I woke up to the voice of Mathew Wilder blasting from my ipod. I practically jumped out of bed and put my hair in a high pony-tail. I climbed on top of the elliptical and began my daily routine. In order to achieve my dreams, I had to keep up my fitness and determination program. I wouldn't let anything stop me. I couldn't.
Then I finally realized, I wasn't in Lima anymore. I slowly came to a halt on my machine and tried to come to terms with my new reality…I was now living in Mystic Falls. I looked out my window, looked at houses I was barely acquainted with.
I honestly wanted to cry. Or I could have been thirsty. Either way I tried to push away all that I was feeling and went to take my shower. That wasn't the best idea. I ended up thinking about glee and all of my friends there and all the people who meant…so much to me. Maybe I wasn't their favorite person in the whole wide world but...
After I turned the shower off and wrapped the towel around me, I looked into the mirror at myself and thought about that one song.
When you're smiling, when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you…
That's when I decided that I would make the best of today and maybe this was what was best for me. A fresh start.
'Back to sunshine and optimism!' I kept repeating in my head. 'Don't let anything get you down, Rachel!' It almost worked. I tried to believe myself and I guess I wasn't gloomy anymore. I went to my closet to see what I should wear on my first day at my new high school. I was a nervous wreck. What if they didn't like me? What if they threw slushies, too? No, that wouldn't happen.
This was my chance for a fresh start, a new beginning. I finally decided on my blue and white striped sweater with my white skirt and flats. I thought it was cute and appropriate for school. Then I remembered Kurt and thought about what he would say if he knew this was what I would wear on my first day. He would gasp and say that I butchered everything good about 'the skirt'. I laughed and went on with my routine and got dressed. When I ate breakfast and was ready to leave for my first day at the school, Dad kissed me goodbye on the cheek and Daddy drove me to Mystic Falls High.
"Bye sweetie!" Daddy said to me as I was getting out of our Volvo.
"Bye Daddy." I responded reluctantly. I slammed the car door and started walking toward the entrance of the school. I wasn't sure if I was imagining things or if I was just paranoid, but I felt as if everyone was staring at me. I was very tense and very nervous. It didn't take long for me to felt ridiculous with my pink roller backpack because I heard some snickers and laughs from behind me. I started to talk to myself to reassure my thoughts on the matter as I walked into the school.
'Why do you care about what these people think? You want to make friends? Why? It's lonely at the top. You know that! Don't think about-'
"Hi!" a pale blonde girl stepped in front of me.
"Hello." I responded back surprised by how friendly she was. She had a bright essence about her. She had blue eyes that looked down at me with curiosity.
"You're the new girl right?"
"I am." I coughed to clear my throat, trying to get a moment to pull myself together. "Rachel Berry." I said as I held out my hand.
"Caroline Forbes." She reciprocated my actions. "It is great to finally meet you." She grinned. "Would you like a tour of the school? Believe me, if you're going to survive in this place you're definitely going to need me. We're going to be best friends by the end of the day, trust me." She said as she linked her arm through mine. Before I could understand what was happening we had already started walking through the school.
My mind finally caught up with my actions and I spoke up. "Well, you really don't have to-"
"I will not take no for an answer." she raised an eyebrow at me. Truth be told, she scared me a little bit. She was controlling and blunt. I smiled as I thought of who she reminded me of.
"Ok…"I laughed, turning my head the other way.
"Do you have your schedule?"
"Yeah, right here." We stopped in our tracks so I could get my schedule out of my bag. I unzipped the smaller department in the front of the case and took out a small rectangular paper.
"I have English with Mr. Scott for first." I confirmed.
"Perfect! Well, not perfect 'cause he's kind of a dick, but you have me in your class! And now you can meet everyone!"
"Everyone?" 'Everyone?' I panicked.
"Yeah! All of my friends. You'll like them. Don't worry." She waved her hand away as if gesturing away all my problems.
I put on a nervous smile and we went on walking to class. I liked Caroline. She made me feel welcomed and I was glad to already make a friend.
Was it possible that I could make a good life here? Maybe, just maybe…
We entered the classroom where there was a lot of noise and chattering going on. A girl in the class then pointed at me and whispered. "The new girl is here."
Everyone stopped and turned around to look at me. My eyes widened in surprise by how interested they all were in me. My heart began to beat faster, my palms began to sweat, and then I thought, 'Thank god for Caroline.'
"What are all you looking at?" Caroline shouted at her nosy classmates. "Mind your own business!" Most of them looked away in shame.
I giggled as she took me to the teacher. "Mr. Scott? We have a new student." she said to him, gesturing to me.
"Ah yes, I heard we were getting a new student. Rachel? Is it?"
"Yes sir."
Mr. Scott was in his late 40s, he wore a tweed jacket, had a full head of salt and pepper hair, and a pair of glasses lied upon his nose.
As he handed me a paper for the class, Caroline went ahead and sat in her seat, assuring me I would be okay.
"Here you go, this is some information you'll need for today and we are having group projects so you might want to buddy up with a group or something, okay?" Mr. Scott raised his eyebrows.
"Okay." I looked down at the papers and back over to the other students. "Where will I be sitting?"
He then looked around the class and then at his seating charts.
"You can sit next toooo…how about in front of Tyler? Tyler, can you raise your hand?"
I looked out onto the students and in the back row I saw an olive skinned boy with short dark hair. He raised his hand, a smirk plastered on his face. 'He reminds me of someone…who is it?' I was asking myself.
I rolled myself and my backpack over to my seat. Luckily it was to the left of Caroline's so I wouldn't be lonely. As I sat down and Mr. Scott started his lesson, I heard a low voice behind me.
"What's up babe?" The boy named Tyler said towards me. I turned around and glared at him. I found him smiling this "studly" smile he must have used on so many girls. His jaw was shapely and square. He had deep brown, puppy dog eyes and his nose was a bit crooked, but it looked more like he had just gotten in a fight and received a broken nose. He was extremely attractive, don't get me wrong, but he needed to learn to talk to a lady.
'Babe? Seriously?', so I just scoffed at him and went back to watching Mr. Scott talk about The Great Gatsby.
"Take a cold plunge, Tyler." An African-American girl scolded him. Caroline giggled, showing off her pearly whites. I smiled thankfully at the girl.
"Thank you."
"Just ignore him." She said. "I'm Bonnie."
"Rachel Berry." I said proudly and nodded towards her.
"Nice name." Tyler said. I glared at him once again and Caroline and Bonnie did the same.
"Jeez!" He leaned back into his chair. "Too much estrogen around me. I feel suffocated." he crossed his arms. The three of us laughed and sat back into our seats.
But then it clicked. He reminded me of Puck. I missed that big, Mohawk boy. I missed all of glee. I looked down at my desk and began fumbling with the worksheets in front of me. I remembered the time when Brittany wanted Puck and I to devise a plan to help her catch her cat from reading her diary. I chuckled to myself. My eyes began to water.
'Stop it.' I thought. I had to snap out of it. I kept thinking on the past and of the things that would never be. I kept thinking of the people I felt I had lost, people who I would never show how much of a true friend I could be. How I could be so much more…I forced a smile on my lips and brought my head back up. A face soon caught my eye.
He was one of the most gorgeous of men that I have ever laid eyes upon. He had an angular, square jaw and a set of haunting green eyes. His hair was a brown, ashy color I couldn't place, but it suited him well. He had thick brown eyebrows hovering over those stunning eyes. His nose was adorable and faultless. I was stunned at how beautiful he looked.
He was the perfect amount of perfect.
"That's Stefan." Caroline whispered to me, breaking me out of my daze.
"What?" I asked, pretending not to have been staring at him.
"Stefan Salvatore. He moved here a couple months ago." She smiled. "You were watching him."
"Oh." I chuckled. "I really didn't mean to stare." My cheeks began to turn pink.
"It's hard not to. He's hot." Caroline laughed, making me feel slightly better from being caught. "But he's Elena's." she pointed at the girl seated behind him. She leaned over and rubbed Stefan's back as he looked over his shoulder and smiled. I felt a twinge of jealousy. She had long, straight brown hair, beautiful tan olive skin, and she had a flawless boyfriend.
"You'll meet them later. You'll meet Matt too!" Caroline gasped out of excitement.
"Matt?" 'As in glee Matt? Matt with-his-swift-moves, Matt who moved away Matt?'
"He's my boyfriend. Blonde, blue eyes, absolutely adorable."
"Oh! Great!" I had to admit I was disappointed, but I knew a chance like that would never happen.
"Yeah. He's my hottie."
I laughed and we went on with our lesson.
I couldn't help but watch Stefan for most of the class. A small smile hinted on his lips, but there was something about his eyes. There was something just so sad about them. He suddenly looked up right at me. His mouth turned up into a gentle smile and I quickly looked away, pretending to write something in my notebook. I wasn't a pro when it came to men.
Second period came around and it was all ideal because I still had Caroline. At snack I was not able to meet with Caroline and her friends. The principal wanted to speak with me and welcome me to the school. We talked about how honored he was to have a student with high academics such as mine transferred to his school. Third period I was dreading because Caroline and her cheery spirit would not be there with me, but fortunately for me, that's where I met Matt.
"Hey. You're Rachel right?" He walked up to me at my table.
"Yes! Rachel Berry!" I put on my wide smile.
"Well hi, I'm Matt." He said, putting his books on the table.
"Caroline's Matt?"
"Guilty." He smiled. Caroline was right. He was adorable. There must have been something in the water.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you." He sat next to me at the large table.
"So did Caroline tell you to look after me or something?" I suspiciously asked.
"Don't tell her I told you, but yeah." he laughed.
"You don't have to. You can leave me if you want." I didn't want him to be forced to sit with me. I was okay about it. I was used to sitting alone.
"No, I'm good."
"Are you sure?" He definitely surprised me.
"Yeah, I'm good. Plus, I think I should stay here or else no one would protect you from Tyler."
"Huh?" I didn't understand what he was talking about.
He nodded over to the table across from us. I turned around and saw Tyler staring at us but quickly looked away once I looked over at him. I looked back at Matt and we both started laughing.
"He's really not a bad guy, you know."
"I know. I had a friend who was very much like Tyler, except he could rock a Mohawk."
Bonnie had fourth and fifth period with me so I wasn't as lonely as I was afraid of being. She was pretty cool and we were having a great time enjoying each other's company… but something strange happened in fifth. Bonnie and I were talking…
"So are you going to hang out with me and Caroline at lunch?"
"Yeah! I would love to! But I wouldn't want to intrude-"
"Who's intruding? I know you wouldn't be." She smiled at me, "And I'm pretty sure Tyler wouldn't mind." She laughed.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. It's nothing." She smirked.
"So uh, what do you know about, um," 'God, Rachel just spit it out!' "What do you know about Stefan Salvatore?"
I saw Bonnie tense up and her eyebrows turned harsh and sharp.
"Well, he's dating Elena." she looked at me. I knew she was hiding something which made me even more intrigued.
"Well, yeah, I know that but what about him? Why did he move here?"
"No one really knows. He's kind of a mystery." I knew I couldn't get anything out of her, but maybe Caroline would be more willing to share more of his story. As I sighed I moved my arm, accidently dropping my pencil case, everything spilling out of it.
"Ugh! I am such a klutz!" I said as I went down to pick up my things.
"Here, let me help you." Bonnie leaned down to pick up all of my writing utensils, but as she handed me some pens, she touched my hand and froze. She sat there, completely still for a few seconds.
"Bonnie? Bonnie!" I shook her to snap out of it. She flinched and looked back at me.
"Are you ok?" I asked nervously.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She just kept staring at me, wide eyed. Then she just looked away and became silent. What was up with her?
Finally, it was lunch. Bonnie and Caroline helped me through the crowds and bought my cafeteria lunch. They took me outside into the tree area and that's when I saw the whole gang together. As I stopped a few feet away from the table to look at the scenery, I saw the whole daily business that went on around there. Matt with Caroline, Tyler messing with Bonnie, and Elena cuddling with Stefan. Caroline started to yell at me.
"Rachel! What are you doing? Get your butt over here!" She yelled. I became embarrassed as I looked at the others, especially Elena who was raising her eyebrows at me. That just irritated me for some reason. Maybe I was just jealous of her. That's it! I was jealous.
Boy, this was going to be good.
I walked as quickly as I could to the space in between Matt and Caroline, ready to sit down. Suddenly Matt moved over at the last second, leaving a space between him and Tyler. But the worst part was that it was right in front of Stefan Salvatore. I sat down and my cheeks started to feel really hot from all the staring.
"Rachel? This is Elena and Stefan. "Matt said to me. I looked up and saw both Elena and Stefan smiling politely at me.
"Hey." Elena said. She was beautiful. No wonder she was with Stefan. I felt so ugly sitting across from her.
"Hi." I said shyly, giving a gentle smile.
"So Rachel, you never told us where you transferred here from." Caroline spoke up.
"Oh!" I was glad she brought up something to talk about. "Well I transferred here from McKinley High in Lima, Ohio." I said after finishing a bite of my fettuccini pasta.
"Really? Another small town. Why'd you move?" Elena asked.
"Well my dad was relocated for work."
"Ohhh." All of them said.
"We understand. Most of us aren't so great with our parents." Tyler smiled at me.
"Well, I love my parents! I don't hate them or anything like that." I said defending them.
"You wouldn't like ours." he said.
"You would definitely hate mine." Caroline said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Well my mom's the town's Sherriff and not too long ago, my dad decided he was gay." she said sarcastically with a smile on her face. Everyone chuckled at what she had said as I looked at her with disappointment. That was a sad thing about Caroline and her problem with her dad.
I thought maybe they must have been really judgmental there. I thought about not telling them about my parents…but I felt it needed to be said. I shouldn't be ashamed of who I am. I finally spoke up as they were all laughing about Caroline's dad.
"I am not homophobic. In fact, I have two gay dads." I didn't mean to, but it just came out in a hostile way. I couldn't stop myself. "See, I was born out of love. My two dads screened potential surrogates based on beauty and IQ. Then they mixed their sperm together and used a turkey baster. To this day we still don't know which one is my real dad which I think is pretty amazing." They stopped laughing while I was talking and were staring at me.
"What?" Caroline asked. I then took out my pink wallet and showed them a picture of me and my dads.
There was a pause of silence from them until Stefan spoke up. "That's cool." He smiled sweetly at me. "Cute picture."
"Thanks." I put on my gigantic award winning grin and put the photo back into my wallet.
"Yeah that's great!" Elena stepped in.
"Guess we have more things in common!" Caroline told me as we all went back to eating our food and starting different conversations. As I took a bite of my apple, I overheard Bonnie and Elena talking…
"So Elena! Are you planning on trying out for the winter musical this year? You're always our perfect lead!" Caroline started.
"I don't know, with everything that's happened, I don't know if I should." The brunette replied.
"Just as well, I mean I wouldn't want you backing out of it like you did cheer." Caroline stated with a gleam of hope in her eyes.
'Ouch.' I thought.
"You should. It will be fun for you." Stefan said softly nudging Elena's arm.
"Fine, I will. But only if you try out with me." She said smiling. Everyone was laughing and 'ooooh-ing'.
"Challenge!" Tyler shouted. I was too busy thinking back on the musical.
"You guys hold musicals?" I asked Caroline.
"Yeah, the community makes a musical every season." Caroline said nonchalantly, then she lit up like as she came up with an idea. "You should try out! That would be perfect! All of us always try out and we ALWAYS get in." She said. I smiled anxiously. As she started to look down and play with her food "Sign-up sheets are on the board in the main hall. You should sig-…where did she go?"
I was already walking toward the main hall.
'Why hasn't anyone told me about the musicals? Why haven't I even asked? What is wrong with me?' was all I could think of as I walked quickly towards the main hall's notice board. I finally faced the sign-up sheet. I stared. I took the pen hanging from the board and signed my name in perfect penmanship. Rachel Berry. Right! And the star! I gently placed a gold star after it. I sighed. All was right in the world. I signed up for the musical which I was a shoe in for and I was hanging out with my new friends! 'Wait, my friends! Oh no! I left them!' I quickly walked back to the large table, sat back down in my spot, and went back to eating my pasta. They barely even noticed I came back as they were laughing and continuing their conversations. Then I finally realized Stefan was staring at me.
I looked up at him, finishing up a mouthful of food. "What?" I asked.
"What was that?" He asked amused.
"I went to sign up for the musical." I sounded as if he should have known.
"And you couldn't wait until school was over to sign up?" he laughed.
"Well, I uh…no." I laughed. I realized it was a little ridiculous that I couldn't wait.
"Okay." was all he said as he smiled.
"So what are you going to sing for your audition, Elena?" Bonnie asked.
"I'm not sure. Hey! Do you guys want to do 'Say a Little Prayer for You'? We practiced that a million times last time."
"Sure. Sounds good to me!" Bonnie exclaimed. I looked over at Caroline who looked disappointed.
"What's the matter?" I asked her as Matt got up from his seat to throw the football with Tyler.
"Nothing, it's just that every production, Elena makes us sing in background for tryouts and she always ends up with the lead. I just wanted, for once in my life, to try on my own and have a chance of actually getting lead." she shrugged.
"Then go for it!" I said.
"It's no use. Elena gets what Elena wants." She said hopelessly. I was going to encourage her to be her own person, but the bell rang and we all had to get to our history class which we all had together. As we were walking, I realized that I knew nothing about the musical.
"So when are the auditions again?" I asked Caroline.
"Today at 4. They give us very little time for the students who are involved in the play to get ready, so try and pretend to be prepared."
"And who's directing the play?"
"Mrs. Lockwood and Mr. Saltzman are."
"And who are they?" We entered the classroom and I quickly went up to the teacher.
"I'm Rachel Berry, the new girl." I told him.
"Ah yes! Ms. Berry, Mystic Falls' newest victim." He smiled at me kindly.
"I suppose I am." I laughed.
"I'm Mr. Saltzman, but you can just call me Alaric." He smiled.
"I mean this not to offend, but I would rather call you Mr. Saltzman, if that's ok?"
He laughed, "Uh, yeah sure."
"It isn't that I want to seem rude or anything, but I believe we should show respect towards our teachers and calling you by your first name would give me a feeling that I have degraded you. It's just a moral value type of thing, I believe."
"I bet." He stared at me and I began to feel a bit uncomfortable. He snapped out of it though and started to talk again. "You can sit wherever you'd like, okay?"
"Okay, thank you!"
"No problem."
I didn't see how I would have been able to sit wherever I would have liked because the only seat left open was… next to Stefan Salvatore.
I reluctantly walked over to my seat and sat down as Mr. Saltzman began his lesson. As I was writing down my notes, a paper landed onto my desk. I looked over at Stefan who was smirking while jolting down his notes. I opened the piece of paper and read what it said.
Nice penmanship. He had to be joking. He was interrupting MY studies to compliment my penmanship? Well, actually that wasn't so bad, but I needed to focus. So I wrote back.
Go back to your work. If you jeopardize my future A in this class, trust me, you'll regret it.
Sincerely, Rachel Berry (gold star)
I passed it back to him and a few seconds later I heard a chuckle from him. That made me so angry. He obviously wasn't taking me seriously. A few seconds later, the note landed back onto my desk.
Why do I have this feeling you don't like me very much? And then the note passing went on from there.
No, you seem like a great guy and I have no reason to not like you, I just have a high expectation of myself and my grades are very important to me.
I see. If you ever need a hand, I'm here.
Thanks for the thoughtfulness.
No problem.
Third P.O.V.
Caroline, Matt, Bonnie, Tyler, Elena, and Stefan all entered the school auditorium. They were laughing when they came in and only a few people were there so far. As they went to sit down in the front row, Alaric strolled over to them and started to talk.
"Glad you guys could make it!" he said smiling.
"No problem, Alaric." Elena said. Alaric looked over at Stefan and started laughing.
"You're trying out?" he laughed out loud.
"I'm making him." The brunette smiled.
"Whipped." Tyler whispered.
"What was that Tyler?" Elena turned around and glared at him.
Tyler shrugged. "Nothing."
"Tyler?" Mrs. Lockwood walked over to the group.
"Yeah mom?" he said sighing.
"Why don't you audition first?" she said enthusiastically.
"Nah. I think that you should save the best for last." He said. Everyone laughed.
"Is that because you're the best or is it because you want Rachel to see your special performance?" Matt pushed Tyler playfully.
"Dude! Come on!" Tyler said to him.
"Who is this Rachel?" Mrs. Lockwood asked.
"She's no one, mom." Tyler said with a cautious look toward Matt.
Mrs. Lockwood looked over to Stefan, "Ah! Stefan! So great to see you! You also, Elena!"
"Thanks Mrs. Lockwood."
"So, tell me Stefan, will your brother be joining us in auditions this evening?"
Both Elena and Stefan laughed as Stefan spoke, "I doubt it. He's not really the musical type."
"Oh." Mrs. Lockwood said with disappointment in her eyes. "Ok then, who would like to go first?" she asked into the crowd. More adults and more teenagers showed up for auditions during the conversation, but no one was willing to go up first.
"Fine! I'll just have to go in order by the audition list." she sighed out.
As people went up onstage and handed the cd they would be singing to and performed ,the group of friends sat in the front row. When it was their turn, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline sang 'Say a Little Prayer for You' with a routine and everything which made Stefan smile. The Slavatore sang 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' which had Mrs. Lockwood in awe, and Matt had auditioned with 'Can't Fight This Feeling' with only Tyler left to go. Stefan looked over at the sign-up sheet which had only 3 more names left and saw that Rachel was next in line to perform.
"Hey, do you know where Rachel went?" he whispered to Caroline.
"She said she had to talk to her dads on the phone about picking her up later or something."
"Oh."
The teenager onstage ended her performance and Mrs. Lockwood thanked her for her time but told her she could only be in the musical if she was willing to work backstage or if she did props which she took graciously.
"This girl put a star next to her name." Stefan heard Mrs. Lockwood whisper to Alaric. He chuckled.
"Rachel Berry?" Mrs. Lockwood shouted into the seats. No reply. "Rachel Berry!" Alaric shouted. People then started talking and it was getting really loud.
"Quiet!" Mrs. Lockwood shouted. "Last call for Rachel Berry!" Silence. "Well then, I guess we should move on." she said.
"Wai-"Stefan was about to stall for her but a tiny figure came in from the hallway and was speeding down the walkway to get onstage.
"WAIT! I'M HERE! I'M HERE! DON'T SKIP ME! I'M HERE!" She shouted, running up the stairs swinging a cd in the air. Her hair and her skirt were flying all over the place. As she finally landed in the middle of the stage, everyone had blank faces and were surprised by the girl who was now staring out back at them. She was panting hard and a smile was plastered on her lips. Alaric finally spoke up…
"Um, ok…Rachel I need your music…"
"Oh! Of course!" she ran back down the stairs with her long dark brown hair flowing after her and handed Alaric the cd. She smiled graciously at him for a couple of seconds then turned around and ran back to the middle of the stage. She was grinning so hard and she looked so happy. Stefan was smiling back at her.
"She's something else." He said to Elena, she nodded along.
"So what will you be singing for us, Rachel?" Mrs. Lockwood asked, not so pleased that Rachel made it.
"I will be singing Taking Chances by one of my favorite singers, Celine Dion." she smiled proudly.
Stefan saw Mrs. Lockwood smile but not in an evil way, in a nice way. "Good choice. That is an excellent song." Mrs. Lockwood smiled. "Alaric, start the music please." Alaric nodded and pressed play on the stereo. The first few notes played out as Rachel took a large breath in and lost herself in song.
Don't know much about your life.
Don't know much about your world, but
Don't want to be alone tonight,
On this planet they call earth.Rachel started out sweetly…
You don't know about my past, and
I don't have a future figured out. She smiled out into the audience. Maybe nothing would go her way, maybe she would always be the loser people thought she was in Ohio… but there was one thing Rachel knew would always be true. The girl could sing.
And maybe this is going too fast.
And maybe it's not meant to last…She pulled her eyebrows together and looked over to group of friends. As she started her main chorus, a dark figure came into the auditorium…
But what do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say, She let her hands come up to her sides.
What do you say?
I just want to start again,
And maybe you could show me how to try,
She was beaming.
And maybe you could take me in,
Somewhere underneath your skin?Rachel closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fist to her heart.
What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
She put her arms and hands strait beside her while flexing her fingers while she sang.
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?
And I had my heart beaten down,
She gently was bouncing up and down to the beat of the song on her tippy toes and really bringing herself into the song.
But I always come back for more, yeah.
There's nothing like love to pull you up,
When you're laying down on the floor there.
So talk to me, talk to me,
Like lovers do.
Yeah walk with me, walk with me,
Like lovers do,
Like lovers do. She walked forward into the light and kicked her foot into the stage.
What do you say to taking chances, She lifted her hand into the air, reaching out to the light.
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below The small girl brought her hand back to herself.
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?
Don't know much about your life… She smiled gently.
And I don't know much about your world…
There was complete and utter silence in the auditorium. Stefan stared at her wonderment. She had such a voice.
Rachel was panting and still had that smile like she had just won a Tony.
"WHOOOO!" Tyler and Matt stood up and cheered. Everyone else followed and started applauding. It was a standing ovation from most of the people in the auditorium.
"That was awesome!" someone in the crowd yelled. Rachel was glimmering with excitement and was laughing so hard. The applauding took a few minutes to settle down but when it finally did, Mrs. Lockwood spoke up.
"Rachel." She spoke into the microphone. "You did that song justice."
"Thank you." The small brunette onstage laughed and put a hand over her beating heart.
"You are definitely in the musical. We'll let you know what part you have at tomorrow's rehearsal at 4." She smiled. As the dark figure started moving toward the front row, everyone was cheering.
Rachel had put both hands over her lips and was jumping up and down in excitement.
Rachel's P.O.V.
I was so excited. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I needed to celebrate with someone. I couldn't take it any longer. I needed a hug.
I thought I could run as fast as I could to Caroline! I was feeling out of control.
So I ran down the stairs and skipped over to Caroline. I opened my arms wide but as I was ready to wrap my arms around her, a man put himself in front of me and I didn't mean to, but he was there so…so I hugged him. It was an innocent gesture. I just ran all the way from the computer lab which is all the way across campus and sang my heart out. To be honest, it was much more than I could handle. I needed to work out more on my elliptical.
I was shaking because I was so exhausted and I was so excited and the only way to contain my feelings of joy…
My daddies hugged me all the time when they were proud of me so…anyways I hugged him. I slipped my arms beneath his black leather jacket and cuddled into his dark v-neck shirt. He was very warm. He was also very muscular, but not in a creepy body builder way, in more of a lean way. And he smelled terrific.
"Whoa, uh…"was all he said before I looked up at him. When I looked at his face, I just wanted to stare at him. He was striking. He had light skin and shaggy almost black hair with piercing blue eyes. "Hi there…"he said as he hugged me back, which I was surprised that he did, and looked down at me.
"Hi." I said dreamily. I didn't feel like myself. I was exhausted and honestly wanted to fall in asleep in his arms. "You smell great." I told him.
"Thank you." he smirked.
"What kind of cologne do you wear?" I asked snuggling my head back into his chest.
"Myself." He said, showing off.
"Wow." I replied.
"You know you smell pretty good yourself. You almost smell too good to eat." He chuckled. "What are you wearing?"
"Myself." I said trying to imitate him.
"No kidding? So, what's your name?" he asked me as he nonchalantly placed his chin on the top of my head with an innocent look on his face.
"Rachel Berry." I sighed. "And yours, may I ask?"
"Damon. Damon Salvatore."
"Salvatore? Why does that sound familiar?..." I asked in a daze, my eyes felt heavy.
"Rachel? What are you doing?" I heard a man behind me say. Damon and I both looked around to see who it had been.
We both saw Stefan with his mouth agape, a confused look on his face. Beside him stood a baffled Elena, a pissed off Bonnie and Caroline, a dazed Matt, and an aggravated Tyler.
"Oh! Hey guys!" I said smiling and laying my head back into Damon's chest.
"Hey bro!" Damon widened his eyes for a second as if he was teasing Stefan. He still had an arm around my shoulders as I tried to keep my eyes open.
"Oh! Salvatore! You're Stefan's brother?" I asked looking up at him, smiling.
"His fun, more mature older brother." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I giggled.
"I'm sorry, do you guys know each other?" Elena asked irritated.
"Yup." I emphasized on the 'p'. "For like 2 minutes already!" I said smiling.
"Rachel, are you ok?" Stefan asked as I yawned, closing my eyes.
"Superb," I started to slur in my speech, "but I'm just a little ti-" I instantly fell asleep as Damon caught me from falling down.
Third P.O.V.
As Damon caught Rachel from falling, everyone jumped in to get her.
"Give her to me, Damon." Stefan ordered as Damon picked Rachel up bridal style.
He looked over at Stefan, "Hmm, let me think about it…no!" He said widening his piercing blue eyes.
"Come on dude, just give her to us." Tyler asked peacefully.
"Dude? Seriously?" Damon looked at Tyler judgmentally.
"Well can you just put her somewhere she can sleep peacefully then at least?" Stefan sighed.
He lifted his index finger from under Rachel and pointed it to Stefan. "Hold on a sec." he said as he walked over to Mrs. Lockwood carrying Rachel with him.
The group looked around at each other, whispering as Stefan and Elena kept watching Damon. Mrs. Lockwood looked over at Damon and was beaming. She did not even look at Rachel in his arms. Damon talked to her a little bit and she nodded her head.
Stefan listened in on their conversation, but all he got was a "Sure! Come back tomorrow!" from Mrs. Lockwood and a "Thank you so much!" from Damon. The dark Salvatore brother came walking back, carrying Rachel and nonchalantly passing by Stefan. "Let's go."
As Damon walked away, Stefan and Elena on in confusion then quickly followed him out of the school…