 
sworn

(book #1 of the Vampire Legends)

emma knight

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Copyright © 2011 by Emma Knight

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Chapter One

Rachel Wood sat in the back of her family's 1997 station wagon, hating her life. To her right sat her annoying younger brother, Mark, and to her left was her older sister Sarah, who sat there loudly humming the pop song streaming through her iPod headphones. As Rachel's dad put on the turn signal and made the final turn off the highway, Rachel took a deep breath, held it, and let out a loud sigh. She couldn't believe her family was making her move now, of all times. Tenth grade.

Rachel couldn't help but let her mind drift to places that scared her. What if she didn't make any friends? What if people teased her? What if she didn't fit in, or her clothes were weird? She worried her sister would make fun of her in the halls and her brother would embarrass her: even more, Rachel worried that her overbearing, overzealous parents would mortify her.

Her dad turned left onto a long winding road.

Is this it? Rachel wondered to herself.

The car continued, making its way through the center of town. Out the window, Rachel saw a pizzeria, a movie rental store, a nail salon and a Hallmark store with balloons and cards in the window. She also noticed a coffee shop and a clothing store with "mom" clothes hanging in the window.

As the car rolled slowly through town, Rachel saw a few people: a lady walking on the sidewalk, pushing a stroller, a man and his two sons, wearing AYSO blue and black soccer jerseys and soccer cleats. Rachel also saw a group of kids, one wearing a sweatshirt with a tiger on it that read "AHS."

Rachel recognized the letters from the welcome letter she had received a few weeks back, welcoming her to Apache High School. She sighed and wondered if these could be her new friends.

Rachel looked the kids up and down and got a pit in her stomach. Seeing these kids made her feel even more nervous for her first day of school tomorrow.

She was embarrassed at how slowly her dad was driving through town. Doesn't he know how lame it is to crawl through town? Rachel thought. She buried her head between her legs until she felt the car pick up speed.

The family drove for another five minutes down a suburban street. She noticed each house as they drove by, and was surprised by what she saw. These houses were much different than the houses in her old town: they were large and opulent, had long circular driveways, and some even had pillars you had to drive through to enter their driveways.

Where are we?

As they neared the end of the road, Rachel's dad put on the breaks. Sarah took her ear buds out and looked up from her lap.

Mark pointed and asked, "Is this it?"

The pit in Rachel's stomach grew as she anticipated seeing her new house for the first time. She wondered what it would look like, she wondered if she would have to share a room with Sarah again, and wondered about her bedroom.

"42 Pine Road!" Rachel's dad announced eagerly.

Rachel's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as they pulled into their new driveway.

Home.

Rachel examines the house as they pulled in. This house was different than the others on her street: a white house with black shudders, it was a more modest house, with no entry pillars and no circular driveway. The house had a red front door, with a large brass knocker in the shape of a lion.

As Rachel got out of the car, she took another deep breath and grabbed her suitcase. She raced inside, along with Sarah and Mark, to see the bedrooms. Sarah elbowed Rachel out of the way as they flew through the front door.

"I get the bigger room!" Sarah shouted.

Sarah ran upstairs, through the hallway and slammed the door. Mark jolted past Rachel, knocking her suitcase from her hands, and dashed into one of the bedrooms and slammed his door.

As Rachel got to the top of the steps, she saw an open door, the only bedroom door open, and went in and put her suitcase down. Her room was small, but at least it was hers. She was just glad she didn't have to put up with Sarah and her annoying musical obsessions.

A few seconds later, Rachel heard a knock on her door.

"Hurry, it's heavy," Rachel's mom's voice was muffled.

"Rachel!"

Rachel opened the door to find her mom holding a large cardboard box, which read Rachel's Stuff in thick black Sharpie. Her mom plopped the box down in the center of the room, looked up at Rachel and said, "Don't worry Hun, you will grow to like it here, I promise."

Rachel gave her mom a shrug and grunted, "Whatever."

Rachel had been upset with her parents since they'd announced she was moving a few weeks back. It came up one night while her family was on their summer vacation in Virginia Beach. Her parents had been acting odd the whole trip, and Rachel had a sense that something was up. At first she thought maybe her mom was pregnant but she never could have imagined they would spring a move on her.

Rachel had lived in Pennsylvania her whole life, in the same town, in the same house, and in the same bedroom since she was a baby. She had never anticipated moving, especially during high school, of all times.

"We'll see," Rachel said back to her mom.

Rachel's mom walked out of her room and pulled the door shut behind her.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Rachel looked out the window and saw a big white truck backing into their driveway, "AL's Moving and Storage" printed on the side. The beeping stopped, and two men hopped out of the truck and flung open the back door.

Rachel saw box after box. She couldn't help but feel that her whole life had been abruptly uprooted and put into boxes, all because her dad got transferred.

Rachel saw her mom and dad talking to the movers and labeling each box with colorful Post-It notes, so that the movers would know exactly which room to drop each box in.

Even though Rachel was mad, she was still anxious to see her new house. She walked quietly out of her room and down the steps. She didn't want her family to see her curiosity, and to know she was excited to be peeking around.

As she got to the bottom of the steps, she turned left and walked into the family room. She saw a fireplace and two large windows. Rachel's mind began to wander, thinking about celebrating Christmas in this room, and putting the tree up in the corner and decorating it. The room looked bare now, except for a few boxes stacked up along the wall.

Rachel continued through the family room, which joined onto another room. It was a bright room with a bay window, which looked onto the front lawn. Rachel figured this was the dining room, but wasn't sure. This room was painted an ugly brown color, which Rachel despised.

As Rachel walked out of the ugly brown room, she entered the kitchen. She flipped on the light and looked around. She felt depressed by the black Formica cabinets and the dark linoleum floors. There was a stale smell in the kitchen that made her miss her old house even more.

Rachel kept exploring the rooms and bathrooms and felt a kind of withdrawal she had never knew she could feel for a house. She never realized how attached she was to her old house in Pennsylvania.

Rachel heard the movers entering through the front door, her parents' voices directing them as they came through with boxes, furniture, chairs, picture frames, TV and computer. Rachel had seen enough, and went back upstairs without anyone noticing her.

She shut her bedroom door and sat on the floor next to her box of stuff. She fumbled through her navy blue Kipling backpack to find her keychain: she knew she had a small scissor attached to it. She cut open the tape on her box, weary about how she would find its contents.

Rachel remembered she had been furious when she had to pack up her room and had just thrown things in the box without any rhyme or reason. When she opened the cardboard flaps, she wasn't surprised at the mess that awaited her. It was as if her whole life, fit into one measly cardboard box.

On the top were some dusty pictures of her and her group of friends from Pennsylvania. She missed her friends and couldn't imagine ever being apart from them. She was not in the popular crowd at her school, and never had been, but Rachel loved her friends anyway. Her friends were simple, no frills, no drama.

This specific picture was one of Rachel's favorites: it had been taken at the Dutch Fair this past spring, a carnival with rides and games, and people wore colonial clothing. It was a pretty wacky place, but Rachel looked forward to it every year.

Rachel picked up another picture and began to get choked up. It was her, and her best friend Dana, hugging and smiling. The two had been inseparable for years since they met in fifth grade. They were on the same volleyball, tennis and soccer teams at school and they were hoping to try out for varsity cheerleading together in the Fall. They had loved to go shopping together at the mall in Pennsylvania. Their favorite stores were JCPenney's, Aeropostale, Gap and American Eagle. They also loved shopping at Wal-Mart, and always managed to find cute accessories there.

A tear fell onto the picture. Rachel quickly wiped it off, but it left a stain right in the center of the photo.

Rachel put the picture down and began to cry. She hated this house, she missed her friends, she was mad at her parents, and she couldn't fathom that tomorrow would be her first day at AHS.

Rachel's thoughts were interrupted by a loud Britney Spears song blasting through her walls.

Ugh, I can't stand her.

Rachel stood up and walked over to a door in her bedroom, which she thought, was her closet, she opened it and saw Sarah standing there, singing and dancing loudly to the music. Rachel's heart dropped at the sight: they had an adjoining bathroom.

"Shame on me, to need release, un-uncontrollably... I I I wanna go o o all the way ay ay takin' out my freak tonight."

Rachel couldn't believe it; did she really have a connecting bathroom? As if things couldn't have gotten any worse.

Rachel slammed the door. Sarah was the antithesis of Rachel; Sarah was a girly-girl, popular and liked by everyone. She had a hot older boyfriend in college, and the two talked about getting married. Sarah was thin, had blond hair, blue eyes and always had perfectly polished nails. She loved pop music, dancing and singing, and wouldn't dare play a contact sport. Sarah was pretty and poised, none of which defined Rachel.

No, Rachel was smart, had brown hair, average weight (not skinny but not heavy). She was decent looking, but had never considered herself to be beautiful. Rachel loved sports and being outside in nature. She was a good girl and always obeyed the rules. She had a handful of good friends, but was not in the popular crowd. She'd never had a boyfriend, although she had many crushes.

So to say the two didn't understand each other would be an understatement. Rachel went over to her box of stuff and rummaged through it, in search of her diary. She had been writing in her diary every night since 7th grade, and didn't want tonight to be any different.

Rachel found it stashed at the bottom of the box and blew the dust off. Her diary was her life. Purple velvet, with a skull on the front, it was thick and heavy with notes from friends, ticket stubs, and pictures taped inside. Rachel wore the silver key to her diary around her neck and never took it off. She was a very private girl, and would rather die than have anyone read her diary.

Rachel lifted her diary up close to her necklace, and then opened the heart-shaped lock. She had become a master at unlocking it while still keeping the key attached to her necklace.

She picked out her favorite pen from the box and leaned forward to write:

Dear Diary,

Today has been the worst day of my life. I am sitting here, in my new room, going through all my pictures of my friends, and I realize that I don't have any friends here in Westchester. Not one. School starts tomorrow and I'm scared. I bet nobody will talk to me. I spoke to Dana and they're all having a last night of summer party tonight while I'm sitting here in this empty, cold room. God, could things get any worse? I'll write more tomorrow to let you know how school goes – if I make it through.

XOXO,

Rachel

Rachel put down her diary and fell back onto her soft bed. She put her head onto her feather pillow and pulled her red and white striped blanket over her head. Rachel was too tired to cry, but too anxious to fall asleep. She lay awake, running different scenarios of how her first day would go over and over in her head. Each scenario was more daunting than the next.

Around one in the morning, Rachel fell asleep.
Chapter Two

Rachel bolted out of bed to jarring Latin dance music blasting from her alarm radio. She stumbled out of bed and fell over clothes, trinkets, pictures and papers she had scattered on the floor in an effort to organize her life. When she finally reached the switch, the alarm mysteriously stopped.

Now that Rachel had been so rudely awakened, she walked over to her bathroom door and reached for the handle: locked. Rachel knocked, as she heard the shower turn on and Sarah's voice, belting out a Demi Lovato song. She knocked louder, hoping Sarah would hear.

"What? Can't you hear I'm in the shower?" Sarah said.

"How much longer will you be? I have to get ready too, ya know!" Rachel said loudly putting her face to the crack in the door.

Rachel waited, but Sarah did not answer.

Rachel walked over to the mess of scattered clothes that lay on her floor. None of it was organized: mismatched socks, sweaters, tank tops, shorts, jeans and her favorite Rolling Stones Tee, all lying lifeless at her feet.

Rachel rolled up her blinds and opened her window about halfway, to gauge the temperature. It was September 8th, and already she could feel the cool breezes of Fall. The leaves rustled in the large trees outside her bedroom window and she took a deep breath of the crisp air. Out of her window, she saw a long front lawn with a few trees scattered near the edges. One of the trees had an old tire swing hanging from its limb, which Rachel assumed had been from the previous owners. The lawn was a dull green color with patches of brown throughout. There was a small garden off to the left with overgrown flowers and weeds. Rachel stared at it for a moment, then shut the window with a bang.

What to wear? Rachel thought.

She suddenly remembered a trip to JCPenney's that she took with Dana about a month ago. Penney's always had their cutest Fall things out over the Summer, and Rachel and Dana had gone shopping early for the season. Rachel remembered buying a cute new pair of worn-in boyfriend jeans, with patches and small tears in the knees. She knew those would be the perfect match with her Stones tee.

Rachel lifted up bags and belts and peered into her large box of stuff. The jeans were nowhere to be found.

She opened her bedroom door and yelled down to her mom; "Mom, where did my new jeans go?"

She stood in her doorway and waited for her mom to respond.

"How should I know what you did what your clothes? Don't blame me if you can't find them. You're the one who packed in a huff last week, not I, Darling," her mom yelled back up, in a snarky tone.

Rachel grunted and slammed her door.

She spotted another pair of dark blue Levi's lying wrinkled on the floor. The ends, too long, were frayed and Rachel had never gotten around to hemming them. She tried them on, smoothing the wrinkles out with her hands. They felt a bit tighter than she'd remembered, so she squatted down a few times and then held the squat to stretch them out.

RIP. The crotch seam burst open.

At that moment the Latin dance music came back on her alarm radio, this time even louder. Rachel waddled in her jeans searching for the clock. She lifted up her white puffy North Face winter coat and found her radio. She slammed her hand down on the off button, and randomly turned the tuner.

Rachel unbuttoned her Levi's and pulled them off her legs. She didn't realize she'd put on a few pounds since last Spring, but apparently she had.

Rachel saw a pair of faded-black Target leggings rolled up in a ball on the floor. She put them on, not having any other options. (At least, none that were unpacked.) The good thing about leggings, Rachel thought, was that no matter how many ice cream cones she had they'd always fit.

Rachel reached for her Stones tee and put it on. She didn't have a mirror in her bedroom, but hoped the outfit looked all right.

Rachel picked up her black nylon toiletry bag and knocked on the bathroom door again. No answer. Rachel turned the doorknob; the door opened and clouds of soapy smelling steam hit her in the face.

Rachel made a fist and wiped off a large circle in the mirror so she could see her face. She peered into the mirror and saw a small zit beginning to form right in the center of her forehead. She quickly reached for her Proactiv, washed her face and put on a spot treatment. She hoped this zit would disappear by eight o'clock; she didn't want to be known as the new girl with the huge zit.

Thinking about time, Rachel looked down at her purple Swatch Watch and realized she only had twenty more minutes until she had to leave for school.

She let out a big sigh and quickly reached into her makeup bag. She opened up her Urban Decay blush and swiped it onto her cheeks. Then she opened the cap of her Cover Girl mascara and layered it on her lashes, one quick stroke at a time. She pulled out her Maybelline baby blue eye shadow and put one stroke on each lid and closed the case. She reached for her hairbrush and ran it through her tangled and knotted mess of bed head hair. It was still a little frizzy and definitely not what she had hoped for her first day of school, but it would have to do.

Rachel grabbed her black high-top Converse and her Kipling backpack and headed downstairs for breakfast.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she could already hear Mark and Sarah bickering over who got to sit in the front seat of the car on the way to school.

"Give it a rest," their dad said in a firm, loud tone.

Rachel walked briskly into the dark, smelly kitchen, which she disliked with a passion, and sat down at the kitchen table.

In front of her were two boxes of cereal, Golden Grahams and Cheerios. Rachel reached for the Golden Grahams, tilted the box, but nothing came out. Empty.

Rachel looked up at Mark and Sarah who were happily eating their bowls of Golden Grahams, which were heaping out of their bowls.

"Thanks a lot, guys," Rachel said.

"Sucks to be you," Mark replied with a huge mouthful of cereal.

Rachel forcefully reached for the box of Cheerios and poured some into her bowl. She hated plain cheerios. She picked up her spoon and put a small bite into her mouth and started chewing.

"So, you kids ready for your first day?" their dad asked.

"Yup," said Mark. "9th grade – high school, here I come!"

Mark was fine with the move because he was just starting high school and didn't have any qualms about leaving Pennsylvania. He always wanted to get out of that small town anyway, so this was a blessing for him. It was also not so hard for Mark, because he was entering in 9th grade and that was much better than starting in 10th. Everyone expects there to be new kids in 9th grade.

Sarah looked down at her Blackberry and smiled, "Gary says hello and wishes everyone a fab day."

Sarah's boyfriend, Gary, had just started college at Skidmore University, so that was lucky for Sarah because it was now only a short train ride away.

Rachel looked at Sarah and rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand how her sister could be so perky and upbeat all the time.

Rachel's mom came dashing into the kitchen. "Come on kids, you don't want to be late on your first day. It's time to go!" she said.

Rachel's mom kissed her dad on the cheek and said, "I'll see you when you get home from work. Have an excellent day. I love you."

Rachel, Mark and Sarah all put on their shoes, grabbed their backpacks – well, Sarah grabbed her black patent leather shoulder bag – and headed out towards the car.

Sarah breezed by Rachel and hopped into the front seat, shut the door and started pressing the buttons on the radio. Their family had a rule, that whoever sat in the front could choose the radio station. So Rachel was in for a bubble gum pop music extravaganza on her way to school.

As the Jonas Brothers blared over the radio, Rachel's nerves began to grow. She felt her body tense up and get cold and clammy. She only had a few more minutes before she walked into AHS for the first time.

The minutes felt like hours as her mom drove down the windy back roads of Bedford, New York. Rachel looked out the window and saw cars full of teenagers drive past her, smiling and laughing. Rachel got even more nervous, thinking about the prospect of making new friends.

For a moment she imagined herself riding along joyfully in a car with all her new friends, laughing and gossiping about boys.

Rachel's warm thoughts were cut short by a buzzing coming from inside her backpack.

1 New Message:

Rachel flipped open her Motorola flip phone and saw a text from Dana.

Dana: Happy 1st day! We miss you XOXO.

Attached to this text was a picture Dana had taken with her camera phone of their entire crew of friends back home.

Rachel sent back a smiley face, even though that was anything but how she was feeling inside.

Rachel's mom turned on her blinker and made her final turn into the driveway of the school. Rachel looked out the window and saw a large sign that said, Welcome Back AHS Students.

As the family car slowly reached the front of the school, Rachel could see groups of friends hugging and greeting each other in the school yard. The student parking lot was full of BMWs, Audi's, Mercedes' and Saab's. This was nothing like her old school parking lot.

As the car sat there in front of the school, Rachel's mom reached for her purse and fumbled around for her wallet. Rachel put her head down so nobody could see her face. Her mom slowly pulled out twelve crumpled dollar bills and handed each of them four dollars.

"Here's your lunch money. Have a great day and make lots of new friends," their mom said in an overly cheery voice.

Rachel felt even more out of place as her 1997 grey Station wagon pulled up to the front door of the school. She hopped out of the car fast so nobody would be able to remember which car she had stepped out of. She said a quick goodbye to her mom, shut the door, and entered the sea of new faces at AHS. She already wished this day was over.
Chapter Three

As Rachel made her way through the bottleneck of kids entering the school, she felt completely alone. Mark and Sarah had disappeared into the crowd, and she was pushed and shoved as she squeezed her way through the front door of AHS. This school was very large, much larger than her small rural Pennsylvania public school. The hallways smelled of bleach and stale cafeteria food, which made her nose burn.

As Rachel got inside, she heard yells and screams of excitement as friends reunited for the first time. She reached into her backpack, trying to find her student schedule. She couldn't remember her homeroom number, or her locker number. Standing in the middle of the hall, she rummaged around in her bag, but couldn't find any of it. She felt the kids breeze past her, down the hallway and towards their homerooms.

She pulled out her army print FiloFax. She flipped through the pages, searching. But her schedule and locker information was nowhere to be found.

Feeling desperate, Rachel looked around for help. Rachel saw two girls coming towards her laughing and whispering, and hoped they would stop and help her, but they didn't even notice her.

The chatter of voices got softer as locker doors began to slam shut.

RING. The sound of the first bell.

Suddenly, a boy crashed into her, making her lose her balance and trip.

"Sorry!" the boy shouted as he ran past her, not stopping to see if she was okay.

Rachel stood there and held back her tears. She couldn't believe her first day was starting off so poorly.

She started walking briskly, in hopes of finding the main office. As she came towards the front of the building, she squinted and saw a small inconspicuous sign that read "Main Office." She pushed open the heavy glass door and walked in.

"Good Morning, Dear," said a nice old lady behind the desk. "You couldn't be in trouble already?" she asked with a laugh.

"I--I um--lost my schedule. I'm new. Rachel Wood."

"Okay, let's see here," the receptionist said, as she poked at her iMac keyboard. "Ah ha—Rachel Wood: 10th grade. You're in Mr. Allen's homeroom. Room 102."

She printed Rachel a copy of her schedule and handed it to her across her desk, "Good Luck."

"Thanks."

Rachel scurried down the bleach-smelling hallway, towards her locker. She was the only one left in the large, empty hallways and she knew that was a bad sign. She must be late. Very late.

Rachel's bag was heavy and she needed to empty it before heading to her classroom. As she flew through the halls a calm came over her. The blue tiles on the floor made her feel like she was walking through the ocean, and the lockers were painted a cool yellow color, which eased Rachel's mind. She glanced at the ascending numbers until she came to locker 74. She reached for the knob, opened it and put all her books in, leaving out one pen and a notebook. She slammed the door shut and put her pad lock through the hole. 36-32-26. Rachel jotted the code onto her hand with her blue Bic pen, then booked it to the room marked 102.

Rachel gulped and pushed the door open. Everyone sat quietly in their desks, facing Mr. Allen as he spoke and turned and stared at her. It was anything but what she wanted on her first day. She noticed kids in the back begin to whisper as they stared at her in the doorway.

"Ah, Rachel Wood I presume?" said Mr. Allen.

Rachel nodded.

"First day and already tardy," he continued.

"I'm sorry-- I'm um-- new and I got lost," Rachel muttered.

Laughter arose from the back of the classroom.

"Don't let it happen again. That's your seat," Mr. Allen said as he pointed to the only empty seat in the room. It was front and center.

As Rachel walked over and sat down, the class was silent. It was an intimidating silent. Mr. Allen looked at Rachel again as if to say, I'm watching you, then continued his lesson.

"Where was I?" Mr. Allen continued, "Oh yes. This year we will be learning all sorts of things in social studies, from the pilgrims, to Abraham Lincoln to the Cold War. You will have homework every night and I expect each and every one of you to complete it."

Rachel sat in her chair and began to tune him out. As Mr. Allen's abrasive voice grew softer, she wondered, who was this teacher anyway? He couldn't have been more rude or embarrassing.

Rachel wanted desperately to turn around and look at her new classmates. She resisted, in fear of being accosted by Mr. Allen. She was also nervous to see the twenty-something new faces she would see each morning for the rest of the school year.

Rachel wondered that maybe, if she sat quietly facing forward, this would all disappear. She wouldn't have to break out of her shell and make new friends.

Rachel felt a tap on her back. She turned around.

"Can you pass this to her?" a pretty girl with blonde hair was pointing to the girl sitting on the other side of Rachel.

"Sure," Rachel said as she reached out and stealthily took the note. Mr. Allen turned to the board, and Rachel quickly handed the note off.

The girl opened the folded piece of paper and began to read. As she read the note, Rachel could hear her chuckle, and she had put her hands over her mouth to mask the sound. Rachel noticed the girl slyly looking at her while she was still reading the note. Each time she looked over at Rachel, she laughed even more.

Rachel felt so uneasy. All she wanted to do was disappear. She looked down at her shoes, pants, shirt, and bag, and couldn't imagine what could be so funny.

Rachel figured things couldn't possibly get any worse and she decided to turn partially around in her chair to see who was sitting around her. She saw a mix of boys and girls. She could tell by the way they dressed that they were different than she was. Did she miss the memo that leggings and tees were not cool for the first day of school?

Rachel looked at their faces, as one after another looked back with cold stares. Rachel wondered if anyone smiled at AHS.

Towards the far corner of the room, Rachel saw an average looking girl with black hair and glasses writing in her notebook. The girl looked up and caught Rachel's stare. She smiled briefly at Rachel and then went back to her writing.

Rachel felt much better as she sat there. A new wave of confidence filled her body, and for the first time she wondered if maybe this wasn't going to be terrible.

Rachel peered out of the corner of her eye, and her gaze stopped on a cute boy. He was the stereotypical, all-American, jock type. He had dirty blond hair, green eyes, perfect skin and he was wearing fitted jeans and his football jersey. Number 80. Rachel couldn't see the back, but was anxious to see his last name.

"Psst." The girl who had just read the note was trying to get Rachel's attention. Rachel ignored her.

"Hey you, pass it back." The girl threw the note onto Rachel's desk.

Mr. Allen suddenly walked over to Rachel's desk, picked up the folded piece of paper and held it in his hands.

"What's this?" he asked, staring at Rachel.

Rachel was silent as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Listen up: you may be new, but I know you know that note passing is not allowed," Mr. Allen said as he confiscated the note. Rachel then saw him walk over to his attendance book, make a mark in it and then looked back at her.

Rachel looked over at the girl who threw the note on her desk, but she didn't look back.

RING. The second bell rang.

Rachel heard the sound of notebooks slamming shut and the screech of metal chair legs on the floor. The voices grew louder as she neared the hallway, and as the boy in the football jersey passed by, her hand swiped his large bicep.

The back of his jersey read Greene. Rachel took a mental note. #80 Greene. She was going to keep an eye out for him. He was hotter than any guy she'd ever seen in Pennsylvania.

The next few classes were boring compared to what Rachel went through in homeroom. She sat through the typical first day of math, science and literature, and now found herself walking alone into the cafeteria, the four crumpled up dollar bills clenched firmly in her sweaty palm.

She stepped into the large cafeteria, which she felt was the most daunting place in the entire school. Here it was, her first "real" taste of what AHS was really like.

When she got through the two double doors that led her into the large open space, she saw long, blue folding tables, with benches attached to them. There must have been 20 of them spread out through the cafeteria in neat rows. The smell of mass-produced school food infused the already stale air. The chatter of voices rang loudly in her ears as she looked for the hot food line.

Rachel read the menu:

Meatloaf: $7.50

Tuna Sandwich: $5.50

Grilled Cheese: $5.00

Chips: $2.50

# Cookie: $1.50

Juice: $2.00

Rachel looked into her palm, at the four, moist dollar bills. She realized they wouldn't go far in this school, and bypassed the hot food line as her stomach growled.

Rachel reached for a bag of Fritos and a cookie, paid the cashier, and exited through the opposite door.

As she left the lunch line and entered the large cafeteria room again, it had gotten much more crowded. All the tables were full, and everyone was already eating. Apparently it wasn't cool to buy hot lunch at AHS. Everyone had brought their lunches from home, and she looked at the array of wraps, salads, and freshly made deli sandwiches that spread across each table.

As Rachel looked at all the kids, she couldn't help but feel like she was part of a cliché teen movie. New girl in the cafeteria, with no friends, having a hard time finding a place to sit and eat.

She continued walking, looking for a table to sit at. She passed a table full of nerdy looking kids, all with their laptops and schoolbooks out.

At another table Rachel saw a group of grungy, punk kids with baggy pants, chain wallets, streaked hair and dark black eyeliner.

At another table sat a group of pretty girls, and Rachel could hear them going over a cheer. Rachel assumed they were cheerleaders. This reminded her of her plan to try out for her old school's cheerleading team. She took another look at those girls, and felt deflated, and she didn't feel like she belonged on the same team as them.

At the table next to the pretty girls sat Greene, in his #80 jersey. He was sitting there with about ten other jock types: some in their football jerseys, and others looking sharp in preppy clothing.

Rachel came upon a table behind Greene's, with a few random people scattered at it. Nobody was talking to each other and they were all looking down, quietly munching away at their lunches. She found an open seat and sat down.

Nobody even looked up to acknowledge that she had joined the table. Rachel felt an overwhelming feeling of solitude, and quickly ate her Fritos lunch. She didn't want to sit in that cafeteria feeling anonymous and alone any longer than she had to.

As she scarfed down her chips, she couldn't help but notice how cute Greene was.

"Hey Rob, check this out," a boy sitting at Greene's table said, and handed Greene something.

Rob Greene Rachel thought to herself. Now she knew his first name, too.

Rob was one of the hottest guys she'd ever seen. His wispy blonde hair swept over his green eyes as he brushed it back with his fingertips. Rachel wanted desperately for him to notice her. Her heart started beating faster and she realized she had her first crush at AHS.

Rachel's mind was racing, and she suddenly remembered her Pennsylvania crush, Alex, who she'd been lusting after for all of 9th grade. He was nothing like Rob. Alex had dark brown hair, brown eyes and didn't dress nearly as well. It was safe to say that Rachel didn't have a specific "type." She was attracted to all her crushes for various inexplicable reasons -- not even she could understand it.

Rachel grabbed her cookie and took it with her as she walked out of the cafeteria. She looked at her watch: twelve more minutes until seventh period. She began to roam the halls aimlessly, feeling alone and shy.

She came upon the girls' gym locker room. On the wall outside the locker room hung a large bulletin board, with news, announcements, a calendar and fliers posted to it. Her eyes drifted to a picture of the AHS varsity cheerleading team. Below the picture read:

Tryouts – September 9th @ 3pm in the Gymnasium

Rachel took a flyer and read it closely.

"Only a few spots remain. Do you like football? Do you like dancing?" In pencil someone had written, (Do you like hot boys in uniform?) "Do you have AHS school spirit?

# If so, come to tryouts tomorrow!

Coach Glass"

Rachel folded the flyer up and put it into her Filofax. The thought of making the team gave her the chills. She knew she had to go to the tryouts.

Rachel checked her watch again: five more minutes until lunch was over. She paced up and down the empty hallways. She passed by the cafeteria and saw groups of friends chatting and having fun. Rachel wished she had found a friend-- just one.

Rachel passed the office receptionist in the halls.

"You finding everything OK, Dear?" the receptionist asked in a sweet, comforting voice.

"Yup, just heading to the bathroom," Rachel said, trying to make it seem less obvious that she was pacing the halls alone, with no destination.

Finally, the bell rang and swarms of kids flooded the hallway.

Two more periods and I'm done, Rachel thought to herself. It gave her a sense of relief knowing that the day was winding down.

The remaining two periods went by painfully slowly. She coasted through each class, her mind wandering. She wondered what Dana and all her friends back in Pennsylvania were up to. She imagined them having a fun first day of school and planning their weekends together.

DING DING DING. The loud speaker came on. It was the end of the day announcements.

"Welcome back AHS! We hope you all had a great first day of school and we are so happy to see all of your smiling faces. Don't forget tryouts tomorrow for all sports at 3pm. Check the bulletin board for tryout location. Have a great rest of the day and don't forget your homework!"

RING.

The final bell sounded. Rachel was done. She felt a rush of freedom fill her body as she darted out of her classroom and into the hallways. She collected all of her things in her locker and headed outside to her mom's car.

On her way out, Rachel passed her brother Mark, who was happily walking along with two other guys. When Mark saw her, he waved and then looked around her. Rachel could tell he was wondering why she was walking all alone.

When Rachel got outside, she saw her mom behind the wheel of the Station wagon. She was first in line, parked right out front of the school. Her mom beeped the horn twice, rolled down the windows and started waving to Rachel and Mark. Rachel was mortified.

Rachel hopped into the car with her hand covering her face, hoping that nobody was watching. The car sat there and a few seconds later Mark got in. Rachel's mom pulled up a few feet to park the car to wait for Sarah to come outside. A few long minutes later, Sarah came out the front doors, smiling and exchanging cell numbers with her new group of friends.

Rachel was flooded with jealousy. Was she the only one that didn't make a friend?

Sarah opened the car door and said, "I'm gonna grab a bite with the girls. I'll be back later-- they'll drop me back home."

"Ok, Honey, have a great time. So happy you made new friends!" their mom said, as Sarah shut the door and headed back toward her new friends.

Why couldn't that be me?
Chapter Four

Rachel sat on her bed and looked at the heaping mess that surrounded her, and began to fold her clothes and put them into her tiny closet. She had snuck into Sarah's room after school to see it, and had been shocked at how much bigger it was: her closet was at least twice the size.

As Rachel hung up the last dress, she began to wonder why her phone had not received any calls or texts all afternoon. She turned it off, and then back on, assuming it was broken.

It still flashed No New Messages. Her head fell: maybe Dana and her crew had forgotten her.

She bent down to pick up some pictures strewn about the floor and looked again at the picture of her and Dana hugging. Even though her tear mark had ruined it, she hung it on her wall anyway.

Rachel tried to re-create her old room in her new house. The layout was different, but that didn't mean she couldn't hang up all the same pictures, posters and awards she had won. She carefully unrolled her Avril Lavigne poster she had won at the Dutch Fair two years back. She loved Avril Lavigne, especially the song Girlfriend. She then tacked up all four corners on the wall behind her bed and stood back to make sure it looked straight.

She took all the felt junior varsity letters that she had received from her soccer, tennis, volleyball and dance teams, and hung them on the wall beside her bed. She had four letters, and she hung them in a square shape. As she stepped back to look at them, she felt a sense of pride. She had earned each and every one of those letters.

Rachel also had received a certificate for the math league at her old school. She had won first prize for the article she'd written for their Pennsylvania school newspaper about the school Book Fair and had won an award for the work she had done on her biology plant study in 9th grade. Not to mention, Rachel was on high honor roll each semester and had four high honor roll certificates that she hung all these on her wall as well.

She stepped back and looked at the display. Her wall was now a shrine to her many talents and for a moment, as she stood impressed by herself, she forgot she was in a new house and starting a new life.

She took another step back and tripped over a small folded up JCPenney's bag. She opened it up and was delighted to find her new boyfriend jeans. She lifted them out of the bag and started thinking about what to wear with them to school the next day.

As she walked over to her stack of graphic tees, she heard her mom's voice yell, "Kids, time for dinner! Come on down."

She heard Mark and Sarah's door slam shut a few seconds later and the sounds of their feet racing down the hallway.

Rachel opened her door to the smell of roast chicken filling the air. Rachel loved roast chicken, one of her favorite meals her Mom cooked.

When Rachel got downstairs, she saw mashed potatoes, corn and gravy, too. My favorite, Rachel thought to herself.

She didn't want to let on that she was happy about the meal, though, and sat down in her hard wooden chair without cracking a smile.

Rachel sat there scooping food onto her plate, quietly eating as Sarah and Mark raved about their first days. Listening to them blissfully describe their day in detail, Rachel wondered if they were at different schools. She couldn't understand how Mark and Sarah both had picture-perfect days.

"So, Rachel, how was your first day? her dad asked. "You're awfully quiet over there,"

Rachel looked up from her plate, swallowed her bite of corn and said, "Fine."

"She didn't make any friends, she's a loner," Mark said with a laugh from across the table.

"Shut up," she retorted.

"Honey, is that true?" her mom asked in a sympathetic voice.

"No. Mark doesn't know anything."

Rachel's mom changed the subject and turned towards her dad and said, "So how was your first day at the office, love?"

"Couldn't have been better. I unpacked the office, and started right into it," he replied.

Rachel's dad was a computer IT guy who worked for IBM. Basically, he fixed broken computer systems. He had been transferred to the IBM headquarters in Armonk, New York, because of the bad economy. His office in Pennsylvania had gone bankrupt and he either had to be transferred or was out of work. It was an easy decision for him, because he couldn't be without a job, especially with three kids and a wife at home-- not to mention, the three looming college tuition fees that lay around the corner. So, the family had all packed up and moved to Bedford with only a few weeks' notice.

"Oh good, I'm so glad it was an easy transition," their mom replied.

As Rachel heard all the positive remarks coming from each of her family members, she couldn't help but wonder if she was really related to these people.

Are these really my mom and dad? Are those two balls of excitement my siblings? Rachel thought of all the various possibilities to explain this. Maybe she was adopted? It would only seem right. She was nothing like these people she called her family.

Despite these feelings of alienation, Rachel knew she wasn't adopted. She had been part of every family video and had seen pictures of her being born in the hospital. This made her even madder inside. Why was she so different?

Rachel cleared her plate, put it in the sink, and started for the stairs.

"That's not where that goes, get back here and clean your plate," Rachel's mom yelled. "We are not your personal maids, clean up after yourself."

Rachel stomped back into the kitchen and looked at Sarah's plate that had been placed right next to hers in the sink.

"But Sarah left hers in the sink," Rachel said.

The front door slammed shut as Sarah left the house.

"Sarah went to go meet a friend in town and she was running a little behind," Rachel's mom said.

"It's not fair," said Rachel as she cleaned her plate off and put it in the dishwasher.

When Rachel got back into the comfort of her bedroom, she lay there breathing heavy, her head face down in her pillows. All her emotions were flooding her body, and she began to cry. She sat up and reached for a tissue and saw her cell phone on the nightstand. She flipped it open. No new messages.

Rachel grew even sadder. She couldn't understand why nobody from Pennsylvania had reached out to her. Rachel scrolled down her lists of contacts and clicked Dana's name. She started writing a text.

Hey, how was your day today? Did you see Alex? What was he wearing?

Rachel placed the phone back onto her nightstand and waited. Dana always had her phone glued to her body and never missed a call, text or email.

A few minutes went by with no reply and Rachel's heart dropped.

Rachel went over to her desk and took out her purple, velvet diary. She held it up to the key on her necklace, and opened the lock.

Dear Diary,

Today was awful. I hate AHS, I hate Mr. Allen and I hate my family. I didn't make one friend and I never will. Nobody even knows I exist. Dana is ignoring me, too. I feel alone.

I did see a cute guy in school – Rob Greene. He plays football. He obviously hasn't noticed me yet, but we are in the same homeroom. I hope he notices me tomorrow. He's the hottest guy ever and has the biggest muscles. He's perfect. Not that he would ever go for a girl like me.

I'm dreading tomorrow. I hope it won't be a repeat of today.

Oh, and I have cheerleading tryouts tomorrow. Wish me luck!

XOXO,

Rachel

As Rachel locked her diary back up her phone buzzed.

One New Message:

Dana: Hey, can't talk-super busy-call you tmw.

Rachel shut her phone, feeling even more depressed. She put her head back on her pillow and fell asleep.
Chapter Five

Rachel woke up twenty minutes earlier so she could dart into the bathroom before Sarah. She finished in the bathroom relatively quickly so she wouldn't have to deal with her sister.

Rachel remembered that today was the big tryout, and she didn't know what to wear. She didn't know if she was supposed to wear her tryout clothes to school or change into them after school. Since she desperately wanted to wear her new Penney's boyfriend jeans, she opted to bring a change of clothes for her tryout.

She recalled the flyer said, "Dress to Impress." She didn't know exactly what that meant. She thought for a moment, and pulled out a red spaghetti strap tank and blue cotton skirt. Her school colors were red, white and blue so she thought this would show her school spirit. Rachel also figured that all cheerleaders wore skirts, and she assumed that this must be what they meant by "dress to impress." Rachel also packed a pair of black bicycle shorts to wear under her skirt in case it rode up doing a high kick.

Rachel threw the clothes into a small gym duffle, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Rachel looked at the cereal on the table.

"Do we have anything besides Cheerios?" Rachel asked.

"I'm going to the Shop Rite today. What would you like Darling?" her mom asked.

"Golden Grahams and Fruity Pebbles!" Rachel said.

Rachel's mom jotted that down on the grocery list she had stuck to the refrigerator door.

"Thanks Mom!" Rachel said with a smile. Rachel decided she should be nicer to her mom, since she'd been giving her an attitude lately.

After breakfast, Rachel hurried to the car so she could sit in the front. She tuned the radio to 104.7 Classic Rock. Sarah put her headphones in her ears and started humming loudly. Mark was sitting in the back, scribbling something in his notebook. Rachel figured he was probably doing his homework: he always waited until the last minute to do everything.

"Wild Horses" came on the radio. Rachel loved the Rolling Stones. The song made her think about the time she and her friends had gone on their overnight school trip to Washington, D.C. They played The Rolling Stones greatest hits album the whole way, sharing iPod headphones.

Rachel wondered why Dana had been so short with her last night: what could she have been doing? She was looking forward to chatting with Dana on the phone and couldn't wait until after school so she could tell Dana how much she missed her and about her new life in Bedford, New York.

As Rachel hopped out of the car, she saw the different sports teams cheering and rallying with excitement. It was almost as if she had entered a pep-rally: the teams were all in their uniforms and handing out flyers trying to recruit the underclassman for their teams.

Rachel passed the soccer team and suddenly felt a longing to be part of a sports team again. Rachel had always been an athlete, but had also always secretly wanted to try out for cheerleading. Rachel didn't really considered cheerleading to be a "sport," but she wanted something different. Cheerleading in Pennsylvania wasn't a very cool team to be part of, but now, alone and with no friends, Rachel wanted to keep her word to herself and try out. She didn't know if cheerleading was cool in Bedford or not, but either way, it was worth a shot. What did she have to lose at this point?

Rachel passed the track, volleyball and then the cheerleading team. The girls on the cheerleading team looked immaculate: perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect nails and perfectly-pressed uniforms.

Rachel ran her fingers through her hair. She knew she would need to put a brush through it and touch up her makeup before tryouts if she wanted any shot at making the team. For a moment, she thought joining the cheerleading team might be the perfect way for her to reinvent herself. She would become the person she'd always wished she could be.

Rachel walked slowly up to one cheerleader, who was handing out flyers and cheering, "Yay Yay AHS!" She didn't notice Rachel, so Rachel put her hand out close to the stack of flyers she was holding. The cheerleader looked Rachel up and down and gave her a shrug. She then handed Rachel a flyer with a look of disapproval.

"See you at tryouts!" Rachel said in her peppiest voice. The cheerleader nodded and smirked back.

Rachel felt a rush of excitement thinking about her new life on the cheerleading team. She glanced over and took another quick look at the cheerleaders. She knew they were in the popular crowd and she could already see her big transformation from being a "nobody," to being one of the coolest girls in school. She knew that if she made the cheerleading team, Rob would definitely notice her and maybe, just maybe, even like her. Rachel walked into room 102 a few minutes before the bell. She didn't dare be late for the second day in a row. Mr. Allen noticed her and smiled, "On time today, nice work!" he said.

Rachel looked around the room: she saw an open seat next to the girl who'd smiled at her the day before. She sat down.

The girl was writing in her notebook and looked up.  
"You're the new girl, right?"

"Yes, Rachel."

"I'm Emily," Emily smiled back. "It's crazy out there this morning. I dread tryout days-- too much ra ra and spunk for me."

"Yeah, it's a scene," Rachel said.

Rachel worried that if Emily found out she was trying out for cheerleading she would hate her before she even got to know her.

"You're not trying out for anything, are you?" Emily asked.

"Well, I was thinking about it."

"For what? Track?" Emily asked, as she looked Rachel up and down.

"No, actually I was thinking cheerleading. I've always done sports, so I figure I'll give this a try," Rachel answered.

"Oh no! You? Cheerleading?" Emily looked at Rachel. "I don't think you want to do that."

Rachel shrugged in confusion. What could she be talking about?

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Emily finished.

The bell rang as Rob flew through the door and took the open seat next to Rachel. Her heart skipped a beat. He put his bag down on the floor, took out his notebook and pulled his sweatshirt over his head. Rachel couldn't stop peaking at his sexy muscles. The guys in Pennsylvania weren't buff by any standards, so this was a whole new thing for Rachel, and she liked it.

Mr. Allen began the morning by discussing last night's reading assignment. Rachel raised her hand to answer the first question. She didn't wan to seem like a know-it-all, but nobody else volunteered.

"I liked the story about Rosa Parks, because it was inspiring and showed how one woman can make a difference for the future of all African Americans. What was really interesting was how Rosa Parks civil disobedience started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped lead to the equality of whites and blacks," Rachel answered.

Mr. Allen was impressed by her answer. Having spoken up in class Rachel felt a surge of confidence. She knew the day was going to be better, and despite what Emily said, she was still looking forward to tryouts.

The bell rang and everyone popped out of their seats. Rachel's cheerleading flyer fell out of her notebook and onto the floor.

Rob bent down and picked it up.

"Good luck," Rob said as he handed Rachel back her flyer.

"Thanks," Rachel said.

"I'm on the football team," Rob said, smiling.

Rachel smiled and felt excited and nervous. She knew trying out was the right decision, especially now.

"See ya later," Rob said, as he ran out of the room to catch up with his friends.

Rachel couldn't believe it. Rob talked to her. Her mind spun with excitement. It was only second period, and already Rachel was having the best day. She figured that yesterday had been a fluke.

As the day went on, Rachel felt excited. She knew it was only a matter of hours before tryouts, and before she'd have a whole new group of friends.

During lunch, Rachel had to meet with her science teacher to go over the science club requirements. She always loved science and hoped to win the Intel Science Award one day. When Rachel finished her meeting, she only had a few minutes to quickly eat her PB&J sandwich she packed from home. She wouldn't be caught dead again in the hot lunch line--not to mention her parents were appalled when Rachel told them it cost eight dollars for lunch. They said she was only going to bring her lunch from now on, and that eight dollars was way too expensive for them.

Towards the end of the school day, Rachel's excitement turned into nervousness. What if the cheerleaders don't like me? What if I'm not dressed right? What if I'm the only one trying out? So many scenarios streamed through her mind.

RING. The final bell.

Rachel rushed to her locker to gather her things, and headed straight for the girls' locker room. She had fifteen minutes to change and get ready before the 3pm tryout.

As Rachel entered the locker room, she saw many girls changing and getting ready. Some were putting on sneakers, some cleats, and some were even changing into skates. She was surprised: she hadn't realized AHS had an ice skating team.

She opened her duffle and pulled out her red tank and blue skirt. They were balled up, and she was mortified to see some yogurt had spilled on them.

She took the clothes over to the sink and tried washing them off with water and hand soap. Most of the yogurt came off, but now her clothes had big wet spots on them. Rachel had no other option but to put them on anyway.

When she looked in the mirror, she was horrified. She thought she looked ridiculous. She looked around and spotted a hand dryer at the end of the locker room and ran to dry her clothes off. As she stood there drying , she looked at her watch: three more minutes.

Rachel rubbed her clothes even quicker: they were mostly dry. She felt much better. She gave her hair a comb and touched up her blush and lip-gloss, and ran out of the locker room.

As Rachel ran up the stairs towards the gymnasium she tripped on her untied shoelace and fell on her ankle.

"OUCH!" she screamed.

Heads turned and looked. She quickly pulled herself together and slowly hobbled up the remaining stairs.

Rachel limped into the gym, her ankle still hurting and getting swollen. She wouldn't let this stop her from trying out. She knew she had to suck it up and deal with the pain.

She looked around at all the girls waiting for tryouts to begin. They were all chatting and going over cheers. She saw a crowd of girls standing near the bleachers and did a double take: She couldn't believe her eyes. Rachel was stunned to see Sarah standing there, with a group of seniors, waiting for cheerleading tryouts, too. They were stretching and practicing their high kicks.

What am I doing? Rachel thought to herself. I have no chance.

Anger filled Rachel's body. She so desperately wanted to be part of this group, and now her sister was there, too. This wasn't how Rachel had imagined this going in her head. Sarah had never expressed any interest in cheerleading before: she hadn't been on the team in Pennsylvania either.

All of a sudden the team appeared in their uniforms, dancing, jumping, kicking and cheering. When they got to the center of the gym, they broke out into a dance routine, while the crowd cheered and clapped.

Rachel smiled. She suddenly felt excited again, envisioning herself doing that dance alongside the team.

When the team finished the dance, the captain stepped forward to welcome everyone. Rachel looked around: there must have been at least forty-five girls standing, waiting for their shot on the team.

"I'm Arielle, the captain this year! We are so excited for this season!" Arielle said as she did a high kick.

"It's going to be the best yet. We have twelve open spots on the team, so good luck to each of you!"

"We need everyone to get into rows!" shouted Coach Glass.

The girls who were already on the team took their seats on the bleachers as Rachel, Sarah and the rest of the girls lined up in rows, staggering themselves.

Coach Glass explained how the tryouts were going to go: "Arielle, the captain, is going to lead you all in a cheer. She will do it once alone, then she will break it down step by step, then you will do it as a whole group, and then we will break you up into small groups to do the cheer for your tryout."

Arielle took the floor and did an awesome routine. Rachel knew she would be able to do the dance, although there were a few tricky parts to it. Rachel had taken dance lessons as a child and didn't consider herself to have two left feet.

Arielle started teaching the girls the routine step-by-step. Rachel picked it up rather quickly -- except her ankle was killing her. After she learned all the steps and the group did the cheer together it was time to be break down into small groups.

"Sarah, Rebecca, Katie and Jen!" shouted Coach Glass.

Rachel watched, as Sarah was in the first group to tryout. Sarah stood confidently in front and hit every move perfectly, and even added an extra high kick and a jump for added flair at the end.

The girls clapped as Sarah and her group walked off the floor. Sarah brushed by Rachel and said, "Hey, what are you doing here!"

"I came for the tryouts, too!"

"Really? But you always do sports," Sarah said.

"I wanted a change," Rachel answered.

"Well, good luck! I hope you make it!" Sarah said with a smile as she walked to the sidelines of the gym.

Rachel knew she had to make the team now. If Sarah made it and she didn't, she knew she would be so upset.

"Rachel, Amanda, Jessie and Brynn, your turn!" Coach Glass said.

The music started and Rachel began the cheer. She was nervous and the pain in her ankle was almost unbearable. Rachel fumbled on one of the steps but pulled it together quickly. She hoped nobody noticed.

Rachel was riding high. She felt good about her tryout, and couldn't believe after all that build up, the tryouts were over in a flash. Coach Glass thanked everyone for coming out and wished everyone good luck.

When the tryout was over, Rachel walked out of the gymnasium. She saw Rob coming off the football field and over to the water fountain.

"Hey," Rob said. "New Girl. How'd tryouts go?"

"Great, I think!" Rachel said trying to sound enthusiastic. "My name is Rachel by the way."

"Rob," he said. "Cool, so welcome to AHS, where you from anyway?" he asked.

"Pennsylvania."

"Whaddaya think so far?"

"It's nice, different, but nice so far," Rachel said.

"We should hang out sometime. I'll show you around," Rob said.

All of a sudden Arielle came over and gave Rob a hug. "Hey there," she said. Arielle looked at Rachel with a scowl.

"Hey Arielle, gotta run, still in practice," Rob said, as he darted back out the door onto the field.

As Rob got out of sight, Arielle looked at Rachel and said, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" Rachel said.

"Rob's way out of your league," Arielle said coldly.

Arielle walked back into the gym and gathered all the girls around her in a huddle. Rachel noticed a few of them turn their heads to look at her. They looked mean. She wondered if they were talking about her.

Rachel limped back down the stairs and into the girls' locker room to change. A few minutes later, girls from the team started trickling in, too. As some of them walked by Rachel she heard them say, "that's her."

The girls all gave her dirty looks. One girl said, "That wasn't smart."

Rachel was scared. She didn't do anything. Rob was the one that started talking to HER.

As Rachel walked upstairs to leave school for the day, she saw Sarah on a bench with her new friends. Sarah noticed Rachel and waved her over.

"How do you think it went?" Sarah asked.

Rachel didn't want to tell Sarah what had just happened in the locker room. Rachel knew that the girls on the team hated her and worried that it might affect her getting on the team.

"Not sure... OK, I guess," Rachel answered.

"I'm going to hang here for a while, tell Mom I'll be home later," Sarah said.

Rachel dialed her mom who was already on her way over to pick her up.

"How'd it go Rach?" her mom asked when she picked up the phone.

"Fine, I think. Did you know Sarah was trying out, too?"

"Yes, she mentioned it to me yesterday. I hope both of you girls make the team. It would be so much fun to see you both cheering at the football games this season," her Mom added.

"Okay, see you when you get here," Rachel said as she hung up.

Rachel stood on the curb and waited for her mom to arrive. She overheard one of the cheerleaders tell another that "The List" would be posted on the bulletin board outside the girls' locker room in the morning.

When Rachel got home, she ran upstairs to her room. She couldn't wait to tell Dana about her day. She picked up her cell and dialed Dana, but she didn't answer.

The voicemail picked up, "Hey, you've reached Dana, I'm out leave a message at the beep."

"Hi Stranger," Rachel said. "I have BIG news. Call me ASAP. I miss you, bye."

Rachel waited all night for Dana to call back but she didn't. She fell into a fitful sleep, wondering if maybe they weren't as good of friends as Rachel had thought.
Chapter Six

Rachel and Sarah both ran into school the next morning, anxious to see the list outside the girls' locker room. As Rachel headed towards the bulletin board, she saw swarms of girls huddled by it searching for their names.

When she reached the list she ran her pointer down the white piece of paper, scanning each name typed out in alphabetical order by last name. Rachel finally spotted "Wood," slid her finger moved to the right of the page and it read, "Sarah." She looked again but her name wasn't on the list.

Rachel sank back away from the board, and she felt ill. All she wanted was to be part of the team, especially now that she was in competition with her sister. Why did Sarah always get everything that Rachel wanted? It wasn't fair.

"I'm sorry, Rach," said Sarah. "I won't do it if you want."

Rachel was surprised by what Sarah had just said. Would she really give up her spot on the team for her? Maybe Sarah wasn't as awful as Rachel thought. Maybe they would actually become friends.

"No, it's fine. It's more your thing anyway. Thanks though," Rachel said.

Rachel headed off to homeroom as she slowly let her desire to be part of the cheerleading team fade away. She guessed it was for the best; she didn't really want to be on a team with those girls anyway, especially after what had happened yesterday.

When Rachel got into homeroom class, she went right over to Emily, who was waving at her.

"So, you make the team?" asked Emily.

"Nope."

"Sorry," Emily said, "you ok?"

"Yeah, you were right," Rachel said. "I didn't really want to be on a team with those girls anyway. They don't seem so nice."

"They're terrible -- especially Arielle. Consider yourself lucky for not making the team," Emily said.

Rachel laughed and smiled.

"So, you meeting people?" Emily asked.

"Some...not really though," answered Rachel.

"Sit with me at lunch today. I'll introduce you to my friends. I think you'll like them," said Emily.

"Cool, that'd be great," Rachel said.

Mr. Allen started his lesson, cutting Rachel and Emily's conversation short. Today's topic was a continuation of women in history. Mr. Allen said he wanted to teach that first, because so often women get overlooked even though they have done some pretty incredible things to get our country where it is today. As he began talking about Susan B. Anthony and the 19th Century Women's Movement, Rachel couldn't help but to wonder if she'd be a powerful woman.

She envisioned herself changing the world when she grew up. She'd always dreamed of becoming a doctor or a scientist. She loved being in the laboratory and she loved helping people. She related deeply to the topic Mr. Allen was discussing and it gave her inner strength to think about her future as a powerful woman in America. Rachel was getting lost in her daydreams when the bell rang. She got up from her chair and headed to the door.

"I'll see you at lunch, meet me by the entrance," Emily said.

"Great!" she replied.

Rachel was doing an inner happy dance, she was finally making friends.

Day three and things were starting to look up, Rachel thought.

As lunchtime neared, Rachel watched the clock tick in her science class. Only a few more minutes until she would meet her new group of friends at AHS. She hoped they would like her, and she also hoped she would like them. Thinking back to her first day in the cafeteria, she saw each clique flash vividly through her mind. She couldn't help but wonder which group she was going to sit with, and which group was going to be her clique. Rachel pictured herself eating, laughing, swapping phone numbers and making plans for the weekend with these girls. God how she wished these girls would like her.

As the bell finally rang, Rachel walked to meet Emily at the entrance of the cafeteria. A few minutes went by as she stood there alone, watching and waiting for Emily to appear. Thoughts of Emily not showing up flashed through her head. She couldn't bear to stand there alone as kids flooded into the cafeteria. As she stood there, feeling her hopes deflate, she heard a voice.

"Sorry, got held up in class!" Emily said, as she appeared from the sea of kids.

"No prob, just got here myself," Rachel replied, not wanting Emily to think she was waiting anxiously.

As the two headed into the cafeteria, they approached a table with Rocker and Punk types. Rachel approached them with an open-mind.

"Hey Em," shouted a girl at the table wearing a thick black eye liner and red lipstick.

"Hi Jen," Emily said as they arrived at the long lunch table. Emily pointed to Rachel and said, "Guys, this is Rachel, she just started here."

The crew at the table smiled at Rachel, which made her feel warm inside.

Maybe this was it. Maybe these are my new friends.

Rachel sat down and opened up her brown paper bag and pulled out her PB&J and can of Arizona Iced Tea. She looked around the table as the kids each said their names -- Liv, Kate, Jen, Jessica (Jess for short) and Taryn. They were all curious about Rachel and asked her where she was from and why she moved to their school. The conversation flowed nicely as they all got to know each other. Rachel felt excited.

"So, what are you up to this weekend?" Taryn said.

"No plans yet."

"We're all going to the movies tonight -- if you wanna join."

"Sounds fun," Rachel said.

"Cool, we'll pick you up around 7 o'clock. Where do you live?"

"42 Pine Road."

"Great!" Taryn said and the other girls nodded and smiled in agreement.

Rachel couldn't have asked for anything more. Meeting these new girls went just the way she had hoped in her head.

The thought of going out on a Friday night thrilled Rachel – especially on the first weekend of school. Rachel so desperately hoped that she could join them at the movies, but she knew she had to ask her parents first. He parents were usually cool about her going out with friends, but she was never allowed to drive with a friend who had just gotten their license. Her parents worried a lot, and were scared that she'd get into an accident with a young, inexperienced driver.

Did Rachel really just make plans for a FRIDAY NIGHT? She was elated as she walked out of the cafeteria with her new group of friends by her side. She felt good for the first time about this move. Maybe this was going to be better than Pennsylvania; maybe Emily and these girls would be more fun than Dana and her old crew.

"See you tonight, Rach!" Taryn and Jen said as they branched off to go to their 6th period class.

Rach, they were already calling her by her nickname. Rachel felt so cool.

As the day progressed, Rachel couldn't think of anything else but her plans with her new friends that night. She couldn't wait to be picked up.

During her eighth period class, Rachel stared out of the open door of her classroom as she daydreamed about her evening as she. All of a sudden, her thoughts stopped, as she saw Rob walk by and peek into her classroom. He smiled, and continued walking.

Was that a coincidence, or was he coming to see me? Rachel thought.

All of a sudden, she felt her body get up out of the chair and grab the bathroom pass as she headed into the hallway. She didn't know what she was doing, but she was hoping that Rob would still be in the hallway, somewhere.

She walked towards the Girls' room and didn't see him anywhere. She pushed the door open and was about to step inside, when she heard his voice.

"Rachel, hey, I was hoping to see you this afternoon," Rob said in an eager voice.

Rachel was so excited, her heart started beating faster and she could tell her face was flushing. Trying to gain composure, she started walking towards him.

"Hi, what's up?" Rachel said, trying to sound cool.

"Did you hear about the party tomorrow? At Jordan's house. His parents are away for the weekend and he's throwing a party."

"No, I didn't. Who's Jordan?"

"He's on the team, cool kid," replied Rob. "You should come, it's going to be sick."

"Yeah, sure," Rachel said.

Rob took Rachel's phone number and put it into his cell.

"I'll text ya tomorrow."

"Cool," Rachel said smoothly, as if she didn't care.

Rachel walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her cheeks. Did that really just happen? Was she just asked out by Rob Greene.

Not only did she now have plans for Friday night with her new girlfriends, she had a DATE on Saturday!

This is the best day of my life. Who would have thought things could turn around this quickly. Does this mean I'm popular?

Rachel walked back to her classroom and sat there doodling in her notebook. "Rachel Greene" she wrote on the back pages of her notebook, then scribbled it out so nobody could read it. She looked at her watch and counted down the minutes until school ended for the week. She was eager to get picked up so she could ask her mom about tonight.

The bell rang and she flew out the front doors of the school and into her mom's car.

When she shut the car door, she felt a rush of nervousness. She worried that if her mom said no, her social life would be over before it had even started.

"Hi Mom, guess what! I have the best news," Rachel said with excitement.

"What Darling, what is it?"

"I met some new girls today, they're very nice and they invited me to the movies."

Skeptical, her mom asked, "What movie?"

"Not sure yet, but I really want to go."

"Okay, what time should I drop you off then?"

"Well, actually this girl Taryn is going to pick me up. She's been driving for a year now, she's in 11th grade."

Rachel's mom gave her a look. Rachel knew what that "look" meant without her mom having to say a word. A big, fat NO.

This can't be happening. She can't NOT let me go. This is tragic.

"But Mom, please, you let Sarah drive with HER new friends."

"They're seniors, Sweetie. They've been driving for a few years now."

"If I don't go out with these girls tonight, my life is over. They will never ask me to hang out again. I will be the biggest loser ever."

Her mom sighed. "Fine, since it's only a few minutes drive, I will make an exception. But only to the movies and back -- don't go anywhere else," her mom said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll be fine, I promise. You are the best."

Rachel figured she would cross her Saturday night's plan bridge with her parents the next day. She didn't want to overload them with too many things at once, in fear they would say no.

As she scurried into the house and up to her room she was jumping with joy. She couldn't believe her mom said yes. It was 3pm and Rachel had a few hours before her big night with the girls.

Rachel rummaged through her closet in search of the perfect outfit. She wanted to fit in with this crowd, so she figured there was no better way than to dress like them. She had all different types of clothes and she didn't feel she fit into one specific style. Tonight Rachel thought she would wear something punk. She looked through her wardrobe and found a cute, cut-off Nirvana tee.

Perfect! she thought. Now, what to wear on the bottom?

Skirt, pants, leggings, jeans (bell bottom, skinny, flair, boyfriend, jeggings)...Rachel had so many choices. If she chose the skirt, she would want to wear her fishnets underneath, but because it was a cool day she worried she'd be too cold. Especially because everyone knows that movie theaters are the coldest places on the planet.

Rachel tried on different options and decided she would wear her black skinny jeans with her Dr. Martens black lace up boots. Rachel loved her Dr. Martens and she switched out the boring black laces for magenta laces. She thought it looked much cooler that way.

She tied up her laces, went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and thought she looked perfect. Now, all she needed to do was makeup. Since it was a Friday night, she wanted to do a dark smoky eye. She also thought it would compliment the punk rocker outfit she had on. As she picked up her Maybelline smoky shadow set, and began to swipe the brush over her eyelid she couldn't help but wonder what the night was going to be like. She wondered what movie they would see and who she'd sit next to in the theater. She liked all the girls, but was hoping to sit next to Emily. Rachel really liked Emily and was so glad Emily took her under her wing.

Rachel wondered if Emily would become her new Dana. Thinking of that reminded Rachel that Dana had been MIA the past few days and hadn't returned her calls. Dana sent one lousy text that said, "All's good here in PA. Miss ya." But that was it: she didn't even call to see what Rachel's new school was like or if she had made any new friends. Boy would Dana be surprised when she heard she made new friends AND had a date.

Rachel finished her makeup by putting on a light pink lip-gloss, and headed downstairs for dinner.

"Look at you," Rachel's dad said. Where are you going?" "Movies with my new friends," Rachel said with a smile.

"You look...nice." Her dad said. Although Rachel knew he would have preferred to say "different" rather than "nice."

"Thanks!" she said back.

As Rachel's mom, dad and Mark sat there and ate their spaghetti, they talked about their week. Sarah was not at dinner that night because she went up to visit Gary, her boyfriend, for the weekend at Skidmore College.

Mark looked at Rachel in surprise, "So you made some friends?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yup! A bunch of em," Rachel replied smartly. "And am getting picked up in a few minutes by Taryn, she's a Junior," Rachel bragged.

"Look at you, cool dude," Mark said.

"Stop that, kids," Rachel's mom said. "Leave each other alone."

Mark and Rachel stopped bickering and finished up their dinner. Rachel cleaned her plate off in the sink and put it in the dishwasher.

"Rachel," her dad's voice said as she was on her way out of the kitchen.

Rachel walked back and said, "Yeah?"

"Be home by 11. We'll be waiting up."

Rachel let out a sigh, "Ok, I will."

Rachel heard the horn blowing from outside in her driveway. She looked out the window and saw a blue BMW 330xi. Fancy, she thought.

She said goodbye to her parents and walked outside. The horn honked again, and Taryn rolled down her window. "Cute outfit!" Taryn said.

Rachel noticed that Jen and Emily were in the car, too, and she hopped into the back seat. As she entered the car she could smell the new car and leather smell that infused the air. She had never ridden in a car with leather seats. Her family's Station wagon had blue cloth seats with stains on them from years of spilled food and drinks. As the car pulled out of the driveway, Rachel's parents stood in the doorway, waved and watched as the car rolled down the street.

I hope nobody noticed them, she thought from her seat.

As the car turned out of view of Rachel's house, Taryn sped up. Rachel buckled her seat belt with a pang of nervousness, but acted calm. She wasn't used to speeding down the narrow back roads of Bedford.

"So, what movie are we seeing?" Rachel asked.

"A thriller, or horror," Jen answered, "Not sure which-- it depends what the show times are."

"I vote for a thriller," Taryn said.

"Me, too!" said Emily.

Aren't thrillers rated R? Rachel thought.

"You have your ID don't you?" Taryn asked her.

ID? Rachel thought for a moment. What did they mean, ID? Rachel didn't own a fake ID and she had no reason to: not in Pennsylvania, anyway.

"Um, no." Rachel replied. "I don't have one...yet."

Apparently all these girls had fake IDs that said they were 21. Rachel knew if she were going to continue to hang with this crew, she would need an ID -- and fast.

"My sister, Sarah is up at Skidmore this weekend visiting her BF, Gary. I told her to try and get me one from one of his friends," Rachel heard herself lie.

"Nice," replied Jen.

As Taryn drove them toward the large open parking lot at the movies, Rachel worried that she wouldn't get in. She fluffed her hair, put on lipstick and got out of the car. She wondered if she could pass for 17 if she walked with her head tall. She didn't want to look nervous when she walked into the theater, so she put on a smile and opened the door.

Rachel saw Emily look up at the large display of show times and then order four tickets to the thriller that was playing.

The ticket lady looked at Emily, Rachel, Jen and Taryn and said, "Okay, here you go.

Emily handed each girl a ticket and said, "I think we're in!"

Rachel looked around and saw two guards in uniform collecting the tickets. Security is tight here, Rachel thought. They looked like bouncers Rachel had seen standing outside of bars. Not that Rachel went into bars; she'd just seen them as she passed by on the streets.

As the girls entered the line, Rachel began to get nervous again. She had never tried to fake an age that she wasn't and she had never feel pressure like this before.

"Tickets please," said one of the guards sternly.

Taryn, Jen and Emily got through the guards. Only Jen needed to show an ID and they glanced at it and let her through. After all, it was only a movie.

Rachel handed her ticket to the guard and he looked at her.

"ID please," the guard said.

"I left it at home, sorry." Rachel said trying to get out of it.

"No ID, no movie...Next," said the guard.

The guard had Rachel step aside, on the outside of the black ropes.

Uh oh, now what?

Rachel looked at her friends; they were standing there looking at her in disappointment.

"Let's just go," Emily said as she subtly rolled her eyes at her friends.

Rachel felt awful.

"Sorry guys, you can still go, I'll have my mom pick me up," Rachel cringed as the words came out of her mouth.

"Nah, we'll do something else," said Emily.

As the girls walked outside, they were (spewing out?) different ideas of what to do instead.

"We could go to Jess' house," Jen said. "She wasn't allowed out tonight because she got in trouble in school."

"Her parents won't let us in," Emily replied, "she's grounded." "I have the BEST idea," Taryn interrupted. "We are going to the city to get Rachel a fake. I know of a good place in the East Village."

Rachel could tell that Taryn was a bit of a rebel and knew a lot of places from her older brother Ben. Taryn had told Rachel that Ben just started college at NYU in the city, and his dorm was on 7th street, right in the heart of the East Village.

"Awesome idea!" said Emily.

As the four girls got back into Taryn's car, a wave of nervousness and guilt swarmed through Rachel's body. Rachel never lied to her parents and the thought of DRIVING into the city terrified her. What if they got into an accident? What if they weren't back by 11pm? What if her parents found out she wasn't really at the movies? It was almost too much for Rachel to bear, but she knew that if she spoke up, she would be cast off back into her world of solitude. So, she said nothing.

Taryn started the car and turned up the music. The station was set to Z100, which was apparently the best radio station in New York. They broadcast from the top of the empire state building. Rachel felt the car accelerating as she pulled her seatbelt tighter across her chest. She took two deep breaths, quietly, so the girls wouldn't hear.

Rachel tried to stay calm in the back seat of the car. She didn't let on that she was worried or that she would be in BIG trouble if her parents knew what she was up to. She wondered why the girls didn't think it was a big deal to head into the city on a random Friday night. She was surprised none of them called their parents to let them know their plans hand changed or to ask their permission.

Rachel was feeling more and more out of place. This was not what her friends back in Pennsylvania would do. Rachel never disobeyed her parents. She may not have agreed with them, but she never disobeyed. It was clear to Rachel that her world was about to change.

As the car drove over the Triboro Bridge, Rachel could see all the bright lights of Manhattan glistening in the distance. She felt bad she was doing this, but she also felt excited. She always wanted to go into New York City and had only been there a few times before, to see Broadway shows and do touristy things with her family.

The girls arrived at their destination safely and got out of the car. Rachel looked up at the street sign above, which read "St. Marks Place." She looked around and clutched her bag closer the throngs of people passed in all directions.

"This way," Taryn said as she pointed towards a sign that read, "2nd Avenue." Rachel's heart beat faster and faster as they walked down the street. She felt like a rebel and she kind of liked it. After all, it was her fault that they were in the city in the first place. If she had had an ID, they would be happily munching on popcorn at the movies right now in Bedford. So she couldn't be mad. Taryn and the girls were doing her a favor: they were helping her get a fake, which would get her into all the "cool" places.

Rachel struggled with her inner battle of feeling cool in the city and feeling guilty about lying to her parents.

"So, where's this store?" Rachel asked Taryn.

"It's a block away, on St. Marks Place and 1st Avenue. It's in a costume store, but it's tricky to find because you have to go into the basement. I'll show you."

Rachel followed as the girls entered the costume store. It was a peculiar place, and not your average costume store. There were black leather chaps hanging on the wall right when you walked in and a red feather boa hung above them. She saw platform black boots with spikes coming out of the sides and belts with metal rivets. She definitely felt out of her element. This was a combination; Halloween, porn and goth store, and she didn't quite know what to make of it.

As the girls made their way down the musty smelling basement steps of the store, Rachel saw a black curtain. A heavy-set bald man, wearing a tank top, came out from behind it.

"What do you want?" he snapped skeptically as he peered behind them to make sure nobody was following.

"My friend needs an ID," Taryn said as she pointed at Rachel.

"Come, quick," he said, as he whisked the girls behind his black curtain.

The man handed Rachel a large black binder to look though. She opened the cover and started flipping through the pages of sample IDs.

"Which state?" he asked her.

"Um, I don't know," Rachel said, and she turned to her friends.

"Get Michigan," Emily said, "those are the best because they scan. Don't get New York-- it will be too obvious."

"Michigan," Rachel said to the man.

"Address?" he fired back.

Rachel didn't realize she'd be asked so many questions and took out her cell phone. She opened up the map app and looked up places in Michigan to get an accurate street name.

"444 Grand River Avenue," Rachel replied.

Four was Rachel's lucky number and she felt like she could use some luck.

"Birthday? You want to be 21, correct?" he asked.

"November 1st. Yes 21, please" Rachel spat out.

"Stand over there," the man said, and pointed to an X made of duct tape on the floor. Rachel slowly walked over to the X and stood on it.

The man snapped her picture.

"Wait upstairs," he said.

As the girls headed back up the dark musty staircase, Rachel wondered what she would need that ID for, other than movies. She didn't go to bars or clubs, but wondered if her new friends did.

All of a sudden she heard a phone ringing. It was Taryn's cell. Taryn picked up and Rachel wondered who she was talking to. "Cool," "Now?" "We're here." She heard Taryn say.

Taryn hung up the phone and said, "Guys, let's meet my brother, he's a few blocks away. It'll be fun."

Rachel looked at her watch, it was 9 o'clock and she knew she only had two more hours until she had to be home. The man came upstairs and handed Rachel her ID; she looked at it and ran her fingers across the front.

"Nice!" she said.

"It's $60," the man said holding out his hand.

Sixty dollars? Rachel thought. That was a lot of money, and she definitely didn't think she had it in her wallet. Trying not to show her worry she smiled and opened her bag and started rummaging for her wallet.

"C'mon Rach," Taryn said, "We have to get going."

Rachel quickly pulled out her wallet. She found $40. She looked around the outer pockets of her wallet for the $20 her dad gave her for emergencies only.

This is an emergency if I've ever seen one. If I don't use this twenty dollars then I can't get the ID and if I don't have the ID, I'll have no friends. And if I tell the girls I can't afford it, they'll think I'm poor and I don't want that.

So Rachel unfolded her last remaining twenty-dollar bill and handed it over to the man.

Rachel was, all out of money, in the city, lying to her parents, buying a fake ID, and now, she found herself on her way to meet up with Taryn's brother Ben.

What am I getting myself into?

The girls walked down St. Mark's place. Rachel noticed many outdoor vendors set up selling hats, sunglasses, socks, belts, etc. She also saw restaurants, clothing stores and stores with bongs and smoking paraphernalia in the windows. This was unlike any place Rachel had ever been. As the girls stood there on the corner of the 3rd Avenue and St. Marks, Taryn said, "This is it!" as she pointed to a tattoo parlor.

Rachel stood there in horror. She didn't know what to do. The pressure was building as Emily, Jen and Taryn headed inside. Was she really going to stand there on the street, alone? Rachel pushed the door open and followed the girls inside.

"Hey T!" said Ben

"Hi," Taryn said back. She gave Ben a hug and said hello to his friends as well.

Ben apparently knew Emily and Jen, and hugged and kissed them on the cheek.

As Ben came closer to Rachel, she waited for Taryn to introduce her, but she didn't.

"I'm Rachel, Taryn's new friend at AHS."

"You have any tatts?" he asked.

Of course not, she thought.

"Nope," Rachel replied.

"You getting one tonight?" Ben asked.

Was he serious? Rachel thought. Were the girls getting tattoos?

"No," Rachel said.

"Should I do it, guys?" Taryn asked, as she turned around from the wall of tattoo designs.

"Why not?" Jen and Emily said.

Rachel looked at Ben's arms, which were covered in tattoos.

"I'm getting Brian's name on my back," Ben said.

Apparently Brian was Ben's best friend in high school, who had just died from a drug overdose.

Rachel couldn't believe her ears, and she wondered if she really belonged here. She felt like a fish out of water.

"What should I get?" Taryn asked.

Rachel thought about what her parents would do if she came home with a tattoo. She knew exactly what they would do: they would ground her for LIFE.

"Do you guys have tattoos?" Rachel asked Jen and Emily.

"Nope, not yet," replied Jen, "but I want to get a rose on my ankle when I go to college."

"No, don't really want one," said Emily.

Rachel felt better hearing that she wasn't the only one that didn't want a tattoo. She didn't understand, though, why this was no big deal to these girls. Was getting a tattoo an ordinary occurrence? It was as if nothing fazed these girls.

"A unicorn!" Taryn pointed to a picture of a unicorn on the wall. "This is it, I'm getting it!"

"Are you sure?" Rachel heard herself ask.

"Um, yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Taryn said, with a little attitude.

Rachel didn't reply. She didn't know why she even said anything in the first place.

Rachel watched as Taryn sat down in the chair and the tattoo man rubbed her back with alcohol. The smell infused the room. Rachel cringed as the man took out his tattoo pen, changed the needle and filled it with black ink.

"Hold my hand." Taryn said.

Jen went over to hold her hand.

Rachel listened as Taryn was screaming with pain.

"It's not that bad, T," said Ben. "Man up!"

After an excruciatingly long 45 minutes, Taryn was finished. The man put a white bandage on her back and taped it up on the edges.

Rachel looked at Taryn and thought she looked a bit out of it. Her face was flushed.

"You okay?" Rachel asked.

"Been better," Taryn replied.

Ben and his friends were still getting their tattoos when Taryn said she felt sick and wanted to leave.

Rachel looked at her watch: 10:45pm.

Oh no.

How would she ever make it home in fifteen minutes? Rachel felt bad that Taryn was sick but she was also relieved that they were heading home. As the girls walked towards Taryn's BMW Rachel tried to hurry them up. Emily and Jen walked slowly down the block looking at the many things the street vendors were selling.

"C'mon guys, Taryn's sick." Rachel kept prodding.

As they approached the car, Taryn said, "I can't drive, my back hurts and I'm dizzy."

Now what? Rachel thought. Who was going to drive them back?

Rachel didn't have her license and wasn't turning 16 until November, and Jen and Emily did not have their license yet either.

"Maybe Ben will drive us," Taryn said.

Taryn took out her cell phone and began texting with Ben.

"He'll take us, but we have to wait for them to finish their tatts," Taryn said.

I'm done. My parents are going to kill me. My life is over.

Time crawled by slowly as they waited in the Starbucks for Ben to finish. Rachel kept checking her watch. 11, 11:05, 11:10, the time was rolling on and she was late for curfew. At 11:25 Rachel's phone buzzed.

1 New Message:

# Dad: Where are you, young lady?

Rachel didn't know what to do; she wished she could be transported from that Starbucks in NYC to her house in Bedford, New York.

Rachel: I'm running a little behind, movie is just letting out.

Rachel didn't know what to respond, but she knew if she didn't respond, her parents would drive to the theater to look for her.

Dad: When are you going to be back?

Rachel: ASAP, I'm sorry.

The text conversation ended and Rachel's nerves grew. How could this be happening to her?

Rachel heard a knock on the window of the Starbucks; she looked over and saw Ben standing there with his friends. Ben poked his head in and said, "I need to stop by my dorm quickly. I'll just be a few minutes."

Rachel felt a panic attack coming on. She'd never had a panic attack, but if she were ever going to get one, it would be tonight.

"Hurry," said Taryn, "I'm really feeling nauseous."

As Rachel sat there and watched Ben leave towards his dorm, she wondered how long he was going to be. For a second Rachel thought maybe she could offer to drive Taryn's car home; she didn't think it would be that hard to learn. Then she realized that was a terrible idea.

Ben returned to the Starbucks twenty-five minutes later smelling of smoke.

"Ready?" he said.

The girls got up and headed to the car. Taryn sat in the front and Rachel, Jen and Emily sat crammed in the back seat. The car reeked of smoke and Rachel knew she was going to be in BIG trouble. Not only was she going to be late, but she would also come into her house smelling of smoke.

Rachel looked at the orange-lighted clock on the dashboard: 12:08.

BUZZ. Rachel felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Rachel hoped that if she didn't open it that it would just go away. 12:12 Buzz, another buzz. Rachel flipped open her phone and held the screen away so that Jen and Emily couldn't read it.

2 New Messages:

Dad: WHERE ARE YOU? GET HOME NOW.

Dad:?

Rachel didn't know what to respond. They were still a good 45 minutes from home and stuck in Friday night city traffic.

Rachel: Long story, I'm on my way, 45 minutes. I'll explain.

Dad: We need to talk. You're in trouble, missy.

Rachel put her phone back in her bag and sunk down into her seat. She didn't know what was worse: being stuck in that car, or what she would face when she got home. She hated this night and wished it had never happened.
Chapter Seven

As the car finally rolled into the driveway the clock read 1:23am. Rachel saw her parents standing in the window, looking outside.

"Bye Rach, I'll text you tomorrow, maybe we can go to the movies, you have your ID!" Emily said.

"Uh huh, have a good night," Rachel said.

The second she entered her house, she heard her parents' voices.

"Rachel, come here right now!" her dad said.

"Coming," Rachel replied.

Rachel approached her parents who were red with anger. They looked tired and mad, and Rachel had never seen them quite like this before. She was scared.

The three walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"What happened?" her mom said.

"I um, lost track of time." Rachel said trying to get out of the punishment that awaited her.

"The movie ran over, and then Taryn wanted to stop by a friends house: I couldn't say no."

"What do you mean you couldn't say no? Who's house was it anyway?" Rachel's dad replied.

"Jessica, my other new friend," she replied quickly.

"You are two and a half hours late, do you realize that? Your mother and I were worried sick."

"I'm sorry. I said I was sorry. I don't know what else you want."

"You are grounded. No TV, radio, or hanging out with friends for the rest of the weekend. You need to think about what you did tonight," said Rachel's dad.

"And no more riding with that girl Taryn, she is clearly bad news," said Rachel's mom.

"She is not. She's a nice girl, what do you know?" Rachel screeched.

"That's enough out of you! Get to your room!" her dad said.

As Rachel got up from the couch and walked past her parents and headed for the stairs, her dad said, "Get back here."

Rachel slowly walked near him.

"Come here, he said, "closer,"

"Were you smoking?"

"NO!" Rachel said.

"You smell like an ashtray, do you smell that?" Rachel's dad said.

"Rachel, tell us the truth, were you smoking?" Rachel's mom asked again.

"I am telling you the truth, I wasn't smoking."

"It was probably your new friends. They're bad influences on you. You need to find new friends," her mom said.

Furious, Rachel turned and headed upstairs. She knew her parents didn't believe her, but the funny part was she didn't smoke. At least that wasn't a lie. Rachel felt guilty for lying to her parents, but if they found out that she had gone into NYC, she would have been grounded for life, not just the weekend. Rachel was also mad because she knew that tomorrow (well, today) was her big date with Rob and she didn't want to miss it, or miss the first party of the year. This was turning into a real disaster.

Exhausted, she took off her Nirvana tee and slid under the covers. Rachel feel asleep quickly, forgetting to write in her journal for the first time since she began back in 7th grade.

Rachel woke up the next morning feeling groggy and exhausted. Her late night was all a blur as she tried to run its events back in her mind. She felt upset that she'd worried and disobeyed her parents, but on the other hand, she felt her curfew was too early, and they were being too hard on her. Compared to most of the girls in her grade she had the earliest curfew and the most rules.

Thinking about this upset Rachel, and whenever Rachel felt upset she liked to write in her diary to get her thoughts out. She reached for her diary, and then suddenly remembered she had forgotten to write in it last night. This was the one thing Rachel was strict with herself about: she never wanted a day a to go by without documenting it.

Rachel opened a page, backdated it, and wrote about her crazy first night out with the girls.

When she finished writing, she locked it up. If her parents ever saw this entry, she knew they would be pissed.

The time was 10:15am and Rachel's stomach began to growl. She was a little nervous to face her parents but knew she couldn't stay in her room all day. As she headed into the kitchen, her parents were sitting there, still in their pajamas, reading the New York Times and drinking coffee. They looked up at her but didn't say anything. Their stares made her feel guilty all over again.

Rachel's parents sat there quietly and Rachel could tell they were still mad. She went over to the cupboard to get out the Golden Grahams, some milk from the fridge and then sat quietly across from them at the kitchen table. The room was still, and nobody said anything.

She felt torn; she desperately wanted to tell her parents the truth, but feared their response. She wished she could have a more open relationship with them, but they were so overprotective, she figured it was best to shelter them from the truth.

As she tilted the bowl back to sip the remaining drops of milk into her mouth her dad finally spoke.

"Don't forget: no TV, or radio today -- and don't even think about going out with your friends tonight. You are grounded until Monday morning."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Rachel said, trying to be sympathetic.

She thought about her punishment and realized they had forgotten to take away her cell phone away. Usually, when they grounded her, her cell it is the first thing they held hostage.

Before they could remember Rachel cleared her dishes, put away the cereal and milk and headed upstairs. If she sat there any longer she was sure they would have remembered her cell.

Rachel unplugged her cell phone, charging on her nightstand, and looked at it.

1 New Message:

Hoping it was Rob texting about their date tonight, Rachel opened the phone.

Dana: Hey Rach, went to the movies last night, we missed you.

Reading this, Rachel felt sad. She remembered how simple her life was back in Pennsylvania. She rarely got in trouble, and hanging out with her friends never turned into a crazy ordeal either. She wished she could be back with her old friends now, doing the fun things she used to do: but now she was thrust into this different world she knew little about.

Rachel didn't feel up to rehashing her whole night over a text message, but she didn't want to be rude and not text back, even though Dana had been remiss about contacting Rachel the past few days.

Rachel: Hey! Sounds so fun, wish I could have been there, I went out, too. Let's chat later.

Rachel had hoped that Dana's text was Rob texting her instead. She was anxious for Rob to text her about the party, but she also didn't know how she would respond. Could she really tell him that she had been grounded for staying out past her 11pm curfew? She couldn't bear to do that. She knew that if she told anyone that she was grounded, her friends would think she was lame. Not to mention, they would hate her parents, and Rachel didn't want that.

Rachel pondered her options. She had to find a way to get to Jordan's party and to see Rob, but she didn't see how that would ever fly with her parents. Rachel knew if she tried to reason with them, they would get angrier and might ground her for longer -- so she knew that wasn't an option.

She wondered if she had Rob show up and ring her bell, that maybe her parents would feel bad and let her go out. But she didn't think that would work because she knew she wouldn't get the sympathy card tonight.

Suddenly, Rachel had an idea. Today was Saturday, and she knew her parents always went out on Saturday nights for dinner. Rachel could sneak out. She had never snuck out of her house before, but tonight was not just another night out with the girls -- this was her BIG date night with Rob, and she couldn't miss it for the world.

The one hiccup in the plan was that Rachel wasn't sure if her parents were going out this Saturday, because it was their first Saturday in the new house and they might still be unpacking, or have other things to do around the house. They might also be too tired after the craziness she had put them through last night. She had to find out.

But how?

Rachel knew that if she asked them straight out, they would know something was up; Rachel never inquired about their plans before, so why would she start doing it now? Especially when she was grounded?

Suddenly, a stroke of genius entered her brain. She figured out the perfect way to find out their plans, while not letting on that she was really trying to find a way to sneak out.

Rachel felt torn about her idea. She knew if she went forward with it, she would have to tell a lie -- but if she didn't go through with it, she may let the love of her life slip through her fingers. The battle in her mind went on for a few minutes, and then she decided she couldn't miss her date with Rob, she had to lie to her parents.

Rachel left her room and headed to find her parents. They were sitting in the living room, sorting through boxes. As she entered the room, her parents stopped and looked up at her.

"What are you doing down here?" asked her dad.

"Well, I was going through my homework and then I realized that part of my science homework was to watch an episode of Planet Earth."

"You're grounded. No TV," her dad replied.

"But, how will I do my homework? I can't go in without it and it's due Monday morning, 3rd period."

Rachel's mom looked at her, then turned towards her dad and said, "I think we need to make an exception, Dear. She isn't watching it for pleasure -- it is her homework. We can't let her grades slip because she is grounded."

"What time is it on?" her dad snapped.

"It starts at 8:30 tonight."

Rachel knew that there was a Phillies game on tonight and her parents were huge fans: arguably, their number one fans. She knew that if they were not going out for dinner, they would be sitting in front of the only TV they had in their house, watching the game. They wouldn't let anything get in the way of their beloved baseball team.

Rachel knew her plan was working. Here parents looked at each other and looked at the clock hanging in the corner of the room.

"That will be fine," said Rachel's dad.

"The show is two hours though, is that OK?" she asked, looking at her parents.

"It shouldn't be a problem," her mom interjected. "We're going out to dinner tonight at 7 o'clock with the new neighbors. They said they might want to go to the movies after, so we probably won't get home until around then anyway."

"Oh, OK," Rachel said, trying to sound indifferent. She didn't want them to hear any excitement in her voice.

Rachel knew that Sarah was still at Skidmore and Mark was having a sleepover with one of his friends so she would have the house all to herself.

Rachel had done it. Her plan worked. She figured out all the information she needed. She felt a little bad for lying, but she couldn't think of any other way.

Rachel headed back upstairs to her room. She looked at her watch. 1:15pm. She checked her phone.

# No New Messages

Rachel knew the party started at 8 o'clock, and she only had a few more hours to go. She wondered why Rob hadn't texted her yet. Maybe he forgot? Maybe he was standing her up?

Many options crossed through her mind.

Should I text him?

Rachel continuously checked her phone thinking that maybe Rob had texted and she didn't hear the buzz. Still nothing.

She began to like him even more and let her mind wander, thinking about their date. She wondered what the party was going to be like and who was going to be there. She wondered what she and Rob would do together -- she even let herself think about kissing him.

Rachel had only kissed one guy before, and that had been a random guy at one of her sleepaway camp socials. It was more of a peer pressure kiss, and meant nothing to her: she didn't even remember the guy's name. So this would be Rachel's first "real" kiss.

Another hour went by with no text from Rob. Rachel's hopes of them getting together begun to fade. She was a little annoyed, too, because she had already lied to her parents and had come up with an elaborate plan to get out of the house. She started to feel that maybe she liked him more than he liked her.

All of a sudden, Rachel heard a buzz. Her heart leapt into her throat as she reached for her cell.

1 New Message:

Rob: Hey Rachel, psyched for tonight. I'll pick you up around 7.

Rachel waited a few minutes to reply, so she wouldn't seem too eager. She didn't want Rob to think she had been sitting by her phone all day waiting for his text, and she wanted to play it cool. Having never had a boyfriend, she had many years of analyzing and overanalyzing her friends' relationships and guy drama.

Rachel: Great. Can you come around 7:45 instead?

Rachel didn't want Rob to accidentally run into her parents as they were leaving the house, and she also knew that her parents were chronically late for everything, and they probably wouldn't end up leaving until after 7.

She was also a little puzzled that Rob wanted to pick her up an hour before the party started. She knew it was only a five minute drive to everything in Bedford, so 7 was way too early. Then she thought maybe he wanted to take her somewhere first, so they could be alone. She loved the idea of, but realized tonight was not a possibility. If she wanted any shot at sneaking out, it would have to wait until her parents were long gone.

Rob: Yeah, that's fine. See ya later babe!

BABE! Did he really just call me babe? Rachel had never been referred to as babe before, or for that measure, any pet name or term of endearment.

She felt awesome. It made her even more excited for her night. Now the thought of lying to her parents and sneaking out all made perfect sense. This was going to be the love of her life. Rachel daydreamed about her and Rob dating, and then becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. She thought that this was going to be her high school sweetheart, and she hoped that the two would get married. She could see them going to college together, or at least to schools close to one another.

Rachel's thoughts were interrupted when she heard her phone buzz again. Was it Rob again? Rachel wondered what he could have forgotten to say.

1 New Message:

# Emily: So crazy last night Rach! Glad you came out. You have fun?

Rachel: Yup! Totally. What are you up to?

Emily: Figuring out my plans for tonight, want to see that movie?

Rachel: Oh, I can't. I'm going to Jordan's party with Rob.

Emily: YOU ARE? Why?

Rachel: Rob's cute, I kinda like him.

Emily: Yeah, but he hangs out with the worst people. You are going to hate it.

Rachel: Want to come?

Emily: Never.

Rachel: Ok, well, I'm going to go for a little bit. Let's see the movie next weekend, K?

Emily: We'll see. If I haven't already seen it by then. Bye.

Rachel: Cya

Rachel worried that maybe Emily was mad at her. She liked Emily a lot: she was her favorite of the group, but she didn't like how Emily was so opposed to Rob and his crew. Rachel didn't like being told what to do or how to feel and she resented this about Emily. Even though Emily had been in school with them forever, Rachel still wanted the chance to figure things out on her own. She didn't want Emily to tell her she was going to hate the party or put a damper on her excitement. Rachel knew she was going to go to the party and have the best time. She couldn't possibly have a worse night than last night.

Rachel looked at her watch; the time had crept up on her; it was nearing 5 o'clock, and she had to start getting ready for her big date. She felt glad that Sarah wasn't home because she wouldn't have to fight for the shower, and she could even borrow her cute Gap denim skirt.

Rachel and Sarah rarely shared clothes, mostly because their tastes were very different. But Rachel did admire a few of her things, her denim Gap skirt being one of them. She thought a skirt would be subtle and sexy for tonight. She didn't want to go too over the top, though, so she figured she would wear her converse sneakers with it.

Rachel snuck into Sarah's room and opened her closet. There it was, hanging perfectly on a hot pink plastic hanger. She took it off the hanger and made a mental note to put it back exactly as she'd found it. She walked back to her room through their adjoining bathroom and looked through her closet for a shirt to wear with it.

Blouse, tee, long sleeved, short sleeved, black, blue, baby pink? She had a lot of options, but none of them felt right. She started digging in her drawers, and pulled out the tight white halter-top she had thought she lost in the move.

She tried it on and looked in the mirror. She felt good and knew that she would look hot at the party.

Rachel took off the outfit and hopped into the shower. She used her sister's Bath and Body Works coconut lime breeze body scrub so her skin would be extra soft, in case Rob held her hand or touched her arm. She wanted to be perfect for him. She took an extra long shower -- getting herself cleaner than she had ever been before.

When Rachel got out of the shower, she put back on her comfy clothes, so that her parents wouldn't suspect anything. She'd also wait to put on her makeup and perfume until after they left. If they saw her sitting in her room with a perfect face of makeup and smelling like perfume they would know she was up to something.

As 7 o'clock neared, Rachel took out one of her textbooks and began to read. She wanted to be deep into her homework when her parents walked in to say goodbye. At least she wanted it to look that way. As she sat there, staring at the pages, a wave of guilt passed over her. Maybe she shouldn't go through with this. She didn't recognize the person she was turning into and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

Suddenly, Rachel heard her parents' voices coming down the hall and then a knock on her door. Rachel looked at her watch: 7:15pm.

"Come in," Rachel said, as she sat on her bed, staring at her Earth Science textbook.

"We're leaving now. We are going to Mr. Chen's Chinese restaurant and then to the movies. We'll be back around 11:30-12pm," Rachel's Mom said.

"It's nice to see you doing your homework," her Dad added.

"OK, have fun. Say hello to the neighbors for me," Rachel said.

"We have the Phillies game taping so don't hit any buttons when you watch your show. This is a big game," her dad said.

"Don't worry, I won't."

As her parents turned and walked out of the door, a rush of excitement came over her. She peeked out of her window to watch as they drove their Station wagon out of the driveway and down the street.

She had done it. Her parents were gone, and she had half an hour until Rob was coming to pick her up.

She scurried into the bathroom to put on her makeup. She decided she would do natural makeup tonight. She didn't want to go overboard on their first date -- plus, she didn't know what the scene was going to be like. The last thing she wanted was to show up with too much makeup, or overdressed. She wanted to fit in subtly.

She put the finishing touches on her makeup and gave herself two spritzes of her CK 1 perfume. She headed downstairs and grabbed a Nature's Valley bar. She didn't have time to eat dinner, and figured a granola bar would do.

As she sat in her family room, dressed and ready, she couldn't help but peek out of the window to see if Rob was there. She watched and waited patiently. A few minutes later, she saw a black Jeep Grand Cherokee pull into her driveway. The horn honked. She jumped up from the couch.

Rachel locked the front door and headed towards his car with a pang of excitement and nervousness. Her palms were sweaty as she reached for the passenger-side door handle.

Rachel opened it and got inside. She was impressed by his car and was even more impressed when she saw his outfit. He was wearing grey jeans with a white polo shirt, the collar popped. His arm muscles bulged through the tight sleeves and she couldn't help but think about touching them.

She composed herself and said, "Hey!"

"Hey Rach, you excited for the party?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun," she replied.

As Rob backed out of the driveway, she felt relieved. She had successfully snuck out of the house for the first time ever and she was with the hottest guy in school.

What could be better than this? she thought.

As Rob drove her to Jordan's, they talked about how their weekend was going so far. Rob told her that he went into town with some of his friends last night. Apparently it was cool to hang out behind all the stores on Main Street in Bedford. Rachel couldn't see any fun in it, but said, " Cool! Rachel told Rob all about her time in the city with the girls but omitted that she was grounded for the rest of the weekend, or that she had even gotten in trouble.

"Wow, that's sick," Rob said. "It's so cool you went into the city. I love the city. "Have you ever been to the clubs?"

"Nope, not yet," she said, " but I've got my fake," she said proudly.

"That's pretty sweet," he said. "I've got my older brother's ID: it works every time. Maybe next weekend we'll go into the city so I can take you to one of my favorite dance clubs," Rob said.

"Yeah, that'll be fun," she replied.

Rachel was thrilled at the prospect of making a future date with Rob. The night was going perfectly so far, she thought.

As the two pulled up in front of Jordan's house there were at least fifteen cars parked on the side of the street and in his driveway.

"Wow, there's a lot of people here," she said.

"This is only a quarter of the kids that are supposed to show tonight," replied Rob. "Almost the whole school knows about this -- well everyone who anyone knows."

Rachel felt so cool. She was part of the "in" crowd. This was a new thing for her; she had never been part of that crowd in Pennsylvania, even though she secretly wished she had. She had only been to one house party, and it had been pretty lame. She imagined that party nothing next to the one she was about to enter.

As Rob parked the car and turned off the ignition, he turned and said, "Wait there, I'll get your door."

Rachel was shocked: she had never had a guy open her door for her. "OK!" she replied.

Rob came around the front of the car and opened up Rachel's door for her. She hopped out and they walked side by side into Jordan's house.

"Hey man!" a voice said from inside.

"Jordan, my man! What's up bro?" replied Rob.

Jordan stopped and looked at Rachel. Rob said, "This is Rachel, she's new, not sure if you two have met yet."

"Nope, haven't met. Hey Rachel welcome to the par-tay!" said Jordan.

"Thanks for having me," Rachel replied.

"Want a brew?" Jordan asked, holding up two cans of Budweiser.

"Yeah man," said Rob. "You want one?" Rob turned and asked Rachel.

Not wanting to look like a loser, she said, "Sure, I'll have one."

Rachel couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't really drink: she had only drunk a few times before with her friends in Pennsylvania, but never out at a party. She decided that this was going to be her only drink of the night, especially because she had to sneak back into her house and pretend that she was doing homework when her parents arrived.

"Cheers," Rachel said, clinking their beer cans together.

Rachel smiled and took a sip. She realized she didn't like beer that much. She took a few more sips and then held it in her hands. She figured if she carried it around with her, it would look like she was drinking even though she really wasn't.

Rachel looked around at all the people at the party. Most of them were drinking and she saw a few of them on the back porch, smoking. Everyone looked liked they were having a good time. She secretly wanted to get in with the popular crowd and she knew tonight was going to be the night. She wanted to be popular partially because she thought it would be cool, but mostly because she wanted Rob to really like her. She thought that if she were in with all his friends, it would be easy for him to fall for her.

Rob took Rachel around and introduced her to most of the guys on his football team. Rachel thought the guys were nice, and was excited that they were talking to her. Rachel had never had any guy friends before: all of her friends at home were girls. She didn't mind this, but always wanted to be in with the guys, too.

The radio was blasting an Eminem song and some of the kids started dancing and singing to the music. Rachel watched on the outskirts of the room as she continued to talk with Rob. Rob was giving Rachel the low-down on all the kids, bringing her up to speed on who was dating who, who played what sports, who drove what car. Rachel's brain was starting to hurt with all the information.

The party started to pick up and get really crowded, and Rachel and Rob decided to go out on the back porch. As Rob opened the sliding glass door and motioned Rachel through, she was surprised to see that nobody else was on the back porch. Rachel had seen a group of kids out there smoking a few minutes ago, but figured they must have gone back inside.

Rob walked over to a rocking love seat and sat down on it, and Rachel followed him. The two sat there, rocking back and forth together, talking.

"So, you liking it so far?" said Rob.

"You mean, Bedford or the party?"

"Well, both," said Rob.

"The party's cool and I'm warming up to my new life in Bedford. It's a bit of an adjustment, but it's better now."

"I'm glad you're here," Rob said, as he stared into her eyes.

"Me, too," Rachel said, as she looked back at him, and then looked away.

Rachel didn't know what was happening. Was Rob going to kiss her? Tonight? At Jordan's party? Rachel's heart started beating faster as she sat there next to him.

"There's something different about you, Rach. I don't know what it is, but I really like you," Rob said, still staring into her eyes.

"Thanks, I guess," Rachel said, as she smiled.

Rob reached out and put his hand on her leg. Rachel's heart leapt. He turned to her and started leaning in. She was leaning towards him and as her eyes began to close, she heard the sliding door open and a group of girls ran onto the porch.

"What are you doing here, new girl?" asked Arielle.

"Yeah, who invited you?" asked one of Arielle's friends.

"I did," Rob said, sticking up for her.

"What did I tell you the other day?" Arielle said, staring at Rachel. "I hope you didn't forget."

Rachel looked back at her but said nothing.

"You better watch it," Arielle said, as she walked back into the house.

"I think I'd better go," Rachel said to Rob.

Rachel looked at her watch and didn't realize she'd been at the party for two hours already. It was a little after 10pm and she knew she wanted to be home by 11pm so she could settle in and get out of her party clothes before her parents arrived back home.

"Let's grab another beer and then I'll drive you back home," Rob said to Rachel.

Rachel didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to stay at the party with Rob, but the other part wanted to run. She was terrified of running into Arielle and her friends again.

"I really don't want to stay here," Rachel said back.

"Fine, let's leave, but I want to take you somewhere before I drive you home," Rob said.

"Where?" she asked.

"You'll see," Rob answered, "It's a surprise."

Rachel liked surprises and thought it was sweet of him to leave the party with her. Rachel didn't want to disappoint him by telling him she had to go home, so she decided she would go with him. Rachel also hoped that he would try and kiss her again; they'd been so close to kissing on the porch, she knew that if it were ever going to happen, it would be tonight.

Rachel snuck out of the party without bumping into Arielle or her friends. She was worried she might see them on her way out, and she didn't want them to know t she was leaving with Rob or that he was driving her home. She was a little scared of them now, but it felt good that the guy they were fighting for wanted her.

As they got back in the car, Rob said, "Do you like water?"

"Water?" she asked R.

"Yeah, water, boats, docks?" Rob replied.

"I guess so," she said, "never really thought about it."

Rob drove for about ten minutes until they came upon a quiet pond. Rachel looked out of the windshield and saw a few people standing on a dock by a well-lit pond. It looked like a very romantic and beautiful spot.

"Here we are," said Rob. "The duck pond."

"It's beautiful."

Rob got out of the car and walked over to let Rachel out of her side. Rachel hopped out and the two started walking together towards the dock.

Rob put his hand out and touched Rachel's hand. Rachel took his hand and they walked out to the end of the dock. Rachel worried Rob could feel her nerves jolting through her body; she was sure her hand was clammy and sweaty.

As they neared the end of the dock, they came upon a group of kids from a neighboring high school, hanging out chatting and having a cigarette. Rachel could tell that Rob had hoped it would be just the two of them; she could tell by the way Rob was looking around that he was trying to find a quiet place where they could be alone together. But there was nothing.

Rob looked into Rachel's eyes again but did not lean in to kiss her. Rachel's mind was running wild. She didn't know if he was going to kiss her now, or if he was going to wait until the other kids left the dock.

"This is my favorite spot," Rob said as he looked at Rachel.

"It's nice...peaceful," she replied.

Rachel suddenly remembered that she had to get home. It was 11:15 and she knew it was going to take fifteen minutes to drive all the way back. She wasn't sure what time her parents' movie was letting out, but she knew she had to get back right away.

"I have to go," Rachel said abruptly, letting go of Rob's hand.

"Why?" said Rob.

"My parents expect me home at 11:30 tonight," Rachel said.

"Why so early?" Rob asked.

"Big day tomorrow," Rachel said, "Some family things to do,"

"Ok, I'll take you home now," Rob said as they began to walk back to his car.

"Thanks, sorry," Rachel said.

"No worries," Rob said.

As they drove back towards her house, she began to get really worried. She hoped desperately that her parents weren't back yet, and she hoped that she could make it into the house before they arrived. She imagined herself pulling up at the same exact time and then having to face their wrath. They would be furious with her and she didn't even want to let her mind think about what they would do.

The minutes felt like hours as they continued driving down the back roads of Bedford.

"So, when am I going to see you again?" asked Rob.

"I'll see you in Mr. Allen's class," she laughed.

"No, I mean, really see you, I want to hang out more."

"Oh, well, I guess I'm free after school on Monday," she replied.

"It's a date," Rob said, in a cute voice.

"Great," she said, trying not to sound too excited.

As the car pulled down Pine Road, Rachel was shocked at what she saw. Her parent's car was in the driveway. How could she have gotten home later than them? They were supposed to be out at the movies until 11:45ish. Rachel wondered how long they'd been home, and she hoped they hadn't gone up to her room to say goodnight. Rachel told Rob to let her out on the street and not to pull into her driveway.

Rachel quickly said goodbye to Rob giving him a hug and hopped out of the car. She quietly shut the car door and headed around to the back of her house. She knew she had a better shot of getting back in without getting caught if she went in the back door.

She crept up the steps of the back porch and saw the kitchen light on, but nobody was in the kitchen. She quickly walked across the porch and opened up the sliding glass door.

She was inside. She heard her parents' voices coming from the basement and quickly ran up to her room. She took off her party clothes and changed quickly into her pajamas. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and walked back out of her room to the staircase.

"How was the movie?" she yelled down to her parents.

"Rachel?" her parents shouted. "Where were you?"

"What do you mean?" Rachel said.

"We've been looking everywhere for you," replied Rachel's mom.

"I was in the bathroom," said Rachel.

"No you weren't, I checked your bathroom," said Rachel's dad.

She racked her brain trying to come up with a response.

"I was in Mark's bathroom," Rachel said. "Mine was all out of toilet paper."

"Oh," said Rachel's mom. "I thought I checked there, but I must have been wrong."

"Well, I was in there, sorry I didn't hear you guys."

"It's OK, sweetie," said Rachel's mom. "We thought something happened to you, that's all."

"Nope, I've been here the whole time," Rachel said.

"How was your show?" Replied her dad. "You didn't mess up the Phillies recording, did you?"

"Nope, it's fine, should still be recording," Rachel said.

"Well, I'm heading to bed," Rachel said, as she began to turn and walk towards her bedroom.

Rachel heard her parents' footsteps behind hers. She didn't want them to get close to her, because they would definitely smell the alcohol and smoke on her. Rachel didn't know what to do. She started walking faster and then shut the door to her room as she said, "Goodnight!"

Rachel waited, as she stood with her back to the door. She heard the footsteps get closer, and closer and then stop. She hoped they weren't going to come in. Then all of a sudden she heard her parents whisper something to each other and the footsteps started going down the hall.
Chapter Eight

When Rachel woke up the next morning she rubbed her eyes and sat up feeling confused. She thought about her night and wondered if it had all been a dream.

Did that all really just happen?

She got out of bed and saw her party clothes on the floor of her closet and knew it was not a dream. She picked up the denim skirt, brushed the wrinkles out, and brought it back into Sarah's room.

As Rachel was hanging the Gap skirt back on the hot pink hanger, her mom walked through the door of Sarah's room, holding a laundry basket.

"What are you doing in here?" Rachel's mom asked, sounding surprised.

"Oh, I, was just returning a skirt I borrowed from Sarah," said Rachel.

Rachel looked at her mom as she stared back at her with questioning eyes. Rachel worried her mom would ask why she borrowed the skirt, and where she wore it. She knew she was busted.

"I don't remember you wearing that skirt," her mom questioned her.

Thinking quickly, Rachel knew she had to come up with something fast.

"Oh, I wore it the other day to school, you must not have noticed," Rachel answered.

"That's nice, dear," her mom answered, "It's so nice you girls share clothes."

"Yeah."

"Come downstairs, I've made pancakes for breakfast."

"K, I'll be down in a few," Rachel replied. "Thanks, Mom."

Phew, that was close.

Rachel smiled at her mom and walked back into her room.

Relieved, she sat on her bed and thought about how happy she was. It had been almost a week since their move, and she already felt like she belonged at AHS, and in her new town of Bedford. She didn't feel like an outcast anymore, and she was surprised at how quickly things turned around for her after her terrible first day. Rachel felt lucky to have Emily and Rob. She thought Emily was quickly entering the best friend zone, and she felt that Rob was going to turn into her boyfriend before she knew it. She really wanted Emily and Rob to become friends but she knew that would never happen. Despite this, she felt like the luckiest girl on the planet.

"Honey, pancakes are getting cold," her mom yelled up to Rachel.

"Coming!" She headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Mark and Sarah were still not home, so it was just Rachel, her mom and dad sitting at the breakfast table again.

Rachel felt guilty as she sat at the kitchen table, having a delicious breakfast with her parents. They had absolutely no idea she snuck out, and while Rachel felt good about that, she also felt a little sad, too. She was not the type of girl to dupe her parents.

"How was the game?" she asked her dad.

"Mayberry caught a fly and won the game," he replied.

"Nice!" she said, excitedly.

She loved the Phillies but felt that because she was now a New Yorker she should start liking the Yankees or the Mets. As the three finished their breakfast, Rachel said, "Can I help with anything, today?"

Her mom looked at her and said, "That's nice of you, Darling. We could use some help in the garage actually."

Rachel suddenly wished she hadn't offered, but figured it would make her feel better about herself and about lying if she did something to help out around the house. After all, the house was still a wreck and there were boxes everywhere, and she didn't want to live like that either.

She left the kitchen to go change out of her pajamas. She went up to her room and saw her phone light up.

1 Missed Call

Emily: 10:22am

Rachel waited for the voicemail to come through, and then listened to it.

"Hey Rach, it's me, Emily. Just calling to see how your night was. I heard the party was crazy last night. Cops came and broke it up around 1am. Hope everything's OK. Call me."

Rachel decided to text Emily back. She didn't want to be caught talking on the phone because then she would get her phone confiscated for the day. After all, she was still grounded.

Rachel: Hey Em, just helping out around the house, unpacking and stuff.

Emily: How was Jordan's?

Rachel was surprised at Emily's sudden interest in the party but answered her anyway.

Rachel: It was OK, not really my scene, but Rob was great. We almost kissed, but didn't. Long story.

Emily: OMG! Really?

Rachel: Yeah, isn't that cool?

Emily: If you like him, yeah. But be careful, he's kind of a player.

Rachel: Well, I gotta run, see you tomorrow in Mr. Allen's class.

Emily: Peace out!

She put her phone down, annoyed. She didn't know why Emily always had to bring her excitement down, especially now, after such an amazing night with Rob. She figured that Rob was popular and knew all the girls liked him, but she thought he was different. He was so sweet to her and so kind, she didn't believe Emily. And even if Emily had been right, that Rob was a player, Rachel figured that maybe he had changed. Regardless, she knew she was going to have to think twice about things before she shared every little detail with Emily.

Rachel changed her clothes and headed outside to the garage. Her mom and dad were both out there emptying boxes and organizing things. They were very focused, listening to Billy Joel on the stereo system.

Her mom put a few boxes aside for Rachel to sort through, and she got right to work. The boxes were a mess: full of cables, wires, nick-knacks, clothes, rags, parts to things she could not identify.

It took Rachel most of the day to sort through the boxes. It was exhausting work, and she only stopped for about a half hour to eat a sandwich and run upstairs to check her phone.

By the end of the day, Rachel's back was hurting and her stomach was grumbling. It was nearing dinnertime and she was ready to call it quits on the garage project.

She headed inside. As she walked upstairs, she heard loud music coming out of her sister's room. She went over and knocked on Sarah's door, excited that she was back from her weekend with Gary. Even though the two weren't the best of friends, Rachel did miss Sarah when she was gone: especially this weekend, because she had been grounded.

"Who is it?" Rachel heard Sarah yell from inside her bedroom.

"It's Rachel," Rachel shouted so Sarah could hear her over her music.

She heard Sarah turn down her music.

"Come in," Sarah said softly.

As Rachel opened the door she was surprised at what she saw. Sarah was taking down all her pictures of her and Gary. She had also torn down all the letters and cards he had wrote her.

"What's going on?"

"Gary wants to take a break," Sarah said wiping a tear from her eye.

"What?" Rachel asked. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. He said it's too much with his school work and he wants to enjoy his freshman year at Skidmore without having to worry about me," Sarah said.

"I'm sorry, Sarah," Rachel said. "He will realize what he's lost, don't worry."

Rachel couldn't believe what she just heard. Sarah and Gary had been together for years now, and were even talking about marriage. What could have gone wrong?

Rachel waited for Sarah to ask her how her weekend was, but she was too absorbed in the emotions of her breakup to talk about anything else.

Rachel walked through their bathroom and back into her bedroom and walked over to her window. She peered out, thinking about Sarah, and then thinking about Rob. She so desperately wanted to tell her sister about him: but she knew tonight wasn't a good time.

As she looked out the window, she wondered what their second date would be like, and if tomorrow would be the day of her first true kiss.
Chapter Nine

Rachel woke up bright and early Monday morning, eager for her day at school and, more importantly, her second date with Rob. She had been looking forward to this day ever since Saturday night. She couldn't get him out of her mind: it was all Rachel could think about.

As Rachel walked into Mr. Allen's class that Monday morning, she was excited. Not only would she see Emily, she would also see Rob.

Rachel saw Emily take her sweater off the seat next to hers. Rachel walked over and sat down. The two chatted about the rest of their weekend, and then class started. Rachel looked around but did not see Rob. She hoped that he was not sick, and that their date would still be on after school.

Twenty minutes later in walked Rob. He walked right by Rachel without looking at her. Rachel didn't know what to make of it. She thought that maybe he didn't see her. Rachel sat there, hoping that Rob would try and get her attention; she wanted him to acknowledge her, but the class went on and he did not.

At the end of class, Rachel got up and walked to the door slowly, so that Rob would catch up to her. Rob bumped her arm as he passed which gave Rachel the opportunity to say hello.

"Hey," Rachel said.

"Oh, hi," Rob said.

"How was the rest of your weekend?" Rachel said.

Rachel had hoped that Rob would have texted or called yesterday but he didn't. She figured he was just busy, or that he was one of those guys who didn't check in daily. Either way she didn't let herself obsess over it.

"Good," Rob said, "ended up going back to the party. Good times," Rob said. "See ya later."

Rob moved passed Rachel as he headed quickly down the hall. Rachel watched as he gave one of his friends a high-five and the friend said, "Nice work, man, I heard."

Rachel didn't know what this was all about, but it made her mind start spinning with possibilities. Did something happen at the party? Did he hook up with Arielle or another girl? What could it be? Rachel thought. She was disappointed at their interaction in class and knew that something was up. She just didn't know what it was.

Rob did say, "See ya later," so Rachel knew she would find out what was going on, on their date this afternoon. She was still very much looking forward to that.

As the school day ended, Rachel ran into the bathroom to touch up her makeup. She wanted to look perfect when Rob met her in the front of the school.

She walked outside and stood in front of the big red doors at the entrance of AHS. She watched as kids flew out the front doors of school and into the parking lot.

Rachel checked her watch: it was 2:40pm, and the school bell rang ten minutes ago. She wondered where Rob was: he said he was going to meet her at 2:30. She justified this and figured he got caught up with something; maybe he had to stay late and talk with a teacher, maybe he had to see his coach, maybe the guys stopped him in the hall to chat. She knew it could be a number of things and continued to stand there.

As her watch neared 2:50pm, Rachel knew something was up. Rob never came, and he didn't text, either. She felt dejected.

Rachel walked back inside the building to see if she saw Rob, but he was nowhere to be found. She had been stood up.

Rachel didn't know what to do. She didn't want to see or talk to anyone.

She decided she would walk home. It would be about a twenty-five minute walk, but she needed some time to cool off. She didn't think Rob would have blown her off like that, and her emotions were running wild.

Rachel took out her phone and texted Rob to find out what was going on. She had such high hopes for her date, she wanted to make sure there wasn't a mix up.

Rachel: Hey, do we still have plans?

A few minutes went by with no text. Rachel figured it was over, then all of a sudden, her phone buzzed.

Rob: "Can't make it, out with the boys, some other time."

As she walked out of the school driveway and onto one of the back roads, she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She'd never been stood up before and felt. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. She also didn't know what she was going to say if Rob texted her later, or what she would do in Mr. Allen's class in the morning. She ran all the scenarios over and over in her head.

A motorcycle came up behind Rachel. She turned and saw a motorcycle slowly approaching her. As it got closer, Rachel could see a guy wearing riding boots, black jeans, a leather jacket, a faded white tee shirt and a grey bandana on his head.

As the guy lifted his helmet, Rachel's heart skipped a beat. He was drop dead gorgeous. She'd never had this feeling before it was love at first sight. Rachel stood there admiring his face. He had the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen, it was almost as if they were glowing. He had soft, pale looking skin and defined cheekbones. His lips were a light red color, and as he smiled she saw his pearly white teeth shining through. He had long dirty blonde hair and an unshaven face. He had an irresistible Indy Rock look to him.

He was perfect.

Rachel thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint how she knew him, or where she had seen him before. He looked mysterious, and she couldn't figure it out.

"Want a ride?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Rachel asked.

"My fault," he said, "My name's Benji."

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm a senior at AHS," he said. "I see you in the cafeteria sometimes."

Rachel looked at him a little confused. She didn't realize he was in her same lunch period, but knew she'd seen him around.

"Oh, cool," she replied.

"So, you wanna ride?" Benji asked again.

She hesitated for a minute. She figured she didn't have anything to lose; she might as well get a ride home.

"Sure."

Rachel grabbed the extra helmet under his seat, and Benji helped her buckle it under her chin. She got chills as he touched her chin.. As she reached around his leather jacket a surge of excitement came over her, she couldn't wait to wrap her hands around his waist and hold him close. Benji pulled off the shoulder and drove down the street. The noise of the bike rang through Rachel's ears, and the sound of acceleration was thrilling.

As the bike came to a stop, the two sat there in silence. As the traffic was crossing in front of them in the other direction, Benji turned to her and said, "Wanna go somewhere?"

"Where?" Rachel asked.

"Surprise. But I know you're going to love it," Benji said.

Rachel was torn, she didn't even know this guy, yet she couldn't help but want to go with him. He intrigued her, and she couldn't say no. She felt it was time to throw caution to the wind, and said, "Why not!"

She knew she shouldn't go with this perfect stranger, but she couldn't help herself. She was drawn to him and couldn't understand why. He had a strange sort of magnetism to him, and it made her feel like she'd known him forever.

As the bike entered the highway, Rachel gripped Benji tighter. She was in heaven. She didn't even care that she was on the back of a motorcycle on the highway. She didn't feel any danger. She felt safe as she sat there behind him, the wind blowing quickly past her body. She wanted to talk to Benji, but it was so loud, she knew if she tried, he wouldn't hear her. So she sat, silently, in love. As they sped away, thoughts of Rob slowly faded from her mind.

Twenty minutes later, they were pulling into a large parking lot full of cars. Rachel looked up and read the sign: "Rye Playland." She saw a rollercoaster, a ferris wheel, and other rides in the distance. Her heart leaped. How did he know I love amusement parks? Rachel thought to herself.

Rachel let go of his waist as Benji turned off the ignition. She didn't want to let him go. He helped her with the helmet and the two hopped off the bike and headed in through the large black metal gates that stood at the entrance. Benji didn't say anything as they walked towards the ticket counter. He was mysterious and that intrigued her. She looked at Benji as they walked and she could tell his mind was spinning, but she had no idea what he was thinking.

Benji bought two passes and they headed through the turnstiles.

"What do you want to do first?" he finally broke the silence.

She looked around and saw a row of games, and pointed to them.

As they walked near one of the games, Rachel got excited. She hoped that Benji would win her something, but knew those games were almost impossible to beat.

She looked at the game: it was the one where you had to take balls and load them into an air gun and shoot down pins to win a prize.

"Two, please," Benji said to the game attendant.

Rachel got ready to load her gun and the countdown began. They had 30 seconds to shoot down as many pins as they could. As Rachel loaded and shot her first Ball, she looked over at Benji. He was flying through his balls faster than she could believe. He knocked down all his pins with 27 seconds to go. Rachel forgot all about loading her next ball as she stood there, staring at him in disbelief.

The game attendant came over and looked at him and then picked up the air gun and looked at it. She looked at her and said, "You've got yourself a winner."

"How'd you do that?" Rachel asked Benji.

"Do what?"

"Are you serious? You knocked all the pins down in 3 seconds. That's nearly impossible," she said.

"I've never seen it done before," said the game attendant.

Benji shrugged and acted as if what had just happened was normal. "What do you want?" Benji said pointing to the wall of stuffed animals.

Rachel chose a pink snake and hung it around her neck.

Still shocked and confused, Rachel began to walk away from the games. In the distance, she spotted a fun house. Rachel pointed to it and said, "Let's do that next."

Benji looked at the fun house and quickly said, "No."

"What do you mean, no?" Rachel replied.

"I can't go in there."

"Why?" Rachel asked.

Benji didn't respond. He was staring at the fun house in a trance as his body was taking slow, steady steps backwards.

It were as if he was being repelled from the fun house. She couldn't understand what was happening. Rachel saw Benji shake his head a few times, as he snapped back into it.

"Sorry," Benji said.

Rachel decided to drop the fun house idea and began to wonder what was going on. She never knew of anyone who would turn a fun house down, the wobbly steps, the funky mirrors, the strobe lights and loud music. She was taken back.

"Do you think they have cotton candy here?" Rachel asked Benji.

"It's over there," Benji pointed.

"Where? I don't see anything."

"All the way down," said Benji, "do you see the sign?"

"No, where?" Rachel said as she squinted and looked in the distance.

Benji took her hand and led her towards the cotton candy. Rachel finally saw the small sign Benji was pointing to as they neared and said, "How did you see that?"

Benji looked away quickly and didn't answer. Rachel knew something was different about him. She was amazed.

As they got up to the window, Benji asked with a smile, "What color would you like?"

"Blue," Rachel said. "It's my favorite."

Benji handed Rachel a blue cotton candy and then the two headed back over towards the rides. He motioned to Rachel to sit down on a bench

She wanted Benji to hold her hand, or kiss her, or something. She was passionately attracted to him and wanted him to get closer.

Benji kept his distance on the bench, as they looked on at all the people passing by them.

"So, where do you live?" Rachel asked, breaking the silence.

"Down the road from school," Benji replied.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"A twin brother," Benji answered, "He goes to private school."

"Oh, that's sad. Do you miss him?"

"Not really, I see him sometimes," he said.

Rachel tried to imagine high school without her siblings, and couldn't. Even though they annoyed her, she still liked having them around.

As Rachel took a breath and was about to ask him more questions, he stood up and began walking. Rachel got up and followed. Benji puzzled her: he was unlike any guy she had ever met. She saw that it was hard for Benji to open up to her, and felt as if he were hiding a secret.

Not knowing what to say, Rachel pointed in front of them and said, "Let's go on the ferris wheel," hoping that the ferris wheel was an OK suggestion. She didn't want it to be a repeat of the fun house.

"Sure," Benji said and they arm in arm.

As they stood on the line, Rachel looked into Benji's eyes. He turned his head.

"Why are you so quiet?" Rachel asked.

"Am I?" said Benji.

"Yeah."

"Sorry," he answered, " I've got a lot on my mind tonight."

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Not wanting to pry, Rachel stopped asking questions. She wondered what he could be thinking about. She knew they were having a good time together and she felt that he really liked her despite not having spoken much.

"So, do you always pick up random girls on your bike?" Rachel asked.

"No, you're the first."

"Why me?"

"I don't know why," Benji answered as he stared into her eyes. "I saw you and I just couldn't ride past."

Rachel smiled and then looked away. She knew she felt the same way.

Benji looked up at the ferris wheel and took a deep breath as they entered the their car.

Rachel wondered if he was scared. She inched closer to Benji as the ferris wheel began to move.

Benji cleared his throat and asked, "Do you want to stay in this town forever?"

Rachel hadn't given any thought to this. She'd only moved in a week ago, and it was too soon for her to know how she felt about it.

"I'm not sure," she said. "Do you?"

"No," Benji answered.

Rachel felt Benji slipping away, as he expressed wanting to leave their town.

She was silent.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Benji asked.

It was another question Rachel hadn't thought of before. She was impressed by these questions, which really made her think deep, deeper than she'd ever thought before.

"Yes, I believe that we have a destiny," she replied, "and that we just have to believe in ourselves."

As the ferris wheel began to rise, the cool air breezed through her hair. Rachel looked around at the beautiful view. She could see forever. She felt like she was on top of the world.

Rachel waited as Benji looked into her eyes. The bright blue of his eyes was piercing. She felt as if she could see his soul.

Benji looked down and then said, "Would you ever be with someone who is different than you?"

"What do you mean?"

Benji looked back at Rachel and touched her waist. She could feel his cold hand through her skirt.

"You're cold," she said.

Benji quickly took his hand away and put it into his pocket.

She wished she hadn't said anything. She didn't mean to push him away, and was internally beating herself up for saying anything. She wished he'd put his hand back and kiss her.

All of a sudden, the ferris wheel stopped. Rachel and Benji were at the very top. Rachel leaned over the edge and looked down at the ground below. Everything looked so small from this high up.

Rachel heard a snap and she suddenly jolted forward, as their car shook and swayed. She reached out and grabbed the metal bar to steady herself. Benji stood and looked up at the bolt that was holding their car in place. It was slowly sliding, and about to fall off.

"Oh my god, oh my god, we're going to die!" Rachel screamed.

"Stay calm," Benji said, looking deep into Rachel's eyes.

"HELP! SOMEBODY SAVE US!" Rachel started wailing, and a crowd of screaming onlookers gathered below.

Screams rose up from below, as horrified bystanders watched and pointed.

"Benji, quick, we have to do something!" Rachel screamed.

Rachel felt another jolt, as the car rocked again—and then suddenly fell about a foot.

Benji reached up and held onto a metal frame, outside of their car.

Rachel suddenly heard a SNAP, and the car began to fall.

She heard shrieks from below.

Suddenly, the car fell out from under her, and Rachel felt herself falling through the air. In that moment, her life flashed before her eyes, and she knew she was going to die.

Rachel felt a hand around her waist and felt herself being carried through the air. Benji was there, holding her. He lifted her up and put her safely into an empty car, behind theirs, and came in beside her.

Rachel looked down, and watched as their former car went crashing down to the earth.

Out of breath, stunned, she looked at Benji. He had just saved her life.

"How did you do that?" she asked, crying and shaky.

"What do you mean?" he said. "I just jumped to the next car and took you with me."

"No. That's not what happened. I saw it. We were going to die. What you did...it was impossible."

"It wasn't that bad," Benji said, trying to calm her.

"Yes, it was! Our car crashed below! We almost died! And you saved my life!" she cried.

"It really was nothing," Benji said.

"Stop saying that!" Rachel said. "That was so scary. I was falling and then you grabbed me, around my waist, and lifted me into the next car. How did you do that? That's not possible."

Rachel looked Benji up and down, as if for the first time, with new eyes. Who was he?

The ride began to move again and Benji got quiet. He ended the conversation and said, "At least we are safe now."

Rachel's mind was racing. Who was this guy? How did he do that? It was as if he had supernatural powers.

Rachel knew he wasn't normal and desperately wanted to find out more.

As the ride attendant let them out, people swarmed them on the ground. They all wanted to see how they were doing, and the people started at Benji in disbelief. Benji walked through the crowd, guiding Rachel in front of him until they got into the parking lot.

Rachel put on her helmet and sat on the bike, her stomach in knots.

"Who are you?" Rachel finally asked.

Benji started the ignition and they started off down the road. Benji didn't answer. They rode home without speaking a word to each other.

As Benji pulled up in front of Rachel's house, he said, "Can I see you again?"

Rachel didn't know what to say. She was conflicted and confused. On one hand she really wanted to see him again, but on the other hand, she was scared.

Rachel thought for a moment then said, "I don't know if it's a good idea."

Rachel got off his bike and headed into her house in a daze. Her night was a blur and she didn't know what to make of it. She couldn't stop thinking about how she had almost just died. The scene played back over and over in her mind. Each time she thought about it, she felt her life flash before her eyes all over again.

As Rachel lay on her bed, motionless, she couldn't stop thinking about Benji. She longed to touch his body and hold his hand. She wished she hadn't turned him down. Thinking about how she made a mistake, she took out her phone and texted him.

Rachel: I want to see you again.

Rachel waited for Benji to text back, but he didn't. Rachel worried that she messed things up for good and he was never going to talk to her again.

With her phone in her hand, she fell asleep, waiting.

*

Rachel ran, terrified. She was running through a field she didn't recognize, and the sun was setting a blood red on the horizon and she was being chased by a flock of bats. The sun was setting a blood red on the horizon. The bats screeched, as they got tangled in Rachel's hair. On the horizon she saw a small cottage and she knew if she could just make it there, she would be safe. But it was too far; the bats were closing in on her thick and fast. And even as she swatted at them, their claws scratched back, more and more coming at her.

She wasn't going to make it. She was going to die a horrible death, smothered by an endless stream of these bats. As she felt her knees getting weak, she felt something tight and firm against her waist. It was a hand. She looked down and saw a leather sleeve; somehow, she knew it was Benji.

A second later, Rachel was looking down at the ground, and the endless flock of bats was now beneath her. They were swarming beneath her, eating a body on the ground, which she knew was a version of herself. She looked up, and realized she was flying through the sky being held tight in Benji's arms. She looked over and saw his face.

"Where are you taking me," Rachel asked.

"To some place beautiful," Benji answered.

Rachel felt the strength of his grip, and knew, that somehow, with him by her side, she would be safe.

"Who are you?" Rachel asked.

Benji looked at her, and his face became a big ball of bright light.

Rachel suddenly sat up in her bed, out of breath, sweating. She touched her hair, still perfectly in its ponytail as she'd left it. She realized then that it was all a dream. Or was it?
Chapter Ten

All Rachel could think about was Benji. From the moment she woke up, getting ready for school and now, on her way to her first period class, she couldn't stop thinking of him and their mysterious night together at Rye Playland.

She was kicking herself for not agreeing to a second date as he dropped her off, but at the time, she was too freaked out to realize how much she wanted to be with him. Now, she was even more upset because Benji hadn't answered her text. It had been almost twelve hours since she sent it, and all Rachel could think about is why he hadn't responded. She was analyzing and overanalyzing the situation. She also couldn't stop thinking about her dream: it was all so real, and she couldn't figure out what it meant.

As she walked down the hallway to her classroom, she made an extra loop around the hallways looking for Benji, but he was nowhere to be found. Rachel walked up and down the halls where the senior classrooms were, but couldn't find him anywhere. She asked a few people if they knew where his homeroom class was, but nobody knew. Benji was illusive, and nobody could pinpoint his whereabouts.

Feeling like she had lost Benji for good, Rachel walked into Mr. Allen's class right before the first bell rang. She sat down quietly next to Emily who had saved her a seat towards the back. Rachel didn't even notice Rob in her class because she was too focused on her magical night with Benji.

She sank into her chair and began to doodle in her notebook. She drew a picture of Benji and her on the ferris wheel and then drew a picture of him on his motorcycle in his leather jacket.

As Rachel put the finishing touches on her drawings, something caught her eye outside the window. As Rachel looked up, she saw Benji standing outside behind to a pine tree that stood outside the classroom window. He was staring right at her, motioning for her to come outside.

Rachel didn't know what to do. She knew there was a big exam in Mr. Allen's class on Friday and if she missed this class, she wouldn't be prepared. But she couldn't stop herself from wanting to be with Benji, she had to meet him. Rachel raised her hand and waited.

"Yes, Rachel," Mr. Allen said.

"I'm not feeling well, I need to go to the nurse," Rachel said.

"Can you wait until after class? This is an important lecture. You really shouldn't miss,"

"I can't, I'm sorry," said Rachel.

"You better get the notes from someone then," Mr. Allen said, "your grade relies on it,."

Rachel looked over at Emily who was staring at her in confusion. "You ok?" Emily whispered.

Rachel shook her head and immediately grabbed her books and her bag and left the classroom. She felt drawn to Benji like a magnet, and knew she had to be with him wherever he was -- even if that meant leaving class early and missing what could arguably be the most important class of the quarter.

As Rachel got outside, she couldn't find Benji. She looked by the pine tree, but he wasn't there.

She began to wonder if it was an illusion or if she had really seen someone. All of a sudden, Benji came around the backside of the school, holding a single black rose. He handed it to Rachel and said, "I had to see you."

"I feel the same way, I can't stop thinking about what happened last night."

"Let's go somewhere," Benji said.

"But what about school?"

"I want to talk to you," Benji said, "Let's cut school for the rest of the day, I bet nobody will even notice," Benji said.

Against her better judgment she said, "OK, let's do it."

Rachel felt like a Rebel. She had never cut school before, but felt drawn to Benji and felt safe with him. She felt that no matter where he was, she wanted to be with him and that nothing bad would ever happen. Benji made the repercussions of cutting school worth it.

They began walking. He led her down a windy, dirt trail behind their school. She had never seen this trail, or even knew it existed. As they walked together, silently, Rachel knew this felt right, and she knew she was falling in love.

They approached the end of a path they came to a wide-open field, with tall beautiful trees surrounding it. Benji took off his leather jacket and put it on the ground for her to sit on.

As they sat there, Rachel on the jacket, and Benji sitting on the tall, wild grass, they looked into each other's eyes. Rachel wasn't sure what was going to happen next. She didn't know if Benji was going to kiss her, but she felt like his stares were burning a hole through her heart. She so desperately wanted to know more about him. But she didn't feel as if she could get close to him, truly close, until she knew more about him.

She finally broke their silence and said, "Who are you? I need to know more about you."

He paused, longing to share. "I'm different than you?" Benji replied.

"What do you mean, different?" she asked.

"It's hard to explain," answered Benji. "And, I don't think you would understand."

"Well try," she said. She was determined to know. She couldn't let this go.

He looked away and sighed. Several seconds of silence followed.

"You and I...we come from different places, different backgrounds. We see the world differently. My world...is not the same as your world."

"What does that all mean exactly? I still don't understand you."

Benji turned and looked at Rachel with a new expression.

"Nothing. It doesn't mean anything. Let's not talk about this anymore, OK? I just want to be here with you, right now, in this moment."

"How can I just be with you when I feel like I don't even know you? Why won't you tell me? What is it you're hiding?"

Benji looked down at the tall grass below them. He refused to answer.

"I know what I saw," Rachel said. "What you did at Rye Playland wasn't normal. You saved my life. I would be dead right now if it weren't for you. So I really need to know."

"Anyone could have done that," Benji said.

"IT'S NOT TRUE! STOP LYING TO ME!" Rachel yelled.

Rachel couldn't help herself, she didn't want to get into an argument with him and ruin their time together, but she felt such a burning desire to know, that she felt as if she couldn't sit with him until he told her the truth.

Benji looked at her with sad eyes and spoke in a soft voice.

"I wish I could tell you," Benji said. "I wish I could tell you everything. But I can't. Can't we just leave it at that?"

"No," Rachel said getting more and more frustrated with their conversation. "I'm sorry. I really want to be with you. But I can't, unless I know. I feel like there is just too much at stake for me, and it breaks my heart that you won't trust me enough to tell me."

Rachel stood up and smoothed out her skirt. She felt as if she were about to cry, and quickly turned away.

"Rachel, please. Can't we just be happy with things as they are right now?" Benji said.

"I'm really sorry," Rachel said, as she burst into tears and started running away.

Rachel ran back through the winding trail that led to school and saw kids pouring out of school. It was the end of the school day. Wiping away her tears, she looked for her Mom's car in the sea of cars waiting to pick up. Rachel spotted it about fifteen cars back and waited for her mom to reach the front of the school. Rachel kept checking over her shoulder to see if Benji had followed her up. But he hadn't.

Rachel sat quietly in the car on the way home reflecting on her day in the field with Benji. She didn't know why Benji was so secretive, and couldn't understand what was so different about him. Rachel was confused and upset. She would not talk to Benji or continue their relationship until she knew the truth about him.

That night, Rachel couldn't do anything but wonder about Benji. She wondered what he was up to and she wondered how he felt as she ran away from him today. She wondered if maybe she had been too dramatic and emotional.

As she sat on her bed and ran their conversation over and over in her head, she heard her phone buzz.

1 New Message:

Emily: What happened to you today? You were MIA.

Rachel didn't know how to respond. She didn't want to tell Emily where she was and that she had cut school to be with Benji but she didn't want to lie either.

Rachel: Yeah, sorry about that, what's up?

Emily: You're coming to the homecoming dance tomorrow right? Everyone's going.

Rachel: I wasn't planning on it. I don't have a date.

Emily: Neither do I, let's just go stag, it'll be fun.

Rachel: Um, I don't know.

Emily: You have to go. If you don't go, I won't go either.

Rachel didn't want to hold Emily back so she told Emily she would join her. She figured that she would just stay for a little bit. She didn't want to leave herself out of an all school event; she would never make friends that way.

Rachel: Ok, I'm in. See you tomorrow.

All of a sudden, Rob entered her mind. She wondered who Rob was going to the dance with, and wondered why he had totally fallen off the face of the earth. She then thought of Arielle, and wondered if Rob was taking her. Rachel convinced herself that she didn't care though; she was over him and had moved on to Benji.

Rachel sat there, feeling upset. She wondered if Benji was going to go to the homecoming dance. Part of Rachel hoped that Benji would be at the dance but another part of felt that dances weren't his thing and that he wasn't big on hanging out with large groups of people.

Feeling mentally and emotionally drained, Rachel took out her journal, drew a picture of her and Benji in the field together, and then, fell asleep.
Chapter Eleven

Rachel woke up to a buzzing sound coming from her phone.

1 New Message:

Emily: Bring your stuff for the dance to school; I'm having a "getting ready" party at my place after school.

She rubbed her eyes and reread the message. Rachel felt a sudden pang of nervousness. It was her first school dance and she had nobody to go with. Part of her didn't want to go to the dance, but she knew she had to go with Emily. She didn't want to let her down.

Rachel: Ok, I'll do that.

Rachel looked out the window and it was raining. The rain depressed her and made her want to curl up in bed, and not go to school or the dance. She also felt depressed because of Benji. She had never had these kinds of feeling before for a guy. She knew her feelings were real and she didn't know what to do. Would she ever see him again?

She looked at her watch and realized she was running late. She quickly bolted out of bed, searched through her closet for a dress to wear to the dance, threw some makeup in a bag and ran downstairs for breakfast. She hoped she wasn't forgetting anything.

"What's in the bag?" Sarah said.

"My dress for the dance tonight," Rachel answered.

"I got the cutest dress at the Westchester Mall yesterday, you're gonna die when you see it tonight," Sarah said.

Rachel suddenly thought her dress wasn't going to be good enough. She didn't realize the dance was a big deal or warranted a "new" dress.

"I'm wearing the one I wore to the Easter Parade last year," Rachel said.

"You are?" Sarah looked at her in surprise.

"Um, I don't have anything else, and it's too late now to go shopping. It's my only option," Rachel said back.

"All right, but don't say I didn't warn you," Sarah said, peeking into her duffle.

The dress that Rachel packed was teal, with big pink and orange flowers all over it. She knew it wasn't the most fashionable dress, but she didn't see what the big deal was. It was only a homecoming school dance -- not the prom!

Feeling a little self-conscious, Rachel hopped into the car and headed to school. As her mom drove down the street, Rachel saw cars that had been painted red white and blue and said, "Go Tigers!" on the windows. Rachel suddenly realized that homecoming was a big deal at this school.

She remembered her homecoming dance at her school in Pennsylvania. It was the lamest thing, and most people didn't even go. Rachel had figured that it would be like that up in Bedford, but she was clearly mistaken.

As she entered school, the school spirit and positive energy filled the hallway. Everyone seemed excited for the big homecoming dance and she heard chatter about it as she passed groups of friends in the hallway.

"I'm so excited, Chris just asked me to be his date!"

"I'm going with Brian, he's so hot."

"Jason asked me a week ago! I can't wait for tonight."

Rachel heard girls gossiping about their dates and she felt a little left out. She didn't expect that she would have a date, being the new girl and all, but still.

Rachel caught herself looking for Benji in the hallways again, but didn't see him. She felt sure he was in school somewhere, but didn't know where. She wished she had remembered to ask him where his homeroom was, but she'd forgotten.

Rachel slid through the door of Mr. Allen's class with a few minutes to spare. She sat down and watched as the kids started filing in and finding their seats. She saw Rob enter and sit in the chair next to her.

"Hey, you going to the dance?" Rob said.

"Yup," Rachel answered.

"You have a date yet?"

"Going with the girls," Rachel said.

"Yeah, I'm going with the guys. Save me a dance, OK?" Rob said with a smile.

"We'll see," replied Rachel.

Rachel was taken back by Rob's comment. Was he insane? Did he really think she was going to save him a dance after what he did to her? Rachel was shocked, and didn't know what to make of it. She'd wish Emily had been there to hear it, but she walked in late.

The class began and Mr. Allen started talking about Helen Keller, another important woman in history. She was interested in Helen Keller, but found herself zoning out and thinking about Benji.

Rachel couldn't get Benji out of her head. She tried to make sense of him, but couldn't figure out why he called himself "different." She remembered their night at Rye Playland. She thought about Benji using supernatural strength to save her life and tried to convince herself that that was normal. She wanted him to be "normal," to be like her, but deep down, she knew he wasn't. What was he?
Chapter Twelve

RING.

The final bell rang and it was finally time for Rachel to meet up with her friends and go to Emily's house for their "getting ready" party.

Rachel waited for her friends outside on the front lawn of the school. Emily's house was only a five-minute walk from school, so they all decided to meet and walk together.

Rachel, Emily, Liv, Kate, Jen, Jess and Taryn met up on the front lawn and started walking to Emily's house. It was the first time that Rachel was hanging out with Liv, Kate and Jess, so she wasn't so sure what to expect. Suddenly her night in NYC crept into her mind, and her body grew tense. She hoped and prayed that this night wouldn't end up like the other night she had with Taryn, Emily and Jen, but she figured that would be almost impossible because it was an all school dance, and no ID was required!

Feeling social, Rachel went over to Liv and Jess who were walking next to each other and started talking to them.

"So, you guy's excited for tonight?" she asked as she caught up to them.

"Guess so," Liv said.

"Yup," said Jess. "And wait until you see what I brought, that's the best part."

Liv giggled and did a little jump. "What is it?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, you'll see!" Jess answered.

Rachel couldn't imagine what it was. At first she thought maybe a sexy dress, or super tall platform pumps, but as the girls neared Emily's house, Jess pulled out cigarettes and a bottle of Absolute Vodka. Rachel found herself standing still in her path. She felt a little uncomfortable with this but didn't know how to react. All the other girls were cheering and taking cigarettes from Jess' pack, and lighting them up.

"Here ya go, Rach," Jess said, as she handed her a cigarette.

"Oh, no thanks," Rachel answered.

"Come on, why not?" Jess asked. The girls all looked at her.

"I um...don't smoke," Rachel said with a nervous voice.

"Not until you met us, you didn't!" Jess said, as she tried again to hand Rachel a cigarette.

Rachel didn't know what to do. Did she stand her ground, or grab it so she wouldn't have to deal with this pressure anymore to fit in. She didn't want the girls to hate her, but it was also becoming clear that these weren't the right girls for her to be friends with after all. It was obvious to Rachel that this group was into alcohol and smoking, and she imagined if there weren't already, they would probably start trying drugs. Rachel was never a rebel, and while the thought seemed cool for a while, in the long run she knew this was not what she wanted.

"No thanks, I'm all right," Rachel said firmly.

"OK, be lame then," Jess said with a joking smile.

Rachel felt bothered by this, but knew by the tone of Jess' voice that she was just kidding with her. Still, it didn't feel good.

The girls headed inside Emily's house and began getting ready. Emily's house was huge; it was the biggest house that Rachel had ever seen. It had large white columns at the front entrance, and when you walked through the front door you stood in a double story foyer, which Rachel was sure was the size of her entire house.

Rachel suddenly got a new picture of these girls, and realized they, too, were a little different than Rachel.

When she got upstairs to Emily's room, which Rachel thought was more like an entire wing than a bedroom, Rachel opened up her duffle and pulled out her teal dress with the hot pink and orange flowers, and hung it on a hanger. Feeling self-conscious, Rachel looked around to see if anyone had noticed her dress or was making any comments about it. She knew it wasn't the most flattering dress and that maybe it was a bad choice, but there was no turning back at this point.

Rachel looked at the dressed the other girls were pulling out. They were very chic and beautiful. She was a little bit surprised, coming from this "punk" group, that they would clean up so nicely.

"Where's yours from?" Taryn asked Jen.

"I got my dress at Saks with my mom over the weekend," Jen answered.

"Mine's from Bloomingdales! It's BCBG," answered Taryn.

Rachel didn't know what these girls were talking about, but assumed these stores and brands were better, and more expensive, than what they sell in JCPenney's. Rachel didn't want to ask either, because she didn't want them to know she was clueless.

"Where's yours from?" Liv said, as she looked at Rachel's dress with disapproval.

"Oh, that old thing. I got it at a store in Pennsylvania, you probably wouldn't know it," Rachel said.

She remembered vividly the day she had bought that dress with Dana and their crew. It was a few weeks before the Easter Parade, and all the girls had wanted to buy new dresses. They'd piled into her mom's car and headed off to Wal-Mart to go shopping. Rachel spotted her dress as soon as they entered the Juniors department and she knew it was the one. The girls' oohd and ahhd over it when Rachel tried it on. She had felt great in it, and knew it was the perfect dress. Not to mention, Rachel remembered all the compliments she got on it.

Now, it was a whole new ballgame. This dress was like the plague up here. Rachel couldn't understand why it was beautiful in Pennsylvania but ugly in New York.

"You can't seriously wear that," Emily said. "I've got stuff you can borrow."

Feeling insecure about her dress, she walked with Emily over to her closet. Rachel figured it wouldn't hurt to try a few other options on.

"I've got this Marc Jacobs baby doll dress," said Emily, as she held it out. "Or, this Banana Republic LBD."

LBD..LBD...Rachel was jogging her head trying to figure out this terminology. She looked at the dresses and decided she would try on the Banana Republic dress. Rachel put it on and it fit like a glove. She had never felt sexier before in her entire life. It was a short black dress that came up to the middle of her thigh. It was tight over her hips and butt and showed off her curvy waist. It was short sleeved, but had a low cut-back, which the girls seemed to really think looked great on Rachel.

Rachel was sold. She would forego her teal Easter dress for the sexy black number Emily was going to lend her for the night. Rachel pulled out her Pay Less twelve-dollar gold pumps and put them on her feet. The girls started at her in awe. Rachel couldn't believe the approval she was getting from the girls and she had never felt so good about herself before.

"So, how about a few shots to get this party started!" Jess said, as she whipped out her Absolute Vodka.

"Yeah!"

"Here we go!"

"Party time!"

Jess opened the bottle and handed everyone a shot glass off of Emily's shelf. Emily collected shot glasses, and they were being put to good use.

Rachel found herself in another inner struggle. She knew if she got caught drinking before the school dance and she showed up to school drunk, she could get expelled. That frightened her, especially since she had high hopes of going to a good college one day. Rachel knew that wouldn't look good on her high school transcript.

But Rachel also wanted desperately to fit in at AHS. She figured that everyone was doing it, and she didn't want to feel left out. She put out her hand as Jess was handing everyone a shot glass, and held it steady. She knew her trick of pretending to drink always worked, and that way she would feel like she was part of the group, but not actually drinking.

The girls all took their shots and Rachel pretended to sip hers. The girls didn't even realize that Rachel hadn't drunk her shot.

"It's time to go!" Emily said, as she put on her lipstick.

"It's going to be sick!" said Jen. "I can't wait."

"I hope they play good music," said Liv.

Rachel gathered up all her belongings and took another look at herself in the mirror. She reminded herself of Sandy from Grease, when she changed from her "good girl" poodle skirt and cardigan into the sexy black leather outfit at the end of the movie. She didn't recognize herself, but knew she looked hot.

On their way back to the school, the girls were giddy and excited. Rachel could tell that the girls' were a little tipsy, too. They were screaming and stumbling across the streets and she could tell the vodka was hitting them.

Rachel, on the other hand felt good. She was sober, nicotine free, sexy and stood up for what she believed in. Rachel knew that if she had this will power as a teen, she would definitely have it as a woman.

As the girls walked through the balloon arch that led them into the gymnasium there were hundreds of kids, teachers and chaperones. Rachel was nervous, yet excited. She put her bag down on the bleachers, but kept her cell phone out, just in case Benji tried to call or text her. She was missing him so much and hoped that he would be at the dance.

The music started playing and everyone started dancing. Rachel's ankle was finally feeling better, so she got out on the dance floor, too. She felt like she was at a club; kids were grinding, and dancing very close to one another. She had never seen this at her old school, but went with the flow, realizing that she needed to accept that her new life in Bedford was completely different, and to stop comparing the two.

At the end of the first song, Emily, Liv, Jess, Jen and Taryn all went into the bathroom together to take shots. They invited Rachel to go with them, but Rachel stayed behind. She walked off the dance floor and checked her phone. She didn't have any messages or calls.

She looked around the dimly lit gymnasium to see if Benji was around, but she didn't see him.

As her eyes surveyed the room, Rachel spotted Rob. He was staring her up and down, and began walking towards her. As he neared, Rachel wasn't sure what to do. Should she walk away, or stay and see what he has to say? Rachel decided to stay, partially because she wanted validation from him, but also because if she turned and walked away, it would be too obvious that she was ignoring him.

"Hot stuff," Rob said as he reached out and put his hand on Rachel's back.

"Thanks," Rachel said, smiling.

"You look amazing," Rob added. "Wow!"

Rachel was glad she wore Emily's dress, if for no other reason than to show Rob what he could have had if he had not been such a jerk.

"I'm sorry about the other day," Rob said.

She was surprised at this, because she figured he didn't even remember.

"Oh, that day," she said, acting as if it were no big deal.

"Yeah, I got caught up at practice, then went out with the guys," Rob said sounding apologetic.

"I forgot about it, really, it's fine."

"So, how about that dance?" Rob said smoothly.

Standing there alone, Rachel felt confused. She knew she wasn't into Rob anymore, but she would rather dance with him than stand on the outskirts of the dance floor alone.

"I guess," she said.

Rob began walking into the middle of the dance floor, and Rachel followed.

At that moment Rachel's phone buzzed and lit up in her hand.

1 New Message:

Benji: Come outside, I need to talk to you.

Rachel closed her phone, turned around and headed towards the exit sign. She couldn't believe it. Was Benji really outside the school? Did he really want to talk to her?

"Where are you going?" Rob shouted as Rachel walked away. "I thought we were going to dance?"

Rachel heard his voice behind her, but didn't look back.

As Rachel got out front, she saw Benji standing next to his motorcycle, wearing jeans, his leather jacket and holding his helmet in his left hand. Rachel ran to him.

Benji smiled and hugged her as he lifted her off the ground.

At that moment, Rob came running out of the building with a few of his friends.

"Who's are you?" Rob asked, as he approached them

"I'm her boyfriend," added Benji.

Rachel looked at him in surprise. She didn't realize he thought of her as his girlfriend, but it made her ecstatic to think of it.

"What?" Rob said, seeming confused.

"That's Rob's girl," Rob's friend interrupted. "You have no business coming in here like this. Who do you think you are?"

"Go back inside," Benji said to them.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Rob and his four-jock friends started barreling towards Benji, rolling up their sleeves.

"You asked for it, kid," Rob said.

Benji reached out and pushed Rachel aside, so she wasn't in any danger. Rachel couldn't believe how quick his reflexes were. He moved her almost as quickly as he had grabbed her that night on the ferris wheel.

Benji slid off his leather jacket and calmly put it on his bike while the guys charged him. Rachel couldn't believe how calm and composed he was.

Rob was the first one to reach him. Rob reached back and swung wildly, aiming right for Benji's face.

But Benji sidestepped easily, as if Rob were moving in slow motion. He reached up and grabbed the back of Rob's head and threw him. Rachel was shocked to see Rob go flying, nearly across the parking lot.

Rob's friends took pause, too. They were clearly caught off guard by what they saw, yet at the same time, they were already charging, and too close to Benji to change course. The three of them all dove at him, as if trying to tackle him.

But in one swift motion, he leapt high in the air, over their heads, and the came down, kicking two of them hard in the back of the neck, and sending them, face first, down to the ground. The third guy he grabbed by the back of his shirt and hurled in the opposite direction, with such force, that he went flying off the ground and up into a large bush.

Rachel couldn't believe here eyes. She blinked, thinking she must have imagined it all. But it was true. It was all really true.

Benji, still calm and composed, reached for his leather jacket and said, "I've gotta get out of here."

"I want to come," Rachel said.

"You can't come," Benji said, "It's dangerous."

"I have to be with you," Rachel said.

"Do you want to risk everything to be with me?" Benji said.

"Yes," Rachel said without hesitation.

Before she could even blink, Benji put on her helmet, clipped it under her chin, and they were riding off into the night. Rachel loved the feel of his waist in her arms. She had longed to hold him again and to be one with him. She knew tonight was going to be special.

As the two came upon a quiet, covered bridge, Benji slowed his motorcycle until it came to a complete stop.

He helped Rachel off the bike, and they walked to the side of the bridge to look off onto the stream below.

"Rachel, I really care about you, I do," said Benji. "I want to be with you."

"I do, too," Rachel said, "I think about you all the time," Rachel said. "Please just tell me who you are, I need to know. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

Benji looked at the stream, then back at Rachel.

"If I tell you, you have to promise you won't say anything to anybody," Benji said.

Rachel said as she looked deep into his eyes, "I promise, I won't."

"You have to promise," Benji said, more firmly.

"I promise," Rachel said again in suspense.

"Do you swear?" he asked.

"I swear!" Rachel said.

"Again. Swear again." Benji asked.

"I swear. I swear I will never tell."

Benji held out his hand. Rachel reached out, grabbed it, and felt his icy cold fingers weave in between hers, as he leaned in close, to whisper into her ear.

COMING SOON...

Book #2 of the Vampire Legends

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