A/N The last bit is set before Kurt gave Rachel the makeover in season 1, near the start of the series. Read and review!
"Mrs Jones, may I make an announcement please?" Seven year old Rachel asked as she waved her hand in the air enthusiastically. The blonde haired lady raised an eyebrow at the tiny girl before gesturing for her to speak. Practically bouncing to the front of the small classroom, Rachel beamed from ear to ear as she attempted to contain her excitement. Standing beside her teacher, the brunette took a moment to compose herself, taking a deep breath before letting it out through her mouth, much like how she would prepare herself before taking the stage.
"Good morning, fellow classmates. While I realise that this may be rather in advance, I would like to invite all of you to my birthday party on 18 December at my house-"
"And what would we be doing there, dork?" Another brunette cut in, causing the rest of the class to erupt in giggles. Rachel huffed at the rude interuption but refused to let it dampen her mood as she continued, "Actually, Santana, you will all get the privellage of watching me perform Don't Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl, something I've been practicing since I was four."
"Freak." She heard someone cough under their breath and looked towards Mrs Jones, sighing as the adult did nothing to reprimand her disrespectful classmates. She decided, for the woman's sake, that she was hard of hearing, if not her dads would lodge a complaint. Scanning the faces before her, Rachel furrowed her brows and pouted her lips as she noticed their bored, uninterested expressions. Why weren't they as excited as she was, especially if they would get to hear her sing? She just couldn't understand. Her dads had always said that watching her perform was their favourite activity and one day, people would kill for the opportunity to see her sing. Wasn't that the case?
Feeling a hand on her back giving her a soft push back towards her seat, Rachel was snapped out of her thoughts and started to walk to her desk. Unfortunately, the small girl hadn't seen the small foot sticking out and tripped. Landing on her hands and knees, Rachel glanced up to see a small blonde smirking at her, giving the latina beside her a high five under the table and mouth "freak" at her.
"Rachel, are you okay? Do pay more attention to you're surroundings next time." Mrs Jones said as she attempted to help the girl off the floor only to be brushed off. Rachel refused the outstretched hand of her teacher and straightened her clothes before holding her chin high and strutting back to her desk where she sat alone. There was an odd number of students and nobody had wanted to sit with her. Not that she minded, of course, she liked the peacefulness of not having somebody constantly disturbing you. That's what she told herself and her dads, at least.
It was five minutes till her party was due to begin and Rachel flitted about the house in a pink dress with a large bow on it, making sure that every last detail was perfect. Balloons, check. Party hats, check. Food, check. Stage, check. Lights, check. She grinned and bounced in excitement as she waited for the first guest to arrive. Watching their daughter almost vibrating as she stood by the door, the two men tried to convinced her to sit on the couch by the window to wait, only to be sent away with a glare.
Rachel kept glancing between the clock on the wall and the road, impatiently. It had been ten minutes and nobody had arrived. Not a soul. Where was everybody? Unwilling to be disappointed, Rachel chose to tell herself that they were on their way. She didn't really believe it though.
Sitting on the fabric couch, Rachel chanced another look at the door. Nobody. It had been close to half an hour and Rachel was close to tears but refused to let them fall as she bit lightly on her trembling bottom lip. "Hey pumpkin, maybe we should just head over to Breadstix. What do you say? We'll order a big cake and you're favourite lasagne?" Hiram Berry said gently, kneeling before the little girl and placing a comforting hand on her thigh. It pained him to see his daughter so crushed, especially after she had spent weeks chattering endlessly about what an incredible party it was going to be and how much she was looking forward to it. Rachel just shook her head and was about to respond when a soft knock on the door interrupted them.
Hirma patted his daughter's leg once more before opening the door to reveal a small boy with gelled back hair. He was wearing a smart looking suit and was holding a gift wrapped in pink paper. "Hi Mr Berry, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'm here for Rachel's party." The pale boy said confidently with a polite smile. Moving aside, he allowed Kurt to enter the house.
"Hey Rach, look who's here." Hiram said as he watched the brunette's face light up at the sight of a guest. Jumping up from her place on the couch, she ran and caught Kurt in a tight embrace, squealing happily. "I'm sorry for being late, my mom was busy helping me with my hair. Here this is for you!" Kurt said finally being released from Rachel's grip and handing her the present.
"Can I open it now?" Rachel asked uncertainly, looking towards her friend for permission. At the nod of his head, she almost ripped the paper apart. Holding up a gold star pillow, Rachel squealed again and was about to jump on Kurt who took a tentative step back. Luckily, Rachel stopped in front of him and asked, "How did you know I love gold stars?"
"Well, I always see you putting them after your name on your worksheets and on your file. Your pencil case has some too so I just assumed you liked them." Kurt said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank you, Kurt, really." Rachel's words were quiet and filled with sincerity as she grinned at him.
"You're welcome."
Together, they all moved down into the basement where Rachel put on her best peformance so far. She ran around the stage, holding a microphone as she sang for her audience of three, all watching her with interest. As she finished the song, Rachel panted slightly, feeling the andrenaline rush she always had when she performed on stage as she heard the rousing applause from below.
"That was incredible, Rachel!" Kurt yelled as he clapped enthusiastically. "That was amazing! Maybe not as good as Barbara, but if you keep practicing, I'm sure you could be even better." He told her as she walked off the stage, causing her to pause and look at him with wide eyes. "You know Barbara?"
"Of course! I love her in Funny Girl, it's my mom's favourite musical and she watches it all the time." Rachel could hardly contain her joy at the thought of having finally found someone who liked Barbara too, often times other children would give her a blank stare before changing the subject and that left her so frustrated. She was sure this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.
As they dug into the food laid out on the table in the garden, Rachel and Kurt discussed musicals, Broadway, New York and everything inbetween. They were so similar that Rachel was sure they were soulmates. Laughing and chatting, time slipped away from the pair and it was time for Kurt to leave. Before he left, they took a picture together, one of his arms was slung over Rachel's shoulders and their temples were touching as they smiled broadly.
Rachel sighed as she ran her thumbs over the photograph and the two children's beaming faces. They were friends at some point. What had happened? She tried so hard to recall but all she could remember was going for a holiday over christmas and returning to school only for Kurt to treat her as a stranger. She had approached him several times, trying to make conversation but he always wanted to be left alone. Finally, she had consulted her fathers who explained that Kurt's mother had just passed away and told her to give him some time and be there for him. That time had turned from days to months to years and along the way, they had really become strangers.
Rachel didn't want that. She wanted to be friends, after all, they had done it once, why couldn't they do it again? Even if he didn't remember her, they still had to have a lot in common and Rachel was going to appeal to that and earn his friendship. Picking up her phone, Rachel took a leap of faith.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Kurt?"
"Rachel Berry? Why are you calling me?" Rachel wanted to believe that she had misheard the disdain in his voice.
"Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to know if you'd like to hang out some time? Maybe have lunch together in school?"
"I'm afraid I can't."
"Why?"
"I just can't" Rachel heart sank as the conversation ended. She had hoped that he would give her one more chance and try to look past her diva exterior to see the girl she really was. She sighed. "It was you," Rachel said out loud, "and now it isn't." Her one and only friend, her metaphorical soulmate had changed and moved on, leaving her behind to wonder what had happened.
A/N Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you thought! I was also wondering if I should write a second part about Kurt finding the picture.