Why do I even try?

James was waiting in her office. He had knocked, but she wasn't there, so he went on in. She'd probably get mad, but what the hell. She hated him anyway.

He stood by the window, looking out onto the rest of campus. Nice view she had here. He knew this view, he'd spent a lot of time in this office when his schooling was being done here. A lot of time.

He sighed and went over to her chair, falling into it and looking at the pictures on her desk. Her family and all. A bunch of students and... He leaned closer, looking at the picture, and laughed. He picked it up and looked at it.

It was they're picture from prom, his Senior year. His hair was shorter, and he was wearing an ill fitting suit. Rachel looked so much younger then, so... innocent.

He heard the door click, and dropped the picture, standing quickly

Rachel walked up the stairs to her office. She had been grabbing things from the Latin classroom, she needed to prepare the next lesson. Walking into her office, she almost dropped everything in her hands onto the floor. Sighing, she set it down on a table and glared at James. "What do you need?" She asked, trying to stay calm.

James looked at his feet, and frowned "The hospital called" He started "When I was at the house, after you had left. It was the local one, not about your mom" He said, walking over and looking out the window again, "Uh...." He looked at her nervously "Bridget and Sam were in a car accident" he said, quickly, wanting to get it out. "They said Bridget's okay, her arms broken, and she's really worked up, but she's going to be fine. But Sam..." he trailed off "He's in intensive care right now, and they don't know if he's going to have any.. permanent damage." he told her, looking away.

Rachel listened to him and her eyes widened as he spoke. "W-what?!" She exclaimed in shock. "O-oh my god, I-I-" she stuttered, not knowing what to say. "I-I need to get over there!" She exclaimed, running her hand through her hair anxiously. Sighing, she grabbed a bottle of water I her desk and drank some, trying to calm down.

"Rache, No." He said, shaking his head slightly "They're both asleep right now. I'll drive you there later tonight okay?" he ran his hands through his hair. "They'll be alright. Tough kids, right?" he asked, biting his lip nervously, hoping he was right.

"Oh, they're asleep?" Rachel asked. "Then I won't wake them up." Rachel sat down in her chair, sighing and nodding at him. "Yeah, yeah they are." Rachel said, sighing and closing her eyes. "Anything else I need to know?" Rachel asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"No" he said, maybe a little too quickly. She was already really stressed, He didn't need to tell her everything now. The doctors could tell her.... "You should call Bridget later. She was really upset, and I wasn't all that good at comforting her..." He told her honestly, rubbing the back of his head.

Rachel raised her eyebrows at him. He was being really confusing. "Alright..." Rachel said, then shaking her stuff. "Wait what?" Rachel asked. She raised her eyebrows again, being completely lost. "Were you there? Or did you just talk to her over the phone?"

"No, the hospital called, right after you left, and then Bridget called, on the line at your house." He explained, "Alright. So I talked to the doctor... who was with Sam, and he said they'res most probably going to be permanent..... damage....." He said, and then looked away. He always hated giving bad news.

"Ah," Rachel said with a nod. But he went on, and Rachel became nervous for Sam. He finally told her, and she swallowed nervously. "And by that you mean...?" Rachel asked him, biting her lip.

"They didn't know yet. But it could be something really big, like, he's paralyzed, or something small, like a slight numbness in his foot." He said, looking right at her, "But they told us, which means it's most likely bad." He swallowed "There's that 4 months of medical school coming in." He said almost silently.

Rachel gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. "O-oh...." She had nothing to say. The poor kid! Paralyzed...and he was...what, 22? She shook her head, resting her elbow on the arm of her chair in disbelief.

James didn't have much else to say, so he sat down next to her and bent his head, running his fingers though his hair. "I don't know" he said quietly. "Sorry I had to be the one to tell you, I know you'd prefer if it was someone else" He said, and then stood. "I'll be going then..." he said, starting towards the door.

Rachel laughed and looked up at him. "You really think I care?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, really. I'm just glad someone told me." She said with a faint smile.

"Speaking of that, I-I want to apologize." Rachel said, turning her chair to face him with a sigh. "I think that ever since you showed up, I've been a real bitch to you. And I know everything happened, but i have to move on. That was so long ago. I-I think you deserve a second chance, and I'm really sorry." Rachel said, glancing at the clock. It wasn't too late, but she was exhausted. Rachel grabbed her coat from the back of the chair and put it on, reaching for the purse on her desk. She kissed James on the cheek and started for the door. "See you later," Rachel said, closing the door behind her with a slight smile.

James just stood there. He didn't exactly know how long, but it was awhile. He smiled, his hand on touching his cheek where she kissed him. Fuck. He better not mess this up. But he was was a Montez. He was James Montez. He was bound to screw something up. Maybe it wouldn't be this. Maybe, just this once, he'd figure it out. That would be nice. He grinned once more and headed off to his classroom.