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Rachael had never been much of a fan of the sun. Scowling, Rachael hurried to close her blinds and rid herself of the blinding sunshine that was beginning to creep into her room. Although it was only a Saturday, Rachael was up at six o'clock in the morning, purely out of habit. The dark haired teenager made her way to her dresser and pulled out a comfortable pair of pants and sweater. As she did every Saturday morning, Rachael was preparing to take her usual morning walk to the place where she felt most safe: her mother's gravestone. What had started as small coping strategy had turned into a ritualistic pilgrimage that the teen took every Saturday. It was Rachael's way of honoring her mother's memory.
Shoving her keys into her pocket, Rachael tiptoed down the stairs and past her grandmother's bedroom. As much as she had loved her daughter, Rachael's grandmother found her walks to be counter effective and thought they made moving on for Rachael virtually impossible. The dark haired girl quietly closed the door behind her as she made her way down her stoop and to the corner. The graveyard where Arella was buried wasn't too far away from Rachael's house and she was forever grateful for that.
Unfortunately for Rachael a certain blonde haired boy had woken up and happened to glance by his window and see Rachael pass by.
'This is my chance!' he thought excitedly to himself, hurrying to throw on a pair of pants. Racing out of his room as he tied his shoes, Garfield quickly ran outdoors and watched as Rachael turned around a corner. Not wanting to be noticed, Garfield decided to follow her from a distance; after all, he couldn't have her thinking he was a total creep.
Garfield followed Rachael as she turned corners and headed down alleyways. After a few more minutes of walking, Rachael had finally reached her destination: Azarathian Graveyard. Even more curious than before, Garfield kept behind Rachael as she made her way past numerous headstones. Finally, Rachael approached a simple headstone with a small bouquet of flowers laid out before it. She got on her knees and kneeled at the headstone before sitting pretzel style and holding her hands out.
"Hi mom." Garfield heard her say feebly. It was such a small voice in comparison to her normal voice that Garfield almost forgot this was –the- Rachael Roth.
"I miss you so much, mother." Garfield heard her choke out. Garfield had almost forgotten that Rachael's mother passed away. It'd been so long ago and so irrelevant in Garfield's life, he never really thought about how it affected Rachael. Seeing her cry at her mother's headstone almost made him feel guilty about all that he had done to her. Almost.
The sound of boots stepping against the wet grass snapped Garfield out of his thoughts and he watched as Rachael stood up set dusted her clothing off. Garfield couldn't see her eyes from where he was standing, but he could tell she had been crying.
'Aw shit she'd heading in my direction.' Garfield thought to himself, panicking. The blonde boy tried to quickly leave before she noticed, but Rachael, being the acumen girl she was, recognized him right away.
"Garfield?!" Rachael exclaimed, walking closer to him. "Did you follow me here?" She asked angrily. This was the one place Rachael felt truly safe and happy, and now Garfield was here messing it up as usual.
"Well aren't you rude! I mean, clearly, I'm here to visit…uhh…Jerry…Vargas' grave!" Garfield said, nodding his head vigorously. Rachael rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"Really? Jerry Vargas? And who was he to you, exactly?" Rachael questioned as she crossed her arms around her chest.
"Uh…he was, uhhh, my uncle! Yes, he was my uncle. By marriage. To my….Aunt? Heart attacks, man, scary stuff!" Garfield said, laughing nervously.
"Wow, that's so funny Logan, because I've passed by that grave stone for years and I could have sworn he was an ordained priest." Rachael replied, narrowing her eyes.
"Hah! Well, haha, Uncle Jerry was uh… never the commitments kinda guy! I should probably get going!" Garfield said, backing away from Rachael.
"Riiiight. Well, the next time you want to lie, try not to be so extravagant, okay?" Rachael said, rolling her eyes and she walked past Garfield.
"You got it! I MEAN, uh, You got it? It as in some sunscreen, because, whew, is it just me or is it toasty today? No? Just me?" Garfield said weakly as Rachael walked away from him.
"She still digs me." Garfield said to himself, smiling as Rachael walked away.
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"I'm telling you Kori, something weird is going on with that boy." Rachael sighed as she laid across her soft bed. To say Garfield's appearance has shocked her was an understatement. She knew he was cruel but was he really cruel enough to stalk her at her own mother's resting place?
"Yes! He was right there! You don't think he was trying to do something, do you?" Rachael replied. She had been on the phone discussing her morning with Kori ever since she got back. Even the lighthearted foreign girl had to admit that Garfield's sudden appearance at the graveyard was creepy.
"Yeah, I'm going to be keeping an eye at him. Anyway, have fun at the mall Kori." Rachael said before pressing 'end' on their phone call. Rachael sighed again and sat up on her bed, still wondering what Garfield's deal was. As if on cue, Rachael's grandmother called for her granddaughter downstairs.
"Rae! The Logan boy is over here asking about tutoring!" her grandmother called, probably just as surprised as she was. Rachael had to admit, she was impressed. After all, she'd figured he'd quit with the tutoring after one day. Pursing her lips, Rachael leapt up from her bed and bounded downstairs, curious as to why Garfield was still bothering her about the tutoring.
"Hey, Rae!" The blonde boy said once Rachael reached the door.
"First of all, do not call me Rae. Second of all, what are you doing here?" she said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Rach, I'm hurt; don't you remember? You said you'd keep tutoring me." Garfield said innocently. Rachael narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief.
"You were serious?" she replied, still shocked that Beast Boy was even thinking about academics on a Saturday.
"Would I ask you if I wasn't? I mean, I HATE school! I'm totally serious about the tutoring. My mom's gonna kill me if I get another C in English!" Garfield said smoothly. So the part about his mother might have been a lie. What Rachael didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Thinking it over for a moment, Rachael stared at him before sighing and nodding.
"Fine, just…wait there and let me get some proper clothes on okay?" Rachael responded reluctantly.
"Aye, aye cap'n!" Garfield said, grinning, as Rachael headed upstairs again. As far as Garfield was concerned, that $100 was as good as his.
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The unlikely duo had ended up at the library, where Rachael was currently trying to teach Garfield about the plot of Macbeth.
"So, personally, I'd say Macbeth's greatest downfall is his overconfidence. But that's just me." Rachael said as a bored Garfield looked on.
"You're not even paying attention, are you?" Rachael sighed as Garfield looked at her, hurt.
"I'm paying more attention to you then I do Mr. Huston in English class!" Garfield fired back, sitting up straight in his chair as he responded to the raven-haired beauty.
"I'd have a much easier time believing you if you acted like it." Rachael sighed, closing her textbook.
"I think that's it for today; obviously you aren't retaining much anyway." Rachael said, shoving her books into her bookbag. Garfield, panicking, quickly grabbed Rachael's bag and laughed nervously.
"Wait, Rachael. You're right I'm not paying attention; we should totally do something else instead! Like… go see Zombie Invaders 4?" Garfield asked as he released Rachael's book bag. The raven-haired teenager was confused; was Garfiled asking her to go somewhere? With him?
"Is this a joke or some stupid prank or something?" Rachael spit out, remembering all of Garfield's past pranks. The blonde haired boy quickly shook his head and smiled genuinely at Rachael.
"Of course not! Can't you trust me Rae?" Ignoring the use of the nickname 'Rae', Rachael snorted.
"Oh yeah, I can totally trust you after the time you broke my arm, the time you smashed my science project into pieces and oh, who can forget the time you stole my clothes after gym?" she retorted, snatching her bag from his hands again.
Garfield suddenly felt a twinge in his heart. Was that… was that remorse he was feeling? Of course he had felt remorse before but… never for the things he had done to Rachael. If anything, the pranks he pulled made him feel happy, but hearing Rachael suddenly made him feel…guilty.
"Wait, Rachael. I'm sorry, I really am. Can we start over? Please?" Garfield said sincerely, extending his arm. Rachael bit her lip. If there was one thing she was good at, it was reading emotions and Garfield seemed as if he was genuinely sorry for the things he had done to her. Sighing, Rachael took his hand in hers and shook.
"Fine, but this doesn't mean I've forgotten everything you've done to me." Rachael responded, pulling her hand away from Garfield's lingering one. The jokester perked up and smiled at the black haired girl.
"Of course not! Let's get going to the movies!" Garfield said excitedly.
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