Awakened (Book #5 of the Vampire Legends) (4 page)

“I thought you
moved?” Deborah asked.

“But wait, I
heard you died?” Kevin asked.

“Not now kids,
you will have to save all of your questions for Rachel for after class. Right
now we are speaking French!” Mr. Dappler said. “Comprendez vous?”

“Oui!” the class
responded.

Rachel sat there,
completely lost in this intermediate French class. She had no idea why they put
her in this class, but apparently she missed the beginner’s class last year
while she was gone. She knew she’d have to do a lot of studying to catch up and
she couldn’t risk her perfect GPA. She wanted to get into a good college and
knew she’d have to start applying soon, especially since it was almost the
deadline. Actually, now that she thought about that, she started to get
worried. She started to feel under an immense pressure to research all the
colleges. She couldn’t believe she’d let this one slip through the cracks like
this. It’s not like it was a little thing either, it was COLLEGE for crying out
loud.

She couldn’t let
herself get carried away thinking about the future at a time like this; she had
to deal with more immediate issues. She had to figure out where the past year
and a half of her life went. She had to sort that out first.

She sat there,
looking at the clock, waiting for this class to end. She knew she only had one
more class until lunch and then she’d be able to catch up with her friends and
find out more about what had happened to her. She knew if anyone were to know
these details about her life it would be her friends. After all they were like
sisters to each other; or at least they had been.

The next hour and
a half dug on as if it were a year. She’d never been so out of it in her entire
life. She couldn’t focus on the class or the teacher and she was completely
lost. She didn’t know what they were talking about in her physics class and she
couldn’t understand the lab assignment either: it was all too complicated for
her. It was also the first time she felt confused in a class. This day was
getting worse and worse.

RING RING

The bell rang and
it was finally time for Rachel to go to lunch. She was excited and nervous all
at the same time. She didn’t know what to expect, and worried that maybe her
friends wouldn’t remember her or they wouldn’t accept her after all this time.
Or worse off, that her friends wouldn’t be friends with each other anymore. She
didn’t know but she was about to find out.

She didn’t have
to go to her locker, since she didn’t have one so she just walked over to the
cafeteria. She arrived there a minute later and was one of the first to arrive.
She looked around the big empty room with about twenty round circular tables,
waiting to be filled by her classmates. She didn’t know what to do: she didn’t
know where to sit. She stood there, and watched as kids started to filter in
from the hallways. The noise level grew louder and louder as the cafeteria
filled up.

She continued to
look around for Dana or anyone she recognized, but they weren’t there. She knew
some of the kids that were filing in, but not well enough to sit at their lunch
table with them. As she stood there, she could feel the kids staring at her in
awe. She could hear their conversations and it made her feel uncomfortable. She
hated being the butt of jokes and rumors, but today, it was hard for her to
escape it. She didn’t want to stand there anymore, so she decided to walk
around the hallway and come back in a few minutes, that way she’d give her
friends time to get to the cafeteria.

She walked back
toward the main office and through the swinging door. She knew this might be a
good time to sort out her locker situation since her backpack wasn’t exactly
light.

She went back
over to Mrs. Dusty’s desk and stood there until she was off the phone.

“Mrs. Dusty, can
you give me my new locker?” Rachel asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry, dear.
I thought I gave it to you already,” Mrs. Dusty said, looking at her papers.

“No. I don’t have
it,” Rachel said.

“Here, let me get
that info for you. I think you are locker 198. Let me double check…” Mrs. Dusty
looked down a long list of names and locker numbers. “Yes 198 it is!”

“Ok, thank you,”
Rachel said.

Rachel left and
went over to her new locker. She pulled out the piece of paper Mrs. Dusty
handed her with her new locker combination and she tried it.

Success

She put her
backpack and books away and then headed back towards the cafeteria. Surely her
friends would be there by now, she thought.

As she approached
the entrance to the cafeteria her heart began to race again. She could feel her
body temperature rising as she walked through the doors. The stares were
endless and then out of nowhere she heard a voice calling her, “Rachel! Rachel!
Come on, we’re waiting for you!” Dana yelled out across the cafeteria.

Rachel was
thankful that Dana was there, and saw a few of her other friends sitting at the
table, too.

Phew, she thought
to herself.

She walked over
to their table amid the glares and whispers of the kids in the cafeteria. She
didn’t acknowledge them and kept her focus on Dana and her friends.

“Rachel!” Dana
said. “Everyone’s so pumped you’re back!”

Rachel smiled,
“Yeah!”

“Come sit,” Dana
said, moving over and making room for her at the table.

“Rach, what’s up
girl?” Penny said.

“Great to see
you!” Amy said.

“You’re back!”
Samantha said.

“Hi Guys, missed
you!” Rachel answered back.

“Yeah, seriously!
What happened to you?” Penny asked.

“Yeah, we were so
worried about you!” Sam said.

“But why?” Rachel
asked, hoping to gain some clarity.

“You’ve been gone
a while!” Dana said. “I was trying to tell you that earlier.”

“I know, but
where did I go?” Rachel asked hoping they would look at her like she was crazy.

“What do you mean
where did you go? You don’t remember?” Penny asked.

“Weird!” Sam
said.

“It’s been a year
and a half!” Dana said. “C’mon you moved away remember?”

“Yeah! Duh! I
knew that. Where did I move to?” Rachel asked.

“Stop playing
games with us!” Amy said.

“Guys, I’m not
playing games with you. Can I tell you guys something, but you have to promise
not to tell anyone?” Rachel asked.

“Yes!” the girls
said in unison.

“Well, I have to
be honest with you all. You’re my BFFs and I know I can trust you,” Rachel
whispered. “I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember leaving Pennsylvania
and I don’t remember not being in school for the last year and a half. I need
help putting the pieces back together.”

“WHAT?” Dana
said. “You don’t remember?”

“OMG!” Amy said.

“Seriously?”
Penny asked.

“Yeah, I’m not
joking around. Please I need your help,” Rachel said. “Please fill me in.”

“Well, do you
remember your big move?” Dana asked.

“No?” Rachel
said.

“You moved at the
start of last year to New York when your father got transferred for his job.
You hated it at first and we talked everyday and then you made some new friends
and I didn’t hear from you as much,” Dana said.

“Ok…and?” Rachel
asked.

“And you talked
about different boys and then you said you liked some guy named Rob and said
you were going on a date with him. Do you remember him?” Amy asked.

“Really?” Rachel
asked with excitement. “You’re joking! I had a boyfriend!”

The girls all
laughed and then Sam said, “You liked him a lot. He was on the football team at
your new high school.”

“Stop it! You’re
lying to me,” Rachel said.

“We’re not lying
at all!” Penny said.

“It’s true!” Sam
chimed in. “We swear!”

“Wow! I was
popular?” Rachel asked.

“Guess so if you
were dating the QB of the football team!” Dana answered.

“So what else do
you know?” Rachel asked.

“Well that’s
where it gets unclear,” Dana said. “One day out of the blue you completely
stopped texting me. It was like you disappeared or something. Last thing you
said to me was that you fell in love with some new buy named Benji. You said he
was mysterious and special. Your relationship with him happened really quickly
and then you stopped telling me about it and dropped of the face of the earth.”

“What?” Rachel
asked. “Benji?”

For a moment her
mind raced back to the moment in the field with Benji. She wondered if that was
the same Benji they were talking about. She wondered if that was her true love.

“Yeah, you
stopped texting me, too!” Penny said.

“Us too,” Amy and
Sam said.

“I’m sorry. I
hope you can forgive me!” Rachel said.

“So where did I
go?” Rachel asked.

“We don’t know
and I got so worried about you that I called your parents and they didn’t know
what happened to you either. There was talks that you had died in some fight,
too,” Dana said.

“My parents
didn’t know either?” Rachel asked.

“No they were
worried sick about you. Your mom was so stressed out that she went into a coma
and had to be hospitalized. I think she’s still in the hospital now,” Dana
said.

“My dad mentioned
she was in the hospital but it was all so confusing to me. I couldn’t figure it
out. He said it was my fault, too!” Rachel said.

“I’m sorry, Rach.
This must be hard for you!” Sam said.

“Is there
anything else you know?” Rachel asked. “My dad wants me to go visit her after
school today. Actually he’s making me go. He said I have no choice.”

“Well, at least you
will see your mom!” Dana said. “She loves you very much.”

“I know, but now
I just feel bad and guilty at what I’ve done,” Rachel said.

“Listen, Rach,
once you figure out everything that happened you will feel much better. This is
all news to you, so it’s obvi that you’d be feeling a bit off. Don’t stress out
about it,” Penny said.

“I wish it were
that easy,” Rachel said. “I’m so worried about going to the hospital to see my
mom, you have no idea! I’m really scared.”

“You will patch
things up between you and your mom. Don’t worry. She will get better,” Amy
said.

“How can you be
sure?” Rachel asked.

“Well, I’m not
sure, but I have faith,” Amy said.

“So, what’s been
happening here since I left then?” Rachel asked.

“Well, a lot has
happened!” Dana answered.

“Like what?”
Rachel asked.

“Well, I started
dating Dave!” Dana said.

“WHAT!? No! Dave
Johnson?” Rachel asked

“Yup! He finally
asked me out. Can you believe it!” Dana said.

“How about you
girls? Anything I should know about?” Rachel asked hoping that they too would
have boyfriend news.

“Well, Penny, why
don’t you tell her!” Amy said.

“I’m going out
with Danny!” Penny said.

“No, really?”
Rachel said. “I can’t believe it. How about you Amy and Sam?”

“Nah, we’re still
single!” they both answered.

“I can’t believe
it! What happened with Gary?” Rachel asked.

“We broke up,”
Sam said. “Don’t really want to get into it now.”

“It was a tough
break up,” Amy whispered to Rachel.

“So what are you
doing after the hospital?” Dana asked.

“Um..nothing. I
guess just going home,” Rachel answered.

“Want to come out
with us. We are going to Monday Madness at the movies tonight. It’s half price
tickets and free pop corn!” Dana said.

“Aw, I’d love
to!” Rachel answered. “Actually. I better lay low tonight. I’m kind of on
probation with my dad. If I do anything he doesn’t like then I’m out he said.”

“Yikes!” Amy
said.

“Ok, well think
about it. If you change your mind that’s where we will be!” Penny added.

RING RING

Lunch was over
and Rachel had to get to her sixth period class. She checked her schedule and
then headed to the second floor again for her math class. On her way up the
stairs her stomach began to rumble and her head began to spin. She grabbed onto
the railing and held tightly trying not to fall over. She fell increasingly
dizzy as she went up the steps one by one. She was sweating and out of breath,
she couldn’t seem to catch her breath either. She didn’t know what was
happening to her. She’d never had a panic attack, and figured that’s what was
going on. Her stomach made loud rumbling noises as she stood there on the
steps. The kids walking by stopped and stared at her as if she were some
foreign being. She wished she could pull herself together but she couldn’t. She
didn’t know what to do.

She quickly ran
back down the stairs and outside. Her eyes began seeing double as she tried to
focus on the trees outside. She hoped the fresh air would help but it wasn’t
helping. It was making it worse. She had fleeting images of deer running
through her mind. It was all too confusing for her. Then, all of a sudden, out
of nowhere, it stopped.

She looked down
at her body, and touched her face. She felt normal again. Her breathing slowed
down and she was able to catch her breath. The rumbling of her stomach stopped,
too. It was the strangest feeling.

She turned back
around and walked back inside just as the second bell was ringing. She was late
for yet another class. She ran back up the stairs and into her math classroom.
The teacher stopped the class and said, “Excuse me, you’re late! Who are you
anyway?”

Rachel stopped in
her tracks and looked back at the teacher in horror, “I’m Rachel Wood.”

“Rachel Wood?
You’re not in this class,” Mrs. Pepper said.

“I um..I just
started today,” Rachel said.

“Are you new?”
Mrs. Pepper asked.

“I guess you
could say that,” Rachel answered.