publicity stunt ⊸ a lauren/you story

three

"Is everyone packed and ready to go?" Ally asked the lot of us. We all gave her a thumbs up. "Alright, get in the bus, ladies!"

We piled in as some men stuffed our belongings into the storage of the bus. The bus itself was actually very open (I say that now, but in a few days I'm sure there'll be junk all over the floors). "Wow, this is way cooler in person," I said in awe. "It's just like the one in the 5H Takeovers, just nicer."

"I mean, duh. Of course," Camila replied, poking my side as she walked past and placed her small bag on the couch. "But if you've watched the Takeovers, then you know where everything is, so there's no reason to give you a tour."

"I call this bunk!" Lauren shouted from the back. "My stuff's already in it, so if anyone goes through it, I'll know!"

"Got it," we said in unison, knowing very well what could happen if we laid a finger on her tiger plushie.

"So, Y/N," Ally spoke, grabbing my undivided attention. "You can go unpack some of your belongings—electronics and blankets and such—in any bunk of your choice. Normally we'd let the guest pick the first bunk, but I guess Lauren beat you to it," she chuckled, trying to lighten the mood after seeing the slight frown I had on my face.

"Alright, thanks, Al," I smiled gratefully, taking my own panda plushie and setting on the pillow along with my blanket from home. I laid my laptop near the foot of the bed and plugged it in next to my phone. "Yo! Someone hook me up with the WiFi!" I shouted.

"Do it yourself," Lauren scoffed, bumping shoulders with me when she walked back to the front.

"Do it yourself," I mocked, earning a slap in the face with her black hair and a harsh glare. We were giving each other dirty looks for what felt like a good hour before Camila interrupted and stood between us.

"Guys, let's not start this day off with angry tension. I mean, come on! It's tour! Finna be lit!" she yelled, jumping up and down with the rock n' roll sign waving in the air.

I laughed then grabbed her hands and placed them by her waist, saying, "Don't ever say 'finna be lit' ever again."

She pouted and looked up at me with the puppy dog eyes. "B-but why?"

"Becau—"

"Ahem," Dinah cut in dramatically, pushing us back. "Because that's my thing... Finna be lit!"

Camila and I laughed and waved the younger girl off, waiting for everyone else to finish unpacking their things. Once everyone had settled, we gathered in the back of the bus and sat in a comfortable silence as we all minded our own business and scrolled through our phones. Half an hour later and we were still in the same spot, but boredom was taking over.

The tour begins in Manchester, so we have quite the lengthy drive until we reach our destination. Even though we'd just gotten on the road, I was out of things to do.

"Guys," I said, breaking the silence and causing everyone to look up. "I'm bored."

Four out of the five of them gave me an an unamused look, but nodded understandingly. "What do you want to do? We don't get to the first venue until around 2:00 tomorrow afternoon," Ally informed, placing her phone down on the table.

"Well it's not late enough to go to bed yet, so how about we play truth or dare? I've always wondered what'd it'd be like to play with you guys," I declared, moving to the floor along with Ally, Dinah, Camila, and Normani. "Lauren, you wanna play?"

She shook her head, her eyes glued to her phone screen.

"Okay, your loss," I shrugged, turning back to the other girls. "I'll ask first. Normani, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

I smirked, looking to Dinah who had her mischievous smile already plastered on her face. Of course, Ally was keeping a close eye on her.

"Alright. Go get some nail polish and paint each toenail and fingernail with a different color. You have to keep it on for a week." Normani laughed in my face, claiming how lame my dare was before she ran to the front where her stuff was.

Camila then looked at me and said, "Okay, Y/N, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Dinah and Ally boo-ed and Normani's faint shout of profanities could be heard in the background when she messed up a nail. Once her shouting went down to a minimum, Camila continued on with her truth.

"First crush and current crush," the small Cuban chirped, thinking she was smooth about asking me who I currently had my eyes on.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "Easy—but first, I'm bisexual, if you didn't know—" they nodded with approving smiles, "—and my first crush was a girl named Khloe and still is, along with five other lovely ladies that form an amazing band called Fifth Harmony." Suddenly, everyone's gazes got super intense and I felt slightly uneasy. "What...?"

"This Khloe chick, who is she?!" Normani inquired, as she busted into the room and sat down, beginning to blow on her freshly painted nails. "Do you guys talk?"

"Are you friends?!"

"How do you know her?!"

"What's she like?!"

I stopped them there. "Don't you guys wanna know about Fifth Harmony? They're pretty amazing too, you know."

The four said no, and continued to ask me about my long-standing crush—her interests, how we met, etc. I told them, obviously, but now I know they'll keep teasing me about it until something happens between us.

As the questions kept coming in, my phone binged, and before I grabbed it, Camila took it and raced to the front, Dinah following closely behind. "It's Kyleigh!" I heard Camila shout. "I think!"

A chorus of hoots and hollers filled the bus, making me shake my head in disbelief. "Well, what'd she say?" I queried. I snatched my phone back and read the message my best friend had sent.

Kylo Ren 😈

yo, homie. wassup?

The two girls raised an eyebrow at me to which I just shrugged and continued reading.

jk. I don't text like that

hey girlie! how's the job been?

pretty good! the girls are super sweet (they're better friends than you, and I've known you for 9 years😂)

woah woah woah, I'm the bestest person you could ever get. back off me

your contact name in my phone is Kylo Ren for a reason. I don't think it could get much worse than that

oh it could 😂 trust me

"Why Kylo Ren?" Ally asked as she peered over my shoulder to get a better look.

"Because she's mean like Kylo Ren," I pouted while we continued to text back and forth. "She reminds me of someone else I know," I trailed off, Lauren coming to my mind as I did so, "but I won't name names."

Lauren walked to the front and flicked my temple, whispering, "At me next time, babe." She walked off with a pissed posture, but a teasing smirk on her face.

I was left both confused and slightly annoyed at the green-eyed girl's strange actions towards me. You either like me, or you don't, I thought, glaring in her direction as she disappeared into her bunk. Pick one.

•••

A/N: Khloe may or may not be lowkey based off of a real person (not)

:)

thanks for reading xx

~yours truly