Better Off Dead (Kellin's Daughter)

Chapter 6

I arrive on the college campus with them. I'm kind of nervous. I feel Tony grab my hand and give it a squeeze. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, kind of overwhelmed." He nods.

"Just let me know if you get too overwhelmed and need to get home." I nod. I knock on the door and the coach opens it. "Hello Rachel! Come on in." We all go in. "Is that Victor Fuentes?" He rubs the back of his neck. "Hi Dr West."

She hugs him and he looks surprised. "You know, I was only being hard on you to unlock your full potential. Did you drop out?" He nods. "I created a band with my brother, her uncle, Tony, and Tony's best friend, Jaime."

She smiles. "Are you guys successful?" "They're pretty successful. The best band I've ever heard. Wait, oops. Shouldn't say that when Dad has a band as well. It's okay, his is my second favorite." Rowan smiles. "I'm so telling Dad when he gets back down here."

I smile. "So Rachel, when are you gonna be cleared for sports?" "I believe December 10th, tentatively." She nods. "It's a risky choice for me to be doing this, but I'm going to put you on the roster for this upcoming year. I know I haven't seen you play, but you obviously learn quickly and you appear to have two pretty great outside people to work with you on soccer."

She must sense my confusion. "If I remember correctly, you grew up with Wendy Grilley. Her niece, Samantha Cheever, was offered a full ride scholarship here. I'm sure she could teach you as well as obviously Vic." I smile and nod.

"I want you to train with them after you recover until I approve that you are ready enough to join in group training. I'm also going to give you a conditioning and strengthening schedule that you can work with your physical therapist to figure out how you can get ready without hurting yourself." I nod again.

She hands me a few papers. "Under your scholarship, you get one soccer uniform a year for free." I watch her look at me. "With your build  and size, I believe you'll be the same size when the season starts. I'll order the clothes for you if you give me your sizes." She hands me a paper and I write it all down.

"Excellent! Welcome to the team, kid!" She shakes hands with me. "The school would probably like to have a meeting with you and your father in a few days." I nod. "He'll be back down here soon. Him and his wife are doing something that they refuse to tell me."

She nods. "I'll see you around school, kid. If you need me, you know where to find me." We leave the school. "Vic, you were going for a major in graphic design, right?" He looks at me confused. "How did you know that?"

"Want to see something?" I smirk a little. We get back to Tony's house and I open my one suitcase, full of records, magazines, comics, and yearbooks. I pull out one of the magazines and flip to the end of it, handing it to him. "Does that look familiar?"

He smiles at it. He looks into the suitcase and begins looking through it. He grabs a notebook and I recognize it as my lyric book. I take it from him. "The contents of this will remain hidden from all eyes besides my own unless I give specific permission for someone to look at a page in it."

Tony looks at me. "Either it's a journal or a lyric book. Vic gets really protective of his lyric books as well." "It's a lyric book." "Do you have any you'll share?" I think about it and begin looking through it.

Her skin is like a canvas
Their words like a blade
Ever day finds new pain
She wonders if it'll ever fade

Her friends ask if she's okay
And she has no other way to say

When will my pain ever disappear
Every year, with no fear
The pain grows worse
And I fear I don't belong here

How can she move on
The pain, stronger every day
The world is all against her
She doesn't even want to stay

Her friends ask if she's okay
And she has no other way to say

When will my pain ever disappear
Every year, with no fear
The pain grows worse
And I fear I don't belong here

After time goes by
Year and year on display
The world gets better for her
And she could finally say

My pain has disappeared
After all of these years
I now feel I belong
I'm glad I stayed all along

They look shocked. "If you want to go somewhere with your music, you definitely have a good chance. I could give you additional pointers if you wish." I smile. "I would love that." He smiles. "Well, Rowan and I'll get going so you and Tony can spend some quality time together."

He leaves and Tony gives me a small smile. "I have somewhere to take you." I follow him into the car and he stops at the store. He returns with a bouquet of flowers. We stop at a cemetery and he leads me inside.

"Rachel, meet your mom, Arcelia, and your grandpa." I watch as he places some flowers down at each of their headstones. He motions for me to sit down next to him. "Arcelia was amazing. She was the best damn older sister I could have asked for. She was a lot like you. She learned quickly, was pretty sassy, and she loved music."

I watch as he wipes a tear from his cheek. "She began drinking, a lot, right after she had you. One night, she had got into a car and got into a crash which ultimately killed her. It was the worst day of my life. Kellin and I both felt like we lost part of ourselves when that happened."

I cuddle into him. "I'm scared of losing you guys." "I'm scared of losing you as well. Y'know, she had another kid with Vic. They had to give her up. I wonder what happened to her. Vic says he knows she ended up in Washington and that's why he goes there constantly. Her name is Samantha."

A small amount of recognition comes through in my mind. I pull up a picture of me and Sami on my phone. "It can't be her, right? December 11th, 1997? Samantha Leanne?" His eyes widen. "Holy shit. Do you have contact with her?"

"Um, yeah." We leave the cemetery and end up at Vic's house. "Go ahead and call her." I call her as he says. "Hi Sami!" "Hey Rachel, how are you doing?" "Pretty good actually. I have an odd question to ask you. Is there any chance you were adopted?" "Yeah, I just found out recently. How do you know?"

"I know your biological parents. Do you want to virtually meet your biological dad?" She nods with wide eyes. Tony and I go inside. "Vic, I have something to show you!" He comes out. "So, you remember Samantha, your daughter, right?" He nods.

I hand my phone to him. "Vic, meet Samantha, she prefers Sami, Leanne Cheever, soon to be Johnston. Sami, meet Victor Vincent Fuentes, he prefers Vic. He is your biological father." Vic has his mouth covered. "You're so grown up." She looks just as shocked.

I hear Eric in the background. "Hey Sami, what's up?" "Hi Eric! It's Rachel. I don't know if she told you, but she found out she is adopted and I happen to know her biological parents." I see him join beside her in the camera.

"Hi sir, my name is Eric. I'm your daughter's fiancée. I would like to invite you, your partner if you have one, your parents, your siblings if you have any, and her mom's family." I see a look of sadness cross Tony's face. I take the phone back from Vic.

"Not much remains of her mom's family. Her mom died in a car crash 16 years ago. Her mom's dad passed away before she was born. I know her mom's brother though." I point the camera towards Tony. "Sami, meet your mom's brother, Tony Perry." She has a sad look on her face but waves.

"Rachel, I moved over the summer. How far do they live from San Diego?" "They live about 25-30 blocks each from San Diego State University." Her eyes widen. "Really?" I nod. "Can I come over now?" I look at Vic and he nods.

"He says yeah. I'll send you the location." I end the call and send her the location.