"Who decided that the wake up call should be at eight in the morning?" Ava complained as they all sleepily made their way into the elevator. With the lobby as their destination for the continental breakfast, they'd all risen like zombies to claim it.
"I mean, I wanted free breakfast," Tori shrugged, not minding the early morning one bit.
"Ava, I told you to wait on me," Dinah, flustered and trying to catch the elevator, called from down the hallway.
"I thought you would just go back to sleep, sorry," Ava snickered and pushed the button that held the doors open. "That's what you usually do whenever you say you're going somewhere."
"Annoying," Dinah huffed when she made it inside and pushed Ava by the shoulder.
The group of four was perhaps one of the closest groups within the team, although mostly everyone thought of all members as friends. Camila didn't really have any favorites, and she hung out with them all interchangeably. The team made up most of her pool of friends, anyway. However, most wouldn't hesitate to single them out as a clique indeed.
Together, transferring their rambunctious chaos from the elevator through the lobby and over to the breakfast bar, they fixed their plates. The selection was not at all impressive, but it was free. Camila got a modest plate and reserved a table for the others. Waking up this early wasn't difficult for her. She was an early bird on most occasions. But without the desire to spark a conversation just yet, she simply sat down and ate. She usually remained introspective at this hour.
Camila enjoyed being aware of her surroundings. Perched quietly at a table near the back of the cafe, she just observed the atmosphere. Dinah, Ava, and Tori were still over there being greedy. The concierge had yet to properly wake up himself, but was checking out sleepy guests. A toddler was taking a leap of independence, waddling away from his mother that was only a few steps behind him. Camila smiled at the sight. When she looked up from him, a beautifully familiar girl was entering from the lobby. A minute, almost imperceptible smile tugged at her lips when she saw the girl she'd become mildly acquainted with last night.
Wondering if Lauren had any desire to speak to her today, Camila only gazed at her from where she sat. On this morning, Lauren had clearly just risen from bed. She was only wearing a navy blue camisole and a pair of plaid pajama pants, dragging her feet around in some Nike slides. Headphones completed her look as she entered with her phone in her grasp. She wondered what she was listening to as she watched her head moving subtly to whatever it was. When she shifted her phone from one hand to the other in order to ruffle her hair, Camila was transfixed. Before Lauren entered, she'd lathered some cream cheese onto her warm bagel. It was idly in her hand as she continued to watch her.
"There she is, actually. And to our left, we have Mila drooling over her," Dinah pointed out, obviously a continuation of a prior conversation. "Just like she was last night."
"Appreciating," Camila corrected her, not bothering to refute the way she was admittedly staring at her. Having her attention brought to the act, she finally looked away. "Not drooling."
"Drooling. You have cream cheese all over your hand, by the way," Dinah informed her and held out a napkin. Camila must've really been in a trance, if she didn't even notice the sticky substance melting and dripping from the bagel and onto her palm.
"Shit," Camila realized and graciously took the napkin from her to clean off her hand.
"That's the girl Coach was telling you to get close to?" Ava's jaw went slack as she marveled at the girl. "What the hell, she's so hot."
"...you told them?" Camila sighed, but couldn't say she was surprised. Dinah had been crowned the big mouth of the team a long time ago.
"We were all talking about it last night. I really don't think it's a bad idea," Ava shared after taking the seat next to Camila and bit off a piece of bacon. Tori sat across from Camila, still not having said much.
