Ethereal Love

Runaway

Dana arrived to pick her up at three o'clock that afternoon.

"Hey sweetie..." she said warily. She beamed at her mom, throwing her arms around Dana's neck.

"I missed you mommy. I'm so sorry about how I was... I realize I was an idiot, and you didn't deserve any of the crap I put you through. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, baby." She murmured, taken aback by her daughter's apology. She wasn't expecting that. That's an understatement. Honestly, she was completely bewildered by this seemingly different person.

"No, it's not okay, but I'll make up for it." She promised, smiling and pecking her on the cheek before going around to the other side of the car and getting in.

"Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" she asked, jokingly, as she got into the car herself. She smiled, a little sadly.

"I'm still me, momma D. I just...grew up a little." she felt even sadder at the proud look on her face, grateful that she didn't know the real reason she was leaving...

LINE BREAK

When Gina realized Nini wasn't in her cabin and all of her stuff was gone, the first thought that entered her mind was 'she's moved cabins'. So she then hunted down Carol and asked her where Nini had moved to. Carol proceeded to smile sadly, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, and tell her that her friend hadn't moved cabins, and that she had, in fact, left the camp.

Gina was slightly shell-shocked as she made her way to the canteen to join Ashlynn, Ej, Red and Ricky at their table. They all smiled at her, but everyone's smile faltered when they saw the expression on Gina's face.

"What's up Gi?" Ej was the first to ask. She took a seat, shaking her head in confusion.

"Nini's gone. She left. I don't... she's gone." They could see the sadness and anger in her eyes, but mostly, Gina was just bewildered. They all were, except for Ricky. They'd only known Nini for a few weeks, yet the thought that she was actually gone...

"What?" Ej was the first to speak, jumping to his feet. Ricky tried to control the guilty expression threatening to push its way onto his face.

"She left yesterday. Her mom came and picked her up. Carol told me. She said... she said "Nini screwed up and couldn't face the consequences." Gina repeated the words that had been running through her mind since her conversation with Carol. Ej sat back down, thinking hard, and they were all silent for a while. Eventually, Gina noticed the look on Ricky's face and something clicked.

"Ricky, can I talk to you? In private?" she said sternly. Sighing, he nodded and got to his feet.

He followed her out of the canteen until they were in complete  privacy. Then she stopped and rounded on him.

"What the fuck did you do, Ricky?" she hissed, glaring at him. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"You're going to kill me..."

"You didn't hit her, did you? Oh my God, you hit her, didn't you?"

"No!"

"Then what? Did you say something? Call her a name? Take things too far?"

"No, actually, quite the opposite."

"So, what, she left because you ignored her?" she scoffed. He rolled his eyes at her inability to get the hint.

"Oh my God, Gi, are you that thick? I didn't do anything like that!"

"Then what did you do?"

"I fucking slept with her!" he shouted, losing his temper.

"What?"

They both whirled around to see Red and Ashlynn in the doorway. And right behind them, looking murderous, was Ej.