Lauren
Copyright 2012 by Julia Crane
Published by Valknut Press
Kindle edition
All rights reserved.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the author.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events; to real people, living or dead; or to real locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author?s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.
“Lauren” edited by Rosanne Catalano and Claire Teter
Cover art by Stephanie Mooney|Mooney Designs
Formatted by Heather Adkins|CyberWitch Press, LLC
To the fans of Keegan’s Chronicles
Thank you for your support!
Chapter 1
Could this day get any worse?
Lauren glanced down at her favorite white blouse—soaked with orange juice. The little pearl buttons dripped with liquid. At least the way the glass had tipped kept her short, floral skirt dry, even if it had left a puddle on the floor.
I don’t have time for this.
First, the shower head spitting brown gunk, then the thing with the sink faucet, plus she was out of mascara… It was official. She had woken up cursed.
She would have thrown the glass on the floor, but she didn’t want to clean up the pieces. Lauren heaved a sigh and put the cup in the sink before she did something she would regret.
The sun shone through her kitchen window, illuminating the large space that she loved with rosy light. She didn’t want to leave; it’d be easier just to stand over the sink and stare out the window as the sun rose.
She sighed again, then crossed the dim, narrow hallway—almost tripping on the throw rug her mother had insisted she buy—and pushed her bedroom door open.
Lauren hurried over to the closet, already going over her wardrobe in her mind. She shoved the hangers to the side and grabbed the first white blouse she found. She switched shirts, tossing the sticky one toward the hamper. It should have sailed high across the bed and into the wicker basket, but it veered way off course and knocked her favorite lamp over. The glass crashed on the hardwood floor.
Lauren groaned inwardly. Maybe I should have thrown the glass in the kitchen—then I’d have matching piles. She shook her head with a sigh and rushed for the door. The mess would have to wait.
She passed through the front door of her building and into a beautiful morning. In a cloudless blue sky, the sun peeked over the apartment building across the street, reflecting off the glass windows. A warm breeze had started to dissipate the cool, early morning air. Lauren jingled her car keys in her hand as she walked down the sidewalk to where her coupe waited. The sun beating down on her shoulders made her feel a little better.
Maybe the rest of the day will be all right.
Midmorning traffic on the expressway was maddening. Why did she insist on living so far away from campus? She really couldn’t afford to miss any more classes, especially not her first.
Lauren drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, frowning, and inched forward behind the line of cars. She growled as a banged-up SUV with a dangling back bumper angled its way into her lane, then slammed on its brakes. Its license plate read “8MYDUST.” Lauren rolled her eyes. Some people were so lame.
An obnoxious song came on the radio, and her hand shot out to change the station. The opening chords of her favorite Rolling Stones song came through the speakers. That’s more like it. Lauren sang along, ignoring the stares of the drivers on either side of her.
Ignore the crazy girl with the wild, dark curls singing and dancing all alone.
Twenty minutes later, she eased her car into one of the campus’s main parking lots. Of course, she couldn’t find an empty space anywhere. She drove in circles, willing a spot to open as she got more frustrated by the second. Just when she was about to give up and try another lot further away, she saw the red taillights of a white sedan backing up.
Lauren let out a breath. Thank the gods.
She swung into the spot and put the car in park, then grabbed her books from the passenger seat and jumped out, making her way towards her class across the sprawling campus.
She hadn’t made it very far from her vehicle when some jerk slammed into her, knocking one of her books out of her grip. He just laughed and kept walking with his friends as her book hit the sidewalk and its contents spilled from the pages.
Lauren swore under her breath as she chased the papers that scattered across the parking lot, willing herself not to cry. On top of running late, she hadn’t completed her assignment or studied for her exam. If she kept this up she wouldn’t pass this semester, let alone keep her scholarship.
Lauren’s thoughts drifted to Tristen. Ever since she had started dating Tristen, her days revolved around him. It was getting harder and harder to focus on her own goals. Somehow, she had to find a balance, because there was no way she was giving him up. But flunking wasn’t an option either. She bent down to swipe up one of the stray papers, then hurried after the next before the wind took it past the point of no return.
Tristen’s words echoed in her mind. Just use your magick. There’s no harm in using it for self-preservation.
She had laughed and brushed it off, sure that he had only been teasing. As if she would break fairy laws to pass a test! That was beyond ridiculous.
Unfortunately, she would just have to make more time to study. If her GPA dropped too low, she would have to pay back the cost of her classes. She didn’t want to get a part time job, but she couldn’t bother her parents for more money. They were already stretched thin, sending her to an out of state college, plus covering her rent and other expenses. Plus they had to take care of all of her brothers and sisters.
Lauren cringed. If she couldn’t pull herself together, her mother would be so disappointed. Her parents had high hopes that she would become a lawyer. If she didn’t even pass her freshman year, law school would be out of the question.
Shoving the last loose paper into her book, Lauren hurried up the concrete staircase that led from the parking lot to the lawn. A warm breeze ruffled her skirt against her legs as she quickened her step. The sun shone brightly, the smell of cherry blossoms filled the air, and the weather was a perfect seventy-seven degrees. California was amazing.
She glanced at her watch; she only had ten minutes to make it across campus. Lauren hated to be late for anything. She knew a short cut she could take that would put her there just in time. She kicked off her ballet flats, shoved them in her purse, and ran up the hill. The grass felt wonderful between her toes. She skirted around a group of students lying on blankets, laughing and enjoying the day.
“Where’s the fire?” one of the girls on the cheer squad yelled out as Lauren sprinted by.
“Late for class! See you at practice!” Lauren yelled and kept going without waiting for her reply.
Lauren groaned when she thought of cheer practice. She loved it, but now it seemed like such an inconvenience. Either way, she had to suffer through it, because, without cheering, she’d have to pay full tuition. And her coach had already given her a warning about her grades.
Once she made it to the top of the hill, the backs of her legs aching and burning from yesterday’s workout, her shoulders relaxed. The building where she had class was just a few strides away, an
d she had minutes to spare. She dropped her shoes to the ground and slid her feet into the soft black leather.
An unspectacular three-story building, made of sand-colored brick, housed the anthropology department. The narrow windows, widely spaced, let very little natural light filter inside. Sitting in there for an hour and a half every day gave her a headache.
Lauren hastened her step; she didn’t want another lecture from her teacher. Most of the professors had no tolerance for lateness. Grasping the large brass door handle, she pushed through.
The dim hallway smelled faintly of lacquer. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked at the clock on the wall—she still had four minutes. She would make it. At least one thing had gone right today. Lauren fell in line with the rest of the students rushing to their classrooms.
Slightly out of breath, Lauren stepped through the open door to the lecture auditorium and climbed the steps to her usual seat. She smiled at Calvron as she lowered herself into the cold plastic chair. “Hey.”
“I see you decided to come to class today,” Calvron remarked in a bored tone. His brilliant blue eyes didn’t even look up as he swiped the screen of his phone. His tall, lanky body never seemed to fit in the seat right, with his knees cocked out so they didn’t slam into the fold-away desk. His dirty blond hair was mussed; Lauren figured it was either hair product or ambivalence.
Lauren rolled her eyes and pulled out her anthropology book, setting it on the small desk by her arm with her notebook and pen. She dropped her other books on the floor and pushed them under her seat with her foot, then kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes. Much better.
Calvron finally looked up from his phone and stared at her. “Why didn’t you show up last night? We waited for you for like thirty minutes.”
“I was busy.” Lauren shrugged and didn’t meet his eyes.
“AKA Tristen didn’t want to go?” Calvron said, his brow wrinkling in disgust.
She would never admit it to Calvron, but Tristen wanted to hang out with his friends instead of hers. That seemed to be a pattern with him lately.
She missed hanging out with the other creatures of light. Calvron, a powerful wizard, used magick to make up alternate dimensions for them to hang out in. It was fun to use magick and not worry about anyone seeing them. She’d have to convince Tristen somehow.
“I’ll be there next time,” Lauren said softly.
“Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.” Calvron flipped his book open and turned to face the front as the professor walked in.
Lauren furiously scribbled in her notebook as the teacher went on in his monotonous voice for the next hour. She couldn’t afford to miss anything else. She reminded herself to ask Calvron if he would give her the notes from last week.
Class seemed to drag on forever, but on the bright side, there wasn’t a pop quiz. After the morning she’d had, that would have been too much for her to handle.
An audible sigh passed through the class when the instructor finally said, “Class dismissed.”
The usual hustle and bustle of dismissal filled the room, and the thunderous steps of a hundred students walking down the hollow theater stairs echoed off the tall ceilings. Lauren slid her feet back into her shoes and gathered her belongings, then headed for the door.
As they walked out of the classroom into the fluorescent light of the hallway, Calvron asked, “Do you want to grab a coffee? I’m buying.”
Lauren mulled it over. Coffee sounded great, and she did have some free time before her next class. Not to mention that she really didn’t like Calvron, one of her best friends, being annoyed with her. Then she made a face; as fun as it sounded, she absolutely had to hit the books. “I wish I could, but I really need to study for my art history test.”
“Not a valid excuse. I’ll quiz you while we’re in the cafe.” Calvron grinned. He tossed a lazy arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Come on. You owe me after standing us up last night.”
“Coffee it is.” Lauren smiled as she shifted her books to her other arm. She felt lucky to have childhood friends like Calvron—and Donald, Sam, and Spencer—at college with her. She didn’t hang out with them as much as she should. On a big campus, it was easy to drift apart.
“So what’s new in your world?” Lauren glanced over at Calvron. Even though Lauren was five feet, seven inches tall, he towered over her.
He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his bag hanging diagonally across his broad shoulders. He shrugged. “Not much, just living the dream. School, partying—the usual.” He gave her a crooked grin, his shaggy, dark blond hair hanging in his eyes. She didn’t think he would ever grow up, and that was fine by Lauren. She loved his immaturity.
“What about that girl you told me about?” Lauren dug.
A flush rose to his handsome face. “Mia. She’s good.”
The crowds seemed to part as they walked down the hall, and Lauren figured Calvron was using magick to keep them at bay. He didn’t like when people invaded his personal space. No one seemed the wiser. She envied his power, and that he was allowed to use it freely. Fairies didn’t have that luxury.
“Does she like Spain?” Lauren had only half paid attention when Calvron told her about his new girlfriend, but she did remember that Mia was studying abroad. “She’s getting her degree in Spanish, right?”
“Yeah, she is. Wants to be a translator.” There was a secret smile on his face—he must really like this girl, Lauren realized as Calvron held the door open for her. Warm sunlight spilled into the lobby.
“There can be pretty good money in that,” Lauren told him as they walked outside. “You could have yourself a money-making wife.”
Calvron blushed. “We’ve only been together for like four months, and she’s been gone for most of it. Marriage isn’t on the table.”
“You never know,” Lauren teased him. She loved that he had found someone he so obviously cared about—Calvron had always played the field. She liked this other side of him. “Do you guys talk often?”
“She Skypes every night.” He grinned. “I can’t wait until she gets back.”
They made their way to the nearest cafe, one building over in the English department. Lauren had found the coffee shops scattered across the immense campus in her first week. If any one thing kept the students going, it was caffeine. Sometimes Lauren wished they’d offer a caffeine IV—especially after she had stayed out too late with Tristen.
“Let’s grab our drinks and sit outside,” Lauren told him as they climbed the stairs to the white Greco-Roman building. “I could use some fresh air before my next class.”
“Your wish is my command.” Calvron paused to bow dramatically.
He fell back into step next to her, and Lauren bumped her hip against his. “You’re such a clown.”
Halfway up the stairs, Calvron stopped and turned towards her. His handsome face grew serious—not a look she often saw on him. “Lauren, I’m worried about you.”
“Me?” Lauren pointed her finger at her chest. That was the last thing she expected him to say. “Why?”
“You’re different since you’ve been with Tristen,” he started carefully. “I don’t think he’s good for you. You used to always be the one to make everyone around you smile—the life of the party. Where did that girl go?”
Lauren bristled. “Who the hell are you to say who’s good for me or not? Tristen is wonderful. You know what? Forget the coffee. I’ll just go study by myself.” Tears welled up in her eyes, and she pivoted on her toes to stomp off.
Calvron grabbed her elbow. “Don’t be like that. I’m telling you this as your friend. You’ve always been so carefree. Lately, you’re stressed out, and you just don’t seem very happy. Actually, you seem pretty damn miserable.”
Appalled, Lauren yanked her arm back. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life. Tristen is the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Lauren glared at him. “You just haven’t given him a chance. I’m only stress
ed because of my grades.”
“Lauren, it started when he came around.” His concerned look tipped into irritation.
She stared at him suspiciously. “Is this because I didn’t show up last night? If so, that’s pretty ridiculous.”
Calvron clenched his jaw and looked away. “Forget I said anything. Have fun studying.” He strode off and didn’t look back.
Taking a deep breath, Lauren closed her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
What pissed her off the most was that she hadn’t been feeling like herself lately. She swiped a hand over her cheeks and made her way to a secluded tree in the middle of the great lawn. She plopped on the ground and leaned up against the trunk, closing her eyes.
She felt like her life was spinning out of control, and she had no way of stopping it.
Chapter 2
Repetitive and boring, as usual, Lauren thought as she landed on her feet after doing a roundoff into a backflip. She could do cheer practice in her sleep, but that didn’t mean she wanted to. Cheering had always been a part of her life, practically from the moment she could walk. Her mother had pushed her to be the best, a move that had probably led to Lauren’s eventual boredom.
It had been a hot afternoon. Practice started with the sun high and bright in a clear sky, and it was only now beginning to set. It bounced off the metal of the bleachers, the reflection almost painful. Lauren appreciated the soft, cool grass on the field beneath her feet as she watched the rest of the team complete their flips.
A loud whistle blew, startling Lauren out of her thoughts.
“Two-mile recovery run and that’s it for the evening,” Coach Parker barked with a gesture in the general direction of the campus loop. She turned away to her clipboard, the team dismissed.
As the other girls groaned, Lauren smiled to herself. Running was something she enjoyed immensely. When she ran, she forgot the rest of the world. She saw only the asphalt in front of her, heard only the pounding of her feet and the huffing of her breath. It had always been a sort of meditation for her—the only time her mind was still. She felt almost as free as she did on the rare occasions when she could be in her fairy form.