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Ally was surprised when reading the letter from her parents on Christmas morning. Though they were away in Hawai’i celebrating Christmas, they still managed to get a few things for Ally and Brandon. They opened them in front of their parents via FaceTime and her parents were ecstatic when it was finally time to open the envelope they specifically told her to open last.
Our Pumpkin,
You are becoming such an amazing lady right before our eyes. You’ve come such a long way academically, emotionally, physically, and mentally. We are so very proud of you!
Trust that she loves her parents, but she did end up skipping the majority of the letter until the word “surprise” caught her eye.
We have a special surprise for you. You and your friends will be going on a road trip in five days to New York! We wanted you all to watch the ball drop with your very own eyes. So instead of flying you, you will be driving yourselves in Normani’s family RV. We have everything planned and money to give to cover the expenses of gas and essentials to get to New York. Maybe save a little extra to get something in New York! Hope you have a fun time babe! We’ll see you in the new year!
Ally laughed, “thank you mom and dad! This is quite an interesting gift, yet I’m very grateful for it.” she smiled at her parents through the phone her brother held up.
“We’re glad you like it sweetie! Hope you have a grand time!”
—/ /—
Ally’s alarm went off a little earlier than usual on Monday morning. She groaned and wiped sleep from her eyes, sitting up against her headboard. She reached for her phone and shut the alarm off, reading the few messages from Lauren, she rolled her eyes with a smile and shut her phone off.
Everybody agreed to meet at Normani’s at nine a.m. It was only six, but Lauren was already texting that she was on her way to pick Ally up.
The four friends all live in the big state of Texas, Normani lived in Houston, Lauren and Ally in San Antonio, and Camila in Austin.
When going downstairs with her bags, Brandon was surprisingly up.
“Hey Brandon,” Ally greeted her brother with a kiss on the cheek.
“Morning, when’s Lauren coming?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Now,” Ally shrugged as she dropped her bags off by the front door.
“I hope you have a great time, Als.” Brandon smiled, then returned his attention to his phone when the doorbell rang.
Ally opened the door to reveal Lauren.
“I have Waffle House, let’s get on the road!” Lauren scooped up one of Ally’s bags.
“Yay let’s go! Bye B!” Ally waved backwards into the house.
“See you next year, A.” he said to himself once the door shut.
—/ /—
About an hour into their three hour drive, Lauren stopped at a diner to use the restroom and grab a snack or two.
Putting the car in park, both girls got out.
“I just want a hamburger and a strawberry shake.” Lauren said before quickly running off towards the restrooms.
Ally had ordered and took a seat close to the register in order to be able to hear her number when called. Looking down at her phone, she hadn’t noticed a stranger slid into the booth in front of her.
“Hey baby girl, what’s your name?” he smirked.
Ally jumped and looked up, “do I know you?” she asked.
“You do now. Lemme get your number.” to Ally, it sounded like he was telling her rather than asking her.
Ally shook her head and ignored him, keeping her ears open for both her number and Lauren.
“I said,” he made an abrupt move at her neck, “give me your number.” Ally’s eyes were wide as he began to tighten his grip on her, choking her.
“Hey!” Lauren stepped in and punched him square in the nose, making it bleed. “Don’t you ever fucking touch her or talk to her or come near her ever again, you hear?” she spat. He nodded with a whimper and ran out of the place.
She made sure he was gone before sliding next to Ally to make sure she was okay. Ally, was just getting her normal oxygen supply back.
“Are you okay, love? I’m so sorry I wasn’t here earlier.” Lauren squeezed her friend.
Ally just nodded, “it’s not your fault.”
“I feel obliged to protect you sunshine, I’ll grab you ice.” Ally didn’t object, only nodded. She knew there were going to be bruises on her neck from the way he grabbed her.
Luckily, their order was ready and got out of the place as fast as they could.
“I’m sorry, again.” Lauren sighed, she felt like she had failed her friend duties.
“Stop apologizing, it was nobody’s fault.” Ally shrugged, fiddling with her shoe as she tried to take it off.
Lauren nodded, still feeling guilty about the whole thing.
They managed to cut some time off of their original three hours, and made it to Normani’s house in fifteen minutes before their allotted time.
“Hey guys!” Normani greeted the two girls with hugs. “Allycat, what happened to your neck?” the ebony immediately frowned, seeing the bruises on the blonde's neck.
“Some guy attacked me while we were getting food.” she shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.
Normani nodded. “Well, Camila is a few minutes out, so come in while we wait!” Normani smiled, allowing her two friends in.
The four met at Texas A&M. Lauren and Ally have been friends since third grade, when Lauren moved from Miami to San Antonio. Lauren met Normani in her psychology class and was seated next to her. On the other hand, Ally had met Camila in her marine biology class, both were studying to become marine biologists.
The four immediately clicked and were friends from then on. Now, on their winter break of their junior and sophomore years (Ally, Normani, and Lauren were a year older than Camila), they were going on a huge road trip.
After catching up, Camila’s car can be heard as she pulled into the driveway.
They went to greet their friend at the door. “Camila!” they squealed. Camila smiled and hugged each one.
“Hey guys! Are you ready to get the show on the road?” Camila winked, Normani and Ally stare as Lauren cracks up.
“Camz, you’re so funny!” she exclaimed as she doubled over in laughter.
Normani and Ally looked at each other with questioning faces, but let their other Latina friend in.
Once it was time to leave, the four said goodbye to Normani’s parents and loaded the RV.
They had decided to stop by the store to grab anything they needed.
“Hey, guys we should vlog!” Lauren had the rambunctious idea as she pulled her camera out.
They did have a small YouTube channel going on, they found out that they could sing, and could sing even better together. They do a few covers here and there, questionnaires, and vlogs. They have a quiet following of one-thousand subscribers, nothing too big.
“Alright.” Ally sighed, only because she knew she was going to have to edit the video in the end. Lauren wondered why Ally didn’t minor in computer science because of how tech savvy the girl was.
“Hey guys, welcome back! We hope you’re having a great day. So, this is day one of our road trip to New York, very exciting. Here we are at Target, looking to buy some essentials before truly hitting the road.” Lauren spoke to the camera.
They vlogged their way through grocery shopping, then ended it as they got their stuff into the RV.
It was a spacious RV, there was two comfortable benches that ran along the two sides of the RV, with a long table in front of each. Between the bedroom in the very back and the tables in the front, there was a bathroom on one side and a small kitchen on the other. Instead of having one big bed in the bedroom, they decided to put two smaller beds to share. Lauren knew this was as close to a tour bus as they’d get.
Normani was driving first, seeing as it was her RV. Their first stop was New Orleans for a day; to see Normani’s family and to see New Orleans. Ally can only remember being out of state twice, Disney World in Orlando, and Disney Land in Anaheim (Disney World was better).
Driving out of Houston, Lauren made sure to video and take pictures for both the vlog and to look back on it.
“Hey, is that someone walking?” Lauren asked when looking out the front window. Normani furrowed her brows and pulled behind the person, who, now getting a closer look, is a woman with her thumb up.
“It is!” Ally and Camila joined Lauren at the window.
Ally was the first to get out. She walked with big strides to catch up to the woman. She tapped on her shoulder and the woman jumped and turned.
“What the hell?” she said.
“Hi, are you going anywhere?” Ally asked, putting a hand above her eyes in order to see better.
“Not anywhere in particular.” the woman said.
“Well, why don’t you get into our RV? There’s enough room.” Ally suggested.
“Are you sure?” the woman stood up a little more, hope glistening in her eyes.
“Very. I’ll introduce you to my friends.” Ally let the stranger follow her back to the RV. Her friends got out when they saw them coming.
“This is Lauren, Camila, and Normani.” Ally pointed at each girl when their name was said.
“What’s your name?” Normani asked.
“Dinah Jane.” she said, pulling the hoodie she had on, off to reveal a very stunning and young woman.
“What are you doing out here?” Camila asked.
“I was kicked out of my home and family, so I just started walking.” she shrugged.
“Well, why don’t we all get back in the RV and off the side of the road so we can talk more?” Lauren suggested as she watched a few cars with staring passengers fly by.
Everyone nodded and huddled into the RV. Normani turned the engine back on and got back on the road.
“So, where do you live, Dinah Jane?” Lauren asked.
“I did live in Houston, until I was kicked out yesterday. And it’s okay to call me Dinah.” she smiled a small one, but it was a smile nonetheless.
“Normani lives Houston!” Camila exclaimed with excitement. Dinah giggled.
“How old are you?” Ally asked with a tilt of her head.
“I just turned 20 this past summer, and I don’t think I’m going to college anymore, but I was a sophomore.” Dinah shrugged, tapping her fingers softly on the table in front of her. “How old are you guys?”
“Normani and I are 21, Ally’s 22, and Camila is also 20.” Lauren stated, Dinah giving her a nod.
“Do you need to use the restroom or change or something?” Camila asked.
“The restroom would be nice.” Dinah smiled softly.
Ally nodded, “first door on your right.”
Dinah excused herself with a nod.
“I’m going to get her some of my clothes.” Lauren got out of the seat herself and made her way towards the bedroom.
“So, can we keep her?” Camila asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
“For now.” Normani smiled in the mirror.
“For now?” Camila’s bright light dimmed at the two words.
“We’ll see, Mila.” Ally smiled gently at the Cuban, who only nodded.
“Hey, Dinah, I have a change of clothes for you.” Lauren tapped on the bathroom door. The door slid open, a small “thank you” can be heard as the door slid shut again.
“She’s so fragile.” Lauren frowned, sitting back down with the rest of the party. Ally nodded in agreement, only being able to think of those light brown eyes that filled with relief when she asked for her to join them in the RV.
There was a comfortable silence until Dinah came out of the restroom in a pair of grey sweats and a black Thrasher shirt that both belonged to Lauren.
Ally’s eyes widened a bit, the tall woman had beautiful long blonde locks and even more beautiful face.
Dinah turned to the party, “where should I put these?” she gestured to her clothes in hand.
“Here.” Lauren grabbed a small bag and held it open for the woman to put it inside.
“I’m sorry if you catch me staring, but you’re gorgeous.” Camila said.
Dinah laughed while covering her mouth, “thank you,” she smiled. “All of you are very beautiful as well.” she made eye contact with the smaller woman in the room as she said ‘beautiful’. All Ally could do was blush and look out the window.
“So, where are you guys headed?” Dinah asked.
“New York, for the new year.” Camila smiled, the ball dropping in her mind.
“Exciting.” Dinah said as she slid into the only open seat, which happened to be next to Ally.
“I’m sorry, I have no filter, but how could you get kicked out of your household?! For anything other than being drop dead gorgeous?” Lauren said.
Dinah chuckled, “I finally gained enough confidence to come out to my family as a homosexual, and they did not like it, at all.”
“Ah, makes a little more sense now. But, I’m very sorry.” Lauren smiled sympathetically.
“It’s okay, I had a feeling it was going to happen.” Dinah shrugged. “What about you guys? What’s your stories?”
“I’ve known Ally since third grade, grew up together. Then all four of us met in college.” Lauren stated simply.
“Interesting, what are your majors?” Dinah questioned.
“I major in marine biology with Ally, and Lauren and Normani major in psychology.” Camila said.
“Marine biologist, short stack?” Dinah turned to the woman next to her, who was just observing the entire conversation.
“Yeah.” Ally smiled when she realized she was being addressed.
“What’s got you interested over there?” Dinah asked.
“Nature, and I love the ocean and the whole concept of how most of it isn’t even explored yet.” Ally shrugged. Dinah nodded, a small smirk playing on her lips.
“What’d you major in?” Camila asked, forcing Dinah’s attention away from the blonde next to her.
“Kinesiology. Wanted to become a physical therapist.” she smiled.
—/ /—
“We’re taking a small pit stop for the night.” Normani said, pulling into a truck stop. “We’ll be in New Orleans by midday tomorrow.” she made her way back towards the lounge, where Ally had fallen asleep on Dinah’s shoulder, and Camila and Lauren were leaning into each other with their mouths open. Normani swore those two had something going on.
“I’d better get going then.” Dinah was about to get up, Normani shaking her head and gesturing for her to stay in her spot.
“You can stay with us, it’s okay. And I’m sure Ally wouldn’t be too happy not seeing you in the morning,” she gestured to the small smile Ally had on her face.
“Are you sure?” Dinah’s eyebrows raised.
“Of course. The more the merrier.” Normani smiled, “I’ll be in the back, holler if you need anything.” Normani made her way towards the bedroom and closed the door.
Dinah looked at the small blonde next to her, allowing a smile to spread on her lips. She laid her head against Ally’s and found herself falling asleep.