Rachel's Sunset
Chapter 1
The before-school hangout ritual in the bleachers was a must for everyone at Kenneth High School. The Jocks threw around their footballs, the preps talked about their bra sizes, the burnouts smoke pot under the benches. You get the picture. Rachel Prince sat by herself, eating a bagel. Actually, every day Rachel Prince sat by herself, eating a bagel. New Jersey public high schools are hard enough places to succeed. Rachel was smart. She had the grades, but virtually no social skills. She was not fat, but not skinny. Her complexion was a milky one, and her heart shaped, occasionally pimpled face was framed by long locks of thick, blond- red hair. She had these big, annoyingly bright blue eyes that were always staring but never really seeing.
The football field below was chaos, as it was every morning. Rachel watched as Valentina Valencia ran up to Mick Jorgen, the star line –back of the football team, and smashed her inflated lips against his own. Every one knew that Valentina was Jorgen's booty call, though they never said it out loud. People at Kenneth High treated moral wonders like these like they were gods. Rachel rolled her eyes and returned her attention to a blob of cream cheese that fell on her over- sized Rutgers hoodie.
There were only ten minutes till first period, thank God. Rachel looked up at the sky. It was that sun- reflected cloudy kind of sky you only see in the fall. It was only October. Eight months till summer. Eight months till London and Dublin. Then its three glorious months away from Jersey and Windsortown and every shallow person that ever crossed its borders.
"Nice Jimmy Choos, Rache."
Rachel looked up and saw Valentina, standing in front of her.
"What?" she sputtered stupidly.
Valentina only snickered and flounced away with her body guards, Tia and Roni. Rachel looked down at her red crocs and flushed. She hated Valentina. What has she ever done to her?
She looked out into the field, imagining herself going up to Valentina and smacking her across her spray- tanned face when she saw them. They entered the bleachers in a pageant like gracefulness, their steps in perfect unison. Rachel leaned forward, watching them still. There were six of them, three guys and three girls. The guys were all tall, perfect. One of them was big, like a body builder, with dark cherub curls on his head. The one next to him was the same height, broad shouldered, and blond. But the third guy was the most interesting looking, almost beautiful. He looked like an Italian renaissance painting of a biblical character, with tussled mahogany hair and an angelic smile.
The girls just made Rachel want to scream. They were all absolutely gorgeous. There was a tall, supermodel blond, a dazzling fairy with short black hair, and a brunette so hauntingly, so terrifyingly beautiful that Rachel felt chills soar down her spine.
They were like movie stars, the way they swaggered in accord, the way they smiled at each other. The angel boy leaned over and whispered intimately into the brunette's ear. She laughed quietly. They walked right past her, and Rachel could smell them. They all had this floral musk about them. A very addicting smell. But the one extraordinary thing about them was their complexion. They all had this pale, ivory tone that would have looked sallow on any body else. They reminded Rachel of Kyle.
Kyle was this kid who lived near Rachel. She didn't know where he lived, or who his parents were, or even his last name. But he was dazzling, like these six. Eerily like them, almost. Rachel met while walking home, and he followed her. Talked to her. Towards the end, he was menacing, so Rachel threatened to call the police, but she was addicted to him. She always thought about him, always wondered about him. Every now and then she would run into him, and they would talk until he frightened her, and she would walk away. She knew it was crazy and unhealthy, and dangerous, but she had to be near him. Now that she thought about it, Kyle was just like these people. Who were they? Where were they from?
A seventh joined their party now. Another sparkling girl. Yet she seemed more normal, more…human. She wasn't impossibly pale, she had beautiful coral cheeks and long dark curls cascading down her back. She wasn't so graceful either. She even seemed slightly clumsy. But she was too stunning for Rachel to think of her as a klutz. Finally, the bell rang, and Rachel forced herself to get up and begin this never ending day.
And boy, did it go by slowly. When last period finally came, Rachel was exhausted and couldn't even remember the angels in the bleachers. Then the door opened in the beginning of her Geometry class. Mr. Mitt was selling brownies at his desk, as he did every Wednesday. The curly- haired girl came inside. Rachel was surprised to see her.
"Who's she?" Valentina sneered to Tia. Tia shrugged and continued to examine her fake nail. Rachel watched Curly as she approached the desk.
"Excuse me," she said in an pretty, girly voice, "I'm new hear, and…"
"Ah, yes, I know, "said Mr. Mitt, getting out his grade book, "It's Collin, right?"
"Cullen," the girl corrected sweetly, "it's confusing."
Mr. Mitt smiled, "Well, Ms. Cullen, I can put you right next to Ms. Prince in the back there, the redhead."
Rachel was startled into sitting up as the girl called Ms. Cullen sat down next to her. Rachel saw that her eyes were a chocolaty brown.
"Hi," she said, grinning, "I'm Nessie."
Nessie. What kind of a name was that? Polish? Scottish? Definitely Scottish.
Rachel smiled shyly and said, "I'm Rachel." Imaginative, she thought bitterly to herself. She wasn't used to introducing herself to people. Usually, someone did it for her.
Nessie nodded, "Nice to meet you Rachel. I think I saw you in the bleachers this morning.
Rachel nodded, surprised still. This girl had noticed her. Before she even knew it, she was talking to this strange, wonderful person.
"So, where are you from?" she asked quietly.
"Washington," Nessie said.
"D.C. or state?" Rachel asked, feeling even more adventurous.
"State," Nessie giggled, "my family is pretty reclusive."
Rachel nodded, and returned her attention to her notes.
"Are you from here?" Nessie inquired a few minutes later.
"Yeah…" Rachel replied. And never anywhere else.
The period ended, as with school. Rachel and Nessie rose at the same time. Rachel frowned inwardly at this girl's beauty once again. It simply wasn't fair that she was so pretty and Rachel was so plain. They chatted all the way down the hall and stopped in front of Rachel's locker.
Nessie pulled out an expensive looking cell phone, "Can I have your number?"
"W-What?" Rachel stammered. No one ever asked her for her number before.
"Your number," Nessie grinned, "so we can text!"
"Oh…" Rachel and Nessie exchanges numbers. That makes three now, Rachel thought. Grandma, Mom, now Nessie.
"Thanks," she said.
Then she saw the rest of the Cullens coming down the hall way.
"Ness!" the angelic brunette called, "Come on, we're leaving!"
"Coming!" Nessie shouted back. Then she turned to Rachel, "See ya later!"
She glided down the hallway, waved at Rachel again, and disappeared with the others. The only one that lingered was the brunette. Rachel went hot with flush when she realized that this beautiful creature was glaring at her murderously. Rachel, following her instincts, dropped her gaze to the floor. What was her problem??
The walk home was long and soggy. No Kyle today. Rachel lived in a two family house with her mother. It was tall and gray and boring. She walked up to her door, number 476, and had to slam her entire body against the door to get it open. Everything inside was cluttered and smelt like cigarette smoke, (the family on the other side of the house smoked constantly. Carmine, their Pug- Chihuahua mix, came scuttling up to see her.
"Hey body," Rachel murmured, picking up the little dog and burying her face in his short fur. Then the vibrating came. An unexpected sound. Rachel put Carmine on the floor and took out her phone
Hi, it read, how was school?
Rachel smiled to herself. Her first text. She struggled at putting a word together on a keyboard of numbers, but managed to type out, Good. You?
They texted for a long time until the door opened.
"Hello? Rache?"
"I'm here, Mom!" Rachel called, shutting her phone abruptly. Marie Prince came into the room. She was a large woman, rather short, with hair dyed strawberry blond to hide the grays, and a personality dyed pink to hide the bitterness. She was angry because Rachel's dad, Joe, left her for an Italian photographer, Fernando. She never trusted a man again. She was a nurse.
"How was school?" she asked genuinely as she began assembling her Ramen Noodles supper.
"Good," Rachel replied automatically. There was no point in mentioning anything else.
"There was a new doctor at the hospital today," Marie went on, "Carlisle Cullen. My God, Hon, if you saw him you'd never look at Brad Pitt again. I was blushing all day!"
"Cullen?" Rachel asked, surprised.
"Yeah," she said, "his younger siblings are at Ken. D'ja see 'em?"
"N-not that I can remember…" Rachel said quickly.
"Maybe they took the day off to get settled…" Marie pondered, "O well… I'm gonna take a shower. Watch my water for me? Yell when it boils."
"Sure, "Rachel said.
Marie began to walk toward the stairs, then stopped.
"You sure your day was good?"
"Yeah!" Rachel said, smiling. It had been, too.