There were few things that Rachel liked about Orange County, in fact if she had it her way, she would up and move just about anywhere else in the world and be happy about it. There were few upsides about living in the suburbs of the OC, and no, one of them wasn't the overly large house her and her dads lived in, it was sailing. Feeling the cool breeze through her hair and the fact that she could get away and not be bothered. But most of all it was the peace and tranquility she felt every time she pulled away from the dock and let the wind carry her. School was out for the summer so the beach was filled. Rachel had to go out in the ocean pretty far to get away from her peers who insisted on only riding the loudest and obviously most expensive boats. It wasn't a particularly windy day so she laid back against the floor of her boat as it simply rode the tide slowly.
Her eyes fell close as she took in the rays of the sun and began to sing. She rarely sang in front of anyone except for her dads, she didn't have really any friends in Orange County. She always felt like she didn't belong, and it may be conceded of her, but she knew she was too good for this place. It was filled with mediocre students, with rich daddies who bought them everything they wanted. No one had dreams here, no one had ambition, they all lived off of their trust funds and that was as good as it was going to get for them, and what made it worse, was that they were perfectly content on this being their lives. Sure Rachel's dads were probably the two richest men in all of Orange County, but she had bigger dreams than her father's money, and it was New York. The minute…no, the second she gets her diploma, she's getting in her car and driving across the country all the way to Broadway, she only had one more summer and one more school year to get through, and she would be free.
There was a loud roar that filled the air, and ruined Rachel's singing. She sat up with a groan to see what, or who for that matter was interrupting her bliss. She raised her sunglasses off her head to get a better look at who was going by. She felt a tight pang of her heart when she saw who was driving the boat, Finn Hudson. Rachel couldn't even remember a time when she wasn't madly in love with Finn, she was pretty sure she'd been in love with him since the first time they met in Kindergarten. She felt her cheeks go a light shade of red as him and his friend Puck, also his girlfriend Quinn, came closer to her, she always felt self-conscious when Finn was around her boat, not that he'd notice her anyways, but she was embarrassed to admit that it was in fact named after him. Her dads had bought it for her, for her Bat mitzvah and she took it to the shop to get the name painted onto the side a few days later, Finness. The artist had looked at her funny when she requested it to be spelled with two Ns but she knew it had to be done.
It was as if she was watching an action movie's opening scene where the handsome male lead rode his motor boat in style while the wind blew into his hair and made it even more perfect rather than messy. Finn's laugh was soaring into the wind and she was grateful that they were coming closer to her so she could hear it more clearly. He was wearing a tight white V-neck and she was bit her lip at the fact that it was a little wet and she could easily see the contour of his abs, how she longed for him to just hold her in his thick muscular arms, or run his large hands down her body and kiss her with all the force in the world.
"What are you starring at, Loser?" Rachel shook her head, coming back to reality as she tried to think out a response, "uh…" Finn had slowed the boat in front of her and Quinn and Puck were holding in their laughter as they starred at her, "I said what. Are. You. Starring. At. Loser" Quinn paused after each word as if Rachel didn't hear comprehend what she was saying. They were all starring at her and Rachel wished she would have been anywhere but there, why did they have to ruin her perfect place? No one ever came this far out into the ocean, yet here they were. Rachel didn't even bother responding to them, all she could see was the way Quinn clung to Finn like she would fall off the massive boat if she didn't firmly grip his arm. "Come on baby, I wanna go to Rickard's Cliff," Quinn pouted as Finn revved the engine of the boat and began to pull it away from her, "What a freak, who is that girl anyway?" Finn said with a laugh as he swiftly turned the boat, causing a massive wave to come up and drench Rachel. She could see all three of them looking back, as she sat in the middle of her small sailboat covered in water. Their laughter began to fade as the rode off further down the ocean.
It probably wasn't the most rational…or sane thing for that matter to be in love with Finn. He didn't even know Rachel's name. They had been going to the same school, in the same grade since elementary school, and he still had no clue who she even was. But she understood, he was popular; captain and quarterback of the football team, why would he even know someone like Rachel? She didn't socialize at school, had absolutely zero friends, so why would he notice her? She couldn't help but be hopelessly in love with him either, and every time she would see him smile or hear him laugh, exposing the deep dimples he had on either cheek, she felt something, something that she obviously couldn't ignore. It didn't matter though, being in love with him, he didn't know it, and she had no choice but to love him from afar.
Drenched, Rachel decided to head in back to the dock. She tied up Finness and began to walk back to the gated crescent she lived on. There were only two houses on it and one belonged to Puck, who's dad was this broker or something, she really didn't pay attention though, he was just another spoiled Orange County kid that thought Rachel was invisible. She walked into her house and saw her dad, Leroy working on a model home in the living room. Her grandfather was the owner of the biggest real estate company in Orange County, he basically owned the entire county, and her dad was his partner. She walked into the kitchen to see her other father sitting at the table, "Hey daddy" she said nonchalantly as she opened the fridge to get a drink, "Hey, why are you soaking wet!" he questioned, "did you fall off or something?" Rachel rolled her eyes before turning back to her dad, "yeah, you know what it could have been that, or…" Rachel tapped her chin, pretending to think when suddenly she snapped her fingers, "Nope I got it…it was the massive wave that mysteriously came out of nowhere." She groaned as she walked out of the kitchen.
Rachel's dads weren't oblivious to the fact that she hated Orange County; she wasn't shy about mentioning it every time she could. They were also aware of her lack of social life and friends, how could they not when their daughter spent most of her time in her room either studying or singing? "Rachel wait, there's something your father and I want to talk to you about…" Her dad tried to catch her before she went into the living room but it was too late. Rachel walked in to see a tall and lean girl sitting on the couch. She had darker skin and Rachel assumed she was Italian…or perhaps maybe Latina? The girl sat with her elbow on the armrest of the couch and her chin firmly placed in her palm. She was pissed off, Rachel could tell just by looking at her. "This is Santana Lopez, she's one of my clients." Her daddy said cautiously. Her dad was a public defender, he usually dealt with cases regarding troubled youth, but he never brought one home before. "She'll be staying here just for a few days until I can get in contact with her father." Rachel walked over to her and put out her hand, "hey…um…I'm Rachel" she didn't know why but she was nervous, it's not like she expected this girl to stab her right there or anything but she was still hesitant about talking to her. The Latina raised her head from her hand and looked Rachel up and down; she didn't say anything as she loosely shook her hand. Rachel didn't know it, but the second she shook the girl's hand...her life was about to change.