Sworn (10 page)

“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.