La Douleur Exquise

53

The next few days passed in a blur. I didn't see much of Darcie; she was still bunking with Lauren and Harlan and I'd only ever see her in the dining hall or if we happened to pass one another but those occasions were few and far between.

I knew from the guys that the cheer team were busy choreographing a routine ready for the first game of the season, so I didn't feel like Darcie was going out of her way to ignore me but at the same time, it wasn't as if she was going out of her way not to ignore me. It's hard to explain this feeling stirring inside me. Frustratingly, I wanted her focus to be on me and yet, I knew that it was better to have some distance between us, for her sake more than mine.

"I can't believe that tomorrow is our last day here," Owen mused as we made our way from the practice field back up towards the cabins. "Man, it feels like we've been here years."

"Seriously?" Ritchie laughed and shook his head in disagreement. "To me, it feels like it's been only two seconds."

Mine and Ritchie's friendship was still on rocky ground after our argument over Darcie but I was hopeful that it could be salvaged. I was constantly trying to figure out ways of mending bridges but I just had to figure out the one way that was going to get Ritchie to forgive me. Maybe if I made a complete idiot out of myself, that might work.

"So, uh," Owen stuttered, turning to look at me before continuing. "Are you going to tell Mia about, you know, the whole Darcie situation?"

I shrug. The idea has flashed through my mind a few times but I've yet to make a decision on that front. If I tell Mia, it would unleash Hell on Earth. She'll flip her shit when she hears that her best friend is in love with me but then she'll turn it around and say that I should have distanced myself from Darcie and... whatever. Mia will play the victim even though nothing has happened with me and Darcie.  

"You shouldn't tell her," Ritchie offered his opinion. Finishing his bottle of water, he tosses it into the nearest trash can before he walks ahead of us. "Mia will kill Darcie and the girl doesn't deserve that just because she fell in love with the wrong guy. Anyway, she liked you way before you and Mia were a thing. That alone tells me all I need to know about your situation. Now, if you excuse me, tonight is the last night and I have something fun planned. Later, bitches."

Slinking towards his cabin, Ritchie disappears inside, not once looking back at us. The rest of us looked from one to another, hoping that someone had the answer to the unasked question- what has Ritchie got planned? Last year, it was setting off fireworks over the lake much to the anger of all the coaches. 

"He never mentioned anything to me about it," Owen shrugged, annoyance clear on his face. He was the closest to Ritchie and those two knew everything about each other so if Owen was in the dark, Ritchie's plan was either going to be the best thing ever or the biggest disaster the world has ever seen. Narrowing his eyes on Ritchie's cabin, Owen concluded, "I bet it has something to do with a girl, though. It always does."