Westbrook Academy for Metahumans: Forums

“We’d like you to come home.”

For a moment, Lauren could only stare at her parents. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why?”

“It’s too dangerous here.” His answer was stern and without hesitation. For whatever reason, he was serious. A glance between father and mother conveyed an unspoken signal. “And there are too many bad influences.”

Her mind raced to consider all the people she spent time with on a regular basis who might fit that bill, but she couldn’t come up with any names. “What bad influences?”

He counted off on his fingers, one-by- one. “This gang you’re in for one. The people who convince you to risk your life on ‘patrol’.” He emphasized the word as if it were a euphemism. He could have put air quotes around it, and it wouldn’t have been any more obvious. Lauren rolled her eyes as he continued. “Wyatt.”

If there was anyone else on his list, Lauren didn’t give him a chance to mention them. She giggled, knowing that this conversation was probably too serious for it, but hoping that somehow she could lighten things up and derail the direction it was going. “Oh, daddy, Wyatt’s not a bad influence on me!”

Darryl Lombardi would have none of it. “You covered for him pretty well yesterday. You used to like discussing things like history, social issues, philosophical debates. Back home, it was a game to see who could produce the most debated topic. He’s not interested in any of those, is he?”

“That’s you and me, daddy.” She always called him that. It was the one holdover from childhood that she refused to let go of. Sometimes, it could even be disarming, but apparently it wasn’t going to work. “And that had to do with my studies a lot of the time. It’s different here. Wyatt and I talk about other things.”

Her mother prodded in a far gentler fashion. Her voice lacked her husband’s hard edge. “Like what, dear?”

Lauren shrugged and flopped into an overly large chair, placing her back against one arm and kicking her legs up over the other. She looked up at the ceiling, tracing patterns in the plaster with her eyes. “Like music and books and the stars and how nice it is to sit under a tree and just relax.” She turned her head toward her parents. “Some things I tried to get you to listen to.”

“Lauren,” He almost snapped her name. “You could sit up properly and take this seriously.”

The rebuke stung, but she knew she was taking a gamble. Obviously her approach was doing more harm than good. She repositioned herself in the chair, adopting the sort of posture a proper young lady should. “Sorry, daddy.”

“What do you even have in common?”

She shrugged again. There were plenty of things. Which ones would most make a difference, she had no idea. She started with the obvious ones. “We go to the same school. We’re both cheerleaders. We like some of the same movies. We’re both a little... daring.” She took the opportunity to flash her parents a grin. “Wyatt and I were the only ones willing to try Syd’s rocket skis.” From the look on her father’s face that one was going to make a difference in the wrong direction. “And… We’re… still getting to know each other, OK?”

“Rocket skis.”

Lauren remembered the thrill of rocketing across the water without a boat, and responded without thinking. “Yeah, rocket skis. 55 mph. No boat. And jumping with them? What a rush!”

Her mother gave her father a worried look, and his face darkened. Alright, then. Rocket skis, bad. “Is he in this gang of yours, too?”

She smiled and affected the mild air of condescension that only a teenager who thought they might be talking to clueless parents could hope to get away with. “It’s not a gang, daddy. It’s more like a club. We just skate together.”

“A club that sneaks into a restricted and hazardous area to do things no sane person should be doing.”

Lauren only shrugged. “We’re all metas. It’s not exactly like we’re normal people to begin with. And Wyatt’s not in it. I invited him to come, but he hasn’t yet.”

Her father paused, probably to consider his next words. “So he didn’t drag you into those stunts you posted online?”

She shook her head. “If anything I’m trying to...” She stopped as a terrible thought occurred to her. “Wait.” She had to be wrong. “Patrolling? DJ and the crew? Baumtown? All that’s just a cover isn’t it? This is really about Wyatt.”

Her mother and father shared another look. Her father sighed and shook his head “He’s not good for you, Lauren.”

“Why not?” she asked petulantly. “We have fun together. How is that not good for me?”

His voice remained calm. “He’s a criminal.”

Hers on the other hand... she knew hers was getting heated. “He made a mistake! And he did the right thing in the end.”

“Do you even know what he did? You left that part out.”

She shook her head and said quietly, “It doesn’t matter. I know enough.”

It was his turn to raise his voice. Her father rarely raised his voice in anger. “You don’t know, or you’re not going to tell us?”

Lauren felt horrible. She usually told her parents everything, but she couldn’t tell them this. “It doesn’t matter.”

“What did he do, Lauren?”

“It’s not important!”

“I want to know what he did!”

“He robbed a jewelry store, OK? Are you happy?”

Her father’s voice was once again measured and quiet. He was still irate, but controlled. “You’re coming home with us. It’s for your own good. You deserve better.”

“Better?” She lashed out. “Like Hugh? Why? Because his parents have money? Or they’re successful business people? Because he’s not some nob...” Lauren stopped, stricken. She could feel the blood draining from her face.

“He always makes me feel like I’m nothin’.” Nothing. Nobody.

“Some nobody?”

Her answer was sullen. “That’s not what I meant.”

“But that’s what you were about to say.”

“Only because that’s what you were thinking!” She felt a tear stream down her cheek, and she couldn’t keep her rage from bubbling over. “Wyatt is not a nobody! He’s not! He’s somebody! He’s somebody special! And I love him! And I’m not going to let you judge him like that!” She stomped her foot, and even though it felt like a rich bitch spoiled brat kind of thing to do, she felt a mild satisfaction at hearing the tile beneath her foot crack.

Wait... I love him?

Her father said something, but there was a sound like a rushing wind in her ears, drowning out everything but the pounding of her own heart.

I love him?

“I... What did you say?”

Her father frowned. “I said you don’t know what love is, Lauren. You’re still a child.”

I love him.

She looked her father in the eye, completely calm. “Daddy? I may not be an adult yet, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve been a child.” She spun on the ball of her foot and stalked toward the door.

“Lauren!”

“Lauren, honey?”

“Lauren! Come back here!”

“Hush, Darryl. Let her go.”

As the latch clicked quietly behind her, Lauren closed her eyes, and sank against the wall. She sat on the floor outside her parents’ suite and cried.

I must be out of my mind. Lauren’s thoughts tumbled frantically through her head as she made her way to her dorm room to collect some of her homework. There’s no way this will work. Wyatt’s crazy. I can’t lie to them, to everybody. They’ll see right through me. But I have to. This is all their fault. Lauren's parents usually had an open mind about near everything. Why did Wyatt have to be the exception? When they put their foot down, why did it have to be about him, the one thing she wanted most?

I can't do this. She hardly paid attention to the walk between the train station and her parents’ hotel. Several times she had to stop and get her bearings. We can run away. Like he said. Where no one will find us. Running away. She grimaced, the practical side of her picking apart that plan bit by bit, just as Wyatt had right after suggesting it. Where would they go? How would they live? And worse, what if they were found? Wyatt would get yanked back into court, and then they'd be even farther apart.

The desk clerk watched as Lauren paced the lobby before finally pressing the call button for the elevator. What am I doing. There has to be another way. Why can't I see it? Rage filled her as she waited for the elevator. They put her in this situation. How could they? Why can't they see him the way I see him? And why isn't this damn elevator moving! None of the control panel's lights were illuminated. She stared at it blankly until she realized she'd never hit the floor button.

Panic replaced rage when the elevator's doors slid back open. The butterflies in her stomach were being held down by the lump in her throat as she followed a carpet slightly worn with many passing feet through a hallway lined with doors.

I can't lie to them. I can't lie to everyone I know. I'm a lousy liar.

A key card slid into the lock. A green light turned on. There was a click.

Here goes.

“Where have you been young lady?”

Lauren poked idly at the egg on her plate. Aside from her prodding, it hadn’t been touched. Nothing on her plate had. Her parents ate in silence. The only words between them were spoken when her mother asked her if she was going to eat.

The night before, she had managed to make it into the suite and to her room without too much trouble. She was supposed to tell them she and Wyatt had broken up, but she couldn’t deal with them. Of course, they knew she had gone to see Wyatt, and they wanted to talk to her about it, but a sufficient amount of pleading that she was tired let her get to bed with a minimum of fuss. She just had to talk to them in the morning.

When her parents were finished, Lauren simply pushed her plate away and sat sullenly. Her mother took their plates to the sink and gestured at Lauren’s. “Honey? Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“I’m not hungry.” She continued to sulk.

“You should eat something. Breakfast? The most important meal of the day, remember?” Her mother was acting cheerful, but Lauren couldn’t help but wonder if it was just that, an act. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Then she fixed her gaze on her plate, not wanting to look either of her parents in the eye.

“Lauren,” her father began, “About last night...”

His words were amiable enough, but she interrupted him anyway. “I went to see Wyatt. I told him what you said. Congratulations,” she nearly snarled the word, “you might get what you want.” That’s not right.

You’ve got what you want. That’s what she was supposed to say. Now what?

Her father only stared, inviting an explanation in the way he looked at her. Her mother turned away from the sink silently.

“Wyatt was so ticked, he’s going to call it off. He’s going to call us off.” That still wasn’t right. She was supposed to tell her parents they had already broken up. That was the story they came up with to try to convince her parents to let her stay. She still couldn’t bring herself to do it, but she needed to. All she was doing was postponing the inevitable.

“I’m so sorry, honey.” Her mother’s voice came from behind her. She barely turned her head in response. It sounded genuine, but she didn’t believe it was.

“Whatever.” Lauren got up from the table and started for her room.

“Lauren? I thought we were going to talk.” Her father’s admonishment was far less harsh than she expected. She should sit down. She should talk it over with them.

She turned and put one hand on the bar separating the kitchen from a short hallway. “What’s there to talk about? You win. OK?” She paused, and took a deep breath. One thing. If she could somehow win one thing that day. “Finals are in four weeks. I’d like to finish out the trimester. Then I’ll go wherever you want. Please... Just... think about it. Then we can talk.”

Before Peyton’s beach party, she had her answer. She could stay until the end of the trimester, but they were thinking of staying, too. Her father could do his work from the hotel, but they would be going home on the weekends.

I can’t do this. I can’t pretend I’m mad at you when all I want you to do is hold me and tell me everything will be alright. I can’t lie to everyone like this anymore. I can’t tell my parents we’re not together.

We have to talk to them.

Wyatt wanted to make an impression, so he wore a pair of his school slacks and a white Henley shirt. Lauren wore the simple, sleeveless yellow dress that she wore on their second date. She wished they were going on a date instead of riding the elevator up to see her parents. In fact, she wished they were going anywhere else. She had never been so nervous planning to talk to her parents before.

Her parents were in a two bedroom suite that looked much more like a small apartment than a hotel room. They had been there since Parents Day. Instead of leaving at the end of the weekend, they had extended their stay through the following week.

They were sitting in the living area in the midst of a conversation, now interrupted. Their faces betrayed their surprise at seeing Wyatt in tow. Her mother nodded to Wyatt, while her father fixed his gaze on Lauren.

“Lauren? What’s this?”

Lauren squeezed Wyatt’s hand to bolster her confidence, and answered in a voice that was much surer than she was. “I think we all need to talk.”

Her parents exchanged looks, and her mother nodded. Her father turned a stern gaze onto the two teens. “Alright then. Talk.”

Lauren squeezed Wyatt’s hand again and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She barely opened her mouth when Wyatt spoke up. “Can we talk man-to-man, just the two of us?” She searched his face for any hint of what he might be thinking beyond his words, concern and admiration warring within her. Shy, nervous Wyatt, who could hardly have a ten-minute conversation with her some days without blushing at something she said, was standing proudly beside her. It was a side of him she wasn’t sure she had seen before, respectful, yet demanding respect in return.

Lauren knew the moment she asked that it was a pointless question, but they had planned to talk to her parents together, as a couple. “Are you sure?” Letting him go off on his own with her father worried her for a moment. Though seeing Wyatt like this, it was only for a moment.

Before Wyatt could answer, her father interjected. “Lauren, if that’s what he wants...” He stood up from the couch and gestured to a sliding door that led to the balcony.

She felt a gentle squeeze from Wyatt’s hand, and then it was gone, slipping from hers as he preceded her father to the balcony. She felt part of her resolve slip away with his touch. She was so focused on Wyatt that she didn’t notice her mother standing next to her until she felt another hand replace his. With a gentle tug, her mother pulled her away from the balcony toward a round dining table nestled between the living area and small kitchen.

“Lauren? Can I get you something, honey?” She directed Lauren to one of the chairs, inviting her to sit more by inertia than any word or overt gesture, and continued into the kitchen.

“I’m fine, mom.”

Regardless, her mother prepared a glass of ice water and brought it to table, placing it on the polished wood in front of her. “Just in case.”

“Mom...” Lauren thought of all the words she had prepared, expecting to deliver them to both of her parents at once. Her father was outside, and only her mother sat before her, now. “We’re not breaking up, and I’m not going home. Rather, I’m not going home with you. This is my home now.” Her mother started to speak, but Lauren quickly interrupted her. “Wait, please. Let me finish. I’m not going to say you can’t make me go, because you and I both know you can, but you have to know that simply moving me isn’t going to change anything, and I’m not going to forgive you for making me go.”

Her mother gave her a smile that was both reassuring and melancholy. “We’re just worried about you, sweetheart.”

“Don’t you trust me anymore?” Lauren asked in a wistful tone. It was a plaintive plea for something she felt had been lost but had no clue why or how.

“Of course we do, Lauren.” Her mother pulled a chair over to sit close and rested a hand on Lauren’s arm. “But you’re young, and sometimes you don’t think things through.”

“I know what I’m doing, mom. Trust me.

“I’m not sure you do, sweetheart.”

Lauren wrapped her hands around the glass in front of her and stared down into it. “Mom. You just need to get to know Wyatt. If you could see what I see, you’d understand.”

While Wyatt and her father talked outside, Lauren tried to paint her mother the same picture of Wyatt that she saw. She was quietly sharing their first major fight and how made up after when the sliding door opened. Both of them looked up to see Wyatt. Lauren rose to meet him and reached for his hand. She looked tentatively past Wyatt to the open door. “Well? How did it go?”

Wyatt’s smile was uncertain. “He didn’t throw me off the balcony.”

Lauren smirked at Wyatt and even her mother cracked a smile. “That’s a plus,” Lauren teased. She glanced at her mother, wondering if she should ask questions with her mother sitting there. She decided to chance it. “What did he say?”

“He wants to talk to you. Out there.” Wyatt nodded his head in the direction of the open door.

“That’s not what I meant.” Wyatt squeezed her hand before letting go. It was obvious he wasn’t going to provide any answers, yet. With a quick glance back at her mother, who smiled at her encouragingly, Lauren left for the balcony.

Her father was standing at the rail, looking out over the city. “Daddy? You wanted to talk to me?”

“Join me, please?”

Lauren took a spot next to her father without a word. She placed her hands on the rail, one on top of the other and looked out over the buildings and one of the parks of Galaxy. Like most parks in Paragon, it had a giant statue of a hero whose name she couldn’t remember at the moment. He put his arm around her with his hand on her shoulder. Her first inclination was to stiffen up, and her second was to pull away, but she did neither. As upset as she still was, she missed these moments that reminded both of them that she was still daddy’s little girl.

“You look beautiful, but you didn’t have to get dressed up to come talk to us.”

She shrugged a bit, “We wanted to make a good impression. And Wyatt likes this dress. I wore it for our second date.”

Silence ensued between them, filled only by sounds of the city. Lauren was beginning to get nervous again. She was about to launch into her “we’re not breaking up” speech when her father broke the lull. “I think he cares a great deal about you.”

Lauren sought to look into his face, but it was still turned out toward the city. It was well after 8:00. The sun had set. The light from inside touched the back of his head, and the lights from the city didn’t do enough to erase the shadows hiding his expression. She thought of all the ways she could say “I told you so,” but she decided on a far simpler answer. “He loves me.”

Her father looked back at her. “Perhaps.” He turned back to the cityscape. “He agreed to stop seeing you if I asked him to.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. Pull away in anger? Scream with frustration? In his face she thought she had just seen understanding, but if so, why would he say that? She stood frozen for what felt like forever. She knew she was going to burst, so she took a few deep breaths and tried to be as calm as possible. “But you’re not going to ask him to. Right?”

“Lauren? Why didn’t you tell us everything at the beginning?”

She swallowed a sudden surge of guilt. “It didn’t matter. You always say people make mistakes, but it’s how they own up to them and learn from them that matters. He learned from his, and he owned up to it. Besides...” She took another deep breath. “I was afraid of how you’d react. Considering all this, can you blame me? I mean, look how you treated him this weekend. He was so embarrassed when I told him what you said Saturday night.”

He squeezed her shoulder and rested his gaze on her. “Like I told Wyatt, that was unfair. But this isn’t about him. It’s about you. Maybe I made a mistake and acted rashly, but you didn’t give us a chance.”

Did she hear right? Did he just admit he made a mistake? “I... I’m sorry too.”

“Like you said, people make mistakes.” He squeezed her shoulder again. “Something has to give though, Lauren. How can you manage cheerleading, ice skating, inline skating, patrolling, school, a boyfriend and hanging out with your friends, plus Lord knows what else?”

“I, uh, I just can.”

He smiled at her. “At your age, it seems like you can take on the whole world at once and balance anything it throws at you. But you can’t. And you’re not managing it, honey. You’re spread too thin.”

She sighed and gazed at the park. “But I don’t want to stop seeing Wyatt.”

“I think you should start with this... what did you call it? Aggressive skating?”

“But Daddy…!” She whipped her head in his direction calling to mind all of the protests she had prepared.

“It’s dangerous, Lauren, and it takes up a lot of your time. Would you rather give up cheerleading? Something has to give.”

Something. Maybe he wasn’t gunning for Wyatt. Rather, maybe he wasn’t gunning for Wyatt any more. It was a glimmer of hope at least. “If I do that... can I stay here? Can I still see Wyatt?”

“I think it’s a good start.”

That didn’t really answer her question. She thought it over for a while. How could he ask her to give up skating? But skating over Wyatt? That she didn’t need to think about. “If I can stay, and you really want me to, I’ll do it.”

“Mom? I guess it's your turn.”

Lauren took the seat across the table from Wyatt without waiting for her mother to get up. As soon as her mother was through the door she asked, “What did you say to him?”

Wyatt placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward, clasping his hands together under his chin. “I told him I would do whatever it took to keep you at Westbrook.”

Lauren smiled at him, “Whatever you said made a big difference.” Her smile didn’t last long, though. “But he wants me to give up inline.”

Wyatt sighed, “I told him it's important to you. He wanted me to try'n talk you out of doin' it, but... I don't think that's up to him and me to decide.”

“If it means I can stay... That’s more important.”

He nodded, “I guess we should have done this to begin with. Talk to your parents, I mean.”

Lauren nodded in return. “We should have done this two days ago, and it would have been done and over with.”

Wyatt frowned and a guilty look settled on his face. Likely he was blaming himself for coming up with the idea to begin with. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“It's not your fault.” Lauren shook her head and tried to offer a reassuring smile. It might have been his idea, but she went along with it willingly. She was just as much at fault as he was. Maybe more. “We made the decision together. Yeah, it was the wrong decision, but at least we realized it before we went too far.”

“I know, but...” He shrugged and changed the subject. “Do you think things are gonna be all right now?”

She shrugged back and tried not to look too worried. “I think so? But I'm not sure, yet.”

Wyatt slid both hands across the table offering them to Lauren. “I told him I love you.”

She reached out, took his hands, and flashed him a somewhat dopey grin. “I told him the same thing. I told my mother, too.”

Wyatt smiled at her and said nonchalantly, “I told him I'm a virgin too.”

Lauren blinked, confused. Had she heard that correctly? Her mouth worked but no sound came out at first. At last she managed to get out a squeaky, “What?!”

Wyatt must have realized what he said, because his face reddened with that blush that he was famous around school for. “I think he was... like... wanting to know if we... And I didn't feel right sayin', 'Mr. Lombardi, your daughter's still a virgin,' because, you know, how would I know if I hadn't like... tried...? So I told him we hadn't... yet... in a way that let him know that we ain't even tried yet.”

She sat in horrified, stunned silence. For a moment, she couldn’t even remember why they were talking to her parents in the first place. Everything else was lost in that one unthinkable subject. “Why would you... Did he ask? I mean, if we… He wouldn’t ask that! ... Would he?”

“What?! No!” Wyatt was quiet but also quite emphatic. “He didn't come right out and ask. He wanted to know how um... fast... we were takin' things.”

“Wyatt!” To think, she had just been out there having a conversation with him! Right after he and Wyatt... She couldn’t even finish the thought. “I know we’re supposed to be honest with them, but there’s honest and then there’s... there’s... I don’t even know what to call this! How could you... I mean…”

She stopped to sort her thoughts out. Wyatt looked like he was about to launch into the most contrite apology she had even seen, but he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Lauren fought to keep her face from flushing.

Her parents joined them at the table, sitting opposite each other as Lauren and Wyatt were. From their faces it was obvious that they picked up on the sudden tension between the two teenagers.

Her mother spoke first, ignoring the obvious question. Either she guessed she knew, and Lauren hoped to God she didn’t know, or she realized intruding would have been even more awkward. “We’re glad the two of you came to talk to us.”

“I’m not too proud to admit I might have overreacted.” Her father received an encouraging smile from her mother. “There are some things that have to change, though. Lauren, you have to pull your grades up. You’re here to go to school and learn how to use your incredible gift.”

She sighed and nodded. “Maybe if I really work at it... I could pull off a B?”

“Let’s be realistic. Your teachers tell us you’ll be lucky to get a C in some of your classes.”

“But I’ve got an A in two of them!” Her father was doubtful. “Look, I can try, right?”

“Fair enough.” He visibly braced himself for the next part. “I’m also asking you to give up skating.”

He didn’t specify, but she knew he meant inline. She looked to Wyatt and found him scowling. He had already made his opinions known. There wasn’t much else that could give. She didn’t want to quit cheerleading. There was no way she would give up on Wyatt. Ice skating? She had already cut way back on that already to make room for everything else, and she wasn’t ready to give it up completely. “Alright,” she agreed quietly. Even though they had already discussed it, and she knew it was coming, it still hurt.

“I’m sorry, Lauren, but your powers are a gift. You could do amazing things with them. They’re not for showing off.”

“I know.”

“As for you,” He turned his attention to Wyatt. “I expect you’re going to stay out of trouble, and I expect you’re going to treat my daughter right.” He looked at each teen in turn.

Lauren was relieved to hear only what she supposed was normal fatherly concern in his voice. There was no hint of threat or distrust or even doubt, and she all but heard his voice in her head saying simply “Be good to her.” There was a look, though, and she could only guess, as she felt the warmth spreading from her cheeks into the rest of her face, it came from what Wyatt had told him. A virgin.

If she was noticeably blushing, her father ignored it. “We’ll see how the rest of this trimester goes.” He fixed his gaze on Lauren. “Then we’ll see where we stand for the next one.”