cheap thrills :: [malik #fdc]

four. nightlife

"I'm spending so much fucking money," Lennon whines as the girls change their clothes and ready for their night tour through La Paz. "Like, honestly everything I have is going to food and alcohol and clothes--"

"Well," Mari begins, "only five more cities..."

"And we haven't even been to Rio," she whines. "My Brazilian model boyfriend is going to have to love me for me 'cause I'll be broke af."

Mari laughs aloud. "Well, as long as you look good...I'm the one who needs to be beach ready in Brazil," she peers down at the bathing suits in her suitcase.

"Ha! For what?" Lennon exclaims. "I'm the only one without a man, here."

"Are you joking? I'm just as single as you are."

"Single? You're only technically single, Mari."

"You're not making sense, Lenn," Mari rolls her eyes. "So yeah, I'm gonna have to catch."

"No," Lennon laughs. "No you're not."

"Um, what?"

"Girl," Lennon smacks her teeth, "You've got Zayn."

"Zayn!?" Mari exclaims, choking on his name and her spit. She wipes her mouth, coughing. "What about him?"

Lennon is standing across the room, lip pursed.  "Dude," she says, "are you serious?"

Mari points to her face. "Does it look like I'm not serious?!"

"Okay, okay," Lennon laughs, and she crosses the room to sit on Mari's bed. "You actually look confused."

"Yeah," Mari states, "because I am."

Lennon cocks her head, pushing up her glasses. "You really don't see how he looks at you, Mari? How he goes out of his way to find you, to sit next to you?"

"I didn't...I don't..." She shakes her head. "We're friends, Lennon."

"Okay," she laughs. "Right, Mari."

Now, Mari was thinking.

Like, really thinking.

Did Zayn maybe...?

Nah.

Mari could barely focus on the night tour. She could barely focus on Denise and Marisol as they led their group through the darkened city, because she was thinking all about Zayn.

He was so attractive. Like, painfully so. And he was sweet. And funny. And his accent and his tattooed body and his little smile and--

"Marjani?"

She looks up. "Huh?"

"You coming?" Zayn asks, as the group begins to walk on through the city. She's staring off into the city, her phone raised for a picture.

"Yeah," she hops from the bench she's standing on. "I'm coming."

"Y'alright?" He asks slinging his arm around her shoulder and leading her after the group. "You've been kind of out of it today."

"Yeah..." She chuckles nervously, tucked beneath Zayn's arm. "I'm fine."

He grins, teeth biting at his bottom lip. "You sure, babe?"

Babe? Since when did he start calling her babe?

"I promise," she grins. "I'm fine."