Cooler Than Me
Disclaimer: Don't own Glee, just the DVD
A/N: this is right at the end of the episode where Finn and Quinn were trying to reclaim their popularity by wearing sunglasses, which, having just looked it up was in Mash-Up, how coincidental… anyway this song made me think of it. First Glee story, so still trying to write the characters believably.
Rachel had broken up with Noah. She had thought, going to find him on the bleachers, it was the right course of action. She liked Finn, and he clearly liked Quinn. So why, walking down the corridor the next morning, did she feel empty by herself, and why did it make her sad to see Puck alone by his locker.
She passed Finn and Quinn, standing at her locker, Finn consoling a still distraught Quinn, and Rachel saw the sunglasses Quinn had been wearing the last couple days. She remembered when they first walked into glee wearing them, they had looked ridiculous. She had said so, under her breath of course. Noah had agreed. She glanced back at him and he was looking at her. He nodded in the direction of the couple, and rolled his eyes before walking away.
At lunch, sitting with the original gleeks, Rachel was scrolling through the songs on Artie's iPod, nodding absently to the comments directed at her. She stopped at a song, reading the title and smiling. She knew the song, had heard it a few times on the radio. And it fit her current mood perfectly.
Giving Artie back his iPod, she stood and left the table, heading to the choir room.
When Mr Schuester entered the room for practice that afternoon, Rachel was standing by the piano waiting. He approached her warily, slightly afraid of what she wanted.
'Mr Schue, can I please sing a song before we begin? It will only take a couple of minutes, and I would like to get this out of the way so I can concentrate one hundred percent on the rehearsal.'
'Uh… sure Rachel, that's fine.' She smiled at him and nodded, moving over to the band to give them some last minute instructions, then moved back into the centre of the room and waited for silence.
She glanced at the back of the room where Puck was sitting in his usual seat and he just started back until she looked away. She turned to the band and nodded, waiting for them to begin.
If I could write you a song
To make you fall in love
I would already have you up under my arm
I used to pull all my tricks
I hope that you like this
But you probably won't
You think you're cooler than me
Rachel could tell them moment when every clued into what she was singing, and more importantly when they realised what, or who, she was singing about. Finn took much longer than the others though.
You got designer shades,
Just to hide your face and
You wear them around like
You're cooler than me
And you never say hey
Or remember my name
It's probably cause
You think you're cooler than me
She was moving around now, like she was acting the song out. It was the most natural performance most of them could remember her giving, the most natural most could remember her period. And Finn was finally cluing in, and she relished in the shocked look on his face, then she noticed that Puck was also looking at Finn and appeared to be trying to contain laughter.
You got your hot crowd
Shoes on your feet
And you wear them around
Like they ain't shit
But you don't know
The way that you look
When your steps
Make
That
Much
Noise
See I got you
All figured out
You need everyone's eyes just to feel seen
Behind your make up
Nobody knows who you even are
Who do you think you are?
Rachel was looking directly at Quinn as she sang this bit, and the blonde looked about ready to attack so Rachel smirked at her. She spun around, and this time she was sure that Puck was trying not laugh, this time looking at Quinn.
If I could write you a song
To make you fall in love
I would already have you
Up under my arm
I used up all of my tricks,
I hope that you like this
But you probably won't
You think you're cooler than me
You got designer shades,
Just to hide your face and
You wear them around like
You're cooler than me
And you never say hey
Or remember my name
It's probably cause
You think you're cooler than me
Puck was having a hard time containing his laughter. When Rachel had said she had something to sing, he had not been expecting this song at all. It was fucking awesome though. The look on Finn and Quinn's faces was priceless. He had to hand it to Rachel, she knew how to pick her songs. Although, he was slightly confused as to why she was doing it. The last time they'd spoken, she'd been dumping him cause she was totally in love with Finn and now, not even a full day later, she's totally dissing the dude in song. Made no fucking sense, but then Rachel hardly ever made sense.
He sat back and watched the rest of the show, glancing over at the golden couple every few seconds; if the song didn't end soon he wasn't going to be able to stop himself laughing, and he was sure Rachel would take it the wrong way.
And you never say hey
Or remember my name
It's probably cause
You think you're cooler than me
As Rachel finished, nearly everyone started cheering, except of course Finn and Quinn. Even Santana managed to look slightly impressed. Kurt and Mercedes were cheering, but they looked confused, trying to figure out who Rachel was singing about, or why she was singing about them at least.
Rachel took her seat in the front row, crossed her legs and stared at Mr Schue, waiting for him to start the rehearsal. Rachel sat, staring at their teacher, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, and they needed to start practicing. After a minute, she cleared her throat, and Mr Schue blinked and moved from his seat.
'Ok, let's warm up guys.'
'Hey Rachel!' Rachel stopped as she was pulling her bag through the doorway, and turned to see Puck standing by the piano. The rest of the club was long gone, including Finn and Quinn who had looked confused (Finn) and angry (Quinn).
'What can I do for you Noah?'
'Nice song, although it kinda came out of left field. Aren't you in love with Finn? What changed?' He asked, smirking at her.
'It didn't really hit me until last night what occurred last week.' Rachel said, and Puck's brow furrowed in confusion.
'What?'
'Finn chose football.'
'Uh, yeah…'
'He chose football. He also slushied Kurt, well Kurt technically slushied himself, but it was Finn's fault because he was too scared of being ostracised by the football team. And then, we all just welcomed him back like nothing happened, like he wasn't a… a complete jerk who was more concerned with his popularity then his friends.' Puck was once again trying to contain his laughter, and it took him a minute to respond.
'Yeah,' he was still trying not to laugh, 'he was a tool. That song was awesome by the way, they totally had it coming.'
'They? But you like Quinn, you're always staring at her.'
'Not staring cause I like her.' Rachel almost didn't hear what he said, since he'd turned away from her and mumbled it under his breath, but she did, unfortunately.
'What? Then why would you… oh'
'Rachel,'
'The baby. Oh my god, it's yours. Isn't it?' He was about to lie, and she looked up at him, as if she was daring him to try it.
'Shit. Yes, but it's not… it was a mistake alright? We were drunk and pissed at Finn for joining glee and now. Look, it doesn't matter ok, cause she chose Finn so I can't really do anything.' He shrugged, and looked anywhere but her.
'What do you mean she chose Finn, Noah?' He shrugged again, and she put her hand on his arm, and he turned back to her.
'He's her boyfriend, I'm just some Lima loser who got her drunk and knocked her up. Who would you chose?' He tried not to sound bitter, and failed. He didn't notice that Rachel was getting angry.
'Noah, it's not a choice. It's your baby, whether she likes it or not. She can't just decide she doesn't want you to be the father, that's not how it works. And for the record, I think you'd make a fantastic father, Noah.'
'Really?' he asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.
'Well, you have at least 6 months before the baby's born…'
'Funny.'
'I'm serious, Noah. Given the staring, it's obvious you want to be involved, although you're keeping quiet despite that because Quinn asked you to.'
'Told, actually. Quinn rarely asks.' Again, with the bitter, he thought. He needed to stop that.
'Alright, told you to. You clearly care about this baby though.' She paused, looked away from him around the room, then back at him. 'You know you have to tell Finn, for his sake and for yours. You deserve a say in this baby's life.'
'And have them both hate me?' he asked.
'Finn will get over it, and Quinn, well she needs to own up to what she did and what she's still doing.' Puck felt like he'd stepped into a twilight zone. This couldn't be Rachel Berry, telling him all this. It didn't make sense.
'Yeah, and I'll also be hated by everyone else in the process.'
'Oh, everyone will be too scared to hate you Noah. And I don't hate you. You're 16, Noah, you made a mistake. It's not the end of the world.'
'Why are you so nice to everyone? It's weird.'
'I'm not nice to everyone, Noah, that would be stupid. I'm only nice to people who deserve it. You deserve it.' Puck was confused again. Since when did he deserve anything, and since when, especially after she dumped him yesterday because of Finn, did she chose his side over Finn's?
'What about Finn?'
'Finn doesn't deserve it anymore. Not after the last couple of days.'
'Harsh, Berry.'
'Not really. Anyway, you should think about telling Finn. The sooner one of you tells him, the more likely he is to get over it sooner. Also, he's likely to be less angry at you if you're the one to tell him.'
'Sneaky, Berry. Get in before Quinn and try and stay in his good graces?'
'Well, really, she's the one lying, she started the lie, made you perpetuate the lie, let the lie spread through the school. It should stand in your favour. If you want it to.' She paused for a minute and looked down, and he was about to ask what she meant by that when she started talking again. 'So clearly the best plan for you is to tell Finn as soon as possible, and lessen the fallout. I'd ask you to let me know how it goes, but this is a gossipy school, so I'm bound to find out.' She smiled at him, seemed to debate something for a minute, then leant up and kissed him quickly, before turning and moving away before he his brain caught up to the situation.
'Berry! Hey, Rachel!' she paused at the end of the hallway, and turned back. 'What was that?'
'Like I said, it didn't really hit me until last night what happened last week.'
'What happened?' He was really curious to hear her answer, not sure what is was going to be considering her last answer to this question.
'I broke up with a surprisingly nice guy for a jerk. I realised it's supposed to be the other way around.'
'Yeah?'
'Yes. Although at the time, clearly I thought I'd gotten it right. I was wrong.' She paused again, and he waited, thinking she was done yet. 'Plus, he's one good looking Jew.'
He started laughing, and he heard her quiet laugh as she gave him a quick wave and turned around and left the building, leaving him behind thinking about the brunette, and smiling to himself.
A/N: alright, so not entirely happy with this ending… It got a little off track, and then I wasn't sure how to end it. So I've ended it here, and I think I'll do a follow up one-shot, but I don't have any ideas for it right now… so if anyone has any ideas and wants a follow up, feel free to tell me, I could use the help.