February 9, 2009
Mom says mothers don’t always know what’s best. But they know when something is best for their children.
“I’ll bring you home,” Nick told Grace as soon as things had calmed down at the St. James gymnasium.
“Okay.”
Lia and Haley had gone on to help Elena and the rest of the Student Council, leaving Grace to keep Nick and Matt from doing something irresponsible because of anger on behalf of Rachelle. As if she could stop them when the two boys go berserk.
Nick was still angry at the turn of events but he had to restrain himself or things would surely go out of hand. He needed to calm down and think of possible next steps. Grace was right. Rachelle needed time away from the people who would be most affected. She had to pull herself together first before she could—would—face any of them. She was proud like that.
And while she did that, he would be looking for the person behind all of this. He or she had already done enough damage and it was time to stop all the insanity.
“We’ve got to stop that fucking bastard who did this!” Matt declared behind the two. “I swear when I get my hands on him, I’ll kill him.”
They both paused in their tracks and turned to Matt.
“Don’t do anything rash,” Nick reminded his friend.
“Besides, killing the person would just get you jailed. I’m sure it’ll just make Rach more depressed,” Grace added with conviction.
Matt simply smirked at them.
“Don’t forget that the culprit could be a girl,” Lance voiced out as he and Kane gathered with their friends.
“Ugh!” Matt wailed as he hit the gymnasium’s door with his balled fist. “We’ve been looking for the bastard since the damned letter but there’s nothing. Nothing!”
“Relax, Matt. These things take time,” Kane said to calm the Quarter-To-Five vocalist.
“Oh shut up!” Matt replied angrily. “The whole thing’s already been up for a month. We should’ve found a clue by now.”
“You sound like something’s up your sleeve,” Nick asked, turning to Kane.
“Nothing’s up but I met someone who’s damned good with computers. And when I told him about what we needed, he said there’s a huge chance he can come up with something,” Kane explained.
Lance nodded in understanding. “He could find something about that letter. And the photos circulated the net. He could look for the source and that might lead us somewhere. I guess we just have to be patient and continue with what we do,” he concluded.
They ended their discussion by scheduling a meet-up so they could make plans for their own investigation. The group also decided that it was high time they inform Vivian Harlow of the things that had been happening to her daughter. Vivian could use her connections to stop the media from feasting on Rachelle’s story. The young model may not be a big Hollywood celebrity but she was famous enough that Heartlake citizens would want to probe into her personal business.
As soon as Nick and Grace were settled in the car, Nick saw that his date had started fumbling through the contents of her purse. Grace was the organized type and if he remembered correctly, she was not one to fumble through anything.
“What are you doing?”
Grace hastily raised her head, leaving one of her hands inside the bag.
“Err, I’m looking for my mom’s calling card. It has their office number. Just in case we might need it,” she answered then began to search again.
“What for?”
“My mom’s a researcher for HNBS, remember? She could help us with media concerns about Rachelle’s situation.”
“Oh.” Nick replied as he looked at her at the corner of his eyes. He turned back on the road. When he told her to go on a date with him, she had asked him to promise her one thing before she agreed. Nick had never thought too much about Grace until that day on the school’s rooftop. She was an admirable young woman. She knew he didn’t ask her because he had developed a certain liking to her then and there. So she made him promise that he would try to make things work between them but that if it didn’t, he would tell her right away. So far, he hadn’t even tried trying. Guilt had been stabbing him in the guts since he gave her that promise but he still hadn’t done anything about it. To date, he managed to mess up when it came to the best girl friends of his acquaintance.
I really am a coward, Nick thought distastefully.
He made a turn that brought them to Heartlake Drive.
“There! Found it!” Grace announced excitedly. “Here you go.”
Nick accepted the card and placed it in his shirt’s breast pocket.
“You can suggest that to Matt and the others when you guys meet again,” she said with a smile.
He nodded. “Thanks for helping out, Grace.”
“Don’t worry about it. Rachelle’s a friend and I’m happy to help.”
He gave her a smile in response. The rest of the drive went on in companionable silence.
*****
She’s a whore!
Traitor!
How could he leave me for a—a low-lying slut who’d take off her clothes for all the men who looked at her?! How could he?!
Everything was black and it was only her voice that made everything seem real.
He left me for a bitch!
He left me!
Why?
She began to sob.
Why?
Why?
Trixie.
She continued crying and then her eyes flashed again as she said, “I’m going to destroy her. I want her to suffer as much as I did.”
Then the dream was over.
“No need to worry now, sis. Rachelle Harlow’s finally ruined. You can rest at last.”
*****
Last night’s incidents had made Rachelle exhausted and she wasn’t aware of what happened after she and Liam left the workshop.
The sound of a closing door woke her up at two in the morning. That was when she realized that she was in Liam’s bedroom. She was so surprised that she sat up so quickly which made her head spin for a few seconds.
When she recovered, her eyes registered Liam’s presence as he held out the glass of water he got from his kitchen. He planted a kiss on her forehead as a bonus.
“How’d you know I’m about to wake up?” Rachelle asked, taking the glass.
“I didn’t. But since I must have woken you when I closed the door, I thought you might want the water,” Liam replied with a smile.
“Thank you. Why are you awake anyway? The sun hasn’t even come up yet.”
“I set up an alarm. I think it would be better if your mom finds you home this morning,” Liam told her in an assured tone.
“I guess. Let’s just hope they didn’t try to wait for me,” Rachelle muttered worriedly.
There wasn’t much she had to do before they left Liam’s place. She slept in the maroon dress she wore during the St. James anniversary and there wasn’t any need to fix her make-up. Thus, it only took them a short time to arrive at the Harlow residence. It was around three when Rachelle could finally sneak into her house. Thankfully, both Matt and Vivian assumed that she would be home late and decided to settle things come morning. She did her best not to make any sound and as soon as she entered her room, she dropped on the bed and fell asleep again.
Rachelle went down for breakfast three hours late. They usually ate at six in the morning considering how they all had to leave before nine. She was surprised that no one tried to wake her up and she supposed Matt had told their mother about the incidents and they both decided to give her some time.
Her heart started pounding nervously. She feared her mom’s reaction about all the things Rachelle had kept hidden from her. Liam said that honesty was what Vivian needed from her.
If only it was easy.
More than anger, she was worried that her mother would completely blame herself which would only break Rachelle’s heart further.
And then she remembered that her mother leaves the house at eight-thirty in the morning.
She was thankful for a few more hours of reprieve until she stepped into the dining room and found Vivian waiting for her.
“Good morning, love. I already called the St. James office and told them you’ll be absent from school today,” Vivian said as motioned for Rachelle to come over.
“Uh, well. Good morning. Don’t you have work today?”
“I called in sick.”
“What?” Rachelle exclaimed, coming over to her mom to feel her forehead.
Vivian held Rachelle’s hand, nodded towards the seat beside her and placed Rachelle’s hand on her lap. When Rachelle tried to take her hand back, Vivian held on.
Her mom didn’t wait for an awkward silence to take over.
“I think there’s something you need to tell me,” Vivian said, looking straight at Rachelle’s eyes.
Rachelle stared back and decided to postpone breaking her mother’s heart.
“Huh?” she replied, acting confused. “There’s nothing to tell, mom. Everything’s fine.” She removed her hand from her mother’s grip then looked away from Vivian’s gaze. “Breakfast smells nice. Shall we eat?” she ended with a forced smile.
She saw that her mother continued to stare at her. After a second, Rachelle began to swallow and fidget uncomfortably. To hide her uneasiness, she took the spoon and fork and began taking scoops of fried rice and slices of fried chicken strips.
Vivian was not known to be very patient so Rachelle shouldn’t have been so surprised when her mother blurted out, “Matt told me what happened last night. What I want is the entire story.”
“Look mom,” Rachelle took a bite of the chicken strip, “there’s really nothing you should worry about. I’ll take care of everything.”
“I still want an explanation.”
“There’s nothing to explain. Besides, if Matt already told you what happened then there aren’t much left unsaid,” Rachelle said with a shrug.
“Rach, I’m your mom and I think you know me enough to realize that this is the last time I’m going to say that I want you to tell me everything—starting from five years ago,” Vivian declared in her stern mother’s voice.
For some reason she couldn’t exactly fathom, Rachelle’s anxiety turned into a mix of annoyance and rebellion. She dropped her utensils and abruptly stood up.
“I know you’re just being your overbearing self but this is my life. I take care of my own problems and I don’t need anybody’s help or pity—much less yours.”
Rachelle began to walk out of the dining room but her mother’s voice stopped her.
“I’m calling your father.”
“What? You can’t do that! How dare you!” Rachelle exclaimed as she ran back to the dining table.
“Watch your mouth, young lady,” Vivian warned.
“Like hell! You’re not telling dad about this!”
“And what made you think I’ll do what you tell me?”
Rachelle paused as anger overtook her emotions. Ian doted on his daughter ever since the day Rachelle Mae Harlow was born. If she could help it, she would keep Ian in the dark forever.
“I hate you!”
The words had left her mouth before she realized exactly what she said. The look of haunted surprise on Vivian’s face made Rachelle wince with the visible pain she saw in front of her. Tears began to form around her eyes and helplessness surrounded her heart. Her courage had left her once again and she turned away, running towards her room.