CHAPTER SEVEN
Rachel rushed to the auditorium. She had stayed after class to ask about possible extra credit assignments. She didn't need it but that didn't mean she couldn't raise her grade form great to fantastic. As she made her way to the auditorium a smile started to form on her face. She had been thinking about Quinn all day and she couldn't wait to see her new friend. It was odd thinking of her as a new friend since they had known each other for so long, but the Quinn she knew now was so different from the Quinn she use to know. Rachel figured it had to do with all the changes that had gone on her life recently. The baby, her parents getting divorced, these were things that might make someone reevaluate their life and who they are as a person. It may have seemed selfish but Rachel was glad that these changes had happened to Quinn, even if they were the result of such bad circumstances.
Rachel entered the auditorium from the back row entrance and saw Quinn and Sam already on stage. Not only were they on stage but Sam was leaning over and kissing Quinn, who seemed to be very much enjoying it. Rachel felt an emotional pain in her chest that she hadn't felt in a long time, not since the last time she had seen Quinn and Finn kiss when they were dating. Jealousy. This feeling confused Rachel, she had never even thought about Sam in any sort of romantic way. Why would she when she had a guy like Finn? Yet she was feeling it.
Not wanting to watch this display of affection anymore Rachel made her way down the aisle towards the stage, letting her feet loudly slap against the floor. Quinn broke the kiss first and turned to look at Rachel with a smile.
"Hey, Rachel," Quinn said, "about time you showed up!"
"I had some school stuff to take care of," Rachel said plainly, not wanting any of the feelings she was experience inside her to be expressed out loud.
"Well that's cool, we got all afternoon," Quinn stepped closer to Rachel as she spoke. She leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Isn't there something you wanted to say to Sam?"
"What? I don't want to say anything to Sam," Rachel said quietly, wondering how Quinn could have known about her sudden burst of jealousy.
"I thought you were going to apologize," Quinn said with annoyance in her voice.
"Oh! Right, I forgot," Rachel said sheepishly. Rachel turned to Sam, "Sam, I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. Sometimes I can be too controlling and it causes me to become a little crazy. I'm sorry."
Sam gave her a big cute smile, "That's alright, no harm done."
Rachel found it odd that his smile did nothing for her. Just a moment ago she had been jealous of Quinn kissing him and now he was smiling at her in a way that would make any girl's heart flutter and Rachel felt nothing. Rachel returned the smile before moving towards the center of the stage.
The three of them practiced for then next two hours. As Quinn had predicted Sam eventually got the timing down right and the three of them were sounding great. Rachel was actually having a good time and she thought that maybe Sam might be becoming her friend as well.
By the end of the rehearsal they were all pretty worn out. Sam announced that he had to get home in time for dinner by order of his mother. He walked over to Quinn and gave her a long kiss on the lips. Rachel suddenly felt that same feeling of jealousy build up inside her again, she just couldn't understand it. When Sam pulled away he turned and waved at Rachel before leaving. She watched him got in total confusion.
"You ready to go?" Quinn asked, breaking Rachel out of her thoughts.
"Go where?" Rachel responded.
"Home. I'm leaving, if you happen to be in the passenger seat of my car when I roll out of the parking lot I might just think about dropping you off at home," Quinn said with a grin.
Rachel couldn't help but smile. She was getting use to Quinn's dry sense of humor and she found it very amusing. She followed Quinn to her car and made a point of showing that she was indeed seated in the car and ready to go home.
"I think you did good today," Quinn said after a few minutes of driving in silence.
"I don't know, I was a little tired when we performed so I didn't really hit the long notes like I should have. But I'll be sure to be well rested when we perform for the class."
"Actually, I wasn't talking about your singing," Quinn said, taking her eyes off the road for a moment to give Rachel a cute smile, "I was thinking more along the lines of your attitude. You didn't yell or get annoyed once through the whole time we were practicing, even when Sam or I screwed up. I think that's a pretty huge improvement over yesterday."
Rachel smiled at Quinn. "I guess I have you to thank. Perhaps I should think of you as my Zen master. Helping me to find enlightenment."
"If you start bowing to me I'm going to kick you," Quinn said jokingly.
"Yes, Sensei," Rachel responded with a small bow of her head.
Quinn tsked loudly, "I'd kick you now if it didn't mean we'd probably get into a horrible accident." Both girls broke down into laughter.
Quinn took the final turn onto Rachel's street and pulled up to her house.
"Here we are," Quinn announced, "That'll be $12.50."
"Darn!" Rachel said playfully, "I don't have any money on me!"
"I guess we'll have to start a tab," Quinn gave Rachel a big smile and to Rachel's shock her heart started to beat faster and she felt butterflies in her stomach. The same feelings that she had expected to feel when Sam smiled at her. Rachel's face drooped as she started to realize why she felt this way right now.
"Is something the matter," Quinn asked, concerned.
Rachel's head shot up to look at Quinn, "What? Um...no. Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow," Rachel said everything in one big breath while she grabbed all her stuff and jumped out of the car. She just heard Quinn say a faint farewell before she slammed the door and walked briskly to her front door and went inside.
Rachel leaned against the door, breathing hard. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to produce rational thought, but she couldn't. All she could think about was Quinn's smile and how it made her feel. My God, Rachel thought, I like Quinn!