Chapter 6

"Hey, Diane. Where were you yesterday?"

"Starbucks? Duh." Rachel and Diane met up at the corner of Rachel's block in the brisk winter air, trying not to slip on the ice and snow covering the grounds. They began to walk to Ella's house to pick her up and continue on to school.

"God, it's cold. I hate winter," Rachel complained. "Give me some of your coffee, Di."

"I don't think so, Ray," Diane smirked, taking another loud sip of the warm, delicious coffee in her hands.

"Oh, come on! You can't do that to me, it's unfair. I am freezing, do you want me to die?" Rachel pleaded.

"Hmm . . . do I get your stuff?"

"Di!"

"Fine, fine, whatever. You know I'm kidding, anyway," Diane replied. Rachel just scowled and took the coffee.

"Thank you."

"Hey, one sip," Diane warned.

"Are you kidding? You are not getting this back."

"Ray!" Diane pouted. "And you say I'm unfair."

"You know I'm kidding," Rachel mocked. Diane stuck her tongue out. Rachel took a few more sips and handed the coffee back to Diane. Finally, they reached Ella's house.

"Hey, guys," she said, stepping out the front door and locking it. "God, it is freezing! Ooh, coffee! I want some!"

Rachel gave Diane a funny look, and Diane just said,"Why can't people afford their own coffee?!"

"Well, sorr-y," Ella replied. She looked at Rachel and mouthed,"What's up with her?" Rachel laughed and they were on their way.

"Hey, last one to the bus stop's a rotten egg!" Diane yelled. The bus stop was at the end of the street they just turned on to.

"You're on!" the other two yelled, but Diane was already a good two yards in front of them. She reached the bus stop first, and then gave Rachel "the look."

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Rachel said as she slowed down next to Diane. Diane tilted her head to the left. Rachel looked, and then gasped.

"Hide me!" she squealed, walking behind Ella.

"No way!" she replied, pushing Rachel out in front of her. Rachel nearly slipped on the snow covering the sidewalk, but caught herself. She turned around, facing her two best friends.

"Come on! That's not fair. If you -"

"Ah-hem!" Diane coughed. Rachel spun around and caught Cedric, mid-laugh, barely a foot away from her. He stopped instantly and blushed, despite the cold.

"Oh. Hey," he said, surprised. His friends behind him, Jared, Geoff, Neil, Eli, and Harold, waved and Rachel, Ella, and Diane heard uncaring "hey"s, "yo"s, and "get-out-of-our-way"s.

"Hi," Rachel mumbled. Diane and Ella waved, too, smiling.

"Mind if we, uh, walked with you guys? I mean, since we're all going to the same place, anyway, I thought . . ." Cedric asked shyly.

"Uh . . .," Rachel mumbled. Ella came to the rescue.

"Sure, we don't mind, go ahead," she said. Rachel turned around and gave her a grateful look. There was an awkward silence after that, as no one knew what to do, and then Eli spoke out from behind Cedric.

"Yo, come on, let's go already. I'm freezing my damn -"

"We got it," Cedric interrupted. The girls giggled softly and Eli rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said. "Just move?"

"Yeah, man, we're with Eli. If you wanna stay here and just -" Jared started, but Cedric cut him off, too, anxiously.

"Hey, hey! I said okay, we can just . . . go," he said urgently. He gestured forward, looking at Rachel, and they moved on ahead.

"So," Diane said, breaking the silence. "Who's going to the dance?"

Cedric's eyes widened and Rachel was so surprised she lost her balance on the ice. She was walking next to Cedric, and now she was falling beside him. But, suddenly, she felt something against hard her stomach. She put her hands on whatever it was to keep her from falling forward anymore, and felt something else grip her left arm. And, when she finally regained her balance, she realized it was because the thing in her stomach was, once again, Cedric's arm. To keep her from falling, he had held out his arm to catch her and threw his right arm out to catch her left arm. Now that she was upright, they were arm in arm. They stared at each other, both turning a deep scarlet, and heard something not too far away.

"Hey, hey! What's going on back there?" Diane yelled, turning around. To the pair's surprise, they were way ahead of them. Diane's eyes widened, and she turned around quickly, pretending she had never seen Rachel and Cedric at that moment. The two turned back to each other, embarassed, and let go of each other.

"Are - are you okay?" Cedric asked her, putting his hands in his coat pockets. Rachel did the same.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed. "I'm . . . I'm fine. Thanks," she said, nodding.

"Great. Let's . . . let's go," Cedric replied. "We should, uh, catch up with the others."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Rachel said.

"Why not?"

"I can barely walk on the ice, Cedric," Rachel stated. He felt a strange thrill when she said his name. "How do you expect me to run?"

Cedric laughed, and Rachel smiled. She adored his laugh. "True," he said. "Hey, guys! Wait up!" he yelled, startling her.

The group of seven ahead of them all stopped and turned around. The girls looked pleasantly shocked, the guys still uncaring, and they waited for Cedric and Rachel to catch up. Naturally, Diane and Ella were giving Rachel "the look." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, I, uh, fell. Cedric helped me," Rachel apologized, stumbling over her words.

"No problem, now can we go?" Neil complained.

"Since when have you been concerned with getting to school on time?" Geoff questioned.

"I don't care about school, I just wanna get out of this damn cold!" he replied. Several people laughed.

"Neil's right, let's get going," Harold agreed.

"Hey, you're not my boss," Diane said.

"He doesn't have to be," said Ella countered. "People like to state their opinions."

"Yeah, but that clearly wasn't an opinion. It was an order," Cedric contradicted.

Jared was the next to speak: "Does it really matter?"

Then Ella again: "Yes, it matters. Do you care?"

Then Eli: "No, I don't." They all looked at Rachel, who hadn't said anything in the matter yet.

"What?" she asked. "I think both Diane and Cedric are right. And Jared, too; is it really important?"

"Hey, who's side are you on?" Ella asked. "Mine, or the defo -"

"I'm on nobody's side!" Rachel quickly interrupted, staring at Ella as if to say "SHUT. UP." Ella held her hands up.

"Seriously, guys, can we get a move on?" Diane whined. "And, anyway, nobody answered my question. Is anyone going to the dance or not?"

"You know I won't be," Rachel complained. Full-time prisoner. In my own house. Twenty-four seven lockdown."

Cedric felt a little discouraged at that, but said,"Me, neither. Same thing." A that, Rachel was upsetted. "Although, it wouldn't do anyone any harm if I sneaked out, or gave some lame excuse, like,'I'm going to the library, Ma. Be back at eleven!'"

Rachel laughed. She was glad he had taken "Juliet's" advice and was being more open. Cedric looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

"Why do you two look like you're sharing some sort of secret?" Ella asked, looking at them. Both instantly looked down, blushing, but smiling, nontheless.