Leaving Arcadia Bay | A Rachel Amber Story

Chapter 25: Blackwell Academy

One week later.

After her shower, Rachel did her make up in the bathroom. Once she finished up, she packed everything up and made her way out. When she opened the door, she bumped into Dana.

"Oh, sorry Rachel." Dana said.

Rachel chuckled. "No harm done, Dana." She said.

"It's still so wild to have you back here. I never thought we'd see you again." Dana said. "It was batshit insane here while you were gone." She said. Rachel smiled. "I can only imagine." She said as she walked passed her. "See you in class, Dana." Rachel said. "Yeah, see ya..." Dana said with a wave, still bewildered to see Rachel again.

It was another busy morning in the girls dorm at Blackwell. But as Rachel made her way through the hall, all eyes were on her. Rachel strutted confidently to her room, knowing that everyone was watching her. She entered her room which had music softly playing from a speaker.

Going Up The Country by Canned Heat played through the speaker, reminiscing Sam's taste in music.

Thank you Sam, now I'm listening to your kind of music.

Rachel put on a pink t-shirt with the Firewalk band logo on it. She put on a black skirt that made her feel scandalous, and she liked it. She checked herself out in the mirror and smiled.

Looking good, Amber.

She slipped her feet into a pair of black boots and made her way out. She closed the door behind her and walked towards the exit.

The warm air hit her when she got outside. She breathed in and sighed contently. Feeling confident, she made her way to the main campus of Blackwell.

"Dude, that's Rachel Amber."

"She actually came back."

Students whispered to each other as they watched Rachel walk by. Rachel found their shocked faces to be humorous, seeing that some people's jaws were on the ground made her want to laugh at their bewildered expressions.

When she walked passed a group of boys, Rachel sent a wink at them. The boy she winked at made his cheeks turn a shade of red.

Main campus was as busy as ever. When Rachel entered campus, everyone turned their heads to look at her. Some pointed at her while others whispered to their friends. Brooke's drone flew over Rachel, looking at her before flying away.

Rachel saw Steph over by the tables and made her way over to her. "Hey Steph." She said. At Rachel's voice, Steph whirled around. Eyes wide, she said, "Rachel! Wow, hey! Didn't expect to see you." Rachel grinned as she sat on the table top next to Steph. "Whatcha working on?" Rachel said, peering down at Steph's papers. "Oh, just doing some homework. I've been procrastinating this whole week." Steph said with a chuckle.

Rachel looked at her with a soft smile. "I saw what you said on the news." Rachel said. "It made me feel good knowing I still had people I can trust." She said.

Steph smiled shyly, nervously laughing. "It's nothing, really." She said. "I just figured maybe if you watched the news that night, you would feel comfortable with reaching out to me." Rachel nodded, softly smiling at her. "And I definitely would have, if it wasn't for the cops breathing down my neck every five seconds." Steph let out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, Rachel! I have big news." Steph said excitedly.

"What's up?" Rachel asked.

"Pretty soon, I'm moving to Colorado." Steph told her.

"Oh really?!" Rachel said. "That's awesome, Steph. When are you moving?"

"Sometime during the summer." Steph told her with a nod. "And when I get there, I'm thinking I might even start my own podcast or radio show."