Ally was proud.
Ally was proud, but not for the reasons people may think she was. She was proud because she had convinced Dinah to buy a book when they had gone shopping before the tour had started. And Dinah had actually liked the book. Everybody who knows the Polynesian girl could tell you this was an amazing achievement.
“So, I was right, then,” Ally told her bandmate, “I told you if you chose the book yourself, you were going to like it.”
“I loved it, Shorty. It opened my eyes. But don’t tell the others.”
Ally laughed and slapped Dinah’s arm, “Yes, because liking a book is such a horrible thing.”
“They’ll laugh at my book choice, though. You know they will.”
Before Ally could reply, the tour bus door opened and the sound of laughter filled the small space.
“Give me that, Normani! It’s mine!” Camila yelled. She jumped on Normani’s back, trying to take a chocolate bar from her hands.
“No!” Normani yelled back, “Rock beats scissors! I won, so that means the last one is mine!”
Lauren walked inside the bus, giggling while looking at her friends, and closed the door before sitting next to Ally.
“Ok, children, stop.” Ally stood up and took the chocolate bar from Normani’s hand, “Can’t we solve this like adults and just split the chocolate bar in half?”
“Come on, Ally. This was so entertaining. Why did you stop them?” Lauren teased, “Besides, I think Camila won the rock, paper, scissor game.”
“Yes! I totally won,” said Camila “I chose paper, not scissors, it’s just that…”
“Your other fingers are too slow,” Normani finished her sentence, mocking her, “Whatever, I say we split it. And you shut up, Lauren. You know I won.”
“You’re so boring.” Lauren smiled when both, Camila and Normani, stuck out their tongues at each other. It was then that she realized Dinah was staring at her without saying anything. Strange. Lauren looked at her questioningly, “What?”
“Nothing.” The younger girl replied but didn’t look away.
“You’re creeping me out, Dinah.”
Dinah rolled her eyes.
“What were you doing, anyway?” Camila asked sitting next to Dinah, eating her half of the chocolate bar. “You left early.”
“Dinah was telling me about the book she read.” Ally replied calmly.
“Ally!” Dinah sighed, annoyed. Of course, she told the whole band about the book.
Camila, Lauren and Normani looked at each other and started laughing. Ally just smiled innocently.
“Dinah read a book?” Lauren joked, “Was it a children’s book with a lot of pictures?”
“Shut up, Ralph,” Dinah knew Lauren hated that nickname, so she used it, “FYI, it was a really interesting book. More interesting than the books you always tell me to read.”
“How could you know that? You’ve never read the books I’ve suggested”
“I bet you’d like this one, Ralph.” Dinah smiled. A plan was taking form in her mind.
“A bet! Yes!” Normani clapped. “I say Lauren has to read Dinah’s book in a week!”
“Please, guys, that’s silly.” Camila said suddenly, “How is that a bet? Lauren loves to read.”
“Okay, then, let me think of something,” Dinah tapped her lips, thinking about way to win this bet. She looked at her bandmates. Ally was showing the book to Normani, who seemed to understand Dinah’s intentions and laughed silently. Next to Ally, Lauren seemed focused on the space in front of her. Except that, the space in front of her wasn’t empty. Camila was there, eating her chocolate and talking nonstop about how there was no way Lauren was going to lose that bet. “Silence, Chancho! I’m trying to think,” Camila was still talking and Dinah was still looking at them when she felt someone poking her hand. “What, Mani?”
“I have an idea that will make you win the bet.” Normani winked at her and Dinah nodded, knowing her friend’s idea would be as evil as she wanted it to be, “Ok, Lauren,” the girl finally stopped looking at Camila and focused her attention on Normani, “You’re going to read Dinah’s book in a week. Starting tomorrow.”
“Okay, I can do that.” Lauren said confidently.
“But, wait! That’s not all.” Normani interrupted her friend, “Camila is part of this bet, too.”
“Me? Why me?” Camila pouted.
“Because you chose scissors and lost and still took half of my chocolate bar,” Normani felt victorious already when Camila didn’t say anything, waiting to know her part of the bet, “Camila, you can’t speak for the week that Lauren will be reading the book.”
“What?!”
“Yes, you can only talk if someone asks something to you directly, except of course when we have a show. But apart from that, you stay silent.”
Dinah was enjoying this. Camila could barely stand a few minutes without talking or singing. She was totally going to win this.
“So, are you guys in or not? Normani asked.
“Wait!” Dinah raised her hand, looking between Camila’s defeated face to Lauren’s confused one, “One more thing. Camila you can’t speak to Lauren. At all. Not even if she is asking you something.”
“That’s not fair, you guys!” Camila whined and covered her face with her hands.
“That’s the bet. Do you accept?” Asked Normani, high-fiving Dinah from across the table.
Lauren looked at Camila and touched her arm. Camila moved her hand a little so one eye was uncovered to look at her friend. She saw Lauren’s questioning eyes, asking her if she was okay with the bet. Camila sighed. She couldn’t say no or Dinah would never let her forget it. So she groaned and nodded.
“We’re in,” said Lauren, smiling. She took one of Camila’s hands and squeezed it. She was not sure if Camila was going to be able to stay silent for a whole week, but she was going to help her. And Camila understood, because she squeezed Lauren’s hand back.
“But guys,” Ally, who had been watching the whole situation in silence, intervened, “What does the winner get?”
“Honor” joked Dinah but when all of her bandmates looked at her in silence, she added, “And the winners get to choose our free time group activities for a whole month”.
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Later that night, Lauren was watching a movie in her bunk when someone opened the curtain.
“Hey, Camz,” she said pausing the movie and looking at the younger girl.
Camila didn’t reply, she just stood there, looking down at her hands. Lauren got the message and scooted over, lying on her side. Camila didn’t waste any time getting into the bunk next to the green eyed girl and closing the curtains again.
“What’s wrong, Camz?”
Camila rubbed her eyes, “This week is going to be the worst thing ever, right?”
Lauren smiled at her friend’s adorable frustration, “You didn’t have to say yes, Camz. It's just a stupid bet.”
“Yeah, but we know Dinah would have reminded us of it for all eternity”.
“Don’t be dramatic,” Lauren laughed and removed Camila’s hands from her face, “You’ve got the easy part, though. You literally don’t have to do anything, while I have to read Dinah’s book. And god knows what book she has chosen. Maybe I’ll have to read Beyoncé’s biography.”
Lauren made an annoyed face and Camila started giggling. “Mission accomplished,” Lauren thought.
“Ralph?” At that exact moment, Dinah popped her head through the bunk’s curtain, “Oh, Ralph and CheeChee. Sharing your last conversation before the bet starts? How cute. I’m only here to give Lauren the book she has to read.” She handed Lauren a blue book, winked at the girls and left.
Lauren played with the book in her hands. It wasn’t a very thick book and she knew it wouldn’t be hard to finish it in seven days. She looked at the title. ‘Understanding Body Language’. Lauren didn’t know why on earth Dinah had chosen that book from the many options she probably had in a library full of more interesting stuff. She put the book aside and turned to Camila who was looking at her waiting for her reaction.
“Boring but hey, at least it’s not Beyoncé,” Lauren made herself confortable in the small space since Camila didn’t seem to have intentions of going to her own bunk, “Want to watch the movie with me?”
“Dinah was right, Laur. This is our last conversation.” Camila looked frustrated and the only thing Lauren could do was to lie on her back and spread her arms. Camila was a physical person and she knew cuddling would make her feel better.
The younger girl moved and hugged Lauren, burying her face on her bandmate’s neck.
“It’s not that bad, Camz. Just because you can’t speak, it doesn’t mean we can’t have conversations,” The older girl stroked Camila’s hair gently, “Don’t worry about that.”
“Okay,” Camila sounded relieved, “but can we just talk tonight instead of watching the movie?”
“Sure.”
They talked about random topics until Camila fell asleep. Lauren smiled at the younger girl and reached for the book Dinah had given her. Why had Dinah chosen this book? Lauren was a little confused but she knew Camila was the one doing the real sacrifice because most of the time she was either talking to someone or singing.
It wasn’t going to be easy for her but Lauren would make sure Camila had someone to have silent conversations with. She would keep her happy no matter what.
That’s what friends are for.
Right?
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A/N: So, what do you think so far? ;) I'll try to post next chapter tomorrow!