The City Calls to Her

Rachel quickly looked both ways before crossing the street. She walked by the side of Gabe's house and straight to the garage.

"Hey Rachel," Rob said and smiled at her.

"Hey, where is Gabe?"

"He had to go inside for a minute."

"Thanks Rob," she said and headed for his backdoor. She could hear Heath, Rob and Tyler exchange excited chatter about her and Gabe. She shook her head and stepped inside Gabe's house. He wasn't in the kitchen so she checked the living room and family room. He wasn't there either. She headed upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. After a moment he opened his door. He checked around her before pulling her into his room and shutting the door. Within seconds, his lips were attached to hers. She didn't push him away.

"Are you coming over tonight or is your date with him still on?" he asked after he pulled away and kissed her forehead.

"He had to cancel so yeah, I'll be here tonight," Rachel responded.

"That's like, the greatest thing he's ever done."

"Thanks Gabe."

"You know what I mean," he said as he put his hands on her sides. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his. "I can't wait until it can be just me and you and we don't have to sneak around."

"I know."

"You know, Nathan's leaving anyway so it really wouldn't hurt if you severed the ties a little early."

"Gabe," she untangled herself from him. "Don't push it."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I just really like you a lot." He watched her as she twirled some of her blonde hair around her finger. He noticed she would do that when she was nervous.

"I really like you too, Gabe." He couldn't help but stare into her blue eyes. Tonight they seemed to be more intense with their color.

There was a knock at the door. "Hey Gabe, could you stop banging the girl long enough to come help us set up out here?" Rob asked through the door.

Gabe took Rachel's hand and said, "Come on. Let's go." He opened the door and Rob instantly covered his eyes. "Dude, you're a dumbass."

Rob uncovered his eyes to see them both fully dressed. "Oh."

They followed Rob outside and into Gabe's garage. Gabe's band was playing a show tonight. People were starting to arrive as they continued to set up. Another local band showed up. They were going to open and then Midtown would play. By 6 o'clock, Gabe's driveway was full of people ranging from freshman year to college kids. Someone even brought beer. Gabe's parents were out of town for the night. They were visiting one of his aunts that happened to live in the state.

Gabe checked his watch when Jenni finally decided to show. It was 6:30. Then he noticed trailing behind her was Melody. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What's the matter?" Rachel asked from beside him.

"Nothing," he said glaring at Melody. Rachel followed his glare and her eyes went wide when Melody looked at her. Gabe turned to her face towards him and pressed his lips against hers. No one saw the cell phone she snuck out of her pocket and took at most two photos of Gabe kissing Rachel.

"Thanks bitches," she muttered as she saved and sent the photos to someone. "We'll see how long you're around now Rachel."

"What?" Jenni asked from beside her.

"Huh?" Melody responded. "What are you talking about? Anyway, there's Rachel. Let's go." She grabbed Jenni's hand and made her way over to Rachel and Gabe.

"Hey Jen," Rachel said as she stood up and hugged Jenni. "Melody…"

"Rachel." Things had changed between them when Melody realized Rachel wasn't to give Gabe up. Not even for her boyfriend, Nathan.

* * *

Nathan slammed his car door shut and walked up Rachel's driveway. He took a deep breath and knocked on her front door. Mrs. Douglas opened the door.

"Hey Nathan."

"Hi Mrs. Douglas, is Rachel home?"

"Yeah, she's in the back with Jenni," she said as she let him in.

"Thanks," he said as he walked through the house. The girls were sitting in front of the pool sunbathing. They both looked up when Nathan shut the sliding glass door.

"Nathan, what are you doing here? I thought you had something to do today."

"Yeah I still do but I have a question for you."

"What?"

"What's going on between you and Gabe?"

Rachel looked at Jenni. Jenni shrugged her shoulders. Rachel turned back to Nathan. "Nothing…why?"

He held out his cell phone. "This doesn't look like nothing."

Rachel took his phone and looked at the picture of her and Gabe kissing. Her jaw dropped. Jenni peeked over her shoulder.

"No way. Who'd you get that from?" Jenni took the phone to check the number. Neither she nor Rachel had seen the number before.

"Nathan, I can explain that. We were both kind of wasted." She tried to lie.

"Nice try," Nathan said and showed her the text that came along with it.

This was taken at 6:39. She's not drunk! Sorry. Get yourself a real woman and not a whore.

Rachel looked at the ground and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you except it happened and I'm sorry."

"Do you have feelings for him-and don't lie either."

"Yeah, I kinda do," she told him truthfully. "I'm sorry."

"You couldn't wait until I was at least out of the state to get over me? Rachel, I told you that I love you. I meant that too and this is what you do? You go and make out with Gabe who you know I absolutely hate. Maybe you weren't as invested in this relationship as I originally thought," Nathan said and walked away.

Rachel opted not to go after him. Instead she put on her sunglasses and sat back down on her chair.

"Rachel-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Rachel snapped at her.

"All right," Jenni said staring at her best friend. "You know, I'm gonna figure out who did this."

"You're talking about it."

"Sorry. I'm done."

* * *

On Monday morning, Rachel glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It read 6 o'clock. She grabbed her pillow and put it over her head and pressed it down. She could hear her parents and Jon downstairs talking and clinking dishes around. She tightly shut her eyes and hoped to fall asleep. She must have woken up once an hour every hour of the night.

"Rachel, honey, I know you don't want to but you need to go to school. You have tests today," Mrs. Douglas said as she sat on her daughter's bed and took the pillow off her head. "It's already 7." That meant school would be starting in 45 minutes.

"Mom, I really don't want to go," she said on the verge of tears.

"I know baby. Let's make a deal, you go today and take your tests and then when you're done, I'll come pick you up and you can take the rest of the day and tomorrow off."

"Fine, deal." They shook on it and Rachel sat up. Her mom couldn't help but notice the bags under Rachel's eyes. She kissed her daughter's forehead and left the room. Rachel grabbed a pair of blue jeans and one of her Ramones t-shirts out of her dresser. She grabbed her under garments and went into the bathroom to shower. After ten minutes, she was out and putting on make-up when her mom stuck her head in the bathroom.

"Did you have a test in your first class?"

"No."

"All right, we'll leave about ten minutes before your second class begins since your first class has started already. That'll give you some time to finish getting ready and get some breakfast."

Rachel nodded her head. "Okay." Her mom was about to walk away when she stopped her. "Hey mom, thanks."

"When you need to talk, I'm here, you know that right?"

"I know mom."

* * *

Rachel walked into her Psychology class and headed straight for her seat. After this class, her mom was picking her and they would be on their way home. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nathan glaring at her. She hadn't heard from him since the confrontation at her house. She looked up when she felt someone else staring at her. Matt was glaring at her also. She shook her head and pulled her notes out of her book and put her book back into her messenger bag. She could hear the people next to her whispering lies about her. Someone had been at work spreading gossip about her. People had been whispering things about her all day. Some girls even went as far as to call her a slut behind her back as she walked past them. Very few were brave enough to say it to her face. Luckily the bell sounded and Ms. Kenny walked in and handed them their tests. Rachel quickly texted her mom to let her know she'd be done with her test in 30 minutes. Her mom responded with Ok. I'll be waiting. Ms. Kenny gave her a pass to leave once she was finished her test. Her mom came through and signed her out of school. As soon as she was in her mom's car, she started crying.

"They were being so horrible today."

"What are you talking about?"

"All the girls in school were calling me a slut."

"What in the world happened? Why are people doing this?"

"I don't know mom." Rachel put her face in her hands and cried the whole way home. As soon as she got home, she locked herself in her room and ignored her ringing phone. She wasn't about to talk to anyone about anything. She just wanted the day to be over.