39A/N: Whoa, this chapter took me a long time. Maybe because I kept changing the ending! So many ideas so I couldn't choose which one to write down.
Ryan, here? Rachelle's heart fluttered quickly, and her eyes instinctively dropped down to the floor. Rachelle bit down on her lower lip, something she does when she's nervous, then she snapped back into reality. Rachelle walked onto the new mahogany hardwood floors, and desperately looked for someone to go towards, since he was still following Rachelle, silently. She had no idea why she was nervous. Maybe it was the fact that they hadn't seen each other for seven years? Or was it something else?
"Rachelle!" Her cousin's voice penetrated the awkward silence, and of course, he didn't notice the tension in the foyer.
Rachelle nodded, emotionlessly. Why is he here though? Why? She looked up at her cousin, who finally noticed the nervousness between his two guests. Rachelle waved her cousin away as he gestured her to the backyard, where the party was happening. Then it came clear to her. God, how stupid could I be?
Rachelle remembered the time when two girls in the hallway were whispering.
"Did you see the new guy?"
"Yea, he's so cute! What's his name?"
"Aidan McCormick, he's in my bio class."
"Lucky. I hope he's available."
One of the two snorted. "Probably not. He hangs out with Max and Ryan's crew, remember? With all those girls crowding around them, the odds are not likely. Getting into their group is like posting an ad on one of those dating sites."
With that, they hurried off to class as the second bell rang, an indication that class was going to start in five minutes. Rachelle could hear them giggling and gossiping some more as she, herself, hurried to class with her hands full with her text books.
"So…" Aidan stood there impatiently, giving Ryan an is-she-okay look. He shrugged.
Rachelle quickly shot a smile towards both Ryan and Aidan. "Yup." She glanced up at the ceiling, and continued, "So, what did you ask me, again? I kinda dozed off." Rachelle took her eyes off of the ceiling and met Ryan's eyes, who by the way, didn't speak or move at all. "Uh…"
"I asked if you wanted to go to, you know, where the party is actually happening." He grabbed her hand and dragged Rachelle to his backyard. The family, and a couple of "unknown" people greeted Rachelle, as she took a seat next to her parents.
"Hey, mom." Mrs. Henderson, Allison, returned her daughter's welcome with a hug and a quick smile.
"What took you so long?"
"You should know how long the bus takes," Rachelle started and continued after a short pause. "And, since my seventeenth birthday is coming up, you know, the time when I can start to drive…" She emphasized the word drive, hoping that her mom had caught her subtle hint. It didn't work. Rachelle's mom had already turned away and started a conversation with Greg, her uncle.
Rachelle started playing with her fingernails, as her cousin asked her to come downstairs with him to hang and relax, instead of chilling with, in their words, "old" people. Glad to get away from her mom's discussion, she nodded and agreed. Rachelle grabbed her purse and her jacket and started to make her way down to the basement.
The house smelled fresh and new. I know, it's an odd way to describe a house, but those words came to Rachelle's mind first. It wasn't an exactly huge house, but it wasn't crowded or small either. Maybe a middle-sized house? She went into several rooms, which she thought it would lead down to the basement, but instead she either went into a bathroom, a guest room, or a room full of unpacked goods. Stupidity hit her for the second time. Rachelle found that the door leading down to the basement had a sign, hanging on the doorknob, saying basement just like the other rooms she had gone into.
"You finally got here!" exclaimed Aidan, who was currently playing a round of cards with his pals. "That took you long enough." He smirked, something that Rachelle hated when a guy did it. To her, it seemed as if they were hiding an enormous secret that they only know.
"Shut up." She meant it as a playful tease but snickers from the corner of the room made her lighthearted smile disappear. Rachelle shot a look of hatred towards him, but this time with no teasing.
"I'm sorry, darling. But I just love it when a girl gets mad. Especially a girl like you." A guy with mousy blond hair spoke. Rachelle did a double take as she darted another set of irritated looks at him. It was the guy in the hallway, after the orientation. Oh yea, the perverted one. His hair was not slicked back with gel, like before, but now it was ruffled, giving him a laid-back, I-just-got-out-of-bed-and-don't-mess-with-me look. "What's wrong? Still mad?"
"Yes. I. Am. Sweet-ums." Her voice came out as breaths. Rachelle was a little bit hurt that Aidan, her own cousin, hadn't defended her. She turned and headed for the stairs. Rachelle usually didn't have a short temper, but it happened from time to time, especially when she felt intimidated, like now. I mean, look around. The most popular people were inside that very basement, all turning to look at Rachelle. I guess it was something that everyone does once in a while.
"He was kidding."
Oh great. Now he defends me. Just at the last second. Rachelle turned so her whole body was in front of everybody. Her face burned with shame as everybody, once again, turned to look at her.
Aidan turned his head and faced Max. "Come on. Stop teasing her." Their eyes were locked on each other's, neither one of them blinking, as if both of them didn't want to be the first one to give in. Rachelle was sure that she heard crickets in the nearby distance.
Somebody, please respond. In Rachelle's head, rolls of film, featuring Max and Aidan kept playing inside of her head. Aidan takes a swing at Max. He misses! But, oh wait, here comes Max with…with a knife? She shuddered and forced herself not to make anymore of those horrifying daydreams.
Max gave in, "Fine. I won't."
"I'm still going, since that retard is still here."
"No you aren't, my little cousin." His words were final and Rachelle reluctantly took a seat next to a guy with black-ish brown hair.
Aidan smiled and introduced everybody to Rachelle. He pointed to the table and said each name starting with the person next to her. "That's Tommy West…" She looked to the guy beside her and he gave her a polite smile. Snapping out of his gaze, Rachelle pointed to guy next to Tommy and asked, "Who's he again?
Laughing, Aidan replied. "That's Billie Nelson, but we call him Bob."
Rachelle gave him an absurd look, "Bob, Billie…" Her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to find the relationship between the two names.
"Don't ask. You don't need to know," remarked Billie…or was it Bob? "It's a long story."
Returning back to the previous conversation, Aidan signaled to an athletic looking girl, with straight blond hair, wearing a simple t-shirt and gray sweats. "That's Michelle, my girlfriend." She giggled and waved.
Those girls in the hallway was right, being in their group was like asking for a date, subconsciously. Rachelle smiled in return and motioned Aidan to go on with the introduction.
"Next to her is Tracy Rowan." Tracy gave Rachelle a dirty look as to say get-away-from-him. Rachelle trembled with disgust. Ew. He's my cousin, meaning that would be incest, plus he's already taken. Aidan quickly moved on, noticing the dislike between the two girls.
"That's Ryan O' Conner." He gave a quick and hesitant smile, and his wavy brown hair covered his dark eyes.
Rachelle flashed him a smile and mouthed the word hi, hoping that Ryan still remembered her.
"And that so-called retard is Max Felton." He pointed to him.
Rachelle had clearly known who he was, since they had been in the same elementary school. It was evident that he remembered who she was too, by the surprised expression on his face, when she first walked into the room.
Max stood up from the ground and remarked, "I'm going to get a beer. Who wants one?"
"Coke."
"Sprite."
"Alright." He ran up the stairs, leaving his brown and white Hollister jacket on the nearby couch. Max came back, shortly afterwards, with a couple of cokes, sprites, and beers. As the drinks started disappearing in front of Rachelle, she quickly realized that there was none left for her.
"Damn you," she mouthed to Max. Rachelle turned a dull pink from his intense stare.
He smirked and replied, "You're welcome."
"I'm going to get a drink." Rachelle got up from her chair, which made a distinctive squeaking noise. She grimaced at the sound and hurried upstairs to find out where the kitchen was located. Her socks glided across the smooth ceramic tiles, and Rachelle caught on to a railing just as she slipped backwards.
"You okay?"
Rachelle turned, stunned by the figure behind her. It was Tommy West. He grasped her wrist, and helped Rachelle regain her balance. When she didn't reply, he asked repeated the same question.
She smiled and tried to come up with a smart remark to cover up her embarrassment."Well, physically I'm fine…but mentally I'm not."
"And why is that?"
"Because my knight in shining armor just saved me, and I just can't get over that." Rachelle chuckled. Tommy caught onto her joke and did a small curtsy. "Hey, why are you here instead of being with the retards downstairs?"
"Are you calling me a retard?" He faked a shocked expression and covered his mouth with his hand, as if trying to look offended.
"You should really work more on the drama department, buddy. Your acting is really something. Something bad, I meant." Rachelle chuckled. "So, Tommy, do you know where the kitchen is?"
"Ya. I know where it is." Tommy led her to the kitchen, which was behind the huge French doors. "Calling them retards? Ha, that's funny." He grabbed an apple from the tray, peeked outside of the window, shined his apple, and took a huge bite out of it. Mumbling he said, "You know what, Rachelle. I'm pretty sure that you're the first person ever to call them retards or idiots. Most people worship them."
"And that is because…"
"Well, let's see. They're hot, they're athletic, and they're rich." Tommy mimicked in a falsely feminine voice. "Plus they are just sooo cute."
She snorted, taking out a bottle of water while grabbing an extra one for Tommy. "Want one?"
He shook his head. "It's alright, I've got something already." Tommy shoved his hands into his khakis and leaned back onto the marble countertops. "To answer your question, I'm not with those retards because they're planning to do something unintelligent. It's somewhat a ritual, you know. They always do something dramatic, usually stupid, to start off the new school year."
"Figures." Rachelle grinned. "So what exactly are they planning?"
"Don't know, really. That's why I'm outta there, so my chances of being involved is less." A short pause consumed them as he watched Rachelle take a sip of her drink. "So you wanna find out what they are arranging?"
Rachelle stopped him, holding the cold water bottle in front of his face. "Wait. I have another question."
"Shoot."
"Why do you hang out with them? They're just so different from you." She held Tommy's wrist, not letting go until he gave an answer. Rachelle took one long look into his eyes.
"They're my friends. True friends don't ditch each other, and vice-versa. But if they do, it could be the time when they need you the most." She nodded at this, not knowing that this phrase could dawn new light on her one day.
As they both made their way back into the depths of Aidan's basement, Rachelle had no idea that whatever her cousin and his friend's have planned, it will dramatic, very dramatic, just as Tommy had said.
Wrshpgod07- Haha, thanks. At least I know that, according to some people, my story is cute. Yayy. Thanks for the review!
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