"Mark - can you take some photos of us?"
Kim giggled thinking back on the photos she took earlier.
Mark grabbed his camera and waved the girls in together. "Huddle up!"
The girls moved into their spaces and struck some poses. This was the first time they had a photo of all of them together since the house upgrade.
"Cindy! God damn it, will you stop horsin' around!" She said it, but no one expected her to be serious. Ever.
"So, you going to serenade me before I head off, Darcy? You promised, remember?"
Darcy smiled and grabbed her guitar. "Sure. But...I told you...I'm not that good."
Mark smiled. "Look good so far." He winked.
Darcy finished her acoustic version of Wonderwall and slipped the guitar back into its floor rack.
"Well...that's about it. I'm getting better."
"I thought it was fantastic." He smiled and Darcy's stomach did butterfly backflips.
_________
Later that night....
________
"No Kim today?"
"Naw - she was up with Darcy most of the night last night talking her off the ledge." She sighed and tried to keep up with "Miss Fit". Her blonde hair fluttered around her head.
Miss Fit dropped to the ground and started up the second round of stretches. "Man...Darcy is a mess."
"Yeah. A bit. Cindy was out and Darcy called Kim into her room in a crying jag about something. No one is sure." She felt the growing heat start to bring out the sweat.
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Maybe get her Prince Charming to notice more than her guitar playing?"
"Jesus...more?"
"Hellz to the yeah, Blondie. Gotta keep this bod tip top!" She smiled.
________
Back at the house, the girls discuss the Darcy situation.
Kim absently clicked away at the computer and muttered, "What was that adult site with the amazon position stuff again?"
"Kim!"
"Just joking.....kinda..."
"So, Darcy?" Mis Fit pet the dog and played with its ears.
"Am I the most shite sister on the planet or what? I don't know what to do with her. She's always been like this. Just...sad and depressed."
"And YOU'RE the one that listens to all that dark ass got stuff. The irony." Miss Fit smiled.
"Sorry." Miss Fit went back to petting the dog.
"It's that CNN dude. He's making her crazy with his maybe, maybe not bullshit. I heard them and can understand why she's so messed up. He's so vague with her."
"She's just so...fragile. Ever since that stuff when down two years ago, she's been mooning around and drinking too much." Cindy fell into a chair - unsure of wha to do next. "She says she's ok, but then she'll do that wacky shit she did last night." Cindy looked at Kim. "Thanks again, Kim. Really."
Kim nodded and smiled before yawning again. "My pleasure....but I need a nap." She excused herself and headed to the room.
"We'll help however we can, Cin." Miss Fit smiled. "We're in this together."
Cindy smiled up at her, then looked to the floor. "It means a lot. Really."
"Where is Darcy now?"
___________
Darcy was hung over and out in the middle of nowhere. The coffee and danish she had earlier had given her enough fuel and drive to walk out into the fields, but now she had to walk back under the full bake of the sunshine. She stared at the book of spells, then headed off.
"Fuck, it's hot...."
Darcy finally made it to some shade and sat down. She looked at the book again as sweat dripped off her forehead.
"Seriously? A SPELL book, Darcy? What are you - a child?"
Darcy stood up and let the book drop to the ground.
It took her a full seven steps before going back for it.
"Not even my book. Cindy would kill me if I left her book out here."
She headed for home.