Author's note: Just a quick one-shot that popped into my head while fixing dinner.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee….it has merely taken up residence in my brain.
Rachel sees the sign: "McKinley High School Winter Semi-Formal, this Friday Night". It's sprinkled with blue and white glitter and gold stars. The sign seems to mock her with its carefree attitude and promise of a good time.
Rolling her eyes, she presses her books a little tighter to her chest and heads toward 5th period.
Dances are stupid. Full of hormonal teenagers who gyrate instead of actually dance. She's glad she doesn't go to those stupid things anyway…
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She sits down in Glee, focusing on her sheet music. The chatter around her is all about the silly dance, of course. She hears Matt walk up and ask Mercedes if she wants to go. Mercedes excitedly says yes. When he walks away, she and Kurt press together to plan her dress.
Rachel shoves her nose deeper into her music, hoping this day ends soon.
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The halls are filled with conversation about the dumb dance, now only three days away. Everybody is going. Well….everybody but her. But alas, she has her evening already prepared and it sounds entertaining to her. She will give herself a facial and a pedicure and then watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on DVD. It will be an awesome night.
Still, it would have been nice to at least be asked….
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She lies in bed later that night and thinks about the boy whom that she secretly wishes would ask her. She knows he won't. She knows he already has a date. She heard him ask a blonde Cheerio in the hallway, who squealed out a yes. And then he told her not to wear panties under her dress. He sauntered away after that, looking quite pleased with himself. Sighing, she rolls over. If she's lucky, she'll wake up in the morning with the flu and won't be able to go back to school until Tuesday, when the dance has been all but forgotten in the fickle minds of the McKinley High student body. She finally goes to sleep.
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No flu the next morning, unfortunately. But she gets the shock of her life the next day when she is asked. It's not by the boy she dreams of in the quiet of her room at night but at least she gets asked. His name is Robert and he's a shy, quiet junior in her art class. She says yes…almost without thinking. She will have to reschedule her plans but a facial can be done any night.
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She wishes she had a mom, or even a best friend, to help her pick out a dress. But she doesn't. Instead, she goes to the mall and follows the gaggle of teenage girls who are already dress shopping. Once they leave, she enters the store that they have just left. She sees a purple, off-the-shoulder dress that speaks to her. It costs more than Daddy wanted her to spend. But she rationalizes that he'll understand because it's her first dance. So she buys it.
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Friday's Glee practice is full of excitement as everyone is focused on the dance. Mr. Schuester has them run through a few songs and then gives up. They're too distracted.
Teenagers, Rachel thinks. Even so, she can't help but be a tiny bit excited. She's never actually danced with a boy (because Glee choreography doesn't count.) She can't help but be nervous. She feels eyes on her and looks up from her hands. The brooding boy in the corner, the one who didn't ask her, looks away.
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Rachel is shocked at her own reflection. Her hair is piled on top her head in cascading curls. Her makeup is understated but makes her eyes look bright and her face dewy. And she loves the dress. She spins around in it once in her room. She smiles one of her biggest smiles because for once, she even thinks she looks hot.
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Robert picks her up at her house and is nice enough to stand through about 15 million pictures snapped by her Dads. Telling them to be careful, they leave for the dance. The ride is quiet. Robert is really, really shy. So Rachel does what she does best – she talks for the entire ride to school.
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They get to the dance pretty early. Rachel would never admit it if asked but she's actually really excited. They take their picture with the photographer and then find a seat at a table. They watch people dancing for a while. She sees the boy who didn't ask her on the floor with his blonde date. She can't help but wonder if she really did leave her panties at home. Rachel snorts to herself. Probably. She finally asks Robert if he wants to dance and he tells her in a minute. He needs to go talk to one of his friends. Then he disappears.
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An hour later, he hasn't come back. If Rachel were a normal girl, she would have cried. But she's not. She's used to people disappointing her at every turn. She tells herself it doesn't matter anyway. Dances really are stupid.
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She is standing in the hallway now, down by the Glee room, away from everyone else. She's getting ready to dig her cell phone out of her purse to call her Dad to come get her. Robert is gone. He's obviously not taking her home. Deciding to go look for him one more time, she goes back inside.
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He's still nowhere to be found. Leaning against the wall just inside the doors, she squeezes her eyes shut. She just wanted one dance.
When she opens her eyes again, he is coming toward her. Not Robert, but the other one. He's in dress pants and a dress shirt but no tie. She tells herself that his clothing makes his haircut look slightly less ridiculous. She thinks he's going to pass her by but he doesn't. He stops in front of her, thumbs hooked in his pants pocket.
"Hey, Berry," he says. "Wanna dance?"
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As she twirls around the dance floor, gazing into a pair of hazel eyes, she decides that maybe, just maybe, dances aren't so bad after all.