AN: Here is chapter two. The next few chapters will be letters to Finn from Rachel about their relationship up before the day of regionals. (: Enjoy.
The day we met, we were five years old, in Miss Bayer's morning kindergarten class. As if by fate, you sat in the desk directly in front of me. We had name tags on our shirts, remember? The blue "Hello, My Name is…" stickers were made so that our teacher would know our names as she was getting to know us on that first day of class.
I placed my name tag primly on my shirt. "RACHEL!" it read, in big pink letters, with a star next to my name.
But you, Finn. You broke the rules. You took off your name tag. You used it as a telescope, rolling it up into a tube to look at me. I remember being utterly disgusted. Appalled, I gently took the sticky tube from your hands, reprimanding you sternly.
"You can't do that, Mr. Hudson. That would be breaking the rules."
You smiled at me, Finn. With eyes, so big and innocent.
"You have pretty hair. Can we be friends now?"
Those were the best days of our friendship, Finn. Playing pretend in your backyard almost every day, I felt free. You and Noah would play soldiers going off to war, taking cover under the big bushes by your garage. I, of course, was your beautiful and musically talented Florence Nightingale who would care for the wounded while singing ditties to make you feel better.
"This is a happy little ditty, I know the music ain't to pretty, you know the words aren't too witty. Anyone can sing this song..."
Soon though, the tone of our games changed, and Noah had more and more influence over our them. Becoming more and more left out, I resulted in watching Power Rangers in my spare time, getting a pink wrist band so I could be the pink ranger. The only thing that made it better was seeing how happy you were, and feeling a part of something when me and you and Noah would hold our pink, green, and black wrist bands together.
Then you realized I was a girl.
That happened the summer before first grade. Your mom brought out the sprinkler in the back yard. She babysat me and Noah that summer, remember? While my dads worked? Well, anyways. She brought out the sprinkler and our bathing suits, and we stripped out of our clothes like we always did before, skipping our suits, just running bare. This time though, something was different about it. You stopped jumping and you looked at me like you never had before. You realized that… well, we were different. I blushed pink and ran inside.
We never played in the sprinklers again. At least not naked.
After that day, playing together wasn't as much fun. Noah teased you for playing with me, calling me a "silly girl" and a "drama princess."
Still we played together everyday, your mom bringing us both to your house until five o'clock after school every day while my dads worked late at their law firm.
But then, everything changed.
It was the day of my eighth birthday, and unlike most other typical children of the 1990's, I asked for a Wizard of Oz themed birthday. When I came into my backyard, I realized Daddy had gone all out, turning our typical Midwestern Backyard into an Emerald City Paradise. Down the middle of the grass was a yellow brick road., a flying-monkey piñata dangling above it. Each of my friends had arrived, Finn as the scarecrow. Noah made a perfect Tin Man, and Tina was the Cowardly Lion. The leader of the Lollipop Guild was perfectly portrayed by Kurt Hummel, and Artie was the mayor of munchkin land. But, my best friend, the very pretty Quinn Fabray, had arrived as the most stunning guest of them all, in a flowy pink gown and a tiny silver tiara on her head. She was Glinda, of course.
This was bound to be the best birthday party in the history of eighth birthdays.
I smiled, full of mirth, and laughed with surprise. I smoothed my blue and white checkered dress, then ran to join my friends.
But then I tripped. When I tripped, Finn… the most horrible chain of events occurred. I fell into Quinn, in her pretty princess gown. Quinn fell into my dad, who in turn spilled "Emerald City" green kool-aid all over the two of us. Quinn immediately screamed and burst into tears, running into the house to clean off before anyone could see the sickly color of her green skin, my dads running after her to keep the green mess off the white carpet.
Before I could do the same, all of my friends surrounded me. You too, Finn. Noah told me something that day, something I was never able to fully forget.
"You, Rachel, are no better than the Wicked Witch of the West."
That's when you came to my rescue.
"That's not nice, Puck…" you mumbled.
"What, Hudson? You sticking up for girls now? The Wicked Witch!"
"No, not evil witches… Just… Rachel." You blushed red. Everyone knew you would back down.
"Keep your trap shut then, Finn!"
The rest of the party is really a blur now. I remember picking clothes out of my closet for Quinn to wear as her dress was sent to the dry-cleaners.
"You will pay for this day, Rachel Berry," she yelled at me, her cheeks blushed with rage.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered, too ashamed to meet her eyes.
Moments later, she stopped out of my room and into the back of her mom's Cadillac. Out of my life, I thought for ever.
And then it was just me and you, Finn. You and I sat on my front steps, waiting for your mom to come and pick you up.
"Rachel…" you started.
"Oh Finn, thank you so much for sticking up for me today!"
"Um, yeah, sure…"
"Oh Finn, you were like my guardian angel, my knight! My rescue hero! I don't know what I would have done without you!"
"It was nothing really."
"I love you for being my friend, Finn."
"About that Rachel… I can't be your friend anymore."
My heart sank into my chest when you said that. I had never felt so downtrodden, so despised.
"But Finn…!"
"Listen, Rach, the guys are being mean to me because I am your friend. This is just the way it has to be."
Just then, your mom pulled up in that little old minivan.
"Goodbye, Rach." You gently kissed my cheek.
The last words I said to you for years were, "Bye, Finn."
Life was pretty miserable when you stopped being my friend. I sat alone at the lunch table and sang to myself at recess.
"On my own, pretending he's beside me.
All alone, I walk with him till morning without him.
I feel his arms around me, and when I lose my way, I close my eyes
and he has found me."
I would sing "On My Own," to myself for hours. It reminded me that I didn't need you to make me happy, to be my friend. It also reminded me of teaching you the song one day on the way home from school so you could sing along with me.
On the first day of third grade, I got the teacher I desperately wanted, Mrs. Miller. The only problem was that you did too. And your desk was directly next to mine. Still, you didn't relent.
After that day at my party, the only words you said to me were "excuse me" when you bumped me and "bless you" when I sneezed. I'll admit that sometimes I would fake a sneeze so you had to talk to me. But. I think you already knew that… I think you wanted an excuse to talk to me too.
The unbreakable silence went on and on until our seventh grade year. North Middle School put on a fatefully (and ironically) chosen production of "The Wizard of Oz." I, of course, auditioned, mostly just to prove everyone wrong. I, Rachel Barbara Berry, was no Wicked Witch of the West. And I did just that. I, in February of 2007, was cast as Dorothy Gale of Kansas.
After months of practice, rehearsal, and diligent work, I took my bow, putting my first rendition of Dorothy to shame. I remember beaming, with both pride and perspiration. That night, I did regain some respect from my classmates, as well as hugs, handshakes, and of course, roses and a teddy bear from Dad and Daddy.
Still, nothing mattered as much as the three words that you said to me that night.
"You were amazing."
You took my hand in your sweaty one, and awkwardly shook my hand.
I barely could even recognize your voice, so deep. At the same time though, it still had the child-like, purely Finn quality that I remembered so well.
Completely shocked, I failed to reply. I did, however, manage to gape at how handsome you were becoming, your brown hair long and beginning to wisp around your ears and neck.
&& that moment began my epic crush on one Finn Matthew Hudson.
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