AN: I've decided to use a bit more from the original film, this idea coincidently originally came from, than I initially planned (for those of you who recognise it)
AN2: explanations will come up throughout the story; I don't want to write huge paragraphs on explanations, it would be boring…
Posted:29/10/11
No matter what
"Rach where you going?" Finn sleepily slurred
"I'm going home Finn" she said softly. They weren't going out, they had dated, for a short while, once but realised they were better as friends. (Although Finn had still been her prom date)
It was getting late and they were at a prom after party with the rest of their friends. They were the drama kids; that was their clique.
"But I thought tonight…"
"No Finn not tonight, you're drunk and besides we have all summer" he walked her to the front door of his house where their party was being held
"I'm sorry Rach, you just know how important that is… I don't want either of us to face going to college a virgin" he whispered
"Yeah, sure, I have to go Finn, I'll see you tomorrow" she smiled, stretched onto her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek before walking to her car; she hadn't touched a drop of alcohol all evening, her mind was occupied elsewhere. She'd made the agreement with Finn because she felt the same as him; with peer pressure all around them, when Finn had first suggested it she'd thought it a good idea.
…
Popular cheerleader and Head bitch in charge; Santana Lopez sat with her half a cup of god knows what, bored out of her mind while her boyfriend and Captain of the football team; Noah 'Puck' Puckerman played yet another round of beer pong. As another loud cheer erupted from the table Santana had had enough, she checked her watch, before slipping out… Puck didn't even notice.
…
Brittany pierce was having a good time with her friends; they were all into Music and dance. Despite the departments, for those subjects, being close at school with the drama one their groups were diversely different. The Drama kids thought themselves higher than the dance and music kids, mainly because it was Brittany's clique that was always backing up the drama clique.
Brittany was sitting on her boyfriends lap; Artie Abrams, a wheel chair bound boy who was a member of the jazz band. He was the best boyfriend she could have asked for, she loved every minute with him; he made her feel special, and she really loved him. He loved her too.
She noticed the clock on the wall and jumped up of his lap, with a tipsy squeak "hey, Brittany, is everything okay?" he sounded genuinely concerned
"Yeah I just remembered I have to go" she said skipping to the door
"Erm, okay" he wheeled after her "You be careful"
"I'll be fine Artie, love you" she kissed him quickly on the lips before hopping out the door.
…
Quinn sat with her friend; people labelled them the skanks, but they didn't really label themselves at all. They all took art class; they were expressive in their work and their clothes, it was just who they were. They liked their look, they felt comfortable with who they were.
Quinn and her 3 friends sat in her back garden smoking and drinking in the cool summer night's air. The attitude she'd obtained with her newer friends had her mother avoiding her; not that she really cared.
They could hear other parties going on in the area meaning the prom was over. None of her group were the type to attend such a function.
…
Rachel was where she promised she'd be on this night; right under the tree, in her prom dress. She clutched her purse as she stood on the exact spot she'd stood shortly after they'd buried the box. She checked the time on her phone as the digital clock flicked to midnight. The short brunette looked around her in the dark park. More trees stood behind the one she stood under, to her left, the children's play park with the climbing frame and swings to her right, the car park just beyond that. It was all empty; it looked like no one else was coming.
Suddenly she heard footsteps heavy and fast behind her, it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up "Rachel?" but the voice she heard calmed her
"Brittany" she smiled, which then faltered when she thought about why they weren't close anymore "Brittany I'm so sorry-"
"It's okay Rach" the forgiving blonde smiled "Quinn came back after middle school; all punk crazy. Santana became the bitchy cheerleader she was born to be and you went after your dreams. It's just a shame you drama kids are so stuck up"
Rachel huffed a laugh at her old friend being innocently blunt "I missed you Britt"
"I missed you too Rach"
"Is this it then" came a third voice, the two already present turned to see the head cheerio in her red prom dress "are we gunna dig this thing up I want my things back?" she grumbled
"It's good to see you too Santana" Rachel said sarcastically
"Hey san" Brittany said politely
"Hey Britt" she said softly "Berry" a little harsher "So Q didn't show up, I'm not surprised she's probably with her art skanks getting high or something"
"No; I'm here" her gravelly tone came from behind the tree, the pink haired girl with the nose piercing appeared smoking a cigarette "and we don't take drugs San" she dropped the rest of her cigarette to the ground and stepped on it with the heel of her boot "Can't afford them" she said, the other girls weren't sure if she was joking or not. "Are we doing this then?"
"Yes" Rachel picked up the trowel she had left by her feet and a torch which she passed to Brittany who now stood opposite her
"Shit Berry, please don't tell me you took that to prom" Santana held back her laughter
"Don't be stupid, I kept it in my car; I was sure none of you would think to bring such an item, if any of you even bothered to show up at all, so we could dig up our friendship box up"
"Whatever, and don't call it that; we're not friends" Santana said adamantly
"But we're all here aren't we?" Brittany pointed out "We promised we would when we were friends"
"I'm just here to get what I put in there and go" Quinn mumbled
"Fine" Rachel surveyed the ground to ensure she'd be digging in the right place. She crouched down awkwardly and started digging; she didn't want to damage or mark her dress
"Ugh, give it here" Quinn snatched the trowel away and started to dig in the same spot until she hit something a little more solid than the dry dusty earth. She found the rope on Brittany's old swim bag and yanked it, pulling it out of the ground. "The bags it tact" she said loosening the cord and opening it. She pulled the old shoe box out "It's a bit soggy, some water must have got it" she commented.
The others waited patiently, hoping the damage wasn't too great. Quinn lifted the lid off the box and breathed a sigh of relief; the water hadn't got all the way through the fine layers of cardboard of the box. "Everything's okay" she smiled briefly while looking down, meaning no one else saw. She shook away whatever happy memory had hit her and pulled a small sketch book out of the box, pocketing it straight away
"What you doing?" Santana asked
"Taking my thing" she shrugged back, whilst standing up again
"What was it, I don't remember?" Rachel asked reaching into the box for her items
"Erm it was a sketch book I was drawing in at the time" she answered quietly
"Oh I remember now" of course Rachel berry would "It was that book I got you for you're 10th birthday" she pulled two items out of the box that she'd put in "That's funny, I put my favourite headband in" she gestured to the purple headband with gold stars on it "And that was gift from you on my…"
"7th birthday" Quinn reminded her, the pink haired girls false outer shell softening for a moment
"That's right"
"And a packet of gold star stickers? Really Berry?" Santana questioned the second item
"Metaphors are important Santana" she said simply "What did you put in Britt?" she asked as the tall blonde picked up her item
"My duck key ring, from Santana, she bought it for me on a school trip" she smiled at the Latina who accidently smiled back. She shook it away and stormed up to the box pulling out her item
"Bracelets" she waved them and said before they could ask her
"I remember those" Rachel piped up "We all had them; Brittany got them for us" she smiled at the blonde girl
"I've still got mine" Quinn muttered
"I'm sure I still have mine too"
"I've got mine, I still wear them" Brittany said, showing them the three; plastic bead, on elastic string, bracelets. They all smiled at her before returning their attention back to the box.
Rachel picked it up, as she collected the notes that were also left inside it she said "Isn't it peculiar how all our most prized possessions were gifts from another person in our group" they were silent, they just took in what Rachel said and waited for her to sort though the notes "Shall I read them?" she asked
"Sure" Santana shrugged, the other two agreed in a similar manor.
Rachel cleared her throat as she read the first one
"Before we go to college, I wish I could take a trip with my best friends, I don't care where but it sounds like a thing a grown up can do if they want to, and when I'm grown up I want to do just that" Rachel read
"Whoa that was wordy, I'm betting that was you Berry?" Santana questioned
"Actually it was mine" the girl with the short pink hair confessed
Rachel smiled at her ex-friend before continuing "I promise to be Quinn's friend when she's not with us at school anymore, and when we're older I want to take them all to New York; my future home"
"No guesses who's that is" Quinn half smiled
The next one was read "I promise not to hurt any of my friends, but mainly Britt-Britt. I don't know why because I love all my friends but I like B even more" Santana looked at her feet hiding the embarrassment plastered on her face, and avoiding Brittany's confused gaze.
Rachel moved onto the last note, as she read it quickly in her head first she sniggered at the simplicity of the request "We should go to Disney world"
They all smiled at Brittany, she just shrugged and in a serious voice said "What? I thought it would be fun"
It was quiet for a short moment, while they let memories from the past, flood their minds
"Well that's that then" Santana took her note from Rachel abruptly and scrunched it up, in her hand
"Guy's we could do this, we've got one summer left; we could go we could take a road trip and visit all the places we talked about"
"You're acting crazy Berry"
"No, it's a good idea San; we could be friends again"
"Brittany's right, high school's over after graduation, this is our opportunity. This friendship was a true one. We could try and get it back!" The short brunette really wanted this
"Rachel, what's the point; after the summer; we're all off to college" Quinn said approaching the short brunette and taking her note from her too, tucking it in the sketchbook before re-pocketing it.
"We could make the most of it Quinn… just one last summer, us all together again" Rachel was getting more excited every time she spoke
"Berry what makes you think; I want to spend my summer with any of you" Santana snapped bitchily and turned towards the car park to leave
"Because you're here Santana" that got the Latina to stop "Because you met us here, all of us, you were even civil; just to claim back a bracelet, a bracelet that is representative of our friendship"
"A friendship we had Berry… You can all do what ever the hell you want, I'm not getting involved" she walked off leaving the other three
"She's right Rachel, besides I have my real friends who I want to say a proper goodbye to before the end of the summer, so I'm out too" Quinn turned and left in the opposite direction, disappearing behind their tree.
"It was a nice idea Britt" she said sadly "…can I give you a lift?" she then offered a little brighter
"Thanks Rach, could you drop me off at Artie's, it's not far from yours"
"Of course Britt, come on" she led the girl to her own car
…
Once the Latina had got in her car she un-crumpled the note and smiled at it before scolding her eleven year old self for being so stupid… she couldn't help it as she slipped the note and bracelet safely into her bag
…
As Quinn rounded the tree she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. When Rachel had started flicking through the notes Quinn suddenly got a sickening feeling at the pit of her stomach; she had remembered what she'd written… on the other side of that square of note paper in the tiniest hand writing she could manage.
She thanked the lack of light that Rachel didn't see it, she could have killed her eleven year old self (not realising her old Latina friend's similar feeling) because if Rachel had read out those foolish, childish words written by a girl who couldn't have even comprehended the emotions behind them, she might have had to skip town and leave for university, earlier than planned.
She'd have been humiliated if Rachel had seen those words, the words that were more of a memo and hope for herself; the words that read: tell Rachel Berry how you feel about her
Let me know what you think…
Judging by the amount of reviews, favourite and alerts (bloody hell there was a lot of these in the first 20 hours) I have a lot of people I can't disappoint :/
Note added 31/10/11: this chapter has now been proof read and corrected, thanks to the nagging from the 'grammar nazi'