Barracuda Blue - An Online Webseries

A sense of dread comes over Rachelle as she slowly walks towards the front doors of Belview Academy with Nate standing next to her. Once Kymberlynne learned that Orvilla was blackmailing her art history teacher, Malcolm Summers, into making it appear that she and Nate plagiarized their term papers, the school uplifted their suspension and have allowed them to return to school. The caveat is that they both have to re-take the course.

On one hand, Rachelle is thrilled that she is back at school, because it means that she still has a chance to graduate as the valedictorian, but on the other hand, she feels like everyone will be watching her, and Nate, even more closely because of the scandal. She can already feel the eyes of other students on her as she gets closer to the front door.

She stops and faces Nate with a look of deep apprehension on her face. "Are you ready for this?" Nate asks her quickly.

Rachelle sighs heavily. "I…I don't know," she admits to him. "Kids can be so mean; I'm really not looking forward to all of the whispers, stares, and gossiping."

"Hey, just remember, we are innocent," Nate grabs her hand. "We proved that we did nothing wrong. If these jackasses can't understand that, that's on them, not us."

Rachelle chuckle sback to him. "I suppose that is true," she tells him. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Always."

"I wish I had done a line before coming here," she reveals to him. "It would have helped me calm down."

"Let's do one at lunch?" Nate suggests to her as she nods back to him.

Before she can actually respond, Malcolm approaches them as he is leaving the building. "Rachelle, Nate," he approaches them. "Welcome back."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Rachelle asks him. She can't believe the nerve he has after everything he did to them.

"Don't worry," Malcolm puts his hands up in defense. "I've been let go, I was just here collecting my belongings. After the truth came out, the school fired me."

"That's the least that they could have done," Nate sneers at him. "You could have fucked over our futures!"

"I just wanted to say that I am sorry," Malcolm tells them. "I'm not asking for anything, but for my own wellbeing, I wanted to say that. Now that I have, I'll be on my way. Good luck with Art history this term. I mean that."

Rachelle looks back at Nate and rolls her eyes. "Because that's what we needed before school," she quips. "Come on, the sooner we go in, the sooner this will be over."

/\/\/\

A couple hours later, Rachelle stands at her locker and is putting her textbooks inside of it. She survived her first art history class and she is, already, looking forward to seeing Nate so they can do a hit together. When Nate first suggested that they do cocaine, Rachelle was strongly opposed to it, but she has since grown to enjoy the feeling it provides her.

Just as she is about to close her locker door, a tall, beautiful woman approaches her. "Rachelle, girl, where have you been? It has been ages since I've seen you!"

Rachelle looks over and sees her best friend, Caramel Colby, standing next to her. Caramel and Rachelle first met when they were in grade two. They have always been in the same class, and thus, have a strong friendship bond. When they were in the 6th grade, Caramel realized that they were transgendered. Thankfully, they had supportive parents and they were able to start transitioning when they were in their early teenage years. Rachelle saw Caramel bloom into the woman she is today as soon as the transition began as Rachelle could tell that they were finally living their true life. Now, they have they/them pronouns, and they are living their best life.

"I know, I know," Rachelle smirks over to her friend. "I have been insanely busy, you know, trying to prove my innocence, having my mother back, and having Lyzz in the hospital."

"And, uh, you forgot one very hot man," Caramel chuckles back to her. "I'm talking about Nate, obviously."

Rachelle arches her eyebrow back to her. "How did you know about me and Nate?"

"Girl, it is so obvious," they continue to chuckle. "You're lucky, he's a babe."

"Yea, Nate has become someone that I really depend on."

"How about we get lunch and you tell me every detail?" Caramel suggests. "I want to know how often you're getting the d…"

"Caramel!" Rachelle gasps back at her as she playfully swats their arm. "Okay, I'll tell you, but it has to stay between us."

"Of course," Caramel winks back to her. "You know that I'm just living through you anyways."

/\/\/\

Later that evening, Nate and Rachelle are back in the library at the Barracuda Blue. They are trying to focus on some homework that they have to complete for class the following day, but neither one has a strong desire to stay on track.

"This blows," Rachelle looks over at him as she drops her pen down on to the table. "The last thing I want to do is look at these stats on painters from, like, 200 years ago."

Nate chuckles back to her. "Yea, it is so dry. I don't know why our teacher just didn't go over this in class with us."

"Because she was busy showing us where they lived on the fucking map," Rachelle reminds him. "Oh, I don't think I told you, but I saw Caramel today. We had a good catch up."

"Oh yea?" Nate asks back. "I haven't seen them in a while."

"That's what she was saying to me, which is why it was nice to catch up. They've always been one of my best friends."

"I'm glad that you have each other," Nate smiles over at her. "I guess that is where you were at lunch then? We were supposed to do our line then?"

"Yea, sorry, I got wrapped up in girl talk," she admits to him. "We…we could do the coke now? It would sure help us get through this homework?"

Nate looks around and realizes that they are alone in the library. "You want to do a line here? In the library of your family's resort?"

"Why not?" Rachelle shrugs back to him. "It's not like anyone ever comes in here. We have the place to ourselves."

"If you're sure…"

Rachelle leans over and kisses him on the lips. "I'm positive," she purrs to him before he kisses her again.

/\/\/\

The following day, Rachelle moves towards the front door of Belview Academy. She is wearing large sunglasses as she is feeling the effects of the drugs that she and Nate did the previous night. After doing a couple of lines of cocaine, they ended up finding an empty suite at the Barracuda Blue and they had sex. As a result, Rachelle didn't finish her homework assignment, which she knows will be end well with her professor.

"Hey girl, hey," Caramel giggles as they rushes up to her friend and they continue to walk closer to the school. "How was your night?"

"It was, uh, good," Rachelle nods back to her. "Nate and I hung out."

"Oooh, I think I know what that means," they continue to giggle. "You two got nasty again, huh?"

"Nate and I are close, yes," Rachelle reveals to her friend.

"That's why you're wearing sunglasses," Caramel notes to her. "You didn't get a lot of sleep last night?"

"Also very true," Rachelle nods. "Nate and I were so consumed that I didn't finish my art history homework."

Caramel stops and looks at her friend, suddenly concerned. Since they have known Rachelle for years, they know how serious she has been about her grades, and how determined she was to graduate at the top of the class. To hear that Rachelle, knowing, didn't complete an assignment feels out of character to Caramel, and now they are worried about their friend.

"Hold up," Caramel stops her from entering the school. "Since when do you blow off school for anyone, yet alone a guy? What is really going on here, Rachelle?"

"Just relax," Rachelle tries to downplay what happened. "It's just one assignment. I'll be fine, Caramel."

"It's just not like you," Caramel says back to her friend. "It's not like you at all."

/\/\/\

Later that day once school is over, Nate moves into the Barracuda Blue and heads towards Café Tropical. He is hoping to run into Rachelle again because he knows that he has to continue to carry out Orvilla's plan to keep her stoned so she doesn't graduate at the top of the class. He also doesn't mind that he is moving along with this plan because it includes him getting to have sex with Rachelle and he can't deny that she is a very attractive young woman.

He doesn't see Rachelle in the Café, so he sits at an empty table and orders a beer from one of the waiters. While he is waiting for his drink to arrive, Orvilla peers into the Café and sees the young man that she considers a son.

"Second day in a row you're my resort," Orvilla says as she approaches him. "I gather that things are going well with my niece?"

"Better than okay," Nate whispers back to her. "We got so stoned last night she didn't do an assignment. I think the assignment was worth about 10% of our final grade. If she misses a few more, she won't pass."

"Perfect," Orvilla gleefully grins at him. "Now, I'm going to take off. The last thing we need is for anyone to see us together. We will be in touch though."

"Sounds good."

Orvilla rushes off but standing at the entrance way of Café Tropical is Caramel. They arrived at the Barracuda Blue to talk to Rachelle as they didn't like how things were left from their conversation at school earlier. Instead, she saw Orvilla and Nate whispering to one another.

"What is going on with you, Nate?" they ask themselves in a whisper voice. "And what does Orvilla have to do with it?"

/\/\/\

Caramel storms out of the Barracuda Blue and makes a beeline for her car. They wants to head over to the Thornton mansion to see if Rachelle is there so they can understand what is really going on with her friend. They continue to be concerned about her change in desire from being a top student to not caring about finishing her assignments.

They are about to unlock their car door when they see another vehicle coming into the parking lot. They immediately recognize the Porsche as Liam's; Caramel waits until Liam has parked his car and then rushes over to him as he crawls out of his vehicle.

"Caramel, hi," Liam smiles to his sister's friend. "I didn't realize you'd be at the Barracuda Blue today."

"I was hoping to see Rachelle," they admit to him. "But I didn't see her here. Do you know if she's your house?"

Liam shrugs back to them. "Can't be sure. Why? Did something happen?"

"Let me ask you a question," Caramel looks at him with intent. "How well do you know Nate Meadows, the guy that Rachelle has been seeing?"

"Uh, not well," Liam admits to her. "But when I have been around him, he seems like a cool guy? Why, are you sensing he's not so great for Rachelle?"

"I'm not sure," Caramel admits to him. "Something tells me that something is going on with Rachelle and it's not good. It's actually really bad."

/\/\/\

Meanwhile, at the Thornton mansion, Rachelle lays on her bed in her large bedroom. She has her laptop open and she is typing into her school portal so she can review her current grades. She hasn't been able to shake the feeling that she isn't doing as well as she could in art history since her conversation with Caramel earlier in the day. She knows that she been more focused on getting high and spending time with Nate, but she has to believe that she is still doing well in school.

She groans heavily when she sees her current grade in art history on the screen in front of her. "C?" she asks herself with a sigh. "I missed one assignment and didn't do so well on the last test…but barely passing? Great."

She slaps the laptop shut and wonders what she can do to get her grades up. She still wants to graduate as the validvictorian, but she knows with a C, she won't get that honor.

"I'm going to have to step it up," she tells herself as she moves to the edge of the bed. She opens her bedside table drawer and finds a small bag cocaine. "If I could a couple of lines, I'll feel better and tomorrow I can start to put more effort into this stupid class."

/\/\/\

The following morning, Caramel is sitting on a bench outside of Belview Academy. They are waiting for Rachelle to arrive so they can try to find out the root cause of her seemingly not caring about school anymore. Caramel knows that something must have switched with their friend, and after see Nate with Orvilla the previous evening, they can't help but wonder if Nate is the cause of this entire situation.

They stand up when they see Nate walking towards the front doors. While they weren't expecting to chat with Nate, they realize that they might be able to get more details from him than Rachelle.

"Morning Nate," they wave as Nate comes up to her.

"Hey, how's it going today? Another beautiful day, huh?" Nate asks her quickly.

"Uh, yea," Caramel replies to him quickly. "Do…do you have a minute to talk? I want to ask you something."

"Sure," Nate says as they start to walk together. "What's on your mind?"

"I, uh," they stutter with their words. "I don't know how to ask you this."

"Now you're making me think that this is serious."

"I went to the Barracuda Blue last night," Caramel pauses and looks at him. "I had hoped to find Rachelle, but she wasn't there."

Nate nods back to her with an arched eyebrow. "She went home after school. I don't think she was feeling so great. We were also supposed to hang out but she blew me off."

"I see," Caramel says. "The thing is, though, Nate, when I was at the Barracuda Blue, I saw something else."

"Which was?"

"You," they reveal. "And you weren't alone. You were talking with Orvilla. Why is that? What were you and Orvilla talking about? Especially since you know that she was the one that set into motion the plagiarism scandal?"

Nate gulps heavily at Rachelle's best friend. "You're, uh, you're right," he manages to reply. "She came up to me and I told her to leave me, and Rachelle alone. Then she took off. It…it wasn't anything serious."

Caramel looks back at him wondering if they should trust him. While his story could be true, there is something in the pit of their stomach that is telling them that he is still lying.

"Besides, you and I, we could be doing a lot more things than talking about Orvilla," Nate winks back at her.

"What…what do you mean by that?"

Nate leans in and kisses them on the lips, unaware that Rachelle is a few feet behind him. Rachelle, immediately, feels the blood drain from her face and she rushes into the school, wanting to find a bathroom so she can be alone with her thoughts.

Caramel pushes Nate off from their kiss and looks back at him in shock. "What the hell was that?"

"Oh come on," Nate chuckles back to them. "You can't tell me you haven't been looking at me that way for a long time…"

"Even if I was, you're with Rachelle, and I would never betray her that way," Caramel warns him. "I was worried about you being a bad influence on Rachelle before and now I know I'm right. You stay away from me, Nate. And , you stay away from Rachelle too, or so help me God, I won't be responsible for my actions."

/\/\/\

In the women's washroom, Rachelle sorts up a line of the cocaine before she puts the small bag into her purse. After seeing Caramel and Nate kiss, she rushed into a stall so she could take some of the pain away. She can't believe that her best friend and boyfriend were just kissing. The two people she thought she could trust the most in the world have just betrayed her in the worst possible way.

"Well, fuck them," she hisses to herself as she unlocks the door and moves to a sink, where she turns the water on and splashes her face. After she dries herself, she takes a deep breath as she prepares to leave the washroom. The last thing she wants to do now is to go to her art history class, but she can't stop thinking about seeing the C grade the previous day. "Do I really need Art History? Like what the hell am I going to do with that knowledge for the rest of myself?"

As she moves into the hallway, Nate is walking by and he sees his girlfriend so he stops to see her. "Hey gorgeous," he says to her as she rolls her eyes.

"Oh God, you can stop with all that bullshit now, Nate," she hisses him.

Nate looks back at her in surprise. "Bullshit? What are you talking about?"

She groans at him. "If you were going to play me, Nate, you shouldn't have done in such a public place. You might be a good-looking man, but beauty fades and dumb is forever."

"Where is this coming from?" a confused Nate asks her quickly. "What is going on with you, Rachelle?"

"Do me a favor? Stay the hell away from me, whatever this was that we had going on, it's over and I never want to see you again."

/\/\/\

Kymberlynne paces back and forth in the living room of the Thornton mansion as she just got a troubling call from Belview Academy. In the past, Rachelle has always prided herself on being a top student, but now, she is at risk of failing her art history class. Kymberlynne has no idea what is going on with her daughter, but she has every intention of finding out.

"There you are, darling," Kymberlynne purses her lips together as Rachelle moves into the living room. "How was the flight home?"

"Same old, same old," Rachelle replies to her mother quickly. "Were you looking for me?"

"Yes, I was," Kymberlynne nods back to her. "I got a call from the dean of Belview earlier. He said you're on the verge of failing your art history class. Can you explain this to me, Rachelle?"

"No, I can't," Rachelle shakes her head back to her mother. "You've been gone for years, Kymberlynne; you don't get to come back into our lives and try to parent me now."

"I thought we had moved past all this when I was able to uncover the truth about Orvilla's plans?"

"You thought wrong. Uncovering Orvilla's plans is great but it doesn't change the fact that you abandoned me and my siblings after our father died," Rachelle hisses back to her. "So, yea, I might be failing, but that's on me and, frankly, it's none of your damn business."

Before Kymberlynne can respond, Sonia, the maid, moves into the living room. "Ms. Rachelle, your friend Caramel is here for you. Shall I let her in?"

"Yes, my mother and I were are done and she will give me some privacy with my friend," Rachelle responds to the maid but her eyes don't leave Kymberlynne's.

Kymberlynne doesn't put up a fight as she leaves the room with Sonia. Within a few minutes, Caramel is moving into the living room.

"Hey, I didn't see you at school today and I wanted to talk to you," Caramel announces as Rachelle looks back at her. "It's…it's about Nate…I…I don't think you know him at all, Rachelle."

Rachelle bursts into laughter as she moves closer to Caramel, who has no idea why Rachelle is laughing so hard.

"What is so funny?" Caramel asks her friend.

Rachelle finally stops laughing and controls herself as she glares back at Caramel. "You think I don't know Nate?" she asks her as Caramel nods back to her. "Funny, because I don't think I know you either, Caramel. You…you've changed, and I don't think for the best."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what you did," Rachelle glares at her. "Now get the hell out of my house and never come back here, because I don't want to see you or Nate ever again!"




	Written by: Dallas Walsh
	A sense of dread comes over Rachelle as she slowly walks towards the front doors of Belview Academy with Nate standing next to her. Once Kymberlynne learned that Orvilla was blackmailing her art history teacher, Malcolm Summers, into making it appear that she and Nate plagiarized their term papers, the school uplifted their suspension and have allowed them to return to school. The caveat is that they both have to re-take the course. On one hand, Rachelle is thrilled that she is back at school, because it means that she still has a chance to graduate as the valedictorian, but on the other hand, she feels like everyone will be watching her, and Nate, even more closely because of the scandal. She can already feel the eyes of other students on her as she gets closer to the front door. She stops and faces Nate with a look of deep apprehension on her face. "Are you ready for this?" Nate asks her quickly. Rachelle sighs heavily. "I…I don't know," she admits to him. "Kids can be so mean; I'm really not looking forward to all of the whispers, stares, and gossiping." "Hey, just remember, we are innocent," Nate grabs her hand. "We proved that we did nothing wrong. If these jackasses can't understand that, that's on them, not us." Rachelle chuckle sback to him. "I suppose that is true," she tells him. "Can I be honest with you?" "Always." "I wish I had done a line before coming here," she reveals to him. "It would have helped me calm down." "Let's do one at lunch?" Nate suggests to her as she nods back to him. Before she can actually respond, Malcolm approaches them as he is leaving the building. "Rachelle, Nate," he approaches them. "Welcome back." "What the hell are you doing here?" Rachelle asks him. She can't believe the nerve he has after everything he did to them. "Don't worry," Malcolm puts his hands up in defense. "I've been let go, I was just here collecting my belongings. After the truth came out, the school fired me." "That's the least that they could have done," Nate sneers at him. "You could have fucked over our futures!" "I just wanted to say that I am sorry," Malcolm tells them. "I'm not asking for anything, but for my own wellbeing, I wanted to say that. Now that I have, I'll be on my way. Good luck with Art history this term. I mean that." Rachelle looks back at Nate and rolls her eyes. "Because that's what we needed before school," she quips. "Come on, the sooner we go in, the sooner this will be over." /\/\/\ A couple hours later, Rachelle stands at her locker and is putting her textbooks inside of it. She survived her first art history class and she is, already, looking forward to seeing Nate so they can do a hit together. When Nate first suggested that they do cocaine, Rachelle was strongly opposed to it, but she has since grown to enjoy the feeling it provides her. Just as she is about to close her locker door, a tall, beautiful woman approaches her. "Rachelle, girl, where have you been? It has been ages since I've seen you!" Rachelle looks over and sees her best friend, Caramel Colby, standing next to her. Caramel and Rachelle first met when they were in grade two. They have always been in the same class, and thus, have a strong friendship bond. When they were in the 6th grade, Caramel realized that they were transgendered. Thankfully, they had supportive parents and they were able to start transitioning when they were in their early teenage years. Rachelle saw Caramel bloom into the woman she is today as soon as the transition began as Rachelle could tell that they were finally living their true life. Now, they have they/them pronouns, and they are living their best life. "I know, I know," Rachelle smirks over to her friend. "I have been insanely busy, you know, trying to prove my innocence, having my mother back, and having Lyzz in the hospital." "And, uh, you forgot one very hot man," Caramel chuckles back to her. "I'm talking about Nate, obviously." Rachelle arches her eyebrow back to her. "How did you know about me and Nate?" "Girl, it is so obvious," they continue to chuckle. "You're lucky, he's a babe." "Yea, Nate has become someone that I really depend on." "How about we get lunch and you tell me every detail?" Caramel suggests. "I want to know how often you're getting the d…" "Caramel!" Rachelle gasps back at her as she playfully swats their arm. "Okay, I'll tell you, but it has to stay between us." "Of course," Caramel winks back to her. "You know that I'm just living through you anyways." /\/\/\ Later that evening, Nate and Rachelle are back in the library at the Barracuda Blue. They are trying to focus on some homework that they have to complete for class the following day, but neither one has a strong desire to stay on track. "This blows," Rachelle looks over at him as she drops her pen down on to the table. "The last thing I want to do is look at these stats on painters from, like, 200 years ago." Nate chuckles back to her. "Yea, it is so dry. I don't know why our teacher just didn't go over this in class with us." "Because she was busy showing us where they lived on the fucking map," Rachelle reminds him. "Oh, I don't think I told you, but I saw Caramel today. We had a good catch up." "Oh yea?" Nate asks back. "I haven't seen them in a while." "That's what she was saying to me, which is why it was nice to catch up. They've always been one of my best friends." "I'm glad that you have each other," Nate smiles over at her. "I guess that is where you were at lunch then? We were supposed to do our line then?" "Yea, sorry, I got wrapped up in girl talk," she admits to him. "We…we could do the coke now? It would sure help us get through this homework?" Nate looks around and realizes that they are alone in the library. "You want to do a line here? In the library of your family's resort?" "Why not?" Rachelle shrugs back to him. "It's not like anyone ever comes in here. We have the place to ourselves." "If you're sure…" Rachelle leans over and kisses him on the lips. "I'm positive," she purrs to him before he kisses her again. /\/\/\ The following day, Rachelle moves towards the front door of Belview Academy. She is wearing large sunglasses as she is feeling the effects of the drugs that she and Nate did the previous night. After doing a couple of lines of cocaine, they ended up finding an empty suite at the Barracuda Blue and they had sex. As a result, Rachelle didn't finish her homework assignment, which she knows will be end well with her professor. "Hey girl, hey," Caramel giggles as they rushes up to her friend and they continue to walk closer to the school. "How was your night?" "It was, uh, good," Rachelle nods back to her. "Nate and I hung out." "Oooh, I think I know what that means," they continue to giggle. "You two got nasty again, huh?" "Nate and I are close, yes," Rachelle reveals to her friend. "That's why you're wearing sunglasses," Caramel notes to her. "You didn't get a lot of sleep last night?" "Also very true," Rachelle nods. "Nate and I were so consumed that I didn't finish my art history homework." Caramel stops and looks at her friend, suddenly concerned. Since they have known Rachelle for years, they know how serious she has been about her grades, and how determined she was to graduate at the top of the class. To hear that Rachelle, knowing, didn't complete an assignment feels out of character to Caramel, and now they are worried about their friend. "Hold up," Caramel stops her from entering the school. "Since when do you blow off school for anyone, yet alone a guy? What is really going on here, Rachelle?" "Just relax," Rachelle tries to downplay what happened. "It's just one assignment. I'll be fine, Caramel." "It's just not like you," Caramel says back to her friend. "It's not like you at all." /\/\/\ Later that day once school is over, Nate moves into the Barracuda Blue and heads towards Café Tropical. He is hoping to run into Rachelle again because he knows that he has to continue to carry out Orvilla's plan to keep her stoned so she doesn't graduate at the top of the class. He also doesn't mind that he is moving along with this plan because it includes him getting to have sex with Rachelle and he can't deny that she is a very attractive young woman. He doesn't see Rachelle in the Café, so he sits at an empty table and orders a beer from one of the waiters. While he is waiting for his drink to arrive, Orvilla peers into the Café and sees the young man that she considers a son. "Second day in a row you're my resort," Orvilla says as she approaches him. "I gather that things are going well with my niece?" "Better than okay," Nate whispers back to her. "We got so stoned last night she didn't do an assignment. I think the assignment was worth about 10% of our final grade. If she misses a few more, she won't pass." "Perfect," Orvilla gleefully grins at him. "Now, I'm going to take off. The last thing we need is for anyone to see us together. We will be in touch though." "Sounds good." Orvilla rushes off but standing at the entrance way of Café Tropical is Caramel. They arrived at the Barracuda Blue to talk to Rachelle as they didn't like how things were left from their conversation at school earlier. Instead, she saw Orvilla and Nate whispering to one another. "What is going on with you, Nate?" they ask themselves in a whisper voice. "And what does Orvilla have to do with it?" /\/\/\ Caramel storms out of the Barracuda Blue and makes a beeline for her car. They wants to head over to the Thornton mansion to see if Rachelle is there so they can understand what is really going on with her friend. They continue to be concerned about her change in desire from being a top student to not caring about finishing her assignments. They are about to unlock their car door when they see another vehicle coming into the parking lot. They immediately recognize the Porsche as Liam's; Caramel waits until Liam has parked his car and then rushes over to him as he crawls out of his vehicle. "Caramel, hi," Liam smiles to his sister's friend. "I didn't realize you'd be at the Barracuda Blue today." "I was hoping to see Rachelle," they admit to him. "But I didn't see her here. Do you know if she's your house?" Liam shrugs back to them. "Can't be sure. Why? Did something happen?" "Let me ask you a question," Caramel looks at him with intent. "How well do you know Nate Meadows, the guy that Rachelle has been seeing?" "Uh, not well," Liam admits to her. "But when I have been around him, he seems like a cool guy? Why, are you sensing he's not so great for Rachelle?" "I'm not sure," Caramel admits to him. "Something tells me that something is going on with Rachelle and it's not good. It's actually really bad." /\/\/\ Meanwhile, at the Thornton mansion, Rachelle lays on her bed in her large bedroom. She has her laptop open and she is typing into her school portal so she can review her current grades. She hasn't been able to shake the feeling that she isn't doing as well as she could in art history since her conversation with Caramel earlier in the day. She knows that she been more focused on getting high and spending time with Nate, but she has to believe that she is still doing well in school. She groans heavily when she sees her current grade in art history on the screen in front of her. "C?" she asks herself with a sigh. "I missed one assignment and didn't do so well on the last test…but barely passing? Great." She slaps the laptop shut and wonders what she can do to get her grades up. She still wants to graduate as the validvictorian, but she knows with a C, she won't get that honor. "I'm going to have to step it up," she tells herself as she moves to the edge of the bed. She opens her bedside table drawer and finds a small bag cocaine. "If I could a couple of lines, I'll feel better and tomorrow I can start to put more effort into this stupid class." /\/\/\ The following morning, Caramel is sitting on a bench outside of Belview Academy. They are waiting for Rachelle to arrive so they can try to find out the root cause of her seemingly not caring about school anymore. Caramel knows that something must have switched with their friend, and after see Nate with Orvilla the previous evening, they can't help but wonder if Nate is the cause of this entire situation. They stand up when they see Nate walking towards the front doors. While they weren't expecting to chat with Nate, they realize that they might be able to get more details from him than Rachelle. "Morning Nate," they wave as Nate comes up to her. "Hey, how's it going today? Another beautiful day, huh?" Nate asks her quickly. "Uh, yea," Caramel replies to him quickly. "Do…do you have a minute to talk? I want to ask you something." "Sure," Nate says as they start to walk together. "What's on your mind?" "I, uh," they stutter with their words. "I don't know how to ask you this." "Now you're making me think that this is serious." "I went to the Barracuda Blue last night," Caramel pauses and looks at him. "I had hoped to find Rachelle, but she wasn't there." Nate nods back to her with an arched eyebrow. "She went home after school. I don't think she was feeling so great. We were also supposed to hang out but she blew me off." "I see," Caramel says. "The thing is, though, Nate, when I was at the Barracuda Blue, I saw something else." "Which was?" "You," they reveal. "And you weren't alone. You were talking with Orvilla. Why is that? What were you and Orvilla talking about? Especially since you know that she was the one that set into motion the plagiarism scandal?" Nate gulps heavily at Rachelle's best friend. "You're, uh, you're right," he manages to reply. "She came up to me and I told her to leave me, and Rachelle alone. Then she took off. It…it wasn't anything serious." Caramel looks back at him wondering if they should trust him. While his story could be true, there is something in the pit of their stomach that is telling them that he is still lying. "Besides, you and I, we could be doing a lot more things than talking about Orvilla," Nate winks back at her. "What…what do you mean by that?" Nate leans in and kisses them on the lips, unaware that Rachelle is a few feet behind him. Rachelle, immediately, feels the blood drain from her face and she rushes into the school, wanting to find a bathroom so she can be alone with her thoughts. Caramel pushes Nate off from their kiss and looks back at him in shock. "What the hell was that?" "Oh come on," Nate chuckles back to them. "You can't tell me you haven't been looking at me that way for a long time…" "Even if I was, you're with Rachelle, and I would never betray her that way," Caramel warns him. "I was worried about you being a bad influence on Rachelle before and now I know I'm right. You stay away from me, Nate. And , you stay away from Rachelle too, or so help me God, I won't be responsible for my actions." /\/\/\ In the women's washroom, Rachelle sorts up a line of the cocaine before she puts the small bag into her purse. After seeing Caramel and Nate kiss, she rushed into a stall so she could take some of the pain away. She can't believe that her best friend and boyfriend were just kissing. The two people she thought she could trust the most in the world have just betrayed her in the worst possible way. "Well, fuck them," she hisses to herself as she unlocks the door and moves to a sink, where she turns the water on and splashes her face. After she dries herself, she takes a deep breath as she prepares to leave the washroom. The last thing she wants to do now is to go to her art history class, but she can't stop thinking about seeing the C grade the previous day. "Do I really need Art History? Like what the hell am I going to do with that knowledge for the rest of myself?" As she moves into the hallway, Nate is walking by and he sees his girlfriend so he stops to see her. "Hey gorgeous," he says to her as she rolls her eyes. "Oh God, you can stop with all that bullshit now, Nate," she hisses him. Nate looks back at her in surprise. "Bullshit? What are you talking about?" She groans at him. "If you were going to play me, Nate, you shouldn't have done in such a public place. You might be a good-looking man, but beauty fades and dumb is forever." "Where is this coming from?" a confused Nate asks her quickly. "What is going on with you, Rachelle?" "Do me a favor? Stay the hell away from me, whatever this was that we had going on, it's over and I never want to see you again." /\/\/\ Kymberlynne paces back and forth in the living room of the Thornton mansion as she just got a troubling call from Belview Academy. In the past, Rachelle has always prided herself on being a top student, but now, she is at risk of failing her art history class. Kymberlynne has no idea what is going on with her daughter, but she has every intention of finding out. "There you are, darling," Kymberlynne purses her lips together as Rachelle moves into the living room. "How was the flight home?" "Same old, same old," Rachelle replies to her mother quickly. "Were you looking for me?" "Yes, I was," Kymberlynne nods back to her. "I got a call from the dean of Belview earlier. He said you're on the verge of failing your art history class. Can you explain this to me, Rachelle?" "No, I can't," Rachelle shakes her head back to her mother. "You've been gone for years, Kymberlynne; you don't get to come back into our lives and try to parent me now." "I thought we had moved past all this when I was able to uncover the truth about Orvilla's plans?" "You thought wrong. Uncovering Orvilla's plans is great but it doesn't change the fact that you abandoned me and my siblings after our father died," Rachelle hisses back to her. "So, yea, I might be failing, but that's on me and, frankly, it's none of your damn business." Before Kymberlynne can respond, Sonia, the maid, moves into the living room. "Ms. Rachelle, your friend Caramel is here for you. Shall I let her in?" "Yes, my mother and I were are done and she will give me some privacy with my friend," Rachelle responds to the maid but her eyes don't leave Kymberlynne's. Kymberlynne doesn't put up a fight as she leaves the room with Sonia. Within a few minutes, Caramel is moving into the living room. "Hey, I didn't see you at school today and I wanted to talk to you," Caramel announces as Rachelle looks back at her. "It's…it's about Nate…I…I don't think you know him at all, Rachelle." Rachelle bursts into laughter as she moves closer to Caramel, who has no idea why Rachelle is laughing so hard. "What is so funny?" Caramel asks her friend. Rachelle finally stops laughing and controls herself as she glares back at Caramel. "You think I don't know Nate?" she asks her as Caramel nods back to her. "Funny, because I don't think I know you either, Caramel. You…you've changed, and I don't think for the best." "What are you talking about?" "You know what you did," Rachelle glares at her. "Now get the hell out of my house and never come back here, because I don't want to see you or Nate ever again!"