Then, she heard loud footsteps coming to the door, and a large shadow appeared in the frosted glass window of the door. She knew it was he, coming to yell at them. She took a step back, so as not to be so close to the door or to Dr. Rundy when he opened it. She wanted to hide behind Brian but knew she couldn’t do that.
The doorknob creaked as she watched it turn, then the door opened slowly and within seconds, she saw Dr. Rundy standing there with a severe look of disappointment on his face.
“Rachel, Brian, come in,” Dr. Rundy said in a deep, slow voice.
The two stepped into his office and waited for him to say something.
“Sit down there,” Dr. Rundy said, pointing to two chairs opposite his desk. “What did you do to be sent to my office?”
Rachel was silent and waited for Brian to answer, but he didn’t. He waited, too. She couldn’t believe this; she thought he was going to cover for her.
“Well.” Rachel started talking. “What happened was that…”
“It was my fault, Dr. Rundy. Rachel shouldn’t be punished for my mistake,” Brian said.
Rachel looked over at Brian in relief as she listened to him talk.
“What do you mean it’s all your fault? Mrs. Pepper said it was the both of you who disrupted her class today!” Dr. Rundy said, with the same scary look of disapproval.
“Well,” Brian said, “What happened was completely my fault and Rachel here was just caught in the middle of it. She does not deserve to be sitting here.”
“Well, Rachel?” Dr. Rundy asked. “Is this true?”
Rachel didn’t know what to do or say. Of course she wanted to get out of her punishment, but at the same time she didn’t want to throw Brian under the bus, especially since she kind of had feeling for him.
“It’s ok Brian,” Rachel said. “It’s as much my fault as it is yours. You don’t have to take all the blame here.”
“C’mon Rachel, I passed you the note and I was the one starting conversations with you. You didn’t do anything,” Brian said smiling at her.
“Well, Rachel, it seems like Brian is the one who caused the trouble up in math class. You are free to go, but don’t let it happen again!” Dr. Rundy said.
“Go?” Rachel asked, confused.
“Yes, you may leave my office now. But Brian, you will stay here with me. We have more to discuss!” Dr. Rundy said.
Rachel slowly got up from her chair; feeling like this was all too good to be true. She wasn’t getting in trouble after all, and it’s all because Brian stood up for me and took all the blame. She was so grateful that he’d done that. She couldn’t bear the thought of going home and telling her dad she was sent to the principals office, or even worse, having the principal call home to tell him the news. Still, the thought of the frightened her as she slowly walked out of his office, shutting the door behind her.
Part of her felt bad that Brian had to take the brunt of this situation, but it was only fair. He was the one who got her in trouble after all, and he was nice to tell the truth to Dr. Rundy. She wished she could have thanked him, but knew it wouldn’t have been an appropriate time to do so.
RING RING
The final bell rang of the day and Rachel couldn’t have been happier. She couldn’t wait to go home to process everything that had happened in school. Then, she remembered her dad was picking her up to go to the hospital. Suddenly, she was feeling depressed about the idea of seeing her mom in a coma in a hospital bed. After all, she didn’t know what she’d say to her when she saw her, especially because this whole thing was her fault.
Rachel went to her new locker and took out her backpack and books and headed toward the front door of the school. As she was walking down the hall, she heard her friends yelling her name, “Rachel, Rachel! Wait for us!”
Rachel turned and greeted them, “Hey guys, what’s up?”
“Nothing much! Just heading out, we’re walking into town, wanna come?” Dana asked.
“Wish I could, but my dad is picking me up to visit my mom,” Rachel said.
Dana’s face dropped, “Oh, for the first time?”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen her there yet,” Rachel said.
“Oh brother. Well, good luck,” Dana, said. “Text me after and hopefully you will change your mind about the movies later.”
“Thanks!” Rachel said.
She stood there, outside the school building, all bundled up in her winter coat and scarf as she waited for her dad. She watched her friends walk away in the distance as they laughed, linked arms and skipped into town. She wished she could have gone with them instead of having to go to the hospital. She dreaded going to the hospital; everything about it was upsetting to her. The fact that her mom was in the hospital, for one, the smell of the hospital, the noises of the hospital, the whole thing.
As the after school noises quieted down, she looked at her watch. Her dad was already fifteen minutes late to pick her up. She knew that was out of character for him, but continued to wait for him.
She took out her cell phone and dialed his number. It rang and rang, until his voicemail picked up.
Hmm. Rachel thought to herself. This is odd.
She waited another twenty minutes, but he didn’t show up and he didn’t call. She figured he’d forgotten about their plans, so she decided to walk home. It was a rather far walk, especially for such a cold day, but she wanted to do it. She wanted to be outside and she wanted to have time to herself to think about things.
CHAPTER 8
Rachel was freezing cold by the time she got home and here nose was dripping from the frigid air. Her face felt chapped and her ears raw as she walked up the driveway towards her house. She still didn’t feel like she had any clarity on what had happened to her the past two years since she left Pennsylvania. She didn’t know what to do but she knew she had to do something to give her peace of mind.
“Dad! Dad!” Rachel yelled as she went into her house. “Where are you?”
She waited quietly, but there was no answer. She went into his home office but he was not there.
“Mark? Are you home?” Rachel called out.
Again, no answer.
Rachel was home alone and didn’t know where her father was or why he didn’t pick her up from school. She went over to the answering machine to see if maybe he had called, but there were no messages. Despite the oddity of this, Rachel was excited to have the house to herself. She liked being home alone, and especially today. She wanted to rummage around to find clues about her past years she couldn’t remember.