Broken In Paradise (Perfect Promise Trilogy)

Chapter 6: Normani

"For heaven's sake Normani, Lauren is in love with Camila, not you!" Ally screamed at me. "You're a bitch," I snapped. "Oh really, not the one who's trying to break a couple apart?" she demanded. "That's not what I'm trying to do!" I yelled. "Then what are you trying to do?" Ally questioned. "I don't know, I'm just mad!" I replied.

"Dawgs, would you shut up! I'm trying to sleep!" Dinah shouted from her bunk. "Why don't you shut up!" I snapped at her, too. "Oh no, you ain't starting a fight with D-Mac, are you?" Dinah yelled. "Maybe I am!" I called back at her. "We'll do it later, I need to sleep!" she informed me loudly.

"Normani, you need to calm down," Ally tried again softly. "No!" I shouted, yet she wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace. In consequence, I finally broke into harsh sobs. I sobbed for hours; until eventually I ran out of tears, at which case I tried to steady my breathing. Ally held me for the entire time, being the amazing friend that she was.

"It's going to be okay, I promise," Ally cooed once I was finally calm enough to listen to her. "Thank you," I whispered. "Anytime," she gave me a friendly smile, "Would you like me to stay with you?" I nodded in reply, causing Ally to cuddle up with me in my little bunk for a while.

My thoughts were going completely wild during this time. I was so envious of the relationship that Lauren and Camila had: it wasn't fair. I wanted to be in that relationship. I wanted to be the reason Lauren smiled. I would never cause her any pain, only bring her joy. I would never cut myself because of her, I would never ignore her; all of the things that happened between the two of them would never have happened if it was Lauren and I in the relationship rather than Lauren and Camila.

"Would you like to join the others?" Ally asked after a little while had passed. I shook my head. "Come on, it'll be okay," she assured me. "I don't want to face everyone," I told her softly. "Alright," she understood and began to get out of the bunk, yet I grabbed wrist. "Please stay with me," I barely made out due to the tears building up in my eyes. "Of course," she gave me a warm smile and held me tighter than before.

The next thing I knew, I was alone in the bed, and the bus had stopped moving, making me realize that I must have fallen asleep. I sat up slowly and wiped my eyes since they still felt damp. I felt utterly alone on the bus, making me realize that I probably actually was alone.

Cautiously, I got out of my bunk and headed to the main area of the bus, to reveal that I was in fact correct. No one was on the bus. I peeked out the window to see that we were parked at a McDonald's. I figured that everyone would be inside, so with a shaky sigh I decided to join them.

"Hey ManiBear," Ally smiled at me once she saw me walk in. I gave her a half smile in reply. "Why don't you go in line and get some food?" Meaghan suggested. "Okay," I nodded and headed in line to get something to eat, then came back with a ranch wrap, diet coke, and fries. I sat down next to Ally and at the end of the few tables that were put together.

Once I had come back to the table, all conversations had seemed to cease. I decided to just look down at my food and to eat it without a sound. However, I could still feel everyone's eyes on me as each second dreadfully ticked by. Despite this, I tried my best not to let their piercing glares effect me.

"Lo, come on, you have to eat something," I heard Camila mumble in front of me. "Yeah well so do you," Lauren snapped back at her. Without even glancing up I could tell Camila was utterly bewildered. "Look I'm just going to take my food onto the bus guys," Lauren got up from the table. I finally glanced up to see Camila following her out like a lost puppy.

"Really Normani?" Dinah looked at me in disgust. "Come on! I didn't do anything! I just sat down!" I attempted to defend myself without getting too angry. "Dinah, her feelings aren't her fault," Ally thankfully came to my defense. "I know that, but she is the reason the band's going to fall apart. Just watch," Dinah got up, "Meg, Tay, you coming?" Meaghan and Taylor joined Dinah in a march out of the restaurant, leaving Ally and I alone.

"Ally I'm sorry," I burst into tears against her shoulder, "I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just want to be with Lauren, is that so wrong? I know I'm not always the best person, but I'd never want to break us apart. I love y'all so much I can't live without you girls. I'm so sorry." "Sh, Normani, it's okay, it's going to be okay, I promise. We're all going to get through this okay?" Ally tried to comfort me.

Feet suddenly appeared in my peripheral vision. I looked up from Ally's shoulder to see Camila standing in front of us. "Hey, um, I know this is a bad time, but the bus driver wants us all back on the bus," she told us nervously. "Thanks Mila, we'll be there in a minute," Ally said. With that, Camila left the two of us alone once more.

"Will you be okay?" Ally looked into my teary eyes. "Probably not," I told my friend the truth. "I promise I'll stand by you okay?" Ally gave me a reassuring smile. "Thanks," I sniffled and have her a smile back. Ally wrapped up my food for me and began to carry it to the bus with me following closely behind, hoping and praying for the best.

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