Gravity

Prologue

*May 31st 2013*

*Friday 10:15am*

*Winnfield, Louisiana*

Camila's POV:

I shift my sunglasses briefly and tilt my head to eye up Lauren from the corner of my eye. She's standing at the counter, leaning over it as far as possible as she twirls a piece of the blonde shop assistants hair around in her finger. I scoff when I hear the girl giggle, so loud it echoes around the room. I turn my back to them and continue walking along the aisle, one eye on the lookout while the other eyes the items in front of me.

I discreetly pull my backpack in front of me before shoving a handful of chocolate bars inside. I keep walking further away from the counter before making a turn towards the fridges. I look to my left and then to my right before grabbing two bottles of water and some soda, dropping them into my open bag. I walk slowly back towards Lauren, subtly shoving more items into my bag on the way.

I roll my eyes when I hear that annoying giggle again and grab a large bag of chips before finally approaching her.

"Are we going or what?" I slam the bag of chips down onto the counter in annoyance. I feel impatient as I look between the two of them, the girl straightening up and her smile fading as she looks at me.

Lauren turns to face me with a smirk. "Sure. This all you want?" she questions casually as she moves the bag across the counter. "Yep." I reply in a bored tone. "I'll go wait in the car."

I hear Lauren chuckle to herself behind me just in time to hear the annoying blonde ask if I'm her girlfriend. Lauren replies with a swift no and I roll my eyes when I hear her spin a lie about me being her brother's girl.

Yeah, right.

I squint under the blistering sun as I walk back to the truck. I pull the door open then glance back towards the store to see the girl waving flirtatiously at Lauren as she leaves.

I watch as she puts her sunglasses back on to cover her eyes from the heavy sun. She climbs back into the truck and throws the bag of chips onto my lap.

"What took you so long?" I raise my eyebrows and she chuckles.

"She was a chatty one."

"Yeah, you seemed to be enjoying it, Laura." I tell her pointedly, referring to the fake name I heard her use when she introduced herself flirtatiously.

Lauren laughs as she starts the engine. "I was just being in character!" she defends herself amused and I roll my eyes trying to hide my smile.

"Well? What did you get?"

"Here," I pass her her bottle of water while it's still chilled. "I got us some chocolate, sandwiches, soda and a couple of tins of soup."

"Soup?" she frowns. "How the hell are we supposed to eat that?"

"We can heat it up in the microwave of whatever motel we end up in tonight," I defend myself immediately but freeze when I see the grimace on her face. "No Lauren!" I scold her quickly because I know exactly where this conversation is going. "You promised!"

"I know baby, I know, but we need to save our money." She reasons attentively. "What's one more night?"

"What's one more night?" I practically shriek in reply. "Lauren, we've slept in this damn truck for the last three nights! I haven't showered in four days! I feel dirty and I stink."

Lauren scoffs. "That's not true, you smell beautiful." She tilts her head and smiles sweetly at me.

"Lauren," I groan in annoyance.