Page 2 of Fight

Lena had already been on track to black sheep status when she’d graduated from college four years ago with a degree in Painting and Drawing. Her post-collegiate decision of traveling to Europe for a year in between a series of waitressing jobs, had further cemented that status.

Last summer, when she had returned from her year-long stint in Austria, her best friend, Annie, had suggested Lena visit her where she had settled in Lake Conrad, California, to put her teaching degree to use. Lena had jumped at the chance for escape.

That July visit had changed everything. The nausea she felt as Annie’s dirty green car swerved the mountain roads, had dissipated when the cerulean waters of sparkling Lake Conrad had come into view. With the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range surrounding you, it was so much like Austria.Thiswas what her life was missing. This was what she had felt in Austria everyday, living in wonderment of the world—of the Earth.

She had immediately itched for the opportunity to lay it out on a blank, white canvas. An itch she hadn’t had her entire time in Virginia since returning from Austria.

From that moment on, Lena had known metroing into the city for that office job would never be for her. She needed this. She needed inspiration for her art—for her spirit. She snagged a waitressing job after returning from visiting Annie in Conrad, saved every penny she earned, and kissed her disappointed parents goodbye when June had hit.

“Lena!”

Lena turned in the direction her name was being yelled from. She stood on the tips of her toes to see a tornado of energy and mahogany curls rushing through the crowd of zippered-clothes enthusiasts. She let a huge grin take over her face as her hand lifted above her head to wave wildly.

As she tumbled into her arms, Annie nearly knocked Lena off her teetering heels. Giving her a tight squeeze, Lena got a faceful of wild curls from her much shorter friend.

Annie pulled away and gave her a quick once over before words tumbled out of her mouth. “I’m soooo happy you’re finally here! This is going to be great! Wait ‘till you see our place. Morgan’s got everything…wait a minute,” she said her voice turning speculative. “How are you wearing heels? What the heck are you wearing?”

“An artfully assembled travel ensemble?” Lena drew the very obvious answer out as a question, and popped one foot back on its toe, her hands spread wide to better display the genius of the look. “And these shoes are actually very comfortable,” she lied.

“Hmm.” Annie let out an uncertain sound, her lips pressed together, her large brown eyes turned to slits as she looked Lena up and down. “Let’s go get your bags. You still have that purple glittery luggage? At least we can’t miss that in this crowd.” Annie pushed her small body through the throng of people toward the baggage claim, and Lena let out a sigh, following behind Annie as her wild hair and flowy sundress trailed behind her. Was she wearing utilitarian sandals? Who was Annie to arguefashion?

Why was this so hard for some people? What better way to stand out and make an impression than with the art of clothing? Lena wore a vintage nineteen sixties’ dark plum mini dress with long bell sleeves. Her legs were covered with ivory tights, and she wore her favorite t-strap black heels—which may or may not have given her blisters.

Much of Lena’s clothing, belongings, and basically everything in her life, involved purple. She always made sure her outfit contained at least a touch, if not a complete dowsing, of purple.

Cori always thought it was crazy. “Why are people with other favorite colors completely normal? But the people who love purple take it about eight thousand steps too far?” She was continuously buying Lena gifts that were emphaticallynotpurple—usually orange. Yuck.

Shaking herself out of her purple reverie, Lena pushed through the crowd after Annie who’d disappeared again. She’d just caught sight of her hovering over the baggage claim, when a forest green Fjallraven Kanken backpack shoved into her roughly.

“Ow!” Lena exclaimed loudly, as she rubbed her shoulder. “That really hurt.” She shot the offending backpack an angry-eyed glare as its owner quickly turned around to face her.

“Oh, sorry—hey!” said a masculine voice with a chuckle. “Who knew we would see each other again so soon?” Lena looked up to see the guy she’d sat next to on the plane.

Well, this is the baggage claim for the flight we were both on, so it’s not that far fetched. Instead of voicingthatthought though, she barked out a laugh. “Yeah! Who knew?” She resisted the urge to rub her bruised arm.What was his name again?

David, Darrel…Daniel!Right. He had been very flirty, andverychatty on the plane. While he was cute in a sleek, very blond way, his chattiness had pretty much eliminated any interest she could possibly have in him. She was prone to motion sickness and had done her best not to toss her cookies on him, and had told him as much. However, he’d droned on and on throughout the five hour flight in an effort to “distract” her, he’'d claimed. This had left her feeling off kilter and annoyed when she’d finally exited the plane.

Annie reappeared, lugging the smallest of Lena’s four bags behind her. “Lena.” She was breathing heavily. “I see all your bags. C’mon!” She looked between Lena and Daniel, noticing a conversation. “Who's this?” she asked innocently.

“Oh, we were sitting next to each other on the plane,” Lena supplied awkwardly.

“And I just about knocked her over,” Daniel added, chuckling. “Sorry again, Lena, hope to bump into you a little less painfully next time.” He winked at her and pushed his way through the crowd toward the baggage claim.

“He's cute!” Annie dramatically whispered. “But a little douchey…Did he wink at you?” Her face pulled into a grimace.

Lena blushed and pushed Annie toward the baggage claim. “Don’t worry about it,” she ordered. “Let's get those bags.”

They made quick work of gathering her beautiful purple luggage. Within twenty minutes, they were firmly settled in Annie’s dirty, green Subaru Outback, heading out of the airport parking garage.

Lena settled into the gray fabric seats, adjusting the AC to blast cool air on her face.Damn, Reno’s hot.

“Your car looks…the same.” Lena shot Annie a side-eye. Annie had inherited her 2001 green Subaru from her dad, and she’d driven it all through high schoolandcollege. She even brought a framed picture of it with her to Austria. When Lena had seen the picture of the old car, she’d thought it was hideous. When she’d had the opportunity tomeetthe car (as Annie had put it), she found it was also filthy, and smelled like old french fries. Annie was obsessed with it though, and all suggestions of getting a new car were met with adamant refusals.

“My dad’s old Subie is still running strong at one hundred fifty thousand miles,” boasted Annie as she lovingly patted the dashboard, leaving behind the imprint of her hand in the dust and grime.

“Yeah, strong indeed,” Lena agreed skeptically. “Anyway, how’s Morgan? I’m excited to see her again and get settled in with you guys.”

“Morgan is so excited for our new roommate trifecta,” Annie said perkily as she drove onto the highway.“Ever since Alicia left us high and dry, she's been mopey.”

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