Paper Towns (A 5H Fanfic)

T h i r t e e n

Day 1: The Long Drive

Ally drove a few miles before the gas station was in sight. "Ready?" Ally asked as she pulled into the gas station.

"Game faces ladies." Normani laughed.

The car came to a stop right in front of the gas pump and the entrance to the mini mart. All four doors flew open and the timer had begun.

Ally went for the gas pump while the other three girls ran into the store. Normani made a straight cut for the the chips then hurriedly grabbed an assortment of fruits, a box of Pop Tarts, a box of granola bars, four deli sandwiches and a pack of gum, then threw them onto the counter in front of the extremely confused cashier. Lauren and Dinah sprinted to the drinks. Lauren grabbed a few Red Bulls, and large Gatorade bottle. Dinah grabbed as many water bottles as she could carry.

"Lauren." Dinah said, catching the other girls attention. "Grab four 5 Hour Energy shots and toss them on the counter." Lauren set the drinks down on the counter then went back to grab them.

Normani constantly told the cashier to hurry up and Ally from the car was shouting.

"Gas is done! Let's go!" her small self hopped into the drivers seat, ready to get going. The car started up and all that was left was the three girls.

"Bag that a little faster please." Normani impatiently said to the man. Her hand was rapidly tapping the counter as she watched Dinah and Lauren drop a few water bottles before picking them up off the floor and tossing them onto the counter.

"Girls!" Ally shouted from the car.

"Sir, you're making great time but slightly faster. We gotta go." Dinah explained.

The man hurried and tossed the waters into a bag. Lauren and Dinah took a bag and were out the door, Normani signed the receipt and ran out the door. The cashier was about to give her the copy of the receipt but she didn't have time to take it.

"Alright let's go!" Lauren said from the passenger seat.

Dinah and Normani piled into the backseat with the two bags and Ally quickly drove off.

"What was our time?" Normani asked.

"Eight minutes." Ally said proudly. "I knew you guys could do it."

The girls shared a laugh and continued their drive to North Carolina. With six hours and twenty three minutes left to go, the girls had a lot of bonding time ahead of them. Not that they needed it though. The four of them had been tighter than ever. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe that's why Camila had left. It wasn't intentional to make Camila feel like she was on the outside of the group, the girls would never intend for that to happen to anyone in the group. They were a five piece group. Always were and always will be until the day they decided to say goodbye.

Three hours into the drive and Dinah had long been asleep in the backseat. Normani had been flipping through an actual book which was the oddest sight to Lauren.

Lauren looked out the window and thought about all those times on the bus with Camila. Probably driving through this exact freeway, not that they really payed attention to there whereabouts on a freeway. They were both always so preoccupied with a book in their hands on the bus.

*** *** ***

Lauren shut the sliding door that separated the back lounge where Normoni was talking to a camera for an Awesomeness TV takeover episode. Her part was done so she was going to go back to reading her book. Just as she had slid into her bunk the sliding door to the kitchen slid open, revealing Camila with an open book in her hand. The two girls made eye contact then gave each other a small smile before Camila shut the door again.