Enthralled (TT AU)

Parties and Sleepovers

"Hey!" Gar's raspy voice called behind Rachel. She decided that he was not talking to her and continued to walk to her next class. After lunch was over she practically bolted away from the table to avoid this kind of thing.

"R-Rachel!" Gar called again over the crowd of high schoolers going on to third period, now obviously wanting Rachel's attention. She took up speed. Rachel could see the door to her History class; she was almost in the clear. She was nearly there. Rachel let a small smile grace her lips as she sighed with relief and made her way to class.

She relaxed too soon. Right as Rachel had reached the doorway a strong hand grabbed her forearm and pulled her back. A few curses slipped from her mouth as Garfield practically dragged her to the side of the hall, where there was less movement. She took a deep breath, ready to yell at him for even daring to touch her, but he beat her to it.

"Look, you yelled at me when we met, you yelled at me when I tried to eat lunch with you, and you're about to yell at me right now!" Gar seethed. He wasn't yelling; his voice was oddly quiet yet deafening. He sighed as he continued. "I've been perfectly nice to you since the second I met you so you do not get to act like I don't exist." Rachel sighed as she kept her head down. She knew he was right.

"I'm sorry for how I've treated you, Gar." She mumbled to the dirty school floor. Rachel had been on the fence about her rude comments to Garfield, his bringing them up only made her feel worse. She knew it wasn't his fault that she was this way. She was just so afraid of getting close to another boy. Another boy that had the ability to hurt her again. It took guts for Garfield to stand up to Rachel, not many did. Anyone brave enough to face her, prepared to get yelled and cursed at, was someone worthy of Rachel's respect.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that." Garfield mused, rubbing his chin and putting a hand up to his ear. He made a strained expression on his face. Rachel knew he had heard her. Heck, he could hear Richard and Victor all the way across the cafeteria. Even yesterday when she was mumbling across a lunch table from him, he had never once asked Rachel to repeat herself. If there was one thing Rachel knew for sure about Gar, it was that his hearing was better than anyone she'd ever met.

"Oh shut up, I know you heard me." Rachel growled as she rolled her eyes, ready to walk away.

Before Rachel could make her exit, Gar tugged on her skinny wrist lightly. "So, you wanna start over?" He asked, with that same hope from the day before shining in his emerald eyes. Rachel had to admit, starting over sounded didn't sound too painful. She had apologized, and decided that Garfield Logan was not a complete waste of space.

"Sure." She sighed. Garfield held out his hand.

"My name is Garfield, I'm new here."

"I'm Rachel, nice to meet you Garfield."

...

History class forever felt like the slowest class of the day to Rachel. Shortly after apologizing to Gar, the bell had rung and they went their separate ways. The only person that Rachel did not utterly loathe in her class was a girl named Jennifer Runic. Jen was skinny and pale like Rachel. Her shoulder length light brown hair had pink ends and was usually in a high ponytail. Jen was the kind of person Rachel gravitated to. She was calm, cool, and not an idiot. Jen and Rachel usually only spoke to each other during that one class, but over the course of many class periods, they knew each other well enough for things not to be totally awkward.

"Hey." Rachel droned as she turned to Jen. All of her assignments were done and there were at least thirty minutes of class left.

"Hey Rachel," Jen whispered as she moved closer. "Who was that guy you were talking to before class? Never seen him around."