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Heres the next chapter so enjoy and please please review!
Chapter Seven
For Beth school on Friday was one of the slowest days of her short life. She barely listened in her classes because all she could think about was meeting her sister and the excitement and anxiety that went with meeting her for the first time.
Luckily she had Glee last period and was able to calm herself down a little by singing. They finished early, though, and Mr. Schuster gave them the last ten minutes of class to talk. Beth was sitting next to Emerson, staring straight ahead of her at the clock on the wall. Why did it seem like the hand on the clock never moved when you wanted it to?
"Beth, you're shaking," she heard Emerson say with concern evident in her voice. "What's up with you today?"
"Oh my gosh I didn't tell you!" Beth yelled, so stunned by her forgetfulness that she nearly fell out of her chair. Everyone in the whole room, including Emerson and Mr. Schue, was staring at her like she came to school with no clothes on. Beth blushed when she realized how loud she had been before turning her attention back to her best friend.
"Tell me what?" Emerson whispered, eager to keep the staring people out of their conversation. The rest of the class took the hint and went back to their own, noisy conversations.
"I'm meeting my sister at dinner tonight!" Beth smiled.
"You have a sister?" Emerson's eyes went wide with shock.
Beth slapped her hand against her forehead. "I didn't tell you that either?" Emerson shook her head and Beth could see a bit of sadness in her friend's eyes that her best friend had all this going on in her life that she had neglected to tell her. "Oh man I guess I should start from the beginning then."
Emerson nodded her head. "That would be helpful."
"When my mom came home from New York last weekend she sat me down and told me she had something to tell me. She told me she had been lying when she said she went to New York once a month with the other theatre teachers, but had really gone to see her other daughter in a Broadway play." Emerson's eyes went big again at the mention of Broadway. "She told me she gave her daughter up for adoption to pursue an acting career in New York and when that didn't work out she moved back to Lima to teach show choir where she ran into her daughter. They became estranged again but when Rachel- that's her name by the way- started her first Broadway play my mom went up to see it and they ended up reconnecting and my mom's gone back every month since."
Beth was silent for a minute, letting her friend soak up all this new information she had given her. "Kind of ironic isn't it?" Emerson said, "that your mom gives a kid up for adoption and then ends up adopting one herself."
"That's what I thought," Beth answered honestly. "Sometimes I kind of feel like I was just adopted to fill the hole she had for giving up her daughter."
Emerson shook her head, furiously, trying to tell her friend that's not what she meant. "I'm sure that's not true, Beth. Your mom loves you and you're not just a replacement daughter. Don't think that way."
"I know, it's just sometimes I can't help it." Emerson pulled her friend into a hug and Beth couldn't help but relax into her friend's arms. Emerson had been her best friend for as long as she could remember and she couldn't think of one time where her friend's warm embrace hadn't calmed her nerves.
The bell finally rang and Emerson ended the embrace giving her friend a warm smile. "Good luck tonight. Call me and tell me how it goes."
Beth nodded and returned her friend's smile. "I will."
"And don't forget this time," Emerson said as she playfully bumped into her friend.
"I won't," Beth promised as she gathered her books. The two walked out of class together. They parted at the front of the school because Emerson had yet to get her license so she had to take the bus home while Beth walked out to her car.
When she arrived home her mom was already there cleaning the place up and starting on dinner. "Hi mom," Beth said as she entered the kitchen her mom was cooking in.
A nice smile formed across her moms lips. "Hi baby. How was school?"
"Long," Beth answered as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out an apple.
Shelby chuckled at her daughter's answer. "Don't eat too much. Rachel will be here at 5:30 and we're eating at six."
"I won't," Beth said. She gave her mom and kiss on the cheek and a smile before skipping to her bedroom. She wanted to look nice, clean, and fresh for when she met her sister so she decided to take a shower. As per usual Beth avoided the mirror once she had stripped of her clothing. Beth hadn't looked at herself in the mirror naked in years, knowing her body no longer belonged to herself but to him.
While in the shower Beth scrubbed herself raw making sure there were no scents from him left over when she met her sister. She stepped out of the shower and decided on scrunching her wavy blonde hair into nice curls. Once her hair was scrunched she had to pick out an outfit. She went through her closet, her eyes scanning the many rows of clothes that were in there. She hoped something would pop out at her and say "wear me" but it didn't happen. The teenage girl sighed as she scanned the clothes again. She didn't want to be too dressed up but she didn't want to be too casual either. Finally she decided on a blue floral short and her best pair of dark skinny jeans.
Beth looked at the clock on her dresser and realized she still had thirty minutes before her sister would arrive and she needed to find something to do to pass the time. She thought about going to ask her mom for help in the kitchen but she knew Jim was most likely in there helping and she wanted to stay as far away from him as she could. Beth decided on practicing her scales just in case her sister felt the need to sing a duet with her. She wanted to impress Rachel, who had to be an amazing singer since she was on Broadway. Beth realized that she never actually asked her mom what Rachel's last name was or what play she was in on Broadway and for all she knew her sister had the smallest part there was. But that would still mean she was on Broadway and in Beth's eyes that was cool, no matter how big the part was.
Beth looked at her clock again; only five minutes left. She decided she would help her mom with the finishing touches. When she arrived in the kitchen she wasn't surprised to find Jim in there setting the table. Since her mom wasn't looking she allowed herself to shudder at the sight of the man before putting on her best fake smile and asking her mom if she needed any help.
The doorbell rang after the blonde had finished pouring a glass of water at each spot. Butterflies suddenly began to take flight in her stomach as she followed her mom and step-dad into the living room to answer the door. Beth didn't know what she expected to see when her mom opened the door but it definitely was not the person she saw. The teenager's mouth literally dropped when she was the person standing in front of her was none other than the Tony-award winning actress that was Rachel Berry. When her mom mentioned her sister's name was Rachel Beth didn't even allow herself to think about the fact that her sister was this Broadway legend because she knew it would never be true, but here she was, the legend herself, standing in her doorway.
As Beth took in the presence of the smiling brunette she couldn't help but feel a little stupid for never even considering Rachel Berry to be her sister, after all as much as Beth resembled Quinn, Rachel resembled Shelby. Beth couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of how much Rachel looked like their mother because she knew it was something she would never have.
Beth watched as Shelby enveloped Rachel in a warm embrace before turning towards her. "Rachel, this is Beth. Beth, this is Rachel."
As Rachel turned to look at her sister for the first time her breath was taken away by how much the teenager resembled Quinn, the girl whose goal it had once been to ruin her life.
"I…I…I can't believe it's you- Rachel Berry- you are my sister!" Beth squealed with delight. Rachel stood there a bit awkward. Didn't Shelby tell the girl who she was? Rachel wondered as she plastered her famous stage smile on her face.
"I might have forgotten to give her your last name," Shelby whispered Rachel's her ear when she saw the confusion on the small brunette's face.
"It's so very nice to meet you Beth," Rachel said as she returned her natural signature smile to her face. "Your mom has told me so many wonderful things about you." She chuckled as Beth's cheeks started to blush. "She's told me you are a very wonderful singer."
"Not nearly as good as you," Beth gushed.
"And this is my husband Jim," Shelby said, breaking the girls away from their conversation. Her left arm was wrapped lovingly around her husband's waste and the sight made Beth want to vomit.
"It's nice to meet you too, Jim," Rachel said as she extended her petite hand for the man to shake. He complied and gave Rachel a smile.
"It's nice to meet you too, Rachel."
The four of them stood there for another minute, staring at each other in a kind of awkward silence before Shelby spoke up. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Rachel don't worry everything on the menu is vegan," she answered before her daughter even had time to say anything. Rachel's smile brightened. "Jim and I will finish up in the kitchen. Why don't you two chat for a bit?" Both girls nodded and watched as the two eldest adults walked out of the room.
Beth went to take a seat on the coach and motioned for her sister to come and join her. "I just can't believe you're my sister," Beth said when the two had sat down. The shock of finding out her sister was a celebrity still hadn't worn off. "I have all your songs from Wicked on my iTunes," Beth blushed.
"I'm sure one day I'll be buying your songs on iTunes the way Shelby talks about you. But I'm not surprised after all your parents were both magnificent singers," Rachel ranted. She noticed the girl's face lit up at the mention of her parents and Rachel internally scolded herself for bringing the conversation up.
"Were my parents really that good?" Beth wondered.
"They were," Rachel nodded. "Your mom was very good, occasionally sharp because she lacked my years of training, but still very good. And your dad, well, his voice was smooth and beautiful and always made you feel like nothing bad could ever happen while he was singing." She watched as the blonde stared at her with her big hazels eyes that looked so much like Puck, she was hanging onto every word Rachel said never wanting to forget the words she had just heard.
Before Beth had a chance to say anything more her mom poked her head in from the kitchen and announced that dinner was ready. Rachel let out an internal sigh of relief when Beth didn't have a chance to ask her anything else about her birth parents. Rachel gave the younger girl a reassuring smile before the two of them walked to the kitchen together.
Beth could tell by the shape the kitchen was in that her mom had spent the whole day cleaning it up to look presentable. There was a table cloth on the table and even placemats and a lit candle in the middle. Beth and Rachel took their spots on either side of the table while their mom and Jim sat at the heads.
Dinner went smoothly. Rachel told them all about what life was like working on a Broadway show and what it was like to win a Tony award. Beth caught Rachel up on Glee club and Mr. Schuster. All in all it was a great dinner with a lot of laugher and little awkwardness, but Rachel couldn't help but notice something odd.
She couldn't help but notice the way the look in Beth's eyes changed when her step-dad contributed to the conversation. The whole night Rachel noticed Beth's eyes looked exactly like Puck's did in high school; full of life and mischief, but whenever Jim said something or asked Beth a question Rachel noticed her eyes changed. Instead of being full of life and mischief they looked like Puck's eyes had been when Rachel ran into him the day before; full of hurt and sorrow.
Rachel didn't tell many people this because when she did it usually freaked them out, but she had a sixth sense and it was definitely telling her something was wrong here. She decided she was going to be subtle about it and ask Shelby when Beth and Jim were not in the room.
Rachel didn't get her chance until she was helping Shelby with the dishes. Beth had insisted they sing together after finding out who she was so she was in her room compiling a list of songs that would be good for both their vocal ranges and Jim went to take the trash out.
"Do Beth and Jim get along well?" Rachel asked nonchalantly.
"I believe they get along fine," Shelby said shrugging her shoulders. "I mean they've never really gone out of their way to spend time together, but they don't fight at least."
"Yes, I suppose," Rachel sighed.
"Why did you notice something wrong?" Shelby wondered.
Rachel looked down at the dish she was drying, trying to think of the best way to put this without sounding accusatory. "I don't know, it just didn't seem like they had much of a relationship," Rachel finally said.
Shelby sighed this time. "That's probably my fault. I've never exactly encouraged them to have a better relationship." Rachel just nodded. She could tell by the conversation that whatever was going on between Jim and Beth, Shelby didn't know about or at least she pretended to not know about it.
The conversation ended because Beth skipped into the kitchen, a pile of CD's in her arms. "Are you two almost done? I have the songs all picked out."
"Last dish," Shelby said as she handed it to Rachel to dry. When she was done the three girls made their way into the living room. Shelby and Jim took a spot on the couch to watch the two younger girls perform.
"I know you're probably sick of singing Wicked but I thought maybe we could start out with "For Good" because I thought the vocal arrangement for Glinda would be appropriate for my voice and of course you are more than suited to sing in the part of Elphaba."
Rachel couldn't help but laugh at how alike she and Beth were. She seemed to have developed the same tendency to rant as she had and of course their love for music was parallel. "That sounds great." Beth was smiling ear to ear when she put the CD into the player and turned it to the song she wanted.
Rachel was the first one to sing and Beth literally lost her breath when she heard the angelic voice of her sister. She had heard the voice a million times on the CD but somehow nothing compared to way she sounded in person. It wasn't long before her part came up and she couldn't help but feel a little nervous when she started singing because she was in no way as good as her sister.
Rachel was impressed when she heard Beth sing for the first time. She figured Shelby would have had the girl in vocal training from the time she was a little girl and when she heard the gentleness and maturity in Beth's voice she knew it was true. Beth hit almost every single note perfectly and Rachel thought that their voices complemented each other's very well.
Neither girl wanted to stop singing when the song was over. They both insisted on singing all the songs of Wicked. Beth would sing part for Glinda and Rachel would sing for Elphaba. Shelby would sing for any other character who was in the song (everyone laughed when she sang in a monotone voice for Fiyero or Dr. Dillamond).
This was definitely the best family moment Beth had ever had in her life and she was sad when it had to end but it was nearly midnight and Rachel knew her dads would be worried if she didn't come home soon. Everyone hugged Rachel good-bye and she promised she would see everyone at least one more time before she headed back up to New York. Beth could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she watched her sister leave, but she quickly wiped them away. Tonight was the first time in Beth's life that she felt as if she belonged to her family, that they were even a family at all; and she owed Rachel for bringing her family closer together.