Guys I have been overwhelmed by the response to this story!1 You have o idea how flattering it is that all of you seem to like it so much! I apologize for my majorly long absence, life gets in the way sometimes. But, I give you the next installment, hot off the press!
Rachel guided me to my next three classes, all of which we had together. I had a feeling Figgins had engineered that. When our fourth hour ended, Rachel led me to our lockers so I could drop off the books they had already decided to sentence us with. She keyed in my combination, all the while ranting about the schools lack of compensation for the "handicapped." Earlier I had explained to her that I was cool with the terms broadly used for my inconvenience. She seemed like the type to worry about that kind of stuff.
"...and then Artie only has one accessible ramp on the whole campus-"
"Who's Artie?" I interrupted, partially afraid she would forget to breathe.
"Oh, he's one of the Glee members, he's restricted to a wheelchair."
I took the chance to ask about this "Glee club". The whole day I would hear thoughts about them from either Rachel or a classmate, the latter not so nice to listen to.
"What's Glee club?" I heard the sharp intake of breath, fully prepared to sit through another long-winded explanation, when she was interrupted before she could speak.
"Hey Rach. Who's this?" The voice was rough, but had a whiny undertone and came from about half a foot above our heads. I turned in their general direction, and gave a small wave.
"I'm Erin. Nice to meet you...?" Whoever it was didn't respond, and I had the feeling they didn't understand the question at the end of my greeting. Instead, Rachel spoke up in a quiet voice next to me. I immediately knew I didn't like the change in the loudly opinionated brunette.
"Erin, this is Finn. He's the quarterback and also in Glee."
I nodded, then held my hand out in front of him. When he shook it, his hand engulfed mine. I almost thought I'd lost it in Narnia until he let go.
"Anyway, I came over to ask if you wanted to hang out and practice for Glee after school sometime. My voice got rusty over summer break." I imagined a possible charming smile adorning his face, but seeing as I didn't like this mountain of a boy causing the change in her demeanor, I answered him.
"Actually, Rachel is going to show me around Lima this week, so she's going to be a little busy. We may be able to fit you in later?" I gave this outright rude remark with an ice smile, then shoved my books in my locker, looped my arm around Rachels', and turned away from the huge boy and walked down the hall.
Rachel remained quiet, and once we were far enough away, she took my hand and started leading me somewhere. Once we reached a door, she pushed it open and ushered me through. The door closed with a bang that echoed around the large room.
"This is the auditorium, I always have lunch here. It's much more preferable to the cafeteria." She took my hand again and led me to the stage, where I jumped and sat with my legs dangling down. I heard her sit next to me, and the temptation to read her thoughts was overwhelming, just to find out what was wrong, but I didn't dare. That would be the biggest breach of the trust she seemed to already have in me. So I sat and waited, waited for her to tell me like I knew she would. It didn't take long.
"Finn is my ex-boyfriend. We dated at the end of the school year last year, then he cheated on me with one of the Cheerios."
I remembered then the thought that went through Quinn Fabray's head this morning, and one of the puzzle pieces of Rachel Berry fell into place. She was insecure and unsure about Finn, understandably. I turned so that one leg was on the stage, the other still dangling. I scooted closer to her, then reached out and brushed her shoulder. When I felt her trembling, I grabbed her and pulled her against me, holding her as she shook with silent tears. I just held my arms around her while she cried, letting the steady beat of my heart, which was just under her left ear, slowly calm her down. I knew it worked because back when I had my accident, my mom would hold me like this and her heart is what finally stopped my tears with its endless beat. After a few minutes, the shaking finally stopped. I didn't let her go, knowing that if I did the tears would start again.
She mumbled something into my shirt, but it was too soft for even my ears to catch.
"What was that?" I didn't raise my voice above a whisper, not wanting to break the atmosphere.
"Thank you. I thought I was over him." She pulled back and sat up. "This is foolish and immature of me, crying like a little girl over something so-"
I stopped her with my hands and my voice. My hands went around her face, finding it almost entirely by chance without accidentally stabbing her in the eye.
"Look at me. You are not immature, foolish, and you're allowed to be a little girl sometimes. He hurt you, its not a crime to cry and hurt over him. Just cry as much as you need to, but then get up and move on to the amazing things I know you'll accomplish in life. This isn't the end Rachel, you're bound for so much more." I felt more tears drip on my hands, but I guessed they were happy tears, because I was flung on my back on the stage and wrapped in a tight hug. I smiled and hugged just as tightly, happy that the Rachel I was starting to get attached to had come back.
"So what's this Glee club about hmm?" I asked her, the question popping back into the forefront of my mind.
"Oh, Glee is the show choir club here. It's not very popular, even though the most popular kids in school are a part of it."
Still confused, I ask "Show choir? How is that different from like regular choir?"
"Show choir is more performance, whereas choir is just singing and the theory of it. We dance and sing, putting on a "show" for the audience. But our glee club is more than that. We're all outsiders in our own right, and Glee is a place to be ourselves without any judgement, without the threat of slushies and bullying. Glee is our place of acceptance."
I hummed after she stopped talking, processing the information. I knew their "acceptance" rule would be seriously stretched if they knew my dark past, but they didn't have to know about that. Singing, with training, I could handle. But dancing? Of course I had the aids, but I couldn't have them buzzing in my ears and hear myself sing at the same time. But she did say that the other handicapped kid at our school was in it, and if he could dance in a wheelchair, I could manage it. I would, just to get Rachel to be happy, and to be around her more. Ignoring the slightly selfish reason, I asked my next question.
"So how does one join Glee?"
"Well, you would have to audition, but Mr Schue - the teacher - has the rule of anyone who auditions gets in, no matter how bad they sound. Why do you want to know?"
I chuckled at her question - and just at her adorableness in general - and then gave her a smirk.
"Well ya know, I was gonna see if I could join, but if you don't want me to..." Secretly I was anxiously awaiting her opinion, it suddenly meant more to me than I thought.
"Of course I do!" She nearly shouted with excitement, but then coughed to cover her embarassment. "But wouldn't that be dangerous? I mean you wouldn't be able to see the choreography or read sheet music..."
"Rach, sheet music can be translated to braille. And I have these hearing aids-" I lightly tapped my ear, "-that tell me where people are and which way they move. So I could get the gist of the moves, but I'd need someone super dedicated and awesome to teach me the finer parts." I grinned for a minute, then continued. "Now, where could I find someone like that?" She was quiet, then went into a fit of giggles. I laughed, then attacked her sides, tickling her until she gasped out an "I'll do it!"
I just kept smiling, my cheeks starting to hurt from the lack of using the muscles in so long. It felt good to laugh, to relax and not worry about other people for once. And I truly wanted to try out this Glee thing, if it was so important to Rachel, it would only be awesome. Or so the logic in my head went. The day had been an amazing first day, even if the slushy and run in with the Mountain seemed to darken it for a bit. Lima was definitely going to be interesting.