Nancy whistled as she worked over the stove. She spent most of her free time perhaps staying in the sun a little too long, and gleefully chasing after men. But Rachel loved her.
“You're going out in that?” Mom asked.
Rachel looked down at her clothes. She always kept it simple. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.
“What's wrong with this? I'm not showing off anything.”
“Well, I know that, honey. Aren't you gonna get hot?”
She shrugged. “It's okay.”
Nancy entertained everyone with her latest stories of club hopping as they ate breakfast. She kept promising when Rachel turned eighteen in a few months she would take her to a few clubs. Both Rachel and Mom laughed at that thought.
After breakfast she went to the garage and climbed in her Ford Mustang, a present from her father. She loved her car, and when she got bored at night, which was often, she would drive around town.
It was a quick drive to school. The senior parking lot looked the same as it did every morning as she found a spot. Some of the athletes threw a ball back and forth, occasionally hitting a random car. The cheerleaders pointed and laughed at people as they walked by. Rachel was certain she was one of them. John Crowe and Melissa Johnson bounced back and forth between groups, making their required social appearances. They were the school's power couple, and they made sure everyone knew it by making out in front of as many people as they could.
Rachel thought a few people looked at her. Then she realized they were only looking at her car.
She slipped quietly into her first period literature class. Mister Hawkins read a newspaper while students laughed and talked around him. Rachel took her normal seat near the side, next to the windows.
No one said hello to her. They didn't ask her how her weekend was, or how she did on their last test. She was invisible.
Everyone settled in their seats as the bell rang. Mister Hawkins rose from his chair and started scribbling on the chalkboard.
“Morning, class. How was your weekend?”
A collective group of moans and grunts answered his question.
He laughed. “Glad to hear it. I know this isn't the best way to start a Monday, but-”
He stopped talking when one late student arrived.
Kevin Mishnar slipped quietly into the back row and took his seat.
“I'm glad you could make it, Kevin.”
The entire class turned to look at him.
Kevin smiled. “Me too, Mister Hawkins. You can get started now. No reason to hold the class up for me.”
“Oh, Kevin, I wouldn't dream of teaching without you here.”
“I appreciate that.”
The class laughed. Kevin was quiet, but not shy. He had no problem verbally sparring with anyone.
Rachel looked at Kevin out of the corner of her eye.
That's how she always looked at him. Indirectly.
They never talked, never looked at each other. She never brought up that day in first grade to him. Over the years she convinced herself that the broken memory of her falling behind the playground was some kind of dream mixed with what really happened. She really did hurt herself falling from a tree. But Kevin and his sister weren't there. They couldn't have been.
But there were times she thought maybe it could have been real.
She spied on him as he shifted in his seat. Kevin was a very carefree guy. He would say anything to anybody. He always wore that ridiculous jacket. She hadn't seen him without it in years. It was some kind of imitation leather, light brown. He wore it no matter how hot it was. She saw what looked like a white tee shirt under it.
She remembered the day he first started wearing it, after his parents died in a plane crash.
They were both freshmen in the same algebra class. They were in the middle of a test when the school secretary and a police officer came to get him. Rachel heard him and his sister break down in the hallway. The entire class heard it. Everyone sent him cards and flowers. She was one of them. He missed an entire month of school. No one made fun of them for being adopted after that.
Kevin didn't approach many people. He laughed often, and smiled, but people tended to stay away from him. He was only close with his sister, and after she graduated, he kept to himself.
“Okay, guys,” Mister Hawkins said. “I know you won't love this, but we got a group project coming up.”
The class groaned.
“It's not so bad. It'll be due at the end of the week. I'll give you some time in class to work on it, but you'll probably have to work after school, too. It's wide open, so you shouldn't have any problems getting started. You'll be in groups of four, and you'll each be writing a paper on a Shakespeare character. Easy stuff.”
Kevin raised his hand. “Mister Hawkins? We're writing papers already?”
“Is that a problem with you, Kevin? Want me to move the curriculum around a little?”
“Not at all. Who doesn't love writing papers?”
Rachel lowered her eyes as Mister Hawkins read off the groups. She wasn't a fan of group assignments. She was very smart, and most everyone knew that. It always seemed the bulk of the work went to her. There was also the fact that she was easy to push around. People would give her extra work, and she wouldn't say no.
She looked up when he called her name.
Her partners were Donna, Paul, and Kevin Mishnar.
She sighed as she gathered her books and met with her group near the back of class. Donna was one of the school's star soccer players, and she loved to show off those tan legs of hers. Paul was a bit of a jerk, and was already flirting with Donna as Rachel took a seat.
Kevin was the last to sit down. He had an unusual smile as he looked over the details of the assignment Mister Hawkins handed out.
“He's hitting us with the research papers early,” he said.
“Yeah, so where's the group part of this come in?” Donna asked.
Rachel frowned as she read the assignment. “It's not just a paper. We've gotta do a presentation in front of the class, too.”
Kevin went into his own world as he started taking notes.
“I don't mind speaking in front of class,” Paul said. He looked at Rachel. “What's your name again?”
“Rachel.”
“I think Rachel should write all our papers, and we can do the talking part.”
“That sounds fine to me,” Donna said. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders. “Does that sound okay to you?”
“Wait. You want me to write all our papers?”
Paul leaned back. “Sure, why not? Don't you write for the school newspaper or website or something? I thought I saw a few of you nerds meeting the other day in the computer lab.”
“Well, yeah, but-”
“So, you're good at writing?”
“I'd like to think so, but-”
“So, what's the problem?”
Rachel looked back and forth between Donna and Paul. It was obvious they were in agreement. She looked at Kevin, who still scribbled away on a sheet of paper. He either didn't care, or was ignoring them.
She opened her mouth, but Paul cut her off.
“Then we're good. You write the stuff. Kevin can just sit there and look stupid in his jacket. Donna and I can meet up one day after school and go through the oral stuff.”
Donna flashed Paul a flirty smile. “You'd like that, wouldn't you?”
Rachel sighed, not happy with the workload thrust upon her. She was even more annoyed at their behavior, flirting right in the middle of the classroom. Or maybe she was simply jealous.
“I thought you were going out with Brad from the track team?” Rachel said.
“We broke up Friday.” Donna shot her a dirty look. “Maybe you should worry about your own love life.”
Paul laughed. “What you need to worry about is Shakespeare.”
“Guys,” Kevin said. He didn't bother looking up from his notes. All eyes were on him. “We're gonna write our own papers
.”
Paul scowled. “What? Are you stupid? We've got a girl who likes writing right here.” He looked at her. “I'm sorry, I keep forgetting your name.”
“Her name is Rachel,” Kevin snapped. “And she's not doing all our work. We'll write our own papers, and we'll meet after school at the library to work on the presentation.”
Paul leaned forward. “Who the hell goes to the library anymore? And who made you group leader?”
“I did, when you decided to be an idiot.”
Rachel stifled a laugh. Kevin still didn't look up from his notes. He oozed a quiet confidence that she always admired, like nothing in the world bothered him.
“Okay,” Kevin said. “This is due Friday. How do you guys want to work this? Meet up tonight at the library?”
“I don't have any plans,” Rachel said.
Donna laughed. “I bet you don't.”
“Believe it or not, I have a social life,” Paul said. “I can't do tonight. Earliest night I'm free is Thursday.”
“That's too late.”
Paul shrugged. “I don't know what to tell you.”
Donna grabbed his hand. “Paul, let's just get this out of the way tonight. Then me and you can hang out after.”
He smiled and nodded. “Okay. Tonight, it is.”
“It'll have to be after seven,” Kevin said. “My sister doesn't get home till then. I have to borrow her car.”
“You don't have your own car?” Donna asked.
Kevin shook his head.
Paul laughed. “Man, your life sucks.”
“I can pick you up,” Rachel offered.
Kevin hesitated, only for a second, and Rachel never felt smaller. She knew a lot of people in school didn't want to be seen with her. She never thought Kevin was one of them.
“No, thanks,” he said. “I'll be fine.”
There was an awkward silence before Kevin reviewed his notes.
“Okay, so, we each have to pick a character from a Shakespeare play. Let's get started.”
Chapter 3
Kevin waited patiently outside the gymnasium. The last bell of the day rang minutes ago, and everyone rushed to get dressed and escape school as quickly as possible. He had to wait a little longer as the sports teams used the locker room to get dressed for practice. The baseball team left first, followed by the soccer and football teams.
He hated it when they moved slowly. But after ten minutes the locker room was finally deserted. He changed into a pair of shorts and another tee shirt, and shoved his clothes into an empty locker. He didn't forget to put on his jacket as he left and passed the girls' locker room on the way to the weight room.
He bumped into a blond as she turned the corner. Their shoulders collided, her hair flying about. She turned to give Kevin a glare.
“Watch where you're walking,” she said, and then her features softened. “Oh, Kevin, it's you. Sorry about that.”
He looked into the eyes of Melissa Johnson, head of the cheerleading squad. She wore her uniform, which looked like it broke several school dress codes. Batting her eyes, she gave him a smile.
Kevin kept his eyes low, barely looking at her. He caught a glimpse of her leg as he kept on his way.
“No problem. My fault.”
He could feel her watching him as he turned into the weight room. There was nothing more relaxing than the sound of the quiet weight room. He would have between thirty minutes and an hour to lift weights before the school's sports teams took over.
He enjoyed the clang of the weights as he settled on the bench press. He didn't listen to music. Only his own thoughts kept him company.
A smile touched his face as he racked the weight.
He couldn't wait to get home and check his email. He set up a random account every semester for his paper writing. Hawkins was getting started on the assignments early this year. Hopefully his inbox was filling up with requests.
The short time frame made him a little nervous. The assignment was due Friday. The minimum for the assignment was six pages. He charged ten dollars a page. If he was to get only five requests, that was three hundred dollars. Definitely nothing to sneeze at.
But five papers in a week, plus his own, were possibly more than he could handle.
Why couldn't it have been two weeks? Maybe Paul was on to something with Rachel doing their work.
He thought about Rachel, the first person who ever experienced his healing powers. Before that day in first grade, it had only been animals. A stray dog with a limp outside his father's work, a bird with a clipped wing on the way home from school.
She was his first human.
She had grown up to be a very cute young woman. She didn't throw her cuteness around, like Melissa Johnson. There was definitely the sexy librarian thing going on with her. He heard people make fun of her in the halls, but had no doubt many guys were after her. If for nothing else than for a ride in that Mustang of hers.
He often wondered why she never approached him about that day behind the playground. Concussion or not, she must have heard Kristin and him talking. But she never cornered him, never asked him about what happened. He was thankful for that. Hopefully she convinced herself it was all in her head.
He hung a forty-five pound plate from his weight belt and grabbed the chin-up bar. He was in the middle of his seventh chin-up when he heard to the door the weight room open behind him, followed by a mix of conversations.
“Did you see that block Munroe put on Jimmy?”
“Yeah. Knocked him right on his ass.”
“I saw Cindy from the cheer squad staring at you, man. She wants you.”
“You think so?”
Kevin recognized one voice among them.
“Well, would you look at Mighty-Mouse over here?”
He could feel John Crowe's eyes on him. He wouldn't be deterred, continuing to do chin-ups until he got to fifteen.
He dropped to the ground and turned to face the football team, trying his best to hide his irritation. He undid his weight belt and let the plate fall to the floor. They were either early, or he lost track of time.
He didn't like John. There were the obvious reasons, like the fact that he was a dick. Or the fact that he held his relationship with Melissa Johnson like it was some kind of trophy. Or it might have been the fact that he terrorized others his entire life.
Or perhaps it was because the first thing Kevin saw after seeing Rachel hurt on the ground was John, his now-girlfriend Melissa, and her twin brother Michael running away from the scene.
Kevin locked eyes with John. The football player was nearly a foot taller than Kevin. He carried his helmet in his hand, chewing on his mouthpiece. There were five other players behind him, like a gang of some sort.
“I'm all done here, guys,” Kevin said as politely as he could. “I'll get out of your way.”
He went to move past them, but John put a hand on his shoulder. Other players started using the equipment, but watched the scene before them.
“Hold on there. We didn't give you permission to use our weight room. You have to pay a fee.”
Kevin forced a laugh. “Very funny, John.”
He went to move past again, and John grabbed the lapel of his jacket.
“Maybe we should take his coat,” he said, looking at his friends. “I'll bet I could get five bucks for it.”
Kevin reacted quickly, without thinking. He grabbed John by the jersey and pushed him back against the wall.
“Don't ever touch my jacket,” he hissed. “I'll break your damn hands.”
John pushed him away. Before either one could make another move, they heard a voice.
“What's going on in here?”
They turned to see Coach Riggs at the door. John's gang broke up and scattered across the weight room. Coach eyed both Kevin and John.
“Nothing's going on, Coach.” He looked at Kevin and whispered as he passed by. “I'll be seeing you soon.”
Kevin rolled his eyes. He guessed he was sup
posed to be scared. He did nothing except roll his eyes.
After changing in the locker room once again, he tried to stretch out the soreness in his muscles as he walked down the hall.
The cheer squad cut in front of him as they came in from outside, stopping him at the end of the hall. The parade of legs and midriffs disappeared into the locker room.
The water fountain to his left caught his attention.
He smiled as he pressed the button and watched the stream of water, glancing around to make sure he was alone
He stuck his finger just in front of the stream.
The water turned blue.
He lowered his lips to the stream. With every swallow, the pain in his muscles disappeared.
Letting out a deep breath, he left the gymnasium.
It would be a busy evening. The first step was a nice walk home.
*****
Rachel sighed loudly as she walked into the computer lab. The media team was already leaning back in their chairs, talking and laughing. They were some of the very few students Rachel was comfortable around. The team was very small, fitting perfectly in line with the size of their online paper and website.
Kent, their graphics designer, sat quietly facing a computer, working in an art program. He gave Rachel a wave.
Tyler, another writer, was a sophomore. He was taking notes and listening to music while staring out the window.
That was it. Sometimes Mister Daly, their adviser, would drop in. But it wasn't as if students flocked to be on the media team. Rachel had doubts as to how many read their work anyway. All they had to do was write a few articles a month, and then they'd spend their time doing what Kent and Tyler were doing.
A whole lot of nothing.
“Hey, guys,” she said. She threw her backpack on the table, slumped in a chair across from Tyler, and looked at Kent. “What are you working on back there?”
“I'm drawing a dragon eating our school.”
She laughed. “Now that would be a fun story.”
“What's new with you?” Tyler asked.
She shrugged. “Nothing much. I got a group assignment in literature today. Gotta write a paper already. Not really looking forward to that.”
A Witch to Live Page 2