The next morning she woke up early and called Cindy. It was all part of her plan, “Hey Cindy, my mom is going to give me a ride this morning. She wants to talk about something, I will see you at practice,” she said. She didn’t want to see Tess until later.
“No problem brotha!” Cindy said and Rachael laughed. Cindy said the absolute strangest things sometimes. It made her feel bad that she was trying to seduce her little sister. She walked down the stairs and found her mom, sitting quietly in the living. She looked beautiful but incredibly sad. Rachael wished that there was something to cheer her mother up out of this funk that she had been in lately, but there wasn’t really any time for that.
“Hey mom, Cindy’s car is getting inspected today. Can you give me a ride to school?” she asked and her mother just kept staring at the TV for a second, “Mom!”
“Oh sure honey, just go grab my keys,” Emma said, pointing towards her purse. Rachael retrieved it and soon they were in the car.
“Thanks mom,” Rachael said as they reached the school and grabbed her backpack. But Emma put out her hand and grabbed her daughter’s shoulder.
“Honey can we talk about something for a second?” She asked and Rachael felt her stomach drop into her knees. Somehow her mother had found out about everything and she was screwed. This was going to be hell.
“What is it?” Rachael said, trying to sound cool but failing.
“I know you don’t want to do pageants,” Emma started and Rachael knew that she was out of the woods. Her mother never noticed anything about her except that she was pretty. So why had she expected something different now that she was in trouble.
“Yeah…” Rachael said. She wanted to get out of the car now. Her mother was so annoying sometimes.
“Well I have come to accept that,” her mother said, looking at her with big doe eyes as though it were a major failing on her part, “But I saw an ad in one of my pageant websites and there is going to be a pageant for mothers between the ages of 30-50 here in town and I think I want to do it,” she said. Rachael almost laughed. Her cover story had turned into reality.
“Listen mom, I am going to be late. Do what you want,” Rachael said and rolled her eyes. Emma started to say something but Rachael was already out of the car and slamming the door behind her. There was no time for this sort of thing today.
The rest of the school day was pretty easy. She felt good now that she was on the hunt. She wasn’t worried about Ariel and all of her thoughts about Kitty were pleasant. It was a little bit tough not to see Kitty, not to hang out with her, not to have sex with her. Cheerleading seemed to help. Practice went well and her coach even commented on what seemed to be an increased level of dedication and concentration.
Finally, the day was over and Rachael left school. She knew that on Thursday afternoons Tess would meet some of her friends at a local Mexican restaurant for a late lunch after school. She was going to casually make her way over there and have a little conversation with her. It was a short walk but Rachael had to make a circuitous route to make sure that Tess didn’t see her on her way.
About half an hour after school let out, Rachael made her way into the restaurant. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw that Tess was there with a group of her friends. They looked really sexy and Rachael realized that this was going to be fun. But it all depended on Tess. Rachael quickly ordered a burrito and got a coke and walked past Tess’ table slowly, but not embarrassingly so.
“Hey Rach!” Tess said, a little too excited to be cool. Rachael closed her eyes and knew that she was in. This might just work. She turned around casually and that Tess and all her friends were looking at her.
“What’s up,” she said and walked over to them.
“Nothing, why didn’t you ride with us today?” Tess said, looking around at the other girls to see if they were impressed. Tess’ friends were pretty, but they were all sort of “hangers-on” types. Rachael was a prom queen type.
“I had to ride with my mom,” Rachael said in such a way as to convey to Tess that it had something to do with their earlier conversation and that it should remain a secret.
“That’s cool,” Tess said.
“Yeah I guess. I mean I would have preferred to ride with you guys, but you know how it is sometimes,” she said, looking directly at Tess. She was making a specific effort not to look at any of Tess’ friends. She wanted Tess to know that she had her complete and undivided attention.
“I like your purse,” one of Tess’ blonde friends said. Rachael turned and looked at her. She knew this girl’s face but didn’t know her name. Her natural inclination was to be bright and cheerful with everyone, but her plans demanded something different.
“Thanks,” she said sort of sarcastically, “It’s so old and out of style.” The girl looked embarrassed, “YOU have a nice bag Tess,” Rachael said, picking it up and admiring it. She set in back down, making deep eye contact with Tess. As she set it down, she gently rubbed her hand against Tess’ arm.
“Thanks!” Tess said. The other girl looked embarrassed and Rachael almost felt bad about it on the surface, but she fought it off.
“So what are your plans for the weekend?” she asked.
“Me?” Tess asked, looking at her friends.
“Who else?”