Through Him I See

Chapter 1

   “Rachel Corinne!” a loud voice called from downstairs.

  Rachel pulled her ear bud out, sighed heavily, and dragged herself out of bed. She passed by her small mirror and cringed. Good grief! Had she really been asleep that long? 

Her stick straight blonde hair was sticking up at all angles, her little bit of mascara she wore was now no longer sitting on her eyelashes, but instead sat in a smeared puddle under her eyes. She crossed her eyes at herself and giggled. She probably was the only one in the world who could make themselves laugh by simply making a funny face. 

She set her iPod on her dresser and opened her door. She stuck her head out the door and scanned the hallway for any sign of her Dads evil cat, Junebug.  That thing couldn’t stand the sight of Rachel and she didn’t hesitate to make it known. Rachel knew as soon as she heard a hiss to take cover, or else she should expect to lose a limb. Seeing no sign of the white fur ball, Rachel skipped down the stairs loudly.

Janette Haynes unloaded the groceries. The loud stomping of feet filled the house. She laughed to herself; Rachel had never been one to be graceful. She was as flat footed as could be and was completely oblivious toit. 

“Did you call me Mama?” Rachel asked as she slid into the kitchen.

Janette took one look at her daughter and laughed, “Good grief child!” She exclaimed, “What happened to you?” 

Rachel shrugged nonchalantly and grabbed the bag out of her mother’s hand, “I fell asleep and woke up looking like this.”  

Janette shook her head lightly and smiled, “Did you do your work today?” she asked

Rachel nodded and pursed her lips, “I did what I was supposed to do.” Rachel was homeschooled and was currently trying to finish up her senior year. That itself was a project! 

“Well I called you down here to let you know the Holts are coming over for dinner.” Janette pulled the top off of the Crockpot to check on her soup, “You may want to go, uh freshen up a bit?” she suggested.

  Rachel smiled, gave her mom a hug, and went barreling up the stairs. The Holts were close family friends. Victoria Holt was Janette’s closest friend, Thomas Holt had been the closest thing to a father for Rachel after losing her own, and their two boys were Rachel’s best friends. Especially Jakob. Rachel bit her bottom lip to keep her squeal in.  No matter how many times a week they came over, no matter how many times she saw him, Rachel could never conceal her excitement at seeing Jakob.

  Jakob meant so much to Rachel. His smile, his big brown eyes, how he seemed to care so much about her.  Almost everything about him gave her a fluttering feeling in her stomach. There was one problem, though he loved Rachel, it was only as a sister and nothing more. It hurt Rachel in some ways, but it didn’t change the way she felt about him. She admitted to herself many times that he wasn’t ready to be with her even if he did like her.  

The Holts were a very strong Christian family, just like Rachel and her mother, but Jakob was not. As soon as he turned eighteen he refused to go to church, he spent his free time doing things he probably shouldn’t be doing.  It hurt his parents a lot, it hurt Rachel the most.  

Rachel pulled a gray long sleeve t-shirt out of her closet and slipped a pair of matching sweat pants on. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail, and brushed her bangs. A knock sounded on their front door, and with one final glance she ran down the stairs.

She landed at the bottom of the stairs with a thud, looking up she came face to face with an  all too familiar face.

“Hey Ray,” Jakob said; while smiling his bright smile.