls in neat waves down her back, lightening significantly at the tips. Camila moves to occupy the empty seat, leaving Lauren to stand behind both chairs. The headmaster sits in his chair, eyes closed and head tilted back, looking incredibly focused before opening his eyes again.
"Miss Hamilton, it seems punctuality is a dying art," he says slowly, articulating each word. The moment the words leave his mouth, Lauren turns and spots the familiar face entering the room. Both girls smile brightly at each other as they make eye contact. She looks back over at the waiting man, pulling her long locks into a blue-tipped pony tail.
"I'm so sorry, sir. I got lost on my way here."
"That's perfectly fine," he nods, before motioning to the other girls. "Now ladies, I appreciate you coming here. As Miss Cabello and Miss Hernandez may already have guessed, this is the meeting establishing one of the most important events of your life. Meet your new team members."
"What's up, Chameleon?" Lauren greets cooly, grinning at the girl first with a simple nod of the head. Normani jumps excitedly into Lauren's arms, enveloping her in a massive hug. Rigid at first, Lauren laughs and gives her a tight squeeze, releasing her to greet the third girl she had not met.
"Hi there, I'm Ally Brooke. It's lovely to meet you," the girl smiles warmly, standing up and waving happily at her.
"Lauren Jauregui." The taller girl quirks an eyebrow, noting how the shorter one keeps her hands neatly folded in front of her. "What, not even a handshake?"
"Do you want one?" Ally laughs, giving a challenging tilt of her head.
Lauren grins and nods vigorously, knowing this was an indication of her abilities. She holds out her hand and waits nervously, watching as the shorter girl makes a big show of rubbing her hands together and then shaking them off. Camila, who had settled for the polite wave, snorts and turns to greet Normani with the warm smile she no longer feels like sharing with Lauren.
Ally's hand is soft, and since Lauren isn't burning, freezing, or being shocked, she lets out a sigh of relief.
"Jesus, Lauren. Relax a little would you? I can feel your nervousness from here." The smaller girl grins mischievously at her, before glancing over at Camila. She looks back at Lauren and motions grandly to how her own lips don't move at all. "And yes, she definitely is very pretty."
"That must come in handy," the taller girl comments, yanking her hand away promptly with wide eyes. Ally laughs and sits back down in her seat, a movement that Camila follows soon after.
The headmaster motions to the group, seeming like nothing more but a serious glare and a grey suit. "I've got a lot riding on you girls. You five are my test group."
"Five?" Normani questions, which makes Lauren instantly wonder if one of their teammates has invisibility and is hiding in the room with them, waiting to pop out and scare the shit out of someone (she's hoping it's Camila, just because seeing that girl have a heart attack all over again would probably make Lauren piss her own pants laughing.)
"Your fifth member is still getting settled in. I'll have someone debrief her later on," he explains, waving his hand dismissively (Lauren can't help but feel the slightest bit disappointed). He narrows his eyes at the two girls in the seats, seeming more interested in focusing on them for this next part.
"If this team passes the mid-term practical at the end of the semester, I'll relocate you to HQ to begin field work immediately. If you make it, your team will be a special operations unit that will do what no other team has done before."
Camila practically jumps out of her chair in excitement. She bounces up and down, obviously eager at hearing the good news.
Ally tilts her head innocently. "Can we at least know the name of our last teammate?"
The headmaster hesitates for a moment before clasping his hands together. "Hansen. Dinah Jane Hansen."
Camila's eyes go wide, instantly recognizing the name. "People this morning were talking about her. Dinah Jane had to get shipped here."
"Okay, kid took a plane," Lauren shrugs, letting out a snort as she leans her back against the wall. She crosses her arms over her chest. "Big deal."
Camila lets out an irritated sigh, not even bothering to turn around. "No, they shipped her. In a crate. She's that dangerous."
"Talk about big bad wolf," Normani whispers, while Ally's eyes turn into saucers and lets out a low whistle.
"Why are we your test group, though? What's so different about us?" Lauren decides to ask, tilting her head to the side.
"Pickups are required to do at least a year of remedial course-work before they are assigned to a team." He motions to herself and the blue-haired girl with dark eyes besides her. "Your team has three."
Camila glances over her shoulder at Lauren, then turns with a nod. She lets out a bitter chuckle as she tosses her hands in the air. "You're a pickup, that explains everything."
Normani tilts her head, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "What exactly a pickup?"
"A pickup is someone who hasn't had full formal training. Also known as a newbie, a starter, or a freshman, on occasion," Ally rattles off, counting the names on her fingers. "Named so because most of them are 'picked up' and sent straight to the Academy."
Mr. Cowell moves right along, staring down at a sheet he has in front of him. "Lauren, you've been moved into the Epsilon wing with Camila."
"Told you," Lauren hisses, grinning in entertainment as Camila lets out a sharp exhale and digs her nails into the arms of the seat. She can see her biting on her lip, her shiny white teeth contrasting aggressively against the pink of her lower lip.
"Normani, Allyson, you'll be over in Delta."
The girls smile happily at each other, obviously very pleased.
"Dinah Jane is an Omega boarder. She'll be moving into your guy's building soon enough, we've got Mr. Lopez working on readjusting her and getting her transitioned."
"Transitioned into what?" Lauren asks, furrowing her brows in confusion.
"Into life at the Academy. Interacting with others, learning the ropes."
"What, d'she live in a cave?" She questions sarcastically, letting out a light chuckle.
The man gives her a less than entertained glare. "A laboratory has the same effect."
The other girls clear their throats uncomfortably, and she can practically hear Camila roll her eyes. Lauren wishes she would have held her tongue, God, she wishes she would have. "Oh."
Continuing on, serious as ever, the man glances over his computer screen. "Disregard your schedules. You'll report to team assignments in the morning, over in Silas Hall. Our trainers will look over your statistics and study you individually once they've picked who they wish to train. Thank you for your time, ladies. Dismissed."
They file out of the room, one by one, before the headmaster promptly gets up and shuts the door behind them. Camila immediately turns and points an accusing finger at Lauren, narrowing her eyes aggressively.
"You are officially the insensitive one."
Trying to lighten the mood, Lauren pouts playfully and gives her the heart-melting puppy dog eyes. "Oh come on, cupcake, I thought I was 'Tall Dark and Mysterious.'"
"First off, that was a sarcastic comment," Camila defends herself instantly, her cheeks burning an increasingly ruddy color as the moments tick by. "Second, no. You're just an arrogant, insensitive pickup who will do nothing but drag me down."
Lauren definitely takes offense for the first time since arriving there. She juts her chin out, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Her voice is caustic, with any playful tones replaced instantly by harsh sarcasm. "So then that makes you the leader, right?"
Camila stops in her tracks, twisting on her heel to face Lauren head on. She leans up on her tippy toes to match the girl's height, leaning in aggressively as she narrows her intense eyes. "It precisely makes me the leader."
"Okay guys, lets try to keep the flirting to a minimum," Normani deadpans, stepping hesitantly between the pair as a human barrier. Ally watches observantly, her body tense and ready to react.
Before the fiery Latina could snap again, her pager rings out loudly, startling each of them. She lets out an exaggerated sigh of relief as she answers the phone and brings it to her ear. "Babe? Oh god, can I come over? I need to see you, I've just had the crappiest day."
Lauren watches in astonishment, her jaw dropping instantly. "She has a boyfriend?"
"That appears to be the case," Normani replies, in a mock intellectual tone. She chuckles and nudges Lauren in the arm. "Okay there buddy, don't sound too heartbroken."
The green eyed girl laughs harshly and holds her hands up in the air defensively. "No, I'm amazed. I don't know how someone would be able to put up with that."
Finally fed up, Camila turns suddenly and makes the movement of throwing a softball at Lauren's head. The empty space in her palm quickly fills with a ball of blazing flames, which launch straight for Lauren at a blinding speed. She brings her hands up to protect herself before the flame smashes into an invisible wall. Lauren turns to see Ally holding up her hand, waiting until the flame has disappeared entirely before dropping the invisible barrier.
Lauren watches in shock as the pyrokinetic storms away, keeping the device up to her ear as she stomps out of the building. Lauren's eyes go wide as her voice cracks. She falls back against the wall, her breathing picking up erratically. "Did she just try to kill me?"
"Oh, I bet she didn't mean it," Normani assures her, patting her on the back gently, hiding the fact that her and Ally exchange nervous glances.
"But just in case, our pager info should be in there," Ally chimes in, trying her very hardest to lighten the mood. She claps her hands together happily and gives Lauren a nervously reassuring smile. "Set us to your favorites so you can call quickly. You know-" she shifts her gaze to Normani, who gives her an anxious nod, "-just in case."
Lauren pushes herself off the wall, smoothing out her sleeves with a clenched jaw and gritted teeth. "So I'm going to be living with a neurotic, insanely aggressive, control-freak pyrokinetic."
Normani bites her lip and shrugs, pursing her lips at Ally. "I got nothing."
"Fantastic," Lauren laughs, tossing her hands in the air and throwing her head back. "Fan-fucking-tastic."
"Do you think you'll be able to make it through?" Ally asks, her big brown eyes feeling endlessly Babmi-like to the younger girl.
She tries to laugh it off, quirking an eyebrow at the shorter girl. "The night or the semester?"
"Both, I guess. Do you think you'll be okay?"
Lauren's beginning to notice a frustrating pattern here. In this world, Lauren is the latter.
And boy is that pissing her off.
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Hey, it's Ashley here! I'm just gonna verify that I am NOT the author and all credits go to the original author. Unfortunately, the author took the whole story down so this is all that is left. Go follow me on my social media if you would like to :)

Twitter: @CRZYDINAH