Title: All's Fair In Love And War
Rating: T
Pairing: Rachel x Puck (Noah)
Summary: They were sick and tired of the social food chain ranking them as the losers of the school. They were fed up with having to bring extra sets of clothes to school knowing that they would have to change somewhere through the day. But most of all they wanted to put a stop to it all. So when the one girl who was at the very bottom of the ladder decides that enough is enough will they stand beside her to take revenge on those who have bullied and tormented them all throughout their school lives or will they just stand in the background and let it all continue?
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of the songs used.
Chap 9 ~ Shop Till You Drop
Walking into Glee that afternoon Rachel couldn't keep the smile off her face but it was soon washed off her face when Mr Shue said that he was going to do everything he could to find a male lead.
"What?" Rachel gasped as soon as he announced this
"We need someone who can hit notes as high as you can Rachel" He explained from his seat at the front of the choir room
"But Mr Shue!" She protested making everyone look at her in shock
A few weeks ago it had been her that had been complaining that they needed a male lead but that was before she heard Noah Puckerman sing for he second time.
"Rachel we need a lead" Mr Shue insisted
"But Mr Shue I have already found someone!" She said quickly not wanting anyone other than Noah to be their male lead.
"Really?" Kurt asked
"Yes! And he can hit high note I promise, if I didn't think he was good enough then I wouldn't be suggesting it" She said hoping that Mr Shue would believe her
"Ok Rachel" Mr Shue said nodding his head "Where is he?"
"Hu?" She asked
"Where is he so we can give him an audition" He said while they all looked at her with raised eyebrows, Kurt especially giving her a suspicious look letting her know he was onto her.
"Its just that… he isn't exactly someone you would suspect to join Glee is all and well he's a bit nervous about joining is all" She explained making it up as she went all the while feeling terrible about lying.
"Give me until Wednesday next week and I promise that he will be here ready to audition. Just promise not to fill the spot until then because trust me you will regret it after you hear him sing" She said
"Alright Rachel you have until next Wednesday to get him here" Mr Shue said obviously understanding that to get people to join Glee was hard enough withut it being someone who you would never think would join Glee.
"Thank you Mr Shue I promise I wont let you down" She said happily
At least she hoped she wouldn't let him down. Because even though she wanted above anything else for Glee to have a male lead there were more important things going on in her life now and that all revolved around Noah.
'Music makes him happy… maybe Glee will make him happy?' She thought reluctantly even though she knew it would be a long shot
That night Rachel stood in front of her full body mirror staring at herself. She had watched the video again a few minutes ago and was now reflecting on how different she had looked in it. True the clothes she had been wearing in it were not that much different to what she wore now but still there were little things about it that were different enough to make her look like a completely different person.
'I don't want to be like everyone else but… would it be considered conforming to change my look just a little bit?' She thought
She had so much going on in her life she barely had time to just stop and think these days but at night when she was alone in her empty house thoughts always seemed to fill her head.
Like she did every night before she went to bed she had been getting her clothes ready for the next day and it had been only then did she realise that over half the clothes in her wardrobe were all ruined in one way or another.
So that's how she found herself running up to her friends the next day her fathers credit card safely in her wallet.
"Kurt, Mercedes wait up!" She called to her friends as they walked into the parking lot
"Yeah Rach" Mercedes said as they stopped and waited for her to catch up
"I need to go shopping" She panted out while filling her lounges with the air they so desperately needed
As soon as she saw the expressions on her friends faces she tried not to regret her decision she really did but it was hard when they were looking at her like Christmas had come early.
God held her.
When they arrived at the mall Rachel was instantly pulled into the first clothes shop they saw outfit after outfit was forced on her before she finally snapped.
"Guys STOP!" She said holding her hands out to prevent any more clothes being chucked her way
"What?" Kurt asked innocently
"I came here because yes I want to change my look up a bit but I didn't come here so I could be your Barbie doll ok" She huffed as she looked down at the sparkly pink dress she was currently wearing and almost gagged at the sight.
It wasn't that she didn't like pink. Pink was one of her favourite colours but once you added sparkles, lace and way to many other things like feathers and frills it totally killed her love for the colour itself.
"Ok fine" Mercedes sighed obviously sad that their fun was cut short
"What is it that you want then Rach" Kurt asked
"Remember how you dressed me for the video clip?" Rachel asked remembering the look that was very similar to her regular look but had been turned into more of a punk rock look.
"Yeah" They both nodded
"Well that's what I want. I don't want to change my look completely but how you dressed me in the video was close enough to what I usually wear but still different enough to make me fall in love with it" She explained
And in truth she had fallen in love with that look. So that's what they spent the next two hours shopping for. And for once she was grateful that her fathers didn't care how much money she spent as long as she was happy. So buying a whole new wardrobe was not going to be a problem.
Call her spoilt but in the end she was the one getting the new wardrobe.
"Just one more stop before we're finished" Mercedes said as she pulled Rachel towards a Beauty Salon.
"What are we doing here?" Rachel asked
"You'll see" Kurt said happily as they walked inside finally getting to put down the many bags they were carrying
"Welcome to Hair Flair how can I help you today?" The receptionist asked as they stood at the front desk
"Yes my friend here needs a hair cut, dye and foils" Kurt explained
"Well Richard is free now if you would like to come through and we'll see what we can do" She said politely as she gestured for them to walk through and into the salon.
"Thank you" Kurt said as they were shown to where the stylist called Richard was standing.
"Kurt, Mercedes how lovely to see you both again so soon" The man called Richard said happily making Rachel realise that this guy must be gay for he was dressed a hell of a lot like Kurt and after growing up with two gay dads she sort of just knew who was gay and who was not. And this man totally gay.
"Hi Richard" They both chimed happily
"How can I help you today?" He asked
"Rachel here needs a totally new look" Kurt explained as he pushed her down into the salon seat
"Oh wonderful" Richard practically squealed looking like a child in a candy shop
"Ok let start" Richard said as he caped Rachel up and got a first year apprentice to shampoo and rinse her hair at the basin before she was lead back over to her seat where Richard began to section and comb her hair
"So is there anything that you wanted to keep about your hair?" He asked
"I just want to keep my length. Other than that I guess you can do whatever" She said slightly nervous.
She had never really gotten her hair cut to anything different than usual. Only ever getting it cut the one length all over and never getting her hair dyed. But now here this man was cutting and chipping into her hair as if he was sculpting a picture out of stone. He was defiantly good at his job.
He layered her hair all over and cut her hair so she now had a heavy side fringe with texturising throughout the whole hair cut. Making her hair look a lot less bulky.
The next two hours or so she was taken back and forth through the salon having foils put in her hair and dye applied to the rest. Kurt and Mercedes bought her a GHD hair straightener as a gift and refused to tell her how much it cost. By the time it was all over she found herself staring at her reflection in shock.
She looked so… normal.
Her hair had been lightened two shades now being a level seven with a full head of level eight and nine blonde foils to completely break up the level seven light brown/blonde colour.
And to finish off the look her hair had been straightened so it now fell dead straight down to her elbows with no waves in it anymore.
And as they were leaving Kurt and Mercedes booked her in for a keratin complex straightening service in two weeks. They had told her it was a easy way to have straight hair and after your hair feels better than it did before the service.
Things were changing quicker than she thought they would and in all reality she didn't care.
A/N ~ Sorry about how random this chap is but I just had to give Rachel a makeover or I was going to scream! But at least I kept her looking slightly like her old self. But anyway if you are wondering what she looks like then just go watch 'Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend' and you will see how I am dressing here from now on. Basically thats the exact outfit she wore in their first video. Except her hair isn't so blonde it just now had lots of blonde foils through it. Anyway REVIEW!
