Finding Something More

24

The next day at school, Rachael had been dropped off by the driver a little bit later than when she normally arrived, due to the traffic they had encountered on their way.

She briskly walked down the long interlocked walkway to join the small group of students that were headed to the assembly hall.

It was a normal Wednesday morning in the school and as usual, a great number of the students were busy with chatting amongst themselves, all looking smart in their school uniforms.

Even after getting to the assembly hall and during the assembly, Rachael had not been able to get any sight of Rita. She concluded that she must be at the front of the line.

As for Vincent who was standing at his normal position, next to the principal on the podium, he continued stealing glances at her immediately she walked into the room and Rachael couldn't help but blush at the little gesture.

The student all dispersed to their classes after spending a short time at the assembly hall.
Rachael finally caught a glimpse of Rita and walked faster, so as to meet up with her. She slowly and meticulously used her hands to blindfold Rita, just as she got close enough to her.

Rita pulled her hands away from her eyes.
"I know it's you Rachael. cut it!"

Rachael obeyed and removed her hands from Rita's face, while smiling at her.

"Why are you so happy this morning?" Rita asked her.

"So I can't be happy in peace anymore?" Rachael asked, still with the smile on her face.

"Don't worry, I think I already know what is making you feel so happy this early morning, or rather who," Rita continued as they both walked towards their classrooms.

"Don't say it," Rachael said to her, already knowing what was in Rita's mind.

"I would say it. It's because of Vincent," Rita went ahead and Rachael palmed her face.

"You are still going to talk to Diane during break right?" Rita asked Rachael with a more serious look.

"I am, just as we planned yesterday," Rachael said. They were now standing at the intersection between their classrooms.

"That's good. I'm sure she would fall for it," Rita said.

"I hope so. Bye dear. We would see at the cafeteria," Rachael said, about to move into her own classroom.

"You just want to go so you can finally have time to talk with Vincent," Rita teased.

"Get out!" Rachael playfully replied before going ahead to walk into her classroom. She took her usual seat next to Vincent as she got to her classroom.

Taking her hands in his, Vincent said, "You're looking radiant as always. I'm hoping you had a beautiful sleep last night."

His gesture made Rachael smile before she finally replied. "Thanks for the compliment, and yes, I actually slept like a baby. I almost didn't feel like waking up for school this morning."

"You can be very lazy sometimes," Vincent teased.

Rachael pouted at him before saying, "Hey, don't say that."

"Don't be sad babe. I take my words back," Vincent said as he playfully tugged at her soft cheek before going ahead to push a stray strand of braid behind her ear, not removing his gaze from her brown eyes as he did so.
Someone one loudly cleared his voice behind them and they both looked back to see who it was.

"What? I can't clear my throat in peace again?" a chubby boy said with a smirk. He had actually done that to gain their attention.

"Well, we haven't said anything right, or can't we look at our back in peace too," Vincent said, using the boy's statement against him. The boy was just about saying something in return when the English teacher walked into the classroom. She immediately commanded the attention of her students before beginning with her lesson for the day.

Rachael made sure to listen attentively through out the lecture period since she had been absent-minded in class since the day her mum had left her to New York.

After the two-hour class with the English teacher, they all moved over to their chemistry laboratory where they learnt for a while before having a short practical session. At the end of the practical, Rachael and Vincent walked back to their classroom together, talking and laughing on the way without paying attention to the strange looks their classmates gave to them.

They both continued with their blissful moment as they got back to the classroom, with Vincent doing more of the talking and cracking of jokes while Rachael did more of smiling; like a five-year-old who had just been given a big box of chocolate.

Their attention was soon brought to the sound of the school bell ringing, indicating that it was time for break.

It seemed like Rita was readily anticipating the ring of the bell since she walked over to them from her own classroom even before the bell stopped ringing.

"Let's go loverboy," she said with her gaze on Vincent.

"What about Rachael?" Vincent asked, shifting his gaze from Rita to Rachael who was not making any move.

"I need to go and talk with Diane. I would meet up with you and Rita later on," she explained to Vincent.

"Oh, okay. You're sure you don't want us to go with you? I know how intimidating Diane could get," Vincent worried.

"I can handle her," Rachael confidently said.

"Alright then, take care of yourself. I would see you at the cafeteria," Vincent said before going ahead to give her a reassuring squeeze on her hands.

"God! It's not like she is going to war or something," Rita said, flinging her hands in the air in a very dramatic way.

"Shush!" Vincent said to her with a hand gesture on his lips before literally dragging her away from the classroom. Rachael shortly smiled at the both of them before standing up from her seat.

She adjusted her school skirt and picked up her schoolbag before walking over to Diane's class.

Fortunately for her, Diane was still in the classroom talking to her friends. Just the sight of her made Rachael to get instantly angry as the memories of what happened came rushing back to her.

She took some quick strides over to where they were. Diane was the first one who noticed her presence, since she was facing the door while Sophia and Lisa backed the door.

Wearing her best smile, she said, "Hey Rachael. It's been a while. I've really missed your company," making Lisa and Sophia to turn their back to have a look at who she was talking to.

"I need to talk to you," Rachael said with all seriousness, not even bothering to return a smile.

"Sure. Hope everything is okay?" Diane said, wondering what could have gone wrong. Rachael was never the type to start a conversation without a greeting or a smile.

"Let's go outside, I want to talk to you alone," Rachael said to her before leading the way out of the classroom.

Diane asked her friends to wait for her in the classroom before going out to meet Rachael, who was already waiting for her at a corner.

"Why were you using Cyril to get closer to me?" Rachael immediately threw the question that had been bothering her for a while to Diane. She really didn't have the time to beat around the bush.

"What are you saying?" Diane said, feigning innocence.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, or do you need me to help you see," Rachael fired back.

"What's with all this attitude? What have I done wrong to you?" Diane asked again, not giving into Rachael's pressure to reveal the truth.

"Alright, maybe this would help you remember," Rachael said and flashed the paper she had been holding in her hands at Diane's face. She had known that Diane was not going to confess without evidence.

"I saw this in his room and I know he can only get it from you," Rachael said in frustration. She hated the fact that Diane was trying so hard to play the role of the innocent one.

"He told me that he liked you, so I only decided to help him get closer to you. I don't see what is so wrong with that," Diane retorted, dropping her hands on her tiny waist.

"No! You are lying because he told me a different story," Rachael replied and a trace of fear flashed through Diane's eyes.

Rachael was internally happy seeing her react that way because she was just about leading her into the main trap. Slipping out her iPhone from the pocket of her skirt, she opened it and brought it to Diane's face, showing her a picture in the process.

"You were getting close to me all this while because you wanted to have a good chance when applying to be a model for my mum's clothing line right?" Rachael said as she closely studied Diane's facial expressions which held so much quilt.

"Answer me!" she raised her voice at Diane who had become silent.

"That boy is a dumb ass!" Diane cursed under her breath but Rachael had heard her.

"How could you do such a thing? I actually thought you enjoyed my company. I was even ready to come out of my comfort zone so that I could fit in perfectly into your clique," Rachael said with so much hurt that she was just at the verge of crying. She felt so used and stupid at the same time.

"I really don't know why you are making a big deal out of a small matter. Yes, I was interested in modelling for your mum's clothing line. What's so bad in that?" Diane nonchalantly replied.

"What was bad is that you were willing to lie for it! That was what was wrong! You need help Diane," Rachael said, already turning her back to leave.

"You also need help, and it's not my fault that you want to forget about your mum! You should be grateful that I even decided to help you with that!" Diane retorted.

Her words cut deeply through Rachael's heart, making it ache in pain, but she was too weak to say anything back. Maybe Diane was right about her also needing help because she was definitely feeling like shit at that moment.

She tried to appear alright by holding back the tears that were threatening to leave her eyes as she walked into the cafeteria. She was not feeling hungry anymore so she decided to get herself a glass of orange juice and water alone, before walking over to meet her friends. She took a seat next to Vincent, the both of them facing Rita.

"You don't look okay. How did your talk with Diane go?" Vincent immediately spoke.

"That girl is sick. She continued denying everything until I showed her the paper and the picture," Rachael said with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"What picture? I don't know about any picture." Vincent said as confusion took over him, he didn't know what Rachael was talking about but he got a clue that Rita knew so he decided to turn to her.

"What happened Rita?" he asked her.

"I found an old post that Diane had made on Instagram. She had shown her interest in applying to be a model at the company of Rachael's mum when she was done with secondary school. I immediately got the clue that it was for that single reason she had done all that she did to get closer to Rachael. Turns out Rachael just found out I was right," Rita said, going straight to the point.

Vincent took a pitiful look at Rachael after Rita was done with clearing up his confusion, and he didn't fail to see the sadness in her eyes. Acting without caring if others were around them, he pulled her to himself for a comforting hug.

"It's alright Rachael, it's alright," was all he could say to her.

Rachael let the tears that had been waiting so much to get released to flow down her pretty face, but was quick to wipe them off, since she didn't want to create a scene. Vincent felt her hot tears on his shirt and pulled her even closer to himself.

Placing a couple pecks on her temple he said the words, "It's okay," over and over again, until she stopped sobbing.

                                ~•~