Camila woke up to her phone buzzing.
She was lying asleep in her bunk. She checked the time and saw it was 1 AM. She squinted her eyes as she unlocked her phone to check the notification. It was a text.
Lauren: Are you still awake Camz?
Before Camila could comprehend, another text came in.
Lauren: Please tell me you are.
Camila typed her response quickly.
Camila: I am now. What's up, Lauren?
Lauren: I can't sleep. Do you want to come with me outside the bus?
Camila pondered. They could get busted by their team, their security. On the other hand, Camila was so tempted because she loved Lauren's company. She typed a quick response that she'll be there in a few minutes and quietly crawled out of her bunk.
She saw Lauren's bunk across hers, empty.
She put on her flip flops and quietly opened the bus door and was met with the cool midnight breeze. She turned and saw Lauren leaning on the bus, her phone in hand. She had her printed pajamas on and her gray jacket over.
Lauren turned when she heard the door close. Her face lit up immediately.
"You troublemaker, Jauregui. What are you doing here?" Camila teased.
"I couldn't sleep. I have a lot of thoughts at night, and they all come in my brain and they keep me awake." Lauren explained in that low voice of hers.
Camila was surprised. She would experience those too, but she never really opens up about it with anyone. "I know how that feels. So what were you thinking about?"
Lauren pursed her lips. Camila thought she looked cute doing it. "Many things..."
"Care to elaborate and share them?" Camila offered.
Lauren busied herself with running her hand over her hair, something Lauren did that Camila loved. "Well I'm thinking about my friends back in Miami. And it's just crazy don't you think that we lived 20 minutes away from each other and we never met before, that is until The X-Factor?"
Camila tilted her head in thought. It was crazy, it was almost as if fate brought them together. "Now that you've mentioned it, yeah it is pretty crazy."
"We have so much in common, I think we could have been friends either way if this whole ride never happened. Like we could see each other at the local park or at the mall, and we'll be friends right away."
"Yeah, we'd be good friends, like how we are now." Camila said, her mind suddenly wandering.
"Do you ever have that one moment in your life and you're like: this is it, this is what living feels like?" Lauren turned to her and for a second Camila felt entranced by her eyes. She shook it off.
"Yeah, whenever we perform." Camila started, "The feeling of people screaming your name, singing along the words you sing yourself, just showing up one night of their lives to watch you. It's surreal most of the time to me. Growing up being a fan of a lot of artists, I know it's always a special moment. For you to be that for someone is still mind blowing to me."
Lauren nodded, kicking a few pebbles at her feet. "For me it's about moments like these," Camila quickly turned to the girl beside her. "Forgetting everything else existed for one minute, and just talking deep, talking about anything in the dead of night. It's so pure, it's so raw. I live for these moments."
They talked for some more about life, their feelings, their sentiments. Lauren checked her phone and realized it was almost 3 AM. They were headed back to the bus when Lauren held Camila's arm, stopping her.
