Rachel

"Rachel, we're waiting on you..." I heard my father passive aggressively say from the living room.

"Coming…" I replied.

It was no secret I had a soft spot for the dramatics. And so, every time I was about go on a trip, I liked having a private moment to say goodbye to my room, like I was living a part of me behind.

I mean, no hotel room could have the comfort of my bed, or the smell I cultivated between the four walls that sheltered me. And the mural I made with cut off photos of my divas, such as Barbra, Patti and Liza, that symbolized my destiny of one day reaching the stardom I was bound to reach, being on three different Broadway productions, being nominated for all three of them for a Tony. Now, I won't be unrealistic and say I'll win all of them. No, I will fairly loose the first one, win the second one, and unfairly lose my third, which will make my fans really furious online.

But the thing I would miss the most was my boyfriend, Finn Hudson. I had a different mural for him. Only pictures of him, or us, or stuff that symbolized our relationship. We've come a long way, Finn and I. When I met him, he was dating the most popular girl on our school, Quinn Fabray. How cliché, I know. The looser girl falling for the popular guy dating the blond cheerleader. Well, but that's just how things go in my life. It was not just that I appreciated the drama, but drama seemed to follow me everywhere I'd go. Anyway, after a lot of holes in the way, we finally found out what was right in front of our eyes the whole time, that we belonged together. And no matter how much we tried to fight it, every road we took would eventually lead us to one another.

I may have lost a regional championship, that would take me to a national championship, which would, eventually, made a difference for my résumé when applying to the top theater schools on the country, but, you know what? I didn't care. Because I found something better, Love. And because my résumé is already really impressive with all the dance, singing and acting competition I kept winning since I was three months old. And, also, I was captain of sixteen other different clubs. And because I would still have two more years of high school to compete and win nationals with my glee club. And now that me and Finn were together there would be no more confused feelings on the way, and we could focus on being the great duo of leaders that we were towards our fellow, poor, lost, glee-clubbers.

They might not realize it, but I was the greatest shot they had of going further on our competitions. And being a leader, and even more so, a star, meant being able to make sacrifices. Sure, I sacrificed my likeability to try and perfect every single move I made towards my journey to Broadway, and if I had to work with other people while walking the road, I would put them on the same don't-stop-till-it's-perfect regime I put myself in, it would only be fair. If they would call me bossy and annoying for being that way, so be it. I found a silver lining on the fact that they would thank me later on.

But, anyway, I'm getting off track here. Finn. This summer was supposed to be about us. I had a schedule on hand, to educate him on the magic of Broadway and all the iconic musicals that helped me build my character. I wasn't doing that only to give him some culture. I was doing it to help him understand me, and my goals and dreams. Finn didn't dream big, as a matter of fact, I didn't know if he dreamt at all. I knew the only thing he thought about was when would I let him touch my boobs. Not that there was any pressure on his side. He was really respectful of my wants and needs, and that was, not let any man have sex with me till I got married. Or, at least, till I reached my stardom. It was my top priority. The romantic stuff would have to wait till I got at least one tony. And Finn understood that, luckily. And my summer should be spent on spending time with my perfect boyfriend, and preparing myself for when school started, I could be even better than last year, for glee club, I mean. But no, one of my dads had to win a trip for the whole family at work. So now, the summer I spent planning would have to be cut in half.

And where would I go? Somewhere magical, that breathed culture, and where my future would be waving at me on every corner, like New York City? No! I was going to Disneyland! Disneyland! A full grown, sixteen-year-old woman like me shouldn't be wasting time on such banalities, like rollercoasters or cartoon characters, where I was sure to breath the smell of burgers, and step on vomit with every step I took. Unfortunately, my dads made me go.

Maybe you're wondering why I keep saying "my dads" all the time. I guess I should explain I was raised by a gay couple, Hiram and Leroy, and, to this day, we didn't know who gave birth to me, which I think was magical. They were caring, loving, and always provided me with everything I needed to sing a Funny Girl song on a Broadway stage one day.

I never knew who my birth mom was until a couple months ago, when she searched for me, even put one of her students to pretend to date me, so she could meet me. Oh yes, here is the part I explain that my birth mother was the director of the show choir rival to mine. Like I said, the drama followed me around. And if you're confused reading this; no, I wasn't adopted. When I say "birth mother" I mean the surrogate that provided her womb for my fathers. She came looking for me, and then outright said to my face that she didn't want me in her life, or as a part of her family. It was pretty traumatic, but thankfully, soon after, Finn and me got together and he helped me move on.

"Goodbye, Finn." I said, to a picture of my boyfriend on the mural I made him, kissing on my hand, and touching his forehead with it.

"Rachel, let's go! Your boyfriend is here!" My other dad shouted this time.

"Finn…?" A smile appeared in my face hearing those words.

I picked up my pink suitcase and slowly got down the stairs. Reaching to the bottom floor, I saw my fathers really impatient with me, but my eyes could only focus on the tall, dark haired man, standing there, looking at me.

"Hey, Rach..." He said, waving his hand. "I know we said our goodbyes yesterday and all, but I wanted to see you before you went to the airport and all… I didn't know if you'd be here, but I decided to test my luck…"

"Well, you should be lucky this one decided to make us wait like there was no tomorrow today…" My dad, Hiram, said, acidly. I rolled my eyes with that comment, still smiling at my boyfriend.

"Thank you for coming…" I walked to him. "You really are a great boyfriend." I said, and pulled him closer, to a kiss.

"Okay, lovey birds, the cab is waiting outside, let's go!" My father shouted, again, making me and Finn end our kiss, but keep on smiling to one another.

"I'll walk you outside." He said, and gave me his hand so we could get out of the house. I was so lucky to find such a gentleman.

Finn, winning nationals, New York, Broadway… Everything on my life was already planned to head a certain wait. And there was nothing that was going to make me change that.

…

Sam

"Let me help you with that, my lady." I said to my sister, carrying her suitcase down the stairs.

"Okay everyone, say goodbye to our house. This is the last time we're going to see it." My father said.

"Dad, don't talk like that… Is so depressing…"

"Don't be sad, Sammy. The house we're going to live in in Lima is way bigger than this one." My mom secured me.

"I don't want to move!" My young brother shouted.

"Oh, not this again! Dwight, say something…" Complained my mother.

"Oh, come on, Stevie. It's going to be cool in our new house. It's a new city, new school, new friends…" My father tried to lighten the mood.

"It would be cool if, like, we actually had a chance to say goodbye to our house that we lived in since like, forever, and not just go to a trip and then simply never come back to it, again." Now I was the one complaining.

I lived in Tennessee with my parents, Dwight and Mary, and my two little twin siblings, Stevie and Stacey for pretty much my whole life. But my dad's company decided to transfer him, to Ohio. So now, we were going to a small town in the middle of nowhere, called Lima. The reason my dad chose that town, however, was because my aunt Carol lived there, so it was better to be with family than in a random small town in the middle of nowhere, I guess.

I wasn't very popular on school, never was, really. Even after I decided to put my day's as a chubby kid behind me, hitting the gym every day after class so I could keep the rocking body I had now, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Maybe it was because I'm dyslexic, so I never got any confidence to pull off because of it. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was a bit of a nerd, obsessed with comic books and science fiction. I knew all the linings from The Empire Strikes Back from start to finish, and was memorizing the ones from Avatar. You see what I mean? This doesn't make much for one's reputation. One of the silver linings of the situation was just that; at least I could rebuild my image from scratch, try to be amongst the popular kid for once. The other was it would be a mixed school and not a only boy's school, like my old one.

I had already decided to try out for the football team on my new school, and worked harder on my exercise routine and diet, to get even hotter, if I do say so myself. But, also, the main change I made was when I bleached my hair with lemonade. My mom was really angry at me for a week or so after that. My dad was cool about it, luckily.

They were really different, my parents. My mother was the typical rich, white, wife. She came from a rich family, and didn't work at all. She was also very catholic and made sure my siblings and I were raised with religion on our house. She always seemed very tense to me, always trying to make everything look perfect. And she could be really harsh because of it. My father was more liberal, he just wanted us to be happy. He was a hippie in his young years, which I think it's, at the same time, really funny and really cool. He worked for a travelling agency specialized in flights across the country, which I think was why my mom married him. Not that I don't think they didn't love each other, but if my father was still his hippie self when they met, she wouldn't settle for him, no matter how her feelings were.

"Oh, why did you have to say that, Sam? Now your sister is crying!" My mother snapped at me.

"I'm sorry…"

"Quick, do something! Tell her one of your bad jokes, or whatever…"

What my mom was referring to was my signature move, my jokes. Some people would tell they were pretty bad, but I thought of them more like misunderstood gems. Another impressive thing I was really good at? Impressions. They were amazing, not meaning to brag about it.

"Hey, Stacey. Look…" I kneeled down in front of her. "It's my Gaston impression: When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs/Every morning to help me get large/And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs/So I'm roughly the size of a barge!" I started to sing just like the Disney cartoon, which made my little sister starting to laugh in no time. I told you I was good! Beauty and The Beast was her all-time favorite movie, and after watching it so many times with her, I could now deliver impressions from all sort of characters.

"Guys, our cab just arrived!" My father announced.

"Quick everyone, let's all pick up our bags!" I tried to cheer up my brother and sister. "Last one to get to the cab is a looser!"

All three of us grabbed our suitcases, and ran to the door, living my mom behind, complaining about the fuss we were making. After putting the luggage on the taxi's trunk, my dad entered the front sit and me and the kids sat on the back one.

"Hey, guys, one of you will have to go on my lap, so mom can sit…"

"I'll go on your lap, Sammy…" Stacey pronounced herself. "Hey, mom was the last one to get in the car…" She noticed, as my mother closed the door.

"Mom is a looser…" I joked, even though my mother didn't seem very happy about it. "Now, let's all say goodbye to our house. Bye house!"

"Bye house!" My siblings and dad said, in unison.

"Sam, can you please sing a song for us?" Stevie asked.

"Oh crap! I forgot to bring my guitar!"

"Sam, language." My mother called my attention, reading for my magazine.

"Don't worry, Sam, everything we didn't bring will be picked up by the moving truck two weeks from now. Mrs. Elderstine has our keys, so she will open for them."

"I know dad, I just sort of wanted to bring it with me."

"Oh, but you can sing without your guitar, can't you?" My sister asked.

"Of course I can."

And so, I started to sing to Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, by Wham!, as the cab drove to the airport so we could go to Disneyland.

I, however, was more excited to what would come next, after the trip. New state, new house, new school. My life was about to make a 360-degree turn, or was it a 180? I always confused myself with those things…