Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Glee.
Welcome to my new multi-chapter fic! This is going to be a lot different from any of my other stories; much more emotional and kind of angsty. But stick with me; if you know my stories you know I love a happy ending!
Rachel took a step back, taking in all the details of her new dorm room. It was a single, so it was fairly small, but its not like she needed a ton of space anyway. Her bedspread hung down just far enough, hiding the bureau underneath her ridiculously tall bed. It was a good thing the foot of the bed was designed like a ladder, she would definitely be needing that. Her posters covered the walls, Wicked hanging right above the head of her bed. Her laptop and printer sat perfectly on the desk against the wall near her door.
She had to admit, she wasn't too excited about attending the University of Ohio when her fathers suggested it, but as soon as she stepped on the campus she was sold. Maybe it was the campus, or the friendly woman who had given her the tour of the campus and dorms. Then again, maybe it was just the idea of starting over, beginning her life as an adult in a new place. The University wasn't hours away from home, it was actually close enough for her to drive down on the weekends, but it was far enough.
For the first time in her life, she was free. No curfew, no one watching her every move and making sure that she and Sam had a safe amount of distance between them on the couch on date nights, or checking that her bedroom door was closed when he was inside. She felt silly, starting college as a virgin, but in a way it really added to the experience for her. She was so inexperienced, so new to the outside world and all it had to offer it felt like, but she intended for all of that to change, and soon.
Not that she wasn't going to focus on her studies, she had every intention of throwing herself into her courses and excelling. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to Major in yet, but she had plenty of time to figure that out, for now she was just going to focus on enjoying the journey to finding herself. She wanted to branch out, not put her social life on hold like she had in high school. She could find a study group, join a sorority of some sort, or find some kind of Extra-curricular to partake in.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Rachel bounced forward, opening her door to reveal Sam, carrying in her last box of clothes from his car. She was so thankful for him, driving her here and helping her move all of her stuff into her new room. He had always been so good to her, she loved him. Or she thought she loved him anyway, he was all she knew. They started dating Junior year, and had maintained a comfortable relationship ever since. "This is it" he said, leaning down to peck her on the lips, and place the box down next to her drawer.
"So what do you think?" she asked, waving an arm around her room.
"I think it looks just like you" he grinned, running his fingers over her desk then walking forward and hopping up to stretch out on her sheets.
"Up!" she cried, rushing forward to swat him off of her bed before she caught herself. "Sorry, I forgot we were alone" she mumbled, allowing him to slide down and pull her flush against him.
"It's okay, gonna take some getting used to huh?"
"Definitely."
"Well, maybe we should start practicing" he smiled, pulling her forward to kiss again. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest as his lips moved over hers, trying to coax a response out of her. Rachel leaned into the kiss, trying to let herself get wrapped up in the kiss, but she was just too distracted. She felt like the outside was calling out to her, and she was dying to start the adventure.
"Or maybe we can wait a little longer to practice" she said purposefully, unlocking herself from his hold. "Come on, let's go out, take a look around the campus and see what's going on" she urged, snatching up her keys and hanging the lanyard around her neck.
"Fine" he groaned, taking her outstretched hand and letting her lead him out of the room.
Rachel squealed, tugging him along behind her as she skipped forward, a beaming grin on her face.
They walked her class route, letting her familiarize herself with it so that she wouldn't get lost the next day, and became acquainted with the bookstore and all of the places to eat on campus before they made their way to the University Center. Tables crowded the building everywhere Rachel looked, handing out flyers for their organizations and clubs for the different majors. Rachel took every one that she passed, even the skeet shooting club, and the 'Bible Brother/Sisterhood'. Finally, when they reached the opposite end of the building, she noticed a set of double doors, a large, colorful banner reading 'The Playground' hanging above the doors. Unable to look away from the room, her feet led her toward it.
Rachel opened the doors, the lyrics to 'Evacuate the Dance Floor' attacking her ears as she stepped into the lifeless room. There were pool tables everywhere, small tables along the walls with televisions stationed at them. Foosball tables, and air hockey tables littered the floors, and she could see ping pong tables towards the back stationed in front of very large circular windows. There were trees outside of the windows, holding random people in hammocks, adding to the carefree air of the room.
Rachel continued her trek through the large room, eying the mini bowling arcade of about eight lanes before she found the source. There, between the lanes and the area housing the pool tables was a small room housing a few large televisions and multiple gaming systems. A small, curly haired man stood before an Xbox Kinect, dancing enthusiastically to the music, not noticing his new audience. Rachel watched him, hiding her laugh behind her hand as she watched the man move, he was actually pretty good.
Finally the song came to an end, the man receiving very high points as he jumped into the air, pumping his fist in victory. "Congratulations" Rachel chirped, interrupting the man's victory dance.
"Ahh!" he cried, nearly backing himself into the system. "Holy crap, I didn't see you guys there. Can I help you?"
"You could give me some lessons, you were on fire man" Sam praised, walking towards the man and his system. "Can anybody play?"
"Sure, I was finishing up anyway" the man answered, going back to the main screen, and moving to let Sam take his place. "Since classes haven't started yet, today is free play, but it's not always free."
"Oh...Are the games very expensive" Rachel asked.
"Nah, it's not that bad. Let me get you a brochure" the man said, giving her a kind smile as he made his way out of the small room. Rachel followed the man as Sam started up 'Crank that Soulja boy'.
Rachel followed the man out and into the large room, walking towards the middle where a tiny closed space held a cash register, and a stack of pamphlets. "I'm Will by the way, Will Schuester. I'm the manager here."
"Nice to meet you, Rachel Berry."
"Here you go Rachel Berry" he said, handing her the small booklet. "We have free play once a month on Friday nights, most students choose those nights to show up, but we're open every day."
Rachel looked up, studying the room again. She had never been interested in arcades, or this kind of thing, but there was just something about this place drawing her in. "Is it always this crowded?" she joked, looking around at the empty room.
"Oh yeah, we really have our hands full" he laughed, stepping into the small bay area to pull out a rack of balls and a fancy looking cue stick before making his way towards a table. Rachel looked back in the direction Sam was in, wondering if she should go keep him company, but quickly changed her mind when she was interrupted by a loud smacking sound. She looked back to find the tables spread all over the table, Will leaned over the edge with his stick in hand.
"It's actually a good thing though" he said, walking around the table to line up his next shot. "Means we have plenty of time to shoot around and practice uninterrupted." Rachel watched as the white ball shot into the blue one he'd aimed at, the blue ball soaring straight into the pocket at the end of the table.
"You're really good at that."
"I should be, this is pretty much all I do" he said, walking around the table yet again as Rachel's eyes stayed glued to his game. "I'm actually the new Billiards coach for the University."
"Really? That's neat, but what happened to the old one?" she asked, watching wide eyed as the green ball bounced off of a rail then into the pocket across from it.
"There wasn't one. This is actually a pretty big thing, there hasn't been a team here in twenty years" he announced proudly.
"That's pretty incredible" she said in awe. "How did you get it started?"
"Well, I didn't really. For the past two years I've been training my two assistant managers, Finn and Mike, and they've gotten so good. They worked so hard, and talent like that, it's a shame to see it go to waste, you know? So we started talking to my boss, trying to get the funds, and support for the whole thing. As long as we have six members by the first two weeks of school, the teams a go."
"How many members do you have so far?"
"Well, four" he murmured lowly, chalking his stick up for his next shot. "But we're sending out emails, and have a sign up sheet right on the window of the bay, so hopefully we'll snag some people soon."
Rachel mulled over his words in her head as she stepped forward to approach the table. She had been looking for something to be a part of, this seemed like a perfect opportunity. She was definitely intrigued with the game, the prospect of being apart of something groundbreaking was exciting, and meeting new people was definitely a plus. "So, do you give lessons? To people who haven't played before, but might want to join the team?"
"Absolutely, we...wait, do you want to join?" he asked, standing up from his leaned over position to look at her.
"Well, I have no experience whatsoever, but it looks fun. I'd like to give it a try, if you'll have me."
"That would be amazing" he cried, laying his stick on the table to walk into the bay again. "Let me just get you some paperwork, the fee is thirty dollars, but once you pay that, you have unlimited pool priviliges" he explained, rifling through papers.
"Great, because I'm probably going to need a lot of practice. Is there any way that you can get private coaching? I don't want people to see me until I have at least the basic concept of the game down. "
"That's no problem. Between Finn, Mike, and myself you'll be taken care of. We'll hold group practices twice a week once we get everything in order, but until then you can get in some one-on-one training. Finn is here the most often when I'm not so he can definitely help, he's our best player" the man said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"That sounds perfect" she smiled, taking the paper from his hand.
"What about your friend in there?" he asked, pointing towards the direction Sam was in, 'I know you want me' now spilling through the doors.
"Oh, that's my boyfriend, Sam. What about him?"
"Do you think he'd like to join the team too? That would push us to six."
"He's not actually a student here" she answered.
"Ah, never mind then. We'll find our sixth somewhere, I'm sure of it" he stated surely, walking back to the table to finish his game. "There should be more people here tomorrow since it's the first day of classes and you can meet some of your teammates."
"Ooh great" she squealed, resisting the impulse to clap her hands excitedly.
"Until then, want to get started?" he asked, nodding towards the pool cues along the wall.
"Sure" she beamed, standing to grab one of them down. She had a really really good feeling about this.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
Update coming soon! Reviews welcomed!