Friends With Benefits
A Glee Fan Fiction
Chapter 21
A/N; Currently watching Step Up 2-which Glee cast member was in that movie?
Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, and Quinn Fabray giggled as they entered the top balcony in the seats of the theater at Carmel high. Rachel shushed them quickly, eyes focused on Shelby Corcoran, the faculty advisor who had lead Vocal Adrenaline to an undefeated three year streak. This year, Jesse's senior year, would be a victory lap to him as they won their fourth year straight at regionals, carrying on to Nationals which would be yet another victory for them. Especially with the beautiful, Broadway legend as their director. Rachel found it easier too look at Shelby than to look at Jesse, though, because they'd broken up mostly because of his desire to keep moving forward. Not because she didn't like him.
"Damn, Rach-the bitch looks like you," Santana observed, watching as Shelby worked with her group on their Lady Gaga number. She stopped them, stepping onto the stage while ranting on about theatrically to the group. Rachel could just tell that she was going to sing, and she was sure it was going to be a Barbra number. She was just a little bit shocked that Shelby had decided to sing Funny Girl.
But as soon as her voice reached Rachel, she remembered that night when she and Jesse had taken all of her memory boxes from the garage and brought them to her room. They'd found a tape with her mother singing on it, and Rachel had been using that voice as a key for who her mother had to be. And listening to Shelby sing, Rachel realized who her mother was. She slowly stood up and made her way towards the stage as slowly and quietly as she could. She stood in front of the stage, staring up at Shelby nervously.
"Can I help you?" Shelby wondered, smiling down at her, with Rachel's smile. Rachel could see the similarities that Santana had seen between the two. Their hair, their eyes, their noses, their mouths. They were practically identical.
"My name is Rachel Berry, and I'm your daughter," She blurted out.
"Where's Rachel?" Puck asked as Santana, Brittany, and Quinn walked into Glee about five minutes late.
"At Carmel," Quinn said.
"What's she doing there?" Kurt asked. "Oh my god, please tell me she's not considering leaving us for Vocal Adrenaline because she broke up with Puck!" He panicked.
"We're back together!" Puck snapped at him. "What's she doing there?" He asked.
"She's not coming today, Mr. Shue," Santana explained, ignoring Puck's protests. "She found out some pretty exciting news, and she's not gonna be able to make it today," She sighed, shaking her head. "Puck, she said she's sorry but she can't help out with Raquel tonight either," she said.
"What the hell is going on? What could she have possibly found out that's making her bail on her commitments? That's not the Rachel I know. That isn't her," Puck said, standing up and staring at Santana.
"She found her mom!" Quinn snapped. "Okay? Is that a good enough reason for her to miss one practice and cancel one date? She found her mom, and she'd like to spend some time wither her!" Quinn shouted.
"Wait...hold up, she found her mom? I thought she was Carmel?" Mr. Shue asked, holding his hands up to stop the fight that was about to start between Rachel's three best friends and her over protective boyfriend.
"Shelby Corcoran? The director of Vocal Adrenaline over at Carmel? She's Rachel's mother," Quinn sighed, turning around to star at their own Glee club director with a worried look in her eyes. "Rachel decided she was going to stay with Shelby while they practiced and get to know her afterwards. She's got a lot of questions," She fretted as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Rachel's mother is the faculty advisor for Vocal Adrenaline, the Glee Club at Carmel High School? The school that's been undefeated for years and has that incredibly sexy and talented senior, Jesse St. James as their star?" Kurt asked, his jaw dropping. "Shelby Corcoran, the Broadway legend who stared in Wicked and Rent? That's who Rachel's mother is?" Kurt asked in amazement.
"That's it," Mercedes shook her head. "We're screwed-royally. Rachel's gonna switch sides in an instant and we've lost our key talent. She's gonna blow us out of the park, especially with a set of male vocals like Jesse St. James to match her own pipes. We don't even stand a chance anymore," Mercedes sighed as she leaned back in her chair in a sign of defeat.
"Rachel's not switching sides! She wouldn't do that to us. She thinks of us as her family-the friends she finally has. She'd never leave us for some new bunch of shiny new toys that have a little more talent. She'd rather be the star here and train us all to use our talents the way she knows we can. She has respect for us and she'd never leave us," Puck defended her.
"Wait a second-I want to go back to this St. James kid-what's so special about him? What do you mean-a set of male vocals to match her own pipes? Aren't I good enough with Rachel to help us win? What makes Jesse better than me?" Finn asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion as he studied the girls who were standing before him. They all looked away, not quite sure how to answer this question without making Finn pissed off or revealing Rachel's secret to Puck and the rest of the group around them.
"Jesse St. James is the hottest guy to ever grace the Show Choir world. He's like a better looking Edward Cullen kind of guy. Every single girl in the Show Choir world wants to get with him-and most of the guys as well," Kurt explained. "And he's got this incredible voice. UCLA is already scouting him, but he's putting them on hold to audition for NYADA. Or, he might just go straight to Broadway. He's that good. And besides that? He's a senior who's been taking voice lessons for years and has connections with everybody who matters," Kurt sighed.
"Are you in love with him or something?" Brittany wondered. "Anyways, he was there, too, and he was all surprised when he saw Rachel. Speaking of which, didn't she tell us something about him? She knew him or something, didn't she? I can't remember exactly what it was that she said...but she somehow knew him already when she got there," Brittany explained, only stopping and shutting up when Santana and Quinn each elbowed her on opposite sides of the stomach. "OW! What did I do wrong this time?" She wondered.
"Wait a second-Rachel knows this Jesse kid? And you left here there with him, without any notice at all-who drove there?" Puck asked. It was a stupid question. Rachel didn't have her license. She didn't have a car. The answer was only going to upset him more than he already was. "Santana?" He asked. She shook her head, pointing at Quinn. "And you guys left her there, without a ride home?" He asked in amazement. "Please tell me you at least figured out how she was getting home before you left her there with that St. James' kid!" Puck snapped.
"Calm down! She was staying to get to know her mother, okay? She was staying because after sixteen long years, Rachel's finally getting to meet the woman who gave birth to her. She's finally going to know the truth about why her mom gave her up. Her mom's giving her a ride home, clearly," Quinn rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she glared at the mohawked boy. "She wasn't staying so she could cheat on with some pale skinned loser-no matter how good looking he might be. She was not staying there for Jesse St. James. She was staying for her mother and for herself, alright? Do you really think she'd be so willing to throw away the relationship you two just got back for some guy?" SHe wondered.
"And trust me, even if she was debating on leaving you for this Jesse kid, I can guarantee that you're better in bed," Santana muttered. "That kid couldn't dance for shit," She shrugged when everybody looked at her. "Am I the only one who knows that dancers are good at sex?" She wondered in amazement. "Whatever, then," She rolled her eyes. "But, Jesse was a scrawny little idiot. You'd be able to take him in a fight any day, if it came down to that, but I doubt that it ever would. Rachel loves you, alright? Jesse doesn't mean anything to her-she probably just met him one day at the sheet music store she goes to all the time, alright?" She informed Puck, sharing a look with Quinn.
"Oh, wait a second!" Brittany said brightly. "I remember what Rachel told me about Jesse now!" She said happily, skipping towards an empty chair and Quinn and Santana lunged for her to shut her up. She ignored their loud protests, trying to cover her own voice and just spoke up louder. "Rachel was saying that Jesse was her ex boyfriend. They dated last year and broke up right before summer or something like that. She was saying that nobody knew-not even Puck and Finn, because they both through that they were her first when it came to relationships and stuff like that," She said, scanning the faces from Puck's, to Finn's, to Santana's, to Quinn's, and then to the rest of the glee club's.
"Puck, please don't start over reacting!" Santana said, lunging towards Puck and placing her arms over his shoulders, trying to keep him from walking. He pushed her away and kept walking from the room. "PUCK! PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!" She shouted, but he was already gone. She shared a look at Quinn who nodded and took off running after him. She turned towards Brittany. "You freaking broke them up because you slept with him. Now you're going to freaking do it again because you can't keep a secret for your best friend? What the hell, Britt-I always thought you were sweet and naive, but you're not. You're more vindictive than I am, and that's pretty hard to do," Santana said bitterly at her blonde ex-best friend before running again Quinn and Puck.