westward grove

eleven

8:40 pm

I'd been walking for a few hours. For whatever reason, I never ended up at the club, so I didn't have my bike. Somehow I made my way to the beach, which wasn't far from my previous destination. I ignored the scenery in front of me, my mind was far too occupied to admire any sort of beauty. Plopping down in the sand, sleeping on the beach became more and more alluring. I relaxed for the first time all night, and slowly, began to drift off into unconsciousness.

10:30 pm

As it turns out, the beach is a pretty shitty place to be at night. After a few strange encounters with meth heads and homeless people, I ended up hitting the road again. This time, I was intent on getting to the club and either getting my bike, or sleeping on the roof.

It only took a few minutes to reach my destination, and I decided to go inside. Hopefully one of my friends was working, and I could inquire about crashing on their couch. My hopes weren't high, though, seeing as everyone had time off for Zayn and Niall's wedding.

I made my way to the entrance, but was stopped by a security guard, Rob. "Sorry, Camila. I can't let you in." He explained.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What? Why?"

Rob shrugged. "Ask the boss."

Lauren was really getting on my nerves today. "She's here?" I asked, Rob replying simply with a nod.

I marched into the parking lot, where it was more quiet, and took out my phone. I'd turned it off to preserve battery life, and waited impatiently for it to turn back on. When it finally did, I aggressively scrolled through my contacts until I found Lauren's.

Hello?

Are you fucking kidding me, Lauren?

She laughed, which really pissed me off.

I take it you got rejected at the door. That's good, actually. I wasn't sure if Rob would do it. He likes you a lot.

Let me in the club, Lauren.

I told you I wasn't letting you sleep on the roof again.

Fine, I'll ride my bike to a hotel.

That's going to be pretty hard to do without a bike.

What did that even mean? I walked to the pole where I'd left my bicycle the night before, only to find it missing.

Lauren, I swear to God. Give me my bike back.

I'll give it back to you after you sleep at my house tonight.

Fuck you. Why the actual fucking fuck are you doing this to me right now? I should call the fucking cops on you for stealing my fucking bike. Why is it so fucking important to you that I sleep at your house tonight?

I wasn't sure whether or not Lauren replied, as something else caught my attention. An oddly familiar, red car pulled into the parking lot. My pulse began racing when I realized it was Normani's car. This was either the greatest coincidence to ever occur in human history, or she'd been following me.

Shit. Um, okay, yeah. I'll call you back, Lauren.

Wait, Ca-

I hung up my phone and threw my bag to the side. My phone began vibrating in my pocket, but ignored it.

Normani got out of her car and walked over to me calmly, stopping a few inches away. I wasn't sure whether or not she was trying to size me up, but it was working. I noted how swollen her jaw was, memories of last night flooding back.