Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Would I be writing here if I did? I think not! Only if I got bored.

Rachel woke up at noon the next day. She tenderly stretched as she sat up in her bed. She took a bath, the bruises to tender to take a shower. She slowly lowered herself into the steaming bath water and lay back. She lay there until the water had cooled enough to stop steaming and had become rather cool. She got out and drained the tub. After the tub had drained, she attempted to take a shower. It stung her bruises, but she never felt clean after a bath, always feeling like she was just steeping in her own filth and that of her situation. The powerful jets of water coming out of the shower head blasted away the filth and they swirled away down the drain.

After getting her shower and gently patting herself dry, she slipped on some sweats and a t-shirt. She looked over her homework. Finding it to her satisfaction, she headed down to the kitchen to make herself some tea.

She slowly made her way to the kitchen, peaking in the different rooms that her father could've passed out in. When she didn't find him, she thought that he might of actually fallen asleep in his own room for once.

She set the kettle on the stove top and turned the burner on. She got a cup and a bag of tea. She put just a hint of sugar into the cup, enough to counteract the bitterness of the tea, but not enough to make the tea sweet. Right before the kettle started to whistle, she removed it and poured the hot water into the cup. She allowed the tea to brew and the water to cool to a drinkable level as she grabbed the paper and yesterday's mail out of the mail box and paper slot. When she got back, she flipped through to the paper while idly stirring her tea. The next sound she heard was quite possibly the last she wanted to hear.

"Hehhemm."(1) came the voice of Slade Wilson.

"Good morning." she said, in a tone that said otherwise.

"Well, well." he said, "Isn't this cute. Little Rachel reading the paper. Trying to act all grown up now are we?"

"No." Rachel said as she took a sip of her tea, it was still too hot and burned going down. "It's some thing my mother and I used to do. I've developed a bit of a habit out of it."

"You and your mother?" he asked, "I dare say your father wouldn't like you doing something that brought memory of her in to his house."

"Actually, my father doesn't care what I do as long as it doesn't bother him." Rachel said coolly, taking another sip.

"I flatter myself to say that I know a little more of what your father does and does not like you doing. And his business."

"Than you give yourself more flattery than you deserve." she said, looking up from the paper, " Tell me something." she challenged.

"I know your father's favorite drink."

"Jack on the rocks."

"I know your father's favorite hooker."

"A lady about seven years older than me at 22 who callers her self Nurse Nancy."

"I know your father's favorite restaurant."

"He calls it 'that Italian place' but the real name is Eddies."

"His favorite dish-"

"Anything with shrimp."

"His favorite place to stay when on business trips is-"

"The nicest hotel close to the strip clubs."

"His favorite breakfast-"

"Eggs benedict with light toast and a little butter."

"Lunch-"

"Here or away?"

"Either."

"Here its what ever strikes his fancy at Harry's Subs. Away it's simple things like drive through or what ever he can get when in a meeting."

"Least favorite person-"

"Weak people."

"Favorite person-"

"Himself."

Silence.

"What? No more questions?" Rachel asked, mock disappointment on her face, "Then can I get back to my paper?" she asked while cutting him off from view by lifting it to her face.

"She got you there, Wilson." her father's voice came from the door leading to the rest of the house. Slade made a noncommittal grunt as Rachel's father grabbed some orange juice. He caught her eyes and gave an approving nod, the most fatherly gesture he had given her in a while. She nodded back.

Neither would admit it, but as they turned from each other, they had the same exact smirk on their face (2).

The next day found Rachel back in school. Sigh. At least the day was almost over, she was currently in Home Ec. They were supposed to be reviewing the different types of thread and their different uses. Sigh, again. They were going to be sewing thissemester and cooking next semester. She looked at her book and read the description of each type. This for silk, this for leather, this for cotton. Who really cared? Maybe people for who this was actually going to come in handy, but her? If she needed clothes, she'd buy them. She was drawn from her mental groaning by the voice of Kori.

"Are any of you going to do the auditioning for the school play?" she asked the group.

"I am." Gar said. The other's gave him looks. "What? I'm a natural actor." he said, striking a pose that looked like it belonged in some thing from Shakespeare.

"I too am doing the auditioning." she said.

"Dick is too." Gar said.

"I am?" Dick asked him in a tone that said "I'd like to see you try to make me".

"Mandatory, man." Gar said, "Or weren't you listening to Mrs. McKinney yesterday?"

"Not really." Dick said, a defeated look crossing his face.

"Sorry 'bout that, man." Vic said, clapping Dick on the back.

"How about you friends Rachel and Vic?" Kori asked.

"Lighting and sound." Vic said.

"Props and scenery." Rachel said, "Mandatory for us art people too."

"At least you don't have to be in it." Dick bit at her.

"Not my fault you took drama." Rachel said.

"Not mine either." Dick said, "Bruise's idea. 'It looks good to society'." he added, taking a deeper tone of voice, obviously mimicking his adopted father.

"Well that sucks for you." Gar said.

"Speaking of good fronts," Rachel said, "What do you want for dinner tomorrow."

"Where you getting it from?"

"Probably Eddies'."

"What ever as long as it doesn't have any form of meat in it. Oh, yeah. My mom wants to know what color dress you're gonna wear."

"I dunno yet." Rachel shrugged, "I need to find out how important your parents are to my dad." she joked, "See if I need to get a new dress or wear an old one."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Gar joked back, "I might get a new dress, if you're important that is. I'll have you know that I have to wear a suite, tie and all!"

"I'll be wearing a dress. Probably black by the way." Rachel said, "Unless your parents got an issue with people wearing black." she added, looking to him for an answer.

"No." he said, "Do people really have a problem with that?"

"One lady said I must have been depressed or something and that my father should spend more time tending to my needs." she gave a small shiver at the memory of the fall out of that. Luckily no one saw it, or so she thought. Gar did see it, but decided not to comment on it. He too had heard the rumors about her father, mostly spread by Malchoir and recently Mandy and Kitten. Malchoir he understood spreading stuff like that, Rachel had dumped him after it became obvious that he only wanted to use her and she denied him. But Mandy and Kitten he couldn't explain, unless it was a way to vicariously get to Kori, which he didn't really doubt now that he thought of it.

"So black?" he asked.

"Most likely."

"Ok, then. If we're important enough that is." he joked.

"You know I was joking, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." he said, a half smile on his face.

"Would you mind not mentioning that to any one?" she asked, the last thing she needed was for it to be brought up to her dad. He wouldn't care if it was joking or not.

"No worries." he said.

"Thanks." she said as the bell rang.

Rachel's last class of the day was Art, the class that had subjected her to a life of servitude to the Drama class. A senior from one of the advanced Art classes came to talk to them about their work on the props and scenery. Her name was Lindy and she had, obviously dyed, blue hair. She had a slightly maniacal gleam in her eye that told them this was the highlight of her year. She was one of those kinds. Rachel gave a involuntary shudder (3).

"As you all know," she started, "it is mandatory for all art students to work on scenery and props for the Drama productions."

"Though it is an honor!" the art teacher said, Rachel sniggered to herself, just last Friday he was complaining that it took half a year away from his total teaching time.

"I agree." Lindy said, "But, for those who don't know, the Drama department has decided that the first class will do a slightly down-sized and more 'high school friendly' version of RENT." she added, saying "high school friendly" with bunny ear quotation marks (4).

"What does 'high school friendly' mean?" a girl Rachel recognized as Jenny.

"Well, Mimi's character's dance would be altered to be less racy." Lindy said, "If they don't change it all, that is. And the language needs to be censored."

"Oh." Jenny said.

"But I'm finding out if anyone has any preferences on jobs." Lindy said, looking around expectantly. No one said anything. "Ok then." she said when it was obviously that no one did, "Then, we are going to be having a meeting with the Drama people and the people on lights and sounds on Thursday after school for any one who wants to go. There's a paper taped to the wall next to the door. Just sign it if you want to go. We need a head count is all this is for." she said shrugging. "Um, yeah. You will be watching the movie in class. Keep in mind that the play is different and our version will be too. So I guess that I'll see whoever wants to be there on Thursday.

They spent the rest of the class time watching part of the movie RENT. After they listened to the afternoon announcements and the bell rang, they herded though the doors. Rachel deliberately hung back, trying to decide if she wanted to go to that meeting. She saw Jenny doing the same.

"You thinking about going too?" Jenny asked her.

"Thinking. You?"

"Same." Jenny shrugged, then thought, "What say we go?"

"I don't have a reason not to." Rachel thought aloud.

"See you around then?" Jenny asked as they left the room.

"Guess so." Rachel told her, then they headed off to their own lockers.

When Rachel got home she was surprised to see her father home. Not only that, but he was sober. 'Miracles never cease.' she thought.

What also surprised her was that he had hired a cleaning crew. They were scrubbing the carpets, mopping the floors, dusting all surfaces, and getting the spaces in between. Rachel was impressed.

"Hi." she said, "What's going on?"

"I have an important business dinner tomorrow." her father said, "Everything has to be perfect."

"I didn't know the Logans were so important." Rachel said.

"One of the most important." her father said absent-mindedly, "Wait a minute. How did you know we were dining with the Logans?"

"I'm friends with their son, Gar." Rachel said.

"You have friends?" her father asked in all seriousness.

"Imagine that." she retorted.

"Anyway. What can you tell me about them?"

"For tomorrow?" Rachel asked, her father nodded, "They like Italian, Gar is a vegetarian slash budding vegan. They wanted to know what color dress I'm wearing. They hold a lot of respect for your company (Rachel shivered at the thought)."

"Family orientated?"

"Very much so."

"Do you suggest the pictures of your mother being up or down?"

"Up, definitely."

"Damn." her father said, "Alcohol?"

"Doubt it, but have it available and offer, just in case."

"Very well." her father said, inspecting an area of the living room, "Oh, you're gonna need a new dress." he added, reaching into his wallet and grabbing some cash, "Get one and anything else it is you need."

"I need a new sweatshirt." Rachel tempted the fates.

"Here's an extra thirty." he said, pulling more out of his wallet. Rachel thanked the lucky what ever it was she rubbed against earlier that day. She could always get almost anything out of her father when he was worried about important clients. Should she press for those new shoes? Not today. Maybe if she had enough left over after she got what she needed.

Half an hour later found Rachel in the middle of the fourth circle of hell. The dress department of the department store. She hated it here, the saleswomen were always pushy and nosey and wanted to put her in dresses with sequins and lace or plunging neck and back lines. It was slightly more tolerable now, however, as most of the saleswomen would leave her alone, claiming her to be "no fun". Let them call her whatever they wanted, as long as she got the peace she wanted.

She pulled two off the racks and compared them. One was the traditional black, the other a white. The black had a fitted bodice and a flowy skirt part. That was it. Just plain. Like she liked them. But the white one had been catching her eye for the past fifteen minutes. It too had a fitted bodice, but it laced up the back and tied at the bottom, the thin straps being part of the laces There were small beads along the top of the bodice and along the bottom of the skirt part, which was also flowy. The beads were so small that, at any distance greater than personal space boundaries, they looked like dust, the stardust of fairy tales, Rachel thought. It was pretty.

But it was too pretty for a dinner party. Maybe if she got invited to a formal dance, which she doubted. Maybe if her art was ever noticed and she had a gallery opening. That was possible. Yeah. This would be her gallery opening dress. She replaced it and went to make sure the black dress fit. Great, she had to face the salespeople of doom. She shivered.

That evening, she showed her father her dress and placed it up in her room. They then had "family time", as her father called it, where they practiced liking being in each other's company. They caught up on each other's news and exchanged small talk. This is when Rachel decided to let her father know about the meeting on Thursday.

"No matter to me." he said, "I have to go to Key City Wednesday afternoon anyway, I'll be gone for a few days." And with that he opened his last bottle of Jack for twenty four hours, "Now get out of here, Nurse Nancy is going to be here in fifteen minutes and I don't want you around to make her feel awkward."

"I'll be at the library." she said, feeling slightly dejected no matter how much she tried to tell herself she didn't care.

Rachel arrived at the library at about 6:30. She took in the familiar scent of old and new books, furniture that was older than she was and spray cleaner used on the table and desk tops. She went over to the library computer to access their website and see what book it was that they recommended this week and see if it sounded any good.

On her way over, however, she spotted a familiar face. Jenny was sitting in an alcove of sorts, feet in her seat, reading a book.

"Hey." Rachel said, altering her course to head over to where Jenny was.

"Hey." Jenny replied, clearly trying to get to a good stopping point in her book quickly but without missing anything. Rachel understood this as it happened to her often in school, and sat down quietly. Eventually Jenny found her stopping place, dog-eared the page and closed the book, "What you doing here?"

Rachel shrugged, what was she supposed to say? 'Oh, my father is having his hooker over and told me to get lost'? Yeah, that'd go over well. "Had nothing better to do? You?"

"Same." Jenny said, also shrugging.

They sat in silence for a while, then Rachel asked what she was reading.

"Wicked." Jenny said, "It's pretty good."

"What's it about?" Rachel asked, Jenny handed her the book. "Wicked: The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West" Rachel read silently. She flipped to the summary and read it. It sounded like it might be good. She handed it back to Jenny. "Do they have another copy?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" Jenny asked, "I reserved this a month and a half ago!"

"Wow? Is it that popular?"

"Apparently, but I'll tell you what, I have this for a month and there's no way it'll take me that long to read this. I'll let you have it after I'm done as long as you promise to get it back to me by-" she looked at the slip of paper the held the due date, "a week before the fifth, so that's the what? There's 30 days in this month, so the 29? Yeah, the 29th. Get it back to me by the 29. I don't want any late fees." she added the late fee part as an after thought (5).

"With a book that size, if you were to give it to me next Monday morning, I'd have it back to you Tuesday afternoon."

"Really?" Jenny asked.

"What else would I fill my school day with? School work?" Rachel asked, laughing.

"Good point." Jenny consented, also laughing.

"Well, I'm off to find a book before they kick us out of here." Rachel said, standing up.

"Kay. See you later." Jenny said, opening her book.

"See ya." Rachel said as she headed off to the fiction section of the library. What to read this time? Horror? Mystery? Fantasy? A poetry book? A non-fiction? She walked passed the isles lost in thought. What was it she felt she needed in her life right now? She walked down the isle that contained the C's and D's. She spotted a section filled with Agatha Christie novels. She glanced through them. It had been a while since she had read one and decided that a mystery sounded good. She eventually settled on "Ten Little Indians" and pulled it from the shelf.

It was now fifteen minutes until the library closed and they were asking everyone who wanted to check something out to do so now. She headed up to the counter and handed the book to the first librarian she saw.

The next day in biology, after the teacher was done lecturing for the day and was allowing them to talk, Gar turned to Rachel. "So, can I talk to you now?" he asked. He had been trying all through out the class, but she kept shushing him, trying to pay attention to the difference between chromosomes and chromatin as biology was a little harder for her and she needed to listen. Gar, on the other hand, had biologists for parents and they seemed to have passed the genes that carried their affinity for biology to him and he just understood it. Darn him.

"Well I'm sorry I don't just get this like you do and I actually have to pay attention." she said sarcastically.

"It's not my fault that I already know this stuff." he defended.

"It's not my fault I don't." Rachel clarified.

"True enough." Gar said, "But are we important?" he asked.

"What?" Rachel asked as she loaded her books in her bag.

"Are we important? Is my parents' lab important to Roth Industries?" he asked again, this time being more specific.

"Oh. That." she said when she realized what he was talking about, "Yeah, very. My father said that you guys were one of his most important."

"So you got a new dress?" he asked.

"Yep. Black." she answered, then asked, "What is it with you wanting to see me in a dress?"

"It'd just be weird." he said nonchalantly as the bell rang, then added as they stood up, "It'd be proof that you are a girl and not just a guy pretending to be one and hiding his lack of boobs under a baggie hoodie all the time."

He had said it as a joke. Right? He did say it as a joke, she was sure of it. But this didn't stop the thought running through her mind as to where he got the joke, was it just a stupid thing he pulled out of his head, or was it one of those stupid rumors the high and mighty tell each other about the less than mighty to amuse each other, or was it a real rumor?

She told herself that she was being stupid, of course it was just something he pulled out of his hat. It had to be, she decided as she walked into her next class, math. Quadratic equations, now this made sense, not like dividing cells or Gar's jokes. These, though tedious, were solid, the same, never changing. No matter how many different ways you solved a problem, as long as you always did it right, it always gave you the same answer, not like dividing cells or Gar's mind. She gave a sigh of relief.

The rest of the day dragged by slowly for Rachel. She had to suffer through forty long, long minutes of Heart of Darkness (6) in English, then she sat through forty more excruciatingly long minutes "learning" (again) the difference between saber and conocer in Spanish. She then sat through a documentary on the mummification techniques of the Ancient Egyptians, which was mildly interesting, until she fell asleep.

She was still a little groggy in lunch. The others were chatting about who they thought would break the first sewing machine in their class. They then went to Home Ec where Wally West, a horrifically hyper and bouncy kid, was the first to break a sewing machine, like Dick predicted (Vic had thought it would be Gar). Then Rachel headed to Art where they watched more of the movie RENT. When the bell rang, Rachel gave a sigh of relief, the day was finally over! Then she remembered what she had to do when she got home. Joy.

When she got home she immediately set about cleaning the mess her father and Nurse Nancy made in the living room, luckily just some beer cans and two bottles of Jack, she didn't know how she'd handle it of she found anything used for that. That would be disgusting.

After that, she ordered the dinner and other things that they would need that evening. She received a shock when she asked if the had any vegan dishes and the person on the other end of the line described the "Gar Special".

"Gar Special?" she asked.

"Yeah. It was named after the only person that orders it, a guy named Gar." he said.

"Oh. Well, I'll have one of those too."

"Do we have to rename it?"

"No, I'm ordering it for a guy named Gar, so you're good."

"Ok, then. Anything else?"

She finished ordering the rest of the things and told them to bill it to Roth Industries. The food would be arriving at quarter 'til six again. She now had two hours to get ready.

She headed up stairs to get her stuff in order. After that, she grabbed a shower. After she dried off, she paid particular attention to covering any remaining bruises. She then dried her hair and contemplated what to do with it.

After deciding to do her hair in a lose bun with wisps around her face, she did her facial makeup and got dressed, she went down stairs and prepared the plates and silverware and crystal. When the food and things arrived, she took them and prepared what she could to the best of her abilities.

Her father arrived as she was finishing. He checked over everything, making sure all was to the standard he set for the evening.

"Everything seems ok." he said.

"I've done this before." she said.

"I know, but if you screwed anything up, I swear, they won't find you when I get done. I helped bring you into this world, I can take you out just as quick." he threatened.

She waited until he left the room before rolling her eyes, she had heard that before. She followed her father into the front room where they waited for the Logans.

Just after six by the clock in the front room, they heard the door bell ring. They got up together and walked to the door. Rachel hung back a little as her father answered the door.

"Good evening, Mr. Logan, Mrs. Logan." her father said as they came through the door, "And I assume this is your son, Garfield."

"Yes, Mr. Roth, and good evening to you too. Rachel." Mr. Logan greeted in return.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Logan. Nice to meet you Mrs. Logan." Rachel greeted, "Hello, Gar." She looked him over, he really did clean up well. He was in a black suit with a white shirt and a black neck tie. He looked as though he had tried to tame his blonde locks with a brush and a bit too much gel, almost making his hair look like a blonde version of what Dick's must of looked like when he woke up, that is assuming his hair ever did move.

"It's Garfield tonight." he said.

"Oh, sorry." she said.

"No worries." he said.

"Would you like to have a drink before dinner or would you like to have dinner now?" Rachel's father asked the Logans.

"Dinner sounds good." Mr. Logan said, "Don't want to drink on an empty stomach."

"Then may I escort you into the dinning room?" her father asked.

Mr. Logan and Gar each held an arm out to Rachel. Her father gave her a look and she linked arms with both as her father held his arm out to Mrs. Logan. He and Mrs. Logan lead the little party into the dinning room.

When they entered the dinning room, Rachel and her father left their guests to go into the kitchen to get the drinks and salad. They then went in and served everyone, then sat down.

The meal passed in light conversation, the heaviest bit being of what Logan Labs was researching, which Rachel didn't understand.

"I am just glad that Garfield has taken an aptitude towards the sciences." Mrs. Logan said, "I dare say that it will be the same for Rachel and any business classes she takes."

"I don't think so." Gar said, "Rachel's too much into English and stuff like that."

"Really?" Mr. Logan asked, "Than maybe you could help Garfield in that class. He's a true Logan and is utterly hopeless in that study."

"She'd be delighted to." Rachel's father spoke up.

The conversation then turned to the play the school was putting on.

"Are you involved in the play, Rachel?" Mrs. Logan asked.

"I'll be working with props and scenery." Rachel answered.

"And you, Garfield?" her father asked.

"I'm thinking about auditioning for the part of Mark." he responded.

"He's the one with the camera, right?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah." Gar answered, "Guess who Kori's wanting to audition for."

"Who?"

"Mimi." Gar said.

"Really?" Rachel asked, "But, she's nothing like Mimi."

"That's what I said when she told me. She said that she wanted to break the idea about her being totally innocent and stuff. Thinks this will help."

"Wow."

"And guess who Dick's planning on auditioning for."

"Hmmm, the part of Roger."

"Bingo."

"That means Kitten will be auditioning for Mimi, too."

"Yeah, I told Kori to watch out, you never know what Kitten will do to get her way. It wouldn't surprise me if she tried to destroy the city."

"Were you guys told about the meeting on Thursday?"

"Yeah. I'm going, you?"

"Yeah, with Jenny from my class."

"We should grab pizza or something afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"I'll call Dick and Vic tonight."

"I'll call Kori. Is it ok if Jenny goes too?"

"I dunno. She and Vic almost had a thing a few years back."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll clear it with him, then call you."

"Oh, ok."

"Not to interrupt, but if you two are done, we're going to move to the front room." Rachel's father said.

"We'll be discussing business though, so we completely understand if you don't want to join us." Mr. Logan said.

"Want to continue this in the living room?" Rachel asked Gar.

"Sure, lead the way." he replied.

As they walked in to the living room, Rachel saw Gar look around. She also looked at the "living room" where very little living was done. At least not since her mother died. The pictures of the family were hanging up on the reddish-brown walls above the paneling that covered the bottom half of the walls. They sat on the big stuffy couch that matched the red of the walls.

"So what do you want to do?" Gar asked.

"I don't know." Rachel said, though she really wanted to get a book, "You?"

"Got any video games?" he asked. Typical.

"No. Those things rot your brain and TV ruins your vision."

"Not true." he said.

"What?"

"While most video games are not the most intellectually stimulating, some video games can be, all increase hand-eye coordination, and increase motor skills in the hands, especially the fingers. Also, though little known, reading is just as bad for your vision as watching TV."

"What?"

"It's true. The different shapes of the letters repeatedly changing several times causes your eyes to focus and refocus so often that it really is bad for your eyes. I think it causes far sightedness or something."(7)

"You're joking."

"Nope." he said. He then lifted his right hand, "I swear."

"And you know this, why?" she asked.

"My parents and Vic's dad did some research on it a summer or two back. " he said, "And I'll give you three guesses who the two test subjects who got the most run time were and the first one doesn't count."

Rachel gave a "who knew" kind of huff slash chuckle thing, then sat down on the couch, "Wanna see what's on?" she asked.

"Sure." he said, taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

Rachel started flipping through channels, waiting for something to catch his or her interest.

Several minutes of channel flipping later, they settled on a sit-com re-run. True to form, Gar was laughing up a storm at a joke that Rachel found amusing that he was laughing at, they guy had just done something that she could see Gar doing. This caused a slight smirk on her face.

"Are you smiling?" she heard Gar ask her.

"What?" she asked, the small semi-smile quickly removed itself from her face.

"You were!" he exclaimed, "Man! First I see you in a dress, then you smile! What's next? You gonna tell me your favorite color is pink?"

"No." she said. He looked as though he was about to open his mouth to say something when Mrs. Logan came in the door way.

"Garfield, we're leaving now. Say good bye to your friend."

"Bye, Rachel." he said, both looking nonplussed at Gar's mother. She seemed off and almost stiff, like she was mad. They exchanged looks, but neither knew what was going on.

"See you tomorrow in school, Garfield." she said. She then turned to Mrs. Logan, "Nice to have met you, ma'am." she said.

"You too, Rachel." was all she said before bodily ushering Gar out of the room. Rachel got up and followed them out.

When Rachel got to the hallway, however, she saw her father and Mr. Logan looking daggers at each other. Something had gone wrong during the meeting. Fantastic.

"Good evening, Mr. Roth." Mr. Logan said very tersely, "Rachel." he nodded in her direction, a little less so.

"Nice seeing you again, Mr. Logan." Rachel said, also nodding her head, what the hell happened in there?

"Marie, Garfield, we're leaving. Now," he said, wrenching the door open and hurrying his family through. Garfield looked at Rachel, gave a shrug and left.

After the door was shut, her father went into the family room, poured himself a large drink and went to the window, Rachel went to another window and saw the Logans piling into their car.

"What happened?" she asked her father.

"Not now." he said. She could hear his anger and this scared her. She went to slide up to her room, put he stopped her, "Not on more move."

She stood there, rooted to the spot with fear at what she knew was coming, She looked out the window and saw the Logan's pull out of the driveway, along with any remaining safety she had. She faced her father just in time to see his fist raise.

NOTES:

1) He cleared his throat, I didn't know how to spell it so I guessed.

2) Shoot me now. Go ahead, I give you permission. Wait, gimme five minutes to gag myself first, then go ahead. I just felt the need to put a little father/daughter moment there. No, I don't know why, I just felt it was needed.

3) Yeah, no offense to anyone who is like that, I am too. I just thought that with Raven/Rachel not really getting into anything, that someone showing that much enthusiasm would make her shudder. I dunno.

4) Ok, this is going to be based off the movie, I know that the movie was based off the play, but I haven't seen the play, but I have seen the movie. Yeah, sorry bout that. Oh, and I don't own the play, the movie or the characters there in associated with RENT.

5) Yeah, I know that a month seems like a bit much for most normal libraries, most back in the area I used to live in only let you have it for two weeks, but the area I live in now lets you keep stuff for a month.

6) That is an EVIL, EVIL book, which I thankfully don't own, I'd have to drown myself in that stupid river if I did. Shivers

7) It's true too, reading is bad for your eyes, who knew? But I have to say this, I read the most out of anyone in my family, and I have the best eyesight, go figure. I'm not sure if it causes far sightedness or nearsightedness or something else, but for some reason, my mind wants to tell me its far sightedness, so that's why I put it there. Please don't flame me if its wrong, yes, I know I should check that, but as I have a butt-load of tests coming up soon, I don't really have time (this is an illegal study break- my brain was melting.)

Yeah, so an extra long post, just because I didn't realize how much longer I had to go until I got to the dinner with the Roth's and the Logan's. I hope it was ok and to your liking! Uh, yeah, probably no post for 2 or 3 days and if I don't get one in before 4:00 on Wednesday, don't count on one until like, Sunday, family is coming to visit: so I'm going to be forbidden from getting on. :'C So yeah, another reason this is so long….to tide you over, cuz I know you just can't go with out this story, huh? (note my awesome use of sarcasm there!)

But 'til next time, please review! Seriously, last time I read your reviews, I wrote thirty pages! I was up all night! I got like two hours of sleep! So please review! Thanks:D