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Chapter 2
Rachel woke with a start. Her forehead was dripping with sweat and she was breathing hard, as if she had just ran a marathon. She grimace and held her pregnant belly as she tried to sit up and catch her breath. She ran her hand through her hair. Another bad dream. She had been having those a lot for the past few months, but these were different than the others. They were dark and full of fear and death. She didn't understand any of it.
Once she got her bearings together, she decided to head outside for some air. She slowly got out of bed, putting on a comfortable pair of pants and shoes. After putting on her jacket, it tends to be pretty cold out in the mornings, she goes outside.
As she steps out of the trailer, the cool breeze ran across her face. She inhaled the fresh sent of the air. She takes a seat on the swing set. She takes a moment to herself just thinking. Thinking about anything. Life, her pregnancy, her dreams, the future. Just everything.
She doesn't know how long she was there thinking, because soon she heard the door to the trailer open and out stepped her best friend and local mechanic, Brittany.
Rachel has known Brittany for a long time. Since they were kids really. Brittany's family took Rachel and her father, Leroy, in after a tragic house fire took everything from them. Including Rachel's other father, Hiram Berry and Leroy's left hand. Since meeting, Brittany has had this idea that she was suppose to protect Rachel and keep her from harm. In Brittany's own way, she saw that, even though they were the same age, Brittany was bigger than Rachel, so that meant she was to protect her. Like an older sister. Rachel never had the heart to tell her otherwise so she just went with it.
"Rach" Brittany calls out softly, not wanting to startle the tiny brunette.
Rachel turns at the soft sound of her name.
"Oh hey Britt. What are you doing awake?" Rachel asks softly, not wanting to wake the others up.
"I could ask you the same thing." was Brittany's reply. Rachel chuckles, inviting Brittany to take a seat in the swing next to her.
"This little one here…" she says rubbing across her pregnant belly. "…wouldn't stop kicking all night. Guess he knows something I don't huh." Rachel says. Brittany nods. "And..."
"And what?" Brittany encourages.
Rachel takes a moment before looking at Brittany. Rachel didn't have to say anything, because Brittany just knew.
"Another bad dream." Brittany says. Rachel's face turned sad and troubled as she nods her head. Brittany nods in understanding. Rachel's always had bad dreams. From the fire to…the party and how she became pregnant, but lately she's been having some very unexplainable ones. Brittany remembers the first time Rachel had one of her bad dreams. She woke up crying and sobbing uncontrollably. Brittany would always hold her until she was ready to tell her what happen. Rachel could never explain it, just told her what happen and start sobbing again.
Since the beginning of these unexplainable dreams, Rachel has gotten used to them, waking up in deep sweats and stayed awake till her breathing calmed down, but it didn't make them any less scary. Rachel was just glad she had Brittany there for her when she needed her. She's always been there for her and to support her. Lord knows Rachel owes this girl everything.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Brittany asks.
Rachel thinks for a moment before shaking her head. "No, not really…n-not that I don't want too. It's just…I don't know how to explain it." Rachel explains when she saw the sad look on her friend's face.
"Oh okay…was it about the flying people again?" Brittany asks.
"Flying people?" Rachel asks confused. She'd thought after all the years of knowing Brittany, she'd master 'Brittanesse' by now. "Oh…um…yes and no I guess."
Brittany nods her head. "Maybe they're just big dragonflies up really really close. I know how you don't like those." Brittany says.
"Maybe, Britt." Rachel says with a small smile. "Okay now you never told me why you're up so early." Rachel says hoping to take the subject off of her for a moment.
"Oh, I saw you were up so I just came to check on you. See if you were okay." Brittany shrugs.
"Thank you." Rachel says with a small smile. "It's probably just stress. With everything going on." Rachel says looking down at her pregnant belly.
"Oh…so have you thought about it?" Rachel looks at her. "You know…what you're going to do after the baby's born?"
"Oh well…I-I don't know…I couldn't live with giving up my baby, but there's no way I could take care of him living here." Rachel says looking around the desert trailer park. "And…I don't know. Maybe I'm not ready to be a mother just yet."
"Oh you totally are." Brittany quickly says. Rachel looks at with a raised eyebrow. "You're caring and sweet and you always look out for the people you love. So you're totally ready." Brittany says. Rachel looks stunned. "And maybe…maybe you should…leave." Brittany says. Rachel turns sharply to Brittany. "Maybe you could leave and go to New York like you've always wanted too. Go to that…Broadway thing that you always talked about. And you don't have to do it alone. I'll totally go with you and help out." Brittany rambles.
Rachel looks stunned at first, then a small sad smile comes on her face.
"That's very thoughtful, Britt, but don't think Broadway's in my future anymore." both girl's faces dropped. "Besides I couldn't possibly leave daddy." Rachel says.
"Oh" Brittany says sadly. The girls are silent for a moment, before Brittany stands up. "I guess I'll head back to bed. You should come, get a little bit more sleep." Brittany says.
"Uh yea, I'll be there in a moment. Maybe little man will be sleep by that time." Rachel gives a half smile.
"Okay." Brittany says before walking to the trailer, but stops and turns back to Rachel. "Hey Rach…" Rachel turns to look at her friend. "You have enough on you. You shouldn't have to worry about everyone else, worry about yourself…just…don't hold the world on your shoulders. Okay Rach." Brittany says. Dumbfounded, Rachel nods her head and Brittany heads back inside the trailer.
Rachel sits at the swings thinking about what Brittany said before soon joining her, hoping to get some more sleep.
Later that morning, at Paradise Diner, business was booming…well not really. There was actually only three people there, and that's not including the staff.
Leroy Berry, part owner of this fine establishment and Rachel's father was in the kitchen working on the food orders. He look over and couldn't help but chuckle at the co owner and one of his good friends and business partner Will Shuester messing with the diner tv.
"I swear, Will one of these days that tv is going to hit you back." Leroy jokes.
"Oh nonsense Lee, me and the tv here…we have a special relationship…OW!" Will shouts after getting shocked after touching two wires.
Leroy laughs. "Yea, they got a special name for those kind of relationships." Leroy teases.
"Oh hardy har har." Will says dryly before going back to fixing the tv.
Not far from them, in one of the booths near the door, was an arguing couple. Well the man was arguing, the woman just sat there with a bored expression in her face as she listened to her husband rant. The man sighed.
"It's just ridiculous." the man says.
"What is dear?" the woman asks, slightly not interested in what he was talking about. She's used to his complaining by now, she just likes to humor him.
"That…her." He points to a teenage girl standing by the jukebox, wearing a skimpy black skirt, and tiny tank top that almost barely covered her body, and a pair of black heeled sandals. "I mean really. Did she really have to dress like that? How can she be okay with coming out of the house looking like that?" the man rants.
"I don't know Russell. Why don't you ask her." the woman said. Russell gave his wife a look. The woman smirks at her husband before turning to address her daughter. "Katy sweetie…"
"Judy, don't…" Russell warns his wife, but she ignores him.
"…your father would like to know if you had any intention of showing off your ass to the world this morning." Judy asks.
"Judy…" Russell scolds his wife who looked nothing, but amused.
The young blonde turns to face her parents.
"Actually I just woke up with the hopes of getting gang banged by a group of sweaty truckers and thugs. It's a good thing we stop here." Katy says with a smirk.
Russell looks repulsed, while Judy turns with a shrug.
"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty satisfied with that answer." Judy says.
Russell shakes his head. "I'm being punished. That has to be it. God is punishing me." Russell says. Judy can't help but roll her eyes. Her husband can be so dramatic sometimes. "How can you be okay with her dressing like some…hussy?" Russell spats.
Judy sighs. "Of course I'm not okay with her dressing like that. But there's nothing we can do about it. She's fourteen Russ, she's in her rebellious stage. If we try to stop her it'll just get worse. She's just going through a phase. She'll get over it soon." Judy says.
Russell just looks from his wife to his daughter and just shakes his head. He doesn't understand where he went wrong with her. Sometimes he really missed his little Lucy. She would never act like this.
Brittany and Rachel were outside the diner talking when a man with a Mohawk hair due walks up to them.
"Uh excuse me?" he says. The two stop talking and look at him. "Can you help me? I'm a little lost." When the girls nod, he steps closer, showing the map he pulled from his jacket pocket. "Can you tell me if I'm here?"
Brittany looks at the map, but gets confused and looks to Rachel. Rachel smiles at her before looking back at the man and shaking her head.
"No, I'm sorry. You're not even close." Rachel answers.
"Seriously?" they nods. "Shit…oh sorry." He says when he notices Rachel's pregnant belly.
Rachel chuckles at him. "It's okay."
"Do you have a phone around here? One that actually works?" he says looking at the pay phone outside that probably hasn't worked in years.
"Yea there's one inside. Will might let you use it, if you pay him." Rachel says as she was about to guide him to the diner.
"Uh you guys go ahead. I have something in the garage to finish." Brittany says before jogging off to the garage.
"Okay." Rachel says to her retreating friend. She turns to the guy and nods her head towards the diner before walking. The guy follows her.
"Puck" the guy says. Rachel looks at him confused. "My name. It's Puck." he says again. She still a little confused. Who would name their child Puck? "Actually it's Noah, but I go by Puck. Puckerman's my last name." He explains.
Rachel now nods her understanding. "Oh, well nice to meet you, Puck. I'm Rachel." Rachel says.
"So…how far are you?" the man asks, making conversation.
Rachel looks up at him. "Oh…8 months." she answers.
"Cool. I have a kid myself. She's 3." he says.
"Really? But…you're so young." Rachel says shocked. The man didn't look any older than 22 or 23.
"Thanks, you're not so old yourself." the man smirks. Rachel blushes. "Yea. I just wish I could see her more. I mean she's my little girl you know." he says sadly. Rachel looks up at him with a heavy heart. Is that what it would feel like if she gave her child away? As she looks like she was about to say something, she noticed that they had just arrived inside the diner.
Inside, a very frustrated Russell approaches Will.
"Excuse me can you please me when my car will be ready. My family and I have been waiting for 2 hours now. We have somewhere very important to be." Russell says.
Will was about to say something when he heard the sound of the door opening. He turned to find Rachel walking in with some guy behind her. Russell watches as the man looked over at his daughter, who wasn't exactly shying away from the attention either. Russell lets out a growl and glares at the young man.
"Excuse me one moment sir." Will says heading over to the girl. "Rachel orders are stacking up…" Will says. Rachel looks at him before looking around the diner noting that there weren't many people. She looks back at him with a raised eyebrow. "…just get to work." Will says. Rachel rolls her eyes, heading over to kiss her daddy on the cheek before getting to work. "Were you outside this whole time? You know it's not safe to be out in the cold in your condition Rachel." Will says.
"Will look where she is, do you really think her condition is getting any worse." Leroy jumps in. Rachel stiffen her laughter that was about to come out. Leroy also chuckles. Though he could be a little much sometimes, Rachel did love Will. He was like a third father to her. She knew he was only looking out for her.
"Sir really, do you know when my car will be ready?" Russell asks.
"I'll go check on Brittany." Leroy says wiping his hand off with the towel.
He walks to the garage. When he gets there, he saw the jeep with the hood up but no Brittany. He saw her over by the construction table. She looked as if she was working on something. Leroy clears his throat to get her attention. Brittany jumps when she heard that she had a visitor.
"The hood is up on this car, you know what that means don't you." Leroy says. Brittany looks like a deer caught in headlights. Leroy sighs. "Brittany, what are you doing? Really what is so important that you have to neglect your job?" asks Leroy ask he steps closer to Brittany seeing what she was doing.
"Nothing" Brittany tries to say before Leroy got close, but it was too late. Leroy saw that she was trying to fix up an old baby's crib. Most likely for Rachel. Leroy sighs before looking up at Brittany.
"Britt, what are you doing? What's going on with you? You're not focused and you space out more than usual. What's going on?" Leroy asks concerned.
Brittany takes a moment just looking at Leroy before sighing.
"Okay. I haven't told Rachel about this, but…I've been having these…dreams. Lately. About Rachel." Leroy looks at the blonde, waiting for her to finish. "They're really weird dreams. Bad dreams. And some are really bad. Like so bad that…that I never want to close me eyes again, too afraid that they'll come back." A pause. "I don't understand it Lee. I just know that I have to be there for her. I just…I just feel like it's something I have to do. I…I mean she's my best friend. I have to protect her." Brittany says, her eyes filling with tears.
Leroy sighs before stepping closer to Brittany pulling her into a one arm hug.
"It's okay." he says. "You know I felt the same way once." Leroy begins. Brittany looks up to the man she thought of as a second father. "When I first bought this place. It's what Hiram always wanted me to do. To became a famous cook and own my own place. Show people my talents. So I saw this place and thought why the hell not. In a few years or so they'll build a mall right beside it and this will be like…the next Denny's or something. So I spent my whole life savings and the insurance money that was suppose too get us a new house. And with a little help from Will, I was able to get it. I felt like that was something I needed to do. For Hiram." Leroy explains. "But you know what, I was wrong." A pause. "They ended building the whole thing down in Steward County, and I ended up looking like a fucking idiot, and you know what, Will lost his wife because he had to same belief that I did." Leroy pauses. "Well you know what Terri was sort of a bitch anyway, so no real lost there." That got a small laugh out of Brittany, because she knew it was true. "I just…I just don't want you to make the same mistake that I made. Believing in something that's never going to happen. They're just dreams, Britt. Nothing is going to happen. Not to you, not to Rachel. Nothing." Leroy takes a breath and looks to see if the blonde was really getting what he was trying to say. "Look Britt, I know it's a lot to take in, but soon you will realize that you, Rachel, me, Will, we're all just lost. Just like everyone else that comes in here." Leroy says.
Brittany looks down, thinking over what Leroy just said before nodding her head.
"I understand." She says softly.
"Alright, now get back to work. I want these people out before sun down." Leroy says.
Brittany nods again watching Leroy walk back to the diner. She sighs before she catches herself looking outside. As she looked she saw something strange in the sky. The clouds look darker than usual, and it's only still in the afternoon. She briefly thought it could be a storm coming, but looking closely, it also looked as if they were moving. Moving towards the diner. It was weird.
But it was probably nothing. Brittany shakes her head before heading back into the garage and start her work.
End of Chapter 2