Chapter 14 – Ready for a Fall
Rachel determinedly walked down the hall; she woke up knowing she needed to talk to Sam and she had to find him before she lost her nerve. She knew she probably should have spoken to him over the winter break, but she didn't really see him that much. They both spent a lot of time with family and it didn't leave a lot of time to hang out.
Really, she didn't see a lot of any of her friends once their winter break began and it left her with far too much alone time. She tried to think of other things, but her mind always went back to Quinn. She came to the realization that she'd never felt this way about anyone before. Of course she'd had crushes before, but this felt different. This felt like it could be something much more than just a simple crush.
The more she learned about Quinn, the harder she felt herself falling. Not only was she the prettiest girl Rachel had ever met, but she was so much more than that. She was incredibly smart, could be very sweet at times, and wasn't like anyone Rachel had really ever met before. The gift she received from Quinn for her birthday was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for her. It was after thinking about that for days that she came to one simple conclusion—she couldn't pass up the opportunity to be with Quinn. She was just afraid of the expense. She couldn't fathom hurting Sam, which she knew was going to happen; she just didn't know to what degree.
Sam had always been there for her and befriended her when no one else would. He was the first person to look past her eccentricities and diva tendencies and try to truly get to know her. Most people thought that's all she was, but he looked beyond it. He was her first true friend and it was painful to think about hurting him. It's why she had been putting off this conversation that she was about to have with him.
Now, if only she could find him.
She passed by his locker and the choir room, but he wasn't at either location. She didn't know where else he could be; he didn't generally go to the auditorium like she did. Pausing in the middle of the hall, she put her hands on her hips and tried to think where he may be. Even though she didn't think he would be there, she turned to head to the auditorium. The moment she spun on her heel, though, she was hit in the face by what felt like a wall of ice.
"Did you have a good break, loser?" Karofsky's voice sounded.
Rachel gently removed the slush from her eyes and gasped as some of the frozen drink slipped down her shirt. She heard several people nearby laughing and felt the tears in her eyes, but tried not to let them fall. With a quiet sniffle, she began walking down the hall to her locker, dripping red the whole way there.
None of her friends were around and everyone she passed by either laughed or ignored her. She never understood how people could just stand by and do nothing, but it was always the same. In all the times she had been slushied—and it was many times—no one had ever offered to help unless they were in Glee with her. She knew she should be used to it by now, but it still hurt.
As she put in her locker combination, she heard Puck and Finn laugh as they walked by. She narrowed her eyes as she looked straight ahead, trying to ignore them. She opened her locker and quickly grabbed her emergency bag before slamming her locker shut. She knew she should have seen it coming—they never let her go too long without trying to bring her down—and she was angry with herself for not paying attention. She was just so busy looking for Sam that she never saw Karofsky coming.
On her way to the bathroom, she tried to ignore the looks and snickers that she got as she passed by. She held her head high and did her best to keep her tears at bay. She cried in front of people all the time—she was a very emotional person when she sang—but she wasn't going to cry now. She told herself over and over that she just needed to make it to the bathroom and then she could release her tears. Until then, she had to stay strong and not let everyone know how humiliating this was to her.
Even though she was going to be late for class, Rachel was happy the bell had rung. It meant the likelihood of someone else walking into the bathroom was much lower. Three Cheerios had walked in just after she did and proceeded to laugh the whole time they were there. Once again, Rachel held her head high and tried to act as if she hadn't just been crying. Considering the amount of slushy still covering her face at the time, though, there was a chance none of them noticed.
She was half clean now; she thought about sneaking into the locker room and taking a shower, but she didn't want Coach Sylvester to catch her in there. The woman scared her and the one time she did sneak in, she was so paranoid that she ended up hitting her elbow three times against the wall because she jumped at every little sound. So, she was just going to have to settle for the sinks and paper towels in the bathroom. They weren't very effective, but it was all she had to work with.
After doing her best to clean it off her top and face, she glanced at the door. She really wished there was a way to lock it or a large trashcan around to block it from opening, but there was nothing in the room to act as a barrier. Sighing, she pulled her shirt off and put it into a plastic bag, hoping it wouldn't be completely ruined. Her bra was stained red, but there was nothing she could do about that; she didn't usually bring an extra one since she was usually lucky enough for it to not go down her shirt.
She grabbed some more paper towels from the dispenser and wet them. She tried to wipe some of the stickiness off her chest and the parts of her arms that she couldn't get under the faucet, but the syrupy drink didn't come off very well. Sighing again, she put some more paper towels under the water and wiped at her skin once more. She was in the middle of dabbing at a spot on her collarbone when the door swung open and she jumped, trying to cover herself with her arms.
"Quinn!" she said, surprised to see the blonde there. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?!"
Quinn tilted her head slightly as she stared at Rachel. "I didn't think you would willingly miss on the first day back, so I figured something must have happened. Looks like I was right."
"Yes," Rachel said, slowly uncovering herself so she could go about trying to get more of the red substance off of her.
"Who did it?" Quinn asked.
"It doesn't matter," Rachel replied.
"Of course it matters," Quinn retorted.
"Karofsky," Rachel said, hurrying her movements so she could put her shirt on.
"Do you want any help?" Quinn asked, stepping forward before Rachel could even say anything.
Rachel sighed. "I suppose it would make this go faster."
Quinn nodded and took the wet paper towel from Rachel's hand. She gently began wiping where Rachel had left off and the brunette looked away, feeling self-conscious at Quinn seeing her like this. Not only did she not have a shirt on, but it was just another reminder at how this school viewed her.
"I think it will be fine," Rachel suddenly said.
"Are you sure?" Quinn asked. "Because you still have some on your shoulder.
Rachel looked down and sighed.
"I got it," Quinn said before Rachel could stop her.
She realized this was not more efficient with Quinn; one person was still doing all the work since she was just standing there. But it was hard to move when Quinn was touching her like that. She was so gentle and her hands were so soft and Rachel found herself thinking about the few times they had kissed. She quickly shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. This was neither the time nor the place to think about that.
"What?" Quinn asked with an amused smile.
"Nothing," Rachel lied.
"Really?" Quinn asked, not sounding at all like she believed her. "Because your neck is turning red." Rachel felt herself blushing further, which only made Quinn laugh. "Okay, I think you're good."
Rachel nodded and quickly turned around to grab a clean shirt from her bag. She had a black t-shirt and an argyle sweater that would probably only get another slushy thrown in her face.
"Wear the back," Quinn said, looking over her shoulder.
"Yes, the other would probably only get ruined by the end of the day," Rachel remarked.
Quinn shrugged nonchalantly. "I just think you look good in black."
"Really?" Rachel found herself asking.
"I don't know why you always sound so surprised when I compliment you," Quinn replied.
"I guess I'm not used to hearing things like that," Rachel said, ducking her head.
"Well, people are stupid," Quinn remarked. "What are you going to do about your hair?"
Rachel furrowed her brows ever so slightly at the abrupt change of subject. "I thought I would get it out as well as I could and then put it in a ponytail. The only way I'll be able to get it all out is if I take a shower and the only place to do that is the locker room, which I'm not going to do because your coach scares me."
"I think she scares everyone," Quinn said with a light laugh.
Rachel ran some more water over multiple paper towels and handed half to Quinn. She worked at the front while Quinn tried to get the stickiness out of the places that were harder for her to reach. Despite her embarrassment at the situation, Rachel was glad Quinn was here. It was always easier doing this with someone rather than alone, especially since she got used to her friends being there to help her with it.
"How was your break?" Quinn asked.
"Oh," Rachel looked into the mirror at the blonde, "it was fine. My fathers surprised me with a trip to New York City for New Years. I got to see the ball drop in Times Square and of course we saw a Broadway show both nights we were there because you can't be in New York and not go to Broadway."
"It sounds like you had a good time," Quinn commented.
"That part was fun, but the rest was a little boring," Rachel replied. "Anyway, how was yours."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "My sister and her husband stayed for a week, so I tried to stay in my room the whole time. The few times I did go around her, we always got into an argument." Quinn sighed. "I just don't get how she can be the way she is. She thinks I'm an embarrassment to the Fabray name."
"I'm sure she doesn't think that," Rachel said softly.
"No, she actually said it," Quinn replied.
"Oh." Rachel frowned. "I don't think I like your sister."
Quinn gave her a crooked smile. "Welcome to the club."
Rachel smiled back and felt herself getting lost in Quinn's eyes. Before she could do something foolish, though, she cleared her throat and looked away. She couldn't let herself kiss Quinn again before finally talking to Sam. She'd already crossed the line and knew he was going to be hurt by it, but she told herself she wouldn't do it again.
"We should probably get to class," Rachel said, pulling a ponytail holder out of her bag.
"Probably," Quinn agreed.
"How did you even get out of class?" Rachel asked.
"I told him I needed to use the restroom," Quinn said with a shrug. "Of course, that was forty-five minutes ago; it took me a while to find you."
"The bell's probably going to ring soon," Rachel commented.
"Maybe we should wait until class is over and explain what happened," Quinn suggested.
Rachel smiled. She knew she should go to class even if they only had about ten minutes left, but spending a little more time with Quinn was too tempting. Her day had started out terribly, but the blonde was making it better just by being around her, and Rachel wasn't ready to leave just yet.
"Are you crazy?" Sam asked. "Iron Man would totally beat Batman in a fight."
"I have to disagree," Blaine said, shaking his head.
"Guys, no one cares," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe I care," Sam argued.
"Well, no one else does," Kurt replied.
"I care a little," Blaine said with a shrug.
Rachel shook her head and looked away from the bickering; somehow their lunch would sometimes turn into this. Sam and Blaine would debate something that no one else cared about—and half the time didn't know what they were even talking about—and then Kurt would eventually get annoyed with them and break it up. Every now and then Artie would get into the conversation, but usually the rest of them just sat around as they discussed whatever they were discussing.
"What else is there to even talk about?" Sam asked.
"Anything," Kurt replied.
Rachel's eyes drifted over to where Quinn usually sat, but the blonde wasn't there. She tried to discreetly look around and eventually spotted her walking across the cafeteria. Rachel wondered where she was going, but then she looked where Quinn was walking and jumped up out of her seat.
"Where are you going?" Sam called after her.
Rachel ignored his question and followed after Quinn, who was following Karofsky out of the cafeteria. She picked up her pace, hoping to get to the blonde before she did anything, and the moment she was in the hallway, she began running. Luckily, even though Quinn was walking quickly, it wasn't too difficult to catch up to her.
"Quinn, wait," she said when she was several yards behind her.
Quinn unexpectedly stopped and Rachel was running so fast that she nearly ran into her before stopping. Quinn put her hands out, steadying Rachel when she nearly tripped over her own feet at the sudden stop.
"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.
"I was going to talk to someone," Quinn replied.
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "I saw who you were following and I don't want you retaliating for what he did. I don't want you getting in trouble because of me. He's much larger than you and could really hurt you if he wanted to. Do you know how it would make me feel if that happened?"
Quinn sighed. "I was just going to talk to him."
Rachel narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Really?"
"Yes," Quinn replied.
She didn't know if she believed Quinn or not, but she wanted to trust the blonde, so she said, "Okay, but promise me you will never do anything to him on my behalf. I appreciate the concern; however, I can take care of myself."
"I know you can," Quinn said, walking over, and leaning her back against the row of lockers.
"So, let me do it," Rachel said, following Quinn to the lockers, and standing in front of her. "I don't like it any more than you do, but it happens, and it's been happening since my second day of high school. I know most people would fight back, but that's just not who I am. Besides, I think the best revenge will be becoming a huge Broadway star while all my bullies are stuck in Lima for the rest of their lives."
Quinn smiled. "Well, speaking of musicals, I talked to Mr. Schue this morning."
"Oh?" Rachel said, curious about where Quinn was going with this.
"I talked to him about the school putting on West Side Story," Quinn continued.
"Good luck," Rachel replied. "I've been trying to get this school to put on a musical for three years and they always say there isn't enough interest or it isn't in the budget."
"He thought it was a good idea," Quinn stated.
Rachel scoffed. "Of course he did; he only thinks it's a bad idea when I suggest it!"
"Either way, he agreed to help direct, along with Coach Beiste and Miss Pillsbury," Quinn said, smiling. "He was going to put up the announcement at lunch and auditions are after school today and tomorrow."
Rachel gasped. "That is not enough time to prepare! How can he even think about holding auditions the day he announces it? That is just unacceptable."
"Does this mean you're not going to audition," Quinn asked with an amused look.
"Of course I'm going to audition," Rachel replied. "I was born to play Maria." Her eyes widened. "I'm going to the auditorium to prepare."
"Mind if I join you?" Quinn asked.
"That would be fine, but can you do me a favor?" Rachel asked.
"What's that?" Quinn asked back.
"Will you please grab my bag from the cafeteria and let my friends know where I've gone," Rachel requested. "I would rather not waste any more time, but I don't want to leave it in there."
Quinn laughed lightly and nodded. "Sure."
Rachel paced backstage as she waited for her time to audition. There were three people in front of her—Tina, who was currently on stage, Mercedes, and Quinn—and the wait was killing her. She wasn't usually that nervous before her auditions, but she really wanted this part; she loved West Side Story and couldn't imagine anyone else getting the role over her. Quinn had assured her during lunch that there was no way anyone else would get the role, but Rachel wasn't so sure. Mr. Schue never seemed to be her biggest fan and she had a feeling Miss Pillsbury would go along with whatever her boyfriend wanted. Rachel knew she was the best person for this role, but now she had to convince everyone else. The only good thing about the short notice was that not many people had shown up; mostly it was her fellow Glee members.
"I still don't know what to sing," Sam said, frowning.
"Well, you might want to decide because your audition is right after mine," Rachel commented.
"Should I sing Cool or something not actually in the show?" Sam asked.
"Go with something not in West Side Story," Quinn replied. "Everyone else is auditioning with songs from the musical and it'll make you stand out more."
Sam smiled widely. "Thanks."
"Does that mean you think I shouldn't sing I Feel Pretty?" Rachel asked, suddenly worried that she wasn't going to stand out from the competition.
"I don't think it matters what you sing," Quinn replied. "You're better than everyone else here."
"She's right," Sam agreed. "You're gonna be awesome. I just hope they give me a role."
"I'm sure you'll be in it, Sam," Rachel replied. "There are plenty of parts and not many males that have auditioned. It's really just you, Kurt, and Blaine."
"Mercedes Jones."
Rachel took a deep breath, knowing she would be on that stage in less than ten minutes. She couldn't wait to get out there and sing her song; it had been one of her favorites from the first time her fathers showed her West Side Story. There really wasn't another choice for her when she thought about what song to audition with.
"I'll be right back," Sam said before jogging off.
"Where are you going?" Rachel called after him, but he just waved her off.
Quinn looked over her shoulder as Sam walked off and then looked back at Rachel. "Are you okay?"
Rachel sighed. "Yes."
She still hadn't talked to Sam; the slushy incident had derailed her determination and then she'd been too distracted about the musical the rest of the day. Now that she was in the same room with both Quinn and Sam, it was at the forefront of her mind again. She saw the way Sam looked at the blonde every time he was around her and her stomach lurched every time she saw that look. She'd hoped his crush would diminish, but that didn't seem to be happening; if anything, it seemed like he liked Quinn more now.
"You're going to get the part," Quinn stated. "You know that, right? You don't have to worry; just go out there and sing like you do every week in Glee."
"Thank you." Rachel smiled. "So, what part are you auditioning for? You never said."
Quinn shrugged. "Whatever part they want to give me, I guess."
Quinn wasn't going to audition at first, but Rachel spent half of lunch talking her into it. She knew it was probably a terrible idea since it would mean that she was going to have to spend time with Sam and Quinn at the same time, but she couldn't help herself. She'd never been good at staying away from what she wanted and the more she told herself to keep some distance, the more it seemed to make her want to be around Quinn.
She blamed her birthday sleepover; other than when they worked on their physics project, it was the most time they had ever spent together. It let her get to know Quinn a little better, which only made her like Quinn more. The only bad thing was that Kurt had been there and made comments half the night. Luckily, Mercedes and Tina didn't seem to notice anything was going on, but Rachel knew exactly what he was doing. She didn't know if Quinn realized what had been going on; if she did, she ignored it.
"I really should've waited until tomorrow," Quinn mumbled as the music to Mercedes' song started coming to a close.
"Nonsense," Rachel replied. "You're going to do wonderfully."
Quinn sighed and gave Rachel a slight smile. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
Rachel laughed. "You're the one who got Mr. Schue to agree to the musical; it only seemed fitting that you would be a part of it."
"I got him to do the musical for you," Quinn stated.
"Quinn Fabray."
"Wish me luck," Quinn mumbled.
"Good luck," Rachel said under her breath.
Rachel scooted closer, so she could see Quinn on stage. She knew Quinn was nervous, but she didn't know why. The other girl may not have a voice that was a strong as hers, but the blonde had a voice that Rachel found captivating. Plus, she had an incredible stage presence and Rachel was certain they would cast Quinn for something
"She's so awesome."
Rachel jumped at Sam's voice sounding right beside her ear; she had been so busy watching Quinn that she didn't even know he'd come back. "Yes, she is."
"I'm gonna ask her out," Sam stated.
"What?" Rachel asked, taking her eyes off Quinn to stare at Sam in disbelief.
"I need to man up or whatever and just do it," Sam said. "I'm tired of trying to figure out if she likes me or not; at least this way I'll know."
Rachel didn't say anything. She didn't like the idea of him asking Quinn out, but he was right; if he asked Quinn out, she could turn him down and then he would know she wasn't interested in him. She felt bad knowing that he was going to be rejected, but maybe it would make it a little easier when she finally told him the truth.