Chapter 3 The target

Ria grew restless and uncomfortable that she had suddenly become the center of their conversation. She wanted to disappear so badly, run away from their midst. But that would only make things worse. She sat there silently, as they talked about some of her most embarrassing moments. She smiled from time to time, but she didn't say anything else. Luckily, the conversation slowly shifted away from her and she could finally breath again. She was getting ready to make up an excuse of wanting to sleep to run away from the group when, Camila suddenly raised a suggestion.

"Let's go out! What do you bitches say?" She said in her usual high spirits. The other girls screamed in agreement.

"Yes!"

"We've been in Vegas for a whole week, I mean, one whole freaking week! And all we've done is work! Work!! Work!!!" Sonia cried in total agreement.

"We didn't even get a break!" Another girl screamed.

"It's my first time here and I didn't even get to see the city beyond the runway!" Helena, a ginger haired girl said, waving her hand in the air and widening her green eyes as if she had only just realized that her time in Vegas was up.

"It's the Las of the Vegas bitches, and we didn't even get a bite of it!" Keisha cried.

They were beginning to get on their feet, one after the other, with all the hype, and some of them were already jumping about like excited kids who had just unwrapped their Christmas present under the Christmas tree and it was exactly what they wished for.

"Well, I sure ain't leaving Vegas, without a piece of Vegas!" Camila cried and the rest of the girls returned the call like a group of vikings responding to the battle hype by their viking chief.

"I want some action! I want me some Vegas shit!" Camila cried and once again, the battle-like response came through. "Who wants some action?" Camila called again and her small group of vikings responded in like energy. "Let's go get some action bitches!" She called, and the battle cry reached a crescendo. They were all on their feet at this point and leaping about excitedly.

"Who's in? Hands in bitches!" Camila called and they all threw in their hands. All of them except Ria, who was still seated, watching the little group like a lost soul. As if from afar, like she were extracted from the scene, or watching them remotely.

All eyes turned on Ria, questioningly, as if she were the enemy of the small viking warriors. The enemy they had to conquer.

"Bitch, what?" Keisha questioned Ria, tilting her head to the side as if she had to do that to see Ria through a vertical slit.

"Erm, you go without me. I'll pass." Ria said, putting her hands in the air.

"No! No!! No!!! No way!" Camila said, moving in on her. The rest of the group followed suit, and soon, they had surrounded Ria. Ria felt vulnerable, like a lamb, caught in the the midst of a pack of werewolves under a full moon.

"I'm good you girls, for reals." Ria reassured them.

"No way you're sleeping on us babe, just no way. We worked hard together, and we'll party hard together." Keisha said and the other girls chanted their agreement.

"Uhm, well, I need to sleep. Besides, we have a long day tomorrow. We have a plane to catch and..." Ria started, but Helena interrupted her.

"Our flight is not until the evening Sis!" The ginger head said. "You can get all the sleep you want through the morning!"

"Uhm... Well..." Ria stuttered. She was raking up her brain for another possible excuse. She didn't want to hang out with them, not in the absence of Georgia. She had never been out with these girls all on her own before. Infact, she had met a number of them only once before they came to Vegas. She didn't know what they were like. Keisha and Camila were the only two she was well acquainted with. The rest were more or less strangers to her. Also, after the roast they had given her just that evening, she didn't want to be in their company. She did want to see the rest of Vegas, but certainly not in their company. She wished Georgia was around.

"Stop making up excuses Ria." Camila said to her.

"I'm not making up excuses, really." Ria insisted. "I just need to rest up."

"We all need to rest up too little Sis!" Helena chirped in.

"Don't do that. Don't be like that Ria." Camila said.

"Like how?" Ria asked.

"Like you. You're being like you." Camila told her.

"And how am I being like me? What's me like?" Ria asked.

"Boring. You're being boring Ria." Keisha helped Camila out.

"What.. What? Wait, what? Me? Boring? How? Why would you think I am boring? How am I boring?" Ria cried in hysteria.

Keisha walked over to Ria and joined her on the couch, facing her squarely.

"Ever wondered why we hung out so many times but never really bonded? It's cause you're boring. Ever wondered why even when we are together as a group, Georgia is still the only person you talk to for however long we hang out? It's cause you're boring. Ever wondered why you feel so lost and removed whenever Georgia is not present, even now. Well baby, it's cause you're boring and your life is so vapid and uneventful." Keisha counted out for Ria.

"My life is anything but vapid and uneventful right now!" Ria argued. "In fact, I've been having the most interesting life lately."

"What eventful life? Those fleeting flings?" Camila stepped in.

"Well, if that's not interesting, what is?" Ria asked.

"Oh please!" A number of the girls, including Keisha and Camila chorused.

"She had two flings and now she thinks she is a notorious flirt, a worldly woman. Girl, in what century are you living?" Sonia cried. The rest of the girls laughed. Ria was taken aback that they all knew about her flings.

"Want me to let you in on a secret?" Camila asked, but she didn't wait for Ria's reply, because she was going to say what she had on her mind whether or not Ria gave her a go ahead. "Wanna know why Henry left you? It's cause you are like this Ria. Boring." She said, and Ria felt her heart cracking at the seams.