Liberosis

Opia

After they talked, Rachel presented the bag full of her clothes to Chloe, who seemed happy about it. Mission accomplished. And then Rachel went back to school to get ready for the play.

Already dressed on the final version of her devilish costume, she did her makeup on her--well, the girls'--dressing room. A few other fellow actresses were there, none remotely close to Rachel. Until Dana came in a little late.

"Hey, Rach," her friend said. "You ready?"

"Dana!" Rachel smiled, content to have someone she wanted to talk to. And even though the whole thing with her dad happened, she convinced herself to forget about it for tonight. She would not be herself in a while anyway, entering Prospera's skin. "Of course. You?"

"Yeah, I mean, I just have short dialog and I'm asleep for a whole scene. I'd say I'm good to go. You're basically the entire play."

"No pressure at all." Rachel laughed. Though Dana had mentioned all the reasons she shouldn't be nervous, she seemed to be more than Rachel, talking too quickly. She put a hand on Dana's shoulder. "You'll do great."

"Thanks." Dana smiled back, her shoulders relaxing and one of them proceeding to bump her friend. "So... you and Chloe Price?"

Rachel cocked her head. Well, she hadn't been exactly private about hanging out with her crush—Rachel wanted the world to see how awesome she was, but at the same time, she wanted Chloe all to herself.

"You're blushing!"

"Shh!" Rachel hissed, smacking her shoulder. "No, I'm not!"

"You're totally into each other," Dana said lower this time. "I saw those heart eyes yesterday in class."

"Then why do you ask?"

"Because I wanna know if something happened!"

Rachel searched for any sign on Dana's face, a reason not to tell her. But she genuinely wanted to know just because they were friends and that's what friends did. "Okay. I'll tell you and only you."

Dana nodded, getting the message. Rachel stood up and walked away, deciding to go somewhere more private. Her friend followed the beaming blonde behind and they were suddenly inside the school.

Rachel entered the Drama Club classroom, which was empty due to everything being outdoors. She sat on the tiny stage and Dana sat next to her, offering a kind and exciting expression. "So I skipped school with her yesterday and we played 'Two Truths And A Lie' to get to know each other. It worked and Dana, she's really badass and dorky."

"I kind of got that vibe when she talked about true love." Dana suddenly squealed. "Oh, my god. She was totally talking about you!"

"I know!" Rachel squealed too, needing to get her own excitement out of her body to keep going. "So then we were at the overlook and we looked for people to make up their conversations--"

"What we did with Mr. Keaton!"

"Yeah, exactly. She's hilarious." Rachel giggled over the memory, but it died down as she remembered what came up next. Refusing to dwell over that now, she composed her features. Like always. "Then we stole some wine and drank as we walked on the train tracks to American Rust."