She looked into the eye of a passing storm (Rachel, Cai, Danny, Zoe)

[runrachelrun.insanejournal.com]

With her nerves so high, Rachel was feeling like an electric witch again. She chewed her fingers as she waited for her friends to show up at her house, running up and down the stairs whenever a car drove past in case it was Cai or a dog bark in case Danny had Wolf or a knock on the door which could have been any of them but she thought she'd heard a few different knocks now and it was never them. Right up until the point that it was.

Cai arrived first, his hair a mad tangle as he pulled off his bike helmet. "Couldn't get the car," he said with a grin. "Dom's taking Roe to her specialist. Hey, do you know what the hardest part of learning to ride a bike is?"

Rachel shook her head, jittering.

"The pavement," Cai grinned. Rachel barked with laughter and almost hugged him - then remembered not to.

"So, y'alright?" Cai asked, following her into the kitchen for snacks. Rachel shrugged, pulling a carton of juice from the fridge.

"Too many exams," she said. "Not enough brain. Distracted."

"Yeah, same," Cai leaned against the sparkling bench in the kitchen, his eyes stunned from how bright and white everything was. Not a bit of clutter anywhere, not a single smudge of jam on the counter, not even any crumbs around the shiny, metallic toaster. "Is Zoe alright?" He asked, pulling his eyes away from the freak kitchen to look at Rachel. She was wearing a big blue and red sweater that was almost as long as her shorts, her bare legs so long and smooth and totally not distracted. "She seemed a bit... vicious on the phone this morning."

Rachel turned from foraging for crackers. "She's always like that."

"Nah... this was more. I got the feeling she didn't want to talk to me."

"She probably just needs a good promming," Rachel said cheerfully. There wasn't any junk food in the house, but Rachel had a plate of crackers and celery sticks and cream cheese. She'd discovered in the last year that she liked celery with cream cheese.

"Haha," Cai said uncertainly, and was saved from having to explain his complicated prom feelings to Rachel by a knock the door.

"Danny's knock!" Rachel cheered, and bounded toward the front door. Cai followed - he didn't like being in a kitchen this clean all by himself, it was a bit too much like a lab in a science fiction film.

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[lightningseed.insanejournal.com]

"I dunno..." Rachel shrugged, unsure of herself. "Won't it look... suspicious, if I leave now?"

"No," said Zoe. "They don't know you know. You'll just be going to stay with a friend during the last of exams. A friend who has studied with you before, who has helped you pass so far. I'm totally the best cover story. Absolutely believable."

"I guess," Rachel bit her lips together. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Well, stay with me and we can work it out," Zoe said, as if the path ahead was straight and clear. Maybe to Zoe it was, but Rachel could see it overgrowing as they spoke. There were so many hidden vines and pitfalls, so many places to trip and fall. But maybe if she stayed with Zoe, the path would stay clear. There weren't many obstacles that could stand in the way of Zoe, were there?

"Okay," she agreed, feeling just the slightest hint of relief as she said it. "Okay, I'll come with you."