f.m. ~camren

chapter 1

"What did you say the name of the band was again?" Camila asks her best friend, Dinah, as she peeks at her reflection in the mirror and shifts her casual, light blue dress so it sits snugly in place.

"Unhinged Destiny. I think Normani's cousin used to work with the guy who plays bass for the band. They just released an EP. They may be looking for some help with PR," Dinah explains casually while picking out a lip gloss from her seemingly bottomless purse.

Camila pauses applying eyeliner to look over at the other woman skeptically.

"Please tell me you didn't promise them anything. We've been over this before, Dinah..."

"Relax, sheesh. They don't know anything about you showing up. And like you keep reminding us every other day...you're only an assistant. Nobody recognizes you as a talent scout."

"As they shouldn't. I'm strictly a behind-the-scenes operator. We handle more stress for less pay, so it's important to differentiate," Camila defends, hoping they can soon drop the subject and move on to a night out that will help her forget the number of hairs she has carelessly ripped out of her head at work this week alone.

"Then forget about business tonight. Let's see what we can do about your personal life," Dinah suggests with a wink.

"Oh no, not this again. You're relentless..." Camila accuses before putting the finishing touches on her makeup and double checking she has the two tickets Dinah had put her in charge of holding.

"You'll thank me one day," Dinah replies confidently as they head out of Camila' apartment and towards Dinah's car.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a stubborn Lauren is trying to get out of her plans to go to the same concert with her roommate, Normani.

"I've never even heard of the band," she protests while sitting back on their couch and propping her feet up on the coffee table.

"Since when have you been picky about music? We used to go to these shows almost every week and you didn't know half of those bands either," Normani argues back.

"That was before. Now I finally have a story coming together for my novel and I use the quiet time when you go out to work on it," Lauren reveals, impatient about getting back to brainstorming and outlining since her day job kept her away from it for most of the week.

"Your story isn't going anywhere. I promise to give you peace and quiet all day tomorrow. Just come out tonight and let yourself have a good time, okay? You deserve it," Normani reasons.

"Fine, but we're taking my car. If they're a flop, I'm out," she announces, pushing herself up off the couch and grabbing her leather jacket from its hook by the door.

"You're gonna wear that?" Normani looks over her roommate's ripped jeans and Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt with concern.

"Mmmhmm, take it or leave it," Lauren challenges, reaching into the pocket for her keys and leaving out the door without checking whether Normani was following behind her.

When Camila and Dinah arrive at the venue there's a line wrapped around the building and they follow it until they find the end.

"Quite a crowd for an unknown band," Camila observes, genuinely surprised.

"Maybe someone in the group has a big family like mine," Dinah jokes and Camila laughs, although noting there weren't a ton of people in line who looked related.

"Have you heard from Normani? I hope she can find parking. Maybe we should have picked her up..." Camila trails off as she spots their mutual friend from a distance. Oddly, she doesn't appear to be alone.