Never See Them Again by M. William Phelps Page B

tough man Mike Swick. Besides, could you ask for anything more American than having your school colors as red, white, and blue? In addition, Clear Lake High School catered to a majority of kids whose parents were oil company execs and NASA employees, and so the hierarchy had a bar set fairly high for a good portion of the students. Many came from money. And according to one news report, within that social pyramid: “Rachael Koloroutis and Tiffany Rowell stood on top.”
    Like any high school, Clear Lake was no different when it came to cliques and various groups of kids chastising one another for reasons we know all too well. Tiffany and Rachael, though, were never like that. They were more of the celebrity type: the pretty girls walking through the halls whom every boy wanted to date, but wouldn’t dream of asking for fear of being rejected. And even that would be a misconception, a judgment; because Tiffany and Rachael were, by far, more approachable, according to former students and friends, than most other girls in the school. They were well liked, and kind to everyone, regardless of his or her status. Didn’t matter who you were, where you were from, how much money your parents had. They were in total accord with helping out whomever they could.
    Tiffany had dreams of going into social work. Some said she was a very “talented actress.”
    Rachael and her sister Lelah, a senior when Rachael and Tiffany were juniors, met Tiffany together, but it was Rachael who became closer to Tiffany Rowell. Tiffany’s mother had died not long after Rachael and Lelah had befriended her. Tiffany had hit a rough patch in her young life, having just lost the only woman she had ever known as a mother (Tiffany was adopted at a young age). Her life had been overwhelmed with grief at a time when it should have been filled with wonder and anticipation of what was around the corner. In this respect Rachael filled an important role in Tiffany’s life, and Tiffany understood and appreciated it greatly.
    Rachael and George had talked about Rachael joining the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). Undecided on which branch of the military she wanted to go into, the ROTC could fill that desire Rachael had expressed for law enforcement. Every division of the military had a criminal investigation unit of some sort. The ROTC was a good place to begin that career path. Rachael would learn discipline and routine and possibly earn a scholarship. She’d be taught leadership skills, something her father had already given her in genes. She could step into military life as an officer, essentially. Nothing would make George and Ann Koloroutis happier than to see Rachael get involved with the ROTC program.
    Rachael was supposed to join her sister at college after what her father described as Rachael’s one “wild and crazy summer,” which now included Rachael moving into Tiffany’s house. Rachael had a plan—she just wasn’t following it immediately after graduation, and this greatly frustrated her mother and father.
    Lelah had been enrolled at the University of North Texas in Denton, and Rachael was planning on doing the same. UNT was where Rachael could enter into that ROTC program. From there she could do whatever she wanted.
    â€œBecause there were some behavioral issues there during that last year or so of her life,” George said later, “I thought the structure of the air force (which Rachael had finally decided on) would be good for her. She did, too. She agreed with the plan.”
    George was all about helping his kids organize and plan their lives. He had sat down with Rachael more than once and talked about what she was going to do. Yet Rachael, George pointed out with a laugh, “had become a staunch liberal by the time she was a junior in high school.” Being a GOP man himself, George admitted this caused some friction; and they butted heads over those differences more