Paper Towns (A 5H Fanfic)

E i g h t e e n

Day 2: The Other Long Drive

Nomani sat in the passenger seat as Dinah drove. She held the map in her hand but couldn't bring herself to unfold the wrinkled and worn out map.

"You ok?" Dinah asked, taking notice of Normani.

Normani sighed. "I'm nervous for what this is going to be." she confessed, looking to the back seat, Lauren was asleep, finally. Ally had headphones on and was in her own world full of Jennifer Lopez probably.

"Take your time." Dinah smiled. "We have about six hours until we get to Atlanta anyway. No hurry." she turned her head slightly to face Normani but quickly shifted her gaze back to the road in front of her.

"It's just.. The things Camila has said to Ally and you were so sweet and thoughtful. There were stories and inside jokes and things that the two of us haven't had in a long time." Normani explained. She picked at the folded corners of the map. "We haven't been as close as we used to and I regret it now. I regret letting this distance happen."

"Well, when we find her you'll just have to be glued to her side to make up for all that lost time then." Dinah laughed. Normani cracked a small smile.

Normani had never been the one closest to Camila but the two were still best friends. All the girls were best friends but there were friendships inside the friendship. For a while it was just Dinah and Normani, Camila and Lauren, and Ally was a floater. Then it was Camila and Dinah, Normani and Ally and Lauren was a floater. And more recently, Camila became the floater.

Each girl blamed themselves slightly for why Camila decided to just leave. Lauren was the hardest on herself since Camila had been the closest with her since X Factor and even through their small falling out, Camila would still always go to Lauren for advice, or for a shoulder to cry on. Lauren thought she should've noticed the signs that Camila was going to leave, or the mental and emotional state she was in. She blamed herself for not seeing it until she was gone.

Dinah blamed herself for not watching out for Camila more. She knew she was getting hate, she knew she was struggling to just feel happy again but she didn't do anything to help Camila. Dinah had always been the one to defend the girls and she had felt that she let Camila down.

Ally blamed herself for a mix of everything. Not being there for Camila when she needed it, not seeing signs, not asking her if she was ok, not including her when the rest of the girls would do stuff together. It was a whirlwind of basically everything.

Normani blamed herself for not making the effort in the friendship. She knew the two of them had drifted away form each other slightly. Enough that the fans noticed but not enough that it was awkward between the girls. But if she had been a little kinder, a little more aware of the affects, maybe she'd go back and watch a movie with Camila on the bus, or stay up late to just talk to her like they used to.

The times on the road trip where the car would fall dead silent and all that was heard was the muffled sound of someone's headphones in the back seat, the quiet song playing through the cars speaker and the sound of cars passing by was the times Normani truly had time to reflect and think about this trip.

Camila sent the girls on a road trip to find her. This was for more than just finding Camila. It was for bonding the girls again, it was for making new memories. It was for changing the dynamic of the group back to the way it used to be, playful, fun and teamwork. People admired the girls on X Factor for their kindness and instant friendship between each other but in the recent years, things changed, friendships faded and that's what led them to where they were now. Camila wanted to reconnect the girls back to their roots. Their friendship that was genuine and not forced.