THAT'S THE SPIRIT; lynn gunn + jenna mcdougall

one

A/N: This was originally intended to be a cute one-shot, however when I was writing it, I just kept getting more inspired with the entire idea, so I have decided to turn it into a full length fic. So if you happen to like this story (or any of my stories) please let me know, because it really helps motivate me to keep on writing.

Quick Disclaimer: I love all the bands and people I write about, so any character's portrayed negatively (for example Tay Jardine in this particular story) are only written that way for the purpose of this story.

Trigger Warnings: Violence and offensive language/slurs.

. . .

Lynn rests against her locker, in a brief moment of solace between classes. Her day had been rough, consisting only of classes she despised, and it was set to get rougher, with the day ending with a cheerleading practice. She folds her arms and rests her head against the cold metal of her locker door.

Fuck this shit, she thinks to herself, I just want to go home.

However, Lynn's peaceful moment for herself is disrupted by a flash of florescent green before her eyes. Her eyes quickly direct to Jenna McDougall, who Lynn quickly identifies due to the cheerleading squad's newfound hatred for her and everything she does. Although it was pretty hard to miss her anyway, as her bright hair and Australian accent were not common attributes around the school.

Despite her florescent hair and strange accent, all Jenna wanted to do was fit in. She was a walking contradiction and for someone who stood out so much, she had done a great job of fading into the crowd. Well, until she smiled (as she always had done) at one of the boys in her biology class out of kindness, and his girlfriend mistook it as flirting. Now, a vast majority of the cheerleading squad swore to make her life hell.

Similarly to Jenna, Lynn was also quite a walking contradiction. She had been forced into cheerleading when she was younger by her parents, and due to her natural talent, now couldn't get out. She hated the uniforms, she hated the politics. She despised every aspect of the sport. Yet somehow, in her final year of high school, she found herself as the schools cheerleading squad's captain, much to the dismay of anyone who had any ounce of school pride, especially the rest of the cheerleading team. Lynn embodied everything a cheer captain shouldn't be. She was the total opposite to the nasty, conceited girls in the team, and she made sure to avoid the politics that came with her role at all costs.

Whenever Lynn saw Jenna in the halls, she always wondered why the other girls were so against her. She was always so positive and nice to everyone, so the fact she got on someone's bad side shocked Lynn completely. But it also didn't surprise her that she was the newest target of the team's bullying just because Jenna wasn't exactly like them.

But what did surprise her was the loud thud on the linoleum floor, followed by a blood chilling cackle.

"Whoops," a female voice spat, "I didn't see you there."

Lynn diverts her eyes to the green haired girl lying helpless on the ground, surrounded by a pack of girls wearing none other than the school's cheerleading uniform. In the middle of the gang was, Taylor Jardine, vice-captain of the squad, who Lynn considered one of the cold-hearted people she had ever met. It didn't take long for her to work out that Tay had been the one who tripped Jenna over.

"S-sorry," Jenna stutters as she tries to gather the books that she was carrying and get herself up off the ground. As Jenna tries to reach out for the biology textbook before her, it get kicked away from her by someone's shiny new Nikes.

"Silly me," Tay fakes sincerity in her voice as she crosses her arms, "It was in my way."

Lynn rolls her eyes at the overly dramatic scene organised by Jardine, who began to grin at the horror on the Jenna's face.

"Just like I was in the way of you getting with my boyfriend," she snarls, crouching down closer to Jenna, "You fucking slut."

"I-I wasn't f-flirting. I swear."

"Sure," Tay jumps back up into a standing position, leaving the other girl curled up terrified on the ground.

And before Jenna could even process what had been said, Taylor's shiny new Nikes kicked her right in the middle of her face.

Just before leaving Taylor added, "Sorry for the misunderstanding."

. . .

Moments later the bell had rung leaving the halls deserted and leading Lynn to the realisation she couldn't leave the poor girl alone and bleeding on the floor. Blood was trickling down a small wound on her forehead and from her nose. She was trying to gather her things, but was left so defeated by the incident, she ultimately fell back onto the floor in tears.

Lynn paced over, trying not to startle the girl. She crouched down beside her, gently whispering, "Hey, c'mon let's get you cleaned up."

Jenna wipes the tears from her eyes, surprised that someone had come to help her. Lynn offers out a hand, and lifts her up off the ground. She wraps her arm around the green haired girl, allowing for her to place an arm around her shoulders, supporting her enough to help her walk to the girl's bathrooms. Lynn helps the girl up onto the counter, before grabbing some paper towel from a dispenser by the door and dampening it in the sink.

"This may sting, so I apologize in advance," Lynn smiles, before beginning to pat the wound on her forehead with the wet paper towel. Jenna is confused by both the girl's kindness and identity, as she tries to put a name to the face before her.

"Shit, I left your books outside," The brunette girl stops tending the wound for a spilt second, "I'll get them for you once I'm done."

"Thanks for this," Jenna's smile was one of the most beautiful smiles Lynn had ever seen before.

"Anything to get me out of history," She smiled in return as she began to clean up the dried blood below Jenna's nose. Jenna was still clueless on who this girl was. But she was highly grateful.

Jenna quickly analyses the girl, hoping something would give away a clue on who the hell this girl was. Her hair was messily tied back and she was dress in black from head to toe, but she still looked familiar to Jenna.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen to you," Lynn sighs, tossing out the bloodied paper towel "Taylor is such a horrible person."

"Are you friends with her?" Jenna quietly asks as the brunette pulls herself up beside her.

"She's on the cheerleading squad with me," Lynn answers shamefully and Jenna almost chokes. She was under the impression that the entire squad was out to get her.

"You're a cheerleader?" Jenna's eyes widen in the fear that maybe this girl had other intentions. Maybe Taylor had ordered her to bring her into the bathroom and kick her while she's down. Nobody would see anything. It was a brilliant master plan and Jenna commended her efforts.

"Sadly I'm the captain," Lynn awkwardly laughed, which caused Jenna even more confusion, as she always thought that Taylor was the captain since she was the one with the pack of girls following her at all times. Plus this girl looked far from the cheerleaders she had seen in films and on television.

Jenna was sceptical on whether or not this girl was joking or not, but thus far she had been nothing but nice to her. Jenna turned her neck to quickly glance at her bruising face. She ran her fingers across the graze on her forehead, down to her nose, wincing as she touched it.

"Now, I'm no doctor but I think your nose may be broken," The other girl states, jumping down from the counter, "If you'd like, I can help get your books and I'll walk you down to the nurse."

"If it isn't a hassle," The brunette girl reaches out her hand to let Jenna down.

"No, it would be my pleasure."