Raquel looked around. For some odd reason, she was in her fourth grade classroom. She had on a pink jumper skirt, with matching ribbons in her long brown hair. When Raquel realized that she was going to be able to work with her crush Josh, she was ecstatic. She took a deep breath and approached the small group.
"Oh yay, we get to work with Raquel!" Karen sneered, she turned her attention to the two boys "You guys, Raquel bought me a My Little Pony for my birthday!"
Phil and Josh snickered and Raquel turned bright red in shame. She hadn't wanted to go to the birthday party, but her mother had made her. Hoping to move the subject from the gift to the assignment, she studied the blank map in front of them. "What mountain is this?" she asked curiously pointing to a spot on the photocopy.
Josh chuckled, and leaned closer to Raquel. Her heart started to pound as he leaned toward her to whisper: "it's Mount Raquel."
The map became distorted as Raquel's eyes burned with tears. She swallowed and held back her sobs, determined not to let Josh know he had hurt her so.
"Mount Raquel?" Karen doubled over in laughter as if Josh had said the funniest thing in the world.
Phil chuckled.
"Mount Raquel, Mount Raquel…." Karen taunted.
The anger boiled inside her.
Josh's high pitched laughter pierced through her ears like sharp needles.
"Mount Raquel…" Karen sang.
Phil was the only one in the group to notice the tears streaming down Raquel's cheeks, and he wasn't laughing.
If they don't stop I'm going to…. Raquel didn't have time to even think. One minute Josh and Karen were laughing, but after two swift blows, Karen lay on the rug, whimpering, while Josh held his hand over his mouth in shock.
Just finish this incline and you're there, girl, Raquel though to herself as her chest heaved from the strain. She was on the stair climber at the campus gym. She looked at the grid, and saw that she was already nearing the apex of her last hill. The sweat poured down her face as she mechanically moved her legs up and down. She had lost all feeling in her them about 15 minutes ago.
"You about ready to go?" Yvonne asked, approaching her.
Nodding, she turned the machine off and let the peddles sink to the ground. Grabbing a towel and her bottle of water, the two left the gym together.
"Ra, how long were you on that thing, anyway?" Yvonne asked curiously.
Raquel knew that tone all too well. It was disapproval, and she wasn't in the mood for another lecture. "Only about 20 minutes, Vonnie."
Her roommate shook her head vigorously, "no because I ran on the treadmill for half an hour and you were on the stair climber before I started."
Raquel exhaled. "I must have gotten on it right when you started then." Reading the look of disbelief on her friend's face just made her even angrier. "I'm sorry, next time I'll clock myself so I can give you accurate answers, coach!" she spat sarcastically.
Yvonne had grown accustomed to Raquel's recent fluctuating temperament, and just muttered an insincere apology.
Raquel felt bad, but her exercise habits were her own business, and no one else's. Isn't it bad enough that I still look like the Borden Cow? She asked herself as looked at her shapely roommate, growing slightly resentful in the process.
When they entered their dorm room, Yvonne made a beeline for the telephone. She handed it to Raquel. "Call him!"
Startled, Raquel actually considered it. "I don't have his number…" she replied lamely.
"I won't hear of it! Call him now!"
"Vonnie, I do-"
"Now, Raquel."
Raquel rolled her eyes and dialed the numbers that were embedded in her mind. It continued to ring until the answering machine picked up.
Hi, this is Howie. I'm out of town for a while. If this is an emergency, please call 555-8931. See ya!"
She hung up the phone. "He's….gone…" she said out loud, puzzled.
"Why didn't you leave a message?" Yvonne asked exasperated.
Raquel's expression remained that of stone. "He….he doesn't know when he's going to be back….Vonnie he's avoiding me!"
Yvonne rolled her eyes. "That's ludicrous. He's not avoiding you. In fact, up until now you were avoiding him!"
"He gave an alternate number…I'm going to try that one." With shaking fingers, Raquel dialed the seven digits.
Five minutes later she hung up the phone, even more confused. She looked at Yvonne, perplexity dancing in her eyes. "He's…he's in Europe on business!"
Vonnie's eyes widened with interest. "Really!" just what did this fellow say he did for a living?"
"Vonnie….he never mentioned his job to me!"