Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Not sure I even want to.
A/N: Sorry for any grammatical, spelling or word choice errors. I'm not perfect. This story is going to be a bumpy ride with more downs than ups but will hopefully be worth it. In this story i will focusing on the Shelby and Rachel relationship. As far as Rachel romance goes, I have no plans for any of that and maybe never will. I hope this doesn't turn anyone away. Enjoy.
Chapter 1 Curiosity
Rachel knew it was going to be a bad day, or a good day, but probably a bad day. She woke up this morning with a chill that would not go away. All she had for breakfast was a half of a one slice of dry toast and the last of her tea. School was the same. It was always the same. Sandy Stupid Ryerson still won't let girls join the choir. Principal Figgins couldn't seem to comprehend how sexist that is and was therefore no help at all. Coach Sue Sylvester was willing to help her out but only if she donned a red, white and black uniform and let the unholy trinity throw her up in the air. So, she was no help. Her Spanish teacher mismarked her paper and gave her an A when she should have gotten an A-. She wasn't exactly complaining, per se, but it did reinforce her suspicions that the teachers at McKinley High cared very little about education. When she sought someone out to actually vent about her problems the doe-eyed ginger guidance councilor seemed too unqualified to actually be of any help. By lunch time her stomach was cramping and growling but she didn't have anything to nourish it so she walked down the hallway in order to encounter one of the lumbering knucklehead jocks in hopes of being assaulted by an iced beverage. Finn the jolly green giant was kind enough to help out but despite the fact that he was the freshman quarterback he missed her face and got her hair instead. He went on to complain that she was too short and to grow some so he wouldn't miss. He then went on to say she owed him a dollar seventy for the wasted drink. She scoffed and paying him no attention she walked away to the restroom. By the time the final bell rang for the school day, she was hungry and cold and had no hopes for what's next.
It was a long walk to the bus stop and the wind blew so hard she felt like a leaf about to take flight. Just as she turned the corner she saw the bus at the stop and she ran for all she had only for the bus to peel away from the curb just as she was arriving. It was another thirty minutes until the next bus. She sat down on the bench only to cringe at the wetness she felt on her bottom. She leapt up quickly and placed her hands on her now wet skirt while looking down at the seat determined to find out what exactly she sat in. It appeared to be colorless but the dark rotting wood would hide most colors. She brought her hands to her nose and smelled them. She prepared herself for something disgusting but smelt lemons instead. She made the assumption that she sat in the spilled remnants of lemonade. Still, this would not do. Luckily she carried spare clothes with her. She just had to figure out a way to change into them in broad daylight on a busy urban street.
One quick change later she took a seat further down the bench, after thoroughly inspecting it of course, and pulled out her Spanish homework. Shueston or Shuester, whatever his name is, has assigned a three paragraph essay, as if that counts as an essay, on the Spanish-American War, which seems like more history homework than Spanish. Rachel, however, decided that she would instead vent about the direction her life had recently taken. She'd take more than three paragraphs to write it and Mr. Shuemer would just use his red pen, give her an A, but tell her that she wrote too much. He'd do so in English. By the time the bus arrived she was already two pages into her essay. She finished her sentence and put the homework away before forking over ten dollars and fifty cents to the bus driver who huffed angrily as she paid mostly with dimes and nickels.
"Way to nickel and dime it kid." She heard him mutter under his breath.
She took a seat in the middle of the bus, across from an elderly woman. The woman smiled at her so she smiled back. She leaned back on the seat and tried to forget her life. Her stomach growled, she'd forgotten about that. It'd take awhile to forget again. She closed her eyes and took two deep breaths. Suddenly she was being poked in the shoulder by something. She opened her eyes and looked at the elderly woman who appeared to be offering her a granola bar. She knew better than to assume that was what was going on. The elderly in Lima could be so terrible. No joke, this happened once when she was on her way to Columbus. An elderly gentleman snatched the candy bar back to his person as soon as she made to grab at it. He laughed and said something incorrigible. She turned red and moved seats to the back of the bus. A teenager who smelt of skunks offered her a brownie. She's not proud of this, but she took it and shoveled it in her mouth like an uncouth individual.
"Take it sweetheart." The woman said in a warm tone. Rachel was suspicious but hungry. She took the bar and thanked the woman with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. The woman returned her smile.
"I'm Helena. What's your name, sweetheart?" Rachel was tempted to fire back a "not sweetheart" response, but this woman helped her stave off her hunger pains.
"It's Cathy." Rule number one of riding public transit in Lima was never give your real name. There were sketchy people who took the bus. She wasn't being unnecessarily weary or cautious. The bus line in Lima was notorious for criminals and creeps. Not everyone was bad, of course. Some were just unfortunate enough to have no other choice, like Rachel.
"Where are you heading Cathy?" This was a suspicious question. Rachel took her last bite of the granola, wondering if she'd just been poisoned. It didn't really matter if she had, she supposes.
"I'm visiting my grandma. It's her and my gramps anniversary but since he passed away last year, she's going to be all alone so I thought I'd surprise her and spend the evening with her. Keep her mind off things, you know. Plus she'll probably make me her famous cookies. I love those cookies." She laughed a little at the end. If she didn't put a selfish twist on the end this woman would be skeptical. Teenagers in Lima were even worse than the elderly.
The woman chuckled a little at the bit with the cookies. She looked like she wanted to say more but instead turned to her book. Rachel was thankful. She needed a little time to compose herself. She was not going to purport herself as a babbling moron. She was not.
It's just past five with Rachel arrives at the auditorium in Carmel High. She watches as the glee coach criticizes her team before 'letting them off the hook' for the night, though she 'expected it to result in tomorrow's success.' The kids scurried off quickly, the room emptying in no more than sixty five seconds. She counted. She watched as the instructor gathered up her sheet music and keys. If Rachel was going to do this, it had to be now.
She stepped out from the shadows, all of her previous nerves hidden.
"Miss Corcoran?" She announced her presence with clear diction and confidence. The woman in question turned her head and looked straight at Rachel. She was obviously not happy to be interrupted. Perhaps she had plans.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt. I know you must be extremely busy and all, but I only need five minutes of your time." She waited to be cut off but the woman just kept looking at her.
"I would like to audition for Vocal Adrenaline. I know that auditions are over and have been for quite some time. But I'd only like to know if I would be good enough to get in, had I auditioned at the appropriate time. I just want to know if I'm good. It'll only take as long as my audition song, I'll sing it a cappella, obviously." Seeing no resistance, Rachel walked down to the stage. An audition must be on a stage. In the aisles just would not do.
Rachel counted herself in and then started to sing On my Own from the Broadway musical Les Miserables.
Shelby just wanted to go home and take a nice warm bubble bath, pour herself a glass of Pinot Noir and call Patrick. She missed him so much and she only had a small window of time to get a hold of him. She let the worthless brats go home early only to be stopped by some ambitious middle schooler. She almost told the kid to piss off but she was always looking for future talent to nurture and mold. It was how she found St. James, after all. Even if the boy was more a hormone bomb than anything else. She couldn't believe that just last week he tried to feel her up. The nerve of that kid. She'd find a way to subtly destroy him for that later. Maybe she'd promise him entry into the school of his dreams and then hold it over his head for a lifetime. 'Oh no the kid is starting to sing.' She thought. As soon as the first few words were out of her mouth Shelby had to struggle to stay interested and alert. Really, this song?
The girl had a beautiful voice and had obviously been trained. But her song selection was terrible and boring. (Not that the song itself is boring, but because of how overused it is. She auditions about a hundred kids each year and about thirty of them do this song.) As the song came to a close Shelby thanked whatever it was that sat up on a cloud that she could now go home. But the girl stood there on the stage, like it was her stage, and was expecting a critique or praise. So this was going to take more time than a song.
"No." Okay, maybe not that long.
"No?" Ugh.
"Your song selection was cliché and overdone. I was bored."
"That's it?" What is wrong with kids these days? Can't they just take what is given to them and leave?
"You have a beautiful voice, maybe the best I've heard all year. But your song choice lacked originality and I can't support that. With a voice like yours you should be taking chances and risks and wowing people not putting them to sleep. So no. Just no." There, that ought to do it.
"I have a strong personal connection to that song."
There was a silence that took over the room as the two looked at each other. The silence passed and they both turned to leave.
"I'm your long lost daughter." Silence, more awkward than the last, enveloped the auditorium.
Shelby's plan of relaxing and calling her long distance boyfriend flew out the window, flew out of her mind. How do you respond to that? No really? She has no idea what to say. Does she question the validity of that statement? Should they both simultaneously enact a cheesy slow motion run towards each other culminating in a bear hug? Should there be tears? Should she run out the door? Call the police? Laugh?
"Do you like tea? I like tea? I go to this really good tea place in Asian Town, which isn't racist, just so you know, that's just what they call the borough in Lima, it even has a plaque welcoming people to Asian Town. Is plaque the right word? Anyway, tea? As in do you like tea? Do you want tea? Or should I just stop talking?" The girl was talking so fast Shelby barely caught all that. Something about tea and racism, right?
"The Berry Girl?" Shelby asks, trying to take control of the situation. She did not want to talk about tea with this kid. She needed to know. Is this girl her daughter?
"Yes. I'm her. Rachel Barbra Berry, daughter of Leroy and Hiram and you. Pleased to meet you. Tea?"
"Uh."
"This place I go to have this amazing tea that has like healing properties. Not like magic or anything, but healing herbs or something. It's like the immune system boost at the smoothie shop except with tea and not smoothies and not a scam, well maybe a scam. Who really knows, right? Anyway they also have regular tea, like jasmine and green."
"Uh?"
Silence takes over again.
"I have questions; you should have questions, so tea? You drive, ok?"
She hadn't wanted to sound like a bumbling fool. Best laid plans and all that. Still it seems to be going well. She hasn't been turned away yet. She hopes she never is, but she's not going to set herself up for failure. She'll just ask a few questions and then say goodbye. She wouldn't be dying of curiosity. And maybe, just maybe, Miss Corcoran is a little curious too.
"I'm not sure what you want from me." Rachel didn't really either. She thought about talking about tea again but that seemed a little like overkill at this point.
"Relax. Just focus on the road." Stall. Miss Corcoran's question was loaded. She obviously wasn't willing to give anything.
"I just want a sense of self." That was either a genius answer or the worst words ever came tumbling out of her mouth.
"Are you not curious at all? Cause if not pull over. I'm capable of getting tea by myself. I don't need someone to hold my hand or anything. I'm not looking for a mommy." That's right Rachel put it back on her.
"I am curious. Shocked. Stunned. Speechless. But curious." Rachel nodded her head; she supposes she might have been as well had their roles been reversed.
"So this tea? It's good?" They both laughed.
"Good. Really good. The kind I get is expensive though, like a lot. I'll probably get a white or black tea. I'm not racist or anything, you probably think I am now though. I actually prefer black. Tea that is. But not to seem all not racist, like I can't be 'cause I have insert racial minority here friends." This was not going well. She was not making any sense.
"You're not making sense. I'm almost to Asian Town, where do I go?"
"Take a left on Eggroll Street, a right on chow mein, and a right on Samurai Avenue. It's 1515 on the corner of Dynasty court. It's called Giant Panda's Tea and Spirits."
"And I'm nervous. I've never met my mother before. Frankly I'm a little upset that you're not. How many long lost children do you have? How many outings have you had?"
"I'm nervous too, Rachel."
As Shelby drives to the tea place, which sounds like a bar or a liquor store, she notices all of the businesses here in Asian Town. Lima is one racist city, apparently. There is the Great Wall of Sushi, Emperor Foods Marts, Ying and Yang Vacuum store, Kung Pow Tattoo, and Dragon's Pawn.
"I'm starting to think this is one racist town" Shelby mutters under her breath. She parks the car outside what is clearly a bar.
"Is this a bar?" She asks Rachel.
"No." Shelby watches as Rachel walks pasts the doorman checking ID's and enters the bar. She shakes her head and tried to follow but the doorman catches her and asks for her identification. Flattered but a little huffy that that man just let a not even fifteen year old into a bar she takes out her ID and waits for him to check it.
"What are you thinking taking a kid to a bar? You should be ashamed of yourself. And teach your kid some manners." The audacity of that man! She was about to correct him but wasn't really sure why. She shook her head and entered the bar instead.
Upon entering she finds Rachel sitting at the bar talking to an overweight white man wearing a samurai helmet and a kimono and a small Asian man wearing a Hawaiian shirt. She scurries over quickly only to hear the tail end of a hushed conversation.
"I can't afford it. It's ok." The Asian makes make a move to say something but Rachel cuts him off. "I'm okay with it." The Asian man nods and then walks away.
"So you get your tea? The cold fighting one?" She asks Rachel. She turns to the bartender/apothecary. "The strongest you have." She indicates that she'd like hers to be adult.
"No." She turns to look at Rachel. Why didn't she order her tea? It was all she could talk about.
"I'll have what she's having." Wait. What? Shelby watched horrified as the bartender shrugs his shoulder and gets to doubling the recipe. She makes to interrupt him and remind him that Rachel is only fourteen.
"My fathers died over the summer." Whoa.
"It sucks you know. But I'm healing. I found out about you and only just worked up the courage, you know. I just want to know a little about you and then we can part ways again. I sort of didn't know my fathers very well. They were so busy, and when they weren't I was, but they were really just closed off people I think, anyway. I just want to know my family history a little."
"They're gone? That doesn't make any sense." When Shelby answered the ad for a surrogate she was only supposed to carry an embryo to term and deliver it. But Hiram had liked her so much he asked if they could use her egg as well. She thought long and hard about it, but she was only twenty. She was focused on her dreams and they were offering a lot of money. Eventually she agreed. When Leroy showed up at her apartment nearly five months into the pregnancy he told her he was going to have a contract written up. Shelby didn't like that idea, at all. She told him so and threatened to not go through with it all. Since the baby was hers she had the right to do so. By the seventh month they had come to a decision with the contract. She was not to make contact with the baby until she turned eighteen years old. But if anything were to happen to Hiram and Leroy custody of the baby was to go to her. So when Shelby says this doesn't make sense, she means it. She should have been notified.
"Yea, I've been there. I couldn't believe it at first either. But you know life keeps going, or so I'm told."
"Where are you now?"
"I'm not sure what you mean. I'm here now."
"No I mean where are you staying now? Now that they are gone?" The barkeep serves them the drinks. They look and smell terrible.
"Oh I'm still at home." Shelby watched as Rachel closed herself off. Odd that this was the part of the conversation Rachel felt uncomfortable about.
"But who is taking care of you?" Shelby ignores the obvious signs and keeps going.
Instead of answering though, Rachel picks up her 'tea' and downs it in one gulp. She gags immediately and coughs. Her eyes start to tear up and she signals desperately for water. Shelby almost laughs, except this is her daughter who just took a shot of something toxic.
"Bubba? You steered me wrong. That tasted like a science experiment." Rachel coughs out to the bartender. He shrugs and hands her some water. She greedily drinks it. It doesn't appear to help though.
"Rachel?" She asks again.
"That was gross. And it burned. It was like acid down my throat. I recommend you don't drink yours." She coughs again. "My poor vocal chords!"
"Rachel?" Nothing.
"Little girl I asked a question, I expect it to be answered." She hadn't intended for coach Corcoran to come out.
"Hmm?" Just a little more prompting.
"Oh! Um. Uh my grandmother moved in. She's uh old, and ill and frail. I mostly take care of her." She was not reassured. Something was going on with Rachel.
Inside Rachel was panicking. She needed to steer this conversation away. She just had to. Nothing good would come of the truth, any of it. Miss Corcoran seems like a nice lady and was musically inclined judging from her profession. They could have been friends, had they not met like this, had they had more time to cultivate a relationship. There is never a light at the end of the 'what if' alleyway.
"Are you lying?" Rachel tried to put her game face on, whatever that meant. She heard the jocks mention that colloquialism a few times. She assumes it means put a brave face on. She'll look it up, eventually.
"Nope." Short and sweet. No holes to poke.
"You should come over sometime. She'll probably bake you some cookies or a pie." She wanted to smack herself. What happened to short and sweet and foolproof? Who's the fool now?
Rachel watched as Shelby tries to decide if she's telling the truth. She can only imagine what is going through her head. If she calls her bluff she's going to have to decide to walk away or do something about it. Rachel takes a sip of her water. She shouldn't have done this. Curiosity killed the cat and Curiosity was probably a sociopath.
"So what do you want to know about me?" For some reason Rachel feels her heart fall into her stomach. This is what she wanted. Right?
"Are you married?"
"No." Shelby answered. "I'm in a long distance relationship though. He's working in London. We've been together for almost two years."
"You must miss him."
"Very much." They was a pause as Shelby sipped the tea. She too gagged but not quite as extreme. "Are you dating?"
"I'm fourteen."
"Yes. I know how old you are. Are you dating?" Hmm. Maybe they could do this.
"No. Boys are yucky and girls are catty." They shared laugh. "Do you have kids?"
"Are we counting you?" That was a fair question, she supposes.
"No." They weren't exactly mother and daughter. Genetics was the only thing tying them together.
"Then no." Rachel smiled and looked up at the clock. It was just about seven. She had to get home.
"I have to get home now, to," she paused, "to Nana. This was nice. Thank you for indulging me." The truth was, though, Rachel was indulging herself. Curiosity was sated, for now at least.
Rachel scurries out of the tea house, making sure she left before Miss Corcoran had a chance to respond. A gust of wind hit her and reminded her of the chill she just couldn't escape and of her ever increasing weakness. She didn't have a home to go home to; at least she won't next week. The house had been foreclosed upon two weeks ago and she knew it was only a matter of time before the bank boarded it up or sold it. She had tried to keep up with the payments, selling off the furniture and cookware, even some of her clothes, but she was out of options now. She'll be on the streets soon, just in time for winter too. She wasn't scared though. She already knew she was going to die. She just hoped she could die in peace in a warm bed. But she had already come to terms with the fact that she was dealt bad cards and the casino already won. She just wished she could have a hug though.
Rachel wiped away her tears. It's been a bad day. There is no changing that.
Shelby was confused and sad. She had hoped to set up some sort of weekly thing with Rachel but the girl dashed out of here so quickly. She pulled out her wallet and took out a twenty. Why was she paying this guy again? He served a minor.
"Hey, you know she's fourteen right?"
"She needs it."
"That's bullshit." She slammed the money on the bar and left in a huff. Her perfectly good day ruined completely.
As she walks to her car she notices Rachel walking a block down the street. It appeared like the girl was having trouble walking through the wind. That was weird. What exactly did she drink?
Deciding that she can salvage this day she runs after Rachel. When she gets close enough she calls out to the girl. She watches as the girl turns around, tear streaks and snot all over her face, but a flicker of something stirs in the young girl's eyes. Rachel starts running towards her, or tries to. Is the wind really that strong? Shelby starts to run towards Rachel too but realizes what is happening and slows to a walk.
Rachel stops a few feet away from Shelby.
"I lied. I'm all alone and the bank is taking the house. I have nowhere to go."
"Yes you do."
A/N 2: Please review.