Chibi-Kari: Hey guys, I still don't own, but here's the next installment. Time jump and sorry it seems a bit disjointed. We'll be back to Rachel in the next installment. I won't be able to post for probably two weeks. I'm flying to the States and going to a whole bunch of job interviews all next week. So life will be a mess for a bit! Please leave a review...I'm getting a lot of alerts, but not a lot of feedback. Thanks!
Can't make my own decisions or make any with precision. Well maybe you should tie me up so I don't go where you don't want me.
You say that I been changing that I'm not just simply aging. Yeah how could that be logical? Just keep on cramming ideas down my throat.
Next time you point a finger I'll point you to the mirror.
-"Playing God" Paramore
Will glanced worriedly around the baggage claim. He had hoped to see Rachel bouncing by the doors trying to hurry them outside and on to rehearsals. Instead, he only saw the anxious looks of his students.
"Where's diva? I thought she'd be here by now." Kurt sounded slightly confused as he glanced around again.
"I don't know." Will said softly. "Maybe she's at the hotel waiting for us."
Finn shot him a disbelieving look and Will internally cringed. If even Finn didn't think she was going to come it was bad. They had actually gotten in an argument after his e-mail almost two months ago. Finn didn't think he should tell Rachel about Beth and Shelby. Will disagreed. He just couldn't lie to her. She needed to know before she looked over at Nationals and saw Shelby with a baby. Will had thought that telling Rachel this way would give her time to process and calm down. He started to doubt that two weeks after the email when there was no response. Then two weeks quickly became one month with a word from her. And no matter how many emails he sent he received no response. He tried everything including asking for feedback. Sending video clips and mp3s was still met with silence.
He was nervous enough that he had even called Mr. Berry and asked for Sherry Anderson's phone and address to track her down and talk to her. The conversation was awkward and strained. He wasn't willing to give Will much information besides that fact that she had been busy and he really hadn't talked to her lately. Will just hoped that she was busy and not locked in her room listening to Spring Awakening on repeat. She did know how to be melodramatic and Will could remember when she broke up with Finn he caught her crying in the music room to Those You've Known. He shuddered slightly. She was volatile though. The next day she sang Gives You Hell. He just couldn't predict her.
He looked over at Vocal Adrenaline collecting their bags and sighed. The plane ride had been tense with both teams. Will cringed slightly as Shelby glanced up from the baby carrier to look around the room. Maybe that was why Rachel wasn't there. He could only hope, but he had a sneaking suspicion that that wasn't the case. Something else was going on and she wasn't just going to pop up out of nowhere and go back to her normal self.
"We should head out, Mr. Schue." Puck's voice was rough and Will knew it was only because he was worried.
Rachel and Puck had a strange relationship he never quite worked out. They pretended not to be friends, but whenever Rachel needed him he was there. And Will was almost certain that it worked the other way too. He could still remember when Rachel got egged. Puck was the first to rally all the boys together. He was fiercely protective of those close to him. A trait that Will could see in Rachel, too. She was ready to be up in arms in a second for someone she cared about, but that was also why she was so easily hurt. She invested too much of herself.
"Yeah. Let's head to the hotel and I'll try to call Rachel." Will tried to ignore the way Shelby's head snapped in his direction and how Jesse focused on his shoes. It was a good thing she hadn't showed up here. That he was sure of.
Will stood in the front lobby of the hotel a few feet from the rest of New Directions. Reception had let him borrow their phone. He shifted feet slightly as the phone rang for the fifth time. He was agitated and felt sick to his stomach. It was the same feeling he used to get before major tests in school. That fear that you had overlooked something too important. He glanced down at the number he had for Sherry Anderson to check that he dialed right for what felt like the millionth time.
"Hello?" Will let out a ragged breath at the sound of the breathless greeting.
"Hi, Sherry Anderson?" He tapped his finger lightly on the desk. His nervousness kept increasing and he couldn't quite place why.
"Yes?" Her voice was slightly cold and questioning. Will assumed it was the voice reserved for telemarketers.
"I'm Will Schuester, Rachel's glee club coach. I was wondering if she was around. I haven't heard from her in over a month and the kids and I just got in. We were wondering where she was."
"Oh." Her voice softened, "She hasn't emailed you? I thought she did. Well, she's not home right now. I'll tell her to call you right away when I see her next."
"What time will she be in?" Will tried to shoo Kurt away as she moved to listen in on the phone call.
"Oh, I don't know. Not tonight for sure. Probably tomorrow afternoon sometime." She sounded slightly distracted.
Will suddenly felt a bit of rage boil inside him, "What do you mean you don't know? Probably tomorrow? How do you let a teenage girl go somewhere without knowing things like that! Do you even know where she is?"
The phone was silent for a moment before Sherry's voice came though cold and hard, "Of course I know where she is. That's completely different than knowing when she'll come home. I know if I don't see the girls in 24 hours something's wrong. I always get a text and know where they are."
Will sighed again. He was going about this all wrong. "Where is she, if I may ask?"
"She's at a party at Billy's."
Will closed his eyes slightly. He could picture Rachel with her cousin and friends watching movies. That was something he could interrupt. It wasn't that late. "Could I have the address? I just want to drop by and talk to her really quick."
Will could feel the woman hesitating before he heard her rustling through some paper. She relayed the information before claiming she had to finish what she was doing.
Will glanced down at the paper he had scrawled the address. He leaned forward and quietly asked the receptionist for directions. He rubbed his face as he glanced at the young girl behind the desk. She couldn't be that much older than his students and already was trying to support herself in the city. Probably trying to make it big.
"We're going to go with you, Mr. Schue." Finn's voice was confident as his statement was confirmed by the echoing of agreement.
"I'm coming, also." Will spun around to see Shelby standing with her hands on her hips.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Shelby. What about Beth?"
"Andrea is watching her right now. She can handle it for a few more hours." Shelby answered quickly. Will Schuester was not going to stop her from talking to Rachel.
"Oh this is one of Billy's parties." The girl behind reception shocked them slightly as she started speaking. "Awesome parties. Always crazy." She glanced up at the two adults and eyed them wearily, "Why do you wanna go there?"
"We're looking for someone and she's supposed to be there." Shelby stepped forward and give the girl a pretty vicious glare.
The girl just blinked at her a few times, completely unaffected, before shrugging, "I've mapquested it for you. It's not in the best area."
Will grabbed the paper quickly before turning around.
"I'm definitely going now if I have to follow you." Shelby snapped and Will was almost glad she demanded it. Something was going on. He couldn't imagine Rachel being at a wild party. He tried to convince himself that she either wouldn't be there or it wasn't as bad as the girl behind the counter made it seem. He could only hold on to that.
It seemed like his world was coming to a complete halt as he looked on to the small house in front of him. The windows were practically vibrating with the base of whatever song was on. He shuddered slightly, but tried to hold on to the hope that was slipping through his fingers. Will felt the last of it slip away as a young boy stumbled out the front door and promptly leaned over the porch and threw up.
"It's only ten thirty." He mumbled to himself in slight disbelief.
"That's an awesome party." Puck murmured from the back of the group, "But Rachel isn't in there."
"She wouldn't subject herself to something like this." Will snapped his gaze to the boy who broke Rachel's heart. Somehow Jesse had followed their little group and he still wasn't sure when or how he found out. He couldn't seem to remember him being in the lobby with Shelby.
"Shut it, St. Douche." Quinn snapped slightly glancing up at Puck who was looking intently at the party.
"Well the only way to find out if she's really there is to walk in." Shelby held her head up high as she started up the steps and into the house, stepping over the sick young man.
"That's just nasty." Mercedes mumbled as she stepped over him also.
The party was louder than Will had been expecting and he tried not to wince slightly as the song playing hit a particularly uncomfortable note.
Shelby just continued to stand in the middle of the entry way looking between the rooms as the rest of New Directions and Jesse piled in behind her. It seemed to Will as if she didn't even know where to start. To tell the truth he didn't know where to start either. If he just stopped a kid and asked them chances are they wouldn't even know who Rachel Berry was.
"Is that coke?" Kurt asked slightly scandalized.
"Yup." Puck responded his eyes slightly wide. Will looked at the two of them. He knew even Puck didn't mess around with that stuff. Will wasn't naive or stupid enough to think Puck didn't do questionable things in his spare time, but even he looked scandalized. "She better not be here."
"What the-" Jesse's voice was cut off as he stomped into what Will guessed was originally a living room. With a quick flick of his arm he had pulled a girl off of a boy sitting on an overstuffed chair, "Who the hell are you?"
Will and the rest came barreling into the room and he tried to understand the situation. There was a brown haired boy on the couch and a small brunette girl Jesse had firmly gripped behind his back. It took Will a moment to realize the girl standing behind Jesse was his very own starlet. Her clothes resembled those he had only seen on the girls that were considered slutty at their school. Hell, even these were worse than those. She seemed to be wearing some purple top that he wasn't sure he could classify as a top considering the lack of material making it up and a pair of jeans that were so tight he was afraid for her decency.
"I'm Ryan. As everyone here knows who I am the better question is who are you and what the hell are you doing here?" The boy on the couch was deceptively calm. He had a smile on his face that Will didn't think fit there. The situation seemed to amuse the boy more than anything else.
Jesse seemed to be at a slight loss for words and Will swore that he saw the arm that was holding Rachel's shake slightly.
"He's Jesse St. James." Rachel giggled lightly before leaning towards the table grabbing a beer.
Will was about to walk forward and snatch it from her, but Shelby got to it first.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shelby's voice was deadly and Will found himself shuddering slightly in response. There was a mixture of disappointment and anger that he had never heard before.
Rachel pulled her arm from Jesse's grasp easily before holding her arms out wide, "I'm celebrating!"
Ryan nodded before standing and pushing himself between Rachel and Jesse and throwing his arm over Rachel's shoulders smiling brightly at her.
"Celebrating what?" Brittney asked lightly.
"Got the lead in a musical of course." A girl said from the couch behind her. "My cousin has the best voice I've heard. No doubt she would." She nodded to herself before looking off to the left.
"This isn't celebrating." Shelby snarled lightly.
Rachel started laughing loudly and Will was finally able to place exactly why Ryan's smile didn't fit, "Are you high?" He couldn't even try to hide the complete disbelief he felt.
Rachel only waved her hand lightly, "High. Low. It's all perspective isn't it?"
He wasn't sure what to say to that and he knew the kids standing behind him were just as silent and confused. This wasn't the girl he watched leave for the airport. This was someone he didn't even know.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shelby's voice was slightly raw. "You're coming back with me right now."
Shelby reached forward, but missed as Rachel sidestepped her before laughing again, "You can't tell me to do anything. You may have given birth to me, but you didn't want to be my mother. Go home to your real daughter."
Shelby looked like she had gotten smacked and Will knew he needed to intervene before things got worse. "Rachel-"
"Oh, I don't want to hear from you. You act worse than us kids sometimes. The crap you pulled is ridiculous. Fix your own life before you even try to step into mine. I'm doing fine and getting everything I've ever wanted. That's more than I can see for either of you. Now excuse me. I have places to be and people to see." She pulled herself away from Ryan and disappeared into the crowd behind her.
Will turned to the kids behind him and gestured them towards the door. There was no way anyone would be able to find her now. She probably had herself locked in some room, "I'll talk to her again when" he paused for a moment not sure what to say, "she's not like this."
He grabbed a beer that had found its way into Puck's hand and placed it on a table before pushing the kids out the front door. He placed a hand on Shelby's bicep comfortingly.
They made it a few feet before two kids appeared at the door and called, "St. James."
Jesse turned quickly hope coloring his face, hoping Rachel wanted to see him. Instead his look changed to confused before settling on disbelief.
"See, I thought we settled the score earlier. When a score is settled, normally, both parties keep away from each other." A young girl stepped on to the lawn approaching Jesse slightly.
A boy came up behind her folding his arms over her chest, "Keep away or we'll take it personal. You seem like a smart boy. I really didn't think you'd miss the point the first time." He reached over to the girl next to him and pulled her back towards the party.
Shelby turned to Jesse as he stood staring after them, "Do you know them?"
Jesse swallowed slowly, "They were the ones that destroyed VA's cars."
Shelby's eyes narrowed, "I thought you said you didn't know who did it or why."
He shook his head slightly, "I don't know them. I don't know anyone in there."
The implications of that statement didn't pass over Will. And he found himself agreeing. Right now he didn't know anyone in there.