richpez for mae

3

"There was literally no need for training to be this early today we barely did anything." Lauren huffed as she rolled her eyes, heading towards the area where she had dumped her bag at the side of the room.

"Tell me about it," Meredith replied before drinking some water. "Congratulations though!"

"Thank you." She sighed almost contently.

The session started at 6 am and was mainly an orientation for the new freshmen girls who were starting volleyball this upcoming season. They were given their training timetables as well as their workouts for when they had gym, as well as other miscellaneous notices. Lauren was announced as captain of the volleyball team which was a huge honour for her, and she gave a little speech to the new girls about Michigan as a Univerity and the volleyball team. The girls did some little games to get to know each other but then the session was over and Lauren would have much rather stayed in bed.

"Well I'm awake and hungry so I'm going to the cafeteria, see you guys in class?" Lauren asked the girls who are doing her Major.

"Yeah we'll see you at 9." Jamie yawned, pulling a jumper over her head as she headed towards the door.

She had almost made it out of the room before she heard her name being called from behind her. Lauren spun around to see her coaches beckoning her over from the middle of the court. She felt her stomach grumble but sludged her way over to her coaches.

"Congratulations Captain." Coach Danny almost whispered as he patted her back.

"Yes well done Lauren!" Coach Monica added.

"Thank you, guys! It really does mean a lot that you've trusted me enough to be captain."

"And there's nobody else we would rather have than you." Coach Monica smiled.

They chatted lightly for a few more minutes until they were the only ones left in the room, their voices echoing around the empty sports hall. The coaches let her leave to go get ready for her lectures that day, but as she opened the doors, she saw a very familiar face at the end of the corridor by the pool changing rooms.

He was tall, his dark curly hair being recognizable from a mile away, and his thick-framed glasses perched on his nose. She was just more surprised that he wasn't carrying a guitar for once in his life.

"Darren?" She shouted, already know it was him, and quickly made her way over to him.

"Lauren!" He grinned as she enveloped him in a hug, feeling her feet leave the ground as she hung onto him. He quickly set her down and smiled. "How was your summer?"

"Really good thank you, I went home to my parents and then went to go see Julia and worked a fuckton. What about you?"

"Swimming and singing, nothing new in my life. Mia and I went to New York for a week and that was fun, but apart from that, just chilling with my parents are jamming on my guitar."

"Now that I'm not surprised at." She chuckled lightly. "How was New York? I'm thinking of moving out there after my senior year."

"Oh, its amazing Lauren. The whole city is just buzzing all the time. It's so fast-paced and busy and interesting and there's always something to do there. But I did fall down a flight of stairs in the train station and everyone definitely saw."

Laurens's face crinkled up and she laughed at him, hard. "Sorry but that's so funny!"

Obviously wanting to get the conversation off of himself, he turned to his new swimming friends.

"So Lauren I must introduce you to our new freshmen scholarship swimmers, Joey and AJ! And, get this, Joey majors in musical theatre and AJ minors in composition."

Her eyes grew wide with shock that they both did musical theatre as she turned to face them.

"That's so crazy! What are the odds that we'd all do something musical theatre-related, that is so wild. Musical Theatre is my major too! I'm Lauren." She smiled as she stuck her hand out to shake Joeys.

He smiled at her and shook it, feeling his cold fingertips against her hands instantly sent chills down her spine as she locked eyes with him. His hazel eyes were so soft and caring and she could feel herself staring deeper and deeper into them, a rush overcoming her body as she could feel her heart rate soaring. She suddenly realized what was happening and quickly regained her composure, letting go of his hand sadly and shaking AJ's.

"Anyway, I do have to go. It's like 8:15 am and I'm hungry again so I'm going back to the cafeteria to eat. Are you in room M107 at 9?" Lauren asked Darren.

"Yeah I am, I'll see you at 9." Darren smiled.

"See you later, it was nice meeting you guys!"

Lauren had one last quick glance at Joey, smiling slightly at his long brown hair and facial stubble, as well as the necklace dangling loosely from his neck, being all the more curious of the little pendant that hung from it. But eventually, she spun on her heel and headed down the corridor into the warm August morning.

Her head was filled with so many different things, her friends, missing her family, volleyball, college work, theatre... But the only thing that she could focus on was the hazel eyes that made a home in her mind. No matter what she thought of, Joey's eyes found a way back into her head.

Before she knew it, she was at the doors of the cafeteria, so she grabbed a sandwich, a granola bar, and a bottle of water before heading back to her room, quietly letting herself back in to see Julia still asleep in bed. It was 8:30 and Julia was just waking up for class, so Lauren ate her food and began to prepare for the day.