He Loves Me Not

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 along their natural progression.

PROM

is the first series, and while it is a little choppier (in my opinion) because it was my first effort, it is the main story from which the others are branched. So things will definitely be a little confusing (and surprises/themes ruined) if it is skipped over.

PRELUDES

is the follow-up and it deals with a crucial stretch of time that led to where Prom began. It weaves the two series together and fills in a lot of missing details and untold storylines that help explain how the events of Prom occurred and why Rachel may have acted in the ways that she did.

SENIOR WEEK

is the third installment and it details the week following the end of Rachel's senior year of high school. It explores some different aspects of Rachel's personality as she finds fun and trouble alike with faces old and new.

So, if you're not caught up, catch up! And if you are, welcome back! I don't think I really need to give any clues as to what

FRESHMAN

is about, but just to be safe, this series will follow the entire first year of Rachel's college experience. What had seemed like an impossible fantasy just a few months prior is now fully in her grasp. Will the freedom and euphoria of the life she'd prayed for lift her to new heights or will it consume her as she is unable resist her instinctual urges to charge recklessly ahead?

As always, I appreciate your ratings and comments and I welcome 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 1: He Loves Me

CHAPTER 2

And he's long gone

When he's next to me

And I realize

The blame is on me

Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in...

***

Maybe...

Rachel smirked gently as her eyes focused on the word shining up at her from the reflective screen of her phone. Her lips twisted in thought and a tingle of confidence shifted her shoulders back automatically.

Maybe...

It was her own word she was reading; her own message. Her gaze flicked upwards to the message that immediately preceded it.

So you're coming?

She smirked again.

Oh, Josh.

She had the boy wrapped up tight.

The thought made her stomach tickle and twist as she sheepishly realized that that wasn't entirely fair. It was true that by every outward sign she'd certainly charmed the handsome quarterback, she had to admit that she was every bit as smitten as he appeared to be. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of fun and excitement. It was even fair to use the L-word to describe how she felt.

Hearing it in her head made her giggle nervously. She wasn't in love

with him

, but she was most definitely in love with

being

with him. She was deeply attracted to him and their compatibility (sexual and otherwise) just felt so easy and right. She hadn't felt that way about someone in a long time. Probably not since-.

"When are we leaving anyway?"

Olivia's soft voice cut through the air with a noticeable impatience. Her eyes flicked first to her dark-haired roommate standing by the closet and then to the other girl sitting on the futon, lost in her phone and seemingly in no rush whatsoever to get moving.

Rebecca rolled her eyes back at Olivia and shook her head as she, too, turned to observe Rachel's obliviousness. Glancing quickly at the clock on her desk, she twisted her full, pouty lips and nodded. Liv was right. It was getting late.

"Uh, that's Miss Princess's deal over there. She's playing some sort of game with her boy toy."

Olivia grinned and giggled in response. She was on the field hockey team with both girls and had gotten to know them quite well since the start of the year. But she was closer with Rebecca as the two of them had met earlier in the summer and had become roommates once the fall semester had begun.

Still, even in the limited time she'd known her, Olivia had come to understand the who, how, and why of Rachel as well. She liked her a lot. Rachel was sharp, funny, and a great time to hang out with. She knew she and Rebecca had gone to high school together and it was clear that the two of them had a very close relationship. She'd also been present for numerous playful barbs between the girls regarding proclivities for promiscuity (most of which had flowed in Rachel's direction). But as far she knew, Rachel had only been hooking up with this really hot junior on the football team. Rebecca's whispered taunts and sly implications appeared to be just playful inside jokes between them.

She grinned again as Rachel's bright eyes stayed locked on her phone. She didn't appear to be typing or even reading. She was just staring away. Lost in whatever world was occupying her brain.

Rebecca also noticed that Rachel hadn't even registered her earlier dig. Shaking her head at Olivia, she tried again.

"I think she has dick pics of Josh on her phone. She's probably going through them right now. Just lusting away."

Olivia stifled a snort and grinned brightly. She loved Rebecca's sarcasm and the playful interplay between them all. She decided to jump in the fun.

"I think you're right. Look, her mouth's even kind of open. Oh my God, she's going to drool on the screen!"

Rebecca laughed back and nodded in agreement.

"If we weren't here, she'd probably put it in her mouth."

Both girls laughed again as the jokes crisscrossed through the air. But as the giggles died down, Rebecca scoffed in disbelief. Rachel hadn't even budged. Had she really not heard anything that-?

"Oh my God!

Whore!

Are you even here??"

Rachel's reverie disintegrated in a rush as her best friend's mocking tone finally brought her back to the moment. She lifted her head and looked around with wide eyes, confusion clutching her senses. She'd been lost in her tingly thoughts. Truly lost. She hadn't had the slightest clue what the girls had been talking about.

"Wha-what?"

She paused and grinned sheepishly as she took in the other girls' playful smirks. It was pretty clear that they'd been making fun of her for something. She just wasn't sure what.

"Wait, are you guys waiting on

me?

"

Olivia scoffed and exchanged glances with Rebecca as she twisted her lips. Drenching her tone in sarcasm, she rolled her eyes and spoke back.

"Oh, no. No, we just thought we'd hang out in the room all night. Take your time, girl!"

The sun-kissed hue of Rachel's face turned quickly red as she grinned defensively and shook her head.

"What? No! We can go! I wasn't trying to like-. Whatever."

Rachel clicked off her phone and eased herself to her feet, tugging gently on the hem of her short dress. The bright yellow material clung tightly to every alluring curve of her body and accentuated her still-golden summer tan. The downward adjustment by her thighs caused a commensurate movement further up, pulling the dress's plunging neckline further past the already generous display of her full cleavage. A diminutive white-gold heart locket swayed before settling in over the soft expanse of her chest.

Rebecca shook her head again as she gave her best friend a quick once over. Rachel had

clearly

never been one to dress conservatively but she was laying it on pretty thick tonight. It seemed that she was trying to make some sort of point to her 'whateverhewas' Josh. The pair had been pretty close since the summer and Rachel had revealed that they'd even begun having sex for the past couple of weeks. Neither had spoken about their relationship being official in any way, and Rachel denied that she wanted such an arrangement, but sometimes Rebecca could sense the little squeaks of excitement in her voice or the ways her eyes would momentarily glaze over when she was around him.

Rachel nodded at the others as they each turned towards the door; the plan of the evening was to hit a big party at one of the athletic houses. Josh had inquired earlier in the day (more than once) if Rachel would be attending, but she'd decided to play it coyly noncommittal. She wasn't even sure why. She'd just been feeling like perhaps she'd ceded a little too much power to Josh in their dynamic. She basically let him have his way (with her and otherwise) whenever he wanted. So it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to maybe pull back on the reins a bit. Maybe show up a little late. Maybe keep him guessing.

Maybe.

The cab ride to their destination was quick and the sounds of a party in full-swing greeted them from the moment they stepped onto the curb. Walking with confidence fairly earned by their appearance, the girls strolled past the admiring looks and muffled compliments and entered the house. There were people everywhere; the loud clamor of one hundred different conversations flowed chaotically over the backdrop of bass-heavy music. The house itself was large and the rooms sprawled out from the entryway. Red cups, shrill tones, and the heated competition of drinking games filled the space. It was a college party in every sense.

The girls exchanged greetings with familiar faces and made their way towards the back of the house and into the kitchen. Soon finding themselves with their own potent beverages, they assessed the scene and began to settle in. The kitchen window looked out over a large backyard bordered evenly by a tall, solid fence. An expansive deck spread out from the walls, illuminated by a crisscross of string lighting. Two kegs sat dutifully on the far left corner; a bubbly and welcoming (but to this point unoccupied) hot tub sat on the right.

"Hey! Whattup, Squeaks?"

Rachel's perked up and she spun around to face the direction of the voice and accompanying touch on her shoulder. She smiled warmly and shook her head.

"Haha! Hey, Will!"

She leaned in briefly as she and boy exchanged a quick hug before pulling back and taking a sip from her cup. Swallowing the cool liquid, she raised an eyebrow.

"We just got here. You been here long?"

'Will' smiled and nodded back.

"Yeah about an hour probably. Definitely poppin' now but you didn't miss much."

Rachel smiled and took another sip. She knew Will from their Freshman Calculus class. In fact, he sat right behind her. The nickname he'd given her ("Squeaks") came from the fact that her chair was hopelessly wobbly and squeaky. It was how he'd broken the ice and spoken to her the first time.

He was cute and pretty funny, although Rachel didn't really interact with him much outside of class. He'd dropped a few flirty comments here and there and hinted at them hanging out once, but Rachel had kind of brushed it off. It was interesting because he was exactly the type of boy who, had it been a year prior, could've probably talked her into a "bathroom stall study session" without much effort. But he hadn't made anywhere near such an explicit suggestion and Rachel had been so singularly-focused on Josh that nothing had come of their classroom chats and encounters.

And such a singular focus was again taking hold as Rachel stood in the kitchen. She chatted idly with Will but her eyes darted every so often past him and around the room. She hadn't seen Josh yet and she

had

seen a handful of boys who comprised his usual crew. She was sure he was there. But where?

She tingled gently and shook her head as she felt a touch of shame over allowing him to occupy so much of her thought. The whole point of pulling back a bit had been to even the scales more. She knew he was totally into her but having him feel a little of that same thirst would be a good thing. She'd made herself too accessible lately. She was becoming that girl that she swore she'd never be the first time she'd met him.

"...in the hot tub later?"

Rachel blinked her eyes and refocused on Will as she realized she'd tuning in and out during the conversation. She'd missed most of what he'd just said.

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't hear."

Will smiled and took a sip from his cup letting his eyes drop every so subtly to Rachel's dress as he did. As much as he hated calculus, it was fast becoming his favorite subject due solely to the tri-weekly treat that was getting to check Rachel out from close distance for a full hour. He felt his jeans tighten a bit as his gaze traced downward over the soft line of her cleavage. She'd shown up for class a few times in generously-cut tops but nothing like what she was wearing now. Her tits were incredible. He could only image what they looked like uncovered.

Following the thought, he quickly re-met her gaze and repeated his questions.

"I said, you getting in the hot tub later? Cause you should."

Rachel grinned and raised an eyebrow at him as she took in the playfulness on his face. She always wondered if boys knew how unsubtle they were being with their quick glances to her boobs during conversation. Like, did they think they were pulling off some sort of slick, undetectable work and that girls couldn't easily follow when their eyes dropped and flicked around as if by accident? Not that it bothered her; Rachel certainly wasn't one to eschew attention. She'd just always thought it silly if boys actually didn't know that girls could always tell.

Glancing reflexively out of the kitchen window towards the hot tub, Rachel shrugged her shoulders and scrunched her face.

"I don't know. Probably not."

She paused and purposefully adjusted a strap on her shoulder.

"I didn't bring my bathing suit."

Will grinned and licked his lips as another surge snuck through his gut.

"Yeah, no one did. That's kinda the point."

He winked and swallowed hard as Rachel smiled back playfully in return. He was sure that she was just playing along with his flirting but he'd never seen the specific look in her eyes he was getting now.

Rachel, indeed, was enjoying herself, but her response had actually been pretty faithful to her thoughts. She hadn't come to the party with any intention to strip down and get wet. She giggled to herself at her own little pun. Any such a description of her night would need to involve the boy she'd been hoping to see...

Smirking and brushing the thought away, she shrugged coyly at her hopeful classmate.

"Well, we'll see. Maybe later depending on how long we stay."

Will nodded and smiled back. After a few final pleasantries, Rachel excused herself from the conversation and turned back to her friends. In short order, the girls were giggling and gossiping and pointing out cute boys in the crowd. They'd only been college students for a month or so but the school wasn't that big. They knew plenty of people already and plenty of people knew them.

As she was wont to do, Rebecca had already graced a few boys with her affections. Her (innocent) jealousy over Rachel and Josh's relationship combined with her unexpected and still strangely-stirring event with Kevin had certainly primed the pump for the beginning of her college career. She was anything but a shy girl and she'd had no problem going up to boys who'd caught her eye and making her intentions known. She'd had some great sex with a hot guy she'd met the very first weekend the fall semester had started. And she'd had a handful of other rounds of fun with subsequent suitors since.

It had actually been a bit odd to contrast her behavior in that arena to Rachel's. While Rebecca hadn't been going buck wild, Rachel's monogamy had certainly changed the dynamic of the girls' standard routine. It didn't bother Rebecca at all; outside of a few taunts here and there, she certainly supported her best friend's apparent newly-turned leaf since she knew better than anyone how easily Rachel could find herself in trouble. But it was still a little weird to behold. For as long as she'd known Rachel, she'd been the very definition of a free spirit (even when such freedom had become twisted and dark).

She'd asked Rachel a few times what her plan was with Josh. She knew Rachel was no idiot and had to clearly understand how a boy like that operated. Rachel had brushed her off each time and swore that she certainly wasn't looking for things to become serious or exclusive with her handsome beau. She was just happy with how it had been going and she saw no reason to deviate from such an enjoyable path.

Rebecca had suspected that Rachel's answers were, if not white lies, perhaps a bit incomplete. It wasn't unreasonable for Rachel to want more from Josh and Rebecca had tried to impress that point upon her. She didn't have to feel weird or guilty about wanting him to be her official boyfriend or something to that end. Rebecca wondered if perhaps Rachel had been one way for so long that she didn't know how (or worse, didn't feel like she deserved) to be something else. She just wanted her best friend to be happy.

Regardless of these mini-mysteries, such a sense of happiness did not appear to be infringed upon in any way. Just because the girls weren't swapping stories of random hookups each week, it didn't mean that they weren't enjoying the shit out of their young college careers. Field hockey had been a blast and a perfect extension of their experience in high school. And while they weren't official roommates, they were practically inseparable outside of the times they had different classes or when Rachel was with Josh.

The night progressed in just such a carefree manner. The girls made their way through the party, chatting with different groups of people and letting the warmth of their buzzes grow. At some point Rebecca splintered off to get a little cozier with a cute boy who had approached and taken an interest in her. Rachel had giggled to herself as she'd watched her friend slip away to a more secluded part of the room and work her own brand of powerful charm. Rebecca could be every bit as captivating as Rachel could when she turned the dial up. Her style was different but there weren't too many boys whom she could not melt with her searing sexuality.

Rachel and Olivia hung out together for a while longer but as the minutes and hours slipped away, Rachel's ability to continue to ignore the boy whom she'd came to see began to weaken severely. She didn't want to abandon her plan to be coy, but it had been hours since she'd gotten there and she was starting to get miffed at his apparent absence. She'd checked her phone several times hoping to see another inquiring message, but none had appeared. She certainly was

not

going to be the one who caved there but she really did want to find him. Deciding that some harmless recon wouldn't betray her intentions, she took a full sip from her cup and alerted Liv that she needed to locate a bathroom. Receiving a friendly nod in return, she turned on her heel and began her stealthy search for the object of her desires.