I don't own any rights to Glee. Gosh, I hate disclaimers.
Rachel stood in the center of the gym and watched as the rest of the school left as quickly as possible. She was surrounded by eleven of the most ill fitted team members that could have come out of Finggin's stupid little fish bowl and one Spanish teacher who for some unknown otherworldly reason looked as though he had just found a winning lottery ticket and not like he'd just been put in charge of a group of teens who most certainty were not feeling like they'd won any amount of money. In fact Rachel felt as though she had just been told her entire life was a lie, that one of her fathers was actually a woman and that she couldn't carry a tune to save her life.
"I'm going to vomit," she whispered.
"Get away from me Berry," Puck growled and looked at her like she may just be the last living carrier of the Bubonic Plague.
Tina patted her awkwardly on the back and Mercedes produced a half full bottle of water from her bag that she handed over to her. Rachel smiled and thanked her quietly. They had all been detained from leaving by an anxious looking Mr. Schuester, who had informed them that they would be having their first meeting immediately.
"Some of us have other places to be," Quinn snapped looking over her shoulder at where the last person to leave had just disappeared. "I have a meeting with Coach Sylvester that starts right after school. I can't be late, I'm the captain."
"My dads are waiting for me outside," Rachel agreed.
Though that seemed to be the wrong thing to do, she thought, after Quinn sent her a hateful glare and muttered something under her breath. Rachel didn't hear it but she was sure it was offensive. However, before Rachel could demand for her to tell her what she'd said their advisor stepped in.
"Alright, alright," Mr. Schuester said. "We're just going to be a couple minutes, school's not even officially over yet. I just wanted to take this time to come up with a day that works for everyone to meet after school. So let's hash out our schedules."
"Football practices Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday," Finn supplied, Puck and Mike nodding along with him.
"Okay. Do the three of you have any other after school activities?" the Spanish teacher asked.
None replied but they all shook their heads that, no, they did not.
"And Cheerios?" Mr. Schuester asked.
"We practice every day," Quinn retorted. "It's our gym credit."
"Alright, Kurt? Artie?" the teacher prodded.
"I don't have any conflictions," Kurt supplied.
"Neither do I," Mercedes added.
Tina nodded along with Kurt and Mercedes. Rachel knew that she was painfully shy and tended to avoid talking whenever possible.
"I've got AV Club," Artie said. "But only on Mondays."
"Okay, good. That leaves Blaine and Rachel," Mr. Schuester said. He clapped his hands together happily.
"I just got here," Blaine explained. "I was going to join show choir."
"There isn't currently a show choir at McKinley," Mr. Schuester informed him sadly. "Mr. Reynolds was let go earlier today."
"What? Why?" Mercedes asked.
"Because he was a pervert," Rachel grumbled.
Everyone gathered around her looked at her like she was some sort of freak show oddity. She just crossed her arms over her chest and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Anyways," Mr. Schuester continued, trying to get them back on track. "Rachel when are you free?"
Quinn rolled her eyes and laughed, "Like she actually has anything to do after school."
The teacher shot Quinn a reprimanding look and Rachel seriously considered telling them she was never available because she'd rather be expelled than be involved with this insanity. She managed to hold her tongue only because she knew how disappointed her fathers would have been in her.
"I have dance lessons Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, Mr. Schuester," Rachel bit out. If Rachel had been any less of a person she would have stuck her tongue out at the Cheerio. "But I might be able to move times around if it becomes absolutely necessary."
"That's very helpful Rachel," Mr. Schuester smiled encouragingly at her. "But for now I think it looks like Wednesday is going to work out for everyone."
He then produced a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket and handed it to Artie.
"He's a magician!" Rachel heard Brittany gush. Rachel wondered how she'd managed to make it to her junior year at all.
"Everyone write down their cell phone numbers and their e-mails," Mr. Schuester said ignoring Brittany's outburst, probably because he was wondering the same thing as Rachel. "I'll e-mail out the information to each of you before we meet up this Wednesday to get started on our first assignment."
"Why are we going to need to contact each other?" Santana asked, looking at the paper that had just been handed to her with half the groups' info already on it like it had personally affronted her. "I don't want these losers prank calling me."
"That's highly unlikely Santana," Rachel snapped at her, just wishing to be able to go home and try to come to terms with this horrid event on her own. "If anyone pranks anyone surly it will be one of you pranking us."
Everyone knew who Rachel was referring to when she said "one of you" and "us". Even Mr. Schuester looked like he was well aware of the statistical probabilities of which of his students would ever feel the need to prank call someone.
"Oh, don't play the victim, Berry," Santana griped.
"I happen to know for a fact that before my fathers took out our land line that you were the one calling me making all those RuPaul references," Rachel replied flippantly, heading towards the door to get away from all of them least she cry or something in front of them. "I'm a "freak" not an idiot."
"First meeting Wednesday right after school," their teacher called to the backs of the retreating students.
Rachel was the first out the door and was into the front seat of the waiting SUV quicker than any of them would have thought possible. She slammed the door and dumped her bag at her feet. Her father, Leroy, quirked an eyebrow at her as he began the drive to her dance studio.
"How was your day?" he asked since his normally chatty daughter seemed to be intent on remaining silent for the first time in written history.
"I was chosen at random to participate in a fight to the death. Last student standing doesn't have to take finals," she deadpanned.
"Excuse me?" her father demanded slamming on the break so he didn't run the stop sign he hadn't seen until the last moment.
"It's called The First Annual William McKinley Battle Royale," Rachel explained. "I was chosen as one member of a team of twelve who will engage in a yearlong competition with an opposing group of twelve. Apparently, it's going to cure all mental afflictions the student body of McKinley has and we're all going to be one big happy family. Like Barney."
"You're going to fight to the death?" he questioned. Rachel thought she heard the beginnings of a giggle.
"Yes," she retorted.
"I highly doubt Barney approves of that," he countered. "But I think you'll do great."
And that was that. Rachel couldn't get her mind off of it all through her dance lesson, and it was the worst she'd had since she was four years old and someone had told her that she didn't have any talent. She had since learned that other four year olds were not good sources of criticism.
Hours later, after she had apologized profusely to her instructor for not having her heart in her dancing that day and after homework and dinner with her fathers, where she had once again managed to convince them that school was bearable enough and that they really didn't need to worry, she crawled into her bed and went about plugging eleven new phone numbers into her iPhone. She didn't know why she was doing it, she highly doubted anyone else was, but something deep inside her, near the place where she tucked away the horrors of how lonely she often felt, smiled as she typed in Kurt, Artie, Mercedes, Tina, and Blaine's names. And she grinned evilly as she entered Noah into her contacts.
She had just set her alarm and plugged her cell in to charge and lay down to sleep when she was startled by her phone's text tone going off. The screen lit up her dark room displaying a text from Blaine.
Hey, it's Blaine. =) Where do you take your dance lessons? He asked.
Rachel smiled, feeling the day perk up just a bit.
I go to DanceFree Studios. Though there are 2 other studios in Lima. Rachel told him.
Are there any male openings in your class level? Blaine's response was fast and Rachel was giddy that he hadn't bothered to ask about the other studios.
Of course. =) There aren't many guys who want to dance in this town. She told him.
I kind of got that idea after that weird assembly today. WTF was that? He asked.
Bullying is really bad here. Idk what they think this is going to accomplish though. I'm sure mostly it's about keeping their funding, because otherwise they turn a blind eye. Especially since Puck was forced to participate. Rachel knew she was being wordy, but this was the longest conversation she'd had with anyone her age in years, excluding Puck and the Lost Afternoon, as she liked to call it.
So it wasn't just my imagination when Figgs trembled in fear when he called that guy's name? lol Blaine responded, apparently not at all off putted by Rachel's enthusiasm.
Not at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he had actually wet himself. Rachel told Blaine, laying back and snuggling into her pillows.
Lmao. What's this Puck guy's deal? Blaine asked.
He's a senior. He invented the slushy facial. And I don't think he's ever lost a fight in his life. Even teachers are intimidated by him, partially because of his sheer size and attitude and partially because he can be downright scary smart when he decides to put any effort in. Rachel explained.
Slushy facial? Was his quick response.
He tosses slushies from the 7-11 at people. She told him.
That is cruel and unusual. Has it happened to you? Blaine asked.
Quite often. I'm his favorite target. Rachel admitted.
This game is sounding like less and less of a good idea. He responded.
I'm predicating that it's going to be a resounding fail. Rachel lamented.
Well at least we're in it together! =) Do you want to meet in front of school to face the day together? He offered.
Potential slushy facials and all? Rachel asked, trying to not to be afraid that he would back out.
Bring it on! He told her.
I'll see you then. =) She typed out her reply.
Tuesday morning had come too slowly in Rachel's opinion, she had been eagerly anticipating meeting up with Blaine since their conversation had come to a close. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that something positive would have come out of yesterday, and while, yes, she was still dreading the rest of the school year because no matter the intentions of this project she couldn't see it going any other direction than down. And she was very scared of how the rest of the school's population was going to react to the team she was a part of, mainly because it included six people who they all considered too important to be in the presence of the other six, she couldn't help but smile because even though she knew it was going to be Hell, she thought maybe, at the very least, she wouldn't be alone in it.
Tuesday had been the best day she'd had, which is what she had told a very skeptical Blaine at the end of the day. He thought she was out of her mind, she knew, because they had both been slushied almost immediately by two guys from Coach Sue's team and Blaine had been unceremoniously outed by the Coach herself when she screamed at him over a megaphone that being openly gay here was going to cost them the Battle in the long run. Rachel had been proud because he had taken it all in stride commenting that he hadn't wanted to hide who he was anyways.
No one from their team had acted any differently, however, and Rachel wasn't the least bit surprised by that fact. Artie and Tina managed to fly under the radar by spending any of their free time either in AV room or art room respectively and the only time Rachel had seen Kurt was when he had caught sight of she and Blaine heading into the library together; he had broken eye contact and then accidently walked into his open locker door. Quinn, Santana and Brittany had followed Mercedes into the lunch room and laughed pointedly when a fellow Cheerio surprised her with a slushy—well Quinn and Santana had laughed, Brittany had simply strolled around her asking when the school had started serving slushies.
Rachel had only seen Puck in passing, and by passing she meant she had drug Blaine past him quickly when he had started in on one of the hockey players that were on Coach Sue's team, the Stick guy with the mullet. It was widely known that sometime in the middle of last year the guy had pissed Puck off in the extreme, because while Puck was known for fighting, he typically didn't do it in the middle of a crowded lunch room. Stick, or whatever his name was, had been treated for a concussion and suspended for a week. Puck had a short talk with Figgins and then spent the time while Stick was absent subtly sabotaging the hockey team; they hadn't won another game that year and sometimes Stick would just randomly disappear for a couple of days only to emerge looking ragged and tired. How he still hadn't managed to learn his lesson she couldn't begin to fathom, if he just stopped trying to get on Puck's good side and ran in the opposite direction whenever he saw him Puck would probably move on.
This time he had stalked up to Stick while he was walking towards Blaine, slushy in hand, grabbed him and slammed him into the wall. He had kept him pinned there with his forearm and asked him if he had a death wish. The slushy had been dropped all over Stick's pants in the chaos and he was gasping out idiotic apologies to Puck who was ignoring him while he talked to Mike about the pros and cons of whipping the Earth of Stick's existence. Rachel had dashed forward from the crowd and towed a shocked Blaine away as fast as possible before Puck decided he was doing something aggravating.
That night Blaine had texted her and told her that Stick had apparently made it away with his life, after Mike had convinced Puck that it wasn't a good idea. Though not until he had been forced to make a humiliating promise to and Blaine quoted, "stop walking around like he knew shit," whatever that meant.
Wednesday went quickly, much to Rachel and Blaine's displeasure; though it had been an uneventful day and they hadn't heard of anyone getting slushied and Stick had apparently managed to mind his own business seeing as he had sat quietly at the jock table which Puck had presided over in a disinterested manner. The night before Rachel had received another e-mail from Mr. Schuester telling them that he had managed to secure them the choir room as a gathering location seeing as it was the only available space. He had said that they were lucky because Coach Sue had already reserved most of the other school grounds for her various activities.
"You ready for this, Rae?" Blaine asked pulling her from her reverie.
He leaned against the lockers beside her and looked over to exchange glances that read neither of them were anywhere near ready for this. They stood silently for several minutes watching the clock above the row of lockers opposite them.
"Are my feet moving yet?" she asked grimacing.
"Nope," he told her. "Are mine?"
She looked back over to him and laughed. They nodded at each other and shoved themselves away from the wall in order to begin making their way slowly to the choir room. When they arrived the room was already full, the only people not there were Mr. Schuester and Puck. Rachel sat down next to Artie in the front row and Blaine plopped down beside her. Kurt, Mercedes and Tina were in the row directly behind them. The Cheerios and Finn and Mike were on the other side of the room, two seats between them and the other students.
Mr. Schuester came bouncing in only a couple of seconds after Rachel and Blaine. He had a wide grin spread across his face, and Rachel was sure it wouldn't last for long.
"Where's Puck?" he asked. And the smile slipped from its place. Rachel couldn't fully stifle the vindicated feeling that came over her.
The gathered students exchanged glances with one another, everyone one shrugged except Mike, who really probably did know where Puck was—not that he was going to divulge that information, no matter how irrelevant it might be.
Santana laughed and just said, "I'm surprised you actually expected him to come."
"He has to come," Mr. Schuester replied, though he didn't look as confidant as he obviously wanted to. "Mike?"
The lanky Asian stared at him quietly for a beat before responding.
"He'll be here," he said. He didn't look too concerned either way.
Rachel sighed mentally. She felt like it was obvious that he was going to come. Mike was here, and so was Finn, and they wouldn't have come if Puck hadn't been planning on it. But Puck being Puck was going to come when he pleased, regardless of the time a teacher had requested his presence. Who knew what Puck actually had to attend to in his free time?
"I guess we wait then?" Mr. Schuester said.
Rachel thought it was funny, how easily he was bending to Puck's will. He didn't even know he was doing it. She wished they'd been given a teacher that could deal with Puck; he was supposed to be their leader after all. And with that one sentence he had deferred to Puck as his superior without even noticing. She sighed and looked over to Blaine.
"This is just how I wanted to spend my afternoon," he said sarcastically.
Rachel and the four close enough to have heard him laughed, but any response they had been planning to give was cut short when the door on the far side of the room opened and Puck strolled in.
"Sorry, Schue," he smirked.
He walked lazily over to the chair that had been left empty beside Mike and clapped hands with him and with Finn. Mike leaned over and muttered something to him, to which Puck responded by shrugging his shoulders and chuckling in the gravely tone that made Rachel think he might be more affected by what his friend had said than he let on. Mr. Schuester stared at them, apparently waiting for their attention to return to him. He was sorely disappointed as Mike went on to say something else. Puck rolled his eyes and responded quietly. Finn leaned over to listen to what Puck was saying and when he finished talking the three of them all nodded.
"Mr. Schuester?" Rachel snapped, trying to remain as polite as possible. "Do you think we could begin the meeting now?"
"Uh, right, of course, Rachel," he agreed, stumbling slightly before glaring at Puck who had laughed quietly at him. "As you're all well aware the point of the Battle is to build relationships between students who don't get along or who wouldn't necessarily hangout otherwise."
Everyone nodded and Santana demanded that he get on with it. He shot her a glare, and Rachel thought he might want to rethink his teaching strategies, because if that's all he was ever going to do he wasn't going to make a single difference in the students he had been assigned.
"Anyways, we're here today to work on our first assignment, and at the end of one week I will report the progress to the judges," he went on.
Then he walked over to the adjoining office and came back out holding a smaller version of Figgins' bowl. Rachel wasn't alone in the groan that escaped her lips. The bowl was empty as he sat it down on top of the baby grand that sat unused at the front of the room.
"You lost your fish," Brittany informed him, sounding sad. "I'll ask Lord Tubbington when I get home if he's heard from them."
"Who is Lord Tubbington?" Kurt asked. He looked very concerned, if not slightly disgusted.
"Her cat," Quinn answered.
"All animals keep in contact," Brittany told them. "Like the mafia."
"Right," Kurt said slowly.
"Thank you, Brittany," Mr. Schuester said. He sounded just as confused as Kurt. Rachel thought it was almost cute how the Cheerios and football players had seemed completely nonplussed by Brittany. Puck nodded at her encouragingly when she looked back at him, having noticed the befuddled looks on the other half of the room's faces.
"So what are we doing with the bowl?" Mercedes asked, and then added, "While the fish are missing?"
She looked almost startled that she had added that. Rachel thought it was a good thing to say based on the way Santana smiled approvingly. And Rachel made a mental note; placate Brittany.
"Well, you six," Mr. Schuester explained. "Are going to write your names on these slips of paper and then the other six are going to draw one of your names. The partner you pick today will be your partner for a while, so get used to it. No complaining and no switching. None."
Rachel doubted it would be that easy, but respectfully wrote her name on her slip of paper and dropped it into the bowl without saying anything. She gave the Spanish teacher a few points though, because for the first time today he seemed to be self-assured in what he was saying.
Once the bowl was filled with their names he took it over to the other side of the room and handed it to Quinn for her to pass around.
"Read the name you pick out loud as soon as you draw," Mr. Schuester instructed.
"Mercedes," Quinn said.
Neither girl made a fuss as she passed the bowl to Santana.
"Blaine," she said, not seeming to be too offended. Or maybe she just didn't care.
Blaine, on the other hand, shared a look with Rachel that read that he wasn't too pleased with the match up.
"Artie," Brittany called out. "Who's Artie?"
Artie wheeled forward and waved over at her.
"Oh, I thought you were the robot mascot," she told him.
Rachel gaped but Artie just smiled, not being too insulted.
"No, Britt," Santana explained. "His legs don't work."
"But why?" she asked, appearing truly distraught about it.
"He was fighting to save the world from werewolves," Puck told her leaning forward. "Cats everywhere hail him as their savior."
"Wow, that so cool!" Brittany exclaimed happily pacified and sufficiently sheltered from the realties that were drunk drivers and unfortunate, innocent children. Artie seemed just as happy with the explanation so no one said anything to contradict Puck. She passed the bowl up to Finn.
"Kurt," he said awkwardly. Mike snatched the bowl from him as Puck shot Finn a glance.
"Tina," he called over, holding his fist up. "Asian Power!"
Tina blushed and smiled before raising her fist in response.
"Looks like it's me and you Berry," Puck smirked, swiping her name from the bowl.
Rachel couldn't even find it in herself to be surprised. She just looked over her shoulder at his cocky grin. Then she shrugged and laid her head onto Blaine's shoulder, gazing up at Mr. Schuester. Puck chortled and she turned her head on Blaine's shoulder so she could see him again, she scrunched her nose at him. She thought maybe the universe was trying to kill her, and if not Puck certainly was. He just continued to smirk and laugh silently.
"That went much better than expected," Mr. Schuester stated giddily, calling Rachel's attention back to him. "So, what we're going to do today is get to know one another. I feel like one of the reason's you might not like each other is simply because none of you have ever taken the time to think about what it might be like to live in the other's shoes. So get with your partner, find an area for yourselves, and ask one another questions until I call time."
Rachel watched as everyone went about doing what they were told, all finding as secluded of an area as possible. She turned to look up at Puck who had moved to the top row of the mini bleachers and planted himself down on the step, he was sprawled out and leaning against the wall. He motioned for Rachel to join him, so she stood and weaved through the now abandoned chairs in the first two rows and sat down beside him. She left a little over a foot between them and crossed her legs primly before making eye contact with him.
What ensued was a silent struggle of wills, or more rightly put, a silent struggle of Rachel's will, because Puck was merely looking at her expectantly and waiting for her to begin. She remained quiet for a couple of minutes, surveying their teammates. Blaine looked like he couldn't understand what Santana was saying, but was nodding along with her anyways. Finn and Kurt were on opposite sides of the piano both looking anywhere but at the other. Quinn was red in the face and Mercedes seemed on the verge of screaming. The only partners that seemed to be doing well were Tina and Mike who were sitting closest to Rachel and Puck, talking animatedly with small smiles, and Artie and Brittany, and if Rachel had to guess at what they were doing she would say that they were attempting to perfect some sort of secret code language using just hand signals.
Rachel huffed and angled herself slightly towards Puck before looking back over at him. He was lounged out comfortably, watching her. She narrowed her eyes at him and began.
"What's your favorite color?" she asked, it being the only thing she could think of.
"That's the best you got?" he asked, his famous smirk taking over the lazy look on his face.
"I am highly interested in what your favorite color is," Rachel ground out.
"I don't know," he responded. "Black?"
"Are you sure?" Rachel asked, admittedly amused by the fact that he didn't seem to know what is favorite color was.
"I don't fuckin' care," was his response. "Are you just going to ask me stupid shit?"
"Yes," Rachel responded. She was feeling bold knowing the room was filled with people and a teacher who at the very least would try to come to her defense. "If you had to choose would you rather transform into a rhino and live out the rest of your days as Mike's pet or live alone in space as a human, just out there floating around occasionally being attacked by various hostile creatures?"
He laughed at her, really laughed; looking at her like she was the strangest thing he had ever encountered. Rachel kept a straight face, waiting for him to calm down, and then demanded an answer.
"I guess I'd rather be Mike's pet rhino," he told her, rolling his eyes.
Rachel nodded in understanding, as though this actually told her something about him.
"It's your turn," she informed him.
"What's your favorite color?" he asked.
"That's not fair," she pointed at him. "You made fun of me for asking that! And you can't copy."
"It is too fair," he smirked. "Schue never said we couldn't ask the same questions."
"My favorite color is gold, and I would rather float alone in space!" she snapped. "And you have to go again because I said so and Mr. Schuester never said you didn't have to do what I say."
"Don't get too big for your knickers, Sugar," Puck responded quickly, not in the least effected by her short tirade. "I wasn't going to ask you that dumb fuckin' rhino question anyways."
Rachel stared at him blankly. Her arms were crossed firmly over her chest and her foot was bouncing erratically. From the look on his face she concluded that he just found the situation amusing.
"When did you and Blaine become so close?" he asked her, nodding at the boy in question. He was gesturing wildly at Santana and pointing at Rachel occasionally. She smiled.
"Well, after we got the numbers sent out he texted me asking about my dance classes, then we talked and went to Tuesday session together," Rachel explained. She studied him quizzically wondering if he knew that that was an actual question and that it hadn't been offensive and that it was a subject that actually made Rachel happy.
Puck was silent watching the bowtie clad boy talk with Santana. She appeared to be on some verbal tirade about him, pointing to various parts of his body.
"He's my first friend since junior high," Rachel said quietly, watching as Blaine swatted Santana's hand away from his hair. "Please don't take that from me."
Puck glared over at her, "I don't keep you from having friends, Berry."
"Maybe you don't mean to," Rachel said. "But I know Quinn does, and with how much you hate me everyone steers clear of me in fear of getting second hand slushies."
He didn't look like he was going to respond, so Rachel pushed forward with another question.
"Why were you late?"
"I had a meeting to attend to," he told her evasively.
"You have to be honest," she goaded. She could see the muscles in his jaw clench as he swiped a hand over his head in aggravation.
"I locked JBI in a janitor's closet," Puck snarled. "Which is none of your damn business."
"JBI?" Rachel questioned. "Is that a person?"
"No. JBI doesn't count as a person, the little creep," he retorted.
"JBI? Jacob Ben-Israel?"
Puck just nodded, looking over at Quinn and Mercedes who had been joined by Mr. Schuester. He seemed to be trying to mediate their conversation. He also seemed to be failing.
"You locked him in a closet?" Rachel was still gaping.
"Yes, I told you already."
"But, why?" Rachel demanded.
"And then I told you it was none of your damn business," Puck snapped at her.
"You can't just go around locking people in closets," Rachel lectured.
"Yes, I can," Puck interrupted before she could continue.
"You can," Rachel agreed and he smirked again. "But that doesn't mean you should."
"Look, Mother Teresa, the sneaky perv had it coming," Puck groaned. "And I let him out eventually."
"I highly doubt he had it coming," Rachel retorted. "Let's just get back to this senseless game."
"How long do you think Finn will last until he demands a new partner?" Puck asked with a laugh.
Rachel turned her head to the front of the room to see the football player stumbling over his words and shaking his head back and forth quickly. Kurt looked to be on the verge of tears.
"That isn't funny," she stated heatedly. "Kurt is treated like he's going to force himself on all the guys around here, when that just isn't true. You're all a bunch of homophobes and Kurt would never be interested in that anyways!"
"Slow your roll, Princess," Puck held up his hands. "I was making fun of Finn, not Kurt."
"Then why do you toss him in dumpsters?" Rachel demanded.
"Get your facts straight. Just because I happen to be around while Karofsky and his band of goons chuck people in trash does not mean that it's my fault," he told her.
"Yes, it does!" Rachel insisted. "You could make him stop. You're the only one in this school that could make him stop."
"You're bat shit crazy," Puck said. "I'm not getting involved in that fuckin' bullshit. Whenever I'm there I make him let Kurt take of his expensive stuff."
"You should win an award for your good deeds," Rachel told him with sarcasm dripping from her tongue.
"Watch how you talk to me, little girl," Puck growled.
Rachel flinched back from him, but her eyes were caught by his. They were a deep green, and very, very angry, and she knew if he had had a slushy it would have been dripping down her shirt by now. She should have known not to push him, she scolded herself. Just because she had been given the temporary opportunity to speak her mind didn't mean that she should provoke him.
"I'm sorry," she spoke quietly, being as sincere as she was able. His demeanor lighted slightly and they watched together as Kurt fled the room, Mr. Schuester hot on his heels.
"What are you going to do after you graduate?" she asked, not knowing what else to do.
"Football," he answered shortly, and she was convinced she'd done it—she'd gone and got him too angry and she'd be receiving the backlash of that tomorrow. But then he asked, "You?"
And even though she felt that it didn't really count she took it anyways, because his shoulders had relaxed and he was watching Artie and Brittany do whatever they were doing, looking like he found them very entertaining.
"I'm going to be on Broadway," she gushed happily.
He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her, so she just continued to talk.
"I've been taking voice and dance lessons since I was two," she told him, he seemed to be paying her some attention. "I was going to join the glee club this year, because my fathers were making me, but also because it would look wonderful on my application if it had somehow managed to win a National championship. But that creepy Sandy is a known pedophile and he isn't even a talented pedophile; not that he isn't talented in being a pedophile, I don't know. But he isn't a talented instructor and I know he is a pervert even if he isn't a genuine pedophile. So I got him fired, and it looks like because of this nonsensical Battle they aren't going to be replacing him at all, so I don't know what I'm going to do now about it. Hopefully the things I do outside of school will be enough to bolster my applications and resumes."
When she focused back on Puck at the end of her diatribe he was watching her like she had just informed him that she was going into nuclear physics and had launched into all of the intricacies of the chemical makeup of the world. His eyes were wide as he stared at her, and she felt heat rush to her cheeks.
"You got Pervy Sandy fired?" he asked stunned.
"I simply opened Principal Figgins' eyes to the after school activities he may be participating in and called on my ability to cry on command," Rachel explained quickly, feeling somewhat guilty. "It wasn't a lie. I just exaggerated the truth!"
He just gazed at her as though he'd never seen a female before, which she knew just wasn't the case. She went back to looking over their team, trying to keep from blushing. Finn was standing alone with a glazed expression, like he couldn't remember how he'd ended up there. Rachel was beginning to question his intelligence.
"Why are you even here?" she asked suddenly, flipping her hair and looking back to Puck. He was surveying Finn, as Rachel had been, shaking his head slightly as Finn walked over to the door to peer into the hallway.
"The hell kind of question is that?" he responded.
"There must be a reason you are giving into this foolishness," Rachel huffed. "We both know you wouldn't be here unless you wanted to be."
Puck just glanced at her and went back to watching Santana again. Rachel is quite lucky her self-restraint holds out because she wants nothing more than to snap her fingers in front of his face to gain his undivided attention, but she knows that would probably be considered provoking—and no one ever really has Puck's full attention.
"Just because I might have a reason for being here doesn't mean it's open to discussion," he told her, eyes still on Santana.
"You don't think this nonsense is pointless?" she asked.
"Of course it's pointless," Puck told her, his eyes narrowing as Santana's voice rose slightly.
She leaned forward and dropped her head into her hand. She didn't take her eyes off him, and contented herself to watching him watch Santana and Blaine. Her mind was running a mile a minute, trying to decipher a reason for why he was going along with the Battle so willingly.
He was resting is forearms on his knees, one of his hands fidgeting while the other was held in a tight fist. She couldn't fathom what was going on inside his head; he didn't look upset, and his usual uninterested attitude wasn't present either. He glanced over at her before looking away again, his fist unclenching.
"I want to be here because I'm interested in the outcome," he said. Rachel was surprised that he had said anything, so remained quiet in hopes that he'd go on. She wasn't disappointed. "Whoever came up with this idea was on crack when they thought of it, and there's no way it'll change the way this school has been for years. But that doesn't mean it won't be worth going along with."
"That was incredibly cryptic," Rachel murmured.
He didn't respond. His attention shifted to Finn as he walked over to Puck sheepishly. Puck shifted back to his original position, and regarded Finn as the younger boy came to a halt in front of him.
Finn shuffled his feet looking awkwardly at Rachel. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and groaned.
"I think I offended Kurt," he finally stated.
Puck raised his eyebrows at him, but remained silent. His eyes flicked from Finn to Santana for a second before he gave his consideration back to his friend.
"What did you do?" Rachel questioned.
Finn looked at her for just an instant before turning back to Puck.
"You fucked up," Puck indicated.
"Look, Puck, I don't know how to talk to him," Finn explained. "I didn't mean to. Do you think I'm going to get in trouble with Mr. Schue?"
Rachel glared up at him, tapping her foot against the floor. Puck turned his head to Rachel, regarded her for a moment, and shrugged his shoulder.
"This is bullshit," Finn exclaimed. "I have better things to do. Why the hell are we here?"
"What did you do?" Puck ignored his question.
"I just told him I wasn't gay when he asked about Quinn and me," Finn snapped.
Rachel stomped her foot and stood quickly, saying harshly, "Kurt isn't interested in you, you narrow minded Neanderthal. He just likes to gossip and talk about relationships. If you would pay any mind at all to his personality that would really be quite obvious!"
"I wasn't even talking to you!" Finn retorted.
"Go sit down, Finn," Puck interrupted, rising from his place as well. "You're not going to get in trouble."
"He should!" Rachel bit out. She glowered up at Puck, pointing at Finn's retreating back. Then she felt very silly for demanding Puck correct his friend, realizing she was doing what everyone else did and assuming Puck had more authority than was rightfully his.
"Calm down, Killer," Puck smirked at her. "Day's almost over and we'll have bigger problems."
"Excuse me?" Rachel demanded, slightly dazed by being called killer. She just looked up at him wondering if that had been some sort of strange compliment.
He didn't respond, and she really wasn't surprised. A few moments later he nodded at the door where Mr. Schuester was escorting a calm Kurt back inside. He clapped Finn on the shoulder as he passed and Kurt began talking to Finn with renewed vigor. Finn looked astounded.
Rachel watched Mr. Schuester stand a few feet away from the boys and smile proudly. She personally felt his victory would be short lived, but was glad Kurt seemed okay. Then she was being shoved around to the other side of Puck as Santana started screaming in Spanish.
She nearly fell over, her balance being thrown off by the unexpected swiftness of Puck's action. She watched as Blaine held his hands up to his sides, trying to talk over the angry girl who was standing right up against him. Puck started over to the pair at the same time as the teacher. Mr. Schuester reached them first, since he hand been standing closer, and tried to remove Santana from Blaine's personal space. She shoved at the teenage boy, rude insults slipping from her mouth as she then turned to the teacher and started in on him.
Rachel stood shocked for a moment before rushing across the room to try to comfort a now very distraught Blaine. Puck was trying in vain to get Santana to listen to him.
"This is all fucking bullshit!" Santana yelled. "So what if I don't want this fag loser for a friend? Who gives a fuck? Are you serious Puck? Really?"
Rachel gaped at her in horror, now having a better understanding of how her friend's conversation with the cheerleader had been going. Puck was trying to lead her away from the confrontation, but she kept being deterred by Mr. Schuester trying to give her a lecture.
Santana just kept ranting, and the words she had said were ringing in Rachel's ears. She could see Kurt from behind Mr. Schuester, who was going unheard, tears brimming again in his eyes as Santana's insults just continued to spew over the teacher and Puck. She could feel Blaine trembling slightly, his breathing stuttering. And it just crushed Rachel because she knew that Blaine was fairly confident in his sexuality, less easy to wound over it than Kurt, and this was her friend and she honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd had a friend.
"Shut up, Santana! You can't just say such tactless things! No one cares, Santana, so just stop! There's no need to be such a bitch, there's no one here to be impressed by you," Rachel yelled.
Rachel stood in front of Blaine, angry tears welling in her eyes as well. She couldn't help but be embarrassed over her inability to control them, but that lasted less than a heartbeat before she was being shoved into her friend and she was trying desperately to get out of the way of the slap Santana was aiming at her face.
She clenched her eyes shut, preparing for the sharp pain, but the Latina's hand never made contact. Rachel opened her eyes to see Puck grab Santana's upper arm and yank her into his chest. In the same instant he was hauling her roughly across the room, growling at her in a hushed tone. She gapped up at him, utterly silent, as he shoved her into Quinn's arms.
"Fuck of, Santana," was the only thing Rachel heard in the deathly quiet of the room. "Go home and cool off. And watch your fuckin' mouth from now on."
Everyone stood watching them silently as she narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her ponytail. She held her ground for a moment until Puck stepped closer to her, and she marched towards the door. Quinn followed silently in her wake, looking back at Puck over her shoulder. He just watched them go.
Right before they disappeared out the door Mr. Schuester finally found his voice and called out, "Wait! Come back in here."
Neither girl slowed down as they looked back and then they were gone. The Spanish teacher looked angrily around the room, shaking his head.
"Puck that wasn't your place," he said once he found words. "You can't undermine my authority like that."
"What authority?" Puck rumbled.
Rachel was fairly sure she was still in shock. Santana Lopez had almost just physically harmed her. In all the times she had been picked on it had never even come close to that. Rude comments happened daily, lewd drawings on her locker or in bathrooms were a common occurrence and while she knew Kurt and Artie were both often targeted with violence the closest she had ever come was a slushy in the face, and she didn't really even count that, because while it was degrading it wasn't painful unless she didn't close her eyes fast enough.
Puck was standing toe to toe with their advisor who appeared as though he thought he could actually wrest respect from him that way. Rachel couldn't help but think that if he had been the one to stop Santana he would have had a better chance of Puck ever looking at him as more than a glorified babysitter that was really, and even Rachel had to admit this, superfluous. It was the first time Rachel thought that maybe Puck had earned his status, and hoped that he put Mr. Schue in his place.
She watched in surprise as Puck laughed and shrugged, backing away from the face off. Rachel was thoroughly baffled as to why Puck would hand the reins back over when Mr. Schuester had very nearly crashed them already; but then she remembered him saying something about this Battle being worth going along with. She looked over at him curiously as he leaned on Mike and let Mr. Schuester handle the rest of the students; she couldn't understand why he was doing this, but she was sure he had some sort of reason.
"Well, this didn't go exactly like I hoped," Mr. Schuester said to the team. "But I think it could have gone worse. I'll see you all next Wednesday for our next assignment, but before you go I'm giving you all work for the week."
"Like homework?" Mercedes asked.
"Sort of," Mr. Schuester agreed. "What I want you to do is look out for each other while you're at school for the rest of the week. That means if anyone sees or hears about something happening to someone else or hears people talking about them you have to stand up to that person. We're a team and I want you to act like one."
"What sport do we play?" Brittany asked from where she was sitting on the arm of Artie's chair.
No one answered her as Artie patter her on the back and shook his head. Rachel just wanted to go home, so she nodded along with the rest of her peers and was glad when they were finally dismissed.
Once she got out to the parking lot she remembered that she hadn't told her dads what time they should pick her up, and since they refused to get her a car she was going to have to call them to come get her. She sat down on the steps in front of the school and tugged her cell phone from her school bag.
"What are you doing?" Puck asked her from the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh, I'm calling my parents to come and get me," she explained.
"It's going to rain," he said, glancing up at the sky.
"Yeah, I forgot to tell them when to get me," Rachel said.
He just stared up at her as she fiddled with her phone. She noticed him take a step up as a hand fell onto her shoulder. She looked up to see Tina smiling down at her.
"Do you need a ride?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
Rachel smiled up at her gratefully and nodded. Her stomach flipped in excitement as she stood up and began to talk to the shy girl in soft tones. She took in the way Puck stepped back down to the ground and observed her as she followed Tina to her small car. She pushed it out of her mind though as Tina asked Rachel if she could join her and Blaine at lunch the next day, explaining that she normally hid in the art room.
She couldn't hide her eagerness over gaining Tina's friendship and was only encouraged when the girl returned it equally. As they left the parking lot they were already talking about potential sleepovers and whether or not Blaine would be able to come. Rachel assured her if it was at her house it wouldn't be a problem and Tina literally clapped enthusiastically.
Rachel went to bed that night thinking about nothing but her new friend and the sleepover she would invite her and Blaine to for the weekend that her dads had agreed to quite easily. Her last thought before drifting off was that maybe Puck was right about the Battle, and at least she knew he wasn't being forced to participate against his will. She relaxed, genuinely happy to be going to school for the first time in years.
AN: Alright, so I've decided that I'm going to try an upload around midweek every week, so you all know. I was astounded with the amount of positive response I got to this, seriously. Thank you all, I'm going to start trying to respond to reviews from here on out. =) Okay, so this is still kind of setting up for the plot and getting Rachel established and whatnot. From here on out it's going to start getting good, in my opinion. =p However, since there was really a lot more interest than I imagined I'm going to ask people to leave some of their ships in their reviews, as well as their favorite character/characters that they'd most enjoy seeing. Also, I don't want anyone to worry about Finn or Santana, or anyone really, I've given them their story lines in this chapter to explore their character development. Most importantly sorry for the f word, I didn't enjoy it which is why Santana's rant wasn't in dialogue form and just described; I'm a wimp it made my heart hurt. =(
Lastly, and most, most importantly I wanted to take a moment to recognize the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary. Whatever your believes please remember to keep their community near your heart as they continue to lay their loved ones to rest and send positive vibes.