There's Always Tomorrow
By: Meredith Richardson
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters that Ryan Murphy came up with.
Summary: Rachel thought her life was over the day Finn broke up with her in the school hallway… she was wrong. This is the story of a girl that learns there's more to life than boys and singing on Broadway.
Time Line: Takes place right after Glee S2E9 (Special Education) things will go a little AU from there J
AN: This is the second story I've ever written so please let me know what you think. It's a little rough around the edges but I started rewatching Glee this summer, waiting like everyone for Glee Season 4 (woot) and I had to share.
AN2: Thanks again to my amazing beta BurningCrashingRaining!
Chapter 2: The First Day of the Rest of Her Life
The weekend went fairly quickly for Rachel, much to her relief. She did everything she could to keep her mind off of Finn and the lack of phone calls from him and everyone in glee. It hurt that they hadn't checked on her but what hurt her most of all was that Kurt hadn't called. She knew that he was busy at his new school, but she thought that he'd at least find the time to call her and make sure she was all right, or call and yell at her for being so stupid and hurting Finn. She spent extra time at the dance studio until they kicked her out to get ready for the next class, hours working to get ahead on her homework assignments, and running through the park (she didn't stay fit by sitting around all day). The house was lonely, but she needed the silence to mentally prepare herself for Monday morning.
She was dreading returning to school more than anything else. It would be hard to see Finn in the hallways for the first time after their confrontation, but she couldn't stand the thought of everyone talking about her behind her back and laughing at her. Rachel was a strong girl but even the strongest individuals could be hurt by words. Noah was a fine example.
Though she spent hours preparing for her return to school it didn't make it any easier. The Monday morning after her breakup was one of the hardest of her life. For years, she'd wished that people would notice her, but not like this. While people hadn't talked to her over the weekend they had certainly been talking about her. News had certainly traveled fast around McKinley High School in their small town of Lima, Ohio. Rachel had to physically clench her muscles to stop herself from running in the other direction when she noticed the stares as she walked down the hallway. To herself, she was mentally repeating the phrase, 'You, Rachel Berry are a star, and stars do not run away. No matter what, stars do not run away.' Everyone was pointing at her and whispering about her behind her back. Some – if not most – of the girls glared at her for breaking the quarterback's heart.
Rachel was completely unaware that they glared because they were jealous that the loser girl from glee had managed to attract the eyes of not one, but two of the best looking guys in the school. She also didn't notice some of the heated stares that followed her long legs and short skirt down the hall, but someone else did. While the girls were jealous, the boys of McKinley High were curious and intrigued. How had that tiny little thing caught the eyes of two of McKinley's own football players, including Puck the self-titled 'sex shark'? She had to be willing to put out to catch their attention.
Rachel had just reached her locker when Mercedes and Tina came up from behind her. She wasn't sure if she should talk to them or ignore them for not calling her all weekend. If they were truly worried about her, wouldn't they have checked to make sure she was all right?
"Hey girl, we heard about what happened on Friday. I can't believe you did that to Finn, he really cared about you," Mercedes stated, moving to stand beside Rachel.
Tina nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that was totally uncool. Mike told me he tried going over to see Finn on Saturday but he refused to see anyone all weekend. He's really torn up about it."
Rachel stared at them unable to think of anything to say. She felt like a fool for thinking they actually cared about her enough to see how she was dealing with the breakup. All they wanted to do was make her feel worse and get more gossip.
"I'm sorry that this weekend was difficult for Mike and Finn. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings or break his heart. My heart is broken just as much as his and it's nice to know that you guys care. Unfortunately I don't have time to discuss the matter with you because its imperative that we receive a proper education and class is about to start," Rachel concluded, before pulling out her Algebra book and slamming her locker shut, while they stood there, shocked and a little confused by her speech. She took the opportunity to walk away from them before they could say anything else.
The morning passed by fairly quickly, Rachel tried to take seats in the back of every classroom and tried to avoid looking anyone directly in the eye. It wasn't until she was in the cafeteria with her tray filled with fresh fruit and a small sandwich that she realized that she had no idea where to sit. She and Finn had worked out a schedule at the beginning of the school year. Monday and Friday they sat alone together, Wednesday they sat with everyone from glee, and Tuesday and Thursday Finn sat with the football team while she sat with Mercedes, Artie, and Tina. They'd been sitting like that all semester and she had no idea what to do. She could sit with her fellow glee members but they'd probably just ask more questions like this morning.
She was tempted to dump her tray and hideout in the choir room but she was too nervous to eat breakfast and she didn't want to embarrass herself even more by allowing Finn to chase her out of the cafeteria. Rachel noticed Finn sitting quietly with the football team on the other side of the room and let out a small sigh. If he could make it through lunch than so could she. She noticed an empty table off towards the side, away from the football and glee tables.
Rachel sat down gently, sitting in the perfect position that she could see most of the cafeteria, including her fellow glee members who were sitting close together whispering, and looking towards her every once in a while. It made Rachel feel like she'd made the right decision not to sit with them this afternoon. They probably would've pounced on her for information about the breakup and given her a hard time for cheating on Finn. It frustrated her to no end that they were willing to judge her and ridicule her for kissing Puck when Finn had been the one to lie about sleeping with Santana. Didn't anyone realize that she was completely heartbroken, too?
Noah was the only one that saw her pain, and had been there for her in her time of need. Albeit he'd ended up doing more harm than good, but at least he cared. Who would've thought that the most badass member of glee would give a damn about anyone but himself? He used the lame excuse that he was just looking out for another Jew but Rachel knew better. Beneath the tough and badass exterior was a kind soul that really cared about those around him. He was just afraid he'd get too close and have another person abandon him like his father when he was a little boy. Rachel would never tell anyone, but she knew the truth and she hoped someday he'd be willing to show his softer side to the world.
Rachel was trying to keep her eyes from drifting over to Finn for the fourth time when she was startled by a large backpack plopping down on the table across from her. She glanced up into the bright smiling face of the newest member of glee.
"Hey Rachel, sorry I didn't mean to startle you," Sam said as he sat across from her, dropping his own tray in front of him before digging into a huge plate of French fries. She watched as he ate a hand full, carefully dosing each fry with ketchup before he continued, "I noticed you were sitting alone over here and I thought I'd keep you company."
Rachel continued to watch him eat, "You don't have to sit by me Sam, you've probably already heard of the demise of my relationship with Finn. The football team won't be very happy if you're seen anywhere near me… and I don't want to get you into trouble with Finn. We may have officially parted ways, but he has no say in who I talk to, even if our relationship is platonic as you are dating Quinn Fabray."
Sam starred at Rachel unable to comprehend how someone so small can say so much and so quickly, "Wow, you sure can talk a lot." He raised his hand to stop her when she opened her mouth to respond, "Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to insult you, it's actually kind of awesome. I usually have a hard time with finding the right thing to say and end up looking like an idiot, but take it from me – sometimes fewer words will mean a lot more. Anyway, that's not why I came over to sit with you."
"Why did you sit with me, not that I'm complaining or anything, but Finn and Quinn might not be too happy about it. Ever since I cheated on Finn it seems like I've become a social pariah. No one wants to sit with me for fear of being slushied," Rachel interrupted.
"Besides enjoying your fine company," Sam teased, "I actually wanted to talk to you about History. You missed class for like the first time ever on Friday, and Mr. Johnson assigned us group projects. I didn't want you to get stuck with someone creepy like Jacob Ben-Israel so I volunteered to be your partner."
Rachel burst out into a big smile and wanted to cry. Maybe she did have a friend, or at least someone that cared enough about her to make sure she wasn't stuck with her stalker, known as Jacob Ben-Israel. "That's so nice of you Sam, I don't know how I would've survived having to spend time alone with Jacob," she shuddered, "He's been my constant shadow since we started high school. I'm sorry I missed class on Friday. I'm ashamed to admit that after my unpleasant and slightly humiliating breakup with Finn Friday afternoon, I didn't have the heart to attend my last class." Rachel bit her lip gently looking at Sam, "You don't think Mr. Johnson's mad at me, do you? I've never skipped a class in my entire life… I can't believe I did it over a boy!"
Sam smiled at her small hysterics, "I don't think he really noticed until he was writing down partners for the assignment. It's not due until next Friday so we have some time. We're supposed to write a paper and do a presentation on a major event during World War II. I chose D-day, if that's alright with you?"
Rachel nodded, "That sounds fine, we can meet at my house a few times this week and work on our project. Unless you'd like to meet at your place?"
Sam was quick to respond, "I'll talk to my mom and let you know what day's I'm free. I usually babysit my little brother and sister after school."
"Oh that's fine. If you want, we can go to your house. I'd be happy to meet your younger siblings, and maybe make your family dinner. It would only be the polite thing to do, especially after you saved me from Jacob and his roaming hands," Rachel announced, already planning a meal to prepare for the Evans family. Her parents had taught her proper manners, after all.
Sam glanced over and noticed his girlfriend's angry stare, "That sounds great, Rachel. We can talk more about it in glee tomorrow afternoon. I've gotta go and talk to Quinn and make sure she doesn't think I'm hitting on you or something." Sam moved to stand, swinging his backpack over his shoulder, and grabbed his now empty tray, "This project is gonna be awesome, I'm glad I chose you as my partner."
Rachel remained seated even after most of the students had left the cafeteria. Maybe things weren't as bad as she thought. For the first time after her breakup with Finn she felt an ounce of happiness seep through the aching pain inside her heart. Who would've thought that she, Rachel Berry, would be able to make a friend without Finn by her side? Maybe she was going to be okay after all.
AN: Does anyone know when Sam's father loses his job and they're evicted? I've looked everywhere and I can't find the information anywhere. Please review and let me know what you guys think… just let me know if you think I should continue this.