Sometimes when she closed her eyes she saw stars, like someone took a cookie cutter to her eyelids to let the light steam in. It was never dark when Rachel Barbra Berry closed her eyes. She had vivid flashes of her future, and an imagination that carried her far away from her small farm. The talk of New England she had heard over the years gave her something to build her dreams off of. The six-teen year had only been to New England once, but she had decided she would spend the rest of her life in the bustling cities. The South held no interest for Rachel, and she wanted out. She wanted away from the constant reminder that human beings were being exploited, she wanted away from backwards men who found violence comforting, she wanted away from her second-class citizen role as a woman, she wanted away from the plantation south.

Rachel was born in Virginia, in 1790, to an unknown woman, but what her adoptive father told her, she was able to piece together fragments of who her mother had a been: a brown-haired immigrant with fair skin and a gargled accent. He had found the woman in his barn as the sun set, her dress already soaked in blood. She had been a runaway – perhaps an indentured servant or house slave. But Hiram Berry was a kind man, and did not turn away the dying woman. Instead he helped the stranger give birth in his barn on a cold winter night, and after what seemed like hours a baby was brought into the world. The woman had died shortly after, and Hiram had been unable to find out her name. Instead he was left with a crying baby girl and a dead woman. The raising of Rachel had been complicated, because Hiram had never wed. Instead, the poor farmer had to invest in a maid that would care for and raise Rachel in her mother's absence. Hiram did not believe in owning slaves and a lot of land in order to have the same rights as other men, therefore the idea of owning someone was foreign to him. However, he found a maid that had recently lost her newborn, and would be able to take care of Rachel. She was lighter skinned African American, and this raised her value, but Hiram purchased the older woman and with it lost half of his farmland. The woman's name was Susan, and Rachel took a liking to her instantly.

Rachel had always had big dreams, and almost impossible goals. She was a swift horse rider by age six and knew how to spell every word, or so she liked to think. To Susan, Rachel was the daughter she never had the chance to meet, and the two formed a sort of kinship. Hiram had to constantly remind them of the social hierarchy, because even though the people of Fairmont, Virginia had sympathy for Hiram and Rachel, they still did not regard slaves as people. Hiram had understood this when he came up with how he had gained custody of Rachel. He had come up with a story in which Rachel's mother had actually been his sister, Elizabeth, who died during childbirth. Rachel's real father, Richard, had died from tuberculosis a few months before Rachel was born, leaving her all alone. Hiram was the only family member remaining that could take charge of Rachel. By hiding his new daughter's history, he kept her safe from that aspect of scrutiny. But what he soon realized after Rachel had started school was that children were cruel things that could spin lies and make his daughter cry.

Rachel strived for excellence with every fiber of her being. She was able to recite her alphabet both forwards and backwards by her third birthday, and was already reading - what scraps of books Hiram could find her- by the time she was to enter first grade. Rachel had grown over the course of her six years, but she was still smaller than most of the area's children. Her long brown locks were braided into pigtails, and she wore her favorite dress that Susan had made her; it was red plaid with black deer around the bottom. Today would be her day. The walk to the small schoolhouse was two miles, but Hiram had decided that today would be a special day for his little girl. He brought out the carriage and harnessed his bay mare to it. This would mark the first time Rachel had rode in the white carriage, and she was ecstatic. New things stirred an old yearning in the pit of Rachel's stomach that craved to learn more about the world around her, and so she was unable to contain her excitement at the horse and buggy. Both Hiram and Susan accompanied the small girl to her schoolhouse, praying to God that the other children would be kind.

After saying a tearful farewell to her father and nanny, Rachel made her way into the building. She almost hesitated at the door, but pushed forward in that very moment. Organized desks and a blackboard greeted her, as did the bustle of small children. She looked around the room with doe eyes, trying to take everything in. A Spanish girl sat in a chair towards the back with a blonde-haired girl that had a sweet face. Next to them were three boys: one had floppy blonde hair and an odd mouth, the other had a shaved head and wickedness about him, while the last looked like an oversized puppy, or maybe even a small pony. Rachel studied her classmates before the Spanish girl caught her staring and stuck out her tongue. This earned a small giggle from her blonde counterpart and Rachel's optimism about the day fled. It was going to be like the last time she had tried to make friends.

"You okay?"

Rachel hadn't even noticed the pretty blonde girl walk up to her until she was suddenly inches away. Rachel hadn't even seen this new girl when she had first walked into the classroom, and wondered how on earth had she missed her, The girl that stood before her had soft hazel eyes and a sweet smile, almost like the other blonde, but this new girl seemed more levelheaded. She wore a dress made of expensive material, and had ribbons in her curled hair, and Rachel thought that maybe she was dreaming. She tried to pinch herself awake. No, not a dream.

"Hello?"

"Oh uh, hi." It took a second for her to regain the drained confidence, but now Rachel grasped on to it. Maybe she would make a friend. The other girl stuck out a hand, and grinned at Rachel.

"I'm Quinn Fabray."

"I'm Rachel Berry."