Rich Re:grets

Chapter 5.3: Class On An Outing

(DECEMBER 2010)

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ZOEY RIVERA

I was in the middle of drying my hair when this loud commotion coming from the boy's side of the cabin happened.

Annie put a bookmark in between the pages of A Clash of Kings and hopped off her bed. "Sweet, entertainment."

Mallory, Annie, Lauren, and I headed to the boys' hallway and caught Howard running out of the boys' washroom.

"Why is there screaming?" Mallory asked.

"Count to five," Howard said as he stood beside us.

"One, two, three, four, fi—"

The washroom door flew open and out came Rich, dripping wet with a red mark on his back. He sprinted to us as if his life depended on it.

His body wasn't all bones like Charlie, or plump like Cook. He wasn't even physically fit like Grant or Sam. He was the definition of average.

"Hold on! It just slipped out!" Rich shouted to the washroom. "I didn't mean to bring it up!"

Bond poked his upper body out of the bathroom. "Shut up! I asked you to stop talking about it! No one needs to know!"

He shut the door to the bathroom and left everyone in the hallway to bask in awkward silence.

"Talk about what?" I asked.

Rich leaned into my ear. "Bond used to bully me when I first transferred. He hates it when I bring up that aspect of our relationship. I'm just so tired that I didn't think any of it when I was talking to Howard."

"Okay, I won't mention it to him." I nudged Howard in the back.

He chuckled. "Yeah, me too."

Rich headed to his room. "I'm gonna change then. I'll see y'all downstairs."

Howard began to snicker.

"Why are you laughing by yourself?" I asked.

"I think everyone might be right. I didn't wanna jump to conclusions but I'm starting to believe that you do like Rich."

"Et Tu, Howard? You were one of the not-annoying ones. Why now?"

"Rich was shirtless and you were staring at him the entire time."

I was?

"Liking someone who's not athletic means your feelings are strong," Howard said as he headed to his room.

We headed downstairs and each took a cup of hot chocolate that Mr Darley was preparing in the kitchen.

This rumour that I liked Rich was getting out of hand. But it wasn't fair to classify it as a rumour because I did like him.

Something clicked the moment we started talking back in October. It seemed like we'd known each other for a while. Our interests matched. The quiet moments weren't awkward. I even called him stupid when we met and he was more irritated than insulted.

Does everyone actually think we make a good pair or are they just backing me up?

Rich, along with Brianna, came downstairs. They went to the kitchen and grabbed hot chocolate from the counter.

Rich took a sip. "This a bit bitter, but it's solid."

"Woah!" Mr Darley called out. "That's my coffee. The hot chocolate is over there."

He also gave us a yellow flag, telling us that we could put a design on it for the upcoming games.

Bond and a few others came downstairs and joined us in designing. And by us designing, I meant Rich and I doing all the work with everyone else screaming ideas.

"That sip of coffee gave me energy." Rich kept going back for seconds. "I probably shouldn't be drinking too much hot chocolate before bed. But this is so good."

"If you go one more night without sleep, you're gonna go insane," Conan pointed out.

"I know, I'm already doing things without thinking." He went up to Bond. "Hey, sorry again about earlier."

Mallory pointed at Bond, who didn't say anything and simply headed to the ping-pong table. "He's so calm when he's angry. It's almost scary."

Mr Darley announced it was lights out. We began cleaning up.

Before heading upstairs, Rich drank his ninth cup of hot chocolate.

"It doesn't matter if you haven't slept in two days," I said, "that much sugar will keep you awake."

"It's okay, I haven't slept in two days."

"Were you even listening to what I said?!"

Rich grabbed Bond's shoulder. "Hey, Bond, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

Bond kept quiet and followed the boys to their side of the cabin.

"I'm kinda worried about those two," I told Mallory.

"It'll be alright," she said. "Bond got abandoned by his friends and Rich stuck it out with him. He's not the type of guy to forget that. He just has a temper."

Annie and Lauren were already in our room when we walked in.

I climbed into bed. "By the way, what is tomorrow's night activity?"

"We're testing our courage by walking through the forest by ourselves."