“Rachel, sometimes I wish it weren’t true, but it is. Every word of it.”
Rachel began to cry as she held her moms hand tightly. “I wish I would have known sooner, Mom.”
A tear came down her mom’s cheek, as she looked deep into Rachel’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Rachel said.
Then, as the two of them sat there, staring at each other and crying, her Dad walked into the room quickly and with a frightened look on his face.
“Betsy!” her dad said.
“John!” Betsy said.
“Are you OK? What are you doing? You haven’t talked in months!” her dad said.
“I’m fine now. Rachel’s back. Did you know that?” her mom said.
“I know she’s back. And she’s a completely changed girl. She let go of her old antics and she’s the Rachel we always knew. I think moving back to Pennsylvania changed everything for her. It was the right move,” her dad said.
Rachel was surprised that they were having this conversation in front of her frankly and didn’t quite know what to make of it. She wasn’t sure if her dad knew about the family secret, but she wasn’t about to bring it up. She figured this family secret was what made her forget She knew the only thing left for her to do at this point was to find her grandmother and get to the bottom of everything. She knew once she did that, all the pieces would fall into place and everything would start to make sense again.
“Rachel, how did you get here?” her dad asked.
“Well, I thought you were going to pick me up from school today and I waited and waited, but you never showed up, so I just walked here.”
“All this way?” her dad asked.
“Yup! It was freezing cold, but I wanted to see mom.”
“Rachel, you have no idea what you’ve done here. You’ve cured her. She’s back to her self again.”
“Well, I’m not so sure, Dad. She had some complications when I first got here. Did you hear about that?”
“Yes! That’s why I came running in. The doctor called and told me what happened, then when I saw you two sitting here talking, I couldn’t believe it.”
Then, Rachel felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and looked at it.
Brian: Hey Rach, still want to see that movie tonight? I need to tell you what happened with Dr. Rundy today. It was epic.
Rachel: Yeah, I’ll go. Let me just ask my dad.
Rachel turned to her dad and said, “Dad, can I go out to the movies tonight? It’s Monday Madness and I want to go with a friend of mine.”
“What friend?” her dad asked.
“Just some guy,” Rachel said.
“A GUY!” her dad said, looking skeptical.
“John, you should let her go. She’s been a good girl,” her mom chimed in.
“Thanks, Mom!” Rachel said.
“Which guy?” her dad asked.
“Just some kid from my class named Brian. He’s a nice kid. Don’t worry!” she said.
“Well, if you’re home by 10, I’ll let you go. It’s a school night, remember,” her dad said.
“Yes! I know, Dad. I promise, I’ll be home by 10.
Rachel took out her phone again and texted Brian letting him know she was on for tonight.
“I gotta go now! He’s picking me up at 7 o’clock. I have to get ready!” Rachel said with a giggle.
“Mom, I love you, I’ll come visit you again soon,” she said.
“I love you, Rachel and I’m so glad you are back home and safe,” her mom said.
“See you soon,” her dad said. “I’ll be a few minutes behind you.”
CHAPTER 10
Rachel couldn’t wait to go on her movie date tonight. It was her first date is a very long time, and she couldn’t believe how quickly she was falling for Brian. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way for a guy, and was happy to feel this feeling again.
She wanted to impress Brian and had picked out the perfect outfit in her head; now all she had to do was find it in all the boxes of clothes that were still stacked in her bedroom. She hadn’t had much time yet to unpack all her things and hang them in her closet, but she knew she had a super cute denim skirt from the Gap and a scoop neck black metallic tee shirt from Delia’s. She rummaged through the boxes until she found the two items and then put them on. She was actually surprised that she remembered the clothes she had since apparently she hadn’t worn them in a while. The weather was cold, so she put on black opaque tights and her favorite lace up Dr. Martin’s boots. She knew she looked cool even before she checked herself out in the mirror.
HONK HONK
Rachel heard the horn beep from her driveway. She quickly checked her watch and saw that it was 7 o’clock. She knew Brian was downstairs waiting for her. She looked in the mirror one last time, fluffed her hair, put on some lip gloss and ran downstairs and out the front door, hearing it slam behind her.
Then, she heard her dad come running out behind her, “Rachel, don’t forget you need to be back here by ten sharp. Not a minute later.”
“I got it dad. Goodbye!” Rachel said, feeling somewhat embarrassed that her dad ran outside after her to remind her of her curfew.
Brian rolled down his window as Rachel got closer, “Hey Hun, lookin’ good!”
“Hi Brian, thanks for picking me up!” Rachel said.
“You bet,” he said. “Let’s get outta here, we don’t want to be late.”
Rachel jumped into the front seat of his Ford pick up truck and off he drove towards the movie theater.
“Cool truck!” Rachel said, putting on her seatbelt and taking a look around.
“Thanks, Hun, it’s my dads,” Brian said.
“Sweet, he let you take it out tonight?” Rachel asked.
“Yup!” Brian said. “Do you have a car?”
“Oh, well..I don’t have my license yet, so no,” Rachel said.
“That’s funny, you’re almost 18 right?” Brian asked. “You should have gotten your license two years ago!”
Rachel thought for a moment as he had just made a good point. She didn’t realize that not only had she forgotten the past two years, she was now behind in many things.
“Yeah, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet,” Rachel, said, trying to dodge his question.
“Well, if you ever want a lesson, I’ll be happy to teach you. I have my senior license now, so I can teach you and we can stay out past 9pm,” Brian said.