Senior Week Ch. 04: Target Acquired

It had been during the height of the night's power when everything had taken a sudden turn for Rachel. As her mood swirled upward in lockstep with the energy of the party, she'd found herself teamed up with Rebecca in a playful game of beer pong with a few boys from the house. She'd been roped in by Rebecca's competitive drive, and while she'd have been content to simply float through the party, she'd accepted the challenge happily. But she'd also pulled her friend aside ahead of time and jokingly threatened her to not even dare considering putting any extracurricular wagers on the outcome.

As the game drug on, the girls had begun dancing somewhat provocatively together. While primarily motivated as a distraction attempt aimed at their male opponents, it was also simply a side-effect of the evening. As the rhythmic beat of never-ceasing music guided the party along three minutes at a time, their hips swayed and their bodies touched. The display hadn't gone unnoticed and they'd earned quite a few lustful glances and hushed, judging remarks.

And it was finally the latter that changed everything.

"Stop stalling and shoot!"

Rachel's taunting words fired across the table as her hand snaked around Rebecca's waist, pulling their bodies closer together. Bringing her other hand to her own belly button, she traced her fingers under the bottom of her almost meaningless tank top and scrunched the material upward, exposing even more of her flat stomach. She surged with confidence and her eyes flashed as she processed her opponents' gulping reactions and tangible arousal.

She listened to their joking pleas and retorts as they called out how they couldn't possibly make any shots with what was happening behind the cups. She could feel the palpable desire radiating from the other end of the table and it made her stomach flutter. But as she basked warmly in the hard stares and probing compliments, a different voice pierced her good feelings. A girl's voice. It came from behind her, from the screen door that led to the deck outside. There were barely any words. It was more a verbal scoff than a statement.

"Wow. Of course she's here."

Rachel couldn't see who had spoken but she somehow knew in her gut that the remark had been meant for her. It was a vaguely familiar voice that she needed to momentarily concentrate on to place exactly.

It was condescending. Judgmental. The tone was primarily confident, but a touch of insecurity twisted through it, like its owner was attempting to overcompensate. Rachel's eyes narrowed and she swallowed as her brain finally put a face to the words. Her lips curled into a dry smile. The owner of that voice had every right to be insecure.

With a casual flip of her hair, Rachel turned her head slowly to face the direction of the barb that had been tossed her way. She took a breath and smirked as she received visual confirmation of who she'd already known would be standing there. She cocked her head and twisted her face into her most cloying fake smile.

"Erica."

The name rolled off her tongue with a saccharine sweetness as she looked directly into the eyes of her old ex's current girlfriend. Rachel hadn't seen her face or heard her voice since that morning in Tyler's basement when they had-. Rachel smirked again at the memory and continued as she ran her eyes quickly up and down Erica's entire figure.

"It's good to see you. You look so..."

She paused and tapped a finger on her lips as if she were looking for the perfect word to compliment Erica's appearance. But of course that wasn't where she was headed. She let her eyes drift over Erica's body again and flashed a look of mock empathy as she finished the thought

"...so, um, well...hmmm." She tilted her head again and made her smile even sweeter.

Erica swallowed the insult and flashed her own sugary smile as she fired back.

"Aw, Rach! You too!"

She let her eyes linger purposefully over Rachel's far from modest outfit.

"Look at you. You, like, almost got dressed this evening!"

People standing nearby suddenly began to take notice as the opening barrage between the girls created a pocket of thick tension in the otherwise light atmosphere of the party. The boys on the other side of the beer pong table exchanged nervous glances as their game came to a grinding halt.

Rachel stiffened slightly at Erica's slick return volley but she smiled as her eyes involuntarily dropped to her own chest. She knew how she was dressed. It hadn't been some unfortunate accident. She also knew that Erica was likely jealous of her body. Erica was plenty hot herself; she had a smooth, slender figure with soft light skin and silky, platinum-blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. She was always well dressed, well-put together, and well-accessorized. And her piercing blue eyes gave her an aura of intensity that accentuated her sharp features.

But even with her boutique outfits and confident airs of superiority, she knew deep down that she couldn't turn heads like Rachel. At least not in that primal, lusting sort of way. Both girls knew. And it was from this shared knowledge that Rachel derived her power. When she'd first recognized that it had been Erica speaking, her immediate thoughts had gone elsewhere. To Tyler. If Erica had just walked in, there was a good chance she wasn't alone.

Rachel adjusted her stare away from Erica's smarmy smile to the boy standing uncomfortably behind her. Tyler's face was tight with tension. He had felt the feeling hit his gut the moment he and Erica had stepped inside the house and jointly registered Rachel's presence.

Tyler had been having a great start to his own senior week as well. He'd been drinking and hanging out with his boys and the good mood had still been flowing as he'd walked up to the house party being thrown by a few friends of his from a different school (the same boys that had invited the girls earlier that day). But from the second he'd recognized Rachel, he hadn't even gotten a chance to enjoy a moment of excited arousal before his stomach had sunk. He'd felt Erica's entire body bristle. And then she'd dropped her comment.

Rachel could see all of this on Tyler's face as she let her let her gaze linger on him unsubtly. She knew he would rather be anywhere else in the world than his current front row view to the early, low rumbles of an impending fight between two girls he had dated and been intimate with. But Rachel also saw something else. She saw arousal. She saw the excitement he was struggling to stifle as his gaze darted nervously over her body. She watched his eyes flick to her boobs for the third time since the girls had begun talking.

Rachel felt a mild tremor pass through her as she recalled that morning after prom. She didn't like thinking about that day too much, but in this moment, the memory brought none of the shame and only the excitement. Fueled suddenly by a shivery tingle between her legs, she brought a hand idly to the strap of her very visible bra and pretended to adjust it. She pursed her lips into a friendly smile and spoke right past Erica as if she wasn't even there.

"Hi Ty."

It was the perfect comeback to Erica's well-placed shot at her outfit. Instead of engaging her directly and searching for the next insult to hurl, Rachel simply hit her in her weakest spot. She looked right past Erica and made it obvious whom she was looking at. She brought a playful finger to her chest and she spoke to Tyler with the sweetest almost shy sounding voice, like she was seeing an old crush at a reunion.

Hi Ty.

Two simple words. A friendly greeting and a needle-stab shortening of his name, the way she would address him if they were still together. The same way Erica would address him now. Keeping her eyes on his, she gave the final nail a gentle tap and bit down softly on her lower lip.

Erica's feelings of superiority and confidence following her own insult rushed with sudden force from her body. Almost painfully. She had only expected Rachel to hit the ball back to her in a likewise manner, perhaps mocking the gaudiness of her designer purse or selecting a physical feature of hers to belittle. They were both quick and sharp and Erica knew she could keep matching whatever Rachel tossed back.

But she had felt her face tingle with prickly heat as she'd watched Rachel's playful eyes re-adjust to a new target directly over her shoulder. Pins shot through Erica's body and her muscles froze as Rachel teasingly played with her chest and spoke to her boyfriend like she wasn't even in the room. But when Rachel had twisted the knife with the flirty chewing of her lower lip, Erica thawed and sprang into action.

Her jaw drum tight, she widened her smug eyes and stepped forward towards her enemy. The cool confidence in her veins melted away and she began to tap only pure anger and hatred as her mind clouded over darkly.

She hated Rachel. Hated her. She hated the way she slutted herself all around to practically any boy who wanted it. She hated the endless rumors of blowjobs in upstairs bedrooms or school bathrooms. She hated the attention she got and dirty ways she cultivated it. She just hated the idea of her and she thought she was nothing but a vile, shameless whore.

But it was Rachel's history with Tyler that bubbled thickly over all of it. Erica had been so happy when Rachel had abruptly changed schools before their senior year. She didn't trust her for a second, and even though Tyler almost never spoke her name anymore, she still just knew that having her around could only be trouble.

All of these thoughts swirled through Erica's head as she sucked in an incredulous breath and spoke up in a tone both louder and shakier than she intended.

"Um, ex-CUSE me?"

She shook as she whipped her piercing glare between Rachel and Tyler's faces. Tyler's eyes were wide and he looked almost afraid. But Rachel only smiled. Warmly. It drove Erica even crazier.

"Are you actually flirting with my boyfriend right now??" Setting her jaw and rolling her eyes practically to the ceiling, she scoffed loudly.

"Just when I think you can't possibly be a bigger slu-!"

Rachel's eyes widened at the exchange's unexpected uptick in intensity. She had been about to return fire when Tyler suddenly stepped in and cut off Erica's final word. He reached out his strong arm and pulled her by the hand back to his body. Erica shot him a furious look but he cut her off before she could speak.

"Erica. Stop! What are you-?" He sighed in exasperation. His good feelings from the day were draining quickly. "Why would come in here and start all this bullshit?"

Erica's mouth fell open as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes like he was insane. Her lips quivered and she fired back at him with a tone that was half-angry, half-pleading.

"T-Tyler! Are you defending-? Oh my God! Babe!"

Tyler quickly backpedaled as he realized he had gone overboard. He didn't want to her to think he was taking a side against her. He shot a quick nervous glance over at Rachel and a few other staring faces as he tried to quickly regain control of the situation.

"No-. Erica, c'mon, I'm not-. That's not what I was-." He sighed again lowered his voice, painfully aware that they were now making a scene.

"That's obviously not what I was doing. I'm not defending her or anybody. But why would you just come in here and the first thing you do is start a fight? You just called her a huge slut for everyone to hear-."

Erica cut him off again and pleaded further.

"Because she is, Ty! She IS! Come on! You think I'm the only one who thinks that?"

She swallowed hard as she tried to keep control over her voice.

"And now she's gonna bat her lashes at you while I'm standing right here? Really?? I mean, I'm sure there's gotta be at least one or two other dicks at this party she hasn't sucked yet."

Erica's loud comment caught the attention of several new people nearby. Rachel had been watching her flounder with amusement but her final barb had gone too far. She bristled as she stood up from her leaned back position on the beer pong table and loudly interrupted.

"I'm sorry, what was that now? Did you really just-?"

Erica whipped her head around and shot hot daggers back towards Rachel's voice. She pushed Tyler away roughly, his grip weakened by his temporary shock at her words. She stepped back in towards Rachel and cocked her head.

"Oh, did I miss a memo? Did you, like, suddenly stop blowing every guy that passes by in the hall?"

Rachel felt her face redden and her ears catch fire. Her eyes darted around the room and she swallowed as she saw dozens of faces watching her with shocked curiosity. Boys were now grinning and leering. Girls had their brows raised. Rachel was no stranger to what her reputation was and she didn't run from it. She gave a lot of head. To a lot of guys.

But she wasn't standing in the hallways of Taylor Reed or Pine Valley. She didn't know many of the people at this party and they probably didn't know her either. And Erica making a public service announcement that she would certainly be the type to drop to her knees at a moment's notice suddenly made her feel low for the first time all day.

And also for the first time, she felt she had lost the upper hand. She licked her lips as her mind raced furiously to find the next perfect quip like she'd been doing all night. She opened her mouth to respond, but another voice cut her off.

"I'm sorry, bitch. But can we help you with something? Why are you even here?"

Rebecca had been taking in the whole scene with an amused expression. She had no idea who this angry chick was and she'd smiled reflexively as she'd found herself wondering what Rachel had done to deserve such an immediate and aggressive attack. Rebecca was protective over Rachel because she knew a lot of girls simply hated her based on casual rumor. It was ugly, catty behavior borne only of jealousy or judgment (or both). They had no direct interactions with Rachel or any true reason to disrespect her. They just didn't like who she was (or who they'd heard she was).

But she also knew that Rachel was no angel. She'd done some things (and done them with some boys) that she definitely shouldn't have. Rebecca knew this better than anyone and her amusement at the scene had temporarily darkened as she'd swallowed roughly to the dark memory of Brad and Matt and the chilling shiver it sent through her gut. But she'd brushed it off and grinned again as she'd watched her friend go back and forth with her raving enemy. This girl was pissed. Rachel had to have had some dirt on her hands, too...

But when Erica had upped the ante and loudly announced to the room what she thought Rachel used her mouth most for, Rebecca had seen enough. She wasn't going to let her friend twist in the wind. Whatever the beef was between these girls, Rebecca was still going to have Rachel's back. So she stepped forward and spoke coldly, her green eyes fierce and her hands on her hips. Rebecca could be very intimidating to anyone who found themselves trained in her sights. And she never backed down.

Erica was thrown for a second by the emergence of a second enemy but she'd quickly regained herself. She was no pushover either and she had just felt the momentum swing back to her side for the first time as Rachel had been momentarily stunned.

"Can you help me? Um, yeah sure. You can step back and mind your own business."

Her blue eyes pierced directly into Rebecca's as the girls locked stares. But Erica suddenly smiled sarcastically and raised an eyebrow as she spoke again.

"But then again, I mean, if you're friends with this girl, then I guess you're probably a huge slut, too. So maybe you should stick around since this applies to you as well."

Rebecca felt her heart pound and she moved with instinctual quickness. She stepped forward towards Erica in a menacing manner and brought a pointing finger up to her face.

"What did you just call me?"

Rachel snapped out of her haze and moved quickly to step in front of her friend. Rebecca wasn't one to take shit. Rachel had seen it first-hand. She might just hit Erica if things didn't settle quickly. She looked into Rebecca's eyes and gave her shoulder a firm squeeze. She smiled warmly and turned back towards Erica, who now had Tyler holding her by the arm again as he too had sensed the danger of impending escalation. Rachel smiled and spoke with a mockingly-earnest tone.

"Erica, look, we're just trying to have some fun tonight. In fact, we were minding our own business until you showed up." She indicated to the now silent table behind her. "We're not bothering you. Why is any of this necessary?"

Erica seethed at Rachel's disingenuous olive branch and she glanced around the room. People were still staring and she hadn't actually intended to start a full-on fight. She just hated Rachel so much and seeing her immediately upon entering the party had caused the bile to rise in the back of her throat. She knew that she should've just scoffed and kept her mouth shut but hadn't been able to resist throwing out a quick jab. And once she'd begun, she'd felt the power surge through her and hadn't been able to stop.

But now? Tyler was holding her firmly, Rachel's fired-up friend had gotten involved, and the room was watching them with wide eyes like a crowd at a boxing match just before the first round bell. She needed to shut it down, but she couldn't leave it be without a parting shot. One that she knew would stick deep into Rachel's gut.

Erica smiled again, this time almost genuinely, and shook her head like she was suddenly embarrassed. She pursed her lips into a friendly pout and stepped in towards Rachel. Pulling her hand free from Tyler's grasp, she reached out and brought a gentle touch to Rachel's bare shoulder. She looked her up and down and let her eyes linger on Rachel's obvious cleavage before refocusing on her face and speaking softly.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Rachel. I shouldn't have said anything to begin with."

She smiled sweetly and leaned in close to speak into Rachel's ear so that only she could hear.

"And I shouldn't have made fun of your shirt. At least there are no stains on it this time."

Rachel seized up at Erica's vicious, sneaky blow. She felt her stomach twist in knots as the entire prom disaster memories rushed to her brain. The shirt. The yellow shirt she'd worn to the afterparty that Jeff had-. It still hung in her closet, a reminder of that fateful day. Rachel wondered for a second how Erica even knew about all that. But as the memories she didn't want coursed over her, she felt her throat go dry. She recalled the moments she'd been hiding in the closet of Tyler's basement as Erica had relayed Jessie's text message conversation. She knew, all right.

While her strange talk with Kevin earlier in the day had already forced her to think more about that prom morning than she had in a while, having the images being conjured up via a malicious source made everything feel different. She still felt guilty and shameful about what she'd done, but time had truly done its job in smoothing out the jagged edges. Her reconciliation with Rebecca and her overdue extinguishment of her codependency towards Matt had helped her to stop hating herself and even her discussions with Kevin (as uncomfortable or confusing as they had been) had further cleansed her soul.

But hearing Erica mention the shirt with such mocking cruelty put her suddenly right back in that basement. She felt the utter lowness and lack of agency over her own body and decisions. She could still hear Jeff teasing her as she'd knelt stunned in front of him, her face and chest covered with the physical evidence of her gruesome deeds.