forty four

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"Guys, I still think this is a bad idea.."

"Ally, be quiet."

"I have valid reasons for thinking this is a bad idea!"

"Yes, but we don't care."

"Ow! You stepped on my foot!"

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it Als?"

"Would all of you be quiet?" Lauren whispered as she locked the front door behind them, leading the girls to her car. They silenced themselves, following quietly behind. Once they were all situated, she pulled out of the driveway and headed in the direction of Publix.

"Can we talk now?" Ally leaned forward from the middle of the back, whispering to Lauren.

Lauren rolled her eyes and didn't respond, figuring the answer was obvious. Dinah took the liberty of smacking her in the back of the head lightly. "Yes, dumbass."

"If you say anything about this being a bad idea, your referee privileges are revoked." Lauren warned.

Ally closed her mouth, leaning back and pouting. Camila giggled at her from the passenger's seat, earning a glare from the smaller girl.

They got there within the next few minutes, all piling out into the vacant parking lot. Overhead lights lit the place up, though Lauren knew it wouldn't affect anything.

"Can't the cameras see us?" Ally went on as they made their way to the store's entrance to take a few carts. "Maybe they left the lights on for a reason. They knew we were coming and they're gonna catch us. We're all going to prison! I can't, I'm too young!"

"Ally!" Lauren grabbed ahold of Ally's arms, stopping her in place. "The lights are solar-powered, so they stay on after hours. And even if they do check the tapes, they won't care. I know the guy in charge, he was high school buddies with my dad."

"Oh.." Ally calmed down, nodding her head a few times. "I'm sorry, guys."

"It's all good." Lauren stepped back, pulling a handheld red flag from inside her jacket. "Still wanna be the ref?"

Ally smiled, taking the flag in her hand and waving it around a few times. Lauren handed her a whistle as well, placing it ceremonially around her neck. Ally stared at the group for a minute before her face hardened and she blew into the whistle rather loudly.

"What're you waiting for, get your carts and let's go!"

Lauren and Camila grabbed their cart, rushing past Normani and Dinah to the starting position. Camila argued with Lauren for a good five minutes before she finally agreed to let Camila ride in the cart while she pushed. Their previous strategy was to use Lauren (who was less clumsy and also taller than Camila, which meant more weight to push the cart forward), but now Camila was arguing that the lighter the load, the faster the person on the ground could push it. Lauren gave in when Camila pouted, unable to resist.

(Camila secretly didn't want anything to happen to Lauren if there was a crash. She'd heard the story via Facetime about how her brother had been pushing too fast and couldn't keep up, the cart eventually being ripped from his grasp by gravity causing Lauren to jump out and hit her head. She'd shown Camila the scar.)

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