“Just some guy,” Rachel said.

“A GUY!” her dad said, looking skeptical.

“John, you should let her go. She’s been a good girl,” her mom chimed in.

“Thanks, Mom!” Rachel said.

“Which guy?” her dad asked.

“Just some kid from my class named Brian. He’s a nice kid. Don’t worry!” she said.

“Well, if you’re home by 10, I’ll let you go. It’s a school night, remember,” her dad said.

“Yes! I know, Dad. I promise, I’ll be home by 10.

Rachel took out her phone again and texted Brian letting him know she was on for tonight.

“I gotta go now! He’s picking me up at 7 o’clock. I have to get ready!” Rachel said with a giggle.

“Mom, I love you, I’ll come visit you again soon,” she said.

“I love you, Rachel and I’m so glad you are back home and safe,” her mom said.

“See you soon,” her dad said. “I’ll be a few minutes behind you.”

CHAPTER 10

Rachel couldn’t wait to go on her movie date tonight. It was her first date is a very long time, and she couldn’t believe how quickly she was falling for Brian. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way for a guy, and was happy to feel this feeling again.

She wanted to impress Brian and had picked out the perfect outfit in her head; now all she had to do was find it in all the boxes of clothes that were still stacked in her bedroom. She hadn’t had much time yet to unpack all her things and hang them in her closet, but she knew she had a super cute denim skirt from the Gap and a scoop neck black metallic tee shirt from Delia’s. She rummaged through the boxes until she found the two items and then put them on. She was actually surprised that she remembered the clothes she had since apparently she hadn’t worn them in a while. The weather was cold, so she put on black opaque tights and her favorite lace up Dr. Martin’s boots. She knew she looked cool even before she checked herself out in the mirror.

HONK HONK

Rachel heard the horn beep from her driveway. She quickly checked her watch and saw that it was 7 o’clock. She knew Brian was downstairs waiting for her. She looked in the mirror one last time, fluffed her hair, put on some lip gloss and ran downstairs and out the front door, hearing it slam behind her.

Then, she heard her dad come running out behind her, “Rachel, don’t forget you need to be back here by ten sharp. Not a minute later.”

“I got it dad. Goodbye!” Rachel said, feeling somewhat embarrassed that her dad ran outside after her to remind her of her curfew.

Brian rolled down his window as Rachel got closer, “Hey Hun, lookin’ good!”

“Hi Brian, thanks for picking me up!” Rachel said.

“You bet,” he said. “Let’s get outta here, we don’t want to be late.”

Rachel jumped into the front seat of his Ford pick up truck and off he drove towards the movie theater.

“Cool truck!” Rachel said, putting on her seatbelt and taking a look around.

“Thanks, Hun, it’s my dads,” Brian said.

“Sweet, he let you take it out tonight?” Rachel asked.

“Yup!” Brian said. “Do you have a car?”

“Oh, well..I don’t have my license yet, so no,” Rachel said.

“That’s funny, you’re almost 18 right?” Brian asked. “You should have gotten your license two years ago!”

Rachel thought for a moment as he had just made a good point. She didn’t realize that not only had she forgotten the past two years, she was now behind in many things.

“Yeah, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet,” Rachel, said, trying to dodge his question.

“Well, if you ever want a lesson, I’ll be happy to teach you. I have my senior license now, so I can teach you and we can stay out past 9pm,” Brian said.

“Really if you have your junior license you have to be in by 9?” Rachel asked.

“Yes, that’s the rule!” Brian said.

“Sounds good,” Rachel added. “I’ll take you up on it sometime. Still studying for the written exam.”

“So what’s playing tonight?” Rachel asked, curious about the movie.

“It’s a double feature, not sure exactly what movie it is but it’s a horror and a comedy. You like horrors?” Brian asked.

“Sure, why not!” Rachel said, trying to sound cool. She didn’t like horrors that much but was just happy to be on this date that she would have seen anything.

“I hate to sound like a loser, but I have to be home by ten. My dad will kill me if I’m not!,” Rachel said softly. “I hope that doesn’t mess up your plans!”

“No worries. I have to be in by ten thirty since it’s a school night anyway. No sweat,” Brian said.

Rachel felt a sense of relief that they had similar curfews. She was glad he wasn’t the party type who stayed out all night since she’d never been like that. She was glad that he seemed to respect his parents wishes and that they were both on similar pages.

As the pulled into the movies, Rachel was surprised to see the parking lot flooded with people from her high school. She couldn’t believe how popular Monday Madness was at this movie theater. It was as if everyone in the entire school was there and even people from surrounding schools as well. She’d never seen this many teenagers in one place before.

Brian parked the car and the two walked inside the theater. The smell of buttery popcorn filled the air and the loud voices from all the kids made it hard to her Brian even though he was next to her.

“You want a snack?” Brian asked her.

“Sure!” Rachel said.

The two walked over to the enormously long line at the concession stand, and waited for their turn. As they stood there talking and laughing, Dana walked over with her other friends.

“Hi, Rachel,” Dana said, looking her up and down inquisitively.

“Hi D, What’s up?” Rachel asked.

“Thought you couldn’t make it,” Dana said.

“Yeah, thought you weren’t allowed out?” Penny said.

“Apparently that was a lie,” Samantha said, looking at her strangely and then looking at Brian.

“Guess she didn’t want to go with us,” Amy chimed in.

“Guys, c’mon, stop giving me a hard time. It was a last minute thing,” Rachel said.

“Clearly!” Sam said, looking at her perfectly polished outfit. “Really last minute.”

“Hi Girls,” Brian added. “Just taking Rachel out tonight.”

Rachel turned to Brian and smiled at him and then leaned into him for a hug. She couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt around him already and how close they were getting. It was perfect.

“Rach, can you come here for a sec?” Dana asked.

Rachel looked at Brian and he nodded his head, “Sure!” Rachel said.

Rachel and Dana walked together into the girl’s bathroom.

“Rach, what do you think you’re doing?” Dana asked.

“What do you mean?” Rachel asked. “I’m going to see a movie with Brian.”

“Yeah, exactly!” Dana said.

“So?” Rachel asked. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that Sam has liked Brian forever now, and she thought he was going to ask her out soon,” Dana said.

“Huh?” Rachel asked sounding confused.

“Brian is Sam’s guy. She’s been after him for a while now,” Dana said.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that? She didn’t mention anything to me,” Rachel said.

“You should really tell him you can’t go out with him tonight. You have to back out of it. If you want to be friends with us, you will do that,” Dana said.

Rachel couldn’t believe what was happening. Was she really just given an ultimatum to be her friend?

“Listen, D. Thank you for telling me this, but Brian asked me out. I didn’t do anything wrong here,” Rachel said. “I like him now. I’m not going to just drop him like this,” Rachel said.

“Rachel, you better drop him if you know what’s good for you. You’re practically a new girl here, and you don’t want to lose the few friends you still have. Trust me, it’s for your own good,” Dana said.

Rachel couldn’t believe the words coming from Dana’s mouth. Since when did she care more about Samantha than her? This was all too crazy for her and she couldn’t take it anymore. She was angry at the situation and even angrier at the ultimatum that she’d just been given. Of course she wanted to keep her girl friends, but at the same time, she really liked Brian. She didn’t know what to do.

“I’m only telling you this because I’m your friend, and I don’t want to see you make a mistake,” Dana said. “I don’t want you to lose your friends all because of some guy.”

“This is really unfair,” Rachel said. “I can’t help it if he asked me out. He clearly likes me and not Sam. What can I do about that? Cover up my feelings?”

“That’s what I’d do,” Dana said with a snicker. “You’re not being a good friend.”

“Listen, D, I’m going through a lot right now. This is the last thing I should have to worry about. You guys all need to cut me some slack here,” Rachel begged. “I did nothing wrong and I’m going to keep our plans tonight. I’m sorry if you or the girls get upset by this, but that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Ok, if that’s your choice. That’s what you’ll do. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Dana said.

“Whatever,” Rachel said, as she turned to walk out of the bathroom and back towards Brian. “I thought we were better friends than this.”

Rachel couldn’t believe what had just gone down in the bathroom. She couldn’t believe her BFF Dana just treated her like that. It was unspeakable. She was upset and angry all at the same time. Not to mention, now she felt guilty for going out with Brian. She hated that she felt that way, but her girlfriends were important to her as well. She didn’t want to lose them over a guy, but at the same time, she didn’t know the whole back-story. The whole situation was unfair to her and she felt mistreated.