I spend the whole next day with Rachel. We're at the lake in the morning, the pool in the afternoon and the mall in the late afternoon. I have breakfast, lunch and dinner with her. At night she paints my toenails and we gossip. She talks about her exchange student friends from the past year, pointing them out to me in the yearbook. Turns out the Swedish supermodel named Greta-Ingrid is not Swedish, nor is her name Greta nor Ingrid. Her name is Helga and she is Belgian. She speaks Dutch and French.

Rachel: We are pen pals now. Hey! I'll give you her address so you can write to her too, she keeps asking me about you.

Me (giggling): Sure thing, sounds awesome.

I talk to her about my closet, skipping class and school ending up in MISS with Andy, summer school and Mr Freeman and his tree assignment.

Rachel looks at me like I'm the zodiac.

Rachel: You actually cut class and hid in a Janitor closet, and skipped school three times?

Me: yeah, I just felt like I needed to hide.

Rachel: And because you got caught, after the third time you ended up in MISS with Andy when the reason you started skipping school overall was because you ran into him.

Me: Yeah.

Rachel: What a cruel irony.

Me: Oh yeah.

I then talk to her about the times people made fun of me including the Me-No-Linda incident in Spanish class and the episode at the pep rally where people yanked my hair and how the Martha's looked like I had a disease.

Rachel starts to cry.

Me: what's wrong Rach?

Rachel (crying):I was one of those people who insulted you. At orientation, I told my exchange students you looked so stupid and that you looked like you came out of the garbage. You were suffering and not only did I not do anything to help you but I made your pain worse. I'm so sorry.

I sigh and hug her

Me: Rach, you didn't know, I forgive you, please stop crying.

Rach: I still feel like a bitch about everything. This is what I love about you, you have such a big heart and you forgave me. I don't think I would have if I were you. You may have forgiven me, but I still haven't forgiven myself.

I'm still hugging her and patting her on the back

Me:there, there Rachel.

She calms down. I then talk to her about heather, how we met during orientation, her using me to get in the Martha's,her ditching me to be a Martha and how this move bit her in the ass when she had to do the prom decorations and bombed at the job. Rachel starts laughing.

Rachel: she got what she deserved, I mean the senior Martha's are gone but the junior Martha's will be seniors this year and they won't forgive her.

Me: Heather moved away, she won't be here this year.

Rachel: she won't?

Me: Nope, just before prom she told me her Father was thinking about taking a job in Dallas and he took it in July, so off they went.

Rachel: You talked to her after the prom?

Me: Gosh no, I rode my bike past her house the day they moved away and I overheard her mom talk to the movers.

Rachel nods.

Me: speaking of prom, what exactly happened between you and Andy that night. All I heard was gossip.

Rachel smiles and nods

Rachel: Let me tell you about it.