Time came to a sudden stop and the only thing Rachel could focus on was the unmistakable sound of an egg being crushed against the crown of her head. She swallowed the sob that threatened to tumble off her lips and blinked back the tears welling in her chocolate eyes. The raw egg whites began sliding down her forehead, blending with the yolk as it reached her brows. Rachel slowly looked up into the humored eyes of Jesse St. James — the boy she had been dating for nearly two months — and at that very moment, the senior's lips curled into a triumphant smirk, laced with a menacing chuckle. That was all it took and hot tears spilled down Rachel's cheeks, gathering at the neckline of her navy dress.
Without warning, a second egg hit her on the shoulder, cracking on contact and splattering her in the face with its contents. Rachel's eyes gravitated from Jesse's and she realized she was now entirely surrounded by all 32 members of Vocal Adrenaline, each of them holding an 18 count carton of eggs. Several hands raised, waiting for Jesse's signal. She barely had time to react and cover her face when Jesse nodded and quickly stepped out of the way, grabbing his carton of eggs from a fellow senior.
For two minutes and twenty-one seconds, Rachel stood, being attacked by the rival glee club, feeling each individual egg connect with her tiny frame. For over two minutes, Rachel sobbed, silently begging for it all to end. It wasn't until she heard the herd of footsteps running towards the eight Range Rovers, when Rachel uncovered her face and watched as the 32 teenagers hurried to get out of sight. There was a few short seconds of relief for Rachel, giving her a false sense of security that the assault was over. As the last member of Vocal Adrenaline — a senior named Giselle — passed by Rachel, she reached out and jammed a handful of raw egg in Rachel's mouth. The small brunette spit the egg out, clutching her stomach as she began to projectile vomit all over the ground.
Once her stomach was emptied and dry heaving had subsided, Rachel tried to wipe the egg from her eyes and mouth as best as she could using her fingers. When that proved to be futile, Rachel slid her backpack off her shoulders, reaching in to grab a makeup removal wipe from her makeup bag. The makeup wipe wasn't much better at cleaning up the mess and she gave up rather quickly, shoving the wipe into the mesh pocket on the side of her bag. Reaching into her bag once more, she dug around for her phone and checked the time once she found the device. There was still a little over a half hour left of her lunch period and figured she had enough time to go home, take a quick shower and change her clothes before returning to school.
Shouldering her bag, Rachel took a deep breath and began the short trek home. While the walk from McKinley to the end of her street took only five minutes, it seemed like it had taken an hour. The stares from random strangers driving past her didn't help things either. She turned the corner and sighed in relief, glad to be nearly home. That relief was short lived; however, when the driveway came in clear sight.
"Oh, no," Rachel whimpered, stopping dead in her tracks.
Not only was both of her fathers' cars in the driveway, but there was an unfamiliar vehicle as well. It wasn't uncommon for her dads to work from home a day or two a week, nor was it uncommon for the lawyers to meet with a client at the house, but she wasn't expecting either of them to be home that day as they hadn't mentioned it over breakfast that morning. Letting out a sigh, Rachel continued to the house.
Hiram was in the living room, grabbing a manilla folder from his briefcase when he heard the front door unlock and it slowly opened. At the first sight of Rachel entering the house, Hiram placed a free hand on his hip and raised a stern brow at the teenager. He opened his mouth to interrogate the girl about her being home in the middle of the day but before a single word could roll off his tongue, tears began streaming down the usually upbeat girl's face. His demeanor quickly changed and he quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his daughter. It was then, when Hiram rested his chin on the top of Rachel's head and rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down, that he realized she was covered in some sort of snot like substance. Taking a real look at Rachel, he noticed the pieces of white egg shells imbedded in her damp and sticky hair.
"Goodness," He exclaimed, gently pushing the teenager off of him to look her in the face. "Rachel, what on earth happened?"
"Vocal Adrenaline," Rachel sniffled. "They ganged up on me in the parking lot at school."
"Oh, honey," He sympathetically sighed and drew Rachel back in for a tight hug.
"Jesse was there," She said into her father's chest. "He helped them."
"He what?!" Hiram's voice boomed, causing Rachel to tense up. He silently admonished himself for startling Rachel and held her tighter. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."
As Rachel relaxed into Hiram's body once more, she heard two sets of footsteps on the hardwood floor entering from the kitchen.
"Hiram, what's going on?" Leroy asked, rushing into the room after hearing his husband's voice raise considerably. The darker skinned man noticed Rachel in Hiram's arms and it didn't take very long for him to realize Rachel was covered in eggs. "Rachel?"
"Daddy," Rachel let out a sob, turning to face Leroy. She could see Leroy had not come into the room alone, but the other person was blocked by her dad's frame and she couldn't make out who the person was. Though, in that moment, she didn't care who it was. She needed both of her dads and a hot shower and a fresh set of clothes.
"That Jesse kid," Hiram snarled. "I am going to wring that punk's neck."
Leroy gave his husband a look, silently telling him to mind is temper. It wasn't going to help the situation and it definitely wasn't going to help Rachel either. Before Hiram had a chance to reply to Leroy, another voice joined the conversation.
"Oh, trust me, there will be nothing left of Jesse St. James when I get my hands on him."
Rachel let out an audible gasp, recognizing the voice of one Shelby Corcoran. She lifted her head from Leroy's chest and looked over at the woman standing a mere five feet away from her. It had been nearly two weeks since she had last seen Shelby; the day they had initially met for the first time. They had sat in Carmel's auditorium and had a brief conversation before Shelby suddenly rushed out, promising the girl she'd call. Nearly two weeks had gone by without a single word from Shelby. Rachel didn't know how to feel seeing her mother standing before her. There was a newfound sense of hope deep within her, hope that Shelby was going to be the mother Rachel so desperately wanted and needed. She wanted to cling to that hope and the happiness that welled inside her, but anger and hurt clouded her ability to do so. Shelby had promised to call her. Where had she been the last two weeks?