The van suddenly stopped. After a brief moment Rachel heard the driver and passenger side doors open and close loudly. The sound reverberated through the thin metal walls, rousing her from her daze. She'd stopped crying ten minutes ago, but her head was still cradled in her hands as if she were.
She heard a click and the back of the van opened with a slight hiss. She didn't look to see who it was, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor in front of her. Over the half-hour drive she had grown to familiarize herself with the pattern on the floor, and could stand watching it forever if it meant never having to leave the van.
"Alright, home sweet home" the voice of Ms. Simmons said.
For a moment Rachel didn't move, she just turned and looked at the sudden intruder. Ms. Simmons' face was contorted in the most forced-but-cheerful smile that she could muster. Behind her was a tall, dark haired man she didn't recognize, but he almost seemed indifferent when he looked at her. She liked his look more. She preferred not to be recognized.
Realizing they weren't going away until she followed them, she removed her hands from her head and pushed herself slowly up from her resting place on the bench. The weakness in her legs had dissipated during the trip over, so she was able to make it across and out the van without any assistance (though Ms. Simmons tried).
"Alright" Ms. Simmons sighed "See? Home at last."
She wasn't lying. Rachel had resigned herself to the thought that she'd be brought to some research lab in the middle of nowhere to be imprisoned or worse. Instead, there was her house, the same as if she had never left – that is except for the "FIND RACHEL" sign planted in the front lawn.
She looked up at the street lamp shining above her. Looking down the street she saw all the familiar looking houses. To the casual observer they all looked about the same, but Rachel remembered just by looking at them all the little differences between them she'd tucked away. Those memories returning to her felt more precious in that moment than anything else possibly could. She wanted to stay out there and just take it in but the encroaching cold and Ms. Simmon's hand guiding her moved her forward towards her front door.
As they approached the front door, Rachel was suddenly seized by apprehension. She hadn't seen her mother in over two weeks. By the sign she figured she was worried, but how would she react to seeing her like this in new clothes and covered in gunk?
Her question was answered when Ms. Simmon's knocked on the door and an immediate rush of footsteps pounded on the familiar hardwood floor and quickly approached. The door swung open with a force that almost ripped it off its hinges, and there was her mom, standing there with tears already welling up in her eyes. With a lunge she threw herself at Rachel and wrapped her arms around her, making her flinch slightly at the touch.
In what was probably intended to be a whisper, Mrs. Morgan muttered "I'm so sorry Rachel" over and over into Rachel's ear. She wasn't sure what she was sorry for, but all the same when the shock of her hug had worn off Rachel wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her back. As the seconds passed, Rachel's hug grew tighter and tighter.
She was home, that was all that mattered now.
As the four people entered the foyer and the door closed behind her, Rachel was struck by how much she missed the familiar smells of home. If there was an ounce of moisture left in her body she would have cried right then and there.
"Rachel, how about you go ahead and wash yourself off now" Ms. Simmons said "We can talk once you get back down"
In her excitement Rachel's mother hadn't even notice the dried ooze that had lightly coated her daughter's body. She looked at her body with a mixture of confusion and disgust.
"Go ahead, Rachel" her mother said tentatively tapping her shoulder "I need to talk with Ms. Simmons for a little while."
Less than 30 seconds home and they already wanted her out of the way.
Without saying another word, Rachel made her way up the stairs, aware of the fact that the people below were watching her every move. Once she was out of sight, she was suddenly aware of just how crushingly alone she felt. There was nobody she could talk about her experiences with, even if she wanted to. All the same though, she figured she did need some alone time...some real alone time.
The hallway she walked along seemed both familiar and foreign at the same time. She recalled the feeling of the carpet, but it never felt it quite this vividly before. The perfumes wafting from her mother's room seemed a bit stronger than they were before. She passed by the door to her room and took a quick glance inside. It was the same as the moment she left. Her closet door was still open, and her bed was still in the unmade, disheveled state she left it in the morning she left for school two weeks ago.
Entering the bathroom, she quickly removed her temporary clothes. She didn't like them anyways. she didn't like how loose they felt on her. It just didn't feel right to her wearing them. Standing there naked she still felt slightly uneasy, but it was better then what she was wearing before.
She looked down along her body. Her petite frame was the same as it was, her meager breasts poking out slightly. Her slit still showed apparent signs of recent use.
She walked over to the shower and turned the nozzle on, and made sure to turn up the heat as much as she could bear. Once the water pouring out started to steam, she lifted her leg up over the lip of the bathtub and placed it inside. The water was hot, but not unbearable.
Balancing herself on one foot she lifted the other leg over to bring herself fully under the water. Before she could put her other foot all the way down, though, she slipped slightly, catching herself on the shower curtain bar just as she was about to topple backwards. She was taking her lack of superhuman reflexes for granted, she needed to be careful.
After a few minutes of standing under the hot flow of water, she began to feel chunks of the hardened gooey resin begin to slip off of her body, but not all at once like before. She figured that maybe letting the stuff air a bit longer made it harder to get off. All the same after some pulling and rubbing she was able to get most of it off of her skin, with only a bit in her hair not budging quite as easily.
She stepped backwards and let the hair just run through her hair, and soon she heard the plop of the material slipping from her hair follicles and into the basin of the tub. She kept her eyes closed until she was sure that all of it would be down the drain.
Even once she was reasonably sure all of it was out, she continued to stand there. She wanted to be sure there was nothing she missed. More than that, though, she just liked the feeling of the water pouring over her skin. She moved her shoulders and hips around to shift the sensations being fed to her body. Somehow it felt fuller than she remembered.
With the water starting to run cold, Rachel turned off the water, pulled back the shower curtain, and stepped out of the tub onto the carpet waiting for her on the bathroom floor. She grabbed her towel from the nearby rack and started rubbing her body, trying to soak up every last bit of water before wrapping it around her upper body and waist and stepping out into the hallway.
The air outside the bathroom was colder than the humid air inside of it. In two large steps she closed the distance between her and her bedroom across the hall. As she walked through the open doorway, she stopped for a moment. She heard voices coming from downstairs, the voices of her mother and Ms. Simmons. She wondered what they could be talking about, but couldn't make out what they were saying.
After straining her ears for a minute, she gave up and entered her room, closing the door and cutting off most of the sound from the outside world. She didn't feel comfortable staying there long, so she removed her towel and quickly made her way over to her drawer and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and pajamas and slipped them on. They felt weird on her body, almost foreign, like they didn't belong there. All the same she relished having on her own clothing again.
She looked at herself in the mirror, same as she did all those nights ago. She looked at her eyes, they seemed so tired and weary compared to what they used to be. Even with her eyes the way they were, though, she didn't feel tired in the slightest. Breaking herself away from her reflection, she opened her door and made her way out into the hall towards the top of the stairs.
The voices from downstairs were audible now. Even though the house was built large enough for a family, noise still travelled when it got loud enough.
"No, no, absolutely not" she heard her mother shout "she's home, that's what matters, now all we need to do is put all of this behind us and forget it ever happened and you staying here will just –"
"We just need to stick around for a couple days or so" Ms. Simmons interrupted "just to make sure she's doing all right."
"You saw her" her mother said "she's doing just fine. I think I know how to look after my own daughter."
There was a moment of silence.
"Maryanne, the thing that took your daughter is probably still out there. By having personnel on site we can make sure that your daughter stays safe and that we don't get a repeat of what just happened. She was lucky to escape when she did. If that thing still had her who knows what might have happened when we got there."
Rachel didn't notice the tall, dark haired man from before passing by the stairs. When she spotted him, she seized up and tried getting out of view, but it was too late. When he was just about to round the corner out of view he stopped and craned his neck to see her sitting at the top of the steps. He waved at her and motioned with his head for her to come downstairs.
Cautiously she got up from where she sat and began tip toeing downstairs, using the balls of her feet to make as little noise as she could. The man walked back towards the living room and Rachel followed after. She thought she could have gone back upstairs, but figured the man had already told Ms. Simmons and her mother that she was out of the shower. Just twenty minutes ago, she wanted nothing more than to be around them, but now all she wanted was to hide away again.
All the same once she was down the stairs she rounded the corner and made her way to the living room. Once she entered she saw her mother and Ms. Simmons sitting across from each other and the tall man leaning in the corner typing something on his phone.
Ms. Simmons was the first one to spot her.
"Rachel, why don't you come over here and sit down" she said cheerfully
She figured she didn't have a choice. Maneuvering around the small tables and chairs she made her way to the unoccupied couch against the left hand wall. Nobody spoke for a while. Everyone in the room was watching Rachel. She didn't like it. She felt like everyone was judging her for something unspeakable. Even with the kind expressions on their faces she knew they all secretly wished she hadn't put them through the trouble.
The silence was unbearable, so Rachel broke the silence.
"How long is she staying?" she said gesturing with a slight upwards nod towards Ms. Simmons.
Ms. Simmons and her mother glanced at each other. Neither of them realized she had heard them.
"Just for a few days, honey" her mother said "just to make sure your o.k."
"Why" Rachel said with growing bitterness "is there something wrong with me?"
"We conducted a preliminary scan on the way here" Ms. Simmons said matter-of-factly "Other than being a little undernourished she seems fine."
Rachel's eyes narrowed slightly. They scanned her? Why didn't they tell her they were doing that, and why didn't they tell her she was fine before now?
"Then why are you staying?" she asked.
Ms. Simmons knew she wasn't getting out of this one easily. She sighed hard.
"We think whatever's out there might try to come back for you." She said "We don't know for sure, but we think it's possible it made some sort of biological connection with you when you found it. Do you remember anything about what being around it was like?"
Rachel looks at her, and then shakes her head.
"No." she says flatly.
Ms. Simmons leaned back in her chair. Rachel looked at her mom whose gaze is fixed on her. Rachel tries to duck her glances away from her, but is drawn back before she can look away for long. Ms. Simmons notices this and looks over at Mrs. Morgan
"Would you mind if I talked with Rachel for a moment?" she said.
Mrs. Morgan breaks off her gaze and looks over at Ms. Simmons.
"Of course" she said.
Mrs. Morgan didn't move, instead leaning back in her chair waiting for the conversation to continue. Ms. Simmons looked at Rachel, whose eyes were still downcast, and then back at Mrs. Morgan.
"In private, please?" Ms. Simmons said, smiling.
It took a second for it to click in her mind, but when Mrs. Morgan realized what she meant her eyes darted to Rachel then back at Ms. Simmons.
"Oh" she whispered "sorry".
She pushed herself up by the armrests and walked out of the room, being sure to take one more glance back at Rachel before rounding the corner. Ms. Simmons looked over at the tall dark haired man and he simply nodded and followed behind Mrs. Morgan.
The two were now completely alone. Ms. Simmons' face immediately dropped all façade of niceness, and Rachel could see in her expression how many sleepless nights she must have had. She leaned in and placed her elbows on her knees. She looked down at first then up at Rachel.
"Rachel I'm not stupid, I know you wore that alien like a suit."
Rachel was at a loss for words, she suddenly felt the urge to run away, but before she could Ms. Simmons raised her hand
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want, but we tested the residue on you with the residue on the inner lining of the skin we found. I suspected there was symbiotic activity involved from the moment you approached me two weeks ago about the subject."
Rachel's suspicions about Ms. Simmons were growing deeper and deeper by the second.
"Who are you?" Rachel said sitting herself up "I mean with all of this I don't have a clue who the fuck you are."
Ms. Simmons rubbed her hand across her mouth and scratched her head.
"Well, normally I'm just Gale Simmons, high school biology teacher – that is actually my real job, it's not a cover. I could show you my teaching degree if you'd like." She paused, like what she was about to say next was something she was used to not saying "on the side, though, I'm part of a secret international organization called BETA, and what we do is we track down potential alien activity and – well – neutralize it basically."
"Am I an Alien threat?" Rachel spat with a hint of contempt.
"Well that depends" Ms. Simmons said trying to keep her composure.
"Depends on what?" Rachel asked.
Ms. Simmons scooted forward in the chair towards Rachel, her mouth opening and closing as if she were trying to find the words.
"What exactly happened while you were wearing that alien symbiote" she finally said.
A whirlwind of possible alibies immediately flew through Rachel's mind. She figured she needed at least some kernel of the truth to keep her at bay, but wasn't quite sure what to tell her.
In the end she just went with the obvious.
"I mostly just had sex with some people."
"Mostly?" Ms. Simmons said raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah" Rachel said "I stopped some criminals from hurting this woman in an alley one night – honestly it's hard for me to remember specifics."
She wasn't lying. Outside of general actions the details of what she did while wearing the suit were always a little fuzzy to her.
"Why did you go away for two weeks, then?"
"It started controlling me. I wanted to get away so when it was weakest I managed to pull it off and escaped."
Ms. Simmons' eyes narrowed again, and she looked Rachel square in the eyes.
"Are you telling me the truth, Rachel?" Ms. Simmons asked because if I report back to my supervisors and they find that something else happened I'm not going to be the only one that suffers the consequences. Now that's not a threat, that's just the truth."
Rachel wondered to herself why she was protecting the egg. Maybe it was maternal instinct. Maybe she just didn't want anyone to find it, even the "authorities" whoever they were. Who knows what they would have done with it. A Shady international organization? They'd probably use it to make super soldiers like they do with the symbiotes in her comics.
Rachel looked her teacher in the eye and nodded emphatically.
This seemed to work for Ms. Simmons, as she leaned back in her chair and relaxed her face. She nodded her head slightly and sighed.
"Alright, you should get some sleep. Since the case is technically closed BETA's not going to keep me from work anymore, so you've got to head to school so I can keep a close eye on you."
She smirked slightly.
"Now you've got to pretend to be normal just like the rest of us."
Rachel couldn't figure out whether she meant the rest them were normal or that they had to pretend to be. She didn't dwell on it, figuring it didn't matter. Once she realized she was free to go she got up from the couch and walked out into the foyer towards the staircase. She could feel Ms. Simmons' gaze drill into her back.
As she passed the kitchen, she saw the tall dark haired man sitting across from her mother while she drank a cup of coffee. As soon as he spotted Rachel walking upstairs, he immediately got up and made his way out of the kitchen. She figured he probably knew too and that he was just keeping her mom occupied while Ms. Simmons talked with her.
Why did they do that, though? Why didn't they want her to know what she really did?
That night Rachel couldn't sleep at all. She just laid on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She wanted to use her laptop to browse the internet, but Ms. Simmons had that taken for the time being for security's sake. Without it Rachel felt like she was in a prison – a familiar one, but a prison all the same. All she had to keep her company were some comic books.
She rolled over and grabbed one at random from underneath her bed and started reading it. It was one of her Agent Venom comics she'd gotten last year. In this Flash Thompson had the symbiote and used it to fight crime. She wondered if things were different whether she could have been a crime fighter. She scoffed to herself at the idea, she stopped one criminal, and even then just on the side.
As she looked at the images of tendrils moving about Flash's body, though, the less and less she wanted to think about it. She didn't feel it then, but she knew she was going to start craving the suit sometime soon, so symbiotes were the last thing she wanted to think about. Before she even finished reading it, she tossed it back under the bed and flopped back onto her back.
Rubbing her hands over her face, she laid there unmoving, only adjusting herself for the sake of comfort. In her mind she tried everything she could to forget what had happened, but as she stared at the blank ceiling, she wondered more and more about whether she actually wanted to.
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Daylight came late the next morning. Thick clouds on the horizon made it so that the first real sunrise didn't hit until nearly an hour after the sun had already technically risen.
By the time she heard Ms. Simmons call for breakfast, Rachel had no trouble getting up. Without even looking at the clock she quickly changed into her normal clothes, grabbed her backpack from beside her bed, and made her way over to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Looking in the mirror she saw that she seemed to look less tired than she did before, which seemed odd considering the lack of sleep.
She made it downstairs all dressed, packed and ready to go and found that there was already breakfast prepared courtesy: ham and cheese omelets and sourdough bread toast all courtesy of the tall dark haired man. It was only him, Rachel and Ms. Simmons there to enjoy it, though. Rachel's mother had already left for work. Ms. Simmons told her she didn't want to, but that she convinced her not to worry, and that it was more important to keep up appearances than be around for Rachel.
Ms. Simmons ate her food slowly, and spent most of her time bent over a folder with some hand-scribbled notes in it.
"Is that my file or something?" Rachel asked jokingly.
Ms. Simmons glanced up from the table at Rachel, then back to the folder of papers.
"No, it's my lesson plan for today" she replied curtly.
Once Ms. Simmons had finished her breakfast, she packed her things into a small side bag and stood up, and the rest followed.
"Ready to go?" Ms. Simmons said putting on a cheerful smile.
Rachel nodded her head and the three of them walked out the door and to the van still parked out front across the street. Rachel didn't want to ride in the back again, so she convinced the tall, dark haired man to go back there instead. He just shrugged his shoulders and did so without arguing.
In the passenger's seat Rachel wasn't sure exactly what do say or do. She didn't exactly have a phone on her (that was taken away to). Instead she just looked out the window, trying to avoid Ms. Simmons' watchful look as much as she could. Whenever she glanced over at her, though, she wasn't even paying attention at her.
Once they reached the school, Ms. Simmons pulled up near the front door. She didn't put it into park, but instead leaned back and sighed.
"Alright" she said "Jim and I are going to get this thing parked. You go and head straight to class, o.k?"
Rachel wondered who Jim was, then realized that was the name of the tall dark haired man. She wondered why the topic of his name never came up.
Rachel grabbed her backpack from the floor of the car and pushed the door open. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stepped out into the throng of students that were walking along the sidewalk. As the mass of teens started coagulating together closer to the school, the first hints of claustrophobia began to set in.
She looked behind her as she moved towards the front steps of the school and saw that Jim was coming out of the back and around into the passenger seat. Ms. Simmons was saying something to him as he sat down, but noticed Rachel's gaze after a moment and locked onto it. She smiled, and Rachel couldn't help but smile back.
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It felt like nothing had changed in the time she was gone. Nobody seemed to pay her any mind even with the frenzy surrounding her disappearance. She got the occasional tentative "hey Rachel" from passersby, but didn't really recognize any of them. Though it had felt like forever for her, she figured that two weeks really wasn't that long a time to be away.
Class went by as usual and each of her teachers told her in turn that she didn't have to make up any of the work she missed while she was gone. Rachel wondered what exactly people were told about why she was gone, but she didn't have the particular desire to ask anyone. She did notice that the teachers kept a particularly sidelong eye on her, but considering her unusual absence she didn't take that to mean much.
By the time Biology rolled around, Ms. Simmons was in full teacher mode again, conveying the lesson with a zeal and energy that Rachel sorely missed. It was something about mitochondria and cell structure, but Rachel wasn't really paying attention.
"Alright class" she said cheerily "we've got a pop quiz today. Rachel, could you pass these back?"
Rachel reached forward and grabbed the small stack of papers from her outstretched hand, picked one out for herself, then turned to pass them back. As the person sitting behind her pulled the rest of the pile from her Rachel froze.
Nick, who was sitting at the back of the class, was starting at her intently. This wasn't like before when he just shyly glancing at her, now he was full on staring at her, and she could see his shoulders rise and fall as he watched.
For a moment Rachel had her gaze fixed on him, like she couldn't look away. There was something strangely hypnotic about him, something subtle that she couldn't quite place.
"Rachel?" Ms. Simmons muttered behind her.
She swiveled around, breaking off the stare, and looked at her teacher. Ms. Simmons didn't look concerned, but the way her eyebrows looked did send a message that Rachel was acting odder than she probably should have.
She gave a little nod and looked down at her paper. She didn't recognize any of these questions, but figured she didn't have to and that this was just something to make her look normal.
For the rest of the class she averted her eyes away from Nick as much as possible, but every once in a while he'd randomly walk to the front of the room to sharpen his pencil or get an extra piece of paper. Every time he would try to sneak a glance back at Rachel without her noticing. When Rachel got up to put her test on the front table, Nick got up as well and came perilously close to her. She even thought he may have smelled her.
Soon enough, though, the bell rang for lunch and all the students got up at once. Rachel tried to take her time, but saw that Nick was taking his time as well so decided to speed up as fast as she could.
On her way out of the room Ms. Simmons pulled her aside. As the rest of the class filed out (including Nick) Rachel waited by the door trying to stay out of the way of her stalker.
"What happened there?" Ms. Simmons asked in a hushed tone.
"Nothing" Rachel mumbled "just daydreaming, that's all."
Ms. Simmons drilled her with her eyes, but after a moment relaxed and sighed.
"Alright, just let me know if anything comes up."
Rachel almost said something, but at the last second just nodded and rushed out the door.
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The first thing she noticed when she looked over the mob of eating and talking students was that Ryan and Monica seemed to have made up sometime while she was gone. They were sitting together at the table and had their arms around each other. Monica was laughing at some sort of joke one of her friends was saying while Ryan just seemed to contentedly smile at everything.
Flashes of memory from the night she had sex with him as Syn made Rachel blush slightly. She could feel the slight twinge of want in her lower body, put did her best to push it out of her mind. Instead of trying to rationalize her actions, she just looked away and avoided them as best she could.
Making her way to her usual spot she sat down and pulled her packed lunch out of her backpack. Her mom had prepared it for her before she left for work. Inside was a note that simply said "Love you, Mom" in large flowery letters. There was a smiley face in the corner.
She pulled out the grilled cheese sandwich from inside the brown paper bag and the small container of apple juice. Even now her mother treated her like she was still in middle school, but strangely enough this time she didn't mind all that much. She peeled open the cling wrap keeping the cheesy concoction fresh and held it up ready to take the first bite.
Before she was able to do that, though, she saw a sight that instantly made her heart drop and force any appetite she may have had away.
Approaching fast from across the hall was Nick. He had an uncharacteristically determined look on his face, one that sent a spasm of fright through Rachel's body. Once he got within a few tables away, he seemed to realize he looked fairly intimidating and softened his expression.
"Hey Rachel" He said trying and failing to act as natural as possible "you feeling alright?"
"Yeah" Rachel said flatly hoping that would be the end of it.
He sat down across from her. He didn't have a lunch, so he just folded his arms and leaned on the table, his mess of greasy hair spilling down around his face even more. Rachel could smell that he hadn't showered in a little while.
"So what's the deal" he whispered "everyone's saying you ran away, but for a while everyone was saying you got kidnapped, what's up with that?"
Rachel was about to deny running away, but then she realized that was probably the cover that was spread around to stifle suspicion. She was a "problem child" after all. It wasn't that hard to believe.
"It's fine" Nick said before she could say anything "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
She was starting to feel an uncomfortable stirring in her stomach. His eyes seemed to burn with a familiar lust that bordered on madness. He wasn't usually this physically upfront. She slipped her sandwich in her bag and started to fold the top down. When Nick noticed this, he seemed to realize he was running out of time.
"I really like you Rachel" he started "a lot. I know I'm not Ryan, but I can protect you, that's something none of these assholes can do for you!"
Rachel picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.
"I just need you to go out with me just once, that's all. If you don't like me then I'll leave you alone, you'll never have to see me again, but please just give me this one chance – Rachel!"
Rachel had already stood up and started walking away, intending on find another table. She knew Nick was pretty spineless and hoped he wouldn't follow her. She caught a few people watching her silently as she walked passed them.
Once she made it 20 feet before she heard the onrush of his footsteps closing in behind her. She didn't even have time to turn around and yell at Nick to go away before he grabbed her shoulders and threw her hard against the nearby wall. Before she could move away or call for help he stepped in and pinned her against the wall.
"Why are you being like this?" He said "You're not like the other girls hear. You're different, you're not a stuck up bitch like they are."
Her chest was starting to feel tight.
"Nick, get off of me" she said with as much punctuated force as her breath would allow.
The other students started to take notice. Excited murmurs started to rise up above the crowd that was quickly gathering. A few of them pointed at them.
"Come on Rachel" Nick said, his voice cracking "take a chance with me! Please!"
Suddenly, Nick lurched backwards. Rachel didn't even see the pair of large men coming. It was like they came out of nowhere. They held fast to Nick's shoulders as they pulled him off of her. Everyone else seemed just as surprised, and by their worried glances and cautious backing up seemed to quickly realize these men weren't the kind to be messed. Nick almost went flying as his gangly legs gave way underneath him, but the two men kept him grounded.
"RACHEL!" he screamed as the two men pulled him away "Rachel, don't let them do this to me. You know you love me! Stop trying to deny it!"
Ms. Simmons slipped through the crowd and grabbed Rachel's arm. The tightness in her chest was starting to feel like it was crushing her, but it let up slightly while her teacher escorted her hastily through the room. She looked around and saw the other students turn to each other and whisper as she passed, some of them laughing. This probably should have been more embarrassing than Ryan turning her down, but with her recent experiences in mind she found it hard to care what the rest of her classmates thought about her.
For the rest of lunch period she stayed in Ms. Simmons classroom. The two of them didn't speak to each other due to Ms. Simmons' needing the time to plan her next class. Rachel found a corner in the back and curled up in the spare chair. The occasional worried glance from her newfound guardian was the only thing that kept her from falling right into a panic attack.
Finally, the bell rang.
"You still want to go to class?" Ms. Simmons said as Rachel made her way across the room bag in hand "You don't have to if you don't want to."
Rachel could sense the real concern in her voice. She wondered where that was last night. Stopping just as she reached the door, she turned towards Ms. Simmons and forced a grimacing smile.
"You said it yourself" she said "I've got to at least pretend to be normal, right?"
