Alright here we go. Also, I'd just like to say that for this chapter, feel free to ask me any questions in reviews or PMs, because I have vowed to myself to respond to every review I get. So go for it!
Disclaimer: I forgot disclaimer last chapter, so this will have to count for both. I don't own Glee. But Glee spelled backwards is Eelg. And sense I thought of it, I own that. In your face RM!
Chapter Ten: The Grass is Always Greener
Two weeks later…
It had been fourteen days. Not like anybody was counting. But yeah, fourteen days.
They still hadn't found anyone to replace her. No one at their school wanted to join the glee club, especially now they lost their best singer. Puck was pretty sure Kurt was in denial, because he spent most of Glee mumbling 'Everyone's replaceable' under his breath. Mr. Schue tried his best not to get discouraged by planning harder than ever before. He stayed after school late choreographing and practicing until his energy was drained through and through. Puck almost felt bad for the poor guy, who everyone could tell was just desperately trying not to jump ship. But it's not the kids were making it easy. If Santana had softened even a bit before, the bitch was back full on. She even snapped at Brittany occasionally. Mercedes refused to sing Broadway, Tina was too shy to, and Quinn didn't see what the point was, being the ball of sunshine that she was. Even Finn didn't bother to pretend to pay attention.
He sighed to the quiet room in front of him. "We are a mess." Twelve pairs of eye turned toward him. "We probably wouldn't have been so bad off if you all hadn't just stopped trying! At this point I'm was the most optimistic one in the club. And that just ain't right." Each of the members had their heads down, as if ashamed of themselves. Damn right they should be. "We can pull it off without Rachel." Santana looked at him skeptically. Mr. Schue stood up from the piano bench he sat in, taking his attention off the ungraded Spanish quizzes.
"Guys, I never thought I'd say this but Puck's right. We need to focus on bouncing back. Okay, I know Rachel quitted threw us off our game, but we pulled off some great numbers without her before." He nodded to himself and the rest of the club sat a little straighter. "Alright, first plan of action. We need another member. Any strings we can pull?" Everyone looked around the room; no one had their hands raised. A dejected look flashed across Mr. Schue's face but then was hidden. "Okay, what about an add?"
"Wouldn't that seem desperate?" Artie asked uncertainly. "Aren't we desperate?" Santana countered sourly. Artie shrugged. "Well, yeah, but what if she sees it? It'll just encourage her."
"What about relatives?" Tina suggested.
Quinn threw out, "Favors or lost bets,"
"Blackmail." Finn said, shrugging. "It worked for me."
A smile stretched across Mr. Schue's face. "Whatever works guys." He glanced at Puck. "Nothing illegal though, Puck. I don't want any threats or beatings." Puck gave him a sarcastic two fingered salute.
"Wait, that reminds me." Kurt interrupted. "Don't we need a new Captain?" Mr. Schue bit his lip and nodded, evaluating the room. None of the kids looked to excited to take the job.
"Why don't we let Puck be Captain?" Puck's eyebrows raised in surprised. "He was the one that snapped us out of our funk." Puck was bemused. "Umm, I really don't think…" Mr. Schue just laughed. "Come on Puck, it's not that bad!"
"Wait wait wait." Finn interjects, shaking his head. "I don't wanna be his co-captain."
"So you were just in it for Rachel," Quinn questions, eyebrows arched. Finn stammered. "No, I-"
"You talk like I've actually accepted the position."
"Haven't you?" Santana deadpanned moodily.
Mr. Schue struggled to gain back the interest of his students. "Guys, guys. Look we can just make Puck captain, and when the next member joins, she can be co-captain."
Mercedes piped up from the back. "And who said it's a she?"
Santana rolled her eyes. "Because, Rachel quit, it's only fair to get a girl replacement. And besides, what straight guy would join Glee anyway?"
Puck scoffed. "Umm, hello? Guitar is kick-ass!" "Agreed!" Artie declared, giving Puck a high-five and a smirk.
Mr. Schue looked as if he was trying to decide what to say first. "Puck, language! And Mercedes, Santana is right." Her look turned dubious as Mr. Schue caught his mistake. "About the first part! It's only fair we get a girl replacement. Of course, boys are welcome to join." Everyone seemed pleased by this arrangement. The smile found its way back to Will's face. "Alright. Shall we discuss music now?"
Rachel was miserable.
Their glee club was something to be envied. Though New Directions had thought they could easily beat them, they were actually better than they appeared. Each of the students had truly amazing talent. They all just had trouble working together, and didn't really believe they were great. Which was problem that could easily be fixed. Mostly all the students were nice to her, they were friendly and welcoming. She got good solos, and didn't mind all that much when she was mixed in with the rest of the group. She had friends, she had a life. But she was miserable. Because if you asked any girl here what their favorite color was, they'd say pink. Their favorite person? Barbara Streisand. Their dream? To be a huge star. Here at Lincoln, saying you dreamed of being on Broadway was like saying your eyes were brown.
Rachel Berry had never felt so painfully, heartbreakingly normal.
"What's the matter Rabies?" Rachel turning her head to face Christian. He was looking at her with a concerned look on his face, game controller still in his hand. Amanda was watching her too, a similar expression. Rachel shrugged lazily.
"I don't know. Just bored I guess." Paige scoffed.
"You're the one who blatantly refused to do anything involving video games. You can go hang out with someone else if you think it'd be more fun." Rachel rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure why she was here. She had just wanted to hang out with Christian, but of course that meant putting up with Paige and Amanda. She liked Amanda, she really did, but that girl acted like she was on sugar high 24/7, and it was just a little hard to deal with.
Amanda threw down her controller. "No, I'm getting bored too." Her face lit up. "Hey, Ray! Why don't we go down to the movie store? We can go to the good one though, it's a little further, but there are better movies there. You can pick whatever you want."
"Sides' Funny Girl." Christian smirked knowingly. Rachel gave them her best showface and nodding, grabbing the keys and leading them out. She probably just needed some air. It started to drizzle slightly as she walked over to her Prius, so she pulled her hood over her head when she started the car, hoping to shield her make-up from harm. Amanda gave her directions as Paige and Christian fought over which was better, Halo or Call of Duty. For someone who seemed so girly on the outside, Paige actually was more the type who could beat anyone at Xbox, though she would never admit to it in public. After about twenty-five minutes of heated discussion, Amanda broke the argument by rolling down the window and shouting, "Halo is for freaks!" out the car window.
"Yeah, I guess I like Call of Duty better too." Rachel said, smirking. Christian looked surprised. "I thought you didn't condone violence." His eyebrows were raised. She shrugged.
"Yeah, I really don't know the difference. I just remember my boyfr- my friend was always ranting about how it was better than Halo, so…" Paige and Amanda exchanged glances.
"Are you ever gonna let us in on your background history? It's so like, cryptic." Amanda rested her head on the back of the seat, arms folded. Paige rolled her eyes. "She just has to make sure we're not creeps before she tells us too much."
"Hey, sense we're all the way out here, why don't we get dinner somewhere? Then we can go back to Christy's." Rachel said out of the blue, trying to change the subject.
"Or we could just crash at your old house?" Rachel bit her lip. "Sure I guess," She replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I'd just need to text my daddy."
"I got it." Amanda cried before anyone else could reply, pulling out Rachel's phone. Her freshly manicured fingers grazed over the buttons, scrolling down her contacts. Her eyes widened. She nudged Christian, then grinned wickedly, showing him all the unfamiliar names. "Hey Ray? Who are all these people?"
"Hmm? Like who?" Rachel asked innocently.
Christian smiled as he grabbed the phone. "Like Artie, Finn, Mercedes, and Santana?" He laughed as he studied them again. "They all have weird names, what's up with that?"
"Okay, you know what, just give it to me, I'll text them." She said defensively, reaching her hand back. Amanda just giggled as Paige watch amused from the front seat.
"No way, I'm gonna call…" She tapped her finger to her lip as Rachel watched her from the mirror in dismay. "Ooo, who's Kurt? Boyfriend?" She asked, waggled her eyebrows. Rachel promptly burst into a fit of laughter. Christian grabbed the phone back.
"I'm gonna call Quinn." Rachel stopped laughing and gasped out loud.
"God no!" Rachel quickly took advantage of the red light by reaching into the back seat and grabbing the phone out of his hands. Her friends snickered at her behavior while she grimaced, putting her phone back into her bag. "Stop distracting the driver." She mock lectured them. When the light turned green she pulled into the shopping center, Christian opening the car door for her.
"Thanks Christy." He tipped his imaginary hat. Paige's jaw dropped as they entered the store.
"This place is huge." Her eyes traveled around the brightly lit mega-store. "We're gonna have to split up if we're gonna find anything." She bit her lip for a moment in silence, then quickly recovered, her alpha taking over. "Rachie, Aisles 1-3, Manny 4-7, etc." She took off to eight without another word.
Christian looked amused. "You heard the lady." Rachel nodded, started to the first aisle. She did a quick look around before walk immediately out of what she assumed to be the children's section. She curved into the next aisle. At first she thought she had made a wrong turn. Who would put the horror aisle right next to the children's? She had always hated the horror section; just looking at the covers of the DVDs gave her chills. She quickly bolted down the aisle, and ran smack into to someone who had been standing at the end. "Oh, sorry." She apologized, trying to back away from this person. But the man quickly grabbed onto her shoulders, and she nearly screamed before she looked up.
"Hey Berry." She froze, then lifted her head up slowly. His eyes were a penetrating emerald green, the color they turned only when he was concentrating on something on something. Her jaw went slack with wonder and she could feel her eyes glaze over. What was he doing here? She shook her roughly, trying to bring her back to the present. "Berry!" She could see Amanda running up to them out of the corner of her eye. She felt her tiny hands pull her away.
"Who the hell are you?" She exclaimer angrily. Paige and Christian came out of nowhere as Amanda continued to hold Rachel possessively. Puck looked somewhere between surprised and confused.
"Whoever you are, I can guarantee you I've known Berry longer than you have." This was met by silence as all eyes turned to Rachel, who rolled her shoulders back and let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
"N-Puck," She quickly corrected herself from saying his name, and he raised her eyebrows at her. "This is Amanda," She introduced. He glanced briefly at her before looking at Rachel again. "And Paige," Paige crossed her arms over her chest a smiled sultrily. Amanda stifled a giggle. "And Christian." Puck didn't stick his hand out, and neither did Christian, they both sort of just stared at each other menacingly. "Puck can I talk to you?" She asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him away without waiting for an answer.
"So," He said, once they were far enough away. "How's Lincoln?" She could tell from the look on his face that he was upset she didn't text him back, but was too afraid of sounding like a teenage girl to say it out loud. She pressed her lips together.
"Guess what? They do have a glee club. It's Aural Intensity. I had no idea." His eyes widened for a moment before he let out a deep throaty chuckle, which turned into a cackle like sound as he began to laugh harder. She fought back a small grin. "How's New Directions?" She asked hesitantly. His laughted stopped immediately as he tried to put a serious look back on his face.
"Umm, we're good." He ran his hand over his shaved head. "We haven't found anyone to replace you yet though." He sneaked a peek at her, just as she began to nod understandingly. "Umm, so if you're in Aural Intensity," He snickered again. "Doesn't that mean you'll be facing us at Regionals?" Rachel froze for a moment as her mind tossed it over.
She blinked several times before answering. "Oh, yeah. I guess." She tried to figure out what to do with her hands, finally folding them across her stomach. It looked like Puck was about to say something when he was cut off by Amanda.
"Ray? We picked out a movie. We want to leave!" She said bluntly. Rachel yelled, 'Coming,' before turning to Puck one last time. "Well, I'll see you later, Puck." He didn't say anything back, but as she turned she could have sworn she saw him wince at his nickname. She jogged causally up to her friends. "What movie did you guys pick?"
"Fame." Paige replied gleefully as Christian mimed gagging behind her. Somehow she caught him, and slapped him on the arm. "It's a good movie!" He faked a smile, which earned him a scowl. "Come on; let's get out of here already." Rachel nodded and started out before Paige threw a hand in front of her. "Don't think this means you get off telling us who that guy was." She tossed Rachel a wicked smirk before walking out the door.
"Alright." Mr. Schue said, clapping his hands together. "Any progress? Did you guys find anybody?" Everyone in the room was silent. Mr. Schue's face dropped. "Come on guys, I thought we had a plan!"
Finn shrugged. "Sorry Mr. Schue, I don't really have anything I could blackmail somebody with." The rest murmured similar excuses, from dead cousins to dislike of showtunes.
"Guys." Mr. Schue said seriously. "We need to get more members. Otherwise we're disqualified." He shook his head at them. "Isn't there anything you can give me?" Puck hesitated for a second, before speaking up.
"I saw Rachel yesterday." He confessed. Mr. Schue's mouth dropped.
"Where?" Kurt asked on impulse.
"I saw her at the movie store with a bunch of these random people. Two girls and a guy, I think." He nearly laughed at the shocked expressions on their faces. "Oh, and get this. You know how she picked that performing arts school? Well they have a Glee club there too, but it's Aural Intensity." No one seemed as humored by this as he was.
Quinn put her head in her hand. "That means we're competing against her. Great." She sighed.
Santana's eyes widened and an excited look stretched across her face. "Wait!" Her head whipped around to face Puck. "Why don't you just get her to come back?" Confusion flashed across Puck's face. "Just talk to her, persuade her, if anyone can do it you can. I mean, she won't listen to Finn or me, or anyone else for that matter."
"Yeah!" Mr. Schue said encouragingly. "You can just use that run in as in excuse to talk to her and get her to come back before we have to compete!"
"Wait wait wait. What makes you think I'm gonna agree to this? I'm already your Captain, and now you're recruiting me to manipulate Rachel? What else do you want me to do?" Mercedes rolled her eyes.
"Boy, it's just making up for all the other time you slacked off. You gotta be a team played at some point. Anyway, sense when do you care about hurting Rachel's feelings?" Puck's mouth hung open, unsure how to answer.
"Fine, whatever. I'll do it." Santana eyed him curiously as she leaned back in his chair angrily. Truth was, he had no idea how to get Rachel to come back to New Directions. At the movie store, she actually seemed kind of happy, with friends and everything. Why would she wanna come back? And why did anyone think Puck could get her to. Their only conversation in about two weeks was short and awkward. And, he thought as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, she still hadn't answered his texts.
Heh heh heh. Puck has a mission. Next chapter is bound to be long, juicy, and engorged with venom, and drama. Sorry I'm not updated as often, but I'm getting further into my plot and it's getting harder and harder to write, but the next one I'm actually really excited about, so we'll see.
-xoxo SIL xoxo