Day: May 28, 2018

Cheer Practice

image

Emilie and Nathalie are lovely and no doubt talented, but they have some catching up to do. Also, we have no idea how to fit them into a pyramid formation. So they are effectively benched for the rest of the practice.

As the minutes go by, it becomes more and more apparent that Marie, who already looked queasy at the beginning of the day, is not doing her best.

It takes for me to catch her eyeing Charlotte sheepishly to understand. Romain has probably told her that their secret is out in the open. She doesn’t dare look at me. I’m not even that mad at her.

Then again she barely dares to look at Charlotte. It’s probably safer this way. Charlotte still feels bad about keeping secrets from me; but mostly Shanna’s earlier surprise has let her a little shaken. And very angry.

I wouldn’t stand in her way either.

image

We’re all really terrible at basketball, but it’s not for lack of trying.

image

Where has the ball I threw even gone? Nobody knows.

image

The faces of expectation. Has it gone through?

If side glances could kill…

image

Thanks, Charlotte.

New Cheerleaders

The next day Shanna, who has successfully danced around all of our drama, introduces us to two new prospective members of the squad.

Seeing as there’s only six of us in said squad, we welcome them with open arms (Charlotte with ever so slightly less open arms after a minute), even if we’re a bit confused as to how Shanna got to know them.

Then once we all agree that they should join us, Shanna turns to Nathalie, the pretty red-head, and places a loving kiss on her cheek.

Mystery solved.

Okay, Shanna, you can stop selling them to us, they’re in. No matter how many dark looks Charlotte is giving me. I mean, they’re already wearing the uniforms.

Poor Emily on the left looks a bit confused as to what to do now.

To be honest, watching Shanna go full PDA on us feels a bit odd, but there’s no doubt they’re adorable together.

Two Fights in a Row

Oh, of course I would run into him in the corridor right away.

“How COULD you go behind my back like that?” I yell.

“I went behind your back? You’re kidding?”

“You know perfectly well what I mean. I never lied to you.”

“Yeah, like what you did was much better!”

“I…”

Needless to say, neither of us is listening to the other.

Fight in the Pink Room

It started with a fight, as you might expect. There are a lot of things you can forgive your best friends, but there’s a limit to everything.

That evening, I ask her why she did what she did. And I tell her “Charlotte, if you liked him, you should have told me!”

Turns out she doesn’t like him. At all. Not this way. She says the time they spent together was as awkward as could be. She tries to explain that there was zero chemistry; that it won’t happen again. I yell that I don’t want to hear it.

Until she finally manages to get through to me that she likes someone else.

Then I understand.

Charlotte has been in an impossible situation, and I didn’t even know. Didn’t even notice. At this point, it’s no wonder she rushed into his arms. I should have been there for her.

I swear to keep her secret, though I encourage her to speak her truth.

As I go to hug her, she whispers with a voice full of tears that she has another secret.

And then she tells me about Romain and Marie. And I have to leave the room.

How many things have you been keeping from me, Charlotte?

OMG I missed the bits of pink on Charlotte’s shirt, WHY

Proof

Like a true detective, I go and investigate.

And I find proof.

Hugo’s a slob. No one else in the whole building would leave their dirty clothes on the floor.

It’s disgusting, on more than one level.

The Revenge

image

Told you I did Yoga now. It helped to cope with the morning’s disaster.

image

Shanna, probably editing one of her latest songs on her computer.

image

Turned out Romain had a bit of a harder time coming to terms with the recent events than I’d have anticipated.

image

But everybody coped differently.

image

And I was there to witness it.

Swimming Pool

I swear sometimes we take the beauty of the Air Complex for granted.

On that sunny afternoon — one of the lasts of the year according to recent weather forecasts — we go down to the swimming pool together. Hugo and I have a diving contest. Little does he know, I recently took up yoga, so I’m much more agile than him, no matter how much he boasts about his muscles from the  top of the diving board.

It’s all in good fun, though.

At least, until Romain starts getting jealous in turn, and out of nowhere, kisses me. He takes me by surprise, but I push him away.

Too late. Hugo is already gone.

I quickly — too quickly — explain to Romain that kisses are out of the question, and run after him, but he is nowhere to be found.

Lining up for the diving board. I am the figure you see drowning in the water. It took me some time to warm up, okay?

Marie ogling Romain. As usual.

Show-off.

Marie on a Yoga break. Hugo and I, trying to have a conversation.

Looking straight over my shoulder, right at Hugo. Classy, Romain.

Awkward.

…

Finally telling him to stop. Too late…

After the Beach

The night — or rather, early morning — progresses. It’s the outcome you would expect after romantic stargazing and weeks of barely hidden affection.

Then Hugo and I end up cuddling in his room. We lost track of time a little bit, but that’s more than fine. He confides about his dreams and his projects. He’s told me about them before, but he’s always stopped shy of actually showing me what he’s working on.

Today, though, I don’t give up. We’re alone, and we have time. I tell him I want to see. And he ends up agreeing.

It’s an impressive piece of work. A mobile app like many, until you dig under the surface. He shows me some pieces of the code — genius bits, the ones he had trouble figuring out, the ones he’s still working on. He has templates, and diagrams, and spreadsheets on spreadsheets of data from his experiments. He has a demo. He says it’s a bit “wonky,” but I’m impressed.

Thoroughly impressed. I tell him I want to help.

And with that, we’re pretty much ready to take on the world together.

Thanks to @simcophogi for the poses ❤ You made this scene happen.

Evening at the Beach!

And then on the evening, we invest the tiki bar. I challenge Romain to a game of Don’t Wake the llama, but I can tell his mind is elsewhere. Thankfully, when the time comes to attack the Hugo/Marie team on the table football, his head is back in the game.

I don’t know how all four of us thought matching us in these specific teams was a  good idea. By some magic trickery, Romain and I won the match; Hugo could not have faked the look on his face.

I think seeing us celebrate sent him just over the edge of frustration. Which probably explains the rest of the evening. How he got emboldened. More confident. Maybe realizing he didn’t want to lose his shot.

Hugo and I kissed for the first time that night, just as the sun rose, around the dying embers of a tall campfire.

Fist Bump!

Hugo, not a fan.

I went outside on my own, to play with the giant campfire on the beach.

Hugo moved closer, under the pretense of helping me revive it.

We started talking.

And watching the flames dance under the stars.

And then we kissed.

Morning at the Beach!

The weekend! We decide to spend the Saturday at the beach. It means a drive to the Oasis Springs lake, but it’s worth it.

In the morning we just lounge, hang around the water, fill our stomachs with ice cream from the tiki bar that watches over the beach, and roast marshmallows on a campfire. This last part is my favorite activity.  We exchange gossip over the flames, and once the sun has set, we tell silly ghost stories that somehow always end up being salacious.

The terrace of the tiki bar, with iced tea and vanilla ice creams. No table for six; the boys are perfectly fine on their own.

The Blue Oasis Spring waters. Fresh and refreshing, perfect under the burning desert sun.

The evenings get cold fast around here. Weather forecasts say we might even expect actual winters soon.

Warm temperatures, warmer glances

Should have worn darker glasses as well.

Things have a way of working out.