gave a half-hearted shrug before following his friend out the back door.
The door slammed behind Logan and Rachel gave a small jump. She was working extra hard to maintain the facade in front of Kelly, but she really just needed him to leave now.
She needed to be able to be herself, alone and on her own so that she could bounce back from this whole catastrophe, why couldn’t he see that? She needed some air to breathe.
“You alright?” Kelly’s voice was soft and she knew he was trying his hardest to make things right for her, even if it wasn’t his place to do so.
She forced a smile, the same one she always did when things like this happened, “Of course, just a little family drama, nothing I can’t handle.”
Kelly knew that she was lying she could see it in his eyes.
“ Do you wanna get outta here?” His question was more than a question and she felt it in her core.
He was offering her a life raft from the dysfunction.
Rachel’s stomach twisted in guilt as she thought about that and she had to push through once more to gain the upper hand. She had left Phillips for a reason. If she backed out now everything would be wasted. Everything she had done would mean nothing.
“ Kelly, we’re not friends.” Her voice was low in the back of her throat, her words hollow. “Stop acting like it.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed at the rebuff, “Listen, Rachel this doesn’t have to be about Jefferson.”
Rachel stared at him, her mouth a small line across her face. It would always be about Jefferson. That was a fact neither one of them could escape. “Just leave me alone, Kelly.”
Rachel didn’t wait for a response before she walked back to her room, far away from the dysfunction of her family and the mess with Kelly. She could feel him boring holes into her retreating back but she couldn’t give in now. Rachel had made all these decisions too long ago to change them now.
She looked at the unopened letter on her night stand.
Why couldn’t anything just stay buried?
Chapter Four
Phillips Academy
Charleston, West Virginia
August 12th 2008
Rachel
Maybe it was the way the sunlight caught his eyes that early morning, or maybe it was the sweat he was so unashamed of that clung to the golden curls of his hair and dripped down whenever he jostled his head. Whichever, it seemed Rachel was smitten with Ryan Prescott from the very beginning and nothing would ever tear her away.
Not to mention that Ryan Prescott came from a very good stock, something her father would find admirable and her mother would see as acceptable. He received well enough grades and was active in just enough extracurricular activities to be deemed desirable by all counts on Rachel’s list of required attributes. He had even placed high in several advanced classes, classes that Rachel herself had fought to get into.
But it wasn’t just all those things, no, there was more to Ryan Prescott than even Rachel knew, and that’s what she was drawn to. He seemed to be an untouchable idea. The perfect, charismatic Ryan Prescott of Phillips Academy.
He was the best match for her at Phillips and everyone knew it. Even headmistress Grear seemed to sign off on the arrangement with a happy heart, encouraging the relationship more so than any other couple at the school.
Ryan was set to graduate a year earlier than Rachel and then he was going to attend Harvard Law in the fall while she finished up her senior year. It made perfect and complete sense.
Rachel knew, or she liked to pretend she knew, if she hadn’t been so enamored by Ryan, so distracted by his very presence, she would have seen it.
And if Rachel was really being honest with herself, which she rarely ever was, she would admit that it had been Jefferson first that had caught her eye and not Ryan. Yes, it was Ryan Prescott that she was smitten with in the end, but it was Jefferson that she first noticed.
Top of his class. Best
The door slammed behind Logan and Rachel gave a small jump. She was working extra hard to maintain the facade in front of Kelly, but she really just needed him to leave now.
She needed to be able to be herself, alone and on her own so that she could bounce back from this whole catastrophe, why couldn’t he see that? She needed some air to breathe.
“You alright?” Kelly’s voice was soft and she knew he was trying his hardest to make things right for her, even if it wasn’t his place to do so.
She forced a smile, the same one she always did when things like this happened, “Of course, just a little family drama, nothing I can’t handle.”
Kelly knew that she was lying she could see it in his eyes.
“ Do you wanna get outta here?” His question was more than a question and she felt it in her core.
He was offering her a life raft from the dysfunction.
Rachel’s stomach twisted in guilt as she thought about that and she had to push through once more to gain the upper hand. She had left Phillips for a reason. If she backed out now everything would be wasted. Everything she had done would mean nothing.
“ Kelly, we’re not friends.” Her voice was low in the back of her throat, her words hollow. “Stop acting like it.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed at the rebuff, “Listen, Rachel this doesn’t have to be about Jefferson.”
Rachel stared at him, her mouth a small line across her face. It would always be about Jefferson. That was a fact neither one of them could escape. “Just leave me alone, Kelly.”
Rachel didn’t wait for a response before she walked back to her room, far away from the dysfunction of her family and the mess with Kelly. She could feel him boring holes into her retreating back but she couldn’t give in now. Rachel had made all these decisions too long ago to change them now.
She looked at the unopened letter on her night stand.
Why couldn’t anything just stay buried?
Chapter Four
Phillips Academy
Charleston, West Virginia
August 12th 2008
Rachel
Maybe it was the way the sunlight caught his eyes that early morning, or maybe it was the sweat he was so unashamed of that clung to the golden curls of his hair and dripped down whenever he jostled his head. Whichever, it seemed Rachel was smitten with Ryan Prescott from the very beginning and nothing would ever tear her away.
Not to mention that Ryan Prescott came from a very good stock, something her father would find admirable and her mother would see as acceptable. He received well enough grades and was active in just enough extracurricular activities to be deemed desirable by all counts on Rachel’s list of required attributes. He had even placed high in several advanced classes, classes that Rachel herself had fought to get into.
But it wasn’t just all those things, no, there was more to Ryan Prescott than even Rachel knew, and that’s what she was drawn to. He seemed to be an untouchable idea. The perfect, charismatic Ryan Prescott of Phillips Academy.
He was the best match for her at Phillips and everyone knew it. Even headmistress Grear seemed to sign off on the arrangement with a happy heart, encouraging the relationship more so than any other couple at the school.
Ryan was set to graduate a year earlier than Rachel and then he was going to attend Harvard Law in the fall while she finished up her senior year. It made perfect and complete sense.
Rachel knew, or she liked to pretend she knew, if she hadn’t been so enamored by Ryan, so distracted by his very presence, she would have seen it.
And if Rachel was really being honest with herself, which she rarely ever was, she would admit that it had been Jefferson first that had caught her eye and not Ryan. Yes, it was Ryan Prescott that she was smitten with in the end, but it was Jefferson that she first noticed.
Top of his class. Best
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