Title: Of Villains and Princesses
Category: Glee
Genre: Humor/Romance
Ship: Rachel/Sam
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,586
Summary: Rachel has a theory on why Sam dated Quinn that she thinks he needs to hear; she also has a plan for his next epic romance. Dyslexic or not, he figures it out first.
Of Villains and Princesses
-1/1-
Rachel sits down next to him in glee one afternoon, all prim and proper and wearing one of those really short skirts that make her legs look super long. At first, Sam thinks something has to be really wrong. Because there's like twenty other empty seats and she had to take the one next to him. He's been having a really bad week, so he's not really excited for whatever's coming. After Quinn and then his not-so-unexpected break-up with Santana, things have just been really uncomfortable. He kind of misses Quinn and maybe even Santana but he's not sure if that's because he just misses having someone to spend time with or if he really liked her. Either way, he knows that neither of them really seemed to like him, at least not enough. And now he's got Rachel Berry looking at him like she's trying to figure out how to break really bad news to him. It's not that he dislikes Rachel; he doesn't even really know her. It's just that usually she's pretty vocal about things and they're not always good. "Are you, like, gonna kick me outta glee club or something?" he asks, raising a brow.
She turns to look at him, lips pursed. "Of course not. That would be ridiculous!" she scoffs. "Not only is glee meant to be a place where anybody can join, although I would stipulate that musical or a talent for dancing should be required, I see no reason for me to turn you away from our group. Especially since your voice, while generally an untamed diamond in the rough, is very compatible and works well in tune with the others…" she muses. Shaking her head, she stares at him seriously, back on topic, apparently. "No, I actually came to discuss something pertinent to you."
He blinks at her. "O…kay…"
She smiles and her chin lifts like he's just told her she's won some award and now he's more suspicious, like he's walked into something… He hates that feeling. He starts looking around because he thinks maybe he's on Punk'd, or like the McKinely high version of that anyway… He's not sure what that is and it probably doesn't exist, but he ate half a bag of Doritos and he hasn't had time to get to the gym and he heard the camera adds like ten pounds so he's starting to sweat already.
"You have dyslexia, right?" she asks, her eyes wide. She's not saying it in that snooty 'poor you, you're dumb' voice, so he just nods. "Did you know that those diagnosed with dyslexia have often admitted that what they're seeing gets turned around, almost backwards in a way…? Like D's become B's and so forth…"
Since he like, has dyslexia, uh yeah he knows that. But he doesn't say that because that might be rude, so he just nods again.
"Well that proves it then!" she declares, throwing her hands up and grinning widely.
He knows she's maybe a little crazy, but she looks really pretty when she smiles like that, like she's winning or something. And her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are all big and brown. "Uhm, proves what?"
She reaches out to pat his hand, her smile slipping. "I'm sorry, Sam…" She sighs. "See, you're a very nice guy… One might say too nice…"
His brows furrow. Huh?
"But I've figured it out, you see…" Her eyes thin as she nods, all serious like she's cracked some big mystery. "Why a nice boy like you, who's obviously much too kind-hearted, though slightly vain, would date somebody as villainous and cold as Quinn Fabray."
And yeah, he'd usually argue that, because he thought Quinn was pretty nice… Or maybe just really pretty… But then she went and kissed Finn and she had to like choose and he gave that fight up because he shouldn't even be fighting for his girlfriend, she should just be with him and not have to question it. "So, wait, what?"
She squeezes his hand and he thinks her skin is like really soft and the way she's leaning in, he can smell her. She smells like vanilla, which is different from how Quinn smelled like fresh flowers in the rain… It's a good kind of different though. Rachel sighs at him. "See… You got it backwards… Your dyslexia made you believe she was all sweet and nice and that there wasn't a deep, dark villain hidden beneath that angelic outer-shell." Smiling, she sits back and nods. "But it was just a trick your mind was playing, you see. Because really, she's—"
"The villain," he interrupts, nodding. "Yeah, I kinda got that, Rachel."
She grins at him. "Good. Then you've figured it out."
"Um, kind of…" His brows furrow. "So I, like, need to date the opposite of Quinn, right?"
She nods quickly. "Exactly."
"Okay… So wait… Besides being, like, the opposite of a villain, what else am I looking for in a girl?"
"Oh, well… I suppose whatever seems the opposite to you as you see Quinn might work."
He frowns. "Mostly that makes me think of ugly mean girls…"
She purses her lips thoughtfully. "Well, Quinn's fair-haired, with a light complexion and blue eyes… So you'll need somebody with a tanned complexion, brown eyes and dark hair…" She taps her chin thoughtfully. "Tina is out and Mercedes isn't really… well, your type…" She frowns. "Britney is out because she's physically similar… Santana you've already dated and I think we can agree that wasn't the best plan of action…" She blows out a breath. "Hm. Well, let's maybe focus on personality… Aside from villainous, Quinn is underhanded and catty, verbally abusive and sometimes cruel, vain, snide and a backstabbing boyfriend stealing, best-friend sleeping—"
"Uhm, Rachel—" he interrupts as she starts getting worked up.
"Oh, yes, right…" She licks her lips and sits back. "Sorry… I suppose she brings out some previously unknown feelings of dislike."
He cocks a brow. "Unknown?"
She frowns at him. "Fine. They were burgeoning beneath the surface waiting to explode… Are you happy?"
He smiles, shrugging. "A little."
"We need to focus," she mutters, glancing away. "Who is the antithesis of Quinn Fabray?" She twirls her hair around her finger and taps her foot thoughtfully.
It dawns on Sam as he quirks his head and stares at her a long minute. She's got hair the color of chocolate, dark skin and big brown eyes. While Quinn is soft-spoken, Rachel is loud. He doesn't really know if all the personality traits are opposite, because he hasn't spent much time with Rachel, but he knows that she's honest to the point of being mean, though she doesn't always mean to be, and that she puts up with a lot of verbal abuse from her peers and takes it with a lot of courage and disregard for petty opinions. She's also a total diva, which he doesn't think Quinn is, but lately he's started to think he doesn't really know her at all.
"Hey Rachel?"
"Hm?" she wonders, glancing at him.
"You busy this Friday?" he asks, stuffing his hands into his Letterman's jacket awkwardly. When her brows furrow, he says, "They're putting on a late-night showing of Avatar at the drive-in…" He blushes slightly. "I know it's not really like cool but—"
Her eyes widen excitedly. "I happen to find Avatar a very stimulating film! I have it on my To-Do list to audition for Avatar on Ice!" she declares.
His smile widens. "Cool."
Sitting forward, her hands clasped in her lap, she suggests, "Perhaps we can meet early and reenact our favorite scenes!"
"Seriously?" he wonders hopefully.
She nods. "Oh!" Her face falls. "Unless you'd rather not..." She puts up a hand to reassure him. "I know I can be a little forward and I don't want you to think that I'm trying to force you into acting during your downtime!"
"No, that—" He grins. "That would be really awesome."
"Okay then!" She brightens, sitting up a little straighter. "It's a date!"
As the rest of the glee club files in and takes their seats, all chattering to each other, he looks over and sees Rachel smiling to herself, her cheeks flushed and a happy sort of calm enveloping her.
So maybe his dyslexia got Quinn all wrong, but he's really hoping he's seeing Rachel a little more clearly. But even if this doesn't turn out the way he's kind of hoping, he thinks maybe she could make a really great friend; after all she's the first to show any interest in the real him and he's pretty sure that's a good sign.
Mr. Shue comes in and gets talking about music and finding new beginnings and all of that inspiring stuff he seems to pull out of nowhere every week. He thinks maybe he already found his; she's not expected and she's nothing like either of the girls he dated before, but he thinks that's a good thing. Sam Evans and Rachel Berry. He grins. So if Quinn was his villain, Rachel's his princess, right? When she sits forward in her seat and throws her hand up and speaks all regally, he thinks he's really got it this time. Maybe this dyslexia thing finally helped him out a little; if it wasn't for her coming in to set him straight, he might not have seen something better. He mentally fist-pumps; his week was really starting to look up.
[End.]