Chapter 5
They decide to have Zayn pick them up one by one along the way to save time and gas. Since Camila lives closest to him, she gets picked up first, claiming the passenger seat. Tori, Lauren, and Ally are next, cramming into the middle row, while Dinah and Normani take up the back seats. Once everyone is ready, they begin the half hour drive to the fairgrounds.
The carnival had already been in town for nearly two months and was wrapping up its final week. This meant that most people had already visited, so when they arrived at the location, they found it to be fairly empty.
"This is awesome. We're going to be able to go on so many rides today," Dinah chimes in from the back seat.
"Especially the rollercoasters. They're the best," Tori comments.
"Yes girl, you know where it's at." Dinah reaches forward, fist bumping with Tori in agreement.
"Alright, children. Get your little butts out of the car. And I want you holding each other's hands; we don't want to lose anyone," Zayn jokes as they exit his vehicle.
"Okay, papi," Lauren says as she jokingly nudges him, not sure where that bout of confidence came from. The goofy smile he sends her makes her feel proud of herself for stepping out of her comfort zone. She gets momentarily distracted when Camila pushes past her to walk ahead of the group, but Lauren chalks it up to the girl being excited to ride some attractions.
As they make their way through the parking lot, Normani strikes up a conversation with Lauren about one of their shared classes. She forgets briefly that they're in a parking lot and she should watch where she's going until a strong arm wraps around her waist and tugs her backwards and the sound of a car horn blares from her right. Lauren feels her cheeks heat up in embarrassment at being stupid enough not to look both ways before walking. It's then that she realizes someone is still holding her, so she glances up and back to see Zayn smirking slightly at her.
"I don't need to actually hold your hand just to keep you safe, do I?"
The car wasn't really going that fast and would have easily been able to stop had Lauren actually walked in front of it, but she still feels some appreciation for Zayn looking out for her.
"Thanks," she mumbles sheepishly.
Even though Zayn has unwound his arm from around Lauren's waist, his hand is still placed on her lower back as they make their way through the rest of the parking lot to the admission booths where Camila is waiting for them with her arms crossed and a strange look on her face. The fact that Zayn's hand is still on her makes Lauren smile, whether he meant to leave it there or not, because she's never received this kind of attention before. She doesn't question Camila's expression, too busy enjoying the warmth of Zayn's touch.
"Come on come on let's go," Dinah whines as she tugs Tori forward, taking the first place in line for the ticket booth. Camila lines up next with Ally and Normani right behind her while Zayn and Lauren take the rear.
When it gets to their turn to buy their tickets, Zayn lays down enough money for two admission passes.
"Two tickets, please."
Lauren shakes her head, attempting to shove her money towards the cashier. "No, Zayn, please, y– you don't have to pay for me."
Zayn blocks the booth from Lauren using his body, turning to her with a warm smile on his face. "Seriously, Lauren. Let me."
She opens her mouth to argue but he speaks first. "Please?" Reaching forward, he gently pushes her hand holding the money away from himself. He arranges his features into something almost resembling a puppy dog expression and it has Lauren crumbling at the sight.
"I..." she sighs out. "Okay, if you insist..."
"Thank you," Zayn replies, looking genuinely pleased, and turns back to finish the rest of the transaction.
Lauren shoves her money back into her pocket as she waits for him, and when he turns around with her ticket in his hand, she takes it from him as she bites her lip and smiles up at him.
"You really didn't have t—"
"Nonsense, Lauren. I wanted to."
"How can I repay you?"
Zayn pretends to think for a moment as they make their way towards the entrance. "Just have fun tonight. That's all I want."
Looking down to hide her red cheeks, Lauren fiddles with the paper in her hands. "Thank you. So much," she adds on, glancing back up at him.
"Anytime, hun." The wink he adds at the end has Lauren blushing deeper and feeling giddy at what this could all mean.
"Finally. You two took forever. Let's go, let's go, I'm hungry," Dinah whines impatiently.
"I thought you wanted to go on the rides," Normani counters with a raised eyebrow.
Dinah rolls her eyes as if Normani is slow. "Well yeah, I do, but I'm also hungry. What's so hard to understand about that?"
"You're always hungry," Zayn comments as he places a hand on Lauren's lower back again.
"Okay, and?"
Lauren tunes out the conversation in favor of taking in her surroundings, studying the bright carnival lights, hearing the people shouting in excitement from the tops of rollercoasters, and noticing the scent of fried food in the air.
When she glances around their group again, Lauren notices that Camila isn't there, so she peers behind to see that the girl is trailing by herself. She nudges Zayn's ribs to get his attention.
"Is Camila okay?" she asks then gestures behind them.
Zayn peeks over his shoulder and turns back to Lauren. "I'm not sure. She seemed alright during the car ride. Maybe I should talk to her," he says as he excuses himself, leaving Lauren by herself. She doesn't want to intrude on their potentially private conversation so she speed-walks ahead to fall into step with Ally and Normani.
"You excited for the rides, Lauren?" Normani asks.
"I've, uh, always been a little scared of them, but I'll usually ride them anyways."
"Laur likes to hold my hand in a death grip when we go on rides together," Ally comments with a grin.
"Gee, thanks Ally. Exposing me like that," Lauren says back teasingly.
Ally reaches her arm out to intertwine it with Lauren's, bringing the two girls closer together. "I don't really mind. Plus, we have other people here today so you can break their bones instead and give my poor little hand a rest."
Normani widens her eyes and jokingly takes a step away from them. "Remind me not to sit next to you, Lauren."
"It's okay," Lauren giggles out, steering them to where Dinah and Tori have stopped at a vendor. "Maybe I can, um, torture Zayn."
"Yeah?" Normani questions, her raised eyebrow aimed towards Lauren this time. "Something tells me he wouldn't mind being bothered by you."
"Sh– shut up," Lauren says, her cheeks heating up.
Ally gives her a look that says what was that for, but Lauren just flattens her palm against Ally's cheek and nudges her face away.
"Don't think I haven't noticed the attention he's been given you the past week," Normani continues as Ally slaps her for pushing her, then slaps her again repeatedly at Normani's comment.
"Lauren!" Ally squeals, her hands raining down on Lauren as the girl attempts to block them. "Do you have an admirer?!"
"Ally!" Lauren barely manages to say through her laughing. "Stop!" She attempts to shield herself by raising one leg up, but just ends up failing as she giggles harder at Ally's laughing.
Taking a few moments to catch her breath, Lauren straightens her dress out before replying. "It's, it's nothing," she says between breaths. "We... we're just hanging out and we have a lot in common."
"Uh huh," Normani says with a smirk. "That's what they all say."
Noticing Ally's shit-eating grin out of the corner of her eye, Lauren shoves Ally's face away again, snickering with Normani when the girl nearly stumbles into Tori.
"You're so mean to me," Ally huffs when she finally regains her balance.
"Aw, I'm sorry, Allycat. I love you!" Lauren coos, holding her arms wide open for a hug. Ally just glares mockingly at her, backing away straight towards Dinah who has finally turned around.
"Is it hug Smallz time?!"
Since her back is towards Dinah, Ally doesn't see the girl coming, shrieking in surprise when she gets picked up from around the waist, her legs dangling in the air.
"Dinah!" Ally's squealing does nothing to stop Dinah, who just spins in circles with the girl still in her arms. Tori whips out her phone, her curls bouncing as she laughs while recording. Normani cheers Dinah on in between clutching her stomach and making faces for Tori's video. Zayn appears at Lauren's side attempting to reach out and tickle Ally who the others had discovered one lunchtime is extremely ticklish.
As Lauren gazes around the group, she realizes these people are her friends. She can call all of them her friends, people willing to be around her and liking her for her. It feels really, really, good, and as she observes them laughing and even Camila cracking a smile at their antics, Lauren realizes that maybe this year doesn't have to be as bad as she expected.
~~
They're all munching on a snack of their choice, Ally and Normani splitting a funnel cake, Zayn devouring an ice cream cone, Lauren sharing her popcorn with Tori, and Camila eating her own pulled pork sandwich. Dinah being Dinah, has already finished her hot wings and chili cheese fries and is now getting to work on her candy apple while stealing some of Lauren's popcorn.
"Jesus Christ, DJ, you're going to be sick if you go on any rides," Normani accuses.
"Silly Manibear. I have an iron stomach. I ain't worried," Dinah replies as she pats her tummy for emphasis.
Tori rolls her eyes, stuffing more popcorn into her mouth. "Well, you're not sitting next to me. Just in case."
"It's okay," Dinah says as she throws an arm around Lauren's shoulders, using that as a way to snatch some more popcorn. "Lauser will keep me company, right?"
"Um, uh, no." Lauren pretends to glare at Dinah, eyebrows furrowing at the nickname as she moves her snack out of the girl's reach.
"Let me love you!" Dinah screeches as she wraps both arms around Lauren, attempting to pick her up the way she did with Ally.
Lauren starts laughing loudly, trying not to spill the popcorn as she wriggles around in Dinah's grip. "S– someone," she barely manages to get out between giggles. "H– help... help me!" she directs towards her friends who are just watching and laughing at her.
"I've got you!" Lauren hears dramatically from behind her and turns around to catch a glimpse of Zayn popping the rest of his ice cream into his mouth and swooping down towards them.
The death grip Dinah has on Lauren slackens as she begins getting tickled by Zayn, and it's just loose enough to where Lauren can slip out of her grasp with most of her popcorn still in her possession.
"Okay, okay, mercy!" Dinah yelps, finally pushing herself away from Zayn's smug grin, her face red from the laughter. "You win, you win! I'll go bother Tori instead."
"Shit. Thanks guys." Tori rolls her eyes good-naturedly but accepts Dinah's embrace when the girl attempts to hide behind her from Zayn.
"At your service, madam," Zayn jokingly says as he slides up to Lauren.
Still recovering from her laughing fit, Lauren shakes her head slightly with a grin on her face. She places a hand on his chest, feeling much more comfortable around him than she ever thought she would be.
"My hero," Lauren gasps out dramatically, blinking up at him.
Zayn wraps an arm around her waist and tugs her closer as they begin walking to keep up with the rest of the group. "Don't you think I deserve some sort of... compensation?"
The girl gazes around for a moment, biting her lip in thought. She glances down at her popcorn then holds the bag up to his face. "For the gentleman."
Pretending to look surprised, Zayn turns to face Lauren, taking one of the hands that's holding the snack and bringing it up to his lips to kiss gently. "You're too kind."
Lauren feels a blush form on her cheeks and grins with her tongue in between her teeth. They admire one another for a moment until Lauren looks down, unable to hold the eye contact any longer. She peers to her right to see their group walking away, and as she's pushing her glasses back up her nose, she catches Camila's eyes watching her, an unreadable look on her face. Glancing back at Zayn, Lauren nods her head in their friends' direction.
"Come on. We, uh, we don't want to lose them."
Zayn nods, and although his appearance is less intense than before, there's still this happy, beaming look on his face.
Lauren is just as unsure about what his expression means as she is about the funny feeling in her stomach.
~~
"Are... are we seriously all going on that?" Lauren asks nervously as she gazes up at the rollercoaster towering over them.
"Fuck yes," Tori shouts, dragging Dinah towards the line. Ally hurries after them, probably to reprimand Tori for cursing when there's children nearby. Normani follows behind as she finishes the last of the funnel cake, but Lauren hesitates for a moment at the entrance to the ride.
"If you want, Lauren," she hears from her left and looks to see Camila offering her a comforting smile. "We can ri—"
"Don't worry about it, Lauren! You can hold my hand through the ride if that makes you feel better." Zayn's voice catches Lauren's attention as she turns to her right. "Come on," he says with a grin as he grasps her hand, tugging her into the line.
Lauren looks back to see Camila staring at the ground, wondering what the girl was going to say. Dinah reaches past the group as Camila approaches them and pulls the girl into the front row line before Lauren can ask.
"You nervous?" Zayn asks, squeezing her hand in his.
"A little. I love rollercoasters but at the same time I'm terrified of them. Does that make me a masochist?" Lauren comments, smiling to herself when she makes Zayn laugh.
"I prefer the term 'thrill seeker'."
Nodding slightly in agreement, Lauren looks up at him. "I like that."
"I like you," Zayn mumbles, widening his eyes a second later when he realizes what he said.
"Uh, I mean, I like having you around. You know, since we've never hung out before this year." He quickly rushes out, staring into Lauren's similarly wide eyes.
Licking her lips nervously, Lauren nudges her glasses up. "Um..."
Zayn shakes his head at himself, looking away before peering back at Lauren. "I... I didn't mean it like that. I don't want to scare you away. What I meant was... I definitely have a crush on you, and I can tell it wouldn't be hard to like you like that. I think you're awesome, and so fun to be around. But you're also so gorgeous, I mean... wow, you know?"
Lauren feels her cheeks heat up, something she can't seem to prevent. She shyly looks away, not used to this positive attention from a boy (especially not used to someone having a crush on her).
She doesn't know how to handle herself.
"Seriously, Lauren," Zayn says as he gently grips her chin and turns her view back to him. "Beautiful."
"I... thank you," Lauren murmurs quietly, biting her lip at his tender look. She feels a flicker of excitement in her stomach from his admission, because no one has ever had a crush on her before.
Before Zayn can say anything else, Ally nudges them because the gates have just opened for their turn. Normani takes the far end of the four-seater row, Ally and Lauren next, and Zayn taking up the other end. He turns to glimpse at her and gives her a look of encouragement.
Something about his confession has Lauren feeling bold. She's never felt this good about herself in a while, because the knowledge of someone being into her is doing wonders for her confidence.
As the ride starts rolling out of the gates, Lauren reaches down and intertwines her fingers with Zayn. She smiles as he tightens the hold and runs his thumb over the back of her hand.
She could get used to this.
~~
There's adrenaline pumping through Lauren after having gone on all the rides at least once with everybody. She's got this electrifying high going that makes her feel like she's on cloud nine, and she knows that it's not only the thrilling attractions that has her feeling this way. The attention she's been receiving from her new friends has had her feeling happier than ever.
So when Zayn asks if Lauren wants to take a picture together on her phone, she doesn't shy away from the idea of posing in front of the camera. In fact, when Zayn holds the device up in front of them, she takes the initiative to get closer to him and bares her teeth in a wide grin.
"I love it," Zayn comments after peeking at the picture and handing Lauren's phone back.
"It's cute," Lauren agrees. "Do you mind if I post it later?"
"Don't forget to tag me."
Lauren giggles. "Of course not."
They begin walking with the rest of the group towards the area that houses all the fair games and booths. Lauren catches a glimpse of Camila walking next to Dinah, her hands shoved into the pocket of her jeans.
"Is Camila okay? Did you manage to ask her?"
Zayn looks ahead to where Camila is walking as he places a hand on Lauren's back to guide her through the crowd. "She seemed a little pissy when I was speaking to her. She didn't tell me what was wrong, though."
"I feel bad," Lauren admits, tilting her head to the side with a slight frown on her face. "I haven't spoken to her much since we got here. I don't want her to think that I'm like... ignoring her or something, you know?"
Using the hand on Lauren's back, Zayn nudges her forwards a little in Camila's direction. "You should go walk with her. Speak to her, see if she says anything. She does have a soft spot for you anyways," Zayn says with a chuckle.
"I will." Lauren gives Zayn a parting smile and speed-walks to catch up with Camila. The girl doesn't notice her at first, too absorbed in watching her own feet.
"Hi."
Camila glances up in surprise. "Oh, hey Lauren."
"Um, are you, uh, having fun?"
"Mhm."
Running a hand through her hair timidly, Lauren gazes around with wide eyes. She doesn't have the best social skills, so she's not really equipped to keep a one-sided conversation going with someone who isn't Ally or Tori.
"Uh, are you... okay?" Lauren asks quietly, unsure if she's crossing a social line.
Camila shrugs. "Yeah, could be better. Just not feeling too well is all."
"I– I'm sorry. Can I... is there anything I can do to help?"
Camila just shakes her head. Lauren is itching to reach out and touch her sympathetically, but her nerves prevent her from doing so.
Biting her lip apprehensively, Lauren lets out a quiet breath before continuing. "I wish we could have, um, sat together on one of the rides."
"Well, you were a little busy with Zayn so..."
Lauren doesn't know what Camila's tone means because she's not that good at reading people. "Um... are you, uh... mad at me?" she asks.
"What?" It's the first time Camila's made eye contact since this conversation started. "Of course not. Why would I be mad at you?"
"I don't know," Lauren shrugs dejectedly. "I just, I'm s– sorry for whatever I did to upset you. I don't want you to be mad at me."
"Lauren, no no no no," Camila says, leaning over to catch Lauren's gaze. "It's nothing you did, trust me. If anything, it's..." she trails off, looking away. "It's my fault. It's something I didn't do— or, well, haven't been doing —so I only have myself to blame."
Nudging her glasses up her nose, Lauren eyes the bright lights of the carnival for a moment before turning back to Camila. "Well, what can I do to help you with, uh, whatever it is?"
Camila smiles softly, reaching out to grasp Lauren's hand. Lauren breathes a sigh of relief because she really wanted to touch Camila but was too scared to make the first move. "Nothing at all, Lauren, nothing at all. Just keep being your perfect self, that's all I want."
"Camila..." Lauren mumbles bashfully.
"Come on. Let's go see how much money I have to blow through to win you one of those giant stuffed bears." Firming her grip on Lauren's hand, Camila tugs the girl to the ring toss booth, pulling out some money from her pocket.
Turns out it takes Camila nearly thirty bucks to win her first prize, which only ends up being a little plush tiger the size of a kitten.
"Here you go," Camila says, holding the toy out towards Lauren.
The girl stares at it with wide eyes but doesn't reach out for it. "W– wait. You were serious?"
"Duh. I said I'd win you something, didn't I? I guess I shouldn't have promised one of those huge bears though, hm?"
"No– but– Camila–" Lauren stutters out in shock. "You... you didn't need to do that! You just wasted all your money on a cheap little carnival toy. Did you know they cost like, less than fifty cents to manufacture?"
Shaking her head with a fond smile, Camila thrusts the tiger towards Lauren again. "It's not a waste if it's spent on you."
Lauren can just feel how red her cheeks are. She bites her bottom lip in an attempt to suppress her smile.
"Thank you," she says softly. Her fingers graze Camila's as she takes the plushie, holding it to her chest happily. Making a split second decision, Lauren lunges forward and wraps her arms around Camila's shoulders. She feels the girl immediately return the hug, circling her arms around Lauren's waist. Camila's chin rests on Lauren's shoulder because of the slight height difference, and as Lauren inhales, she gets a brief whiff of vanilla.
It's suddenly her new favorite scent.
As they pull back, Lauren catches a glimpse of the big smile on Camila's face, which in turn just makes her smile wider.
Lauren turns to her right to see if their friends are still nearby only to come face to face with a giant stuffed bear. She's confused for a moment until Zayn's head pops out from behind it, a happy expression on his face.
"Took me a few tries at the basketball hoop shots but I managed to win this for you."
"What? This is for me?"
"Of course. I wanted to win you one ever since we planned this outing."
Lauren grins. "That's amazing! Thanks so much, Zayn."
Reaching her arms out wide, Lauren takes the bear from him, barely managing to hold onto it since it's nearly as big as her. She just manages to catch a glimpse of Camila over the bear's fluffy arm, noticing the discouraged look on her face.
The girl turns and starts walking away before Lauren can make eye contact with her, so she offers a quick parting smile to Zayn as she attempts to catch up. Her 'catching up' is mostly just her waddling as she struggles to walk with a giant stuffed toy in her arms as well as not drop the tiger balancing between the bear and her chest.
"Camila!" Lauren shouts, mostly because she can't really see where she's going.
She's about to shout again when suddenly someone tugs on her arm, stopping her in her tracks, and Lauren turns to the side to see Camila looking at her with a puzzled expression.
"Careful there. You almost walked into someone."
"Sorry," Lauren apologizes as she exhales. Adjusting the bear in her arms, Lauren locks her eyes on Camila's face. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Please don't walk off again. I... I like hanging out with you, and I'm upset we didn't get to more today."
Biting her lip, Camila looks down for a moment as she takes in Lauren's words. "I was just trying to give you and Zayn some time alone."
Lauren would wave Camila's comment off, but she doesn't have any free hands. "We've hung out enough today. I– I want to spend time with you now."
"Yeah?" Camila asks with a cheeky smirk.
"Uh huh," Lauren answers, returning with her own smile. "Plus, I need help holding this thing. I'm pretty sure I'm going to accidentally plow someone over with it."
"That is like, ninety-five percent true." Helping Lauren shift the bear around, Camila takes hold of half of it, finally able to see Lauren's face properly since the toy is laying sideways.
Shifting her glasses back up her face, Lauren bites her lip as she leans closer to Camila. "Don't tell Zayn this, but... I like tigers better than bears anyways."
She pulls back, her mouth set in a wide, toothy grin. Reaching for the tiger that's still tucked against her chest, Lauren props it up on top of the bear's stomach, framed by the larger toy's arms so that it won't fall. Her green eyes flicker over Camila's own smile, and Lauren feels happy that she put it there.
~~
Later that night, after having showered and slipped into her pajamas, Lauren climbs into bed and picks her phone up off of the bedside table. She sits the bear up against her headboard and leans back into it, then lays the tiger on her chest and hugs it against herself.
She checks the notifications she missed and opens up Instagram to like some pictures. Recalling the picture she took with Zayn, Lauren taps on the plus icon and selects the photo. As she ponders on what to put as the caption, Lauren finds herself wishing she had taken a picture with Camila too. She remembers how the girl didn't feel too happy today and that's the last thing Lauren wants any more of.
Taking a few moments to brainstorm up a caption, Lauren smiles to herself as she gets an idea. After typing it out and posting it, she locks her phone, turns the light out, and climbs under the sheets, placing the bear behind her and tucking the tiger in between her arms.
laurenjauregui Had a super fun day at the carnival today! Got a picture in with @zaynm (: wishing I could have gotten one with @camila_cabello too though ): oh yeah and @allybrooke, @torikelly, @dinahjane97, and @normanikordei were there too hehe
Lauren can't really resist when she notices her phone light up, so she snatches it off the table and opens it to her post.
camila_cabello next time we'll get a picture together for sure
laurenjauregui @camila_cabello Promise?
camila_cabello promise :)
Lauren grins to herself and locks her phone for good this time. She snuggles back under the covers and thinks about her day.
Zayn admitted to having a crush on her. Even though she doesn't have one on him at the moment, she knows she easily could. He's charming, attractive, and makes her feel giddy every time he compliments her or shows her special attention.
Lauren knows that if she gets closer to him, and allows herself to, she could develop feelings for him. He's definitely not a bad option, although Lauren doesn't really have many of those.
No one else has a crush on her anyways.
So as she lets her mind ponder over the possibility of being with him, Lauren feels a burst of excitement go through her.
She could definitely be okay with this.
~~