Retarded In Love

Around 10:00am, there was another knock at the door. I still wasn't in a very good mood. I ran the brush through my hair once more, ignoring the knock. After a while, there was another knock and a muffled voice squeal my name followed by a giggle. I knew it wasn't Steve-O, so I jogged over to answer the door. Chris stood in the doorway, giggling, and I couldn't help but giggle back at him.

"What's so funny?" he laughed.

"You, Pontius," I tried to control my giggling. "What's up?"

"You laugh a lot, Ellie." His smile started to fade. "Ah, well... I'm about to shoot some stuff, and you'll be gone before I get back... So I wanted to say goodbye."

"Aww... Pontius..." I pulled him into a tight hug. Over his shoulder I could see Trip loading up into a van. I heard the honk of a horn and Chris pulled away quickly, kissed my cheek and ran off toward the van like a little boy. I watched him climb in, and shut the door. I turned around when I heard the door open again. "And happy early birthday!" I turned just in time to see a mess of brown hair duck back into the van.

Laughing quietly to myself, I wandered back into my room. Chris was just like a little kid. He never failed to make me laugh. Actually, all the guys were extremely funny. We'd gotten somewhat close in the past couple days, but I was closest to Johnny and Ehren. I'd spent so much time with Johnny it was a given we would become close, and Ehren was really the first one to talk to me. As weird as it sounds, they became my second family, really. I'm not sure how they felt, but at the time they were all I had.

As much as I missed West Chester, there was a small part of me that didn't want to go back. I wanted to see my family, I wanted to spend my birthday with my loved ones, I wanted to be in my own bed in the town I knew, but I didn't want to face Maria, David, or Dico. The Dico situation, I could handle. It would just be a touch awkward between us, that's all. Seeing Maria and David together would be a problem for me. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I missed them. I missed Maria's laugh, I missed David's smirkish smile, and I knew them well enough to know that if they knew I was in town they would find some way to see me. I knew I could handle the awkwardness and i was almost over the heartbreak, but I knew my family and friends would not let it go. They would treat them like crap if they came over to my house. Why can't my life be normal for once?

+ + +

I had finished packing my bags and was staring blankly at the tv screen when there was another knock at the door. I looked at the clock, and it was an hour before my flight left so I knew it couldn't be Bam or Dunn. I shuffled over to the door and opened it to a grinning Johnny. He had a suitcase in his hand and I could see Kosick loading camera equipment into a van.

"I'm headed to Florida with O." He smiled down at me.

I looked at my reflection in his aviators, then looked around him to see Steve-O loading bags into the back of the van. He looked over at me a smirked, then climbed in the van. I returned my attention to Johnny. "You have my number, right?" I asked him, taking my phone from my pocket.

He nodded. "I'll be in touch, don't worry." He laughed, and I giggled slightly. "Well, I guess I'll see you around little one." He laughed once more and picked me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he twirled me around slightly before setting me down and hugging me tightly.

I watched as he climbed into the van, and I watched it drive away. I turned to go back into my room but stopped when I heard someone calling my name.

"Ellie, wait!" I turned to see Ehren and Dave running across the parking lot towards me.

I smiled at them and laughed when Dave ran into me pulling me into a hug.

"We're going to go shoot Urban Kayaking, and we wanted to say goodbye." Ehren said, breathing heavily.

I laughed and said my goodbyes, then Dunn came outside and said his, then they helped us lug our bags to Bam's room so we could check out. I watched Ehren and Dave climb into a van, and I wandered into Bam's room after Dunn. I looked around and noticed a suitcase I didn't recognize. I looked around, and there sat Liz, staring intently at the television.

She looked up and smiled. "Yeah, I'm going back to Pennsylvania with you."