Unexpectedly Yours

4.

Now I'm beyond happy for Santana since she and Quinn seemed to have hit it off already and it's only been like two days. I want to be happy like Santana seemed to be.

I should concentrate on my classes, which I'm passing by the way. For not being super smart, my hard work and dedication have been paying off. The only class that I'm struggling in is Math. I just don't get numbers. Santana has helped me the best that she can since Math isn't her specialty either. So I need a Math tutor. I know who I'd like to work with. Rachel Berry…I know, I know, she's so plain, but she's good in that subject. I kinda have a crush on her.

So I decided to ask her. What's the worst she could say?

After the whole disappointing experience Santana had on the bleachers she said that she was skipping the rest of the day and she went home. After the last bell rang before everyone went home, I tapped Rachel on her shoulder as her back was toward me.

"Um, Rachel," I said as she turned around.

"Hello, Brittany! How are you," she responded.

"Oh, I'm good! How are you?" I asked shyly.

"I'm great," she started and looked into my blue eyes, "How can I help you?"

"Um, I need a, um, Math tutor. Do you think you can help me?"

"I'm flattered," she began happily, "of course I can help you."

"Great! Thank you," I said and smiled.

"Do you want to study for our exam tonight?" she asked me.

"Sure, wanna come to my house? My parents are going out to dinner since it's Friday night and we'll have quiet for awhile," I said hopeful.

"Um, yea, that's great. I have something going on this weekend, but I'm free tonight," she responded.

"Come by at 6 pm?" I asked as I handed her a piece of paper that had my address on it.

"I'll see you then. Thanks for asking me," she said and smiled brightly.

"Thank you for saying, 'yes'!" I said happily.

Then we walked away in separate directions.

Later, I texted Santana and she asked, "You're letting the Hobbit help you?"

"Yup…C'mon San, she's not that short. She pretty…in her own way," I responded in a text.

"Oh, okay…Hold up! Do you have a crush on her?" she shot back.

"Um, maybe. She's weird, but cute!" I admitted.

"Please be careful," Santana lovingly warned.

"Oh, I will," I replied in the text conversation and smiled a little to myself.

"I'm not above going all Lima Heights on her, you know that, right?"

"Oh, no I know," I typed back.

"Good!"

"Thank you for caring," I typed.

"You're my best friend, B. I'll always care about you!"

"I'll text you later." I said and that ended the conversation.

Later that evening, Rachel was on time. I assumed she would be.

She rang my doorbell, and I ran to get it since I was in the kitchen.

"Hi, Brittany!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi, Rachel, thanks for coming to help me." I thanked her again.

"Well, it's not a problem…" she replied.

I gestured her up to my room and opened the door for her when we got there.

Lord Tubbington scurried as fast as he could from one side of the room to another.

"Um, was that a huge rat," Rachel asked awkwardly.

"Oh, no, that's my cat, Lord Tubbington. He won't bother us. He likes to watch 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians'. Khloe's his favorite," I said proudly.

Rachel chuckled, but then realized that I was serious.

"Oh really," she asked.

"Yup," I responded.

"Where can I put my stuff," she asked me.

"Oh, sorry, over there," I said and pointed to the corner. She walked over and plopped her bag down. Then she removed her Math book and notebook.

"Wanna get started," she asked. I just nodded my head because I was speechless. She plopped down on my bed and I opted to sit in my chair and moved it closer to the bed. She noticed the distance so she moved over a little.

"So, let's start. Ready for the first word problem," she asked as she picked up the piece of hand out, "An airplane flies against the wind from A to B in 8 hours. The same airplane returns from B to A, in the same direction as the wind, in 7 hours. Find the ratio of the speed of the airplane (in still air) to the speed of the wind." She looked up at me and saw my expression of shock, sickness, and apprehension.

"It's gonna be okay," she said and smiled, "Let's just work it out. What would you do?"

"Well, I guess I'd figure out what the ratio would be," I guessed.

"Sure…let's try that…Ok, let's define what each part will be. What's 'S'?" she asked.

"Speed!" I said with a little confidence.

"Great, Brittany," she said, looked up at me, and smiled.

"What's 'r'?"

"The speed of the wind?" I asked instead of answered.

"Ok," she said. She wrote those two letters down on the paper.

"Then the distance would be 'd'. It would probably mean the distance between point A to point B…is that right?" I asked.

"Great! You're getting it!" she said and smiled.

"So…d = 8 hours (S - r), which airplane flies against the wind," I asked.

"Good…"

"Why is there another time for another airplane?" I asked.

"Oh, no…" she started gently, "There's only one airplane in this equation. The seven hours is how long the returning trip against the wind took. Do you get it?" she asked.

"Oh, like round trip," I asked.

"Yup, round trip," she said, "So, d = 7(S + r) which is the same airplane that flies in the same direction as the wind."

"Ok…"

"So it's 8(S – r) = 7 (S – r)?" I asked as I took a shot in the dark.

"Actually yes, it is. See you're getting this," she said and smiled up at me again. I loved her smile. It gave me something to strive for.

"So why is it now 8(S - r) = 7(S + r)," I asked.

Rachel took her time replying to the question.

"Could it be that the speed of the wind…'r'…and ' S'…speed of airplane cancel themselves out," she asked.

"Possibly…so now all we have to do is add 8 plus 7. The answer should be 15!" I exclaimed, got up, and did a happy dance.

"Wow! You're right…Great job, Brittany," Rachel said and reached up for a high five. I smacked it and smiled. We shared a moment together as we both looked into each other's eyes.

"Um I asked you to help me for two reasons…" I started.

"Oh, did you think I'd let you copy off of my exam?" Rachel asked accusingly.

"Oh God, no. I'd never think of asking anyone to do that for me," I said kind of shocked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed…"

"When you assume you make a -," I started and smiled.

"Yes, I know. Brittany. So why did you ask me to come over besides for my help?"

"I have a crush on you," I whispered with my head lowered.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you," she replied.

"Rachel, I have a crush on you," I said more boldly.

She looked into my eyes I think to find the truth in my statement. She must have found the truth because she smiled brightly.

"When did it start," she asked.

"I've always noticed you. Truthfully I felt something in freshman year, but we were both in different circles. I've always watched you…sorry if that sounds stalker-ish," I said shyly.

"No, it's okay. I've seen you do some cool things. I know you're gonna kick some butt at school," Rachel said and smiled.

"I was wondering…" I started to ask.

"What were you thinkin'?" she replied.

I took a deep breath and asked, "Would you go out on a date with me?"

Rachel took longer than I had wanted so I cut in, "You know what. It's okay. We're two different people. You're smart and I'm not. You're beautiful I'm okay looking. You're probably going to go to New York after high school and I'm most likely going to stay here. There's a million reasons why we wouldn't work out, but there is one important reason why we might."

"And what's that?" she asked.

"I genuinely like you for the person you are now. The girl who is sitting here on my bed right now. I genuinely want to know her, if she'll allow me. I don't have any ulterior motives. No one put me up to this. I just want to get to know you," I said and then took a deeper breath than before.

Rachel got up from my bed and walked towards me since I had moved during my speech. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

I laughed because I was nervous.

"Is this a yes," I asked timidly.

"Of course," Rachel said excitedly.

"Great!" I exclaimed and picked her up from the ground.

"Whoa!" she yelled as I spun her around a little bit. She's as light as a feather.

Just then my phone vibrated with a text message.

"Do you mind if I check that? It might be Santana. She had a bad day," I asked as I lowered Rachel back to the ground.

"Go ahead. You're a good friend," Rachel said.

"Thanks," I said as I walked over to my phone, picked it up, and discovered it was a text message from Quinn.

"What is Santana's address," I read aloud quietly.

I texted her back and then said, "I do think Santana's luck is going to change!"

"That's great! Do you still want to study," Rachel asked.

"God, no…Is that alright?"

She laughed and then said, "Wanna watch a movie? I heard 'Funny Girl' is on the old movie channel."

I grabbed the remote and then plopped down on my bed and patted the space next to me for her to join me. She came over and sat down.

"Have you ever seen this movie?"

"Nope," I said.

"Then I came into your life at the right time," she said and smiled at me.

AN: I am horrible at Math and haven't had to do a problem like this in over 10 years. The problem itself I found on the Internet. I'm sorry if I interpreted it wrong. I hope you understood it though.