Twenty four hours have passed.
A whole day has passed since being told that the plane crashed.
My dads are gone.
They are really gone.
Her fathers' lawyer was in the process of getting a hold of her mother who had been out of town for the week. Rachel thought about her mom. She grew up knowing her mom but, for the most part, didn't spend as much time with her as she did her dads. Her mom would show up to her dance competitions, glee competitions, and the occasional horse show to support her. Then she would spend a weekend or holiday at her mom's house. She never doubted that Shelby loved her. She just had wished that she could have spent more time with her. Her mom, Shelby Corcoran, was one of her idols. Shelby has a great singing voice and Rachel wished she was one of Shelby's students, instead of being Mr. Shue's student. Shelby is one of the top show choir coaches in the nation, which is a reason that she is out of town this week, and could teach her so much more.
My dads have just died and I'm thinking that I wished I could spend more time with mom. Oh my god, I'm a horrible person. Rachel thought. Rachel was brought out of her thoughts when her phone rang, making her jump from the sudden noise. She hurriedly grabbed the phone. Anything to get her to think about anything else at all was good in her book.
"Hello?" She asked. She hadn't bothered to check the caller ID before she answered the call.
"Rachel, honey, I'm on my way as we speak." Her mother, Shelby, said right away.
Rachel broke down again. "Mommy." She cried into the phone.
"I'll be there within the hour, Honey." Shelby tried to reassure the devastated girl. "I'll stay on the phone with you until I get there."
"Okay." Rachel managed to get out. She desperately wanted her mother. Rachel could hear her mom driving in her car. "Mom?" She asked.
"Yes Boo?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm just on the other side of Lima, honey. It won't be long now."
"Okay." She sniffed.
"Rachel?" Shelby asked as if something had occurred to her.
"Yes?" Rachel wondered. She had no idea what her mom was going to say.
"Please tell me that you have stayed away from sharp objects."
"Yeah." Rachel replied too quickly.
"Shit." She thought. Her mom knew about the cutting.
(Shelby POV)
Once Rachel answered so quickly to that question Shelby gunned her Range Rover even faster. She knew Rachel had developed a cutting problem. Why she had developed the problem, nobody knew but Rachel. Rachel's fathers had thought it had gone away. She, on the other hand, had been pretty sure that Rachel had just gotten better at hiding it.
(Rachel POV)
"Rachel, how about you get changed into something to go out in. I'm taking you to get something to eat." Her mom said to her.
"I don't want to go." She replied to her mother. "I don't want to eat."
"Rachel it wasn't a suggestion. You are going to eat. Go change, I am almost there." Her mom told her.
Rachel let loose a sigh before she got up. She figured she might as well listen to her mother at this point. No need to piss off her mom and make her own life any worse by having angered Shelby. "Okay. I'm going." She knew what her mom was like mad. Just because she lived with her dads doesn't mean she doesn't know what her mom was like when she was angry. Her mom's punishments for her were much worse than those her dads gave her. She knew her mom's students feared her mom and the punishments that she could deal out at school, hell, even the New Directions feared Coach Corcoran.
(Shelby POV)
By now Shelby was on the road that the house was on. She quickly pulled into the long driveway. Foregoing grabbing anything other than her keys and phone, she ran into the house. The first person she saw was Holly sitting in the living room.
"Holly, how bad is she?" She asked the woman.
"Honestly? Well she is either sobbing or hiding behind a perfected showface. The times where she has the showface on scares me the most." The blonde replied. "I'd actually prefer the sobbing, at least I'd know what emotion was then."
"Holly, I know that she is cutting again. I need you to help me watch her. You know as well as I do that with all of the bullying that she endures plus this, she'll most likely be at her breaking point." Shelby honestly didn't think Rachel knew of healthy coping methods. It scares her to think that Rachel was purposefully mutilating herself just to escape her pain. Rachel will hide behind her show face. Something that she has perfected over the years due to riding, dancing, and acting. She can make most people believe that she is perfectly fine, even when she is falling apart at the seams.
"Of course I'll help you." Holly replied.
"Thank you." She gratefully said.
"Shelby, you guys have basically been my family for six years. Of course I'd help you watch her. I consider her my niece for all intents and purposes."
Shelby nodded in understanding.
"I'm going to take Rachel out to eat. Would you like to come with us?" Shelby asked.
"No, thank you. I'm glad you're here to make her eat. She downright refused to eat with me. I tried everything I could think of to make her eat. Maybe it just takes her mother to make her in this situation. You need to spend time with Diva and I need to make sure that the barn is still standing and that Wicked hasn't led a revolt." Holly replied to her, joking at the end.
Shelby chuckled a little at that. She knew of Wicked's aversion to most people. "Okay, good luck with him, and I'll let you know about the things that happen on this end. We'll most likely be at the barn in the morning. You know that Boo isn't going to miss riding, no matter how much I want her to take a short break." The blonde nodded.
"She's so determined. I wouldn't be surprised if she was dying, that she'd still be forcing herself through a lesson. Even if it is a no stirrups lesson, and you know she hates those." They both laughed lightly.
"Yeah, I do. Normally you threaten her with tack cleaning if she whines." Shelby replied.
With that, Holly left.
Shelby started up the stairs to find Rachel. She found the girl in her room, laying on her bed. Rachel had clearly recently gotten out of the shower because she was only wrapped in a towel and the hair was still dripping.
"Oh, honey." Shelby cooed as she rushed forward to hold Rachel. Rachel was crying again. Shelby sat on the bed and pulled the young teen into her lap as if Rachel was a baby.
(Rachel POV)
Rachel didn't really mind that her mom was holding her this way. If anything, it made her feel a little better. It made her feel loved. She was being held by her mom and that was all that mattered to her. Her mom held her as she cried for the better part of an hour.
"You feel better?" Her mom questioned her as she had calmed down. She nodded quietly. "I'm going to go get dressed." She told her mother as she got up to go in her walk in closet. She grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweats that have the barn logo and a matching jacket.
"You look comfy." Her mom commented when she came back out.
"Yeah. I figured that I might as well be comfortable." She said as she flopped down into the older woman's lap, causing Shelby to let out a small "oof." The older woman started braiding her wet hair and gave her a quick hug before pushing her back up.
"Come on, Boo, let's go." Shelby said while getting up.
Rachel grabbed her phone from her nightstand, where it was charging, before following her mother downstairs. As she got to the stairs, a photo hanging on the wall caught her eye. It was when she had won the THIS Finals two years ago. In the picture, she was mounted on Wicked and was smiling big, looking at the blue ribbon on Wicked's bridle. Standing around her and Wicked are her fathers, her mother, and Holly. Everyone was smiling and looked so happy. It was hard to believe that, that moment would never happen again.
"Rachel?" Her mom called up to her.
"Coming!" She called back, startled out of her thoughts. She started down the stairs again. She saw her mom waiting by the front door.
"You alright?" Her mom asked while looking at her, concerned.
Rachel bit back the many sarcastic comments she could have used and just nodded. She climbed into her mom's SUV and buckled up. As her mom started the car, the radio turned on. It was currently playing Counting Stars by OneRepublic which is one of her favorite songs at the moment.
"Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep. Dreaming about the things we could be." Rachel sang almost automatically. She continued singing the entire song.
After about five more songs, they reached the restaurant. Her mom had chosen Chili's. Her mom was clearly pulling out all of the stops, trying to make her happier. A hostess quickly seated them in a booth. It wasn't long before a waitress took their drink orders and left them to decide on their food.
"What are you having, Boo?"
"Big Mouth Bites." She easily replied. "What about you?"
"I'm thinking the Grilled Chicken Salad."
Soon enough, the waitress came back for their orders and then left them alone after giving them their drinks.
"Mom?" Rachel asked after they had sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Yeah Boo?" Shelby replied once she had looked up from the ad she had been reading.
"What is going to happen to me now?" She questioned. "Am I going to live with you?"
"Yes, you will be moving in with me. You will actually be a lot closer to the barn that way. But, it also means that you'll no longer be in the McKinley district. You'll have to go to Carmel. I know that it is a lot to deal with at one time, Boo, but I promise that things will get better." Her mom told her with a sympathetic look on her face.
"It might be better for me at Carmel." Rachel mused. She looked at her mom. "You know how I've been bullied?" She asked. Shelby nodded. "Um, I haven't exactly been truthful about how bad it is. It's actually worse than what I've told you." Rachel wasn't able to look at her mom at this point. Afraid for her mom to see her as the unwanted nobody that everyone at school treated her as.
"Baby, what do you mean?" Her mom asked, clearly upset. "How much worse is it?"
"You already know that I'm called all kinds of names. But, even that is nothing compared to other things. Like, getting pushed all the time. I still have a bruise on my arm from the last time." Rachel pulled one half of her jacket off to show the large, painful bruise on her arm. She quickly pulled the side of the jacket back on.
"Then there is the slushie facials. Those hurt. The football players and the Cherrios always throw them in my face. There is Jacob who tries to blackmail me into kissing or dating him. Then when I'm in glee and everyone is going off on me for getting a solo or the fact that I have no extra free time because of riding, dance, and theatre, Mr. Shue doesn't do anything to stop it. Most of the time he joins in. He gets mad at me for not dedicating more of my life to glee. Then at times, they accuse me of telling you things that the New Directions are doing. Even Mr. Shue does. They found out that you are the coach of the Carmel glee club and now every time they know I'm going to see you they say I'm helping you plot against them." Rachel finished.
"Well that settles it, if you weren't already going to be transferred to Carmel, you would be pulled from McKinley and put into Carmel in a heartbeat after what you just told me. It's clearly not safe for you there. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because sometimes I feel like they are right. I am an unwanted nobody. Nobody likes me mommy." Rachel whispered.
Shelby reached over and put her hand on Rachel's, rubbing, anything to comfort her.
"I will take care of the transfer first thing in the morning." Shelby said resolutely. Along with withdrawing Rachel from the school, she was planning on calling the school board about the bullying that the school tolerates and from what it seems, encourages with the students.
"Mom, can I join VA?" Rachel asked almost timidly.
"Of course! I'd love for you to be in Vocal Adrenaline. Ever since sectionals the group has been trying to get me to get you to move there. They absolutely loved your singing." Shelby gushed, clearly excited at her interest in joining the show choir. "We may have to adjust some things around for you to ride and do VA but we'll work it all out."
"Mom, just so you know…the New Directions will most likely come after me for transferring to Carmel. Then they will absolutely come after me for joining VA."
"What do you mean, "Come after you?" Her mom asked.
"They like to go after those who they believe have jumped ship. So they're going to try to ruin my life however way they possibly can."
Their waitress arrived with the food, interrupting the tense moment. Rachel was getting nervous for how her mom would react to this news. Shelby was getting angry that these pathetic kids thought that they were going to get back at her daughter.
Once the waitress left Shelby spoke.
"Well Honey, things are about to get very hard for them to do that." Rachel noticed the angry glint in her mother's eyes even as the woman spoke in a perfectly calm tone. That concerned Rachel the most. Her mom is scary when she is mad but is seemingly calm. She was left wondering what her mother was going to do.
They ate their dinner, for the rest of the time, with comfortable chit chat. Talking about everything from Broadway shows to Rachel's horse show that was coming up, which they were deciding to wait a week before going to.
After they finished, Shelby quickly paid for the meal and they got back in the Range Rover. Rachel slumped into the seat, exhausted. It had been a long, emotional day. Actually, it's been a few long emotional days. She fell asleep after they had been on the road for only five minutes.
Once they got back to the house, Shelby picked up Rachel and tucked the child into bed.
Rachel started to whimper as Shelby pulled her arms away from her. The girl was still very much asleep, but needed the contact.
"Mommy! Please, don't leave me as well! Both daddies left me. I can't take anyone else leaving me." Rachel cried in her sleep.
Shelby felt her heart breaking for the child.
"I'll never leave you, Baby, never." She cooed to the sleeping girl as she cuddled with said sleeping girl. It wasn't long before Shelby had fallen asleep as well.
Rachel woke up around 10 the next morning. She looked next to her and happily noticed that her mom was curled up on her bed with her. She got up, carefully, out of bed and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
She decided to hop into the shower. She quickly washed her hair before washing her body. She glanced at her razor. "Can I do it without mom noticing?" She thought. She grabbed it and quickly made a cut on her thigh, the only place she could at this time. After staring at the blood for a while she washed it off and got out.
After bandaging her leg, she pulled on some breeches, a black belt, a teal polo shirt, and a pair of light blue plaid zocks. After getting dressed, she dried her hair but, didn't do anything with it due to having to put it into a hairnet and helmet later.
Her mom wasn't in the bedroom when she got out. She walked downstairs and before going to the kitchen to get breakfast, she went to the backdoor to let in her dogs. The first one to come in is Cobalt, her German Shepard. Next was Melchior, her Golden Retriever. The dogs quickly bounded into the kitchen and she promptly heard her mother exclaim, "Puppies!" She rolled her eyes at her mom's reaction to the dogs. Her mom loved her dogs. So sometimes when she would spend the weekend at Shelby's, the dogs would come as well. Her mother spoiled them rotten. She would even get them presents for their birthdays and holidays. Her mom basically considered them, and the horses, her grandchildren.
She walked into the kitchen to see her mom slipping the two excited dogs some bacon and sausage. She rolled her eyes.
"Ha! They'll never leave your side now!" Rachel commented as she walked up to her mom at the kitchen island.
"That is completely fine with me." Shelby replied. "Hey baby." She said before kissing Rachel on the cheek.
"Morning Momma." Rachel replied before sitting down at the kitchen table where her breakfast was waiting. Her mom soon joined her with her coffee and the morning paper. While eating, Rachel started flipping through a Dover Saddlery catalog that was left lying on the table after someone had checked the mail. While browsing through the catalog, she ate about half the plate before attempting to leave the table.
"Nuh uh. If you are going riding then you need to eat more than that." Shelby admonished.
"But Momma!" Rachel exclaimed. "I'm not hungry anymore." She pouted.
"At least eat a little bit more." Shelby said with finality while getting up. She left Rachel in the kitchen.
After her mother left the room, Rachel sat and pouted about eating any more food. Then she noticed the dogs begging at her feet under the table. She smiled. Her mom didn't think about them. She knocked a good portion onto the floor for them. The dogs started to happily scarf down the food. Rachel only hoped that they did before her mom came back into the room. The rest of the food, she dumped into the trash to make her mom think she ate some more. After putting her plate in the sink, she then went to the front closet to put on her Sperrys and to grab a coat. She grabbed her favorite, a StarKid SPACE Tour jacket. She loved the small company's musicals and had gone to see them when they had gone on tour. "Come on Momma!" She called.
"I'm coming!" Shelby called back. When Shelby reached Rachel she slipped on her jacket and walked out the door to start up the Range Rover, with Cobalt and Melchior following close behind. Knowing that the dogs weren't going to be ones to be left behind, she opened the back door for the two happy dogs to hop in. They didn't have to be told twice and hoped straight into the backseat. Rachel climbed into the passenger seat and quickly hooked up her ipod to the car stereo. She flipped through her music until she got to the song "One Song Glory" from Rent.
"Are you in a Rent mood this morning?" Her mother asked.
"Yeah. I'm not in the mood for Wicked, or Spring Awakening, and most of StarKid's songs are just not right for me today." She replied. Her mom knew about StarKid and has even seen a few of the online musicals.
"Yeah, songs like "It's Not Over Yet" and "No One Remembers Achmed" just don't scream like it's a morning jam does it?" Shelby jokingly asked, referring to songs from two of StarKid's musicals, A Very Potter Sequel and Twisted.
Rachel rolled her eyes and started singing the song while watching the outside world be passed by. "One song, glory, one song, before I wake."
Soon enough Rachel saw the familiar white pasture fencing that enclosed the pastures surrounding the barn's property. Some horses were out grazing in the fields. Some were being ridden out in the turf arena. No matter how many times Rachel saw this, she never got tired of it.
Shelby turned onto the long, smooth, paved driveway that lead up to the main facilities. She parked in the reserved spot that was just for her. One of the many perks of being the mom of Rachel.
Rachel hopped out of the SUV, eager to ride, and headed to the tack room to put on her boots, gloves, and helmet. She didn't have to tack up her horse because one of the grooms had done it before hand. Today she was going to ride Wendla, or Spring Awakening, her junior hunter. After she was done getting ready, she thanked the groom for getting Wendla ready, and lead the mare out to the ring to warm up. She noticed her mom sitting on the observation deck that was situated on a small hill, overlooking the arena. Her mom was loving on Cobalt and Melchior, of course, giving out many treats and belly rubs. She turned her attention back to Wendla. She quickly warmed up on the flat and then popped over a few warm up jumps before Holly came out to the ring.
"Okay Diva!" Holly called while walking to the center of the ring, "Let's try and see how your mother will handle you tackling this course. Outside line, the skinny across the diagonal to the oxer, to the bending line, the gate, and end with the brown vertical. Now remember, you are not on Sail, don't speed through it. This is hunters, make it look pretty and make it look like anyone could hop on Wendla and take her around this course." Holly reminded her.
"Okay." Rachel replied while starting to trot so she could being her entry circle. She smoothly transitioned Wendla into a canter and headed for the first part of the course. She headed to the first part of the course, the outside line. Wendla calmly jumped the jumps, while Rachel prepared her for the next one.
It seemed like the course was going great. That is until they heard a car barreling up the drive, blasting music as loud as could be, right by the arena as Rachel was approaching the last fence. Wendla spooked at the sudden appearance of the car and the noise emitting from it, throwing Rachel into the fence. Rachel's body, after completely knocking the fence down, landed with a thud in the sand.
AN: Sorry it has taken me so long to update this. I had exams and then had to move back home for the summer. Then next week I leave for vacation. Part of what takes me so long is that I try to get each chapter to at least a certain length before I post I will try to post a new chapter next week but I have no guarantees with that because out beach house has pretty crappy wifi connections. For some reason my laptop won't connect but everyone else's will. So if not then I might have two chapter updates the next week.
By the way, with the story, don't say that no one would react that way to their parents dying. Because that is exactly how I reacted when my mother died a little over a year ago. I cried, avoided eating, avoided most people and when I wanted to be with people it was only a certain few. I didn't want my dad, not my sister, I wanted a few of my cousins and one of my aunts, and my riding instructor. Thats it.