There's Always Tomorrow
By: Meredith Richardson
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters that Ryan Murphy came up with.
Summary: Rachel thought her life was over the day Finn broke up with her in the school hallway… she was wrong. This is the story of a girl that learns there's more to life than boys and singing on Broadway.
Time Line: Takes place right after Glee S2E9 (Special Education) things will go a little AU from there J
AN: This is the second story I've ever written so please let me know what you think. It's a little rough around the edges but I started rewatching Glee this summer, waiting like everyone for Glee Season 4 (woot) and I had to share.
AN2: Thank you so much for all the story alerts and favorites it means a lot that you guys are interested in my crazy ramblings. Please review and let me know what you think about your opinions and what you think is going to happen next.
Chapter 4: New Friends and History Projects
As soon as she'd left the Spanish classroom she'd rushed clear across campus but still hadn't made it to class in time. Despite being blindsided by Quinn and having to deal with her jealousy, Rachel refused to let it ruin her afternoon. She wanted to move on from her humiliating breakup with Finn and she wasn't going to let Quinn stop her. Sam was willing to ignore her indiscretion with Puck and wanted to be her friend. Rachel was willing to deal with Quinn's wrath. It wasn't like she had a line of people willing to become her friend, especially now that everyone hated her for breaking Finn's heart. She'd heard a lot of the terrible whispers. Everyone thought she was a slut for cheating on McKinley High's quarterback for the resident bad boy and impregnator. It took every ounce of Rachel's confidence to not run crying out the school doors for home. She refused to give into their hurtful words… no matter how much they stung.
Rachel was relieved to discover that Mr. Johnson was not angry that she arrived a few minutes late to class. Thank God for small favors! He had just started handing out packets containing expectations and guidelines for their projects when she walked into the room. Rachel quietly walked to her seat as he chose to ignore her late entry and just waved Rachel to the seat next to Sam when she walked into the classroom. As Rachel walked towards the back of the classroom to take her seat beside Sam, she was tempted to run for the door as she heard people whispering rumors about why she was late for class. She overheard one girl whisper to her friend that Rachel was late because she was in the janitor's closet with Puck.
She chose to ignore the biting comments and clenched her fists to stop herself from retaliating. Instead she hurried over to her seat beside Sam, who had used his backpack to save her a seat. Rachel blushed and whispered, "I'm so sorry I'm late, I got delayed. I'm usually a very punctual person. I must seem like a terrible student after skipping class and coming in late the last few days. I hope you won't regret picking me as your partner. I promise I'll do my best to make sure we receive an adequate grade on this project!"
Sam let a small smirk slide across his face as he listened to her ramble on, "No worries, I'm sure we'll do just fine. You shouldn't worry so much. What made you late for class? You're never late, in fact, you're usually early to everything, especially glee."
Rachel bit her lip, she might not care for Quinn but Sam had gone out of his way to be nice to her. She didn't want to do anything to upset him or ruin his new relationship with Quinn. Anyone could tell how much he cared about Quinn. And despite their volatile relationship, Rachel saw how good Sam was to Quinn. He was the only one that didn't judge Quinn for everything she'd been through last year with Puck and Finn. Rachel thought Quinn deserved to find peace after she'd selflessly given Beth up, giving her the chance at a bright future. Even though Quinn sometimes made her want to pull out her hair and scratch out her eyes for being so cruel and insensitive.
"I was talking to Quinn after Spanish class, she had a question about something and we lost track of the time," she said.
Sam continued to keep his eyes straight ahead, watching as Mr. Johnson discussed the sources they could use for their projects, before quietly responding, "Quinn's really good at Spanish. I doubt she was asking you questions. What did she really say to you?"
Rachel worried her lip, "She was just wondering about Finn and I. She also wanted to know why we were sitting together at lunch," she quickly rushed on, "I completely understand why she was upset. We haven't been on the best of terms. I was the one who told Finn that Puck was the father of Quinn's baby last year, though I only did that because it wasn't right to keep it a secret. She blamed me for how angry Finn was with her. Finn was really broken up about it. Anyway, Quinn's been though a lot over the last year, and she's worried that she'll lose another person that she cares about."
"What you really mean to say is that she was giving you a hard time, right?" Sam asked.
Rachel rushed to respond, "She was confused because we never spend time together, which is true. Today at lunch was the first time I've really talked to you outside of glee. Not that I'm complaining, I think you're a very intelligent young man, and I hope we can become friends."
"We're already friends, Rach-" Sam was cut off when Mr. Johnson finished his speech and told everyone to get with their partners and start working on their projects.
"We're already friends, Rachel," Sam repeated, "I know you and Finn sabotaged yourselves in the competition so that Quinn and I would win," he rushed to stop her from denying it, "Don't deny it. I know you're having a hard time with this whole Finn thing. And I can't believe what Santana said to you in Glee the other day, it's unbelievable."
"Why are you being so nice to me? No one's ever really been nice to me. All they care about is my talent," Rachel finally got the courage to ask.
"I figure no one's really taken the time to ask you how you're doing, or realized how broken up you are about Finn and Santana. Everyone's been talking about what you did to Finn but they haven't acknowledged what he did to you, which is so not cool."
Sam Evans might have been new to McKinley High, but he saw a lot more than those around him. He was the first person to see her pain, and the first person to try and make her feel better without ulterior motives.
Rachel's face broke out into a beautiful smile, "Thank you Samuel. Now, enough about my past relationship, we've got research to do."
They didn't have much time to talk about anything outside of their project the rest of the class period. Mr. Johnson spent the remaining class time watching them like a hawk as he circled the classroom, overseeing everyone brainstorm ideas with their small groups. Rachel was surprisingly happy and relieved to learn that she and Sam worked well together. They were utterly comfortable in each other's company and were easily able to come up with a few ideas for their project. Despite Rachel missing the first day of the assignment they were easily able to catch up to everyone else, and went to Mr. Johnson for permission to go to the library for more resources.
By the end of class they had agreed on their first meeting to work on their history project. They decided that the most convenient place to study would be Sam's because he needed to watch his siblings. They were going to go over to Sam's house after Glee the following afternoon. The plan was to stop over at the elementary school first, and pick up Sam's younger brother and sister, Stevie and Stacey. Then they would drive to the local supermarket where Rachel planned to get the ingredients to make her famous tacos for the whole Evans family.
Rachel was a bundle of nerves and could barely sleep that night. She wasn't worried about meeting Sam's parents because parents usually loved her strong and determined personality. They usually hoped that she would be a positive influence, like Finn's mom, Carol, who had hoped their dating would improve Finn's grades. Rachel didn't have the heart to tell Carol that Finn was a hopeless case.
No, she was worried about meeting Stevie and Stacey Evans. She had always had trouble connecting with kids, even with kids her own age. Her parents said she was wise beyond he years and very sophisticated. They also said it would help her get parts on Broadway when she was older, but Rachel thought it ruined her childhood. It was really hard to make friends. She had a habit of scaring everyone away with her intensity, especially children because she didn't have anything in common with them. They were always playing games of make believe while she was attending vocal and dance lessons to prepare her for her destiny on Broadway. She had been such a determined little girl that no one had really understood her passion and obsession with dancing and singing as a child. It was hard for her to make friends growing up because they never understood her or her dream.
What could she possibly have in common with them? She was worried about ruining her friendship with Sam before it had truly begun. That's how it usually happened, she started off friendships well then she inevitably did something, usually said something insulting without even realizing it and ruined the friendship. Was it her fault that she was honest with people? Rachel thought it was silly when a girl would ask her how her hair looked, and would become a total bitch (yes Rachel knows the word) when she was honest and said it looked terrible. Was she supposed to lie and have her get laughed at by everyone else at school? Her fathers had raised her to be an honest and trustworthy young woman. They taught her integrity and how important it was to get to know someone before making judgments. Why was it so hard for everyone else to do the same?