Retarded In Love

For the rest of the ride to the river, I tried my hardest to fight tears. I had finally lifted myself off Ryan's chest and managed to laugh along with the guys. For all I knew, they were totally oblivious as to what was going on with me. For the most part, everyone was, even Dunn and Bam. I hadn't told them about the extremes of my sickness, about Steve-O's aggressive nature, Dunn was the only one to know about what happened that night between him and I, and I hadn't told them what had gone on between David and I.

'David...' I fought tears again.

Just two days ago, just yesterday... He was madly in love with me. We were meant for each other! Four years of my life, wasted. Do you know how many great guys had showed interest in me in the past four years that I turned down because of David? A lot. I could've had almost any guy in West Chester, but no. I thought David was perfect, and meant for me, because I didn't want a jackass. 'And now you're surrounded by them...' My sadness quickly transformed to anger, and all I wanted to do was hit something, someone, anything, as long as I could cause pain or damage, I wanted to do it. I didn't know where we were, but I knew we better get to that river soon, or there were seven men that were going to cry.

Dunn sat his hand on my knee and gave me a look as to ask me how I was. I grabbed his hand, and for an answer, squeezed it as hard as I possibly could. He suppressed a scream and yanked his hand away. I snarled at him.

Dunn looked frantic and wrapped his arms around his chest. "How long until we... Never mind."

I looked out the window and saw a big wooden platform with a small ramp at the end, and a crowd of people standing around it. Since the other van had left before us, they were already there. We all climbed out of the van, and Ryan pulled me aside. He dragged me to the other side of the van so we were hidden from the others, then waited for them to walk away.

"Ellie, what happened?" He placed his hands on my shoulders, holding me at a safe arms distance. I don't know if he was comforting me, or making sure I didn't kick him.

After a long pause, I finally managed to choke out a weak, "It's over."
My anger melted away into a pool of sadness and the sting of tears hit my eyes. I rarely cried, and I hated doing it. It was a sign of weakness, and weak is something I never have been. I fought against the tears, and after a short while they backed down. Dunn pulled me into a light hug, still scared, I'm sure. I was just about to wrap my arms around him when my phone rang.

Dunn pushed me away and looked at me. "You should answer it."

I shook my head.

"At least look and see who it is," he pleaded.

I took out my phone. It was Dico. I debated for a little while, but reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ellie! What's up?"

"Nothing..." Dunn nudged me toward the crowd of people, and I started walking.

"You don't sound very excited! Whatcha doin'?" I could hear people laughing in the background.

"Walking. I'm at some random river somewhere."

"Oh... " That was the last thing I heard before the click of him hanging up the phone. I looked down at my phone, trying to grasp what had just happened. I wasn't paying any attention to anything around me.

"Surprise." I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned around and was looking into the smiling face of Brandon DiCamillo.

Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around him tightly. He picked me up and spun me around a couple times.

"Dico, what are you doing here?!" I screamed into his chest.

"What, and let you and Bam have all the fun? I think not!" He picked me up again.

I knew everyone else was staring at us, but I didn't care. I had my Dico, and everything was good.

"Is that the boyfriend?" I heard Ehren ask.

I could hear Dunn laughing. "Yeah... That's him."