Reflection: Adopted by Fifth Harmony

Ten Seconds to Run

After hitting some traffic on the highway, we arrived at the zoo a few minutes before Austin was supposed to. We all piled out of the black van and straightened our outfits before walking up to the ticket stand thing.

“Six adult tickets?” The lady behind the counter asks, barely looking up. I mean, honestly, we could’ve been a group of 6th graders and she wouldn’t have realized.

“Seven.” A voice says from behind us. I jump a mile out of my skin, “Hi there.” A tall kinda buff man says, smiling down at me. he must be at least 7 feet.

“Paige, this is our security guard Marcus. He accompanies us when Big Rob can’t.” Ally explains, “Marcus, this is my daughter.” the shorter girl beams proudly.

“Can you not? Cause I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” Lauren says, cracking herself up while Ally gives her a death glare. Marcus laughs to himself at Lauren’s attempt at a joke before stepping up to the counter and paying the required money for us to get in.

“Have a great time.” The lady says with no emotion.

“Oh, we will!” Camila sings over her shoulder as we walk away.

Once we’re officially inside the park, we’re surrounded by tons of people.

“How are we going to find Austin in this?” I ask, leaning over to Normani, who is the closest to me while being the farthest from Dinah.

“Relax, chica,” she whispers, touching my arm lightly, “this is just the field trip crowd. We have to make sure we stay away from them.”

I see a figure moving around behind the kids that faintly looks like a panda before Mila comes over to me, “He’s here.” she whispers, “He says head to the aquarium area first.”

I nod, put on a fake smile and grab Dinah’s arm, “Let’s go see the sharks!”

She beams at me, “You are adorable, you’re like a little kid.”

I give her my serious look, “I don’t enjoy being called adorable.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, dawg. But let’s go, too many munchkins around here.”

We head to the western part of the zoo, where the signs say Aquarium. I’ve always like aquariums, so yes, I’m kind of excited. Plus, the aquarium building is really dark and always silent for some reason, so it gives Austin the perfect opportunity to scare Dinah.

We head for the turtles first and take some pictures because the tank is ‘huge and colorful’, according to Mila, and then make our way to the sting rays, Lauren’s choice. They have a touch tank, so Normani takes a Vine of me and Lauren gushing over the stingray nibbling at her hand.

We’re finally at the sharks, the darkest part of the building when out of the corner of my eye I see a large black and white figure walk through the shadows. We’re like, the only ones down here, and Dinah is closest to where Austin walked by and I can tell she saw him. All of a sudden she tries to swap sides with me. Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she takes it out, her eyebrows creasing with the text that she’s read. I lean forward so that it’s not exactly noticeable, but yet Camz can see me. She makes a goofy face and puts a thumb up, letting me know that this is all part of the plan.

“You okay, Dinah?” Lauren asks, trying to sound concerned. Girl should have a Grammy.

Dinah nods, “Yeah..I’m good. Can we go?”

It’s Ally’s turn, “But we haven’t seen the mermaid show yet.”

Dinah stares her down, “Girl, if you wanna see some wet girls swimming around number one, I question you, and number 2, The Little Mermaid is on Netflix.”