Well I didn't get any reviews, but hopefully I can after this chapter! Tell me what you think! Please! I did get a few add to favorites. Like five. Pretty good, but I think you can do better. ;) R&R and I'll read your stories, too!
Peter and I walked into my house to get my swimsuit. Then we were going to walk to his and do the same. This would be some quality time. I missed this quality time. He's really quite wonderful. I forgot how much I loved him. He's truly just everything anyone could ask for, but I'm not going to tell him that! That's not something he should know… Yet.
I stepped inside and walked into my room. Well, it wasn't really my room anymore. I guess I would have to go salvage a bikini from Clare's room, as it seems her clothing is my clothing these days. That's not so bad, though. She's a great sister. She's better than anyone I could have asked for. I heard Alli, Sav's sister, has been quite the issue lately. I'm glad that Clare is well grounded and smart. It seems like Alli's just going through a difficult stage. I sure hope she gets through it safely.
I walked into her room and even that was different. Rather than being white as it used to be, the walls were decorated with pictures and artwork and framed poetry. It was artsy. It wasn't Clare, but it was. I'd been gone so long. This is my sister. This is who she is. This is Clare, and I want to get to know this new Clare, because I think I would like her a lot better than I liked the old one.
Among my clothing was some other clothing, clothes I didn't recognize. Clare now had her own style! How very exciting. Being the same size and all, we could go out and shop together and find new things for us both! I really like this Clare!
I found a bag full of bikini tops and bottoms. I saw a teal bandeau top. It reminded me of mermaids, so I grabbed it and searched the bad for the bottom. When I found it, I went to the bathroom and put it on under my clothes.
"Peter!" I yelled down the stairs. "I found a swimsuit! I think you'll like it! I know I do!"
"Well we need to go get mine!" he yelled back.
"Oh! Okay!"
I skipped down the stairs after I yelled and he was facing the door. I jumped on his back and he carried me outside in that manner. I'm such a flirt. I just didn't expect him to go along with it so well. Maybe he loved me still. Or hopefully he at least liked me a little. I couldn't hope for any more than that. That was all I really wanted at that point.
"Do you mind if my sister comes along? She'll bring a date. I know she has one," I asked Peter. I really missed Clare and I wanted to see what she and her boyfriend were like together. Were they in love? I would know. I'm an expert.
"I don't mind at all. I know she will. Her boyfriend, Eli, and she come into The Dot often. It's quite wonderful, and quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. She accepts all his flaws and imperfections. If that relationship doesn't last, then I don't know what will," he responded with his head in the clouds. He must be imagining the perfect relationship.
I interrupted his fantasy by saying, "I'll ask her if she wants to come."
I walked into the living room and she was still doing assignments. This is the old Clare poking out from behind the cute haircut and the makeup. I loved it. It reminded me that maybe she's not completely different. Maybe I didn't miss so much. Maybe I can fit in again, and maybe, just maybe, things can go back to the way they were.
"Clare Bear, do you want to bring Eli to the pool with Peter and me?"
"I'll call him and ask. If he says yes, I'll meet up with you there later, okay?" she answered.
"Alright. I hope I can meet him. I'll tell you if I approve." I smiled at her and winked.
"He's great. Oh, by the way, I can tell you still love Peter, but I'm not so sure he feels the same. Go for it, sis, but remember not to get too attached."
"I'm a big girl. I can do this on my own, Clare, but thanks for watching out. I love you!"
"I love you too, Darce."
I smiled and walked out the door with Peter. We headed all the way across town, walking, to his house.
"Peter, I love walking places. It's peaceful. It helps me think. Like when I was walking to The Dot today. I was thinking about some things. It's weird how much I missed. My sister is an almost completely different person and I missed the whole change. My parents are divorced and I had no idea about it until now. You got addicted to meth and I wasn't there for you at all. I helped people who truly needed it, but I feel like I could have done more for myself while I was gone. I feel like I don't fit in. I'm still the same Darcy, but you're not the same Peter. I was frozen in time in Kenya. It's just weird to come back to a completely different community."
Everything I said in that instance was true. I was Darcy and always would be, but my change was yet to happen. In Kenya, things were always constant. There were always hungry people and it never changed, no matter how much I tried to fix it, but here people were changing, and so were things no matter how much I didn't want them to!
"That's really insightful of you, Darce. You've always been a smart girl, but this is beyond you. I think that even though you think that everything here is different, so are you! Kenya has helped you become worldlier and more ethical. You did something wonderful, for two years. Most people wouldn't spend time in the desert around people with life-capturing diseases like you did. Darce, there's even more you now! This is you. Being selfless is you now, not that it wasn't in the first place."
I listened to Peter's wise words. I never expected something like this to come from his mouth. Maybe he'd changed too... Then he ran into a pole, and I realized that Peter was the same, wonderful Peter he'd always been.
"That was so funny, Peter! Gosh, I missed your silly behavior. I wish that you could have come to Kenya when you were considering it," I confessed to him.
"Well, I had a girlfriend who I loved, but she left me for another country as well. Mia was great, but I think once she found out about the Kenya thing, it was downhill from there." He had a sad look on his face, but then he smiled at me.
"It sucks, I know. Things with Spinner and I were not so good at the end there. Just hope to stay friends. It's great to have someone who knows you like that. I promise." I smiled back at him and I could feel the hotness rushing to my cheeks. He was such a hottie. He would always make me blush, even when he didn't say anything cute.
We approached Peter's pad and went inside. I remembered that he had his own place now. I really wish I could talk to Ms. Hatzilakos now…
"Who is the principal at Degrassi now?" I asked him.
"Simpson."
"Oh cool."
"Not cool. He did this thing called the 'crack down' and it involved uniforms and other things that everyone hates."
"Uniforms? Great."
"Glad I got out of there before he was in charge! What an ass!"
"Oh well."
Peter ran up to where he kept his clothes and I could hear him throwing things around. What a mess this place was. I started picking things up in his living room and throwing all his half-eaten food away. I was surprised that someone could be such a pig. Living with Clare left no room for mess. OCD is her middle name! Well not really, but it should be!
I managed to clean up a little of the room around his TV. Maybe he could actually use the remote now.
Peter walked downstairs and said, "I was just getting on that."
"Oh sure you were, Peter," I responded sarcastically. "It's not a big deal, but I'm coming over someday soon and we're going to pick this mess up together, okay?"
"Okay…" he said to me in a melancholy tone.
I smiled at him and said, "Well I think it might just be time to head to the pool now."
"I agree Ms. Edwards. To the pool we go!"
We walked out the door and I'd come to the conclusion that the only thing in my life that didn't drastically change was me. I'm the constant in this experiment. Everyone around me is changing and I'm the same. I'm Darcy Edwards, and that's all I'll ever be. Hopefully that's all Peter wants. Hopefully he didn't want me to change.