A/N: Thanks so much for all the great reviews! It's a slow week this week, so I thought I'd add another chapter while I could. A lot of you commented about Mandy being out of character in the last chapter, but one thing that I have learned over the past four years is that people change dramatically when they go to college and have absolute freedom. Hopefully for Mandy it's just a phase!
Mandy saw Rachel's name flash across her cell phone for at least the tenth time since she had missed Emma's birthday the day before, she decided she might as well get it over with and talk to her. "Hello."
"Mandy! What in the heck happened to you yesterday! Do you know that your sister cried for two hours straight because you missed her birthday? "yelled Rachel.
"I'm sorry, I overslept," Mandy sheepishly replied.
"Overslept! The party was at one. How hard is it to get up by lunch time? Even if you missed the party, you still could have come to see her last night or at least called her! That wouldn't have been too difficult," exclaimed Rachel.
"When I woke up it was time to go to the Kappa Dance-A-Thon for our philanthropy project so I didn't have time," Mandy tried to explain.
"So now your sorority is more important than your family," accused Rachel.
"I'm sorry! What else am I supposed to say?" asked Mandy.
"Don't apologize to me. You need to apologize to Emma. You do realize that your little sister looks up to you and wants to be just like you when she grows up. How do you think it made her feel for the person she looks up to most in the world to miss her birthday for absolutely no reason?" Rachel said as she started to tear up.
"I know," said Mandy. "I really messed up, and I'm sorry. I want to make it up to Emma. How about I pick her up from school one day this week and take her shopping, just the two of us?"
"I think Emma would really like that. I have to work a little later on Tuesday, so I was going to have Monica pick her up, but if you could that would be wonderful," said Rachel.
"I can do Tuesday. I get out of class at one, so that'll be plenty of time to drive out there," said Mandy.
"I'm glad you're doing this, Mandy. I don't know what has gotten into you lately. It's like you're not the same person you were two months ago. All of the sudden you're irresponsible, staying out all night, living with your boyfriend. What's going on?" asked Rachel.
"Nothing is going on," said Mandy. "Maybe I have been spending a little too much time with Chris, but I've never felt this way about a guy before. I think I may be in love!"
"Oh really," said Rachel. "How about me and you meet for lunch on Wednesday at that deli by your dorm? I think we need to talk about this one in person."
"Sounds good! I'll see you Wednesday at lunch," said Mandy.
Tuesday afternoon Rachel was sitting in her office trying to put the finishing touches on a presentation that she was having to give to retailers the next morning. It was just a routine presentation about their line for the next spring, but it still had a little bit of work left to be done on it. Rachel was in deep concentration when her phone rang. "Rachel Geller"
"Yes, Mrs. Geller, this is Emma's school. We were wondering who was supposed to pick Emma up today? School has been out for over an hour and Emma is quite upset."
"Oh my gosh!" said Rachel. "I'm so sorry. Her older sister was supposed to pick her up today. I don't know what happened, but I'll have someone over there in just a few minutes."
Rachel had never been so angry in her life as she was when she hung up that phone. How could Mandy forget to pick her sister up from school, especially only a few days after missing her birthday! Rachel was tempted to pick up the phone and call Mandy right then, but she was too mad to even talk to her at the moment, so instead she called Monica and had her go to the school to pick up Emma.
When Rachel walked into her house a couple of hours later with dinner, she saw Ross sitting at the kitchen table trying to help a still whimpering Emma with her homework.
"Mommy!" yelled Emma as she ran into her mother's arms. "Why did Mandy forget me today?" she asked.
"I don't know sweetie. I bet she was just really busy and couldn't help it. I'm sure she didn't forget you on purpose," said Rachel even though she wasn't entirely certain that what she was saying was true.
Later that night, Rachel was having a hard time trying to get to sleep. She was furious at her older daughter. How could she do something like this not once but twice? She was also a little worried about Mandy. She had never acted like this before in her life. Rachel was beginning to wonder if Mandy had a problem. She also began to wonder if maybe she should call Mandy's parents and see if they had noticed any of the same changes that she had noticed in Mandy. "Sweetie," said Ross. "You really need to try and get some sleep. All of this worrying isn't good for you and the baby. Remember, you need to try to be stress free."
"I'm trying," Rachel said, slightly annoyed. "I'm doing everything I can to try and not get worked up, but I can't help it. I'm furious at Mandy, and I intend to get to the bottom of whatever is going on with her if she shows up for lunch tomorrow!"
"Honey, would it make you feel any better if I run a check on Mandy at school tomorrow?" asked Ross. "I can see if she has been going to class, how well she's doing and all of that kind of stuff."
"Would you mind?" asked Rachel. "I would really like to know if she's doing well in school because she hasn't mentioned a single class to me. All I've heard about is her sorority and Chris."
"I don't mind at all. I'll call you in the morning before you go to lunch and let you know what I find out."
Ross's jaw almost hit the floor when he ran a check on Mandy the next morning. She had been skipping almost all of her classes and appeared to be failing all of them. He hated to call and tell Rachel because he knew it would stress her out even more and that was the last thing she needed at five months pregnant, but he had to.
After she got off the phone with Ross, Rachel could almost feel her blood boiling. She was so mad at Mandy. Mandy was well on her way to destroying her future, all because of a boy and a few friends. Rachel had never been so furious in her entire life. She just hoped Mandy showed up for lunch because she would be getting a piece of her mind.
Mandy really didn't want to go meet Rachel for lunch, but decided that she probably should. She felt so guilty for forgetting to pick Emma up from school the day before. After class, she and Chris had just been hanging out and she lost track of the time. It was after six before she even remembered her little sister. Mandy knew Rachel was probably going to blow a gasket, but Mandy thought that she deserved it. What kind of person hurts their little sister like that? Rachel was already sitting at a table in the deli when Mandy walked in.
"Sit down, right now," Rachel curtly said. "What in the hell is wrong with you! You forget to pick your little sister up from school, you skip class all the time, and you're failing all of your classes! What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry about Emma, and how in the world did you know about all of that other stuff?" asked Mandy.
"Ross checked it out for me," answered Rachel.
"How dare you! That is an invasion of my privacy. What next? Are you going to call the doctor to see if I'm having sex or not?" Mandy yelled.
"Well, I hadn't thought about that, but since you brought it up, are you?" asked Rachel.
"No, not yet, but I think I'm almost ready," Mandy retorted back.
"You think you're responsible enough to have an adult relationship!" exclaimed Rachel. "You're not even responsible enough to pick your little sister up from school!"
"Like you're one to talk, at least I'm in love with the guy I'm going to have sex with and not………" Mandy stopped talking as Rachel's face turned really white.
"Owwwww!" screamed Rachel as she grabbed her stomach.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" asked Mandy, all of the anger suddenly gone from her voice.
"I don't know ," said Rachel as she tried to hold back another scream," but I think we better get to the hospital, now!"
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