dear highschool. i hate you. occasionally

trouble in paradise

rowan struggled to re adjust to her school life. she thankfully was only stuck here for a couple of weeks until qualifiers and she would be off. she had been thinking a lot about her life and how she wasn't really into all the partying and dances and everything that she should be. she used to be okay with that. she would just play soccer all day everyday. until she caught sabrinas eye. last year rowan looked different. less nerdy and scrawny. she had more muscle and a better sense of style. she stuck to herself a lot minus slight interactions with mason and chandler here and there. but when sabrina came out as bi rowan caught her eye. and whatever sabrina wants sabrina gets. and when she started dating her she was dragged along to parties and gatherings and what not. she missed her old life. surfing and soccer that was it. "ms. sanchez. late again i see" ms. rodriguez said loudly as rowan walked in late to her class again. "sorry" she mumbled taking her seat. sabrina turned around eyeing her girlfriend. "hey" rowan mumbled turning back to her notebook. she had bags under her eyes due to her inability to sleep lately. sabrina scoffed and turned back around. she would talk to her girlfriend later. "hey. you okay?" emily leaned over and asked. "huh? oh uh yeah yeah" rowan tried to play it off. emily shook her head. "i'll be over at 6 tonight. don't worry about dinner i'll brinh it" she said turning back to her books. rowan smiled slightly. over the weeks her and emily were getting closer and closer. she offered this support to rowan and they had fun together. they laughed, watched movies, rowan taught emily some moves for soccer. once class was over she left to her next class neglecting to see her girlfriend. during lunch rowan sat at the table scrolling through her phone. "hallway. now" sabrina said. rowan rolled her eyes and followed her. "what's up?" "what's up? seriously rowan. you're unbelievable. what's up is you missed the party, you missed our hangouts, you haven't talked to me, you're always at practice or packing or doing homework or or your with emily-" "wait wait. since when has soccer ever become an issue?" rowan asked growing annoyed. "since it started getting in between things" sabrina said. "since it what?! soccer is my everything. you know that!" rowan whisper yelled. "oh trust me i know. it's clear everyday" sabrina chuckled bitterly. "god. where is the girl that i i i know huh? this girl. it's not her" rowan said. "i don't know what you mean. i think the question is is when did rowan sanchez start becoming just rowan huh?" sabrina asked raising her eyebrow. "no you you are unbelievable. i can't deal with this right now. i'm out of here" rowan said turning around. "oh and camp went well by the way and yeah i made the team. thanks for asking" rowan said coldly heading to her study hall. "ugh!" sabrina yelled. she headed back into the lunchroom clearly pissed off. practice cane and went and rowan got back into her car and started the treck home. when she got there she sat on her bed before her phone rang. "hello?" "hey ro ro" "hope! what's up?!" rowan sat up excitedly. "haha. nothing just got done with some training. what about you?" "i just got home from practice" "awesome how was that?" "uh good good" "rowan i can see right through you. what's going on?" knowing she couldn't hide anything from hope she told her everything. "can i be honest?" "yeah" "your girlfriend sounds like a bitch" rowan laughed. "uh yeah she can definitely give off that vibe. i just i don't know. things just feel hostile all the time. i don't know what to do anymore" rowan said. "hey. just take it day by day. if it gets to much end it. i'm here for you ro. okay?" "okay thanks hope."
rowan and emily sat on rowans floor eating pizza as rowan went over game film with her. noticing emily zoning out a little rowan decided to take a break. "sooo how was camp?" rowan filled her in happy someone finally asked her. her dad was in texas at the moment so they didn't get to talk much. "thanks for asking by the way" rowan said. "no ones asked you?" "no they have been too busy being mad at me to care" rowan said leaning back. "hey. like i said before. i'm always here rowan. i would love to hear all your stories" emily said. rowan mumbled a thank you.
rowan knew that she needed to do something about sabrina but she wasn't ready to totally dump their relationship yet. "hey" sabrina answered on the third ring. "hey. how'd you sleep?" rowan asked still laying upside down on her bed. "fine i guess" sabrina said. "uh. do you wanna maybe meet up. i would really like to talk" she asked. "yeah. my house at like 3?" sabrina asked. "yeah see you then"
she knocked on the door nervously. "hey" sabrina answered the door. wearing shorts and a hoodie. no makeup and her hair in a bun. "hey" rowan smiled slightly. "here uh these are for you" rowan handed her the flowers. "you're a sweetheart" sabrina said sincerely. they sat on the couch. inches from eachother. "where's your family?" "uh my parents are out at a business luncheon" rowan nodded awkwardly. "look i know i've been distant and i'm sorry-" "no ro. stop please" sabrina cut her off. "i messed up. again. you're busy. i get it. this is your dream. i shouldn't be holding you back" sabrina looked down. "you're not holding me back sab. i just i just need you to be a little more leneat with me. can you do that?" she asked tilting the girls head up. "yeah i can do that" sabrina sniffled and smiled. rowan wrapped her arms around her tightly. both girls knew this wasn't the end to their problems but they were okay for now. "sooo masons throwing a party tonight" sabrina said carefully. "yes babe. i'll be there" rowan laughed.
rowan arrived later to the party with emily by her side. emily ended up leaving rowan for a bit  to go talk to some of the swim team. but she didn't leave before sabrina noticed that they walked in together. "hey sab" rowan kissed her girlfriend cheek. "hey. uh you invited emily?" sabrina was trying to not loose her cool since they just made up. "oh uh yeah. she's pretty cool" rowan shrugged and talked to mason. when sabrina saw the moment she seized it. "hey. emily right?" she asked. "uh yeah. sabrina?" "mhmm. look back off of rowan. she's already got enough on her plate. she doesn't need you there too. got it?" "yeah she has enough on her plate with you" emily said under her breath. "i would watch my back if i were you"'sabrina warned. rowan noticed the two bickering. she walked over there. "hey guys what's going on?" "nothing" both girls replied at the same time. sabrina laughed a little and slid into rowans side. "hey you empty? i was gonna go grab a soda anyway" rowan asked looking down into sabrinas cup. sabrina nodded and handed her the cup. "come on em. you look empty too" rowan said. "so you want to tell me what that was about?" rowan said filling up the cup with jungle juice. "what what was about?" emily tried to play it off. "okay em. you win today" rowan brushed its off. "here you go" rowan said handing sab the cup. "thanks baby. hey you wanna go dance?" she asked pulling rowan by her shorts waist band. rowan smirked and followed her girlfriend. she sighed into the contact of sabrinas back side presses against her front. her hands drifted to her hips as sabrina moved against her. the party went well other than the interaction between the two girls earlier. "hey. you ready?" rowan asked emily. "yeah" she said getting up and saying bye. "you hungry?" rowan asked. "starving" emily said. they stopped at rowans favorite dinner and got burgers and shakes. they sat in the booth indulging in food and talk. when they got out of the booth rowan winced and emily noticed it. "hey. you okay?" "oh uh yeah. all good" rowan lied. emily saw right through it. "let me see" she walked over to her and lifted her shirt enough to see the huge bruise on rowans side. rowan leaned against the side of her jeep wincing as emily slowly ran her hand over her abs. "what happened?" "slide tackle" "well it looks okay. you should probably just ice it" she said moving her hand away. the action was innocent but it didn't exactly look like it especially not on camera which would soon be sent to sabrina. rowan was in for one hell of a night.