Marked

Chapter Eight

Simone sighed. "You're right but it feels like so much longer. Ray, you might think I'm crazy, but—"She leaned closer to Rachel. "I think I might love him. Not like I've loved the other boys back at the compound—like, really love him. Like, a lot."

Rachel patted the back of Simone's hand. Though she wanted to tell her best friend that she didn't trust Gabe, she didn't really have any proof other than the feeling in the pit of her stomach. And if he made Simone happy...maybe he wasn't all bad.

"You deserve some happiness after all we've been through. I hope you two last forever."

"Me too." Simone went back to her plate, shoving a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Rachel scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of Hector. Finally, she spotted him sitting next to Juan who was shoveling food into his mouth like the world might end tonight.

For a moment, she just studied Hector. The line of his jaw, prominent and strong, had somehow been made more sharp by the hollowness in his cheeks. Was he eating enough? Getting enough sleep? Even from here she could see the bags under his eyes.

Guilt settled in her stomach at the way she'd treated him. It wasn't his fault she was emotionally messed up and unstable and it most certainly wasn't his fault he hadn't been able to see her. It wasn't like he was sitting in his room purposely avoiding her--he was training. To fight a war. A war that could possibly kill him.

Swallowing the giant lump in her throat, she'd all but made up her mind to walk over there and apologize to him when his face split into a huge grin. Her eyes moved to the figure sitting in front of him, the cause of his smile, and found Yalina there.

Yalina chucked a piece of bread at him which got stuck on the collar of his shirt. He plucked it out and bit it, a tired smile still lingering on his lips. Jealousy was a green-fingered monster clawing its way up Rachel's throat.

Simone elbowed her. "If your eyes were daggers, Yalina would be dead right now. What's up with you and Hector? You two fighting?"

Rachel tore her eyes away from Hector and focused back on her best friend. "A little. But I think it's mostly my fault."

"Well the cake thing was pretty messed up if you asked me so you totally have a reason to be mad at him. But, you know, he's a good dude, I think. It's just that the honeymoon stage is over."

"The what?"

"The honeymoon stage." She repeated as she wagged her fork towards Hector. "When you're first attracted to someone it starts off with these covert glances, these butterflies in your stomach and lots and lots of sexual tension. Your eyes will meet across the room and you'll fantasize of the way his lips would feel against yours." Simone sighed, leaning heavily against Rachel.

Rachel couldn't help but smile at her best friend's theatrics. Like always, hanging out with Simone brought her peace and maybe even a little bit of laughter, despite everything else. Oh, how she'd missed this.

 "It begins with a touch of the hand here," Simone stroked Rachel's hand, causing Rachel to snort when she laughed. "And then one moment you get so close you think you might kiss." She straightened back up and popped a grape into her mouth, a tiny bit of juice squirting out of the side of her mouth.

"It's the anticipation that keeps you coming back for more. Then, once you finally kiss and get comfortable with each other...well, the magic somehow starts to fizzle away."

"Is that happening with you and Gabe?"

"No, not yet, Ray and that's why I like him so much! Every day is like we're meeting for the first time. He's funny and sarcastic and gives me this feeling in my stomach every time I see him, like oh my heavens."

"I feel that way with Hector too, but..."

"But something's changed, hasn't it? It's happened to me before. I get bored of a guy or he gets bored of me and we sort of drift away. There's no thrill anymore. Sometimes you're only attracted to the prospect of being with someone and once you have them, you realize it wasn't exactly what you wanted."

Was that true for her and Hector?

Rachel pursed her lips, unable to stop the small tremble that came to them. She was sure she cared about Hector but did he care about her? Was he bored of her already?

"Oh, sweetie! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean anything by it, I'm so stupid. I know you really care about him and I'm sure he cares about you too. He went to the capital and risked his life to save you, for heaven's sake! Please, ignore me, sometimes, sometimes I just talk out of my butt!"

Simone wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I haven't really spent much time around you guys lately so I don't know what's going on. I just don't want you to get your heart broken by him and when I saw what happened with the cake, I thought, screw him, but..."

"You think he's bored of me now?"

"No, no way. You're amazing. Look at you, so pretty and redheaded and feisty. Anyone who turns down the opportunity to hang out with you is an idiot..." Simone suddenly froze and stopped mid-sentence.

"What? What is it?" Rachel asked.

"Oh my God!"

"Simone! What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm Hector!" Simone slapped her hand against her chest. "I've been doing what he's doing to you! I've been ignoring you. Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I didn't even notice—I wasn't—Ray, oh my gosh, I love you!" Her best friend wrapped her arms around Rachel's shoulders.

"You know I love you, right? Always. Crazy mountain chicks forever, remember?"

"Of course," Rachel patted her gently on the back. "And it's okay. What matters is that you're around now." Though it hadn't been okay, Rachel was reluctant to push yet another person away by holding on to past mistakes. She decided to forgive Simone.

"I'm gonna be around more, I promise. I pinkie swear. Gah, I can't believe I turned into that girl. The one who ignores her best friend as soon as she gets a boyfriend. How can you ever forgive me?"

"Easy," Rachel said. "You hold Yalina down while I chop off her long, beautiful hair. Let's see her flip her hair at Hector in that flirty way of hers after that."

Simone and her both broke out into a fit of laughter that caused a couple of heads to turn their way. Simone placed a finger over her mouth and gestured outside.

"Let's get out of here. We have so much to catch up on and I stole some booze from the pantry! Let's go before someone realizes it's missing!"