by Laura Gibson
She knew she would ask about the probation that Ryan and Jefferson had both brought up, but for right she just held his hand while Logan and Ethan decided if they wanted to go to the cafe or not.
Rachel laid her head on Kelly’s shoulder and he squeezed her hand.
“Don’t worry, Kelly.” She whispered, “It's okay.”
Kelly nodded but didn’t say anything. He never could when it came to Anna.
She kissed his shoulder and they stood there for a few more minutes, looking at nothing and everything all at the same time. Both thinking the same thing.
This was the beginning of the end.
Chapter Nineteen
Phillips Academy
Charleston, West Virginia
October 29th, 2008
Rachel
The glass hadn’t damaged any vital organs, but if she hadn’t arrived at the hospital when she did, she would have probably bled out. At least, that’s what a very young nurse had told her before anyone had the chance to tell her not to.
The stitches were itchier than Rachel thought stitches should be, but she didn’t say anything about it, she didn’t want to be a nuisance. She was already a burden.
Her father had called the hospital room to see if she was okay but he didn’t make the effort to visit, there would be no point if she was going to live.
Helen didn’t do either and Ethan was kept blissfully unaware.
Kelly slept in the chair next to her bed for the one night she was there.
The first thing Rachel did when asked about the fall was tell the truth. She had no reason to hide it from the people designed to protect her and so she decided that was the best course of action.
There was an inquisition. Specialists asked her questions that didn’t seem to make sense.
She was removed from school during the following week, put in a hotel off campus and asked to wait until the investigation was over.
Rachel was sure there would be a mess after everything, but she knew it was for the best. Jefferson was a menace and needed to be put in his place. He was completely out of control if he thought he could just try to kill someone and get away with it.
It was one week after the event in question when Grear called Rachel into her office to tell her the decision.
Kelly walked down the hallway with her and stopped a few strides away from the door. “Rachel.” He paused, his face nervous, afraid of something. “I need you to know something.”
Rachel frowned; she was tired of the secrets between Kelly and Jefferson. She was tired of getting roped into things that weren’t her problem. She had already stuck her neck out once and look what had happened to her. “What’s going on, Kelly?”
He had been silent for a good deal of the week that she had been out of Phillips and she knew it was because he just wasn’t sure what to say. Neither of them really knew what to say, but now, the look on his face made her anxious. Frustrated almost. If he wanted to share, he should have done so before they were moments away from walking into the office.
“I just want you to be careful.” His voice was lower this time around. “The Williams have some very powerful friends and I don’t want to see you get on the wrong side of them.”
“I think it’s a little too late for that, Kelly.” Rachel’s frown deepened, “I mean, he did almost just try to kill me.”
Kelly shook his head, “No, its different Rachel, trust me.”
“You keep saying that. ‘Trust me’ like I have a choice in the matter. Like you’ve given me an actual reason to trust you.” Rachel really was frustrated with him now. “I can’t just trust a stranger, Kelly, life doesn’t work that way.”
She saw his back molars grind together as he tried to come up with a way to tell her the truth without telling her the whole thing.
“Either tell me everything or go away. Because you’re not helping anyone either way.” She turned on her heel and walked away from him, knowing that when she exited the office he wouldn’t be there waiting for her.
Rachel knew she wasn’t worth sticking around for and she had just told him it was okay to leave. There were no obligations on either side anymore.
Rachel entered Grear’s office prepared to write down a statement saying that Jefferson pushed her down the stairs but instead of just Grear sitting there like she expected she took in the sight of two other individuals, flanking the elderly woman.
“Miss Gunn, why don’t you take a seat?” Grear was smiling. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Rachel looked at all three of them and tried not to feel betrayed. Something was happening here that didn’t make sense. Something that wasn’t right.
“Now, we know that you and Mister Williams had some trouble in the past,” Grear gave her a sympathetic look, “But we’ve decided that it’s alright for you to come back to the school now. You will not be expelled.”
Rachel’s lip tightened and her eyes narrowed, “Excuse me?”
“Well, I have several statements here dear that say that you stalked Jefferson Williams for several weeks before you threatened to get him kicked out of school.” Grear put her hand on a file of papers. “But Mister Williams says that he still wants you to be able to get an education and he holds no ill will towards you.”
“Stalk him? I never stalked him.” Rachel was more confused now than ever, she looked between the two people standing on either side of Grear and shook her head, “That’s a mistake. I never did that.”
“Dear, we have it here in your medical records that you are…” Grear paused, trying to decide on the word, “suffering from a psychological disease.”
“A what?” Rachel was thrown. Is that what all those questions had been about? Were people trying to diagnose her with something?
Were they throwing her under the bus to save Jefferson?
“It’s all right here, dear.” Grear passed Rachel a letter. “You can’t tell me that you didn’t know.”
Rachel looked down at the paper and read its contents, feeling sick to her stomach.
Head Mistress Grear,
Per your request I have reviewed Rachel Gunn’s case and have come to my own conclusions regarding the young woman. I think you will see my findings as both enlightening and relieving.
As stated in prior applications I do not believe that Miss Gunn has what is commonly referred to as a photographic memory. Although several experts on the subject have come before me, citing such, I believe that Miss Gunn’s memories are littered with fanciful hints, as she is adding details, or leaving some out.
However, this does not seem to be a voluntary process, as Miss Gunn genuinely believes the memories themselves and accepts them as facts.
The patient seems to be suffering from Eidetic Imagery. She is able to recall with vivid clarity certain scenes or places in her mind, but cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
Selective Memory Syndrome may play a part in this condition and well as her previous diagnosis of Delusional Disorder.
Although Miss Gunn seems to have false memories, I do not believe her to possess Delusional Disorder.
I recommend she seek therapy twice a week until her conditions subside.
However, if Miss Gunn refuses treatment she is healthy enough to be in normal society without fear of another episode.
What caused the episode was likely something that triggered, any, if not all of the above stated conditions in her mind and put Miss Gunn in a mindset where she believed that she had to fight to survive.
Her largest issue at hand would be her avoidance of any situation that makes her uncomfortable or where she feels she had no control. She smooths over anxious subjects and that’s where most of her false memories stem from.
As a side note, Miss Gunn may possess a mild case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder due to anxiety brought on by external forces, please see that, if she is allowed to return to Phillips Academy, her course load be lessened tremendously.
Miss Gunn is an active and
engaging individual, her brain functions on a level that is above average.
She’s a relatively healthy, well-adjusted young woman possessing a bright mind.
Best Regards,
Dr. June Hathorford, MD
Rachel set down the paper and exhaled. “So that’s it then?” Her voice was low and her eyes unforgiving.
“Dear, we’re letting you stay, isn’t that well enough?” Grear was trying to smooth over the situation but Rachel couldn’t hear past the rush of blood in her ears and the anger rising in her chest filled her senses.
“Can I go now?” she asked, hoping that Grear would say yes. Let her go and figure out just what to do about the whole thing now.
Jefferson had Grear in the palm of his hand and there was nothing anyone could do to help her. Her voice was silenced with signed documents and her credibility with smashed. She had nothing left.
“Why don’t you take some time off, Rachel?” Grear replied, “Go home and come back for the next semester.”
Rachel shook her head, “No.” She met Grear’s eyes head on then, “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”
Rachel stood up and began to leave, but when her hand was on the knob she turned and looked back at Grear, “You know, I would have given this school everything.”
She wrenched open the door and walked out into the empty hallway.
Kelly wasn’t there, just like she knew he wouldn’t be, but that was alright. She had already decided that she was going to find out just what he had been warning her about in the first place.
No more trying to stay away from drama. Now she was going to dive right in. They wanted to silence Rachel Gunn? They wanted to throw her under the bus?
Rachel planned on making that the biggest mistake of their lives.
Phillips Academy
Charleston, West Virginia
June 15th, 2010
Rachel
Lunch went by without so much as an incident and Rachel felt alright going to see Grear. After all, Grear had to know that Melody was dead because she was arrogant enough to think they could control Jefferson. Grear had to be aware that she was partially to blame for this whole fiasco.
Not everyone had the luxury of being a victim.
Rachel looked at Kelly then and tried to remind herself that he didn’t see himself that way. He would never agree that he was a hapless victim, someone who had no control or choice over the whole of events, but that’s how Rachel saw it.
Anna was dead because of it. Caleb was dead because of it and now, so was Melody.
Kelly just happened to be at the very eye of the storm every time, seeing all of it and not being able to do a thing about it. That’s why Rachel had left in the end. She was trying to protect him. Trying to shield him from what was to come.
No one would believe her when she told them what the Williams family was truly capable of and there was nothing she could do herself to stop them. Jefferson was almost invincible and so Rachel had let it all go.
Now she was back. Obligations set aside, if Rachel was being honest with herself, this was where she had wanted to be all along. Not because she loved Phillips, but because she wanted to see them fail. She wanted to cause Jefferson to stumble and fall.
Her terrified persona had fled from her soul the moment she spoke to Jefferson and she felt more than ready to take on what he was going to throw at her.
Mind games were nothing to a Gunn and Rachel had learned everything about emotional warfare from her family members. She could steel herself to whatever Jefferson was willing to deal out because she knew this was the only way she could protect Kelly.
She couldn’t keep him safe from afar, so the only logical conclusion was destroying the threat head on.
Razrusheniye.
They walked up to the office and Rachel turned to look at her companions. They had offered to be with her during this, but this was something she had to do on her own.
Grear was nothing more than a pawn, but before Rachel could kill the king, she must first take out a couple stepping stones.
She walked down the familiar hallway and caught her reflection in the glass of a picture hanging on the wall. Reflections had always caused her body to pause and turn. Not because she was vain, but because sometimes she didn’t recognize herself.
She did everything to please everyone else, now she was doing something for herself. Or for Kelly, not that he would ever ask. But now, when she caught herself in the glass she was more than sure that the person looking back out at her was Rachel Gunn.
Rachel knocked and waited for Grear to call out to her, to tell her to come in. She was ready for the conversation, her resolve never wavering, not until she stepped inside and saw that Grear wasn’t alone.
It was as if they had never left the office, the way they stood on either side of the headmistress. They were just as chilling and sobering as before and this time, Rachel could see the guns on their person, as if they weren’t sure she had gotten the message before.
Rachel took a deep breath in and stepped into the office, her bravado fleeing from her the moment she remembered that there was so much more at play than just Jefferson Williams.
“Have a seat, Rachel.” Grear was smiling, forced and just as nervous as she was. No one wanted to deal with these people but it was a problem that had been growing since the nineties, or at least, that was what Rachel had read before she thought people were watching her.
Rachel did as she was told and took a deep breath in, feeling as if she was about to relive the entire shameful experience all over again.
“You look well.” Grear was trying to make this seem as normal as possible. “I trust you’ve been able to find a life that suits you?”
Grear was asking whether or not Rachel was happy with what she had been given. If she was happy being the scapegoat or if she was going to make trouble for more people while she was in town. She was the scapegoat and the wildcard. An interesting place to be.
“I haven’t really decided on a career path, yet.” Rachel answered honestly, knowing that it held two separate meanings. From surface value, it was true, she hadn’t decided on a career path, the deeper meaning was one that she hoped Grear would pick up on.
It was a dangerous game Rachel was playing and she knew that at any moment it would end poorly for her. But she had to protect Kelly. Had to save him and still make it look like she didn’t have a box full of evidence in the van waiting to damn everyone.
“I’m sorry that we have to meet on such poor circumstances.” Grear looked down at her desk. “It’s really unfortunate what happened to Melody.”
Rachel gave Grear a sad smile, one that let her know she shared the sentiments. She was always sure that Melody was the safest out of all of them. Melody was vapid and shallow and didn’t really care about international drug trade. She would have never asked questions. Unless she had taken Rachel’s stupid advice to ask about Senator Bronen’s son. Unless she had really put the death of Caleb Bronen under the microscope.
Rachel could almost kick herself now for sending that file away to the Charleston authorities. It was a stupid move and everyone knew it. Somewhere out there was a Detective Rhett Samuels with the information to get everyone killed, including himself.
Finding Melody’s body was just a confirmation that they had gotten Rachel’s message.
“I’m surprised you didn’t know she wasn’t missing.” Grear said, keeping the conversation going.
“Well, we didn’t talk much after I stabbed her boyfriend in the shoulder with a pen.” Rachel replied looking at the silent others in the office. What could she say to make them think she wasn’t a threat to what they were trying to build? She needed them to believe they owned her, their plan had worked and that she wasn’t going to cause any more trouble. Rachel was no good to Kelly if she was dead.
Grear raised her eyebrows and nodded. “Also an unfortunate accident.”
Rachel had to hand it to Grear; she was a sma
rter woman than most people gave her credit for. Her expression spoke more words than her mouth allowed and she had given Rachel her out.
“The most unfortunate.” Rachel tried to look as remorseful as possible. “However, Jefferson and I have been able to patch things up as of late. It seems this tragedy has brought us closer together.”
“That’s wonderful, dear!” Grear’s fake enthusiasm was painful to watch. “I knew your fighting was just silly teenager stuff.”
“I guess so.” Rachel tried to laugh, “When I heard the news it really put a lot of things into perspective.”
“Well, I’m just so glad you’ll be speaking at her memorial tomorrow afternoon. A lot of people are coming to see it.” Grear was hinting at something. Not martyrdom, Rachel hoped. She wasn’t going to put her life on the line just yet. Not for this. Not like this.
“I’m planning a really nice speech.” Rachel said, finding herself remembering Ophelia’s flower speech from Hamlet. She wished she could be as clever and as honest as Ophelia… but then again. Ophelia died and was never mentioned again. So maybe, Rachel was right where she needed to be.
“You’re such a wonderful soul, Rachel.” Grear said, standing, getting ready to excuse her from the office. “I look forward to hearing your words.”
“Thank you, Headmistress.” Rachel stood with her and started towards the door. “I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
Rachel allowed herself one more look back at the two people standing there, watching her and saying nothing all the while. She hoped she had them convinced, but it would be tomorrow where the real acting would begin, just like last time.
She was just as determined as before, but this time around she knew that she didn’t have the luxury of running away. No matter what, Kelly would be her first priority. She owed him too much to let him die.
As Rachel left the office she saw that Kelly, Ethan and Logan were waiting in the hallway for her. They looked more serious than before and Rachel wondered if they understood just a little bit more of what was happening.
