With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all
-Smashing Pumpkins, "1979"
Rachel
"Rachel, are you okay?"
"Rachel, Luke saved your life!"
"Are you all right?"
Questions were being shot at me from all directions, and I was so overwhelmed I was on the verge of tears. Miles wrapped his arm around me, sensing my panic.
"She's okay, but she's really shaken up. Can y'all give her a little space? And find Professor Fairchild, please," he said to the stage manager, who nodded and ran off backstage.
The curtains had closed, so I couldn't see the audience, but I knew our parents were still out there, and I really wanted my mom and dad in that moment.
"Miles, can you go get Mom and Dad?" I asked, looking up at him through my tear-filled eyes.
He nodded, kissing my forehead. Just then, Luke came backstage and Miles handed me off to him. "She wants to see her parents. Can you stay with her?" he asked.
Luke nodded. "Of course." He put his arm around me and squeezed gently. "Are you okay, Rach?"
"I'm fine. Just really freaked out."
Before Miles walked away, he wrapped Luke in a sudden hug. "Thank you, Luke, for being there for her. She could've – " His voice cracked and his eyes grew misty. "It could've been really bad," he whispered.
Luke hugged him back. "Of course, bro."
Miles looked at me one more time then went through the curtain to get my parents.
I glanced at Luke, whose eyes looked red-rimmed. "Luke, what happened with Brooke?"
He sighed. "You almost got squashed by a stage light, and you want to talk about me?"
I nodded. "Yep. I need a distraction."
So he told me everything they discussed outside, and when he told me that Jessica and Brooke were alone, I gritted my teeth.
"Don't worry; they're fine," he assured me.
"OH. MY. GOD. RACHEL, LUKE," Professor Fairchild's dramatic voice rang out from behind us. "Are you two all right?"
We turned around and she pulled us into a tight hug. "Yes, yes, we're okay," I insisted. "Just really freaked out."
Professor Fairchild looked up at the ceiling, her beautiful face contorted in confusion. "I just had the stage lighting checked last week before tech week started. These lights are practically brand new; there is no reason they should've fallen."
I gulped and glanced at Luke, who nodded. "Professor Fairchild... where is Iris?"
She looked around, her red curls sweeping over her shoulders. "That's odd. I don't know. I haven't seen her since... well, since 'You're the One that I Want.'"
"Professor, can we speak to you in private?" I asked in a low voice.
She nodded and led us back to her office.
"What's going on?" she asked, motioning for us to sit down in the chairs against the wall. She perched on the top of her desk.
I took a deep breath. "Iris Tate. Something's wrong with her," I said, knowing it wasn't a good explanation or even a good way to word it.
"How do you mean?"
"She's been low-key stalking my boyfriend... she has a class with him, and they had a few run-ins. But then on Halloween she came to our apartment during a party we were throwing. She came onto Miles and... I ended up slapping her in the face," I admitted, my face reddening.
Professor Fairchild stuck out her bottom lip, seeming to appraise me. "Wow. That's impressive, Ms. Cross," she said, and I looked at her in shock.
"It is?"
"Yes. I've noticed how she treats you in class. It isn't ladylike and it isn't just friendly competition," she said.
"There's more," Luke piped up. Both Professor Fairchild and I looked in his direction. "Iris is from our town, from Panama City."
My head jerked toward him, my jaw nearly unhinged. "She's what?"
He nodded. "And her father works for Salazar Properties, and has for over twenty years."
I was speechless.
"We don't know what any of it means, but... we think she did something to the stage lighting," Luke said quietly.
Professor Fairchild was on her feet, pacing around and speaking rapid Italian."Oh mio Dio, è pazza? Come poteva fare qualcosa di così pericoloso? Potevi essere ucciso!"
Luke and I glanced at each other in amusement.
Professor Fairchild looked at us, her brown eyes wide. "We have to find her. She can't get away with this."
Right then, there was a knock at the door.
Jessica
The theater professor opened the door to her office, and she, Luke, and Rachel were shocked – not to see us, but to see the cop we had called after Bradley told us the rest of the story about Iris.
"Excuse me, Professor?" Miles said. "This officer needs to talk to all of us."
"Of course," she said, welcoming us into her office, but after looking around at the cramped space, she waved us all out onto the stage. "We'll have more room out here," she said.
We all pulled up chairs and sat in a semi-circle. Brooke sat as far away from Luke as she possibly could. I had somehow convinced her to stay so she could ride back home with Luke's parents.
The officer spoke first. "I'm Officer Peters from the Tallahassee Police Department. I need to gather the whole story here, because there seems to be a lot of details. First, I want Mr. Salazar to tell me what happened in his engineering class."
So, Miles filled him in on the crush Iris seemed to have, the project, and the general weird feeling of his interactions with her.
Officer Peters listened intently and made notes in his notepad. "Okay. Thank you, Miles. Now, I would like Ms. Cross to tell me her involvement in this situation."
Rachel explained everything, even the slap, to which Officer Peters didn't react. I suppose even he could see that Iris deserved it.
"Thank you. Now, you said she's from your hometown of Panama City Beach?" he asked.
"Yes," Miles answered. "Her father actually works for our dad's company. And we thought that might have something to do with it. Because at first, we thought it was just that she had a crush on me.
But then, it got really, really weird. And our birth father, William Jefferson, was a pretty bad guy. We figured maybe he screwed her father over or something, and that's what this was about. But no, we got confirmation that Mr. Tate is still at Salazar Properties and is one of the best employees they have. So that doesn't add up," he finished.
"So, now we're back to the original theory: she's just really hot for Miles and wants to get Rachel out of the way," Luke finished. Nervous laughter tittered through the group.
I glanced at Bradley. When Miles fell quiet, he spoke up, his voice hushed. "Iris isn't after you, Miles. You're just a pawn. She's after Rachel."
"What?" Rachel asked, scooting to the edge of her seat, her red heels scraping the wood floor of the stage. "Daddy, what are you talking about? Why would she be after me?"
Bradley shifted in his seat. "More to the point, she's after me."