Chapter 1- First Grade Dilemma
Summary: One decision can change everything- Rachel Puckerman-Berry doesn't know it but the table she chooses to sit at in First Grade will dramatically affect the rest of her life.
Main Characters (ages for this chapter)
Rachel Puckerman-Berry- 6 years old
Quinn Fabray- 6 years old
Noah 'Puck' Puckerman-Berry- 8 years old
Finn Hudson- 6 years old
Santana Lopez- 6 years old
Brittany Pierce- 6 years old
Sam Fabray- 6 years old
Mike Chang- 6 years old
A/N: I'm probably going to regret this but NEW STORY! I'm posting three at the same time so sorry if my updates aren't very frequent.
The first few chapters of this story will be mainly background information and up until Chapter 6 they're all quite short. The main part will start at Chapter 7 (sophomore year in high school (ie season 1)).
Please look at cover by the way- it took me ages! Enjoy the story and review to tell me what you think! :)
It seemed like a pretty minor decision at the time, but then later in her life Rachel would look back on it as one of the biggest; which table to sit at for the first day of First Grade.
Her daddy, Hiram, was working and her papa, Leroy, was looking after the baby, so Noah had walked with her to their shared elementary school. He was in third grade and she was starting first.
Noah was late for everything. They had to practically run into the school as they only had one minute before the bell would go. Her brother dropped her off outside her classroom before heading to his own classroom.
Rachel watched him go. As soon as he'd disappeared around the corner, she pushed the swinging door open and stepped into the bright blue and yellow classroom.
There were five large tables in the classroom and each had seven seats at them. But there were only two tables with a spare seat at them.
At the first table sat a quiet Asian girl with brown eyes and black hair, a chubby black girl also with brown hair wearing a blue feather boa around her neck, a skinny brown haired boy in sunglasses and pink, another chubby girl (but this girl looked much scarier than the other one), a blondish-brown headed girl who looked very annoying, and a boy in a wheelchair with glasses.
At the other table there were two blonde girls both smiling widely, a scowling Latino girl, an innocent looking blonde boy, a silent Asian boy and a tall brown haired boy.
And both groups of six year olds were waving at her to come and sit with them. Rachel didn't know it but this decision would affect the rest of her life.
She shrugged and headed over to the second table, taking a seat between one of the blonde girls and the tall brown headed boy.
"I'm Quinn," The confident blonde seated next to her grinned. The boy beside her announced himself as Quinn's brother, Sam. Then there was Brittany, the other blonde girl who started talking about pink rabbits until the Latino girl grabbed her hand.
"Santana," She said reluctantly, her eyes focussed on Brittany. The Asian boy, Mike, said his name so quietly that he had to repeat himself three times before Rachel heard him correctly!
And finally back to the boy on her right.
"I'm Finn," he smiled wide at Rachel.
"Are you Quinn's twin?" Brittany asked.
"No," Sam answered possessively, hugging his sister tight. "Quinny's my twinny!"
Brittany frowned, "But your names don't whime!" Santana pulled a confused Brittany out of the conversation to explain that twins didn't have to have rhyming names.
"Hello boys and girls," The smiling bleach blonde lady at the front of the classroom said. "I'm Mrs McMann and I'm going to be your teacher for the next year, I think we're all going to have lots of fun! Now, to start off today I want you all to get to know each other. So I'm going to give you some time to talk to each other about a set topic. The first topic is favourite colour, off you go!"
For a moment, the kids at Rachel's table just stared at each other, then they all started talking at the same time! Hearing the commotion, Mrs McMann hurried over.
She lay her hand on Rachel's shoulder. "You go first, sweetheart. Then you," She moved her hand to Quinn's shoulder then Sam's, and then gestured around their table clockwise. "All the way round until we get back to you, young man." She grinned at Finn, before heading over to another table.
"I like pink." Rachel shouted, her grin in place.
"Inside voice, please." Mrs McMann said from the other side of the room.
"I like pink," Rachel whispered, causing Quinn to giggle, although everyone else just stared at them.
Quinn thought for a moment, before turning her head to Sam. "We like lellow."
"You have the same favourite colour?" Finn asked, looking very confused.
"Yes. We're twins!" Quinn answered as if she thought Finn was an idiot. She probably did, actually. Quinn seemed extremely smart, not as much as Rachel herself of course, but she could see herself really getting on with the blonde girl.
They continued around the circle and Rachel discovered that Brittany's favourite colour was 'puppy'- at a look from Santana no-one questioned it, Santana's was red (which didn't surprise Rachel), Mike's was orange and Finn's was green. The next topic was family.
"I have my daddies-"
"Daddiessssss?" Finn drew out the s, looking stunned. Rachel wondered why. All she'd revealed was the gender of her parents.
Before Rachel could respond, Quinn shifted her seat closer over to Rachel's and sent a death glare Finn's way. "So? Why does it shock you?" Finn fell silent and after a friendly prod from Quinn, Rachel continued.
She told the rest of the group about her baby brother, Jake, and her big brother, Noah. At hearing this, Mrs McMann hovered at their table, her eyes on Rachel.
"What did you say your full name was again, sweetie?" Her beaming smile looked just slightly worried.
"Rachel Puckerman-Berry, Mrs McMann," Rachel's voice was perfectly polite but her teacher turned a little green.
"You're Noah Puckerman-Berry's sister?" Mrs McMann asked and Rachel nodded. Mrs McMann almost screamed, there were not one, not two, but THREE Puckerman-Berry children! Thankfully this girl seemed sweet and polite, but only time would tell!
~~Girls Just Wanna Have Fun~~
Mrs McMann found it interesting to watch the first grade children during the first few days of each school year and try to gauge their personalities and what they might be like when they were older, what cliques they fit into. Sometimes it was difficult however this year it was easy.
Over half the class were the 'average', quite quiet except with their friends, the type that she herself had been. Then there was the group containing the boy in the wheelchair, the two heavier girls, the Asian girl, the spoilt, rich girl with designer clothing, and the boy wearing pink sunglasses (she'd tried to get him to take them off, but he was very stubborn and somehow knew the words "freedom of expression", though not entirely what they meant! That was the group she supposed would be the outcasts, they were different and they weren't mingling with the others. That was one of the groups she'd seen gesturing at little Rachel PB.
The group Rachel had actually chosen were clearly going to be the popular kids. They were as loud as the (probably) future outcasts, but everyone seemed to like them and wanted to be friends with them. The three boys at the table all looked sporty- she could see them being football players- and the girls were all very pretty. At lunch break that day she'd seen those girls having a competition at who could get closest to the splits, then they'd started clapping games. They would be the cheerleaders, she was almost certain.
"Right kids," Mrs McMann smiled at her class. "I hope you've all had a fantastic day, I'll see you tomorrow."
As the bell rang, all but three of the kids raced out of the room onto the playground to see their parents. Rachel sat at her desk and the Fabray twins were hovering in the doorway.
"Bye, guys." Mrs McMann waved to the Fabray's. Quinn looked reluctant to leave, but eventually said goodbye to Rachel.
When the twins were gone, Mrs McMann pulled up a chair next to Rachel. She had some physical similarities to her brother actually, but their personalities were shockingly contrasting. At this point, Noah would probably be playing a prank on her, whereas his sister sat upright in her chair. She looked like a little doll, Mrs McMann thought, tiny and sweet, but very breakable.
"Noah said to wait here for him to come and pick me up," Rachel responded to her teacher's question about why she hadn't run out of the door the moment the bell went.
At almost that exact moment the door burst open and eight year old Noah Puckerman-Berry burst through the door, grinning ear to ear.
"Hey, Miss M!" Mrs McMann cringed a little but didn't correct him.
"Hello, Noah." She said stiffly.
"Noah!" Rachel smacked him lightly, which Mrs McMann had to admit, made her laugh. "You're always late!"
Noah picked the very light girl up, "sorry, princess, I was busy."
Rachel made a groaning noise that her teacher found adorable before leaning into him, "Kay." Noah put his sister down and took her hand. As they left he winked at his old teacher and Rachel giggled and waved.
"Well," Mrs McMann thought after the Puckerman-Berry's had long since gone home and she was locking her classroom up for the night. "That was an... Interesting day."