Charlie Fabray saw a small brunette sitting on the bleachers, glancing at the football players. Was she one of their girlfriends? She went back to listening to Coach Sylvester and walked closer to her twin, Quinn. She had recently joined the Cheerios in hopes that it might make her a little more popular at school. It wasn't her style at all, but Quinn always looked like she was having fun whenever she performed, and recently Charlie hadn't been in a 'fun' mood at all. She brought her eyes back to the small girl on the bleachers. She now saw the Spanish teacher talking to her. What was her name? It was on the top of Charlie's head but she couldn't quite find it. Rochelle? Raquel?
"Charlie, why do you keep staring at Berry? You better pay attention to Coach Sylvester or you won't be on the cheerios for very long." Santana Lopez crossed her arms and hissed at Charlie.
"Oh, yeah, of course. You're right." Charlie slinked closer and closer to Quinn to avoid the wrath of Santana. "Quinn…" Charlie whispered and tapped on her sister's shoulder. Quinn turned her head around quickly and lowered her eyes "What?" Charlie looked down and bit her nail. She shuffled her feet and straightened her skirt out. "Who's that girl over on the bleachers?" She meekly pointed over. Quinn put her hand over her eyes and squinted. "Rachel Berry? Who cares! Pay attention and don't embarrass me for the 3 months you do stay on the cheerleading squad." Quinn turned to Coach Sylvester and Charlie backed away a bit. Rachel. That was her name. Rachel Berry.
After practice, Charlie still saw the small girl sitting on the bleachers. It was starting to get chilly out. What was she doing there? Charlie could see Quinn wouldn't be ready to go right then so she crept up to the steps. Rachel was still in a daze until Charlie stepped on a dry leaf. Rachel jumped a bit and looked down. She uncrossed her arms and furrowed her brows. "Can I help you?" she called out. Uh-oh. Had Quinn been mean to Rachel? A lot of people recently started mistaking Charlie for Quinn since she had been donning the Cheerio's uniform and a ponytail. Charlie stuffed her hands in her letterman jacket and crushed the leaf under her foot. She peered off into the distance and said quietly "Just wondering why you were here be yourself." She heard Rachel stand up and looked over. She had her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "Why do you care, Quinn?" Charlie sighed. She hated when people got her confused with her sister. But it was her fault. She wanted to be a cheerleader. Just like Quinn. "Uh, I'm not Quinn. I'm her twin Charlie." Charlie let her eyes gazed up at Rachel but kept her head in the same position. Rachel uncrossed her arms and placed her hands together. "Oh…" she looked down "Sorry." Rachel looked back up and peered at Charlie. "You just recently became a cheerleader, right? I've seen you around but you're always in a pretty dress or a cardigan and jeans." Charlie felt her face heat up a bit-pretty dress, it wasn't like Rachel was saying she was pretty. Why did it even matter? She hadn't known this girl's name until about two hours ago. She had seen her around school every now and again, had her in English class, and knew she was in the Glee club. Why the hell did she care if Rachel thought she was pretty or not? "So, uh, why're you here?" Charlie zipped up her jacket and took a couple of steps closer to the staircase. "I was just prioritizing what I need to do the help the disaster that is the McKinley High glee club. Getting a male who had vocals to match mine is the first." Rachel proudly smiled and started to go down the stairs. Charlie gave a little smile. A lot of people thought Rachel was annoying, but Charlie liked that she knew what she needed and wanted to do. Charlie didn't even know what she wanted to wear for school tomorrow. Oh wait, she didn't need to. She was a Cheerio now. The uniform was on from the start of school 'till the end of school. She scratched her forehead and looked up at Rachel who was only 2 feet from her now. She stepped back a bit and Rachel held out her hand. "Rachel Berry." Charlie's smile widened and she clasped Rachel's hand. "You should try out for glee. We could use some backup singers." Charlie was sure most people would take that offensively, but Charlie wasn't interested in singing at all, so she didn't care. Rachel was still smiling when Charlie heard Quinn call out her name. She whipped her head around and saw Quinn tapping her foot, standing with Santana and Brittany Pierce. She turned back to Rachel and waved "Bye." Rachel smiled and gave a little wave back. Charlie wanted to talk to her more but Quinn wasn't patient at all. And Charlie didn't have a car of her own, so she had to go when Quinn 'had' to go. She scowled towards Quinn and solemnly walked over to her. She was laughing at a –probably dumb-joke Santana had told.
Charlie got in the front seat of Quinn's car and buckled her seatbelt. Brittany and Santana got in the back, giggling about some inside joke that had happened in her locker room. For someone who wanted to be more popular, Charlie sure didn't feel like she wasn't trying hard enough. She should have been in the locker room for that joke. She would have gotten it and be laughing along with them. Quinn was still laughing as she got in and started up the car. She took off her letterman and turned on the heat. It was getting really cold outside. Charlie had hoped Rachel was already in her car on the way home. Wait. Why did she care? She physically shook her head and bit at her lip. Charlie peered around and saw Santana putting on lip balm. She caught her gaze and straightened up her posture. "Why were you talking to that midget?" Santana asked in her usual acidic tone. Charlie scratched her chin and smirked. "Who?" She knew, but liked messing with Santana. Santana rolled her eyes and peered out the window. "Rachel Berry, Charlie. Why the hell would you be talking to her?" Charlie peered at the floor. If she said the wrong thing Santana wouldn't think she was cool. Sure, Santana was a bitch, but she was still considered 'cool' at McKinley.
"I was just asking her what her deal was. I mean, she kept staring at us like a freakin' lesbo." Charlie felt her heart sting just saying that about Rachel. Why? Why was that simple statement hurting her so much to say? She looked over at Santana who looked really offended. Had she said something wrong? She messed with her ponytail and ignored it. Charlie went to check her lip in the visor's mirror and saw Brittany peering at her from the back. Brittany knit her brows and gave a sympathetic smile. Did she know? Did she know Charlie didn't really feel that way about Rachel? She quickly shut the mirror's cover and stuck her hands back in her pockets. Quinn peered over at Charlie as she got on the road. At first, she looked a bit angry or grumpy. But her features softened and she actually looked a little guilty of something. What? She turned back to mess with the radio. She turned it on the generic pop station. Brittany and Santana wooped when a popular song came on and they started dancing as best they could in the small car. She usually preferred listening to the college or soft rock station, but today she didn't feel like listening to emotional and/or mushy songs. She wasn't sure why. But she had a clue. Maybe it was Rachel Berry.