Senior Week Ch. 07: Blinded

Jessie's naturally sweet face and friendly expression offered only disdainful surprise. Rachel swallowed and instinctively averted her gaze to look at Jeff. She hadn't seen him since she'd left his car in the parking lot of Baja Fiesta. Right after she'd finished sucking his dick for the second time that day. She swallowed again. His eyes showed surprise, too. But they also hinted at something else. Intrigue.

Rachel finally broke the awkward exchange as she felt the muscles in her legs thankfully reengage. She turned away quickly and slipped through the crowd back in the direction she'd left her friends. She didn't want to deal with Jessie and Jeff. Especially not Jeff. After what she'd done with him, she'd be okay if she never saw his face again.

As she made her way back across the club, she felt the tension begin to subside. It was as if she could physically distance herself from the scene of the crime and leave the drama in her wake. She shook her head as she felt the buzzing in her senses dull slowly. It had been a close call, but everything would be fine.

She smiled brightly as she finally returned to where she had left Rebecca and Derrick standing. But her stomach knotted up again as she processed very different expressions in return. They weren't smiling. They looked serious. And possibly angry. Rachel suddenly got that sinking feeling like she was about to get in trouble with her parents for something they'd found out. She cocked her head in nervous confusion as she tried to comprehend their looks.

"Hey! What's wro-? Oh! The waters! I'm sorry! I was getting them when, um-."

Derrick scowled and cut her off.

"Yeah, I saw what you were doing." His expression darkened further. "Who was the guy?"

Rachel felt the hair on her neck stand up. She flashed a nervous glance at Rebecca, who only looked back at her with similarly narrowed eyes. She licked her lips and turned again to Derrick, her eyes wide.

"What? Um, what guy? Oh, him? He's nobody. Just an old, um-."

Derrick scoffed as he cut off her stammering response.

"Nobody, huh? I just saw you make out with him. Didn't look like nobody."

Rachel again looked to Rebecca for help, but she didn't budge. She tensed as she felt her defenses kicking in again. Her fear hardened into anger and she cocked her head with in annoyance.

"Making out? I'm sorry, what does that have to do with anything? Were you spying on me? What does it matter? I said it was nothing."

She stepped into Derrick and brought a hand to his shirt. She began rubbing his chest as she turned her expression back to one of seduction. But Derrick flinched and pushed her hand away. He glared down at her and shook his head.

" 'What does it matter?' It's-." He paused and sighed angrily. "Look, I 'm not saying that I expect-. Whatever. If you're just biding your time with me here until you find something better then, like, don't fucking bother."

Rachel was stunned. She stared at him incredulously as she raced to find something to say in reply. She swallowed hard and stumbled over her words.

"Wha-? Derrick! No! That's not what I'm-. Why are you so-?"

Derrick cut her off again and looked away. He shot Rebecca a quick solemn glance before turning away from both girls.

"Just forget it. I'm out of here."

Rachel again could only stand frozen and she didn't even reach for him as he walked away in a huff. She was too stunned to even know how to feel. Should she yell? Laugh? Cry? Where had all that come from? She finally shook free of her funk and looked over at Rebecca with a puzzled expression.

"What was his problem?"

Rebecca stared blankly back at her friend before twisting her palms open in disbelief. She smirked at Rachel's oblivious question.

"Rachel. Are you serious? What was his problem? We both just watched you throw yourself at Tyler and then lead him off to God knows where. Have you lost your mind?"

Rachel blinked a few times in confusion before smiling back incredulously.

"Becca, what? Lost my mind? What the hell is going on? Why is everyone so crazy all of a sudden? God, first Tyler, then Derrick. And now you?? I didn't do anything!"

Rebecca's jaw tightened reflexively and she took a deep breath. Rachel was scaring her a little. How could she be so disconnected from her own actions? She took a step closer and put her hands on her friend's shoulders. Her face turned gravely serious and she spoke in a low tone.

"Look, you know I love you, sweetie. And I've always said you should do what makes you happy. But I told you already to leave well enough alone. This is about her, isn't it? You're going out of your way to hurt people now. That's not you!"

Rachel scoffed, like her friend couldn't possibly be serious.

"Hurt people? Becca! What are you-? I'm just having a little fun."

Rebecca removed her hands from Rachel's shoulders and her expression darkened. She sniffed in sharply through her nose and nodded as she looked at the ceiling and gathered her words.

"Fun? Just a little fun? Well, you can keep having your fun by yourself. Sure looks like it's working out for you. I'm going to go find the other girls."

Rachel stood speechless as Rebecca turned and casually walked away. She was suddenly alone. Surrounded by hundreds of people, but completely alone. Her head still spun from the events of the past five minutes, and while it had temporarily sobered her up, she again felt the powerful rush of the alcohol.

She took a deep breath and chewed on her lip anxiously. Her defenses came back and she finally scoffed in annoyance. What was everyone's problem? Well, whatever. If they wanted to be by themselves, so did she. Slapping an empty cup roughly off the table in front of her, Rachel set her jaw and began to make her way to the front of the club. There was simply no reason to stay anymore.

***

Rachel ran her hands back through the dangling strands of her sandy-blonde hair as she sat on her bed with her legs tucked up to her chin. Her back felt tight and stiff from the uncomfortable angle she had stretched herself into but she refused to move. Her face pressing into the hard, denim-covered outline of her kneecaps, she sighed and let her mind continue to race.

When she'd first returned to the beach house alone, she'd sat on the couch for a while and racked her fuzzy brain. She'd tried to replay the events at the club to determine if she truly had been out of line. She didn't care about Erica, but Derrick and Rebecca's reactions had really bothered her. Realizing that she was driving herself crazy with her thoughts, she'd started drinking again to take the edge off. She'd poured out a few shots and gone back to her room to try to relax.

She'd had little success to that end, and after a few hours, she'd finally heard the giggles and chatter of her friends returning from the club. It was a little past one in the morning and it sounded like the girls had enjoyed themselves. She sighed and let the strands of her hair fall from her fingers again. She hadn't even changed out of her clothes.

She flinched suddenly as she heard the door knob turn and the door swing open. She raised her head and smirked as she watched Rebecca enter the room. Rebecca's expression had been light and joyful, but her smile faded as she glanced around and registered Rachel's presence. She walked silently over to her bed and began putting her stuff away, removing her shirt and jeans and opening a drawer to retrieve a tank top. She said nothing.

Rachel watched her tensely and swallowed hard at her friend's silence. Really? So it was the cold shoulder now, huh? She sighed loudly for effect. Still nothing. Finally, she rolled her eyes and decided to take the first step. She tried to sound friendly as she spoke.

"Did you guys have fun?"

Rebecca shot her a quick, blank look before turning back to what she was doing. She spoke with her back turned.

"Yeah. It was a great time." She turned back towards Rachel and raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Did you have more of your fun?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. So it was going to be like that...

"Becca. Really? Are you still hung up on-?"

Rebecca cut her off.

"Why are you still messing with that girl?"

Rachel's eyes narrowed. She felt betrayed. Her lip stiffened as she spoke.

" 'Messing with that girl'? Erica? God, what is with you and defending her? She's horrible! She deserves it! You don't know the things she's said about me! You don't know the things she's done!"

Rebecca dropped the covers that she had been pulling down and put her hands on her hips. Rachel now had her full attention.

"Well, tell me. What? What has she done? Because, I know what you've done. You've fucked her boyfriend. Twice. Maybe more for all I know. And you went after him again tonight. You're out of control!"

Rachel's face hardened. She scoffed and shook her head in annoyance.

"Whatever. How about you just worry about yourself? I know what I'm doing."

She kept hard eye contact with her friend, but Rebecca matched her stare and then some. She looked into Rachel's eyes and spoke with a calm tone.

"Did you know what you were doing with Brad? And Matt?"

Rachel's heart skipped a beat and shivers shot down her spine. Her lungs tightened and she felt the first burning pinch of tears forming behind her eyes. She swallowed painfully to push her emotional tide back down into the pit of her stomach. Her voice trembled.

"Why would you-? How long do I have to pay for that? How long will you hold that over my head?"

Rebecca saw the anguish beginning to form in her friend's face and she backpedaled. She hadn't meant to hurt Rachel. She'd just needed to get her point across.

"Rach, no. I'm not holding it over your head. It's forgiven and you know that. But when you act like this, you scare me. You're always dancing around a dangerous line and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Rachel felt her anxiety levels begin to drop a little but the words had still found their mark. This had been the first time Rebecca had brought up the ugly incident in a serious way. It made her feel awful. She felt the need to defend herself.

"Rebecca, you know how sorry I still am about that. But this isn't the same thing at all!"

Rebecca fluffed a pillow angrily and sat down on the edge of her bed. She sighed.

"You're right. It's not the same. It's worse this time. At least then you just let things get out of control. With this, you're doing it all on purpose. You're hurting people. On purpose. And for what? Revenge? Because you want to win something? What are you winning? There is no prize. There are no winners. Only losers. You can't see that?"

Rachel's mouth felt dry. Her muscles locked and she could only look back at her friend with a frozen stare. Was Rebecca right? Was she taking this too far? She was just so overcome with her lust for revenge against Erica and the way she treated her. It wasn't even about a specific incident anymore. She just felt like Erica had always looked down on her. Like she was laughing at her all the time. And she wanted so badly to shove it back in her face. Her stomach twisted. Maybe she had been out of line. But still, why couldn't Rebecca just take her side anyway? They were best friends. They should have each other's backs regardless.

Seeing Rachel's non-reaction, Rebecca only smirked. She obviously wasn't getting through. She sat in her bed and gave Rachel a final glance.

"Well, I'm going to bed. You can do whatever you want. Just leave me out of it."

With that, she reached over and flicked off the light switch. The room went completely dark and Rachel flinched at the change. She remained still, hugging her knees for several minutes, trying to figure out what should come next. She finally lied down on her pillow and tried to empty her mind. She just wanted to close the chapter on this terrible night and start fresh.

She'd been lying there wide awake and restless for a long time when she finally sighed and sat back up. She didn't know how long she'd been on the bed but it felt like hours. She clicked on her phone and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright glare. It was almost 2 A.M.

She obviously couldn't sleep or relax and she didn't want to be in the room with her angry friend any longer. Even Rebecca's sleeping breaths sounded cold and judgmental. She stood up and steadied herself for a second as she felt her head rush. She was possibly even drunker now than she had been when she'd first returned to the house. She needed some air.

She walked down the stairs gingerly and made her way into the living room. The house was silent again as the rest of her roommates had apparently turned in for the night as well. She wondered if any of them had found themselves a boy to have fun with. She remembered she'd seen Jenn with someone during the short time she'd been in the club.

The image suddenly pushed Rachel's thoughts back to Derrick. Her realization of just how sexually frustrated she was came pouring back. It was supposed to have been a fun night! But clearly she'd screwed that up.

She stepped out of the front door and closed it softly behind her. The cool air felt good on her skin and she closed her eyes. As opposed to the twitchy silence inside the house, the silence of the outdoors felt somehow calming and soothing. She stood quietly and had been content to simply relax and breathe deeply for a few minutes when she heard some movement nearby.

Rachel opened her eyes and looked over across the shared parking lot of their complex. There was a boy talking on his cellphone while smoking a cigarette. Rachel squinted. She knew him. He was one of the boys from Derrick's house.

Derrick.

Rachel felt herself tingle again as she pictured his cute face. She had really been looking forward to having another fun night with him. She frowned. He was obviously pissed at her now though. And the lights in their unit seemed dark. Her stomach fluttered as a thought popped into her head. She grinned subtly and flicked her eyes back over to the boy talking on his phone. Maybe it wasn't too late...

Rachel pushed herself off the wall of her house and started walking in the direction of the voice. As she approached, she saw him turn and register her presence. She was still dressed in her outfit from earlier and even in the darkness of the parking lot, she could see his eyes widen. She stopped a few feet away and smiled at him politely while he spoke on the phone. He smiled back and his eyes darted to her chest. He took another drag from his cigarette and wrapped up his conversation.

Rachel grinned as he hung up the phone and nodded her chin. She'd forgotten his name but it didn't matter.

"Hey! Sorry to, like, creep on you here. But, um, think I could bum a cigarette?"

The guy smiled back and nodded quickly. He fished the pack out of his pocket and held it out to her. He beamed.

"Of course!"

Rachel smiled warmly and slid a cigarette out and put it to her lips. She rarely ever smoked. Only when she was drinking, and never more than one per night. And she actually didn't need one right now either. But she had an ulterior motive

Taking the lighter from his extended hand, she smiled and lit up. She pulled the smoke in smoothly and pushed it back out with pursed lips.

"Thank you so much! You're a life saver!"

Her new friend beamed again and slid the lighter back into his jeans. He again stole a deep glance at her tits before nodding to her.

"No problem. Rachel, right?" He knew already.

Rachel smiled and nodded. As she racked her brain to remember his name, he jumped in to save her.

"Dave, remember?"

Rachel flashed her eyes and nodded. "Dave! No, of course. I remember!" She grinned at him. "So you out here all alone? Rest of your friends passed out?"

Dave nodded with a scoffing laugh. "Yup. Bunch of bitches. Guess they can't hang."

Rachel giggled. "Yeah, I'd been hanging out with Derrick earlier but we got separated. Did he come back with you?"

Dave nodded again and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. One of our friends is an idiot. He was too hammered and apparently pissed off one of the waitresses. So Derrick and me and a few others got him out of there and came back a little early."

He paused and shook his head.

"Derrick was all moody though. Dude went to bed as soon as we got back."

Rachel took another drag. "Hmmm. So he's up in his room?"

Dave looked at her curiously. "Well, yeah, but I mean, he's definitely passed out. Why?"

Rachel smiled at him and looked over at the door to their condo. She shot Dave a warm grin and flashed her eyes.

"Thank you so much for the cigarette, Dave. Seriously. That was perfect."

Before he could respond, Rachel spun on her heels and began heading towards their door. She dropped her cig into a sandy barrel ashtray on the pavement. It wasn't even half-way smoked. She started to reach for the door knob when Dave called out. His eyes looked a little desperate. He clearly didn't want this gorgeous girl to get away so quickly.

"Wait! What are you-? I don't understand."

Rachel turned back towards him and smiled again.

"Thanks again, Dave. Really."

Dave flinched as she winked at him and ducked into his house, shutting the door behind her. He stared at the closed door for a few seconds as he took final drag. Flicking the butt away, he shook his head in frustration and cursed as he began scrolling idly through his phone again. Damn. She was gone.

***

Rachel held her breath as she slowly tiptoed her way up the stairwell and into the upstairs hallway of Derrick's condo. Her bare feet moved silently on the carpet and she shivered with excitement as she made her way down the corridor. The unit was identical to hers, and despite her hazy, drunken state, she had no problem navigating her way to his room in the dark.

She paused momentarily in front of his door before silently pushing it open and sliding her way inside. Her eyes were met with nothing but more pitch black darkness and she held totally still as she focused on her other senses to guide her. Soon enough, her ears picked up the gentle sounds of rhythmic breathing. She grinned. Derrick might have been pissed at her, but she could definitely make it up to him.

Her lips pursed deviously, she turned and began to move silently towards the bed. She still couldn't see him but she could hear him breathing louder now. She knew he had a roommate so she didn't want to wake anyone up. Plus, it would be a lot more exciting if she took him by surprise.

With silent precision, she leaned over and peeled the covers up from the bottom corner of the bed. She could just barely make out the outlines of his legs and she tingled with excitement as she saw the fuzzy image of his boxers come into view. Deciding to move forward, she put one knee onto the bed and tested its weight.

A slight creaking noise trickled out and she glanced quickly back over her shoulder to make sure his roommate hadn't stirred. Her head was still swimming from the alcohol and she focused her muscles as she did her best to stay balanced. Finally, she brought her other knee to the bed and slowly bent her body over his waist. She'd bunched the covers up onto his stomach and she couldn't see his chest or face. She liked that since it meant he couldn't see her either. She couldn't wait for his reaction when he realized what she was doing.

Her hands trembling, she brought her fingers to the edge of his waistband and slowly pulled the material down. She could barely make out the blurry shape of his penis and she reached out and touched him gently. She smiled as the warm, soft flesh greeted her palm. He wasn't hard, but she was pretty sure that would be changing quickly.