Chapter 12: Wildfire
A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing well! Since this is the month when Resident Evil 2 starts I thought it would be the perfect time for a new chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil; I just own my characters.
Enjoy!
/
"That's it! Jeremy is getting a tire iron strain to his- "
"Isabella" Rachel sighed.
She had to come clean about what happened with Jeremy after she finished her classes. To say Isabella was pissed was an understatement.
"Why didn't you call me when this happened?!" she said.
Rachel gave her best friend a tired look, clearly drained from being scolded.
"May I remind you that you were at work when this happened? What could you have done?" she asked.
Isabella scowled in disgust.
"I knew I shouldn't have taken that extra shift" she grumbled.
Nathan, who was sitting with them at one of the tables looked up from his laptop.
"It could have been way worse. I'm just glad I bumped into Rachel before she ran into him. Who knows what could have happened if no one was around" he pointed out.
"Yeah, well even with you being there, nothing is going to happen" Isabella snapped.
Nathan had to tell Rahcel that he found out Jeremy's uncle worked for his dad. He also had to explain that his dad couldn't do anything about what happened because Simmons said he would take care of this.
Just like Rachel said, everyone was going to brush this under the rug and forget about it.
"This is just great. Not only do we have to deal with students going missing, but we also get to deal with Jeremy being allowed to put his hands on anyone he wants" Isabella spat.
"What a time to be alive"
"Well, with what's going being posted on the internet right now, Jeremy is going to be worried about people putting their hands on him" Nathan said.
Both girls looked at him in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.
Nathan had a dark smirk on his lips as he turned his laptop around. The girls went closer to the screen. The video of Jeremy manhandling Rahcel outside of campus was playing. There were several social media pages on the screen. Each one playing the same video.
"Seems like I wasn't the only one who caught that incident on camera. A couple of students saw this too and posted this on the school website for everyone to see" Nathan said.
Rachel didn't know what to say as she watched the video. She didn't have time to process her emotions when this happened but now that she saw herself on the computer she felt gutted. She looked so helpless and weak. Seeing her try to get away only for Jeremy to tug her back like a rag doll made her see how pathetic she was. She would have been dragged away if Leon hadn't come to her rescue.
Isabella crushed her drink as she watched the video unfold.
"Oh hell no" she growled.
She jumped up from her seat, startling her two friends.
"I'm going to get my tire iron from my car and beat his ugly little face in until you can't recognize him then throw his body into- "
"Isabella!" Rachel snapped.
She gestured towards everyone else who was in the mesh hall. Everyone looked at their table nervously.
Reluctantly Isabella sat back down. She looked disgusted at the video playing on Nathan's laptop.
"They didn't even blur her face out! Now everyone on campus will know it's Rachel" she said.
Nathan bit his lip as he thought of something.
"Maybe that's a good thing?" he suggested.
The girls looked at him in horror. Did he realize what he just said? He quickly held his hands up when he saw that Isabella was about to jump over the table.
"H-hear me out!" he said.
"If everyone on campus sees that Jeremy was being a neanderthal to a female student at our University then everyone will start talking. And when words gets to the professors and Deans, then they'll have to do something about it. They might try to silence this, but if this video keeps getting shared to others outside of our school then they'll have to do something to save face. I get it, it's embarrassing having her face being seen but I feel like this is the only way it'll work"
Isabella looked at Rachel. She wanted to put a stop to this idea. She knew Rachel hated the attention and wouldn't want strangers to see how she was so small and frail when Jeremy grabbed her. She wanted to tell Nathan to take it down now, but she knew she couldn't.
This was Rachel's call. She was videotaped, she was the one who was manhandled by Jeremy. It was up to her if she wanted to go with Nathan's plan or not.
"What do you say, Rach?"
Rachel kept watching the video reply over and over again. She saw the crazy, angry look in Jeremy's eyes when he yanked her closer to him.
She wanted these videos taken down…but she couldn't let Jeremy get away with this.
"The videos area already posted. Everyone will know even if they were taken down" she said quietly.
Nathan turned his laptop back to him and typed away at the keyboard.
"I might know a way to make Jeremy look even worse. Just give me a couple of days to work my magic and he'll be leaving campus with his tail tucked between his legs" he said.
Rachel felt like they opened Pandora's box with this. She just hoped that nothing bad would come of this.
/
True to what Nathan said, the video spread like wildfire across campus. Everyone was either watching the video or talking about it amongst themselves.
People were shocked when they saw how Jeremy treated Rachel. He was usually so nice and kind to everyone on campus that they couldn't believe he would be this way.
"Can you believe he would act this way?"
"What did she do to set him off like that?"
"Does it matter? He shouldn't have put his hands on her"
"He did act like this in the library as well. Wonder if something's going on with these two?"
"And he has such a bright future ahead of him"
The downside to being in that video was that whenever Rachel walked around campus, people would stare at her and whisper things to their friends. She knew they were wondering what she did to get Jeremy angry, but shouldn't they be more worried at the fact that he was being an asshole to a girl?
She had taken up the habit of wearing extra large hoodies so she could hide her face behind the super large hood. She couldn't have it up in classes but at least she was able to sit in the back of the classroom.
"That's it for today. Remember to tell me who you'll be using for your midterm project by the end of the week"
The room slowly emptied out as students made their way to their next classes. Rachel took the rear of the group and tried to make her way outside.
"Miss. Winters, a moment please" her professor said.
Rachel paused then slowly went to her professor's desk. She wondered why he wanted to talk to her.
"Yes, sir?"
Her professor had a gentle look on his face.
"I've heard about what happened the other day with Mr. Kingston and wanted to make sure you're doing ok" he said.
This was surprising. She didn't think her professor was the kind of person who care about gossip.
"I'll be fine. I'm just trying to put it past me" she said.
"That's not something to put past you Miss. Winters. If Mr. Kingston thinks it's alright to put his hands on a fellow student then he has no right tending to patients at a hospital" her professor said.
Least he was one of the few professors that didn't side with Jeremy. Her professor gathered up his notes and put them in his bag.
"Don't let that boy get to you, Miss. Winters. Unlike him, you have a promising future ahead of you…if you get to class on time that is" he teased the last part.
Rachel's face went red with embarrassment. She hadn't been late to class for a few weeks now!
"Thank you, sir" she said quietly.
She made her way to the door to leave the classroom.
"Make sure you tell me who you're going with for your midterm project by the end of the week" he reminded her.
Rachel stopped and bit her lip. Looking over her shoulder, she nervously looked at her professor.
"Um, sir?" she said.
Her professor stopped what he was doing to look at her.
"I, um, well I really don't know who to pick for my midterm. You said it could be family but I'm not very close to my family and well, the only other people I'm close with is Isabella's family but you don't want two people using the same family. Is there anyone else we're allowed to study?"
Her professor grabbed his bag.
"This midterm is to see how you would handle treating someone close, Miss. Winters" he explained.
"We try to do the best we can to help others, but sometimes when it's a loved one that needs to be tended to, that judgement can be more harmful than helpful. We don't want to see someone we care about in pain so our emotions will usually blind us to logical thinking. If you want to be a good doctor, you need to show that its ok to wear your heart on your sleeve but also not let it get to your head"
He headed towards the door and stopped when was next to her.
"I said to pick someone close-I never said it had to be family"
With that, he headed down the hallway. Rachel watched as he left. Did he just give her the ok to pick someone that wasn't her family? She wasn't going to question it. She could pick whoever was close to her that wasn't family and she was going to roll with it.
Now to see who was close to her besides Isabella.
/
Jeremy scowled as people talked behind his back. Just like Simmons predicted, Nathan's video was posted online for everyone to see. He of course tried to get it pulled down but since it was up online that meant everyone would forward it to someone else.
His professors were not happy with him at all. He had tried to explain it was all a misunderstanding but they wouldn't hear it. They had heard what he said in the video and were wondering if he had the temperament to be a doctor. If he lashed out at random people then people wouldn't trust him to take care of their loved ones.
He saw Rachel far up ahead walking down to the grassy area of the campus. He felt a mixture of bizarre feelings as he looked at her.
It was going to be Rachel's fault if he didn't graduate. She was supposed to act timid and quiet, not lash out and be loud for others to hear. He knew he was supposed to stay away from her but he had to teach her a lesson. He had to remind her how a woman was supposed to act around men like him.
He quietly yet quickly made his way towards her. He couldn't let her get away. He couldn't let her think this brave personality she had was alright.
He grabbed something in his jacket the closer he got to her. His gaze looked blank as her back was towards him. Just as he was about to pull out the item from his jacket, his phone buzzed.
He stopped and pulled it out of his pocket. When he saw it was his uncle he groaned. Knowing he couldn't ignore the call, he answered it.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It" was the first thing Simmons said.
"Think about what?" Jeremy spat.
"Don't get cocky with me boy! I know you were going by that girl" Simmons snapped.
Jeremy growled and looked around him. He didn't see anyone nearby but that didn't mean anything.
"Are you following me?!"
Simmons scoffed in disgust.
"I don't need the President's bodyguards to keep an eye on you. I know you have a one-track mind and never listen to what I say no matter how many times I tell you not to do something. Did I or did I not order you to stay away from that girl?"
"She made me look bad in that video! I need to teach her a lesson!" Jeremy said.
"If anyone is going to be taught a lesson it's my sister's idiot child who couldn't even get accepted into a University by himself" Simmons spat.
"But if you want to ruin your reputation even further and get kicked out of this University I put a lot of money into then by all means go terrorize that girl. Just know the minute you do that; you'll not only be black listed from the family but every single place on the planet"
"You don't have that kind of power. You're all bark but no bite" Jeremy taunted.
A red dot appeared on his forehead. Jeremy broke out into a cold sweat. It seemed like not only were bodyguards stationed to keep Nathan safe but snipers as well.
"Don't test me, boy. I have worked long and hard for this country. I have no problem getting rid of little pests if it means saving the family's name" Simmons threatened.
"Last time. Stay away from that girl. I will not repeat myself a third time. You might have ruined my sister's life with your antics but I'll be damned if you ruin mine"
He hung up after that. Jeremy gripped the phone hard in his hand that it started to crack. He looked over to where Rachel was last at and saw that she was gone. She must have walked off when he was distracted by the sniper aimed at him.
Yelling in frustration he threw the phone at a nearby tree and watched as it shattered.
He pulled the item that was in his pocket and looked at it.
No one was going to make him look like an idiot. Not Rachel, not his uncle, no one.
/
The garden areas were the perfect place to unwind on campus. It was quiet, calming and people could enjoy looking at the flowers.
This was Rachel's second favorite place to study besides the library. Since Jeremy caused a scene in the library, she figured it would be best to avoid that place for a little while. Least she didn't have to worry about Jeremy following her into the garden since he was allergic to pollen.
Sitting on one of the benches, she sighed as she stretched out her tired limbs. She was done with classes for the day so that meant she was free for the rest of the day. She thought about her midterm project. Who was close to her that she could use? She didn't have any other friends on campus aside from Isabella. She didn't want to expose Isebella's medical history to the rest of their class since they all sat together. She was starting to become good friends with Nathan. Maybe he could help? But then again he was the president's son so he was a for sure hell no.
Being the shy, quiet one had many downsides.
"Wow, I never realized statues could look so lifelike"
Rachel looked to see Leon standing in front of her. She gave him a small smile and flipped him off.
"If you pay me a dollar I'll perform a trick for you" she teased.
Leon smirked and sat next to her.
"What are you doing all the way here?" he asked.
"Thought it was a bad idea to study at the library since Jeremy acted like a prick there as well. Trying to keep a low profile" Rachel said.
Leon's face turned somber. He had seen the video. Even if Jeremy was at fault it didn't help Rachel at all. No one needed to see her at her weakest moment.
"How are you holding up?" he asked.
Rachel sighed wearily. She was getting tired of everyone asking her that question. She knew they really didn't care to see if she was alright, they just asked on instinct. But with Leon, she could tell that he really meant it when he asked.
"Well…least I know how messed up my hair was that day" she tried to joke.
"I'll talk to the big guy and see if that video can get pulled down" Leon said.
Rachel didn't need to have her personal life exposed like that to strangers. It was humiliating enough that people on campus saw.
Rachel laughed weakly as she looked at him.
"You seem to forget how the internet works. You can take something down as many times as you want, but it'll never go away. The cloud is like internet herpes, it'll just keep coming back"
Leon made a face at that.
"Did you really have to come up with that example?"
Rachel shrugged.
"Eh, Isabella was the one who actually came up with it"
"Of course she did"
Rachel played with the sleeves of her hoodie. She had her hood up all day but she took it down when Leon sat next to her. She knew she didn't have to hide from him.
"I want to take them down but if I do that, Jeremy wins" she said.
"I don't like it that everyone saw me like that, but I feel like people need to see it. It was scary and embarrassing but if this is what it takes for everyone to see what kind of person he really is then I'll deal with it. I mean think about it: what if he acted that way to a patient? If they didn't like the treatment he was offering them what is he going to do, force them to agree by yelling at them? I can't let him do that to someone else"
Leon just looked at her in silent amazement. Even though she was embarrassed and scared about what happened to her, she was still willing to let it be seen so everyone could see the bigger picture. It kind of reminded him in his rookie years when he just became a cop. Back before everything went downhill.
"You've got guts, Sunshine" he said.
Rachel mulled over what he said and shook her head.
"I wouldn't call that being brave. Logical is more like it. I did a bunch of hospitals a favor by letting everyone see what Jeremy is really like. As if anyone wants a doctor like him?"
"I'm sure they'll thank you for your noble sacrifice" Leon said.
Rachel huffed as she leaned back on the bench.
"If I'm going to be gutsy, then it'll be who I pick to use for my midterm project. I have no idea who I'm going to find to study on" she sighed.
"Why would picking someone be gutsy for you?" Leon asked.
"Because I don't talk to anyone aside from Isabella at this school" Rachel said.
"I need to go over someone's medical records and see what kind of injury they had and what I would have done differently if I was the one treating them. And of course it has to be someone I'm close with cause it's also to see if treating a loved one would cloud my judgement as opposed to treating a stranger. I would pick Isabella or someone from her family but I don't think anyone is ready to hear some of the crazy stuff they pulled when we were kids- "
"I don't think I'm ready to hear what your friend was like as a kid and I've seen some scary stuff in my line of work" Leon said flatly.
Rachel gave him a weak glare but ignored his outburst.
"And I don't talk to my brother so he's out of the picture. I'm sure the President wouldn't be happy if I studied his son so Nathan is a no go either. The only other person I've really talked to around here is you so I'm- "
She stopped talking and slowly looked at Leon. He worked for the President. He must have been in dangerous situations. Maybe seen and experienced some serious injuries?
Leon raised an eyebrow when he saw the look she was giving him.
"What?"
Her mind was screaming no but she was desperate. She needed to have a candidate by the end of the week and time was running out. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
"This is going to be very ballsy of me but could I ask for a huge favor?"
/
A/N: She's not going to ask what we all think she's going to ask is she? She must be really shy if she has no one else to use for her midterm.
Lot of crazy stuff is brewing. Only a matter of time before it explodes everywhere.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Take care!