Chapter fourteen: Rachel

Finally, sanctuary. I sighed out heavily when I entered my room and laid flat on my back, making faux snow angels on my toasty comforter. Mom probably just did the laundry. It was warm. I liked that. I wiggled and rolled myself into a cocoon. I will emerge in a butterfly once I take a nap. "Ahhh." I sighed. My eyes were fluttering close. This was outstanding. First day of school completed. First day. Day one. What did he mean by that? I looked to my window for any movement in his room. There wasn't his shadow. My guess was from moving around so much. I missed him being around. Ugh, why did I miss him? I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Great, I had to get out of my cocoon. I reached inside. It was Jaime calling for a video chat. "Hey!" I answered with glee.

"Hi, stranger. Good to see your face," he chuckled. He was in his room, laying on his bed as well.

I laughed, "you, too."

"How was your summer?" He asked. His voice was groggy and low like he just woke up from a nap. His hair was messy from the pillow, and he looked tanner. His brown eyes were tired, he attempted to keep them open.

"I babysat, made some money. Read. How was your trip? Your family?" I sat up in a comfortable position, my legs were straight out.

"Family is good. My abuela was excited to see us. Most of the time it was boring."

"Come on. You traveled across the world. You call that boring?"

"I stayed at my abuela's house most of the time and we watched novelas. I went to the mall once and the beach. I bought souvenirs."

"At least you got to see your relatives. These souvenirs you speak of, is there at least one for me and Susie?" I inquired with pouty lips.

He chuckled, "there might be."

"Yay! Have you called her?"

"I did, I wanted to hear your voice, too. She told me about your neighbor, Andrew."

"She did?" I frowned.

"That you're in love with him," he teased.

"I am not in love with him, never was. He's an old friend from before I moved here. Susie's exaggerating."

"So there's nothing between you two?"

Was there? When he left, I thought I wouldn't see him again. He's back in my life. I looked at his window again for any movement. He wasn't there. It wasn't love, I was a kid with a crush, it wouldn't have worked, he left. "No." I paused. Not anymore, I wanted to say but it drifted from my mind.

"Tell me what's on your mind," he asked, his eyes wide and lightened.

"It doesn't matter, anyway." I sighed, leaning my cheek against my hand.

"I missed you," he said.

"I missed you, too," I said.

"I thought about you alot. What happened between us." I swished my mouth to the side. One kiss. It meant nothing. It was a 'have a good trip' kind of kiss. A kiss he initiated. A quick peck that lingered and I stopped it. Susie hasn't told him how she feels about him. I haven't told her what happened. I know she won't be happy when she does find out. "We should talk about it."

"We should." I nodded, picking off the stray string off my shirt. It wasn't my place to tell him how Susie feels. She wanted to be the one to tell him. "It was nice, but we're friends. Only friends."

"I know, I guess I was caught in the moment, hey let's talk about this later. My mom's calling me," I lied smoothly.

"Oh, ok. There's a party this weekend."

"Yeah. Susie told me. Student aid Kim is throwing it. Are you going?"

"I didn't want to, but a party won't hurt me." I shrugged.

He smirked. I could see why Susie liked him so much. I'll admit there have been thoughts about him and me that crossed my mind. Jaime was considerate, thoughtful, handsome and athletic.He had the kind of stare like you were the only one in the room. Before he left, he told us that he was going to try out for soccer. He's Susie's type, not mine. I shouldn't have let him kiss me, I shouldn't have kissed him back. I needed to tell her, soon. Really soon.

"Well, I hope to see you there."

"Yeah." I nodded. "See ya."

"See ya." He disconnected the call. I tossed my phone on my bed and laid back. I looked at the window again, and a shadow came to Andrew's window. I titled my body for a better view. His words still swirled in my head. Day one. I guess since his dad was in the military they moved a lot and he missed him. I remembered when he was excited when he came home on those days. I wouldn't admit it to his face, I missed him. The distance was hard enough it made me almost forget him. Seeing him again all these feelings were coming back, I didn't want to feel this way. I stood and jogged downstairs. Mom was in the kitchen in front of the counter with a mug of hot water. I headed to the fridge and opened it for a snack.

"How was school?" mom asked, not taking her eyes off her mug.

"Fine," I answered. Ooh, fruit gushers. I snatched it and opened it carefully.

"It's good to see Andrew and his family, huh?"

"I guess," I shrugged. I chewed on the gushers slowly.

"You should be a little nicer to Andrew. He's your old friend. We haven't seen them in a long time."

"What's for dinner?" I asked in a gentle voice, trying to change the subject.

"Rachel," mom said in her scolding voice and hard stare.

"What?" I tried to sound innocent, looking away and up the pantry. "Are there any cookies?"

"That's for dessert. You need to be nicer to Andrew." Mom pointed at me with a scolding tone.

"I am nice." She gave me an 'you're kidding' expression. "I am."

"Last night you were practically pushing him out the door. What's going on?"

"I'm... I don't know. I thought we wouldn't see them again. At all." The way their family moved so much, it was lucky that we came back to each other. The family next door. As much as I wanted it to be like old times, it's different. Sure, he called me by the same nickname, he's older, I'm older. What would be the point of getting close so he could leave again?

"Didn't you tell me he wrote to you?"

"Once." I had the letter in my nightstand drawer in a box. I kept them in a decorative box. It was very Lara Jean Covey of me. He wrote on the day he left, he didn't tell me anything else except that I should have a good life. I wasn't expecting anything more or less from him.

"Rachel, his dad's been stationed so many times. For once, they're finally in one place for the long haul."

"Are they?"

"Yes. It must be hard on them to move around so much." Mom had a point. It's not like he ran away from home. Andrew was happy when his dad was home, they were close.

"You need to give him a chance. Maybe go over to his house and watch a movie."

"We're not kids anymore, mom."

"Well, try to show him around town since he's new here. Catch up with him and see what he likes." She patted my shoulder before going to the fridge herself, I chewed on one of the gushers slowly. Tomorrow was another school day. I could try to reconnect.