Her parents were quiet when she returned to the dining room. Her eyes swept over her questioning little brother, who looked up at her through his magnifying glasses as he hunched over his half-finished dinner plate. Her father opened his mouth to speak as her mother scooter her chair back, ready to get up and wrap her arms around her daughter to offer up the familiar comfort, but it all frozen when Rachel had raised her hand, her lips pursed and her jaw visibly tight.

"I'm going to the park with Eric. I'll be back by curfew," she told them as she left the room and hurried up her stairs to her bedroom where she grabbed her light blue denim jacket, slipped it on, and buried her feet into her dark brown slip-ons.

By the time she was out the door, she turned her phone off and buried it into her back jean pocket, her eyes on Eric pick-up. His voice had already began to lighten up her mood, making her relax a bit more than she was before. She opened the passenger door and slid in as if she had done it millions of times before, which she had. Her eyes were red and puffy, traces of tears remaining just at her lower lash line. She sniffled and looked ahead of her once she was buckled in, shaking her head.

"Just drive. Please."