Heartbreaker
Rachel Berry thought that she would be upset for a long time after Jesse had broken up with her, breaking his heart. Sure she had cried for a couple days, and had avoided him like the plague for the longest time. Weeks had passed by and she had come to the conclusion that she had been depressed long enough; in fact she was done with all the idiosyncrasies that New Directions had taken with her. Despite all of her flaws, she had come out shining, her voice boosting up the glee club to new heights. Yet she still heard the hushed tones, the hurtful nicknames, and the gossip about her and her dads. The Rachel Berry that had been raised to let it roll off her was going on sabbatical; no more Miss Nice Girl to bring up an old cliché. A part of her thought about everything the old Berry had; conservative, comfortable clothes. That wasn't going to work this new image for herself. Her internal thinking was cut off when there was a knock on her door. She turned around to see her dads standing there. "Hey sweetie, Dad and I are going to go out…"
"I'll probably go out too, so no worries," she said as politely as she could. They smiled lightly at her; still not knowing about the break-up between her and Jesse. A part of her flashed back through her short-lived relationships; Finn was cheating on Quinn with the little dates he set up and for the majority of dating Jesse, it was in hiding. The only other person she dated was Noah Puckerman and was the only one who was brave enough to be public with her. As she thought about Noah, she decided that she herself should have her own "badass" visage to protect her from the world. She had to have her own version of Puck. With a determined look on her face, she grabbed her purse and keys heading towards her car.
She looked in the mirror as she thought to herself, the old me would ask for help. Take suggestions for what was deemed socially acceptable, but she shook her head. "Not this time," she growled, speeding up a little bit towards her hair salon. As she parked she saw her usual hairdresser Nadine. She smiled lightly, "Hey Nadine," she said, slinging her purse over her shoulder, "I know this is super short notice, but can you squeeze me in…" Nadine looked at her watch and then the time for closing. She was about to open her mouth, she saw something in Rachel's eyes.
"Sure thing…it's just going to be and you then," she hesitated then questioned, "is everything alright?" She opened up the door letting the petite brunette in. Rachel bit her lip, and decided to tell at least one person about this plan.
"I…I am tired of people judging me and pushing me around. I feel…I feel I want this new image for myself, and the attitude alone isn't going to help me. Everything has to be different," she said in a determined voice. Nadine just nodded her head, and led her to the chair.
"Do you trust me?" she questioned. Rachel nodded her head; she was prepared for anything, she smirked thinking about getting a Mohawk like Puck for a moment, but decided against that.
"As long as you don't shave it off," she said lightly. Nadine nodded her head, and began to work on her. Locks of hair were cut, and layered leaving Rachel with a new do. She played with the bangs she now had and smiled at the reflection. She barely could recognize herself except with her natural big smile and clothes, she felt different.
"Wow…you look amazing," her hairdresser commented, liking her handiwork. Rachel pulled out her wallet and she shook her head, "This one is on the house," Rachel gave her two twenties, and thanked her once more before heading out. She then went to all the popular stores, and got more seductive clothing. The next day they were all going to be shocked.
The next day she made sure that her make-up was smokier than usual, and she felt a newfound confidence building up inside of her. She wore more modern clothes; normally would dub as slut-wear. She pushed down the uppity annoying Rachel, and brought the calmer collected version of herself to surface. She grabbed the heeled boots that Kurt had made her get the first makeover he did. She shrugged her shoulders and put them on under her jeans. She walked down the stairs, and was glad to see that her fathers weren't there. She wasn't sure how long she could keep the visage up with them around; she needed practice with her peers first.
As she walked to her car, she already noticed the different looks from the neighbors. Normally they wouldn't even spare her a glance, but this time she got a double take. She shrugged her shoulders, and got into her car. Rachel drove to school, and parked her car. As she walked down to the front of the school, she bumped shoulders with none other than Jesse St. James. "I'm sor-," he started to apologize, and she just looked at him with a pointed glare.
"Close your mouth, you'll attract flies," she said, re-shouldering her backpack. She left her ex-boyfriend openmouthed in the middle of the parking lot. She smirked as she strutted herself. She felt confident and sexy as she entered the school premises. She headed for Mr. Shuesters classroom to turn in a project. When she walked inside, she could tell that she had effectively surprised him. "Just came in to turn in my project…" also to drop off her backpack so she could practice the song she was going to showcase for Jesse at Glee. He doesn't know what he was missing, she thought to herself.
"Well…ok," he said shaking his head not sure what to say. She just grabbed her sheet music, and walked out of the classroom. She thought that Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker would do an excellent job in expressing the new image she wanted to portray.
"Well…looks like RuPaul finally got the hint to start dressing like a teenager," Santana said snottily.
"Might want to put your crabs comb out of sight," Rachel replied, seeing the fine tooth comb in the locker. Santana was shocked into silence; not because it was true, but she had said it loud enough for most of the football team to here. This meant she was going to have to deal with them questioning her to see if what Rachel said was true.
The petite brunette smirked as she got into the auditorium. As much she preferred having actual instruments, she was just going to have to deal with just the instrumental recording. She didn't see Noah Puckerman walking into the auditorium; things were still weird since the whole babygate thing, and after breaking up with Quinn, things didn't help entirely with the image. He knew that Rachel normally didn't take the auditorium this early, so he could strum out a few songs before going back to the Puck persona he hid himself so deep in. As he heard Rachel singing, he couldn't help but stay and watch her perform. She was so lost in the lyrics and music; she didn't see him watching her.
As she hit the last Heartbreaker, the room seemed to vibrate with emotion. "Noah…what are you doing here?" she questioned, quickly wiping the emotion from her face.
"I was just coming here to strum out songs…" he honestly didn't mean to eavesdrop, but Rachel hid her annoyance well. Instead of yelling at him like she normally would have, she walked down to him.
"Well, go ahead and go do your thing," she said.
"You can join me if you want to," he offered; it wasn't like he was going to admit that he was lonely if she said no, but she never usually passes up an opportunity to sing. She looked surprised for a moment before nodding her head. It couldn't hurt to practice singing once more.
"That sounds good," she admitted, knowing his voice was getting better the more he practiced. "What do you want to sing?" she questioned. Rachel wasn't sure how much of the songs she knew that he did; despite popular belief, she did listen to more than musicals. He thought for a moment.
"Barracuda," he said, "its gonna be a little more toned down since its acoustic, but I think you'll like it," he murmured lightly. As he started to strum out the first couple notes, she couldn't help but think that he was trying to be a friend.
So this is the end I saw you again…Rachel started to sing looking at him.
Today...I had to turn my heart away
You smiled like the sun- kisses for everyone
And tales- it never fails!
There was an odd look in his eyes, almost like he was also alone too. She took a deep breath before starting the next set of lyrics.
You're lying so low in the weeds OH! Back over time when we were all trying for free
I bet you're gonna ambush me
You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees
Now wouldn't you, barracuda?
You met the porpoise and me
No right, no wrong, you're selling a song- a name
Whisper game
Puck smiled at the girl, loving the sound of his guitar mingling with her voice. He started to throw his vocals in the background, and he almost saw Rachel smile at him for a moment.
And if the real thing don't do the trick OH! 'Sell me sell you' the porpoise said All that night and all the next
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn it to the wick
Ooooh, barracuda!
Dive down deep down, deeper than
You.. I think that you got the blues too
Swam without looking back
Made for the western pools- silly, silly fools!
He was glad to see Rachel getting into the lyrics and music. This is one of the few times he had seen her genuinely happy was when she was singing. Puck grinned at her, as he started to strum faster.
The real thing don't do the trick, no?
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn it to the wick
Ahh, barra- barracuda!
As their combined voices rang out, he couldn't help but smile. "Well…" she said clearing her throat. It was the first time in a long time that she had felt a tickle in the back of her throat. "That was fun," she admitted.
"So Berry…" he started to question, tapping his guitar lightly, "Is that offer for being friends still on the table?" he asked suddenly. A part of her knew that this would be something this old persona would say yes to…but having one friend would be nice. "Rachel…" he said, snapping his fingers lightly in front of her face.
"Sorry Noah," she said, shaking her head lightly. "Of course the offer is still up for grabs," she assured him. He was still shocked that she was using such small words, but didn't want to press the issue. "Anyways, we have to get to class,"
"Come on…" he said suddenly, "we can ditch a couple classes…lets go do something fun," he said with a smirk.
"We are not making out," she said in a pointed voice.
"That's what you're saying now," he said with a wink, "But I'm just saying," he said with a grin, "lets just get out of here for a bit," she bit her lip lightly, and then nodded her head. He grinned and they practically walked out of the school from the lack of security.
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of this story; the rights belong to Glee, Pat Benatar, and Heart. Anyways, let me know what y'all think