Hero (Camren)

Chapter 3

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"Oh man, I haven't done that in years," Maia breathed out as they entered the air conditioned home. "How far did we go?"

"Seven miles I think" Lauren came in after her, wiping her sweat off with the towel Ally threw at her. "Thanks."

"I can't believe you guys woke up early to run seven miles. You're out of your minds." Ally playfully rolled her eyes as they walked to the kitchen where Normani and Dinah was cooking.

"42:21, when you got to the driveway." Dinah held up the stop watch. "Come on Jauregui, you're losing your game."

Lauren chuckled, shaking her head. She was known for her speed and endurance for running back at the base camp, and it's what helped her constantly save lives.

"Well maybe if Maia didn't stop to stare at the ducks at the pond, we could've made it here at least five minutes earlier" The green eyed girl joked, earning a piece of corn to be thrown at her by the other brunette.

"How long until breakfast is ready?" Maia hopped off the counter, "I'm gonna shower."

"About twenty minutes, we just started." Normani answered while Dinah kissed her cheek sweetly.

"You should shower too, Sergeant." Maia smirked up at the girl, "Get all the sweat off of you."

Lauren stood back stunned, but realized that Maia was only half-kidding. Instead of asking her to join their shower time together, she meant separately in different rooms.

"Your cousin is seriously the smoothest flirt I know," Normani pointed her spatula towards the girl who left the room. "And Lauren, you're the most oblivious person I know."

"Maybe I'm not as oblivious as everyone thinks," Lauren shrugged as she lifted an eyebrow, "Maybe I'm outsmarting the game." She winked before taking a piece of toast and leaving the room to shower as well.

Ally, Normani, and Dinah all stayed quiet, trying to comprehend what the Sergeant was getting at.

"That slick son of a bitch."

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After breakfast with the entire group of young adults, everyone got ready to explore the old bayou. They've always kept the place to themselves, claiming that it shouldn't be shared with anyone else but them.

"How'd you guys even find this place?" Austin followed behind the line of friends, who were carrying canoe paddles.

"Troy and I found it when we were seven, then again back in high school. We brought everyone here and at the time, Dinah's parents owned the old sporting goods shop." Maia answered her boyfriend. "So we used to canoe here almost every Tuesday after school."

"Why Tuesday?" Lauren asked.

"It was the day of the week that we all had free." Camila spoke up next. "Ally, Mani, and Ari had cheer, Dinah and Maia had dance, Troy had lacrosse and Louis had soccer. Tuesdays were the only days we didn't have practice."

The group hiked and arrived at the end of the bayou, where a tarp covered the canoes. They unraveled it and took each one to put in the water, but only counted there to be seven.

"That means three of us have to pair up." Troy suggested, "I can take Ally in mine."

"I'll squeeze Dinah with me." Normani smiled up at her fiance, "Austin you can take Dinah's old one."

"And I can take Lauren in mine," Camila shrugged but smiled when they met eyes.

"So that settles it, everyone else gets their own." Ally clapped her hands as they all entered the canoes and started on their way down the bayou.