LPR- Chapter two
"Not all that glitters is gold "
A/N – Italics are characters inner thoughts
A few weeks had passed since that night and things were awkward in the Gattina-Sawyer household. No matter how hard Rachel tried to play it cool, her body language would let her down.
For example, yesterday she had been in the kitchen, having breakfast and catching up with the latest gossip. Her eyes intensely fixed on the latest fashion faux-pas. Suddenly she hears approaching footsteps. Her palms get all clammy and she can hear the pounding of her heart in her ears. She closes her eyes and shakes her head, repeating a mantra of "Calm down, just be yourself" in a vain attempt to cool her nerves. But being herself was the problem.
"Morning" – Peyton sluggishly drags her body across the kitchen towards the cupboard. She was definitely not a morning person.
Not even looking up, not daring to betray her icy demeanour Rachel replies back nonchalantly.
The rustling of the cereal, the crackle snap and pop of the rice wheat making contact with the milk was the only sound that could be heard.
Taking a seat, she brushed her ruffled hair out of her eyes and proceeded to woolf down the rice krispies.
"Ahh, tasty!" She exhaled.
Rachel broke concentration with the tres interesting article about the Paris jail saga to look up and find Peyton with a huge grin on her face. She had a slight milk moustache that was just begging to be licked off. The ice has just melted.
"I bet it was tasty, you finished it in 3 seconds flat" pointing to the bowl.
"Well, what can I say?" Shrugging her shoulders. "My dad and I love rice krispies. If you weren't careful, Dad would sneakily take the bowl without you noticing and finish it off himself. You snooze, you lose, he would say."
Rachel chuckled. Even though they were close friends, there was something about Peyton that wouldn't allow people to penetrate her guarded walls. However, every now and then, Peyton would catch her off guard and share with her a glimpse of the inner Peyton. A tiny morsel that only made Rachel love her more. Love- yes, love. The past few weeks had allowed Rach to seriously think about everything in regards to her feelings for the blonde girl sitting opposite. She had come to the conclusion that her feelings were not a product of confusion or experimenting. The effect Peyton had on her was intangible, an invisible hold around her heart. It was definitely LOVE.
Her moment of happiness was fleeting when she remembered the other issue that that had been plaguing her existence recently – Lucas and Peyton. Peyton wasn't gay, she had a boyfriend. A great, loving, good-looking boyfriend. No way in hell can she match that.
"Are you fini…" A shock impulse snapped her out of her thoughts as she felt Peyton's soft milky skin graze against her hand.
"Uh?" she asked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Earth to Ra-ch" she joked, waving her palm in front of Rachel's face.
"I was just asking if you had finished with the magazine"
"Um…yeah. Sure. Here you go" She handed the magazine to Peyton and looked around, trying to mask her reddening cheeks.
Damn her hormones.
Oh gosh, is that the time!? Checking her watch and feigning innocence. "Um...shit. I just remembered that I got to talk about a project with my study partner. Rachel grabbed her bag and jacket. She turned around, "I'll see you later." And with that she once again avoided her issues.
"O-kay" Now it was Peyton's turn to look like a deer caught in headlights. What the hell just happened? "Heh…I guess my theory that people always leave is true." she mumbled to herself.
It wasn't the first time Rachel had done this.