Camp Hansen

Chapter 7

A lone figure sat on a rock near the creek and stared thoughtfully into the water. The first evening by the fire had been fun as they had worked on a remix of 'Me & My Girls'  and their Barbie anthem 'Anything Is Possible'.  Even Lauren had started to slowly warm up and participated, although it was clear that the lack of sleep had been responsible for that.

The first rays of sunshine reached the clearing in the forest and the girl who sat on the stone slowly looked up to greet them. Even though the evening had been lots of fun, the night was restless and uncomfortable, thanks to Dinah who had forgotten to bring air mattresses with them. Sleeping on the hard ground with nothing but a sleeping bag was not very pleasant.

"There you are," a voice quietly called out and the girl on the rock turned around. "Mila, you really shouldn't wander off alone while we're here. It's dangerous."

"I'm fine, Ally. If I'd seen a bear or something I would've called for help," Camila replied and looked back at the creek. Its water was crystal clear and sparkling in the rising sun, making it seem as if hundreds of diamonds were swimming on top of it. "I like the peace and quiet here. You don't get that in Miami or Los Angeles."

"Very true," Ally acknowledged and carefully climbed up to her. "Did you see the stars last night? I've never seen a night sky so full of them..."

"That's because we're nowhere near the civilization." She held out her hand to the smaller girl. "Need some help?"

A relieved smile appeared on Ally's lips as she nodded gratefully and took it. With Camila's help, Ally was soon sitting next to her on the rock. "Thank you. Wow, it's beautiful up here..."

Camila rested her chin on top of her knees and let her eyes wander over the mountains and trees in the distance. "It is, isn't it? Even if this doesn't work out, I'm glad Dinah took us here. It's magical."

"You can't think like that," Ally quietly reprimanded. "We're all here because we want this group to work. Sure, there's been a bit of a rift between us at the moment, but that's mainly because of misunderstandings and unspoken feelings than anything else. Remember what I used to say, back when it all started?"

Nodding slightly, Camila glanced at her. "That we need to talk about things that bother us before we go to bed so that it doesn't fester into anything big and permanent..."

"We did well in our first year," Ally reflected and gazed at the twinkling water surface, "but then fights continued to happen and our schedule got crazier, we met new people, famous  people... and we forgot..."

Sighing heavily, Ally ran her fingers through her hair, a gesture that they all had somehow adopted from Lauren after living together for so long.

"Camren shippers, Austin, Normani..." Ally shook her head. "You, Lauren and Normani are so... I'm sorry, but y'all are the most stubborn people I've ever met! If there's an argument, none of you wants to back down and admit that you're in the wrong. It's no wonder that we're here in the middle of nowhere because of you three."

"That's not –"

"– true? Be honest, Mila. Who are the ones in our group that always start an argument?"

Camila opened her mouth only to close it shortly after. Her cheeks had a slight red tint to them and she averted her eyes back to the mountains.

"Lauren, Normani and I," she muttered disheartened. "Sorry..."

"It's fine." Ally smiled warmly at her. "To be honest, it's our fault too. Usually Dinah and I go between you and stop you from saying anything dumb, but in the last couple of months we were too exhausted from your constant bickering with one another, that we neglegted our roles as mediators. We only realized that things had gone too far when you spent less and less time with the rest of us and isolated yourself. And then you released your duet with Shawn... I'm ashamed to say that we started to believe the rumors that our fans were spreading, we started doubting you."