I'll admit I had almost given up on this story but then I noticed it was my first fic to reach 100 reviews! Thank you guys so much for sticking with me. I hope this chapter makes up for me not posting in such a long time :)
Rachel really enjoyed her time spent in New York with Shelby and hated to see spring break coming to an end. She knew that it meant going back to school and was nervous to see how people reacted to her news. Sure, her phone had been ringing off the hook but she hadn't answered calls from anyone from school except for Kurt. She knew everyone else just wanted to know the gossip and she wasn't going to cave to their shallow behaviour.
Since the news got out about her relationship to Shelby she'd been asked to do interviews every day. Shelby assured her that the attention would go away as soon as the next big piece of celebrity gossip got out to the tabloids. They didn't agree to any more interviews as Shelby didn't want to scare Rachel away from the reality of her dream. After a while Kimberly had stopped calling to ask Shelby and just said 'no' right off the bat.
The one thing that Rachel couldn't get used to is people recognising her in the street. She'd seen it happen to Shelby but had no idea how to handle it herself at the beginning. While most people in New York just walked past them to go about their lives, they were constantly interrupted by tourists and fans of Broadway. Rachel would just smile politely and take pictures if asked, signing whatever was given to her with her well-practiced autograph. Shelby was amazed at how quickly she was becoming a professional at it.
Shelby flew back to Ohio with Rachel, wanting to be there for her first day back at school in case there was any trouble. For this Rachel was very grateful.
On Monday morning Rachel got up extra early to give Shelby time to do her hair and makeup for her.
"How are you feeling about going in today?" Shelby asked as she straightened the back of Rachel's long hair.
"Nervous." Rachel admitted. "What if this makes things even worse?"
"I don't think it will. You got to sing on Ellen. I bet they're all just jealous and dying to know what it was like." She smiled.
"I hope so." Rachel replied.
She drove to school with a recording of her performance with Shelby on Ellen playing in her car. Listening to it gave her the confidence she needed to face the day ahead of her as she remembered how she felt in those amazing moments.
Mr Schuester had called an early glee club meeting before first period to welcome everyone back and start the new semester off. Thankfully, this meant that the school was almost empty when she arrived and she was able to make it to the choir room without running in to anyone.
By the time she arrived most of the glee club were already there and she could tell by the sudden silence at her entrance that they had just been talking about her. She spotted an empty seat next to Kurt and walked over to it, not answering anybody's questions.
"Are you ok?" Kurt asked as Rachel sat down.
"A bit nervous." She replied. In truth she hadn't slept well the night before, the nerves and adrenaline keeping her awake.
"I'm sure Mr Schue will stop things from getting out of control. Shelby said he already knew, right?"
Rachel nodded. "Yeah he knew. I'm more worried about what will happen when I leave the choir room." She admitted.
Kurt didn't have a chance to reply when Mr Schue entered the choir room, causing another outburst of questions as Santana had overheard Kurt saying that he knew.
"Alright guys!" Mr Schue greeted them, hoping to get them to stop gossiping for long enough for him to get at least a couple of words in. "Welcome back. I hope you all had a great spring break. I know Regionals went really well for us but that doesn't mean we can start slacking now. Next stop is Nationals and we have to pull out all the stops."
"We've heard this speech before Mr Schue. That's not what we want to talk about." Mercedes shouted out.
"Yeah we want to talk about Rachel's mom and how you knew about it." Quinn added.
"I'm confused. I thought you all said Rachel didn't know her mom." Brittany asked.
"She lied to us, Britt." Santana pointed out.
"Not very good team spirit, right Mr Schue." Quinn smirked.
"Enough!" Will Schuester shouted. He rarely raised his voice, especially at his glee club, but they were already pushing his limits. "Whoever did and didn't know about Rachel's connection to Shelby is no one else's business but their own. I hope you all respect that and if you don't there is no place for you in this glee club so I suggest you leave now!"
With that the room fell silent. Rachel knew that it wouldn't last but she felt happy to relish in the moment for as long as she could. She had fought so hard to be centre of attention for all the reasons she wanted, specifically for her talent and star quality, and not because everyone wanted the latest gossip.
Once Will was sure that the class had settled down he gave them their assignment for the week. The glee club chatted for a while amongst themselves, although Will was not naïve enough to think that it was about what song they would sing, until the bell rang signalling the start of first lesson.
Rachel tried to keep her head down walking between classes but she was interrupted by a group of excited freshman girls asking her loads of questions. She didn't want to be rude but she really didn't have the energy to deal with them so she told them she couldn't be late for class and ducked down the nearest corridor. It meant that she had to take the long route to calculus, going via the gym locker rooms, but she didn't mind. It was a lot quieter than the main corridor and she was less likely to run into trouble.
Of course, with her luck 'less likely' didn't mean anything.
As she rounded the corner she came face to face with a group of guys from the football team armed with slushies.
Turning on her heel, she tried to run in the opposite direction when one of them grabbed her arm and span her around to face them.
"Where's your famous mommy now?" He snarled and promptly threw the cold drink directly at her face. The attack was followed shortly by two more of the same, one from either side of the group's leader. Her eyes filled with tears as the drink began to make them sting. The boys laughed at her and pulled out their cell phones, snapping as many pictures as they could before Rachel covered her face and ran away into the nearest girl's bathroom.
She pulled her own phone out of her bag and dialled Shelby's number. She picked up almost instantly, having been hovering by her phone all morning in case Rachel called.
"Rachel, what's up?" She asked, trying not to jump to any bad conclusions too soon. However, the sniffling she heard on the other end of the line was enough to confirm her suspicions. "What did they do?" She asked again.
"Slushies." Rachel was able to choke out. "They took pictures. What if someone sees?"
"I'm coming, baby. Go straight to the principal's office, okay?"
Rachel nodded, although she knew Shelby couldn't see her and quietly whispered a 'yes' in agreement.
She hung up the phone and went to the sinks to wash her face before she left the bathroom. There was no point in her changing clothes, as she'd have to go to the other side of the school where her locker was to retrieve them. Instead she went directly to Principal Figgins' office to meet him and Shelby.
Meanwhile, Shelby had sent a quick text to Rachel's dads, letting them know what was happening, and drove to the school. Hiram replied saying he'd be there as soon as he could but she assumed Leroy couldn't get to his phone while at work. She hoped that the support from two of Rachel's parents would be enough.
Rachel was the first to arrive at the principal's office where he noticed the state she was in an asked what had happened. She explained that her parents were coming in to see him and asked if she could wait in his office, to which he agreed. Shelby arrived shortly after and informed them that Hiram was on his way but had told them to start without him. They quicker it was dealt with, the better.
Shelby spoke with an air of confidence that Rachel could only dream of achieving as she addressed the man sat in front of her with a stern tone.
"As Rachel has explained in the past, as well as just now, she has been being bullied by the kids in your school and I want to know what you're going to do about it." She said firmly.
"I'm afraid my hands are tied, Miss Corcoran."
"I don't think the schools reputation would do very well if people found out what you've been allowing to happen here, do you? I can make a few calls and have the story out within an hour if I wanted."
Figgins gulped. She looked serious with her threat and even Rachel was starting to believe her, despite knowing that she wouldn't do anything to damage her daughter's reputation. Mama Bear Shelby could be one scary woman, she concluded.
Shelby's phone started ringing from her purse. Rachel was shocked to hear that the ringtone was of her verse of their performance on Ellen. Shelby shot her a proud smile before seeing Kimberly's name on the called ID.
"Excuse me while I take this." She said to Figgins, holding the phone up to her ear. "Kim?"
"Shelby I've been sent photos of Rachel by a friend at one of the tabloids. She's covered in red paint or something and looks like she's about to cry. Apparently they are already out."
"I'm dealing with it on my end. Can you get them removed from everywhere as quickly as possible? Threaten them with legal action for all I care. Rachel's a minor. I'm sure there's something they can do about it."
Kimberly agreed and hung up the phone, undoubtedly to make dozens of other calls in an attempt at damage control.
Turning back to Figgins, she went into full-on protective mode. It was clear she meant business.
"This is no longer a case on slushies not being suspension-worthy. This is serious. Pictures of Rachel's attack are spreading fast and if you don't do anything about punishing the culprits I will make sure your name goes alongside every article mentioning your failure as a principal."
She had been so caught up in her rant that she hadn't heard Hiram enter the office. He was now stood behind Rachel, his arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders as she felt the reality of what was happening sinking in. She would forever be known as 'that bullied kid with the famous mom'. Rachel knew she had no shot of making her own name for herself now.
"Rachel, who did this?" Hiram asked and his daughter listed off the names of the three boys behind it. He looked straight at Figgins. "I trust they will be dealt with appropriately. We'll be taking Rachel home now."
While they were driving home Shelby received a message from Kimberly.
'No stories had been published. Managed to get word out that Rachel was acting in an anti-bullying play for school assembly. Sorry it's not what you wanted but was the best I could do under circumstances. Once a photo is released it's impossible to clean up completely.'
Shelby replied with a simply 'thank you' and made a mental note to send the woman a gift for all her hard work over the past week. Shelby had never had so much tabloid attention and Kim had worked so hard to control it. The woman deserved a treat for everything she'd done.
She was the last to pull up outside the Berry house and wend inside to find Rachel was already in the shower trying to get clean from the slushie.
"Thank you for what you said in there today. He a kick up the backside." Hiram said when he saw Shelby.
"I just wish I could've done something to prevent all this sooner. Kimberly had spun some story about a school play on bullying which should keep the paparazzi off of Rachel's back on the bullying front at least."
"Well that's some good news, at least." He smiled.
"Hopefully things will get better for her now."
"Are you still planning on leaving tomorrow?"
"I might give it a couple more days." She said, trying to hide a blush.
"Want to see a certain teacher before you leave?" Hiram teased.
"I want to spend more time with Rachel." Shelby protested, despite Hiram's knowing smile.
"Well she'll be pleased to hear that."
Shelby just hoped he was right, especially after everything she'd done turning Rachel's life upside down since she came back in the picture. She could only hope that she forgave her.