Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. That pesky thing called school tends to have a way of getting in the way. Anyway, enjoy!
Glee
Sunlight slowly seeped in through the frost covered window. My brain was telling me not to get up. It was happy to just relax. And I was perfectly fine with agreeing and continued lying motionless in bed. But the pain in my back told me that I'd better get up soon or I would regret it later.
Suddenly the flapping of feathers against my face caused me to jolt backwards, my head colliding forcefully with the wall.
"Ow!" I shout.
"Whoops. Sorry Rachel," Quinn says, a sheepish grin accompanied her apology.
"Quinn! Do you realize that this is the second morning where I've been woken up to nearly having a heart attack?" I ask, though it's not really a question. "Why in the world was Charlie so close to my face?"
"I do realize that it's the second time in a row that you've almost peed your pants on my account. Which I am sorry for," Quinn said, though I'm almost certain it wasn't genuine. "But this time it wasn't intended. You know how yesterday I said it's like you could feel me looking at you? Well I wondered if it would be the same if Charlie was the one who was staring at you. Only, he got really excited, or mad, depending on how you take it, and decided that he was going to flap on your face," Quinn finally finished her explanation."
I raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction.
"Actually I'm just kidding," she laughed. "I just made that up, minus the part with Charlie getting excited or mad. I was just bored waiting for you to get up."
Glee
As I strode down that hall, away from the still clean bathroom, I recognized a familiar tune being sung.
"I'd sooner buy defying gravity. Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity. And you won't bring me down."
Wow, whoever is singing has a beautiful voice. I'll admit, I traveled slightly out of my way to locate the sound. When I turned the corner, I was surprised to find that the mystery voice belonged to Shelby. With her back turned to me, she swept the dining room floor while singing Defying Gravity, increasing in volume with each passing lyric. Actually the task of sweeping was totally lost as she was using the end of the broom as a microphone.
Seeing it as my only option, I joined in singing. At the sound of my voice Shelby whipped her head around to see who had snuck up on her, while in the process, stopping the sound from coming out of her mouth. She smiled when I kept singing and then joined back in.
By the time the last few lyrics echoed through the walls, a crowd had formed around the doorway to the dining room, though I didn't notice them until I was done singing.
In the silence that the audience wasn't sure whether to applaud in or stay silent, I kept my eyes locked with Shelby's and she did the same with mine. For a reason unknown to me, I just couldn't seem to turn my gaze away.
"Don't just stand here! Everyone out! Move it!" Ms. Davis shouted to the crowd that had formed, now facing them.
As the teenagers ambled in the opposite direction, I was able to change my focus from Shelby to the irritated older woman. She had turned around and was now glaring at Shelby, who matched the glare and maybe even trumped. It seemed as if a silent conversation was passing between the two. I wondered what they were "saying" to each other. Ms. Davis' eyes went from having fire in them to being cool and calm, accompanied by a tiny smirk. And Shelby's eyes went from having the bliss from singing in them to slight anger with a tinge of hurt.
It's times like these when I wish I didn't have such high curiosity levels.
After a few moments, Ms. Davis glanced at me, and the "conversation" was over. I watched as she turned on her heel and slipped out of the room.
Shelby sighed, though not a sad sigh, and turned her focus back to me.
"Don't worry about her. She's just jealous that was sounded so good together. She can't sing to save her life."
I laughed and nodded in agreement. The looks that passed between the two told me that it was not about jealousy. But she was probably right about Ms. Davis singing. Her speaking voice was awful to listen to in the first place. I shudder to imagine how she would sound trying to belt out Broadway's biggest ballad.
"Shelby, I had no idea you have such a beautiful voice. And I bet everyone watching didn't know it either."
"Thank you Rachel," Shelby said genuinely. "I don't normally sing out in the open like that. The words just got inside of me and I just…couldn't help it, you know?"
"Absolutely. That song especially. I try to feel the words with each performance I give," I say while smiling.
"You have an amazing voice yourself."
"Thank you. Since the tender age of one up until my dads died, I had been taking voice lessons."
"That's a long ti- wait, did you say you started taking voice lessons at one?" Shelby asked, surprised.
"I was very musically verbal."
"Oh," Shelby said, arching her eyebrow.
"Well you see, when I was three months old I won my first dance competition, at seven months, my first singing competition. Ever since, I've known that the stage is where I want to be. It's the only place I could ever think of wanting to be."
"So you've pretty much got all this planned out," Shelby said. It was half question, half statement.
I nodded my head excitedly. Of course I had this planned out. "Yep. I'm going to star in some hugely successful musical like Rent or Wicked- they're my favorite- on Broadway one day."
"Setting your sights high, that's my girl."
"Wh-"
"A girl. I mean, that's A girl."
Suddenly the tension that filled the room was palpable enough that I actually thought I could slice through it. The silence that followed was an uncomfortable one. While Shelby stood on one side of the table, I stood on the other, keeping my gaze down, unsure what to say. Out the corner of my eye, I caught Shelby stealing a few glances at me before returning her eyes back to the table.
Unable to stand the silence, I finally say, "Ok, well, um…I'm gonna go. I'm sure Ms. Davis has more chores for me to do, you know, to keep me busy."
"Right. Yeah, uh, I should get back to cleaning."
I nod while pointing my thumb towards the door, signaling that I'm going to leave. Shelby nods back and thankfully makes no attempts to keep me. I exit the room hearing Shelby mutter frustrated words under her breath.
As I stride down the hall, I ponder what Shelby said. That's my girl. What did that mean? Maybe she's one of those people who grow acquainted with others too fast. You end up being nice to them and they think you're best friends for life. I'm not saying that we aren't friends, well actually, we aren't. Not that I'm saying that we couldn't be. Shelby seems like a really nice person. Plus, she was singing Defying Gravity, which has to mean she's a fan of Broadway. I love finding fellow Broadway lovers. They are so few and scarce these days….Wow, even in my thought I go off on tangents. Anyway, I think my point was that we could indeed be friends one day. But then if she considered me a friend, she would she be so quick to correct herself?
Or maybe it was like one of those rare but incredibly embarrassing moments when you accidently call your teacher 'mom'. I've done it twice before. Once in second grade and once in third. The first time, nobody heard me. But I was still a little shocked that I called my teacher mom. The second time, we were coming back from lunch and I needed to ask my teacher if I could use the bathroom. I don't know why I associated the bathroom with the word "mom", but I did. My teacher didn't hear me, thank goodness, but the five kids who were near me did. They teased me a little for it but nothing too harsh. Nothing that led me to being labeled for the rest of my elementary school life. I'm sure they've done it too.
Of course, that's it. It makes sense. She just made the mistake of saying 'my girl'. And now it makes sense why she would have corrected herself so quickly. I've got it all figured out.
Glee
Author's Note: So, that's the end of chapter 4. Please review and tell me what you think :)
P.S. I'm saddened to say that the updates will come fewer. School is getting harder and I have family staying with me for a while. So it's easy to get distracted.