Once In A Lifetime

Chapter 7 - One of Us

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Sid laughing across my room. I felt groggy, and my mouth tasted so disgusting, I suppose I forgot to brush my teeth. Letty and I sat up, yawning and stretching our arms out, accidentally hitting one another and lightly giggling. I looked over at Sid with a questionable look, "What are you doing here? And why are you laughing?"

"Darcy, the way you guys sleep all over the place is hilarious. Your limbs look like they're all broken and your guys' hair is a total wreck," he responded as Jules walked in behind him. They both continued snickering as Letty and I woke ourselves up. Having them all here this early at the same time reminded me of when we were in high school, and it brought my heart happiness. We never really get to do things like this anymore, due to them being so busy and me being so involved with my car and trying to fix my emotions after what happened with Ethan.

We all walked downstairs together, and I began making breakfast. "Alright guys, we're having our usual. Pancakes and chocolate milk. Sound good?" I asked as I finished washing the remainder of the dishes from the night before. They all agreed as I began cooking our meal. It always brought me joy to cook for my friends, and my silly brother. Giving them each two pancakes with a full glass of chocolate milk, I sat down next to Sid and asked if he had heard from our parents. "Oh yeah, they'll be on their way back soon. I believe they went out on their own little date after hanging out with some of their friends," he responded with a mouthful of food. I smiled to myself, I love our mom and dad so much. They've been together since middle school and nothing has ever stopped them from loving one another. I hope that I can have something like that someday, but right now I need to concentrate on my car and figuring out what to do for my future. Nascar is a serious long shot, I wouldn't even know how to get my foot in the door for it.

I felt my phone vibrate next to me. I picked it up, and read the text that said, "Meet me at the Ruins, this is Declan." I could feel my blood rush to my cheeks and a small grin to my face, "Alright, who gave Declan my number?" I looked up at my friends and my brother, who were all staring at me with confused looks.

"Darcy, I don't believe any of us did. I can ask Kyle, if you want," Letty said as she finished her chocolate milk and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. I shook my head softly, "No, it's okay, I don't mind. He wants me to meet him at the Ruins." Jules smiled from ear to ear, giggling to herself, "Oh! You have to give me ALL the details." Sid looked over at her, cocking his head to the side. "Excuse me?"

Jules looked at him with a pout, "You and I fell in love years ago, and it's about to happen for Darcy again. This Declan guy is showing up out of nowhere, obviously interested. He can't seem to stay away from her. It's like a fairy tale, let me have this!" Sid then smiled at her and kissed her cheek. I rolled my eyes as I responded, "Yes" back to Declan. "Jules, he's not interested in me. I think he's really wanting to learn more about cars."

"Yeah, YOUR car," Letty interrupted after a loud burp, "Stop thinking you can't have other guys look at you and think you're attractive. You're beautiful, babe, embrace that and forget about the asshole that fucked you over." I just smiled, nodded, and went towards the stairs. I heard Jules beginning to talk, so I stayed at the top of the stairs to listen. "Ethan really messed her up... I'm really worried about her. I know she's still Darcy, but she's not acting like herself and I feel like we need to give Ethan a little lesson." I heard Letty sigh loudly, "I already did, next time you see his car let me know how it looks."

From whatever else I could hear from upstairs, Sid was putting the dishes in the sink, "Oh jeeze, Letty, what did you do?" I heard her snicker to herself, "You'll see. But for now, let's not talk about Darcy this way. It makes me feel like a bad best friend, I don't like talking behind her back. I'm gonna go to her room and get ready with her since I have to meet Kyle in a bit. See you guys later?" I heard the front door shut after a few minutes and footsteps coming towards the stairs, so I darted to my bedroom. I sat at my old, cheap, worn out vanity that my dad got for me when I was in middle school. I didn't cover it with stickers or finger nail polish, but it definitely has collected dust over the years that won't seem to come off. It doesn't bother me too much though, I like the old rustic look. I started applying my makeup and picking out an outfit for the day while Letty was finishing up. We talked about possibly painting my room before we leave, but I decided to wait a little longer. Honestly, I wanted to go ahead and see Declan. Why did he want me to meet up with him, specifically at the Ruins? It made me curious and I didn't want to keep stalling myself.