Paper Towns (A 5H Fanfic)

T w e n t y E i g h t

Day 4: The Car Problem

The five girls got out of the car and lifted the hood of the car, smoke poured out as they all stood in disbelief. This would be happening to them.

"Lauren you're really not having a good few days are you?" Dinah laughed.

"What's she talking about?" Camila asked Lauren.

Normani stepped up to look at the cars engine, not that she knew how to fix it. "Lauren's been a walking disaster of bad luck this entire trip." she explained before Lauren could open her mouth.

Lauren looked unamused by Normani's comment while Camila just laughed at her.

Ally walked back over to the girls and put her phone back in her pocket. "Ok, so a mechanic will be out here in twenty minutes." she explained. "Until then I guess we can just hangout here."

The five girls sat down on the side of the road. It was around five in the morning and the sun was supposed to rise soon. Dinah grabbed an extra sweatshirt from the trunk and threw it on before siting down next to Camila and throwing her arm around her.

"I'm glad you're back." Dinah smiled at the smaller girl.

"I missed you China Jane." Camila wrapped her arms around Dinah, practically koala hugging her as she usually does.

Things felt perfect. Despite being extremely behind schedule to get back to New York for opening night, having dented the car they promised they wouldn't, and breaking the car down on the side of the road, everything felt perfect. They were back together as a five piece not a four, they felt closer than ever. If this was a movie, this would be the closing scene with some Alt Rock song playing as the credits rolled. But reality doesn't work that way.

"We said we wanted to watch the sunrise with Camila earlier on the trip." Normani smiled. "And now we get to."

"Yeah and Louser is awake to watch the sunrise this time." Dinah reached behind Camila and shoved Lauren slightly, causing her to bump into Ally.

"Rude." Lauren sarcastically replied before smiling at Dinah. "This whole trip has felt like a leave of absence from reality." she stared up at the sky that was slowly but surely filling with multiple colors that would make a beautiful sunrise.

"It was like a little trip to Neverland." Ally turned to Camila who smiled behind her sweatshirt hood. "Can you believe the past few days were even real?" Ally looked up at the sunrise in front of her and Normani rested her head on Ally's shoulder.

"On the real, I haven't felt this close to you guys since X Factor." Lauren added.

The sound of passing by cars was the only sound that filled the air. The five girls silently watched the sun slowly rise from behind the horizon. A splash of orange and pink soon filled the sky in front of them.

The past few days were a rollercoaster of highs and lows for the four girls who set out on the road trip but finding the fifth member made it all worth it. Things just felt ok again. There wasn't a missing piece anymore, there wasn't a reason to be in constant fear that Camila wasn't ok. She was ok. She was siting with them, watching the sunrise with them. She was wearing one of Dinah's sweatshirts and she was safe.

"Maybe you should get lost more often Camila." Normani teased. Camila made a hurt expression. "But really, you getting lost really helped all of us get closer again. You included."

"Sometimes you have to get lost before you find yourself." Camila said excitedly while stretching her legs out in front of her and her arms up above her head, knocking her hood off.

"You totally just quoted the book." Lauren responded.

Camila rolled her eyes. "John Green, Paper Towns, 2008. Happy?" she laughed while tugging Lauren's hood onto her head even as Lauren tried to push her off. In between Camila trying to put Lauren's hood on, Lauren tried to put Camila's hood on her head. "You're seriously a child." Camila laughed after finally giving up and letting Lauren shover her hood on.

"You love me though." Lauren cuddled Camila's arm and rested her head in between the crook of Camila's neck.

"Yeah you guys all couple up. I'm gonna take a nap over here." Dinah said as she laid down on her side. She was half on the road, half in dirt but sleep is sleep.

"DJ, come cuddle with me!" Ally exclaimed.

"Oh am I not good enough for you?" Normani said in a sarcastic tone as she pulled her arm off Ally.

Ally and Normani bickered for a few minutes but everyone else started zoning them out. Dinah fell asleep on the ground, Camila and Lauren watched the sunrise and talked about miscellaneous things. Music, books, bands, Lauren showed Camila a video on her phone and the two laughed like old times. Everything felt like the beginning when none of them wanted to leave each others side.

Another ten minutes pasted and the mechanic finally showed. Ally and Normani were the first to get up to greet him. Camila attempted to get up but Lauren had fallen asleep on her shoulder. After so many sleepless days, Lauren could finally rest knowing her best friend was ok.

Camila sat and watched the sunrise even more into the sky. Six in the morning now, the freeway was more alive now that it was a somewhat bearable hour. They needed to be back in New York soon but this was so much better than work. Work was fun but so was just driving and talking and having random run ins with mysterious deer at five in the morning. Neverland never felt closer than it did in that moment.

"Mila." Normani called. Camila's head spun around to make eye contact with the older girl. "Wake Lauren. We're ready to go."

Ally woke Dinah, the second Dinah got up off the ground and got into the back seat of the car she was asleep again.

Camila moved her shoulder up and down to wake Lauren up. "Lauren." she whispered. No movement. "Lauren." she said a little bit louder. Still no movement. Camila quickly and in one swift movement, moved her shoulder out from under Lauren's head, causing her head to drop straight down onto Camila's lap.

"Why would you do that?" Lauren mumbled, still half asleep. She reached her hand up and hit Camila in the face before her arm was getting shoved back to her face.

"We're gonna leave without you. Get up." Camila laughed.

After a minute of Lauren arguing that she'd rather stay on the side of the road sleeping than stand up, she finally gave in, stood up, and slipped into the back seat of the car next to Dinah.

Ally drove, Normani sat in the passenger seat, Dinah sat behind the drivers seat, Lauren in the middle and Camila behind the passenger seat. Camila stared out the window at the passing by cars going the opposite way to where ever they were off to.

Every person who was in a car had a starting point and an ending point, some farther than others. Like life starts you in one place and you can end up in a completely different place than intended. If you get lost, you can find your way back, take a U turn, or keep driving down the road of unknown. This road trip started out as a trip to find Camila but ended up being a trip of finding the damaged bond between all of them.