Pomp And Circumstance [COMPLETE]

Chapter Four

Darcy could feel a weight lift from her shoulders as she pulled her car into the driveway. It rolled to a slow stop before the large black front door and Darcy let out a long sigh as the engine came to a rest.

Charlie had told her all about her day and her week while Darcy's mind kept running over and over again the words Eli had all but spat out in venom in the principal's office. And always her thoughts led back to Gina Wickham.

Everything she had planned to say to Eli, the small bridge she thought maybe they could build together, make this a healthy, fair competition to salutatorianship, gone. Because of Wickham. Always Wickham. There to ruin her plans and muddy up her thoughts.

If Charlie noticed Darcy's deepening scowl with each mile that took them from their new school, and the sudden release of said scowl once they reach home, she didn't dare say so. She did, however, give Darcy's hand a quick shake and then a squeeze.

Darcy hadn't realized they had made it home. She had been staring off into the distance, her mind on autopilot.

"Race you inside?" Charlie asked, already primed to bolt from the car and race up the front steps, her backpack slung over one shoulder.

"I haven't beaten you since we were kids. What makes you think I'd partake in a race I know I can't win?"

"Hey, Carson! Race you inside!"

"You're on!"

Carson's car was barely in park beside Darcy's before he was bolting out of his seat, running to the front door. Charlie's reflexes were just as quick and they slammed into each other, both reaching for the door handle at the same time.

Darcy grabbed her bag from the back, took her time closing her door and then Charlie's, which she had left open in her haste. She even wandered over to Carson's car, taking out his keys from where they still hung in the ignition, closing his door too.

The two of them were arguing inside when Darcy entered and she was struck, as she frequently was, to a point where the realization slid off her back and into the recesses of her subconscious, just how different she was from her adopted siblings.

She loved them dearly but her competitive side came out in more advanced avenues, her enthusiasm harder to find and used sparingly, her smile used even less frequently. But still, she smiled as she entered the house. It was good to be home.

Her Aunt Lois and Uncle Henry arrived soon after the three of them got home from school and Friday night dinners ensued, the one night a week they all ate together, only sickness to the point of death a reasonable excuse to not attend.

Short summaries of everyone's week were portioned out and then all thoughts of school and work were collectively forgotten as jokes and stories ensued. Darcy sank into bed content, thoughts of Eli or Gina a million miles away.

They let her be for the night but both were there waiting for her as soon as the cool late winter morning light started filtering through the cracks in her curtains.

The weight slowly lowered itself back onto her shoulders as she changed for the day, her formality reserved for school heaped in a pile on her floor in the corner. It touched down as she reached the kitchen and the last lingering ties of sleep were shaken free with a large cup of coffee. She heaved a large sigh as she leaned against the cool marble counter and watched the rest of her family descend.

Charlie was yawning and didn't look like she had gotten much sleep the night before. Darcy diagnosed nerves mixed with a last-minute cram session. She had a scholastic decathlon tournament that day in Connecticut, the only reason Uncle Henry was up before nine o'clock on a Saturday morning.