So I love Lea Michele and Dianna Agron together. Really, cutest thing in the world. Real life roommates make for good Quinn/Rachel possibilites. Ah, only in my dreams, I suppose.
The song being sung at the end of the chapter is Gravity by Sara Bareilles. If you haven't heard it, you should listen to it. It's a good one.
And I've mentioned that my timeline will be askew. As in, they've got four months to rehearse for Regionals in my story. It just works for me, so I'm just letting you know that this is a little different from the shows timeline.
Awesome response to the first chapter, thank you guys so much! Hopefully this one won't be quite so short. =)
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_
Rachel kept herself composed. Quinn Fabray and Mr. Schuester did not need to see the war raging inside her body. She was much too professional to display her emotions in such a way.
Mr. Schue shot Quinn a disapproving look. "Quinn, name calling is not really necessary. If you and Rachel are going to be working together then I would really appreciate you attempting to be a little bit nicer."
Rachel takes a deep breath and crosses her arms carefully in front of herself. "Mr. Schuester, I can promise you that I will always put Glee club before anything else in my life any time that it is needed of me. But I really do not seem to comprehend how me being forced into working with Quinn Fabray of all people would benefit our club. So I will have to politely refuse this particular assignment."
Quinn and Mr. Schuester both looked equally shocked. "Are you saying you don't want to sing this song at Regionals? As in you're turning down a big part?" Quinn asked, disbelief apparent in her voice.
Mr. Schue places his hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Rachel, I know that you and Quinn have had some differences-" His hand falls to his side as Rachel jerks away from him.
"Have you ever been slushied, Mr. Schuester?" Rachel interjects. Her unforgiving stare switches back and forth between Mr. Schue's eyes and the side of Quinn's head; the Cheerio seems unable to meet her gaze.
"Have you ever spent hours at home scrubbing brightly colored beverages out of your favorite argyle sweater that your fathers bought you for Hannukah?" Rachel turns away from the apologetic look on Mr. Schuester's face, realizing the vulnerability she has shown.
Rachel takes a deep breath and holds her head high. "So yes, I'm turning down this part. There are other talented girls in Glee club who can handle the stress of this song, and I hope this decision does not affect our chances at winning Regionals, because I still believe we have a strong set. Thank you for the offer Mr. Schuester, but no. I will see you at Glee rehearsals after school." And with a short nod at Mr. Schue, and a glance in Quinn's direction, she was gone.
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)
Rachel normally spent her lunch periods reviewing sheet music in the choir room, but today she stood next to her locker with nowhere to go. If she goes to the choir room, that opens her up to being intercepted by Mr. Schue, and him attempting to talk her into singing that duet with Quinn Fabray.
Rachel was still insulted. The idea that she work solely with the person she trusted least in all of Glee club. In all of school, really. Every moment she spent around Quinn she was on guard. Waiting for the next insult, waiting for the next rude name, waiting for the next slushie. At first she was insulted that Quinn seemed to suddenly develop an extreme dislike of her, and was hurt by every insult or slushie or fettuccine alfredo that was thrown in her face. She spent a lot of time after school crying in her room their Freshman year. Her fathers had helped her understand that the popular girl was just trying to fit in, and probably didn't really hate Rachel. She had worked this information over and over in her head for weeks before realizing that it was probably true.
She then began to analyze Quinn Fabray. She saw the look in her eyes when she called Rachel names. She saw that same look when she threw slushies, or watched others do the same. And Rachel understood. She had written a short essay about it in her journal the day that Quinn first adopted the nickname "Man Hands".
High school is a very trying time in the lives of today's teenagers. They must not only discover the identity that they need to fit in, but must also succeed in school to achieve their lifelong dreams and get into a college or university of their choice. Quinn Fabray is a particularly good example of the term "lost soul". She has found what she wants to do in her life, but sees no other way to achieve her goals without putting me, and others down. She must fight for her social status in order to succeed in her extra-curricular activies (i.e. The Cheerios). So, if we look at her actions as a desperate attempt to achieve her dreams, we see that they are, in fact, forgivable.
And Rachel kept that thought running through her head day after day, everytime Quinn did something that hurt her. But as time went on, she found the strain of trying to achieve her goals, with the added stress of Quinn using Rachel to achieve hers, too much to handle.
And that was when Rachel Berry began to pity Quinn Fabray. It was the end of their freshman year, and Rachel was perfectly happy with her life. But she could clearly see that Quinn was not. And she found that very sad.
She thought it was quite unfortunate that Quinn couldn't use her positive traits to achieve her popularity in a nice way. She was beautiful (Rachel could never deny that), she was once kind, and she could sing. Not that Quinn talked about that often. It was really only because they were once at the same Karaoke restaurant that Rachel even knew about Quinn's talent.
But then Quinn auditioned for Glee, and they were around one another more often. Rachel saw Quinn fake happiness day after day, and continued to pity her. She was surrounded by people who would accept her whether she was popular or not, yet she still could not be herself.
*SLAM* Someone slammed their locker down the hall and Rachel was shaken from her thoughts. She grabs her journal and walks to the library. It seems like her journal is filled to the brim with thoughts of Quinn Fabray, yet she could always think of something new to write about the blonde haired cheerleader.
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)
Quinn was hiding from Finn when she ducked into the library. When she saw Rachel Berry sitting at a small table in the corner she ducked between some shelves and cursed quietly to herself. Hide from one demon and run into another.
She couldn't listen to Finn talk anymore. He was sweet, it's true. But he was so…dumb. She could handle feigning stupidity for some time, but after a while she had to escape. She could usually hide out in the library and read, because no one would ever think to look for her there. But no, of course, Berry had to steal that from her.
She figured Berry was hiding from Mr. Schue after this morning's confrontation. She wondered if should go talk to the dark haired diva.
She laughed to herself. That's the name she'd given Berry in her head when she first joined Glee club. Everytime the 'dark haired diva' struck, it meant trouble. But with only four months to Regionals, they didn't really have time for Berry to throw her fit and get this out of her system. They had to get to work. She took a deep breath and straightened her Cheerios uniform, right as the bell rings. She watches the singer run from the library to get to class and wonders why Rachel Berry wears so much argyle. She's almost pretty.
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)
Even though she was still upset with Mr. Schuester, Rachel still planned to be the first person to Glee rehearsal. She felt responsible for setting the standard for the rest of the club members. They've become accustomed to being greeted by her smiling face sitting in the front row, she can't let them down.
But she halts outside the door when she hears a voice inside the room. She's usually waiting for at least five minutes before any other Glee club members arrive, who could have gotten there before her?
The voice stops, and she slowly pushes the door open to peek and see who's beaten her for once. She sees a hand press play on a CD player, and Quinn Fabray steps into view.
Rachel rolls her eyes, and is ready to walk away when she hears Quinn begin to sing. Something always brings me back to you, it never takes too long.
Rachel hesitates before opening the door a sliver more, to get a better view of Quinn's performance. As she sings, Rachel loses all feelings of hatred and just listens. She's never had the opportunity to just sit and listen to Quinn's voice before. It's beautiful.
Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Rachel sees emotion in Quinn's movement. Her posture shows the pain of the words she sings, and Rachel realizes that this…this is Quinn Fabray. Not the mask shown to McKinley High School everyday. This hurting person was the real Quinn. Before she knows it, Rachel is walking into the room.
If she'd turned around, she'd have seen Mr. Schue keeping the rest of the Glee club from entering the choir room, whispering "Let them talk!"
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)
You loved me cause I'm fragile, when I thought that I was strong. But you touch me for a little while, and all my fragile strength is gone.
Quinn doesn't notice Rachel immediately. Rachel takes slow, quiet steps, staying behind Quinn-in complete awe of her voice.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me
Rachel knows this song. She knows the big finale, and she realizes that she's never heard Quinn sing anything of that magnitude. When Quinn belts the word "down" and the song comes to an end, Rachel is completely stunned. She doesn't even move when Quinn turns around.
But if she thought that she was stunned before, Quinn shocked her even more when she wasn't angry to see Rachel standing there. And the words spoken by the cheerleader weren't what she expected at all, either.
"Why don't you want to sing with me?"
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)
)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)
=D
So, what'd you all think? I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Exploring the minds of these characters is more exciting than I thought.
Someone asked me in a review if I was going to make Quinn pregnant or not. I honestly am not quite sure yet. I know how the story will end, and that end can happen with pregnant Quinn or not pregnant Quinn. So we'll see when we get there!
I wasn't planning on having updates every day, that's just how it seemed to happen with the first two. It's summer, I've got no job, I've got time on my hands! Haha. Just letting you know that's not necessarily my plan so you don't get too upset if there aren't updates daily.
Please review and let me know what you thought! I'm not sure how the bit with the song went, so feedback would be awesome. Thanks so much. =)