Disclaimer: Anything familiar to you, I don't own. This is a work of fanfiction for personal amusement, fulfillment and a bit of self-therapy. I make nothing from any of it.
Chapter Sixty-One: Bryto
April 14th, 2012 12:32 PM
Rachel had to admit one thing as they turned onto some back road in Bruss. At the start of the school year she would never have predicted that she, Logan, Hayden and Dana would have been going on any kind of car ride together, much less on a beer run for a Vortex Club party. For the most part, the trip had been taken up recounting their spring break, something which Rachel had happily contributed to. Now, though, the car was quiet. A sort of tension had started to spread over the car as soon as they turned off of Bruss's main road. There were plenty of people in Arcadia Bay seedy enough to sell beer to teenagers but none of them that were quite stupid enough to potentially make a spectacle of themselves by handing off beer to be dragged back to the snooty private school that practically overlooked the town.
The tension, Rachel thought as the car fell silent, was not between the people in the car. It was not even about the state of the neighborhood they were driving through. It was about the club. Nathan had been threatening for some time that if people didn't start 'showing him the respect he deserves' he would see to it that they would lose their connections for the parties. At this point, the club as a whole was pitching in a little more than they ever had before to make up for the funds that Nathan had stopped contributing. They could not keep that up for long and Rachel knew it. Hell, Nathan knew it. They had managed to secure the basics though: a couple of kegs and the solo cups. To top it all off, Hayden had convinced a friend to emcee for them for significantly cheaper than whatever asshole Nathan had in mind would have charged.
Rachel kept her eyes peeled nonetheless as they passed into a slightly more rural part of Bruss. The houses were not well kept, many of them looked as if they had been abandoned for some time. Hell, the nicest looking homes around them were the trailers, many of which looked as if they might never roll again. She had never particularly been on this drive before. Neither had Max. As the car slowed and Logan turned the nose of the car toward a driveway leading to an old, two story home that was unpleasantly reminiscent of the now absent Bowers residence. Rachel's eyes slid sideways toward Dana. Dana did not seem to be bothered at all. In fact, if anything she looked bored and seemed relieved when Rachel looked as if she might break the silence, a relief which faded when Rachel merely licked her lips and turned to stare out of the windshield.
Almost as soon as the car shifted into park, Hayden turned back, winked at her and then threw the front passenger door open. Logan climbed out after him but not before pressing a button which caused the hatchback to open at the rear of the car. As for the residence in question a door opened there, too. Not the front door of the house but instead the side door of the old, crooked garage. It looked as if their connection had been waiting on them. Rachel stared at the man who emerged from it, arms folded across his chest as Hayden and Logan approached for about thirty seconds before his angular nose, massive sideburns, perpetual sneer and shitty mohawk struck her as familiar and she realized who he was. Oh, fuck me. Rachel ducked her head down, suddenly. Hopefully, the skeevy fuck hadn't seen her at all. Rachel grabbed the magazine Dana had set aside several minutes ago, opened it and immediately pretended to be reading it.
"What are you doing?" Dana asked her suddenly, sounded both mystified and close to laughter. If you only knew, Rachel thought.
"Chloe sort of hit that guy with a bottle once, a couple years ago," Rachel told her. The moment stood out, bold in her memories as the moment she and Chloe had first made any connection. We were forged in fire from the start. "I was there, too. He and his buddy were trying to fuck her up at a concert, it was a whole big thing." She'd heard the man demanding to know if Chloe knew who he was only a minute or two before that and had decided to keep a close eye on Chloe as soon as it looked as if they had not been done with her. Rachel glanced over the top of the magazine. Certainly it looked as if the man hadn't noticed her, since he was looking through the garage door as Hayden and Logan emerged with the first keg on a dolley. "That was so long ago," Rachel mused out loud as she raised the magazine back up to block out her face. Dana chuckled. The Firewalk concert felt like another lifetime. It had definitely been another Rachel, one who hadn't yet swapped the love the masks received for real connection. Back then, Chloe had been a lit firecracker ready to go off at the slightest excitation.
"Are you serious?" Dana asked her, when Rachel did not change her tune. As soon as Rachel nodded, the girl began to laugh again, which did nothing to stop Rachel from smiling behind her magazine.
"Yeah, she got him right in the eye with the blunt side of the bottle he was trying to cut her with."
"She was a hellraiser," Dana told Rachel, shifting in the seat as if to better obscure Rachel from view as she leaned in to their discussion.
"Was?" Rachel said, disbelieving. "She would fuck him up again right now without hesitating if he tried the same shit, and so would I." The truth was that for a while after the concert, whenever Rachel caught sight of the man in town, she used to get very nervous that he was going to see her. I thought he went to jail after Merrick disappeared. Now she simply did not want him to spot her, remember her and refuse to sell them beer. Eventually the boys made it around to the hatchback and lifted the first of two kegs into the back. The vehicle shifted under the new weight and as the man in question approached the window closest to her, Rachel buried her face deeper into the magazine. It occurred to her that she had not focused on either a photo or a word since the moment she picked it up. For all Rachel knew she could have had her face in a nudie mag and would have been none the wiser.
A few moments later, the second half-barrel keg settled into the back and the hatchback slammed shut. Rachel had never particularly checked to see how much beer was left after a party or how it got out of the gymnasium or where it went. If it weren't for the "Prescott Protocols" they wouldn't even be able to get the beer in. For a moment the boys stopped nearest to Dana's window, talking with the man about something Rachel did not want to listen in on. In response, Dana immediately put on a convincing 'gossiping girl' persona which would have annoyed Rachel at any other time. The fact was that listening to Dana act so unlike herself, rambling off at the mouth about who looked like they might be pregnant, who was thinking of trying out for cheerleading next year and whose ass looked big made staying hidden and calm behind the magazine more difficult. It probably did its fair share in hurrying the conversation outside of the car along and after the skeevy guy with his exaggerated sideburns stepped away from the car, Dana let out an exhausted sigh as the boys moved toward the front of the car.
"I'll never understand how people do that," Dana exclaimed. Rachel lowered her magazine as the driver's side door opened and Hayden settled into it, instead of Logan. Come to think of it, Rachel thought, I have no idea whose car this is.
"Me either," Rachel told Dana as Logan lowered himself into the passenger seat and Hayden shot a curious glance in the rearview mirror at them. "But it worked. Also, I'll be sure to tell Chloe you thought her ass looked fat."
"Look, I was groping for the shitty things people say about each other," Dana defended herself, which only made Rachel laugh again. She was glad in that moment that she hadn't felt the need to put on her favorite jacket since before they had left for San Francisco. It might have reminded the man a bit too much of that night and made him recognizing her inevitable.
"P-H phat, maybe."
"Does anyone even know what that means anymore?" Hayden asked Rachel as he put the car in reverse. She could feel the difference in how it handled with the kegs laying in the back, covered by a blanket.
"I sure don't."
After what felt like far too long of a ride, the vehicle pulled to a stop by the cafeteria loading doors. Almost as soon as Hayden put the car in park, Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt and made a quick apology to the car at large for bailing on them. Logan seemed as interested as usual (which was to say, not at all) and Hayden and Dana were quick to wave the apology off. That was all that Rachel needed to ease herself out of the vehicle, leaning down one more time to call a goodbye through the open back door and then retreat for the back edge of the campus. Given that security was already going to be conspicuously absent from the area around that side of the school building, Rachel chose to take full advantage of it and try to stay hidden.
It was not too difficult to reach the fencing around the back of the campus without being stopped. At that point she just followed the fence until, phone buzzing with a fresh text in her pocket, the side of the dormitories came into view. As far as she could tell from a distance there was no one out front, so Rachel veered right off toward the stairs up to the door. Actually, it's sort of weird no one's around. Maybe everyone's just hanging out before the party. As she eased the front door open, Rachel heard sound from the television lounge. Someone was chilling out watching something. Maybe even several someones. It did seem like a good day to stay inside.
Back up on the second floor the air conditioning did a good job of keeping the day's heat at bay. (Pun not intended.) Still, Rachel considered stopping by her room for a moment to change into something a little cooler. There was, of course, nothing saying that she couldn't steal a pair of shorts from Max if the need arose. With that in mind, she continued on toward Max's room. So, Max has plans about what to do about Nathan? I can't wait to hear this shit. They had been tossing back and forth ideas about how to handle the asshole for months. If Max had finally landed on a solid plan, Rachel was more than game.
When Rachel knocked on Max's door, it took a moment or three before someone answered. Max rubbed at her eyes even as she opened the door and, upon seeing Rachel, stepped aside. Chloe was still in the bed trying to wake up. They were sleeping, Rachel thought, guiltily. Not only had Chloe decided to help out on her day off, Rachel had come along and interrupted her nap. Rachel shut the door behind her and glanced around the pale room. Max for her part, greeted her with a quick pat on the shoulder and, instead of returning to the bed, settled into her chair at her desk, running a finger across her laptop's tracking pad. Sitting up and shifting around so that her feet were hanging off of the side of the bed, Chloe yawned loudly through her greeting.
"Hey," Chloe called once the yawn was done. "Grab me a drink, please." Her voice was throaty, a little rough, so Rachel did as she was bade and crossed to Max's mini fridge as the girl worked on getting her laptop loaded up. She started by securing a coke for each of them and then turned back to Chloe who reached up to catch one. Rolling her eyes, Rachel handed it to Chloe instead. Her reflexes were never as good as she thought they were when she first woke up. At least Chloe did not try to argue.
"Let's get down to business-," Max declared, in a sing-songy voice.
"Yeah, yeah," Chloe muttered, popping the tab on her coke. "Defeating the huns." Max did not turn back to look at them but Rachel could almost hear her frown at her ruined fun. Chloe sounded exhausted. It just made Rachel feel a little worse that Chloe was helping on her day off. What a champ. "Business, right; business like what Max is going to do about Victoria." Rachel swiveled her head around to look at Max, who suddenly stopped typing and then turned in her chair.
"Shutty," Max warned Chloe, grumpily. Chloe responded with a sleepy smile. Rachel had a few things to say on the Victoria issue, but she did not chime in. Quite frankly, she thought Max ought to be talking to Victoria at that point, but if Max had an idea about what to do about the bigger problem, Rachel was listening. "It's time to do something about Jefferson and Nathan. I say we release both of their actual files from school and everything we have on Jefferson." This was not a new thought or a new plan at all, but instead an old one. Except that this time, Max apparently thought it would do something. Rachel was not sure what had changed but eventually she settled down onto the bed with a can of coke all her own and pressed her knee into Chloe's. The girl winced slightly as if the burn on her lower leg was still painful. Rachel moved her knee.
"Who to?" Chloe asked, which if Rachel was not mistaken was exactly how this conversation played out the last time.
"David, for starters," Max informed them, as she turned back toward the laptop.
"What about Juliet?" Rachel suggested. Max shrugged one shoulder.
"She wouldn't have time to print anything," Max argued as she began to drag a copy of several files into a new, blank folder on her desktop. That was a fair point, Rachel thought, but Juliet might be able to help in other ways.
"Right, but she could distribute the information to people she might think it smart to send it to. If any of us gave it to her personally and asked her to pretend she got it in an email," Chloe started, letting the thought trail off. Rachel nodded her agreement, but Max could not see her.
"Juliet goes on the list anyway, definitely putting the entire school mailing list down. Teachers, students, parents, the whole thing. I'll text her a heads up ahead of time, or maybe a preview." I think that might be a good idea. Besides, Rachel thought and then decided to voice the rest aloud.
"With this timing, the stories getting out about the shit Nathan's been pulling might get more traction," she added. "This could make it a little more awkward for you, Stella and Victoria." Max paused in the middle of compiling her little dossier and turned back around in her chair, looking thoughtful. She was clearly still waking up, which was why Max was probably speaking a little more bluntly than she might normally. Rachel did not take any offense.
"I don't think anything's going to make it better for them and I don't think Victoria would mind, but I didn't think about Stella." Then the girl's face hardened. "No," Max said, shaking her head. "It's way too late to worry about that. I don't like it but this is the only chance we've got of getting through the Sean Prescott wall. KBAY 7, Juliet, David, the school's mailing list, anyone else? I've almost got the file ready." Max gestured behind herself, whacking her hand rather loudly against the side of the laptop screen, hard enough that that side of the machine lifted up from the desk and popped back down. Max winced and turned back to check that the laptop was still working. When she did not immediately curse, Rachel craned her neck to look at the screen. "Oh and Wells is getting a copy, so he knows everyone knows what he's been doing." When Max returned to gathering files, Rachel grinned at Chloe. Unsurprisingly, she looked equally eager. They had done a whole lot of nothing beyond watching Nathan for a long time. Maybe we just needed clear heads.
"Wells should have to see it, but the school board needs to get the email, too."
"I like your vindictive side," Chloe told Rachel, in a low voice that bordered on sultry.
"Keep talking like that and I might have to show you more of it." Before Rachel could tease Chloe any farther, Max called out her name. Rachel turned just in time to see the girl underhand throwing her phone toward the bed without looking. Pleased with herself, Rachel yanked it out of the air. "You want I should text Juliet, boss?"
"Absolutely. Tell her she's getting hers in 20 minutes, everyone else gets it right as the party starts. I don't want Nathan to be able to stop the party going off and I want everyone to have an eye on that son of a bitch when this gets out." Max popped the knuckles of her right hand and began to type. When Rachel leaned back to look at the screen, she seemed to be logging into an email service Rachel had never seen before. Maybe it's that one she used to use when she was 'researching' the Prescotts. Either way, Rachel had a job to do while Max did hers. She unlocked Max's phone and decided to give Chloe a job of her own: pillow. Rachel scooted down the bed a ways and leaned back, her head coming to rest in Chloe's lap. When the bluenette stuck her tongue out at Rachel, she responded by pulling a face of her own and then got to work.
Me
In about 20 min u r gonna get an anonymous email. Don't worry – everyone else gets it right before the party. Please protect your sources.
Juliet
What are you talking about?
Max?
Max?
"The biggest problem," Chloe said as she took advantage of Rachel lowering her hands to her sides and began to run a hand through Rachel's hair, "is what to do if this doesn't work." The skater's point was a valid one and it was not lost on either of them: Rachel was watching Chloe's face, the way her lips moved, the curve of her chin, the general expressiveness too closely to ignore her and Max froze in place, no longer typing her email. They simply did not know what to say to that point. The truth was, without the backing of physical evidence that anyone has harmed anyone else it would take a while for action to happen if at all.
The handful of fights Nathan gets in at school can be played off as the pangs of growing up; a problem, sure but not worth expelling, especially not when you're a rich white boy. The school could pretend to ignore the rumors about the rest of it. If this doesn't work, we will have to try something else. We can't expect magic. For the next few minutes as Max typed away on the email, they bounced ideas off of one another as to what to do next. Again, though, they came up empty handed. About the only thing good to come of the conversation was that Rachel had been allowed to stay there, with her head in Chloe's lap paying at least as much attention to the girl's fingers running through her hair as their fruitless discussion. Whenever Max turned around in the process of making a point, Rachel saw more and more stress on her face, as if the discussion, or perhaps its futility, was taxing her emotionally. Eventually, lips pursed slightly, Max went quiet and returned to typing her message. Rachel could read Chloe's concern in the way she set her jaw. Girl wears her heart on her sleeve.
Max's phone went off.
Juliet
What are you talking about?
Max?
Max?
What the fuck did you just do?
"You sent it off?" Rachel asked. Max turned around in her chair and, looking a little relieved, nodded before exhaling slowly. "Well, Juliet definitely just got it." Rachel lifted the phone back up to eye level and composed a response.
Me
You get first peek, full release tonight, right before party.
Juliet
I knew you were up to something. If I were into the fairer sex...
Me
Careful, this is Rachel, and I will totally tell her you said that.
Juliet
Fair enough. I'm going back to my room until the party. Don't come over. Have stuff to do.
I fucking bet you do, Rachel thought, chuckling to herself as she handed the phone over to Chloe. Chloe's response was a grimly satisfied smile. Rachel understood. This meant that one way or another the gloves had come off. It was on. Once the party starts, the shit hits the fan. Two minutes or so pass with the only sound in the room being that of Max's fingers on keys before the girl turned away from her laptop and nodded.
"It's done," Max told them both, looking fairly grim herself. Faintly, from not too far down the hall, Rachel caught wind of another voice. Through doors and walls, she wasn't entirely sure what they were hearing, but it was definitely Juliet exclaiming. "I'd say she's having fun," Max muttered. Rachel was willing to bet that whatever Juliet had just said would not be fit for polite company. Max lifted out of her seat and approached the bed to sit down on Chloe's other side. That did not stop Rachel from reaching up and brushing the back of Max's hand softly as the girl passed, nor did it discourage Max from squeezing her own. "Got it set up to send out at 7 on the dot. Nathan will be in front of a lot of people when that email goes live." After a moment, Max stood right back up, shaking her head.
"Did you forget something?" Rachel asked her, sharing a concerned look with Chloe.
"Absolutely. I forgot that I'm getting the fuck off of campus until party time. One way or another I'm going to Up All Nite Donuts. The only question is am I buying a dozen for myself or are you two going to spare me eating them all alone?" When Chloe laughed, it was a real laugh and Rachel took a moment to revel in the sound. As it turned out, the donuts were delicious but the real value of their trip had been in seeing Max relax enough to talk about something other than a Jefferson or a Prescott. Their donuts were a reprieve both sweet and ultimately short lived.
They were sitting in Max's room listening to music when six-fifty came. Quite without a word, or letting on that anything had changed, Max rose from her spot on the bed between Rachel and Chloe and walked over to her laptop. The entire atmosphere of the room became serious as Rachel and Chloe both checked the time and realized what was going on. Kate, who had been slowly but surely coming to accept that she, Chloe and Rachel had wildly different tastes in music, did not seem to notice the tonal shift when she looked up from what she was reading and tried to read the room, instead.
"Kate," Chloe started as Max turned to shoot a significant look at Rachel and Chloe both.
"Oh, is it time for you guys to go?" Rachel nodded as the girl rose from Max's futon, smoothed down the front of her skirt as if it was wrinkled and made for the door. Rachel spoke up to get her attention before she could say her goodbyes.
"Almost, but first: do you have any plans tonight?" Kate shook her head no, a dubious look on her face as if she thought that Rachel was about to try to convince her to go to the party. "If there's ever a night not to change your mind, to stay inside, lock your door and not open it for anyone, this is gonna be it."
"What do you mean?" Kate asked her, no longer sounding dubious as much as concerned.
"Most of the school's not going to realize it," Max interrupted them as she hit the enter button on her laptop very loudly. Gotta go for that dramatic effect, Rachel wanted to tease her. "But we're sitting in a changed Blackwell right now." As if that bit of overacting on Max's part was not enough, Chloe tilted her head back and laughed, maniacally. I love my goofy girls. "When you get back to your room, check your email." No one else spoke and certainly no one acknowledged Kate's attempts to get more information out of them. As far as Rachel was concerned, Max deserved to be a bit dramatic about this: if it came back on her, it would come back hard and while Max was more technologically savvy than Rachel or Chloe, Rachel knew enough to know that Max did not have the hardware to be truly anonymous.
Rachel was eager to step out of the dormitories and into this new Blackwell.