Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 20
Rachel yawned after she got up the next morning. Suddenly, her door of her room burst open and her dads entered. "Rachel, darling! You got letters from both, NYADA and Harvard!", LeRoy said excitedly. He was holding the Harvard letter, Hiram the NYADA letter. Rachel looked back and forth between her dads with eyes wide open. She had sent the application essays weeks ago. She hoped they had been good enough.
"Which one will you open first, darling?", LeRoy asked.
"Both at once", Rachel decided. Her dads handed her the letters and she quickly tore open the envelopes.
She skimmed the letters; her dads were waiting excitedly. "And? What did they say?", Hiram asked.
Rachel just stared at them. "I'm invited to the interviews and auditions at NYADA AND Harvard!", she screamed excitedly.
Her dads pulled her into a hug at once. "That's great, darling!", LeRoy beamed. "You will rock the interviews and the auditions!", Hiram added.
Rachel quickly reread the letter of NYADA. "But the interview and audition of NYADA is gonna take place at their partner university Harvard as well, there are renovations at NYADA.", she frowned.
Her dads shrugged. "That's great, that means less stress for you.", Hiram told her. LeRoy read the rest of the letter.
"You will arrive at Sunday evening at Harvard, on Monday, there are the auditions, on Tuesday, the Interviews. On Wednesday in the morning, you are going to depart. The accommodation and meals are for free", he read out loud.
Rachel screeched excitedly, jumping up and down in her bed. She was one step closer to her dream. She shooed her parents out, deciding to call Mercedes and ask her whether she made it. And then, they were going to pick an outfit for Harvard and NYADA. She still couldn't quite believe it.
She would be at one of her dream universities in less than five days!
It was dark when Rachel and her dads arrived at Harvard on Sunday. They walked past the Harvard Art Museums, which unfortunately was already closed. Since it was too cold for them outside, they quickly entered the building where Rachel was going to sleep.
"Next year, this is going to be your accommodation. Or the one at NYADA", LeRoy whispered proudly.
"I hope so", Rachel answered. "I can't believe I'm really here", she said. "I'm so lucky."
Hiram clicked his tongue. "You're not lucky. You worked really hard to make it." Her dad was right. But she felt a bit nervous when she thought about the interviews and the auditions.
She had rehearsed "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Barbra Streisand ad nauseam.
She had worked out possible interview questions.
She took a lot of notes during Tia's courses.
She hoped all that would help her to succeed.
After she took her key from the reception and said goodbye to her dads, she went to her room upstairs. She wanted to retrieve the keys when someone else entered the hallway.
Another one who was here because of the interview?
Smiling, she turned around.
And froze.
Oh crap.
"You got to be kidding me", Rachel groaned. Finn also seemed to be surprised. He narrowed his eyes and looked at her keys. He went to a door, which was on the opposite of Rachel's and unlocked it.
Why did god do that to her?
Without a word, he entered and closed the door behind him.
Rachel took a deep breath. No, she wouldn't allow to get distracted by Finn Hudson. She had worked so hard for that. Determined, she entered her room.
There was only a bed, a small closet and a desk. From her window, she could see the campus. She would be there or at NYADA next year, that was for sure.
She would make it, and nothing could stop her.
When Rachel woke up the next morning, she had to remind herself: You're at Harvard. She quickly propped herself up in the bed, checking her phone for new texts. Her dads were reminding her to eat a proper breakfast, Ryder wished her luck and Mercedes texted her the photo of her room at Harvard.
Unfortunately, they weren't at the same building because Mercedes was at Harvard's School of Music which was on the other side of the campus.
Rachel wished her good luck, writing that she couldn't wait to tell her about her auditions when they would meet in the local pub of the university in the evening.
Then, she quickly put on some make up, put her clothes on and left her room to eat her breakfast at the community room. She was beyond excited.
After breakfast, everyone nervously waited for their auditions. Next to her, Rachel spotted a familiar face.
Oh, hell to the no, to put it with Mercedes' words.
"Rachel Berry?", one of the students suddenly said. She lifted her head. The guy who had said that was tall, redheaded and had green eyes.
"Here.", she croaked, getting up from the sofa. When she passed Finn, she craned her chin. But then, he clutched her wrist.
"Good luck", he whispered. Then, he let go of her, walking away.
Rachel needed a few minutes to compose herself. She straightened up and went over to the guy. He smiled softly. "Hi. I'm Sheldon Dove and I'm going to take you to the auditions of NYADA and Harvard. You're lucky, they are both at the same time.", he winked.
Rachel left the community room without turning around. In a few minutes, she would stand on the stage of Harvard. Those minutes would decide whether she would succeed or fail.
And Finn wouldn't distract her.
Despite her nervousness, Rachel totally slayed her audition.
The professors of both, NYADA and Harvard, looked impressed, praising her song choice. "It was great", Rachel gushed when she was on her way with Sheldon to the pub. "And it was not as bad as I thought."
Sheldon laughed. "It was the same with me when I auditioned for NYADA. Afterwards, you are wondering why you were even nervous."
He opened the door of the bar, letting Rachel enter first. The bar was full of students, almost all places were occupied.
Sheldon went over to the other applicants and Rachel groaned inwardly. There, on the table next to them, was Finn's clique. Finn somehow had convinced the people at Harvard that some of the juniors could also come watch the Interviews of the seniors.
She gulped. Finn, having noticed her, looked at her for a while, but then, he turned back to Artie next to him, pretending nothing happened.
Why was she so surprised to see him and his clique here? The bar was a fixed part of the program for all applicants.
"Rachel!"
She turned around. Mercedes was heading to her direction, pulling her into a hug.
"Tell me EVERY detail!", she demanded. "You need to sit down first", Sheldon next to them laughed.
The three of them occupied a table. "First things first: How did it go?", Mercedes asked excitedly.
"Great!", Rachel gushed, telling them about the performance.
"That sounds good! But I have no idea how my audition went. The professors all had pokerfaces. I really couldn't tell whether they liked it", Mercedes frowned.
"But that doesn't mean anything", Sheldon commented. "When I auditioned, there was this professor with that monobrow. It was kind of creepy and I was intimidated."
The trio laughed. The waitress came over, taking their orders. Sheldon told them that the beer at this bar was to die for, so the three of them ordered beer (Sheldon wanted to show her his ID, but the waitress didn't care), and some finger food.
It was the first time Rachel drank something, but this time, she did it voluntarily, not because Puck made her drink it. It felt so grown up to do something forbidden.
Rachel took a sip and scrunched up her nose in distaste. "That tastes disgusting!", she said.
Sheldon and Mercedes were laughing loudly. "Why are you drinking that voluntarily?", she asked them.
"Is it your first beer?", Sheldon asked.
Rachel nodded. "And definitely my last."
"That's what you say now", Sheldon winked, and Mercedes nodded. "That's like with coffee. As I child, you hate it, but when you grow up, you like it.", Mercedes laughed.
Rachel cocked her eyebrows, but then, she pushed the glass to the middle of the table. "Here, take it. I'm going to order a coke."
She got up, heading to the bar and ordering her drink. After ten minutes, a waiter finally handed her a glass of coca cola. When she wanted to return to her seat, she saw how Kurt was leaving the pub, but his belongings stayed at his seat place. Maybe he drank too much.
Shaking her head, Rachel returned to her table where Mercedes was laughing about something Sheldon said. Sam was looking at them, and Rachel could see something like…jealousy in his eyes.
Well, interesting.
Carefully, Rachel looked at the rest of Finn's clique. While Sam continued staring at Mercedes, Finn, Puck and Mike were talking about something, Brittany was sitting on Artie's lap, whispering something into his ear and both of them laughed. Next to them, Santana downed her drink all at once. Her glance was bitter. She answered the questions Quinn was posing but couldn't look away from Brittany and Artie. Rachel frowned. Why did Brittany do that? Wasn't there something between her and Santana?
Nobody of the clique seemed to notice Kurt's absence. Rachel waited a bit, but then, she excused herself and got up.
She went outside, but there was no Kurt far and wide. Maybe he returned to his accommodation. When she was about to go back inside, she heard someone sobbing. Someone was sitting on the stairs on the back of the pub.
Carefully, Rachel approached the silhouette. "Kurt?", she asked carefully.
"Leave me alone", he sniffed. Rachel remembered when he came over to the cafeteria back then to apologize. He had been so nice to her. Now was the chance to return the favor.
"Can I do something for you?", Rachel asked quietly. It was really dark out there and they couldn't see each other's faces, but Kurt was still sobbing.
"Are you nervous because of the Interviews tomorrow?" Now, Kurt was looking at her. His face was a mixture of amused and sad, she could see that.
"I'm not excited. I had both of my Interviews today. They went great."
"But that's good, right?", Rachel said carefully. But he didn't look that happy. His blue eyes were shimmering with new tears, and he quickly wiped them away, taking a sip from the bottle of Scotch next to him.
"Why aren't you happy?"
"It doesn't matter how my interviews went. Maybe I won't even study there."
"Why not? Don't you want to attend Harvard?"
Kurt gulped. "Yes, I want to."
"And what's the problem? If the interviews went great, you will make it"
"I don't mean it like that. I just think that…I can't study here."
Rachel didn't get it. "Why?", she asked, confused. Kurt sighed deeply.
"Before Finn and I went to Harvard, our grandparents were telling us the opinion of gay people. Grandfather said he would make sure his gay descendants would be disinherited. And…and I didn't come out to them yet."
"And your parents? They have a say in that whole thing, right?", Rachel asked carefully.
Kurt laughed bitterly. "Firstly, they are never around. Secondly, everything belongs to grandfather, my parents would be powerless. He could destroy their lives as well, you have no idea how ruthless he can be", he sobbed.
"And…can't you keep it to yourself until you studied?"
Kurt shook his head. "I tried for years, but I can't do it anymore.
That secret is killing me from inside.
I don't know how long I can do this without getting seriously sick. And if that happens, I can forget Harvard as well cause grandfather would make sure I'm gonna end up in a nuthouse, like one of our aunts.
There is no happy ending in both scenarios."
He blew his nose, taking another sip from the bottle. Rachel wondered whether it ran in the family to drown their sorrow in alcohol.
"I don't know what to say", she said quietly. "Why did you tell me that?"
"Because Finn trusts you. And he trusts no one else."
Rachel gritted her teeth. What did that mean for her and Finn?
"You can talk to me, if you want to. Anytime, even if you don't have anyone to talk to anymore."
Skeptical, Kurt looked up. "Why should I?" Carefully, Rachel stroke his arm. "I have two gay dads myself, remember? And I know what's like to be lonely."
She took the bottle of Scotch and dumped the rest of its content into the lawn.
Kurt looked up. "Hey!", he protested.
Rachel shrugged. "Sorry, but alcohol doesn't solve problems, Mister. But I can accompany you to your room."
Kurt hesitated, but then, he nodded and got up. "I don't know why I did it. Normally, I'm not that much of a drinker", he said.
Rachel just cocked her eyebrows.
A/N: Next time: The interviews and ... nice try, I won't spoil :P :P
There are only two chapers left & there will most likely be a part two of HSS...
Fun Fact: In the novel, the counterpart of Kurt (Lydia) gets pregnant from her teacher Mr. Sutton (Blaine).
Well...
I changed that to homophobia, that will lead to conflicts as well... I generally had to change a lot of things from the original or else Puck and Artie would be gay, there would be no Brittana storyline etc.
