Tough Love

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.

Now, for those of you who are all caught up, welcome back!

SENIOR WEEK

(as you can probably guess) deals with the week following the end of Rachel's senior year of high school. As Rachel attempts to move on from the trauma of the spring, she finds herself caught up once again in the throes of her own unpredictable behavior. New faces emerge, familiar ones return, and existing relationships become both altered and re-born. So sit back and get ready for a week of sand, sun, drama, and fun as Rachel takes her first steps into the next chapter of her life.

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 --- Prologue

CHAPTER 1

Rachel sighed as she adjusted the top on her bathing suit and stared pensively at her reflection in the mirror. She squinted uncomfortably, her gaze running all over the unusually pale complexion of the girl looking back at her. She tanned very easily, and normally by the time mid-June rolled around, her skin had a nice even glow to it. But currently, this wasn't the case.

She smirked as her eyes ran down to her legs to reveal the same disappointing view. Her lack of an even moderate tan was yet another cross she had to bear from her recent dark period in which she had forsaken just about everything important in her life. And in this specific instance, it was her decision to quit the spring soccer team that had been the culprit.

While Rachel was usually an active athlete, soccer had been just another victim of her general malaise towards school and life in general as she'd wandered aimlessly in her painful fog during the spring. Under normal circumstances, she would have been out on the field several hours each afternoon and the effects of the late-spring sun would've given her the glow that was now so irritatingly missing. But her awful feud with Rebecca had stripped her of all desire to participate in any activity that required additional human interaction. She had simply wanted to retreat into her shell and shut the world out as she suffered in silence.

Ironically, the one form of interaction she hadn't shut out had only pushed her deeper into her spiral. She had become laughingly "friendly" with more boys than she cared to count and she'd found herself giving in to even the most effortless and crudest requests to drop to her knees. It had been her only escape and she simply hadn't been able to stop herself as she'd fought desperately to feel wanted or needed in what had been a hellish stretch of isolated sadness.

The thoughts sent a wrinkle across her brow and she sighed again. But this time it had nothing to do with her bad memories or the related lack of bronze coloring on her shoulders.

She was thinking about Kevin.

Pine Valley Prep's graduation had taken place earlier that morning and Rachel was currently down at a local beach town about two hours from her house. A handful of girls from the field hockey team had rented a little condo together as part of the youthful rite of passage known as "Senior Week." Rachel had at one point been part of the group, but the traumatically abrupt dissolution of her and Rebecca's friendship had led everyone involved to decide it would be best for her to be excused from the reservation. However, when the two girls had miraculously reconciled, Rachel had been immediately re-added to the roster.

It was going to be a crazy, fun week and Rachel especially was looking forward to it. The sting of not graduating with her classmates had reached a crescendo while she'd watched from the crowd that morning. The tangible evidence of her failure had made her twist with shame and regret, and while it was a hard lesson that she'd taken in stride, she was eager to turn the page and move on to something more enjoyable.

Initially, her parents had balked at allowing her to join the rest of her friends, but Rachel had really shown them something with her level of re-dedication to school late in the semester. And she'd also taken the initiative to sign up for a summer class at the local college to earn the final credits she would need for admission. They knew how hard their daughter had worked, and while she'd fallen just short of technically graduating, they were cautiously optimistic that her future was still looking up. And taking away the one carrot she had been counting on could risk throwing her back off course.

So there Rachel stood, ready for some summer kickoff fun. She faced a dresser mirror as she took in the image of her scantily-clad body. She was wearing a red and white striped bikini and a pair of tiny jean shorts. Her hair was pulled up messily, and dark, oversized sunglasses lay perched upon her head. She looked hot, even if maybe a tad pale in her own eyes. But her troubled expression belied the fun and carefree atmosphere of the house.

By pure coincidence, a group of boys from Taylor Reed had rented a similar condo in the same complex as the girls. And Kevin just happened to be in that group. Rachel's stomach had twisted anxiously when he had cheerfully revealed the news while the two of them had been grabbing a casual dinner after school the previous week. She'd felt her face get hot and had offered a silent prayer of gratitude when she'd found out that none of the other boys from that fateful prom morning were going to be staying in the house as well.

Of course, that didn't guarantee she wouldn't be running into any or all of them during the week, but at least they wouldn't be three doors down. Rachel knew they'd likely cross paths at some point in the future so she'd have to deal with it eventually anyway. But none of those boys (or even the unpleasant prospect of seeing their girlfriends, Jessie and Erica) bothered Rachel as much as the troubling question that she'd still been unable to solve after several days of laboring:

What was she going to do about Kevin?

It had been just about a month since their heart-to-heart talk that day after the prom. Kevin had revealed that he had some feelings for his longtime friend, and while Rachel had admitted to feeling something similar, she had not given him the reciprocal answer he'd hoped to hear. Despite the truth of her feelings, the timing just hadn't been right for them. She'd let him down gently and the two had parted as friends, perhaps closer than ever.

They hadn't talked every day since as Rachel had been relentlessly busy trying to salvage her senior year classes. But when they did speak, Kevin still appeared to be okay with the situation. Rachel knew in her heart that he was disappointed though, and although he was saying the right things and acting the right ways, she could sense that he was at least partially putting up a front. All she could hope for was that time would simply help him to move on.

But in the meantime, she was beginning to experience a painful convergence of frustration and guilt. She had been with only one boy (Jim) since that prom morning and she realized that while that had mainly been due to her preoccupation with more important matters in her life, it had also been strongly motivated by a sense of obligation towards Kevin. She'd looked him in the eye and told him that she had feelings for him and she also still trembled with shame when she thought about what she had done in front of him that morning at Jeff's house. So on some level, she knew she was avoiding hooking up further because she didn't want to hurt him again.

But she was fully aware that her self-imposed continence was both unnatural and unsustainable. She had her own desires, and with her friends back and her old self feeling more present every day, she was beginning to ache physically for some relief of the sexual sort. She'd already done Jim in his car that one afternoon, and now that she was down at the beach to party and live the good life, she knew she'd be finding herself in some exciting and tempting situations.

Such was why having Kevin as a literal neighbor for the entire week made her brain sizzle with worry and concern. He wasn't an idiot and he wouldn't remain ignorant to what she'd be doing. As much as he'd been playing the role of the understanding friend, Rachel was absolutely sure that it would crush him the first time he caught a glimpse of her across the room at a party, flirting with another boy. He'd eventually see that boy put his hands suggestively on her body, and at some point, they'd disappear together. He'd know what they were doing. What

she

was doing. And it would kill him. Whether he'd admit to it or not.

Rachel snapped out of her troubling daze as she heard Rebecca call her name from another part of the house. She sighed one final time and gave her bikini another adjustment. She still had no answers. She'd just have to figure something out.

It was already late afternoon and the group of girls moved quickly to take advantage of the precious remnants of prime tanning time left in the day. The hours melted lazily away, and after a solid session of catching rays and covertly sipping on wine coolers, they made their way back to their house to prepare for their first night of celebrating.

They were all a bit giddy with tingly buzzes and Rachel especially found her mood to be perfectly breezy and light. It felt so good to let go of the shame she'd been feeling over graduation and she was grateful for the release. She was giggly and practically half-stumbling with Rebecca as they approached their condo complex and the knot in her stomach over her conundrum with Kevin had all but gone away. But her reverie was interrupted in short order.

Kevin had arrived.

The condo complex the girls had rented in shared a common parking lot and swimming pool with a dozen other units. They all opened up towards the lot, creating a block party kind of feel. It would not be uncommon to see multiple groups of people milling around in the general area, either going to or coming from an adjoining unit. And when the girls returned from their afternoon jaunt at the beach, Kevin was there to greet them.

Rachel noticed him immediately, and while her stomach twisted for an instant, the overwhelming good vibes of the day muscled the tension away from her thoughts. Her eyes lit up and she shot him a bright, toothy smile as she picked up her pace and halfway-skipped across the lot. With the warm current of her buzz fueling her along, she threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him a bit more enthusiastically than she had intended.

Kevin had sucked in his breath as he'd watched Rachel bound over to him with a giddy grin. She looked super-hot in her bathing suit and the first hints of a pink, pre-tan glow washed over her skin. Kevin wasn't wearing a shirt and he felt an automatic surge as her full, soft breasts (warm from the sun and separated only by a thin strip of material) pressed firmly into his flesh. His brain flashed immediately back to the morning after prom when Rachel had inexplicably pushed her body into his and kissed him for the first and only time. He swallowed hard and forced himself to pull back from the hug before it ran too awkwardly long. He was trying so hard to move past his feelings and see her only as the friend he'd promised he could be, but he just couldn't completely close the door.

Rebecca watched the embrace from her vantage point behind Rachel and smirked as she read Kevin's obvious reaction. She shook her head. Rachel had told her about their conversation that day after the prom and also about how she didn't quite know what to do about it all. Rebecca also knew that Rachel had given Jim a blowjob about a week ago in his car as school was ending. She'd rolled her eyes when Rachel sheepishly confessed to the incident, but truthfully, she'd been surprised that Rachel had held off as long as she had.

She thought the whole thing with Kevin was just silly though. Why not just hook up with him once and get the monkey off his back? Off

both

their backs. She understood Rachel's hesitation and she knew deep down it was likely the more mature choice not to lead him on, but she also knew that keeping the boy in this awkward state of confusion wasn't much better. Rebecca would've wagered her parents' house that Rachel wasn't going to be able to stay "penis free" the entire week at the beach. So what exactly was her plan?

She continued to shake her head as Kevin finally released Rachel from his arms and attempted to stealthily adjust his shorts. His awkwardness was kinda cute, and while Rebecca didn't know him all that well, he'd warmed up to her over time and she'd discovered that he was pretty funny and cool to be around. It just took forever to get him out of his shell. If he were just a bit more confident and less weird about everything, he might actually be-. Rebecca swallowed at the silly thought.

Whatever.

She rolled her eyes and approached the two friends as they continued to exchange excited greetings.

The trio made some small talk and the girls informed Kevin that they were planning to throw a party that night to kick off the week. The condo complex appeared to be occupied mainly by people of their same age and situation so the girls had figured it would be a good way to meet their neighbors and start things off on a fun note. They told Kevin that he'd better be there and to let the rest of his roommates know as well. He excitedly agreed and they parted ways, expecting that they would meet up again later in the evening.

Darkness fell, and before long, the girls' house was full of loud music and good feelings as a few dozen freshly-minted high school graduates began their first true night of celebration. Rachel had been hanging out with Rebecca and the girls hadn't wasted time in getting pleasantly buzzed. She also hadn't seen Kevin yet, and despite her best efforts, she'd found herself again beginning to stress over what it would mean when she did. She'd tried to talk to Rebecca and probe her for advice but her friend would hear none of it. They were there to have fun, not bellyache about some stupid awkwardness. Rachel had begrudgingly agreed and done her best to push the worrisome thoughts out of her mind and focus on the carefree promise of the night.

Soon enough, Rachel did indeed find herself getting playfully close with a boy who had approached her and struck up a flirty conversation. He was tall and handsome and he sure didn't seem to have a problem with how Rachel looked either. Her navy blue t-shirt hugged her slender frame smoothly with a plunging neckline that offered a view both friendly and enticing. A pair of tiny white shorts wrapped around her toned thighs, accentuating the gratefully-earned first hints of a tan she had gotten earlier in the day.

But her new friend wasn't all that focused on her skin tone. As they'd chatted away about nothing in particular, Rachel had excitedly caught his gaze dipping repeatedly to her deep cleavage. His wandering eyes made her shiver pleasurably and she began to feel warm and tingly as visions of what they might be doing later flashed through her head. Would she suck his dick? She'd just met him an hour prior. She realized she wasn't exactly sure of his name either. Derrick? Darren? She giggled sheepishly. It wasn't as if something like that had ever gotten in her way before...

Rachel trembled again as she felt his hands creep dangerously lower over her ass and she pressed herself into him as they continued to get more intimately acquainted. He was whispering something about how he hoped he'd get a tour of the place and Rachel surged with excitement at the obviously suggestive meaning behind his request. But just as she felt herself begin to melt pleasurably into the moment, her arousal suddenly went cold.

From across the room, she finally spotted Kevin. He was talking with another guy, and while he was trying not to make it obvious, he was definitely flicking his gaze nervously in her direction every few seconds. To the untrained eye, he might have looked entirely normal in relation to the mood of the party. But Rachel's eyes were far from untrained.

She sighed with heavy guilt as she took in his glances. It was exactly what she'd been dreading. Kevin wasn't truly over her and it was putting them both in a terrible place. It was painful for him to see her with other guys and it was frustrating and uncomfortable for her to know it was happening. She finally made eye contact with him and attempted to shoot him her best warm smile. But he stiffened and returned the glance with sudden embarrassment as he quickly excused himself from his conversation. In an instant, he had disappeared into the crowd.

Rachel felt her stomach drop. She heard her new friend make another suggestive comment and move his hands firmly to her shorts. She let him go on for a few seconds as she tried to push Kevin out of her thoughts, but the guilt would not release its hooks from her conscience.

With an exasperated breath, she pulled back and politely apologized. She told him she needed to do something but that she'd be back soon. He balked momentarily but eventually let her go once she promised to return. Rachel did in fact want to return very badly. She didn't even want to leave. But she had to find Kevin and talk to him. They simply couldn't go on like this otherwise the entire week would be a mess.

In a bit of a haze, Rachel desperately searched the packed house for Kevin, only to turn up empty. She doubled back and checked every room she could think of and asked people he knew if they'd seen him. No one had. She looped through the kitchen, waited by the bathrooms, and eventually pushed her way out into the warm night air of the parking lot in furtherance of her futile pursuit. She even went to his condo unit, but it was locked and unoccupied as all its residents were apparently at her place. All, it seemed, except the one she needed.

Rachel returned to the parking lot and slumped her shoulder against a fence in tired frustration. She had no real plan of what she would say to Kevin, but her inability to even locate him at all made any solution seem even further from her grasp. She shut her eyes and tried to focus as she fought the flowing buzz and swirling emotions that coursed through her senses. She was a smart girl. She could do this. She could think of an answer. She just had to-.