3. Picked up threads
Rachel laughed, fanning herself with her hands after she dragged Abby away from the floor, taking a big gulp from her cold cocktail. Then she felt it, a little tingling on the back of her neck like someone was watching her.
Trying to appear nonchalant, she looked around slim glass in her hand. That's when she saw him.
It was dark to see him fully, but she could make out some features. Blond hair, handsome features. He was sitting next to Maurice, and at that moment, he stared directly at her. She blushed, and turned away, thanking the dim lighting for concealing her flushed face. Rachel felt like she found an answer to her questions, the feeling of constant missing has subsided for a moment. She turned to Abby.
"Who is he, sitting with Mau?" she asked.
Abby was confused for a moment until she could find Maurice, with his unknown friend.
"Uhm..." the dark-skinned girl started, squinting in Maurice's direction "No idea, why?"
Rachel shook her head.
"No reason, just... I did not see him before" she said, not mentioning her funny feeling.
"We could always ask Mau..." Abs winked.
"No, no! No reason!" Rachel did not understand why she switched to panic mode all of a sudden "He is just new, that's all."
Abby shrugged, turning away. Before Rachel could do the same, she looked back at the terrace, but the blond boy vanished, and she felt a wave of unshakeable disappointment.
She noticed him. - Maurice grinned under his nose.
"Wipe that off" Chad said through gritted teeth.
"What? You were checked out... Why don't you talk to her?" Mau asked him.
Chad just snorted.
"First, she does not even remember me. Second, we did not even meet since she was decommissioned. Not once."
Maurice arched an eyebrow.
"How the hell did you manage to do that? You live almost next to each other..."
"Years of experience."
The dreadlocked teen let out an amused laughter.
"Dude, you are so overcomplicating shit again. She doesn't even remember you."
Chad looked at him with an empty face. He got up from the table, still holding his empty bottle.
"...and this will stay so."
The blonde retreated to the kitchen, determined, to drown his every thought in alcohol.
Maurice shook his head, awaiting some God-like miracle to get his friend to come to his senses. He saw someone get closer and closer to him, and the terrace light illuminated Abby in all her glory
"Hey, stranger, you got lonely." he heard. Abby winked at him, occupying Chad's place.
My personal God-Miracle-Happening. - Maurice thought.
"Abby, my sugar sweet..."
"Nu-uh, you ain't gonna buy me with your verbal smooching Walsh..."
That was shot down pretty fast... - Maurice thought, still amused by Abby's no shit attitude.
"Come on, I am kind of done with Chad's whining, please?" he batted his lashes.
Abby's face got serious in an instant, and she started to search for Rachel in the crowd, relieved a bit, that she could find her by herself talking to one of her classmates in the yard, near the dancefloor. She looked at Maurice, with a contemplating gaze, if she would want to determine if he is trustworthy enough or not.
Then she sighed as a sign of making a decision.
"You know, that she wanted herself to be decommissioned back then, right?"
"Yup."
"But do you know why?"
"Because she got thirteen, and she is a rule obeying operative? Nothing like... We Know Who?"
Abby arched an eyebrow, simply deciding that she will not allow him to cut the edge of the story with attempted humor.
"This was one reason. The other was that she just wanted to forget everything. Everything that reminded her of him. She was devastated, when he left, not knowing his real reason, and before you start, I do understand why he left. But back then, I just wanted to punch him into oblivion." - and she signaled to the direction Chad was heading to.
Maurice was confused. Wasn't Rachel like... in love with Nigel Uno? Then again, if that was the case, why did she break up with him? They should include communication skills as a basic training point in KND camps, for Zero's sake.
Still, he did not want to let his plan to reconcile these two go. During the years they served in the Teen Ninjas, he could understand Chad just a little bit better. So much so, that he considered him as one of his best friends. The blonde even stood beside him, when he dumped Cree, trying to help them not to bring their personal issues into the team, and boy there were some nasty personal issues...
Chad helped him get his stuff together, and Maurice wanted to repay the favor.
"She was honestly hurt when Blondie Prince Charming seemingly threw shit to the fan." Abby said, "So much so, that she tried to close him out from her life, simply by getting on ship Nigel."
"Damn"
"Kinda"
"And she doesn't even know, that he..."
"She did not know, Nigel did not tell anyone. Besides, Rachel is decommissioned, Mau. Remembers nothing, and she is happy so. I am glad, that she is at peace, at last, that is even why I volunteered to guard her. Getting her mixed up with Chad again would raise a number of questions, at the Global command, not to mention, that even the decommissioning can be undone... No wonder, that strong emotional connections are treated with caution."
Maurice pulled his mouth, his mind rattling with full force how to get Abby to cooperate with him.
"What if I propose an option, and let life itself decide?" he asked.
Abby crossed her arms, eyeing him suspiciously, and Maurice found that cavity giving sweet.
"Listening" she squinted her eyes.
Maurice leaned in closer to her to explain his plan, and Abby needed all her skills not to get lost in his cologne. The plan was fairly easy to follow, but truth to be told, she would have even believed him if he said, that the sky is yellow, and the ground is made out of cotton candy.
"Fine. But if I have to nurse a crying Rachel back to her feet again, I am going to gut the two of you." Mainly you. Without. A. Second. Of. Hesitation."
Maurice winked, leaned closer again.
"I would like to see that happen, Abs" he said with his best 'try me girl' voice. Gosh, her scent was amazing...
Chad got another bottle of beer, and he was heading back to Maurice, just to find, that he was not at the terrace as Chad thought he would be.
The blonde asked a random dude (Dennis, maybe?) if he saw him, and the boy was directed to the backyard. With bottle in hand, he headed to the terrace, from where he could see Maurice sit with someone at the garden table, under the rose bower.
He darted towards him, and whoever sat with him. Maurice turned around to face him and began waving like the plane directing people on the airports.
"Hey, man come, sit down with us!"
Chad stopped mid-track, as he saw, who Maurice sat with. Abby (naturally) and... Rachel.
Bolting was not an option, and he wanted to bang his head into the nearest wall. Putting on his best neutral-curious face, he walked to the bench where Maurice sat, and took the spot next to him, facing Rachel, but trying to avoid direct eye contact.
"Hi" he said.
"Hello" Rachel chirped, with a smile on her face "Are you a friend of Maurice?"
Chad felt like someone has kicked him in the guts, and almost got up, but Maurice nudged him a bit.
"I... Uh..." Chad started, but one look in Rachel's eyes, and the words simply just would not come to his tongue. Maurice filed it away for later teasing for later teasing, but for now, he cut in.
"Yup. One of the few. Chad, this is Abigail and Rachel. Girls, this is my best friend, Chad."
Rachel smiled again.
"How can you endure this boy, dude?" Abby did as if she would also see him for the first time.
"Sometimes it is harder than it looks." he gritted out, looking at Maurice with just a hint of murderous intention, hoping to put the fear of God into him, failing miserably, as Maurice grinned.
"He just does as if..."
Rachel and Abby looked at each other amused.
"What a bromance right there..." Rachel said.
"You got that right, we have no chance" Abby nodded, turning to Maurice "Isn't that sweet?"
"Oh, come on, you know, I only have one person in my heart..." He put his hands on his chest somewhat theatrical.
"Who, Wendy's?"
"All right, then two..."
The girls and Maurice laughed, Chad mustered a half smile. He looked at Rachel, not knowing, how to handle her or the situation. Why was Abby suddenly Maurice's partner in preparing a disaster? She should be protecting Rachel. Mainly from him...
"Where did you get to know each other? I've never seen you before"
Ha barely registered, that Rachel asked a question.
"I am... busy most of the time, maybe this is why."
"Hm..."
They sat in silence while Abby and Maurice flirted away. Chad could feel shame creeping up on his spine, and wanted nothing more than to be very far away from this pace and erase Rachel's face from his mind.
"Have we met before?" Rachel seemed honestly curious, but this was the question he did not want to answer.
"Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, you seem... like... I... I think I've seen you somewhere..."
Thank the devil, Maurice was there to make matters worse.
"You live on the same street, suga'bean."
Rachel looked at him than at Chad again.
"Really? How do you know?"
Well, things took a creepy turn really fast... - Chad thought.
"Abby and I met on the way to you once by coincidence. I was going to meet up with Chad for practice and you did whatever girls do afternoons..." Maurice lied with a straight face.
Never the less, Rachel bought it. Or let it slide, Chad could not decide by the look on her face.
"Besides, I am one of those faces" he shrugged.
Rachel turned to him with scanning brown eyes, just like back then, when she knew, that he had told her a while lie, and contemplated, if she should call him out on his BS, but eventually she let it go, looking back to the house, listening to the music flowing out the open terrace door.
"I like this song..." she perked up, attempting to subtly change the subject.
"And I thought gurl has a taste" muttered Abby.
"Don't act this tough, you know, you like it too" Rachel grinned.
"Everyone has secrets. This is a heavy burden of living on this earth..." Maurice sighed, taking Abby's hand, kissing it softly "I totally understand your hard life, sweet"
Rachel produced one of the most epic facepalms in history, saying something achingly similar to 'ohmygoodgod'.
"Get off my secrets, and dance with me, you idiot..."
Before Chad could even form the words 'Wait a bit', Maurice was dragged off by Abby, and the blonde boy was left alone with Rachel. His friend only winked, and let himself be led by Abigail.
Rachel eyed Chad from across the table.
She could feel, that somehow she made him feel uneasy, not understanding the reason for it. She really did not remember meeting him so personally ever, but still had the feeling, that somehow they must have run into each other already in the past. Besides, the feeling of something is missing seemed to subside a bit.
Never the less, he looked truly handsome. One of those faces her ass...
"So they just left..." Chad said a bit awkwardly.
"No reason to be surprised," Rachel said "Abs fell so hard for him, it is a miracle she did not break any bones"
"Excuse me?"
Rachel looked at him with glee in her eyes, smiling, and Chad's stomach did a quick trip to his knees and back to its place.
"It is fairly obvious" she shrugged "Although it is a bit complicated with her sister and all. Cree hates her enough already"
"So you know about that?"
"I know everything she knows." Chad had some bitter memories regarding this sentence, Abby's eleven-year-old self popped into his mind "We are best friends, after all. And she knows everything about me too."
Chad nodded, looking away from her, scanning the yard, staying silent.
Rachel was no idiot. She saw, that for some unknown reason, Chad found her either odd from the start or just not that interesting to talk to. No biggie, there are people, who just don't click. He was not looking directly into her eyes, not starting any conversation... Not even seeming to be interested in her at all. The thought made Rachel feel a wide range of emotions, starting from confusion, ending with sadness.
"I should go" she stood up quickly.
"What?" he asked, somewhat frantic, to Rachel's surprise "Why?"
"You tell me, you are the one, who doesn't want to talk to or look at me..." she said, honestly confused.
They stood across each other, and Rachel saw how Chad was trying to form anything to say. She did not understand his behavior. They just met, if they don't click, so what? It's not like she is his only option for a conversation, right? But somehow, this made her even sadder.
"I am sorry, I just..."
Rachel stopped him mid-sentence, not wanting to hear the end.
"It's okay, we do not have to be friends just because our friends starting to know each other... kmh... better..." she said, trying to be friendly "Bye, Chad, it was nice to meet you." She smiled politely.
She turned away, determined to find Abby, and tell her, that she goes home.
"Wait, Rach, it's not like that."
Rachel stopped, turning back to him. No one has called her that since she was like... seven or eight years old maybe.