So, this is my first fanfic! And in case you're wondering, in my mind Regionals was maybe mid-April so everyone has about a month and a half of school left (except for Jesse, because seniors at Carmel get out early) and losing at Regionals obviously hasn't changed their social status.
SPOILERS for Season 1, but probably mainly the back 9
Disclaimer:I own nothing. If I owned anything, I wouldn't be frantically saving up to get Glee CDs. Oh, to hear Jonathan Groff sing more...
She smiles up at him shyly, preparing to pour all of her emotions for him into song. "Break a leg," she manages, still caught off-guard by the way he's looking at her the way she'd always dreamed he would.
"I loved you," Finn says coldly, and raises his hand to crack the fertilized egg over her head. She closes her eyes and winces in anticipation, but instead hears a voice that could bring angels to tears.
"Leave her alone, Finn. You didn't want her when you had your chance, don't hurt her now because you can't let her go," Jesse says, while sliding strong, protective arms around her waist and pulling her close to him…
Rachel stared at her alarm clock, certain that there had been a power outage during the night and it had reset because there was absolutely no way that it was 8:30 in the morning. Especially considering that school started at 8:15, and Rachel Berry was not late to school. Tardiness was not even in her vocabulary, unless she was describing the rather unfortunate habits of her… boyfriend? Well, she wasn't exactly sure what Finn was, and "guy-who-goes-on-dates-with-me-if-he-remembers-and-then-doesn't-listen-to-a-word-I-say-but-we've-made-out-and-he-said-he-loved-me-once" didn't quite roll off the tongue. Semantics aside, Rachel didn't even know how she felt about him. Once she had loved him, yes, but the stunning ingénue who had quite naturally fallen for her charming male lead no longer existed. That much was becoming clearer to her every day she attempted to have a conversation with what she once thought of as the great love of her life, and felt her IQ slipping point by point.
Curling into the comfort of her quilt, Rachel remembered exactly what had happened to the naïveté of her former self. More correctly, who had happened to her. Jesse St. James, the star of Vocal Adrenaline, her competition at Regionals. Jesse, the guy who was nuts about her, the guy who would never hurt her. She laughed without mirth at the irony of Jesse's long-ago statements, which he of course made null and void with the breaking of a single egg. And thinking about the egg brought back her strange dream, and the surprising feeling of safety that had come with it. Taking that as a sign to get out of bed and begin rushing through her preparations for her day, Rachel swung out of bed and into the fastest shower the diva had ever taken in her life.
As Rachel meekly snuck into her second class of the day, Mr. Schuester called out, "¡Rachel! ¿Estás bien ahora?"
Entirely confused, Rachel saw Finn try to catch her attention and wink. Suddenly catching on, she quickly translated his question to "Are you well now?" and tried to recall the appropriate response while nodding weakly, "Así-así," she mumbled, hoping a lack of elaboration would contribute to the charade that she was merely "So-so." She slid into her now-customary seat next to Finn with a gracious "Thank you," noting that dating him did, indeed, have some benefits.
"What happened to you?" he asked, "You never get sick. Or sleep in. You're like… a human alarm clock and stuff."
"Well, Finn, this particular morning my alarm clock did not appear to be in tick-tock shape, as-"
"¡Rachel! ¿Quieres compartir con la clase por qué estás hablando?" Mr. Schuester said, while raising an eyebrow.
No, Rachel did not wish to share with the class why she was talking. "Lo ciento," she muttered, hoping an apology would soften him up before she announced the solo she would be performing in Glee.
Once Spanish was over, Finn pulled her into his rather large arms and gave her a hug that made her feel as though she was being swallowed whole, and not in a good way. "What's wrong, Rach? You're usually so… together. Are you feeling okay? Is it because of what happened on Friday?"
Ah, yes, their little sham of a date that had not ended cleanly… for him, anyways. No wonder Quinn had become President of the Celibacy Club; Rachel was beginning to consider re-joining herself. Not that they'd let her in after her little outburst… "Oh, no, it's not because of anything you did, Finn. It's okay. We'll work on it, right? Just like the high 'B', we'll practice." She cringed internally at the thought.
"Practicing sounds good to me!" he grinned, winked, and walked off with a new spring in his step.
She turned down the hallway with a sigh, only to have a pair of hands grab her waist and spin her around to face their owner. For a brief, beautiful moment, she let her mind run off with the fantasy that Jesse had come back to apologize and beg for her forgiveness… only to be interrupted by Jacob Ben-Israel. "What do you want?" She snapped.
"For you to bear the fruit of my loins. Don't you know what a strong, passionate lover I am, Rachel? Give in to your desires," he ended with a whisper, while trailing his hand down her arm in an attempt to seduce her.
"No! Get away from me, you creep!" she shrieked, shudders running through her at the clearly unwanted contact. "Have you been reading one too many of your Harlequin romances? No matter what you wish, I will not be pursuing a relationship with you any time this century. Get it through your thick head!" she said, as she slapped him – for good measure – and spun around, finally on her way to her next class.
As Rachel drifted through the rest of her classes before lunch, she began to wonder why she put in half the effort she usually did. None of her teachers seemed to notice any difference in her admittedly chipper demeanor, so long as she kept a smile on her face and her signature gold star after her name. In fact, they all seemed rather relieved that she was not contributing her usual informative, albeit lengthy, spouts of knowledge (which she always prepared as soon as the teacher announced any given topic – she didn't want her peers to receive a substandard education) to their classrooms. No, no one noticed the change in Rachel Berry… except for one Noah Puckerman.
So, this seems short but hopefully the chapters will get longer as the story goes on... and while you're down here, why not review? :)