Preludes Ch. 09: Oral Reports

Authors Note: "The Rachel Chronicles" is a multi-part series of stories involving the titular character (a young woman named Rachel) and her various sexual adventures. The stories are themed mainly around oral sex, with the occasional tale involving other forms of sexual activity. Each chapter is somewhat lengthy and detailed and it is my hope that such detail will provide a richer experience for you readers as you truly get an intensive look inside Rachel's head.

Further, the stories are written in an intended order and it is highly recommended that you read them as such. Obviously, you are free to proceed as you please and I'm grateful that you would read any of them at all. But you will get a much fuller and more rewarding picture if you follow the stories in their natural order.

One final note before I frustrate you to the point of wishing you'd never clicked here. These tales are my first attempt at story writing of any kind. I welcome and appreciate any and all feedback but understand that I am very sensitive, and if you're too harsh, I will delete everything from this site and never try to be creative again.

I'm kidding.

Enjoy!

*All characters in this story are 18 years or older*

PREVIOUS -- Chapter 8: Lost Connection

CHAPTER 9

Rachel sighed and leaned the side of her head into her palm as she pulled her car into the driveway. The ride home from school had been a blur. An auto-piloted series of turns controlled entirely by muscle memory as her brain stayed deeply engrossed elsewhere. It was a warm afternoon for mid-May and she smiled involuntarily as the breeze of her cracked-window fluttered through her hair.

It had been a strange end to the school day for Rachel. And ironically, giving Greg a casual blowjob in the stairwell hadn't been the cause. At least not directly. It had been the series of memories that had poured through her brain while she'd been with him that had caused a moderate stir in her subconscious. She didn't make it a habit to relive all of the stressful moments that the last two months had brought her. And she was a bit unnerved that she'd been unable to stop the ongoing films in her head that had played in the stairwell.

The additional ingredient that had put her further on edge was the big event of the weekend: Kevin's prom. Rachel had thought about it pretty much every day since the moment he had invited her a few weeks prior. Some days it seemed like it would be a fun and welcome distraction to the dark monotony of her current routine. But others it filled her with pangs of anxiety and nervousness as she contemplated coming face to face with a cast of ex-schoolmates with whom she had mixed histories.

With a gentle shake of her head, Rachel wiped the thoughts away and put her car in park next to the garage. She stepped out and gathered her school things before making her way to the front door of her house. As she approached, she stopped and let out a deep breath. Gathering herself, she reached for the handle and pushed her way inside.

She'd almost made it to the base of the stairs when she heard her mom's voice call out.

"Rachel? Is that you, sweetie?"

Rachel stopped and sighed again. She felt like such a bitch but she really didn't want to talk to her parents right now. She just wanted to get up to her room and collapse on her bed and be alone. It was what she only ever really wanted lately. That is, when she wasn't making questionable choices with questionable boys.

"Hey mom. Yeah, it's me. Just gonna go upstairs and rest for a litt-."

Rachel's mom cut her off with a cheerful tone.

"Come in here real quick. I have something for you."

Rachel closed her eyes momentarily before setting her bag down and obeying her mother's request. She shuffled listlessly across the hallway and into the kitchen where she found her mom seated at the table. She shot her the warmest smile she could muster and raised her eyebrows inquisitively.

Her mom read her face and smiled back before indicating across the kitchen. Rachel followed her gesture and her weak smile finally expanded into a more genuine display of happiness.

Hanging on a doorway hook was her prom dress. It was one of her favorite dresses and one that she rarely had occasion to wear. It was a red, strapless beauty that fit Rachel's body perfectly. Mild tickles fluttered through her stomach as she walked over and touched the plastic wrapping surrounding it. She knew how hot she looked in that dress and she was suddenly excited to be showing it (and herself) off to a group of people she hadn't seen in close to a year.

"I picked it up from the cleaners on my way home. Figured I'd save you one little thing to worry about tomorrow."

Rachel turned back around and smiled at her mom. She suddenly felt like a bad person again. Her parents were always fair to her and the showed their love in so many ways. It made her feel awful that she was doing things she knew they'd never approve of. Things that might very well have mortified them had they known...

Choking back a touch of emotion in her voice, Rachel nodded in response.

"Thanks, mom. It looks beautiful."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Rachel finally broke the gaze and turned back towards the hallway.

"I'm just going to put my things upstairs and relax for a bit. I'm so tired for some reason." She grinned and let a little giggle escape. "If I conk out, will you call me for dinner?"

Her mom nodded warmly. "Of course. Your father should be home soon."

She started to look back down at the book in her hands when she suddenly glanced back up.

"Oh! And speaking of calling. Kevin left a message on the house phone. I saved it for you but he said he'd be here around five tomorrow and to call him if that was a problem."

Rachel nodded and rolled her eyes as she saw her mom shoot her a sly wink before returning to her book. She knew her parents (her mom especially) had always liked Kevin and that they probably hoped the two of them would end up dating at some point. Her mom had even made a few comments over the weeks that had led Rachel to wonder if she thought this prom thing meant that they actually were dating in secret or something. She rolled her eyes again. Oh well. Letting her think that was far better than having her get a glimpse into the actual boy situation going on in her life at the moment.

Free to be alone at last, Rachel finally made her way up to her room and set her bag on her bed. She unzipped it and began pulling books and papers out to place them on her desk. As she flipped through everything, she opened up an orange folder with "CHEM" written fancily in thick, black sharpie on the cover and ran her fingers over the papers inside.

As she pulled the papers out and set them in a pile on the desk, she sighed again. Beyond the boy-related misdeeds she was hiding from her parents, there was an even bigger scandal going on her life. One that made sneaking a handful of quick blowjobs here and there seem like noble charity work.

Rachel was failing out of school.

Nothing was set in stone yet, but as the semester's candle burned low, it appeared that barring a miraculous turnaround, Rachel's fate was pretty much set. From the day she'd lost everything after her fight with Rebecca, she had basically ignored her schoolwork amidst the dark fog in which she'd been wandering.

What had started off as forgetting a few homework assignments and perhaps being unable to study adequately for a test had ballooned into intentionally blowing things off and caring very little about the consequences. A perverse part of her was even getting off on her uncharacteristic delinquency. It wasn't who she was at all, and sadly, feeling like someone else was more or less her goal these days.

The classes she shared with Rebecca had been the ones that had suffered the most. She'd become essentially a non-participant in English, focusing only on ignoring the sometimes burning glares she received from her ex-friend in the seat just beside her. Pre-Calculus had also taken a hit, although Rachel had done extremely well in the earlier parts of the semester so she'd built a bit of a cushion to absorb her recent deficiencies.

And then there was Chemistry.

Rachel again glanced down at the papers she'd taken from the folder and smirked. Chemistry was probably her least favorite subject and suffering through it even in better times had been painfully difficult. There was always some dumb in-class experiment to do or some brutally tedious lab report to complete. It was laborious. And in her current mind-state, facing difficulty was way down on her list of priorities.

As she brought her fingers to the stack of stapled papers on the desk and began to flip through, she thought about the afternoon she'd blown off class to do a very different kind of "blowing" with her friends Ryan and Drew. She laughed reflexively. It was still pretty crazy to think that she'd actually let them talk her into intentionally skipping her class and getting in trouble just so she could have the privilege of giving both of them head in the boys bathroom.

She thought of how she'd had a lab report due that day that she hadn't bothered to complete. True to her prediction, she'd gotten a "zero" for the assignment and caught a bunch of grief from her teacher. She laughed again. Two boys had gotten off and all she'd gotten was a failing grade and a lecture. What a joke.

But as she continued to turn the pages and scan her eyes over the contents, her stomach twisted with a combined jolt of excitement and shame. As crazy as that afternoon with Ryan and Drew had been, it hadn't been the end of that particular story really.

Not the end at all...

***

Maybe an earthquake could go off and the whole school would get destroyed and-. No, no that's stupid. Ummm. Oooh! I know, maybe Mrs. Potter has, like, a sick family member somewhere and she has to leave suddenly to take care of her. And then, like, the school would just have to cancel the rest of the semester and give us all an 'A' or something, right? I mean, we couldn't just get a new teacher for the last few months and just-.

Rachel snapped back out of her silly daydreams as she realized her teacher was talking to the entire class. She shook herself and sat up a little straighter as she tried to decipher the full context of the announcement that she'd obviously just missed the first half of.

"So remember, the reports are due next Thursday. That's just over a week. I suggest you guys all partner up soon so that you don't get stuck behind the eight ball."

Rachel squinted and bit her lip. It sounded like Mrs. Potter had just assigned another soul-sucking lab report. She felt her stomach twist with dread. God, Chemistry was the worst!

"Mrs. Potter?"

Rachel's disinterested scowl disappeared immediately and her eyes widened at the sound of the voice. Needles shot all throughout her scalp and she turned her head slightly to the left. She didn't want to be obvious, but she couldn't help but look to the source of the sound. She'd have recognized that voice in middle of a rock concert, and these days, it brought her nothing but dread.

"Yes, Rebecca? What is it?"

Rachel watched out of the corner of her eye as the fiery brunette whom she had once upon a time considered a sister, curled her lips into a devious smirk and cleared her throat. Her voice came out floating with sweet innocence. But Rachel stayed on alert. She knew better.

"Um, so like, you said that we need to partner up for this assignment. But does that mean just one partner? Like, I think some people might prefer two partners."

She paused and lowered her voice to mutter under her breath just loudly enough to be heard by the people nearby.

"Like Rachel, for instance..."

Rachel physically winced at the remark and felt her face start to get hot. Snickers and low murmurs rumbled through the classroom and Rachel did her best to stay steady. Her stomach twisted painfully and she felt the reddening of embarrassment continue to grow on her cheeks.

Mrs. Potter scanned the room quickly and silenced all giggles with a stern look. She brought her gaze back to Rebecca and studied her saccharine expression with penetrating eyes. Clearing her throat she responded, her tone devoid of humor.

"Yes, one partner." She paused and focused her stare into Rebecca's sparkling green eyes. "And if that was some sort of attempt to be clever, I'd strongly suggest you zip it up. Otherwise I can arrange for you to be partners with Principal Kauffman this afternoon."

A smattering of taunting "Ooooooohhhhhs" piped up from the class, but they were silenced quickly with another withering glance from the teacher. She turned her attention to Rebecca one final time and gave her a meaningful look. Rebecca only smiled more deeply and nodded as if she had no earthly idea what she was being accused of.

As the class returned to normal, Rachel stayed frozen in her position. It was clear the implication that Rebecca had been making. And her barb had once again found its mark. Sudden images of her experience with Brad and Matt flashed across her brain and Rachel stiffened painfully. Finally, she allowed herself to turn her head further and look directly at Rebecca. She watched as her ex-friend met her gaze. The girls did nothing for a moment before Rebecca twisted her lips into the subtlest of fake smiles. Rachel flinched again and looked away.

Mercifully, the class was all but over, and after a few ticks of the clock, everyone began to get up and file out of the room. Rachel kept her head down as Rebecca passed her, unwilling to risk further eye contact. She felt dizzy and drained and all she wanted to do was to finish out the day in peace.

"Rachel? Could you come up here please?"

Mrs. Potter's distinctive voice cut another slice of dread through Rachel's stomach but she stood up and did as she was asked. She approached her teacher's desk and stood patiently as the last few remaining students exited. Finally, Mrs. Potter cleared her throat and spoke.

"How's that report coming?"

Rachel furrowed her brow in confusion.

"I don't-. I thought you said it wasn't due until next Thursday."

Mrs. Potter's face tightened and she tried to withhold a sigh. Taking off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose, she shook her head.

"No, dear. Not the one I just assigned. The last one. You know, the one you never turned in? The one I gave you a very, very generous extension on-?"

Rachel's face lit up and she flashed a knowing smile. "Oh, oh. Sorry, I'm, like, on another planet." She paused and kept her face friendly as she prepared to lie.

"It's coming alone fine. Well, I mean, I'm almost through-."

"It's due tomorrow. Remember?"

Rachel swallowed and continued to nod away.

"No, no, I know! I know it is. And you'll get it! I'll have it all done by tomorrow!"

Mrs. Potter stared up at Rachel and studied her face. A hint of sadness crossed her own brow and she sighed again. She sat forward and touched Rachel gently on the side of her arm. Her voice came out warmer this time.

"Rachel, look, I know which of my students are destined to be chemists and which would rather be anywhere else." She paused as Rachel gave a guilty smile. "I know you aren't dreaming of Nobel Prizes but it seems like you are really struggling lately. Earlier in the year you were at least engaged. Is everything okay?"

Rachel felt the subtle pinch of emotion in the back her throat and she caught herself before it spread further. As good of a job as she imagined she'd been doing hiding her pain from everyone the past month, it was obvious that she wasn't fooling everyone. Even her cranky old chemistry teacher was on to her.

With a reassuring smile, she exhaled and nodded.

"No, I'm fine, Mrs. Potter. Really. I just have a lot of my plate and haven't balanced everything very well I guess. But I'm okay. I promise."

Eager to leave the tense exchange and retreat to solitude, Rachel nodded again and turned away. As she headed for the door, she looked back at her teacher and shot her a confident smile.

"I'll have your report tomorrow. See you then!"

As she exited the room, she closed the door behind her and leaned her weight into it. Shutting her eyes tight, she drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She felt a rush of emotion beginning to swell and she bit her lip to keep it in check.

Everything was a mess. Rebecca's hurtful joke had wounded her deeply and it was making her feel weak and vulnerable. And the lab report! Rachel shook her head through closed eyes and exhaled again. She hadn't even started it. There was no way she'd get it done by tomorrow. Ironically, all the extension Mrs. Potter had given her had done was to cause her to go through the agony of disappointing her a second time. At least the first time she'd-.

A shiver went down her back as she recalled the reason she'd failed to turn it in when it had originally been due. She'd blown off class to go into the boys bathroom and get on her knees for two guys she was sort of friends with. She trembled as she recalled the scene from the day. Ryan and Drew arguing about who got to go first. Her little fashion discussion jokes with Drew as she took down his pants and prepared to suck his dick. The craziness of Brad entering the bathroom while she'd been in the middle of the second round with Ryan. Then, perhaps the most exciting part, when she'd seen Brad by the vending machines afterwards and given him the subtle implication that it had been her blowing both his friends while he'd been just a few feet away completely unaware.

But she had no exciting story to excuse her this time. She'd been given a generous opportunity to make up the work (an opportunity she desperately needed to take advantage of based on her grade situation) and she'd simply blown it again. It just seemed like there was no way out. She was stuck in this Groundhog Day hell that she'd created and she appeared doomed to relive it forever.

"Um, Rachel? Are you okay?"

Rachel opened her eyes with a start and looked around in response to her name being called. She didn't recognize the voice, and as she focused on its owner, she realized she didn't completely recognize the face either. She felt her cheeks redden. She hadn't known anyone was watching her as she'd been lost in her moment of self-pity.

"Yeah, I'm fine, um..." She paused and narrowed her brow as she tried to place the name of the boy facing her from a few feet away.

He seemed to read her thoughts and he smiled politely.

"Zachary." He nodded his head towards the door nonchalantly like it made sense to him that she might not know who he was. "I'm in chem with you..."

Rachel's eyes widened further and she smiled warmly. She knew who he was. He sat a few rows behind her in Chemistry. She felt mild embarrassment that she hadn't placed him right away but she was also pretty sure that this was the first time he'd ever spoken to her.

"No no! I know who you are." She swallowed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she stepped towards him. Shooting him a silly grin she shook her head.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to, like, look all funny back there. I was just thinking about something."

Zachary smiled widely and raised his palms in defense.

"Oh no! I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to startle you. I just, um.- Well, you looked upset and I figured maybe you had some problems in class or something..."

Rachel swallowed and studied his face. She didn't like telling people her sob stories. Her grandfather (who was known for his advice and odd tales) had once told her: "Never tell people your problems, sweetie. Half of them don't care and the other half are happy you have them." She chuckled every time she thought about it. And it seemed like good advice overall.