AN: Sorry for the long break. I have been dealing with some personal issues that are causing major panic attacks and lack of sleep. But I am working on this. I already have the next chapter in the works and it is partially typed up already so it may be posted soon depending on how much I am able to work on it. It is crunch time at school with only about a month left so it is hard to say how quickly it will be up. I do plan to work on it some this weekend so it could possibly be posted next week. Some have mentioned about how Rachel hasn't self-harmed and couldn't be over her dads already. She isn't over the passing, she still has issues but I'm getting to it. Please like and review!
The next day was a normal day for Rachel. She went to school, had rehearsal for glee both before and after school, went home, ate dinner with her mom and then went to bed. Fortunately for her, Tuesday was a teacher workday for Carmel so she was going to spend the entire day at the barn while her mom was working.
Tuesday morning, bright and early, her mom dropped her off at the barn.
"Bye Boo! See you at four!" Her mom called as she pulled away. Rachel just waved in response since her mom wouldn't be able to hear her anyway.
She walked into the barn and went to the tackroom to only be surprised to see Brittany Pierce standing there. She honestly had never expected to see this girl again unless the New Directions actually made it to regionals. Which, now that she thinks about it, she didn't think they'd make it there.
"Umm… Hi Brittany. Didn't expect to see you here." She nervously said.
"Oh hi Rachel!" The perky girl replied. "I didn't know you went here too."
"Umm.." Rachel was confused to say the least. She thought it was kind of obvious with all of the pictures that are posted in the office and tack room of the riders and horses. "Brittany, my family owns this place… this is why everyone in the New Directions would yell at me, because I am always here."
"Oh! So you are the girl in a lot of the pictures in the office and on the website! That makes so much more sense now. I though I recognized you but I wasn't sure since I couldn't see your hair or anything in some of the pictures. Just so you know, I always thought that was stupid how they yelled at you. They never got mad when the guys missed glee for football. You do more work for your sport than they do in theirs. They just chase and throw a ball around while you have to control an animal that weighs more than a thousand pounds that has a mind of its own and make it jump over stuff."
Rachel smiled a little at that. It was nice for someone to recognize the hard work that she puts in for her riding.
"Thanks Brittany. I'm sorry for asking but, why are you here?"
"Oh, I am taking lessons here. Holly told me to wait here for her to get back. Something about a helmet and deciding on a horse cause she thought the one she first picked was wrong or something like that."
Rachel nodded. It was probably the typical "talk up the 'skills' your kid had' thing and then when they get there they don't know anything.
"Well I can help with the helmet. Come over here and we'll find one that fits you." They walked over to a shelving unit that held many helmets for people just starting out riding. After trying a few they found one that fit the tall blonde correctly. "I have to go and grab my horse, Holly should be back anytime, are you going to be okay in here by yourself?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Brittany said as she nodded.
'Okay, I'll see you later then." She said before grabbing her helmet from her locker and heading out the door to get Toby. She found him in his stall so she moved him to the crossties and started grooming him.
"Good morning Diva! What are your plans for today?" Holly asked as she walked up to the crossties leading Sugar, a paint mare who is perfect for beginners.
"I am going to take Toby for a hack around the property and will probably ride all three of the others. I know I'm going to jump Wicked and probably Sail. Not sure about what I'm doing with Wendla yet."
"You will be having a lesson on her this afternoon so don't get on her until then. The others will enjoy their rides. I know that the grass arena will be open today since most of the adult riders can't get here today. Why don't you jump Wicked and Sail there?"
"Okay. Well I better get this guy tacked up if we're going to have some fun."
Holly laughed at how Rachel was basically still a pony kid at heart. When Rachel was little she was always galloping the ponies all over the place. It hasn't changed much over time. Rachel still loves to have a nice gallop with her horses around the farm.
"Be careful. Make sure you have your cell. I'd like to be able to find you." She warned before walking away. Sheepishly Rachel smiled at her. She remembered that time she took her pony out and got dumped out in the field. She did not want a repeat of that experience.
Rachel quickly tacked up Toby before leading him outside to one of the mounting blocks. After mounting, she guided him down one of the trails that leads to a jump field. It is away from the main area of the barn and had plenty of space for her to go fast. She wasn't going to jump but it didn't matter to her. She just got Toby. She wasn't going to push him too hard by motorcycling around on the jump course. Yes, she had jumped him at the show but that wasn't the point for today. Today was just about having fun.
Rachel was having fun riding around the farm. After having her ride on Toby she took Wicked and Sail over some jumps. After a short break for lunch with Holly, and surprisingly with Brittany as well, she was mounted up on Wendla waiting for Holly's instructions. She was already warmed up on the flat.
"Okay Diva. We're going to do low jumps with Wendla today."
"What?" Rachel was scared but didn't want to outright admit it.
"It is only low jumps to build up your confidence with her again."
Holly then set up some cavaletti.
"Okay. I want you to trot over these."
Rachel nervously collected her reins and pushed Wendla into a trot. Smoothly going over the tiny cavaletti. They worked with those at both the trot and canter for a while before moving on to actual jumps. Holly had set some of various heights. They started with 18" and worked up from that at both the trot and canter.
Eventually the jumps were set at three feet. Still lower than her normal height but it is closer to what she had been doing. Rachel approached the jumps at a canter with Wendla. She was extremely nervous and was staring at the jump. She was about to pull out of the approach when she heard cheering for her. She looked up from the jump and over it to see Brittany cheering for her. Before she knew it, she and Wendla were flying over the small vertical and made a smooth landing with a large grin on her face.
"Good girl, Diva!" Holly called over, clapping.
"Oh my god Rachel! That was so cool!" Brittany yelled to her.
Rachel grinned. She had finally jumped Wendla again. This time without ending up in the dirt or the hospital. After cooling Wendla down and slipping her a treat, she handed her reins over to a groom and was quickly met up by Brittany.
"Hey Rachel. Can I talk to you?" Rachel glanced to see if her mom was here yet. She wasn't. Brittany wasn't typically mean to her so she wasn't too worried. Plus Holly was nearby if she did need her.
"Sure." She replied. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to apologize. I didn't want to be mean to you but Santana and Quinn told me to. Lord Tubbington is very angry with me right now for how I treated you. My parents are even thinking about making me change schools because they think the people there are bad influences. They're thinking about me going to Carmel."
"I accept your apology. I never really blamed you. I knew that it was Santana and Quinn making you do it."
"Rae, if I go to Carmel, do you think that your mom would let me in Vocal Adrenaline?" She asked nervously. Rachel kind of liked that Brittany had picked up on one of her many nicknames.
"I don't know. Possibly though. The only reason I feel like she wouldn't is if she felt like you were one of the people who bullied me at McKinley. I'll talk to her so don't get discouraged. She may just need to talk to your parents to make sure that you are not spying for the New Directions. It's not that I don't believe you but I wouldn't put it past them to spy on VA in some way."
"Oh! I overheard Puck and Santana talking to Mercedes and Kurt about spying on your practice next week sometime."
Rachel started thinking about what to do. She knew that she needed to tell her mom and that they needed to come up with a plan to fool the New Directions. At this time she saw her mom's SUV pull into the parking lot.
"Are you sure?" She asked. Brittany nodded. "Come on. We need to let my mom know." She pulled Brittany over to the car where her mom was getting out. "Hey mom."
"Hey Rae. Who is your friend?" She asked, glancing at Brittany.
"This is Brittany. She is one of the few nice people from the New Directions."
Shelby's eyebrows rose a little at that. "Well hello Brittany."
Brittany responded in kind.
"Mom, Brittany heard a few of the New Directions planning on spying on our VA sometime next week."
"I'm sorry for asking but Brittany, were you going to join them?" Shelby asked.
"No. My parents are pulling me out of that school. They're thinking about sending me to Carmel. They believe that the students at McKinley are bad influences and I agree with them."
Shelby then responded with a question that shocked both girls.
"Would you be interested in joining Vocal Adrenaline?"
Brittany was dumbfounded for a second. She had though that Rachel's mom would automatically hate her guts for how she had treated Rachel in the past.
"Yes! I would!" Brittany gushed. "Vocal Adrenaline is amazing. I would love to join but I never thought you would let me since I was in the New Directions."
"Well Brittany, it takes a big person to own up to your mistakes and since you've apologized and Rachel has given you another chance, I figure I will too. So how about it? You willing to join VA?"
"Yes!" Brittany squealed. "I need to tell my parents that I want to go to Carmel." At that moment Brittany's mom pulled into the driveway. "I'll go ask them now!" Brittany ran towards the car.
"I should talk to her parents as well." Shelby followed the bubbly blonde to the SUV. A few minutes later it was obvious that her parents had said yes since Brittany was jumping all around and giving hugs to everyone. Her parents, Shelby, Rachel, a groom walking by who is now completely confused, and even one of the ponies that was by the fence.
Shelby was standing with Brittany's parents where they were all smiling at the blonde's excitement. Said blonde was dragging Rachel around, doing a happy dance around the parking lot.
"We'll have her at Carmel first thing in the morning." Brittany's mom, Susan, said.
"I'll have Rachel show her around. Oh, we have Vocal Adrenaline practice tomorrow afternoon. If you are unable to pick her up after school I can give her a ride."
"We can't ask you to do that. It must be so far out of your way."
"Actually, my home is only a five minute drive from here. You really don't live far at all."
Brittany's parents looked at her, confused.
"This is the Carmel district. At least in closeness of schools, forgetting that it is a private school. Wait.. if you teach at Carmel why did Rachel go to McKinley?"
Shelby sighed lightly. "Rachel's fathers lived in that district. Plus it was just easier for them to get her there. Custody of Rachel was shared but Rachel was mainly only with me during weekends and holidays because of school."
They nodded in acknowledgement. Shelby had already filled them in on the passing of Hiram and Leroy since they were surprised at seeing the tiny diva now. They hadn't seen her at McKinley in a while. They hadn't sure if the Berry's had moved or if something had happened so now things made sense to them.
"Well it seems like Rachel is doing well." Susan commented looking at the currently smiling girl who was a big contrast to how the same girl was acting just a few weeks ago.
"We've had some rough spots. It helps my peace of mind now that she goes to Carmel. At least she is closer. I had no idea how bad things had gotten for her at McKinley."
"That school is horrible. That's why we've finally decided to pull Brittany from it."
"The only reason that Rachel was there for so long is because she wouldn't tell me or her fathers how bad things really were. We knew things were not easy but that is everyone's issue with high school. McKinley for her was just torture. She would get slushied and pushed into lockers and was mocked. Now things are different for her at school. Rachel enjoys going to Carmel and loves being in Vocal Adrenaline. She was the opposite with McKinley and the New Directions. She told me that even Mr. Shuester would join in on the bullying."
"I honestly only think he liked Rachel for her singing. She looked so downtrodden every time I saw her." Susan admitted.
"The club always accused her of telling me their secrets, such as their set list, even though she didn't. We never really spoke of glee. Then they would blame her for not being able to have more practices because she had riding."
"When Brittany mentioned that riding would be a cool thing to do I was skeptical. I never really thought that it was a sport. I still had my doubts when we showed up here this morning so then Holly mentioned Rachel and showed us some pictures. Now I understand why she was here instead of glee. Plus it explains why she would disappear for a month each year."
"Yeah, we go down to Florida for a month to compete. The show is actually a few months long but we couldn't pull Rachel out of school for that long. Even now, with her at Carmel, I can't really pull her out due to me having to be there."
"I can understand that. My only concern is, well.. do rider's act how they do in movies? You know, snobbish, and elitist?" Susan asked.
Shelby laughed a little at this question. "I'm not going to lie to you, some do. But, if you look around here, you'll find that most don't have that attitude. It might seem like it at first because all you see is price tags and what seems like flaunting money and material things. I've been there before. When Rachel first started I swear I was terrified that my child would be ruined from being around other riders. And that was when we were with a tiny barn that just goes to local shows. Imagine when Rachel started showing on the 'A' circuit. Her fathers and I were terrified. That was one of the reasons her fathers decided to build the farm. But to answer your question, yes we have encountered people who only want the status that comes along with it but mostly we've been around people who just love the sport."
"That does make me feel a little better." Susan admitted, looking sheepish.
"Don't worry, you're not the only parents that I've answered these questions for."
"Would it be okay if I send Brittany for a week or so, so she can see what competitions are like?"
"Sure. She can stay with Rae and I at our house."
"That would be great. From what she has told me so far she loves riding. She wants to keep doing it." Susan told her happily.
"That is good to hear her wanting to continue. This is a good sport for teenagers, well for anyone really, but especially kids and teens. It gives them a work ethic."
"Well it is obvious to see how much Rachel has worked for this over the years." Susan commented.
At this time Rachel and Brittany came bounding over. Shelby wrapped her arms around Rachel once she was in reach. Rachel leaned into her mom.
"We better get Brittany ready for Carmel tomorrow." Susan said smiling.
"We will meet you near the administration office. See you in the morning." Shelby said to the family as they went to get in their car,
Rachel was excited to have Brittany at Carmel. It would be nice to have another friend at school.
"Boo, go put your stuff up in your locker and then we will go home." Her mom told her.
Rachel quickly ran into the barn, of course hearing Holly yell 'no running' and quickly exchanged her boots for her shoes and put her helmet in as well before running back out and hopping into the car. When they got home Rachel followed her mom in and then let the dogs inside from the backyard before going upstairs to take a shower before dinner.
After her shower she noticed that her phone had lit up with many notifications. She laughed when she noticed that it was texts from Brittany. She had included pictures of her trying on the uniform. She quickly texted back that Brittany would have another uniform soon. Brittany asked what else she would have a uniform for. Rachel then let her know that Vocal Adrenaline has practice uniforms.
"Rachel! Time for dinner!" Shelby yelled up to her from downstairs.
"Be down in a minute!" She yelled back.
Before she went downstairs she quickly texted Brittany that she had to go eat and that she would text her in a bit.
"I think Brittany is really excited for tomorrow. She keeps sending me selfies of her uniform."
"She will have another one tomorrow." Her mom said smiling at the thought of the blonde's excitement.
"I know. I told her that. At least that one is stylish even though it is basically fancy gym clothes."
Then she got an idea. Thinking of gym clothes made her think of the cheerios. Which in turn made her think of the New Directions. Quickly she pulled out her phone and texted Brittany to ask if she had told anyone that she was going to be in Vocal Adrenaline. Brittany, not even a minute later, replied that she hadn't. Rachel then told her not to tell anyone and that she would explain things to her tomorrow.
"Mom I just got an idea to freak out the New Directions." She looked at her mom who was now looking at her with an eyebrow raised, interested in what she was going to say. Shelby knew that Rachel could be a conniving genius when she felt like it and she expected this to be one of those times.
"I just told Brittany not to tell anyone that she was in Vocal Adrenaline. They will most likely figure out that she goes to Carmel eventually but if she doesn't mention VA then it will surprise them when they show up to regionals to see not only me on VA but also Brittany as well. So not only will they have lost their best singer to their rival but their best dancer as well.
Her mom nodded along throughout the whole explanation. Thinking it through and had to admit that it would freak out the New Directions when it came down to it.
"Okay, that is a good idea but we will have to talk to the entire team to make sure they know not to say anything about either you or Brittany to anybody. Yeah, the New Directions know you are on VA but they are already looking to spy on us. So my plan is to get Brittany to know when they are going to spy so she can act like she isn't a VA member and join them. But since Brittany can know ahead of time she will tell us when they are coming and we will use old numbers that are slightly bad. That way they will underestimate VA and they will be cocky and not work so hard. Then we will show up to the competition with amazing numbers with you and Brittany on the team. It will blindside them."
Mother and daughter looked at each other with smug looks on their faces. It was time to get the ball rolling.
Line break
The next morning Shelby and Rachel were at Carmel extremely early. Even for them. Rachel was sitting on the couch in her mom's office playing on her Macbook Pro, waiting for Brittany to show up. She could hear her mom in the auditorium getting things ready for Vocal Adrenaline and her other music classes.
After a few minutes she got a text from Brittany saying that she was there. She packed up her laptop into her backpack but left it in her mother's office. She then went to get her mom.
"Momma she's here." She said excitedly as she bounced in place on the stage.
Shelby set the sheet music she was holding down and walked over to her. "Let's go meet them then Boo."
The mother and daughter duo soon were at the office, meeting up with the Pierce's. Rachel had to laugh. Brittany looked like she was about to explode from excitement.
"Rae! I'm so excited!" Brittany gushed.
"That's good." Rachel laughed.
"Rachel, how about you and Brittany take her schedule and find her classes?" Her mom suggested but Rachel knew it was more of a command.
"Okay mom." Rachel replied before asking for the schedule and walking off with Brittany.
"We will pick her up after school." Susan said
"Okay, but could you push it back until after Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal?" Shelby asked.
"Sure." The Pierce's agreed. "We will see you later then. Bye."
- Page break -
It turns out that Brittany has a few classes with Rachel besides Vocal Adrenaline's advanced choir. Hey have both literature and theatre together. They were in the same group for a one act play. The play is crazy and hilarious so they were both excited to perform it later in the year. Soon enough, both girls were in the choir room for their final class period. Rachel watched her teammates walk in with confused glances when they saw Brittany sitting beside her. After the bell rang her mom started speaking.
"Okay. I know you are all confused, well, almost all of you." She corrected as she glanced at Rachel and Brittany. "We've had an addition to VA and before you start, this is legit, she is not a spy for New Directions. She will help us with funking them though. There is to be no social media updates about our numbers or that Brittany is on the team. For now it is a secret. We have a plan in place for the New Directions and for the plan to work they cannot know about Brittany being on the team. You will be notified when the time comes for the actual plan to occur. FYI, know the choreography to the "Take It Off" Ke$ha number."
The members of Vocal Adrenaline, excluding Rachel and Brittany, were confused but they knew to stay quiet.
"Okay!" Shelby clapped her hands. "I've decided that we are going to do "Sing" by My Chemical Romance. Jesse, Rachel, you two have leads." She handed them both some sheet music. "Jesse work with your other vocal coach on this as well. Rachel, I will work on it with you at home." She saw them both nod while looking through the music.
During both VA rehearsals they worked on "Sing". Mainly on the vocals but a little bit of choreography as well. Soon enough, the day was over.
When Rachel and Brittany got out of the locker room, after changing out of their workout clothes, carrying backpacks and duffle bags, they went over to where Shelby was talking to Brittany's parents.
"Hi girls. How was your day?" Susan asked.
Both girls replied with good before Rachel excused herself when Jesse called her. A few minutes later she was on her way back to the small group with a large grin on her face.
"Umm Shelby, look at Rachel." Susan told her new friend. She was unsure of why Rachel looked so excited over soda and candy.
Shelby looked over at her daughter who was carrying a large tub of cotton candy and a bottle of Mt. Dew. "Oh crap. Boo, where did you get all of that?"
"Jesse! He asked me out!" She grinned at her mother.
"How about you hand me your sugar coma inducing gift."
"Momma!" Rachel whined as her mom grabbed her gifts.
"You will still have your gifts Boo. Just when I am okay with it." Shelby was careful with how much sugar Rachel consumed. Rachel may not be aware of how she acted when given a lot of sugar but, her mother did.
Rachel ducked her head at what her mom was saying. She felt like a small child who could only eat food they were given. Brittany was grinning at her though. Rachel watched as Brittany turned to her parents.
"Can Rachel spend the night this weekend?" Brittany pleaded.
Susan smiled. "If Shelby is okay with it then I don't see why not." Brittany then turned to Shelby.
"Ms. Corcoran, may Rachel spend the night this weekend?" Shelby nodded.
"How about she comes with us when I pick Brittany up from rehearsal Friday afternoon?" Susan suggested.
"That would be fine."
Page break
Both girls were now in Shelby's office, playing on the computer, waiting for Susan to get there to pick them up. The plans had been made for Rachel to be dropped off at the house tomorrow when Brittany goes for her riding lesson since the house is on the way there from the Pierce's home. Brittany had prepared for tonight. She had bought plenty of soda and candy like Mt. Dew, Pepsi, pixy stix and cotton candy. She wanted to see what Rachel's version of a sugar high would be.
It wasn't long until Susan was there to pick them up. Rachel left her backpack and VA bag with her mom and grabbed her overnight bag. She gave her mom a hug before heading out the door.
"See you tomorrow Boo!" Her mom called to her.
"Bye Momma!" She called back as she was walking down the hallway.
Once they got to the Pierce's home, Brittany and Rachel headed up to the blonde's room. Rachel was introduced to Lord Tubbington who seemed to like her since he crawled into her lap. All Brittany said when it happened was that the cat is a good judge of character when it comes to people. He apparently didn't like Quinn or Santana all that much considering that he never got in their laps when they would come over.
It was not much later that Susan called them down for dinner. David was just pulling burgers off of the grill. Dinner with the Pierce's was nice but she missed her mom. This was the first time she had spent the night away from her mom since her dads died. She pulled out her phone and discretely texted 'I love you' to her mother. She soon got a reply saying 'I love you too, see you in the morning Boo.'. Feeling a little bit better, she put her phone away for the rest of dinner.
After they had dinner Brittany pulled out her stockpile of sugary sweets out from underneath the bed. She pulled out stuff such as pixy stix, cotton candy, different kinds of chocolates, other candies, Mt. Dew and other sodas. "Oh my god! My mom never lets me have this much at one time." She said.
"Why?" Brittney asked.
"I honestly don't know. She always controls the amount of candy and soda and stuff I eat." She admitted. "It's been that way since I can remember. I thought it was just because she doesn't want me to eat unhealthy stuff but then I thought about how that wouldn't make sense considering other things she lets me eat and doesn't say anything about."
"Let's dig in!" Brittany exclaimed before diving her hand into one of the tubs of cotton candy and grabbed a soda out of the pile. Rachel quickly joined in as well, grabbing the other tub of cotton candy, sighing in contentment as she tasted the sugary sweetness. Soon she grabbed a soda and chugged half of the can.
By the time Susan came in to wake them up to go to the barn and to take Rachel home, they were on complete sugar highs. The room was a complete mess. Candy wrappers and soda cans were lying everywhere around the bedroom and the girls were shaking with energy. Susan knew that there was no way that Rachel would have been able to bring all of this in the small bag she brought so she figured out that Brittany had been hoarding all of this up here. Rachel saw the shocked look on the woman's face and thought nothing of it. To her, nothing was out of the ordinary, or so she thought.
It took Susan a while to convince the hyperactive girls to get dressed so they could go and while they did she called Shelby to ask her if she could pick up Rachel from the barn instead of them dropping her off as they had initially intended. The girls had caused them to run a little bit late. When got into the car she groaned when she saw the girls. They were literally twitching in their seats. Luckily, Brittany will get rid of it during her lesson and then most likely crash. Rachel, on the other hand, is not riding today so she will most likely be hyperactive for a while.
When they got to the barn Holly was outside. She took one look at Rachel and groaned. She turned to Susan and asked, "How bad is Brittany on a sugar high?"
"Slightly more energetic than normal but not much."
"That's good to know. Rachel on the other hand is bad." She turned to the tiny girl. "Diva! Go run up and down my driveway a few times." Meaning for the girl to get rid of some energy by running up and down the driveway that leads to her house from the barn. Watching the girl head off, she groaned again. She then pulled out her phone to call Shelby. "Hey Shelby." She said when her boss answered. "It looks like the girls wanted to get on a sugar high last night."
"Oh crap. How bad is she?"
"Pretty bad. I have her running up and down my driveway to get rid of some of it. By the time you get here she should be ready to crash."
"Okay. I will be there in fifteen minutes." Both women hung up. Holly then went to work with Brittany, whose horse had been tacked up by one of the grooms.
Shelby arrived at the barn expecting the worst. She saw Brittany in the arena on Easter, a large bray gelding. Glancing at the observation deck, she saw Rachel sitting with Susan. Walking up to the deck she noticed that Rachel was half- asleep, leaning against Susan. Susan was running her fingers through Rachel's hair. It was helping to get Rachel to sleep. Shelby walked up and Rachel felt like a small child and reached up for her mom like a toddler would. Luckily for Shelby, Rachel is very tiny and she is able to easily lift and carry her.
"Momma, I want to go home." Rachel whimpered in her ear as she tried to cuddle closer to her.
"We will go in a minute Boo." She replied softly back.
Rachel whined in response to that. Shelby cupped the back of Rachel's head and shushed her.
"I'm sorry Shelby. I didn't know that Brittany had stockpiled candy and sugar loaded foods and drinks or that Rachel gets that way. That was actually scary to witness this morning."
"I'm not even sure that Rachel remembers why her fathers and I have carefully monitored her sugar intake."
"Why do you monitor it?"
"When she was little we noticed that she acted like she was on speed when given excess sugar. Lately she hasn't been eating or wanting anything with lots of sugar because of working out so much for glee so I didn't think to warn you about the Tasmanian devil she becomes when she has it." Susan laughed at the description, it was really accurate. Rachel really had resembled the Looney Tunes character Taz.
"Usually once she crashes it's a painful thing for her. It is a struggle just for her to sit up because her head will hurt so much. So she typically stays lying down. I put her drinks in a sippy cup when it happens. Her fathers would put drinks in water bottles with the special lids so that she could still lay down. How did she crash so quickly?" Shelby wanted to know.
"Holly had her running up and down the driveway. Rachel apparently decided that a normal run or jog was too boring so she sprinted instead."
Shelby just shook her head. She was rocking back and forth where she was, trying to lull Rachel to calm down. The girl was still whimpering softly in her ear. She continued to cup the back of Rachel's head and Rachel laid her head on her shoulder. "Shh.. babygirl we will leave in a minute."
"I'll help you. I'll grab her bag out of our car while you get her into yours."
On the way to Shelby's car Susan grabbed Rachel's bag before meeting the other two at the other woman's SUV.
Shelby put Rachel in the backseat and buckled her in. Before she closed the door she put the childlock on. Susan gave her a confused look.
"She acts like a child after sugar. Trust me when I say that she has flung open car doors before while the car was moving. Luckily it was only in the driveway but still, the childlock is needed."
Susand now nodded in understanding. She handed Shelby Rachel's bag and Shelby put it in the backseat on the other side before turning on the childlock on that door as well before getting in the car.
"Thank you so much for taking care of Rachel. I am glad the girls are now becoming friends." She honestly was. She was glad for Rachel to have someone who was an actual friend, not someone who just wanted things from her.
"You are welcome and I am glad too. Rachel is a good influence on Brittany."
"Well I better get this one home. We'll see you later Susan."
"Bye!"
Shelby pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the drive. Glancing in her rearview mirror at Rachel her only thought was that they really needed to control the sugar intake. It seems like it has gotten worse since the last time it happened.
She was going to have to talk to Rachel about how she gets when this happens and how she changes in behavior. Rachel basically acts like a three or four year old after she has crashed. To have drinks she has to drinks out of sippy cups or water bottles. She has to lay down in a dark, quiet, and cold room due to the migraine she gets. The migraine is bad enough to the point where she can't sit up without crying. Shelby had to think about if she still had the sippy cup at home. She remembered where it was and was relieved when she did because she would not have to go to the store to get one with Rachel like she was. When they got to the house she quickly got Rachel changed and in bed with an icepack on her head, with the fan running and gave her some Advil before going and getting the sippy cup with some apple juice in it.
"Here Boo. Your juice is in your sippy cup on your nightstand."
"Okay." Rachel mumbled in reply. She was curled up into a ball in her bedding.
"Sleep Boo. Maybe it will take the edge off of it." As she walked back out of the room she pulled the dogs out with her.
Rachel laid around for the next day with Shelby checking in on her bringing food, drinks, and medication. Rachel was grumpy by the point. She was tired and felt off. She was also tired of having to be careful as far as her head was concerned. She was getting snappy in her answers to her mom and her mom was not happy with her at the moment.
"Boo, I know you do not feel good but you do not get to act like this. I want you to get rid of this attitude. It had better be gone tomorrow. Good night Boo." She kissed the girl's head. "I may be irritated with you but I do still love you."
Rachel watched her mom leave the room. She went and flopped down on her bed in a huff. She looked at her iHome where her phone was docked and noticed that it was only nine. "Did she really make me go to bed early?!" She sat there a minute before giving up and changing her clothes before getting into bed. "Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow." She thought. "I hope she won't still be mad at me in the morning." She soon fell asleep after that.