The Fall (Camren)

Mantra

The sun streaming in through the window woke her. Having accidentally left the blinds open in her hotel room the Los Angeles sunshine relentless in its intensity spread brightly across the hotel bed. Lauren Jauregui sighed groggily, screwing her eyes shut against the brightness she turned away from the window and reached blindly for her cell phone. She had fifteen minutes before her alarm was due to go off at 6:30am which was way too fucking early in her opinion.

Sitting up slightly and leaning on her elbows Lauren squinted at the window and considered walking over, shutting the blinds and getting that extra fifteen minutes of blissful rest. She decided against it, today was important, Fifth Harmony were starting their US tour. The group were once again about to be crammed like well-dressed sardines into their tour bus Playing shows in all different states radio shows early morning TV. She should be excited. She was excited!

Except for that one major problem….

Her brain unhelpfully supplied, she ignored the thought and instead mentally repeated the mantra she had implemented several weeks ago.

There is no problem, no issue, nothing is wrong.

Lauren firmly believed that if you willed something strong enough it would happen, she’d proved the theory accurate within her current life, and conversely if you ignored something hard enough it would go away. Perhaps that ideology was naïve but there was no alternative. Ignorance had to be bliss.

Swinging her legs out of the queen size hotel bed she got up and prepared herself to pack the rest of her belongings for the three month road trip they were about to embark on.  She smiled at the prospect; they were finally going to be performing again. It seemed like forever ago that they last stood on a stage in front of their fans and lived the dream she had since what felt like birth. The excitement bubbled within her and her earlier tiredness seemed to dissipate momentarily.

Flipping open her suitcase, Lauren pulled out some ripped skinny jeans and a flannel shirt that was slightly too big for her, to change into. She then proceeded to literally throw all her belongings into her suitcase without preamble. She was only going to have to unpack again on the tour bus in thirty minutes.  The thought brought back her earlier lethargy. All the girls had reunited three weeks earlier for a boot camp style rehearsal period for their shows. This involved some intense dance rehearsals and early morning workouts that Lauren fucking dreaded. She didn’t think that the three day break before the tour was enough, her body ached and her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool.

Her cell phone alarm went off just as she was walking to the hotel bathroom, sliding her finger across the screen to turn off the noise she realised she had a text from Alex. Alex was their new tour manager, a twenty year old blonde who looked angelic but could turn on you faster that The Hulk. The text read, “Hurry up. Or I’ll cut you.”

“Bitches be kray.” Lauren mumbled under her breath. She replied with “On my way. Chill.” Alex had booked the hotel they were all in as a starting point in the hopes that they would set off on time for once. Lauren was dubious.

Just as the brunette was about to grab her towel for a shower a loud laugh from the room next to hers floated through the paper-thin wall like a siren song. The sound was like a punch in the chest that made her heart skip beautifully. She smiled involuntarily at the familiar voice. Shit.

There’s no problem, no issue. Nothing is wrong.

Forcing the smile off her face and ignoring the butterflies in her stomach she marched into the bathroom, pressed play on her iTunes and turned the volume to full. Repeating her mantra over and over again to the beat of Lana Del Rey.