Break Solo Fin

Breakups sucked, Dee decided moodily as she kicked a stone out of her way, the rock skittering along the path then skipping off into the grass to the side. Or rather, heartbreak sucked. The ripping, tearing feeling in her chest that never quite went away and randomly hit her so hard that she could breathe only in gasps, her face scrunching up involuntarily in an attempt to hold herself together. It didn't always work, although whether it ended in a temper or in tears was unpredictable. Dee hadn't been very pleasant to be around in the last few weeks.

The worst thing was that she missed him. Thinking of Jack was so ingrained, so automatic that she couldn't just turn it off. Jack had been part of her normal, and even now that he wasn't, he was still somehow there in her thoughts. Whether it was something she'd usually tell or ask him, or that she'd sit with him at lunch, or hang out in his cabin; and every time she'd stop short, reminded with a sharp stab of their ugly fight, the accusations he'd thrown at her. Baseless or not, they'd hurt. It wasnt like she'd ever given him reason to doubt her. The reminder had her face hardening, eyes glaring angrily at a daisy that had dared spout up right in the middle of her way, stretching happily up towards the sun. She stepped on it.

Perhaps she hadn't found her new normal yet.

Raising her head, she glanced up at the castle, her features softening even as the corners of her mouth turned down. Four years since she'd come to Hogwarts, her fourth summer camp, and this was the first time she genuinely didn't want to be here. The risk of unexpectedly running into Jack had her constantly on edge. She somehow hadn't yet, and she'd successfully avoided him for the last few days of the school year, but it was only a matter of time. He had to be around somewhere. (Little did she know, his plans to attend camp had changed, and he was likely enjoying the fair weather in Ireland even while she took her mood out on innocent flowers.) So Dealla was half expecting to see him around every corner, and yet, with every day she didn't meet him, she grew more tense. At this point, Dee had half a mind to just stomp up to one of Jack's (former?) friends and demand his location. Get it over with. The other half of her mind knew that she wouldn't, though. The whole situation really wasn't a lot of fun, and if not for duelling, she might have skipped out on the camp this year altogether.

Tearing her eyes from the castle that had been her home for the past few years, Dee gave another petty glare up at the cloudless blue sky and carelessly shining sun before she continued on her way. The summer weather really didn't suit her current mood, but it didn't seem to care much. At least duelling and her friends provided a distraction, an opportunity to push away her sulking and focus on something more fun. She was still more snippy than usual, but her moodiness wasn't nearly as present as when she was alone.

If she could, Dee thought, she'd just fast forward through the next month and a bit, to the part of the summer she was actually looking forward to - the trip with Theo and his family. The thought of her American friend brought a small smile to her face. Most of her friends knew by now, of course, that Dee and Jack had broken up. It was inevitable. But Theo didn't know Jack, or even know of Jack, and Dee hadn't told him about her recent breakup, so being around him was... easy. Refreshing. She wasn't going to tell him, either, considering his letter had been the catalyst for their fight. He'd probably just feel guilty, and she didn't want to taint their friendship with that. So Theo remained blissfully separate from the mess that was her former love life, and Dee was fully determined to enjoy her time on a different continent. She straightened up, steps becoming more determined.

She just had to get through the rest of this camp first.

Mentions @Jack Warren, Theo Duncain (@Opeila Winters)