Disclaimer: I don't even own my car, let alone these wonderful characters. I do however own the ideas and characterizations herein. Please respect that.
A/N: Set after "Sectionals", with the exception that Finn never found out about Puck being the baby's father. That's all that's changed, they still won, and there shouldn't be any spoilers past "Sectionals". The story will switch back and forth between Rachel's and Pucks POV, but it should be obvious which one is telling the story at any given moment.
All reviews (good, bad, ugly) are appreciated.
"Well this is just wonderful." Rachel said to herself. Her bed was covered in an array of blouses, and skirts, all having been tried on and tossed aside. Rachel simply stood at her closet, tapping her foot impatiently, trying desperately to find something perfect to wear for the party tonight. She had to look perfect. More perfect than usual, anyway. She had a personal invitation, and Santana had said that Finn would be there. Oh, there went the butterflies again.
"Calm yourself, Rachel." She whispered, "This is nothing more than any other social outing. You are prepared for this. And besides, anything you wear, you'll stun them all." Sighing, she picked out a gray Burberry sweatshirt and a black skirt that fell right above her knees. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.
The house was already full when Rachel arrived, but she took that as a good omen. She had thought that maybe she was being set up, but a full house meant that there was an actual party. She brushed off her skirt before getting out of her car, and made sure her hair was still falling in gentle curls in her visor mirror. Walking up to the door, she spotted Santana and Brittney on the front porch. Brittney looked surprised at first to see her, but her face quickly turned into a grin as Rachel approached. Santana came towards Rachel, a cup in her hand.
"Hey, I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up!" Santana yelled, "What took you so long?"
"I was getting ready." Rachel muttered. Brittney smiled and Santana laughed.
"This isn't a dinner party. Nobody here cares what you look like." Brittney said. They threw their arms around Rachel. "Come on; let's get you something to drink!" Santana said.
They led Rachel into the kitchen, where some of the football team was standing around a big, silver, metallic barrel. Rachel wondered to herself what it could be, but Santana quickly drug her over to the island in the center.
"Pick your poison." Rachel looked around at the bottles placed around the room.
"Um, well, could I just have a glass of orange juice? With Regionals coming up, I wouldn't want to harm my voice with a soda."
"You just want… orange juice?" Santana raised an eyebrow.
"Yes please." Santana rolled her eyes.
"Alright. Suit yourself." Brittney grabbed a hold of her arm then, and started pulling her away from the kitchen.
"Come on. There's some, uh, stuff going on in the basement. Let's go see what it is."
"But my…"
"She'll bring it down. Come on, let's go have some fun!" Rachel was unsure, but allowed Brittney to pull her down the stairs. The basement was full of boys in letter jackets, and girls in Cheerios uniforms. In fact, Rachel didn't see anyone who wasn't in the McKinley school colors. Nor did she see anyone she specifically recognized. This made her feel uncomfortable, and a tad bit overdressed.
Brittney sat her down on a sofa where some boys were playing a video game with guitars. Then she started to walk away.
"Wait!" Rachel started to get up, but Brittney pushed her back down.
"Stay put. Santana will be down soon. I just want to, um, to see if, um, you know. See who's here. Stay put." Then she ran off. Rachel stared off after her, and then looked around the room. She wished that she had something to do with her hands, or something to sing at least, to calm her nerves. She started to tug at her skirt but that got boring quickly. She began to watch the game being played. It looked interesting, even if the boys were far from extraordinary at playing, and she thought that perhaps she could be successful at the game. She opened her mouth to ask, and then shut it again. She only had one outfit with her tonight, and she didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself and chance that someone might be drinking a slushie. After the boys had played five songs on the game, Rachel got up to find Santana, but she came down the stairs then with a red cup in her hand.
"Sorry, got caught up. Where'd Brittney go?" She handed the cup to Rachel.
"She said she was going to see who was here." Rachel put her cup up to her lips. The smell knocked her back. "What is this?"
"Orange juice. Drink up. I had to go to the gas station to get it especially for you, and I'm not too happy about it."
"It smells funny." Santana rolled her eyes again.
"Yeah, it's that new brand. They use, um, a new hybrid of oranges. It smells weird, and tastes kind of funny, but it's so good for you! Sue makes us drink it all the time, cause, um, it makes you have all this energy, and stuff." Rachel wrinkled her nose. "Just friggin drink the juice, Rachel." She nodded, and took a deep breath.
"Is it easier to drink if you plug your nose?" Santana's eyes widened and she nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh absolutely! I should have told you that!" Rachel smiled, plugged her nose, and took a drink. It tasted horrible, and it burnt her throat, but she got it down. Santana was grinning ear to ear, so Rachel smiled back and took a bigger drink this time, still making sure to plug her nose. It wasn't as bad the second time. Brittney and a couple other people had gathered around her, and they all were smiling and laughing.
"Do I look funny plugging my nose when I drink?" She asked. Santana nodded again.
"Yeah. I haven't met many people who can do that. It's pretty funny. You should drink all of it that way! You should totally chug it!" Rachel looked down at the floor, unsure.
"I don't know, I think I'll just sip on it for a little while. Maybe I'll get used to the taste."
"Aww, come on. It'll be fun. Look, I'll drink all of mine with you. We'll have a race. Okay?" Rachel smiled then, and nodded.
"Alright." She replied. A few more people had gathered around them, and Santana met all of their eyes before counting down.
"You ready?" She asked. Rachel nodded. "One, two, three!" Rachel closed her eyes, plugged her nose and started chugging down her drink, trying to get it down as quickly as possible without choking on it. She finished it, and looked over at Santana for approval. Santana was laughing loudly.
"I declare a rematch!" she yelled. "Rachel cheated!"
"I did not!" Rachel yelled back. Everyone laughed.
"Well, I want a rematch anyway! I'll be right back with drinks." Rachel looked around at the people who had been watching. They all seemed to be in good spirits, and nobody was really paying attention to her. She wandered over to the game again, and watched. The two boys playing now were much better, and the dots came much faster. She was enthralled watching them play, and almost didn't hear Santana yelling her name.
"Rachel!"
"Hmmm?" She turned to face her.
"Come on. We've got a captive audience for our rematch!" Rachel laughed, and walked with Santana back to the edge of the room, where lots and lots of people were standing around with expectant looks on their faces. Brittney handed another cup to Rachel, and then one to Santana.
"I expect a clean match." Brittney said. Everyone laughed. "Ready?" Both girls nodded. "Go!" Once again, Rachel plugged her nose and started drinking. It was easier this time, almost like her throat was numb, and Rachel easily got the entire drink down. When she opened her eyes, the room started to spin a little bit, but soon settled back into place. Everyone was laughing, including Santana.
"Did I lose?" Rachel asked. Santana laughed again.
"Nope. You won fair and square." Rachel beamed. She's always liked winning. She slammed the cup down on an end table near her and raised her hands in victory. The crowd hollered for her, and many of them raised their glasses. Rachel felt like she might have actually found a few friends. Then the room started spinning again. Her smile faded, and she tilted her head sideways.
"Let's dance!" Santana said. Rachel nodded, but couldn't quite figure out why she was so dizzy. She hadn't even noticed there was music playing, and that was usually the first thing she noticed. Santana dragged her back upstairs, literally, since she tripped over three or four steps going up. They went into what would be a family room, and sure enough, there was a sound system playing a thumping rhythm. It wouldn't have been Rachel's first choice, but she started to dance anyway, using the choreography Mr. Shue had taught them just that day.
"Not like that! Ugh!" Santana shouted over the music. "Move your hips back and forth. Yeah. And do hip circles every now and then. Good." Rachel didn't think that this was really dancing, but everyone else seemed to be doing it. And so she did it too. She noticed the room was still spinning, and it was starting to make her a little nauseas, but every time she tried to tell Santana, the Cheerio just shook her head, and said she couldn't hear Rachel.
"I think I'm… I'm going to…" Santana shook her head.
"You're fine. Just close your eyes and dance."
"I need some cold air." Santana grinned ear to ear.
"Get up on that table near the fan. There should be plenty of air up there." Rachel laughed, and with Santana's help, crawled up on the table. "Dance!" Santana said. There were boys around the table. They were yelling for her. She laughed and started dancing like Santana taught her to. They yelled louder.
"Take off your shirt!" One yelled. She was beginning to get overheated, so she did. All the boys started whooping and chanting her name. She liked this. This was fun. She continued to dance, and a couple boys start handing her money. She wondered why, but soon the boys started trying to grab for her legs. She did not like that. She tried to move away, but they are all around the table. Santana pushed her back towards the center. Rachel wanted to get down. She was scared and felt very nauseas and she wanted to get down. The room spun faster, so she closed her eyes, and hoped it would go away. She lost her balance, and fell into a strong set of arms. The boys all groaned and Rachel felt something get thrown on top of her.
"Put your shirt back on." A gruff voice told her.
"But I'm hot." She replied. She was shocked at how slurred her words are.
"That's not the point, Berry. Put your clothes on." Rachel opened her eyes to find herself in Noah Puckerman's arms. She started to wiggle to get down, but he just tightened his grip.
"Put me down!" She demanded. "I want to go back to my friends!"
"Friends, huh?" They were outside now, and he set her down on the grass. "How're you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy, that's all."
"Uh huh. How bout you lay down for a minute, see if that helps." Rachel started to protest, but he leant over her, pushed her back into the grass, and she immediately felt better.
"The stars are so pretty." She said, looking up at his standing form. "You're so pretty."
"Right. I need to go back in for a second. Don't move." She nodded. "Promise?"
"I promise. I like the stars. I'm going to be one someday." He chuckled and she watched him go back inside.