Kelly Hill (27 page)

Phillips Academy

Charleston, West Virginia

June 16th, 2010

Kelly

Kelly sat behind the library on a bench, his hands hanging between his knees, waiting for Jefferson to meet him.

They used to be best friends, the closest of close friends, but Anna changed that.
Alice
changed that.

He felt the heaviness of the gun strapped to his lower back and knew whatever happened today, only one of them would be walking away from this. And he had to protect Rachel. Had to save her.

He listened to her speech and had to chuckle to himself a little bit. Rue and fennel. Regret and adultery. Very poetic. Then the daisies, of course, unhappy love. No matter how she tried to deny it Rachel had a flair for the dramatics.

Finally Jefferson came around the corner and Kelly looked up at him, his oldest and dearest friend.

“Jeff.”

“
Kell.”

“
I gotta tell ya, this sure is an elaborate plan.” Kelly nodded at all the fanfare happening on the other side of the library.

“
Well, you know Casimir, he always liked a party.” Jefferson shrugged. “I guess it’s his punishment for us. For not taking care of other loose ends.”

Kelly nodded, “Sounds like him.”

“So you’ve come around then?” Jefferson took a step forward, “After everything that’s happened?”

Kelly took a deep breath in and stood up. “In a manner of speaking.” Kelly’s hand pulled the gun out from behind his back and he pointed it at Jefferson. “If you die then Rachel won’t have to.”

Jefferson glared at Kelly, “You know that’s not true, you can’t spin that lie around here, Kell.”

Kelly shrugged, “Maybe, but I know that you’re the one that’s always done Casimir’s dirty work for him, so I know without a doubt what he’d told you to do now.”

Jefferson sneered, “And now you're the paragon of goodness? You’re gonna shoot? You’re going to go to jail and just let some other guy take care of Rachel? Wouldn’t you rather have it be a friend?”

Kelly swallowed and hardened his jaw, “If you so much as touch Rachel, so help me God, I will kill you.”

Rachel

As Rachel took her seat with Ethan, he handed her a note.

Rachel’s fingers trembled as she began to unfold it, knowing that it wouldn’t contain any good news. Praying to God that it wasn’t another part of Jefferson’s game.

Rachel,

I hope that by the time you read this it will be too late for you to save me. Because that means that I managed to save you.

I can’t live with the facts of any of it anymore. I can’t pretend that all of this is okay while we all step on eggshells around the jackals who threaten to harm us. Who threaten to harm you.

They never wanted you, Rachel. They don’t even care about you. But they know that I care about you and that’s how they’re going to use you. So I’m going to remove myself from the equation.

Because you deserve a happy life, Rachel, and I’m sorry that I ever spoke to you.

I only did it because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The beautiful and enticing Rachel Gunn that had managed to catch Jefferson’s eye. I only did it because I hoped it would stop you from ending up like Anna.

I love you, Rachel Gunn.

I only hope that you can trust that.

- Kelly

Rachel looked at Ethan. “Where is he?” she hissed, her fear rising in her gut. Everything she was doing was to protect Kelly, now he was going to go and get himself killed to save her. How ridiculous. How stupidly ridiculous.

Ethan shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. That was just there this morning taped to your door.”

“And you waited till now to give it to me?” Rachel raised her eyebrows, “Why?”

“
You weren’t speaking to me!” Ethan hissed back. “You dumped all this information in my lap and then stopped speaking to me! I was hoping we could talk about it together.”

“
Ethan! This is important.” Rachel was shaking the letter at him. “Kelly is going to die.”

Ethan looked at Rachel and the anger in his eyes subsided. “So what do we do?”

“We have to find him.” Rachel whispered. “Hopefully we can stop him from doing anything too stupid.”

At that precise moment, a shot rang off. Then Ryan was running and people were following him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Phillips Academy

Charleston, West Virginia

December 12th

Rachel

Rachel looked from Melody’s gagged mouth and bound hands to Jefferson at the steering wheel.

“What do you think you’re going to do, Jeff? Drive us out somewhere and murder us?” Rachel was shouting.

“
That’s not up to me anymore, Rachel.” Jefferson snarled back.

He put the car into drive at the same time a figure came running out of the woods towards the car.

Kelly yanked the car door open and grabbed Jefferson by the shirt collar pulling him from the car, forcing him to the ground.

Rachel took that time to ungag Melody and untie her hands.

“Thank you.” Melody breathed out, “Oh God, Rachel, I’m so sorry.”

Rachel looked at Melody and then went to Kelly’s aid, although he didn’t look like he needed any.

He had Jefferson pinned to the ground and had slammed his fist into Jefferson’s face as many times as it took to make his knuckles bloody. For a second, as if to catch his breath, Kelly sat atop Jefferson and looked down at him.

“
I told you not to hurt her.” Kelly was seething with a rage that Rachel hadn’t seen yet. “I told you to stay away from her.”

“
Explain that to Casimir.” Jefferson coughed out, blood trickling out of his nose and peppering the cold earth beneath him.

“
Casimir has nothing to do with this.” Kelly growled. “This is between you and me and you know it.”

And then Kelly had a gun and he was pressing it against Jefferson’s forehead, “Try something like this again and I will kill you.”

“Girls.” Kelly called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off of Jefferson, “Get back in the car.”

Rachel and Melody did as they were told. Whether from fear or something else, they got back into the car they had just escaped from.

Melody was crying in the backseat, but Rachel found solace in the passenger seat, feeling like something was settled finally. She finally knew what side she belonged on.

After a couple of minutes Kelly got into the car and began to slowly drive away.

Rachel looked at the rear view mirror and saw Jefferson still lying on the ground, breathing steadily, but not moving.

“
Is he going to be alright?” Melody asked, also looking at Jefferson.

“
I hope not.” Rachel whispered, feeling her hatred for him solidify in her core.

Kelly walked the girls back to their dorm room and Rachel looked at him in the light.

His green eyes were flashing with a brilliance that made her feel uneasy and safe all at the same time. He was a walking contradiction to Rachel and she was glad for it. She had never felt closer to anyone else.

“
Will you stay?” Rachel asked, leaning against the doorframe, hoping that he would say yes.

“
For a little while.” Kelly said with a nod.

Rachel led him into the room and sat down on her bed. Melody was lying on her own bed with her back to them, but Rachel knew she was still awake. They would talk about what happened in the morning, but for right now everyone just needed to pause.

Kelly sat at her writing desk and looked at all of her little odds and ends that littered it. “Things are going to be different now.” He said low. “People aren’t going to forget about this.”

“
Who’s Casimir?” Rachel asked quietly, hoping for the first time someone would tell her the truth.

“
The devil.” Melody murmured from her spot across the room.

Rachel looked at Kelly to see if he would confirm or deny what she said. But he just looked away. “You should get some sleep, Rachel.”

Rachel lay down but she stayed awake for as long as she could, afraid that when she woke up Kelly would be gone.

When her eyes finally opened back up the room was empty except for her, both Kelly and Melody were gone and she wondered if they were together.

Her eyes fell to her writing desk and she saw a letter sitting there, her name scrawled in unfamiliar penmanship.

Slowly, Rachel unfolded the letter and sat back down on her bed, reading the threats it contained.

Dearest Rachel,

I'll give you one more chance because Kelly loves you. Leave now and never look back. Or you'll die knowing what follows will have been your fault.

The letter was unsigned and Rachel wasn't sure who left it there, but she knew it wasn't an empty threat. It felt more solid than most things had in her life.

Jefferson was right. Everyone was right. If she would have just left it all alone, none of this would have happened.

So Rachel came up with the only logical thing she could think of. She was going to remove herself from the equation. Leave Phillips and never come back. She was going to keep her mouth shut and pray that it would save Kelly’s life.

A few hours later Rachel sat in the headmistress's office, waiting for the older woman to hand down her sentence. Her punishment for her silence.

She had always feared and admired this office all at the same time.

It was more put together than most teachers’ places of work. Everything was meticulously kept in order, from the three large bookshelves, fully lined, the blinds, always drawn, the blades turned slightly upwards, letting in minimal lighting.

Rachel could find neither dust nor dirt in any of her observations of the office thus far and so she believed that the Headmistress enjoyed presentation as much as she did.

However, this similarity would not spare her and Rachel knew it.

She had reacted out of fear and poor judgment, that’s what Grear had said when she found out about the altercation in the woods, knowing nothing of Kelly’s part in it. Knowing nothing of the real reasons as to why Rachel felt like she had to fight for her life.

There was no real reason to stab Jefferson in the shoulder, but that was a fact that was only uncovered in the brilliant, yet guilt ridden power of hindsight.

The ticking of the grandfather clock behind the large cherry wood desk managed to distract Rachel just enough to get her mind off the fact that she didn’t deserve what was about to happen. Because, she told herself, in the long run, the reward would be better, a bigger pay off. This way Kelly would stay safe.

This way, Jefferson would get what he wanted and everyone would be okay.

Everything was cleaned up and pushed under the rug, in true Phillips style. Now, all they had to do was deal with Rachel.

Rachel who had just recently stabbed a fellow student in the shoulder with a pen, unprovoked.

Rachel who had never done anything wrong and who had always had represented Phillips in the best of lights.

No one wanted to talk about it at all. No one was pressing charges. As long as Rachel went somewhere else. As long as Jefferson was allowed to end out the year in peace, quietly finishing his studies and speaking not one word of anything to anyone.

Rachel tilted her head to the side and stared at the clock, it read half past one in the afternoon, but her gold watch said three minutes till. One of them was wrong and Rachel had a feeling that it wasn’t her.

“
Well.” Mistress Grear cleared her throat and straightened a stack of papers on her desk, no doubt unsure about what she was going to say.

It was just a sentence. Just a few short words that would seal Rachel’s fate, but it seemed like it took an eternity to pull out of Grear’s mouth.

“You’re expelled from Phillips Academy for the remainder of the year.” She finally managed. “Now, you’re welcome to reapply next year in the fall, but you’ll have to finish your education for this year somewhere else.”

Rachel didn’t say anything. She was upset, sad even, but she knew if she let that show then so much more would be put on the table and that was something she wasn’t willing to risk.

So she kept her mouth shut, she kept her face blank and she concentrated on her steady breathing, hoping it wouldn’t fail her.

The only control she had, after all, was her body and what it could do. It’s all she ever had. And it wouldn’t let her down now. Not this time. Not ever.

Phillips had been her home, and now she was going to protect it. Kelly had been the only person to really show he ever cared about her and she loved him for it. Beautiful messed up Kelly Hill, she loved him more than anything in the world and now she was going to protect him. Because that’s what you did when you loved something. You held it close when you could and you let it go when it was necessary. It would an act of pure selfishness to keep holding onto it like life support.

Rachel wasn’t some leech that sucked not only the blood, but the marrow as well from the bones of her host, she earned her keep. Always. She made herself useful so that she could never be seen as useless. That’s the way it had always been. And now, now she had the option to tell the truth and put Kelly in harm’s way, save her own skin, but ruin the one person that she had ever loved. The only place she had ever felt safe.

She could never do that.

Rachel would go back to her house with her father and she would never return, she would remember Kelly Hill. She wasn’t a pawn in anyone’s plan, and she wasn’t the girl that Jefferson had convinced himself that she was.

Rachel nodded at what Mistress Grear was saying because she wouldn’t contest it. It was a solid choice and she respected the headmistress for making it.

“
You’re lucky the Williams aren’t pressing charges.” Grear was going into lecture mode now, as if she still had power over a student she had just gotten rid of.

“
I suppose you’re right.” Rachel’s voice felt far away. Her mind was grounded completely in reality, but her voice was somewhere else, dreaming off above the clouds. She knew what was happening, but her vocal chords hadn’t quite caught up yet.

“
I still can’t believe you did it.” Grear was saying. “I mean, I thought you and Jefferson were friends.”

Rachel wanted to smile; lots of people had thought that. She had too for what it was worth, but the truth was much more interesting than the charade he had put on for the public, and now, only a handful of people knew. And none of them were talking.

Not Melody and her broken hopes, with her new outlook on the world that had watched her heart swell and soar before it was crippled and dragged down to where the rest of humanity moved on without a second thought.

Not Ryan who refused to speak one word of anything to anyone because of his loyalty to Jefferson.

And certainly not Rachel, who had everything to gain and only one thing to lose if she ever spoke the truth. Not Rachel, who understood while she gave her love freely, to get it in return it had to be bought and paid for in her own actions.

“
Well, at least your transcripts are very impressive.” Grear had an air of sadness in her voice as she said this, as if she was disappointed that Rachel was going. As if she wanted the star pupil to be able to stick around. As if she knew a little bit of the hidden truth. “I’ve put in some recommendations for you at some other schools, and most of them sound optimistic to receive you.”

Grear out stretched a hand full of pamphlets to give Rachel who took them in stride, not looking down at the small rays of hope. Things that proved that Grear still believed in her.

“Thank you, but I’ll be completing my schooling at a public school in my district back at home.” There it was, the one dagger that Rachel had afforded herself to throw.

She knew how much Phillips looked down on the public education system in the country and now she was resolving her time to be there, proving once and for all that if she couldn’t be at Phillips, she really didn’t want to start over anywhere else.

Rachel had already called the school in question. Was ready to send over her transcripts. She’d be graduating early, in the winter, just before the spring semester.

She wouldn’t even have to really attend any classes.

With the choice to not let Jefferson hurt Kelly she had decided that her thirst for knowledge had reached a dry well and could no longer be sated. But it was alright. It was worth it.

Grear looked hurt. She knew that she had played a part in this but there was nothing she could do now. She couldn’t back down just as much as Rachel couldn’t. There they sat, daring either one to say something to the contrary.

Rachel swallowed the tears that would never dare to surface and stood, extending a hand, “Thank you, Headmistress Grear, I found my time here truly magnificent.”

Grear stood to meet Rachel and their hands clasped above the center of the desk as the clock timed three, signifying the passing of an hour, the last hour that Rachel could have called herself a Phillips girl. The last moment that she would ever think of herself as such.