Camp Hansen

Chapter 3

"That's it?" Normani asked in disbelief and stared at the place in front of them. "This is where we're going to stay for the next few days? But... here's nothing!"

"No, Mani – look!" Dinah pointed to the right. "See? Right there is a creek for the water we're going to need –"

"I am not  drinking that!" She scrunched up her nose. "It's dirty!"

"That's why we have these special water bottles, they can filter –"

"We don't have a toilet," Ally muttered unimpressed and glanced over her shoulder where Lauren was digging through their backpacks. "I strongly dislike this trip..."

Normani narrowed her eyes. "Oh hell naw! Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen! You better not be telling me that I have to go behind those bushes to –"

"Guys, can someone help me with the tent?" Lauren called out. "And we need firewood – could someone go and get some?"

"You're expecting us to go back there  and get eaten by cougars?" Ally asked in disbelief.

"We're getting eaten if we don't make some fire," Lauren shot back before sighing deeply. "You can help me with setting up the tent and the others pick up some branches and sticks... alright, guys?"

"Yeah, sure," Camila said sarcastically. "It's not like Normani wants to feed me to some bears..."

"I'm not that cruel – the bears have done nothing wrong... yet."

"We don't even know if there are bears," Dinah said exasperated. "Come on, guys, this is fun!  Think about why we're here in the first place. We need to start acting like a team again and if you two won't stop acting like little children, you can go back to the car on your own and you can find out if there really are some wild animals who would like a piece of your sorry asses!"

Normani and Camila stopped in their tracks and stared wide-eyed at the youngest group member.

"Technically it's your fault that we don't know if there are any dangerous animals," Lauren mumbled and gave Ally a few sticks from the tent. "Here, put those... uh, I think they belong to... that thing. Shit, it's been some time since I put up a tent..."

"Details, details." Dinah waved off and started to march into the woods. "Now who's coming with me? Or are you too scared?"

"I'm not scared," Normani said and gave Camila a superior look. "I'm also not the one who's going to pee themselves as soon as it gets dark..."

Camila shot her a glare. "Right, and what was that from before? 'OH MY GOD! THERE'S A COUGAR, WE'RE GONNA DIE!'  You're right. Didn't sound scared at all."

"I swear, guys, there really was  a cougar! I could see its yellow eyes staring right back at me!"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Your jacket got caught by a branch – not a cougar. How many times do I have to say this?"

"Alright, don't believe me. But know this: y'all are going to be haunted by my death." Normani straightened her shoulders and walked huffing towards the trees, here and there picking up a few sticks.

"That girl is so dramatic... but keep an eye on her, got it, Dinah? On both of them actually," Lauren added thoughtfully and eyed Camila as she tripped for the now probably thirtieth time. "Gravity is really no friend of hers."

Dinah snorted. "Sure thing. You got the tent covered then?"

"Yeah," Lauren drawled and looked towards Ally who had now somehow managed to get lost underneath the fabric of the tent. "I hope so? You don't happen to have a manual or something?"

"Nah, just... follow your instincts. You're smart, you two will figure it out," Dinah answered smiling before she skipped after Normani and Camila.

"Right," Lauren breathed and scratched her head. "Millions of people know how to do that, it can't be that complicated..."

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"Could you finally stop that?" Camila hissed as another cone hit her head. "You can throw, big fucking  deal!"

"I'm not doing anything," Normani said innocently and picked up another cone. "I'm just collecting firewood... you should do that too if you don't want to freeze to death. I doubt those sleeping bags are all that warm."

"We're in California, how cold could it possibly be?" Camila muttered, before she cursed as another cone hit her. "STOP THAT!"

"Always complaining and whining..."

"You're throwing pine cones  at me! I have every right to complain about that!"

"You were a lot more fun before your ego trip, you know that?"

"I don't have an –"

"Children, stop arguing," Dinah called from a few feet away. "And Mani, stop throwing cones, I saw that. Pick up some more wood so we can finally go back. I don't want to get lost..."

"Or eaten," Normani whispered to Camila. "Who do you think gets eaten first? I can run pretty fast and for a long time, so can Dinah. You know, I think Fourth Harmony is happening afterall."

Camila gritted her teeth. "Would you finally stop pestering me?! I did nothing wrong!  I wrote one  song with Shawn on accident,  I got the okay from our management and label to release it, so what? You have your model stuff, let me have this little thing for myself!"

"My photoshoots have nothing to do with our music  career," Normani hissed and closed the space between them. "You went solo. You released music on your own. Remember when we wanted to experience those mile stones together? As a group? Like performing at award shows, famous late-night talk shows, concerts? How times have changed..."

"I  wasn't the one to book those gigs, that was Shawn's management and my contract states that I have to be available for promotional purposes," Camila said aggravated. "You know that Fifth Harmony isn't exactly my kind of music, but did you hear me complain about that? No, because I know that the majority of the group likes the sound –"

"Oh don't you dare to make it seem as if you sacrificed something! You get the most solos of anyone in the group. That whole stupid single of ours was basically your  song! Lauren didn't even have a freaking solo in it and was more of a background dancer whenever we had to perform it for an entire year. You think you had it bad because it wasn't your taste?  Think again, you pompous little diva!"

"I have no control over the solo distribution! We all try out for solos and –"

"And you didn't even think about declining them! They hand it to you, you could have just said that you don't want  them, but nooo." Normani rolled her eyes when she noticed that Camila slowly teared up. "And please stop with that innocent act, no one believes that crap. You're an egoistic, fake –"

"You know that I have problems speaking up against our producers," Camila interrupted her with a shaky voice. "You used to have troubles with that too... You know that Lauren used to be the one who stood up for us and then..."

"And then they let her sing less and less," Dinah quietly said right behind them. Camila tore her gaze away from Normani before she quickly wiped her eyes. "Guys, screaming at each other won't solve anything. Do you have enough wood? Let's head back to the others and finally start talking – civilized. No shouting, no snarky comments, no insults. Only the truth. Alright?"

"I don't know how that could possibly help," Normani answered and shifted the sticks in her arms. "Dinah, I love you, girl, you know that. But I don't think this is going to work out."

"You didn't even try," Dinah said seriously and furrowed her brow. "How can you say that if you haven't tried? Two weeks. That's all I'm asking. You'll see, it's going to work. I know it."

Camila sniffled quietly and took some careful steps into the direction they had come from. Dinah and Normani looked at her retreating back, one with a look of concern, the other with annoyance.

"Alright, two weeks. Not longer," Normani mumbled and Dinah smiled.

Now the fun could begin.