Best Summer Ever
"I can't believe you just talked my parents into letting me go to theater camp with you this summer!" Tina whispered excitedly, closing her bedroom door once Rachel stepped in after her. Her face still wore an expression of stunned amazement even as Rachel beamed with pride.
"As you know from all the times I've convinced Mr. Schue to go along with my song choices, I can be very persuasive when necessary," Rachel replied, sitting down on Tina's bed. Tina joined her as she continued: "Besides, now that you're not with Mike anymore, I didn't see any reason for you to endure yet another half-summer counseling grade schoolers about technology and video games and whatever else you two did at that place, wherever it was. It was simply a matter of pointing out the benefits of attending theater camp to your future career as a performer. Once they saw that, your parents agreed that it was clearly the better choice for you."
"Actually, we mostly taught math and made out a lot." Rachel glared at that, and Tina quickly changed the subject. "Really, though, I'm impressed. You didn't even need to show them your PowerPoint presentation," she laughed, soothing Rachel's glare into a pout, which was quickly transformed into a smile when Tina pressed a sweet, delicate kiss to the tip of her nose.
"I put a lot of work into that, I'll have you know," Rachel sighed. "But it was only meant to be a back-up plan, I suppose."
"Are you kidding? You had them the moment you mentioned that Meryl Streep is going to be there to teach a special class!"
Rachel looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap, with one of Tina's on top of them. "Actually, I said that Meryl Streep's daughter, who is also an acclaimed actress in her own right, is going to be there. Your parents only heard the 'Meryl Streep' part and missed the 'daughter' part because they couldn't hear me over their own squeals of delight. I never imagined your dad as the fanboy type."
"Wait. I also missed that part," Tina gasped. Her hand flew up to her mouth as her face took on an expression of horror. "Don't tell me I was squealing too. Oh, god."
"You were, but don't worry about it. It was cute. And besides, I didn't lie, Tina, if that's your concern. People tend to hear the things they wish to believe, that's all."
"I guess you're right. What they didn't hear won't hurt them. Or me, later. I hope."
Rachel laughed, retrieving Tina's hand to clasp it snugly in her lap once again. "Oh, relax. It's fine. Honestly, Tina. And people call me a drama queen."
Tina responded by playfully shoving Rachel's shoulder. "Hey! That wasn't nice," she said.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said. "I'm going to hug you now. Come here."
Tina let her body melt into Rachel's outstretched arms, accepting the embrace as they wrapped around her. Then she shivered a little when Rachel's voice, low and breathy, sounded in her ear: "This is going to be the best summer ever."