Here's chapter 9! :) Hope you enjoy it! :)
March 11th 2010
In Glee Club, Finn was at the piano looking through songs. Quinn, Santana and Brittany were sitting together, Artie and Kurt were sitting together talking and Puck was sitting behind them. Mr Schue had left to get copies of song sheets. Finn heard the door slam open. He looked to see Mercedes storm in, holding Rachel's wrist. Tina followed them in.
"Where's Mr Schuester?" Mercedes said in an angry tone.
"He's gone to the office to get copies of songs. He'll be back in a minute." Finn said.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Mercedes?" Asked Quinn.
"Don't you dare ask me what's wrong!" Mercedes shouted. "You should know!"
"What's going on?" Asked Artie.
"Asked him." Mercedes pointed to Puck. "Or ask those 3 bitches over there!"
"We have no idea what your talking about." Said Santana.
"Mercedes, please." Said Rachel, wanting this to end.
"Do you know anything about this?" Mercedes asked Finn.
Finn shook his head. "I have no idea what your talking about."
"Drama Queen." Said Santana.
"I heard that, Santana!" Shouted Mercedes. "Just wait till I get you outside. I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget."
"Hey!" Mr Schuester shouted as he walked in. "What's going on here?"
"Tell him, Rachel." Mercedes said.
Everyone looked at Rachel.
"Rachel?" Said Mr Schue.
Rachel looked around at everyone and burst into tears.
Finn ran over and put his arm around her. "Rachel, what's going on?"
"Show him, Rachel." Mercedes said. "Show him what they did to you."
Rachel shook her head.
"Rachel. If you show him this will all be over." Mercedes said. "It's gonna be okay."
This time Rachel nodded. Mercedes got the end of Rachel's sweater and pulled it over her stomach. Everyone gasped.
Finn turned to Puck and the cheerleaders. "What did you do to her? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?"
"Finn stop!" Tina said. "Rachel's scared and she needs you. Let the teachers sort this out." Finn nodded.
"What on earth happened?" Mr Schue asked, looking at Rachel's stomach.
"Allow me to explain." Mercedes said. "See these bruises? The cheerleaders kicked and punched Rachel in the stomach.
Mercedes turned Rachel around and lifted her sweater at the back. "The bruises on her back were caused by both the football players and the cheerleaders pushing her into the lockers."
Mercedes turned Rachel around to face the group. She lifted Rachel's sweater over her bra. "The damage on her chest is a reaction to having slushies thrown at her 3 times a day, by Puck and the other football players."
Mercedes then pointed to the burns on her stomach. "Rachel got these cause the football players and the cheerleaders thought it would be fun to tie Rachel up and burn her."
"Oh God." Finn said. He couldn't believe that he didn't notice earlier.
"Is that true?" Shouted Mr Schue.
Quinn, Santana, Brittany and Puck didn't answer.
"I SAID IS THIS TRUE?" Mr Schue screamed.
This time they all nodded.
"Okay then." Mr Schue said. "You 4 come with me to the principals office. Mercedes take Rachel to the nurse. Kurt and Artie go tell Coach Sylvester to meet me outside the nurses office in 20 minutes. Finn and Tina you go to Miss Pillsbury's office and tell her about the situation."
They all left the classroom. Finn and Tina were last to leave. Finn looked down the hallway to see Mercedes walking with her arm around Rachel.
"Go with Rachel, Finn." Tina said.
"Are you sure?" Finn said back.
Tina nodded. "Yeah."
Tina walked to Miss Pillsbury's office. Finn ran down the hallway to catch up with Mercedes and Rachel.
"Mercedes!" Finn called. Mercedes and Rachel turned around.
Finn's heart broke when he saw the tears and the terrified look on Rachel's face.
"Can I come with you?"
Mercedes nodded. Finn went over and held Rachel's hand as they walked to the nurses office.
When they arrived at the nurses office Mercedes explained everything to the nurse. While Finn lay Rachel down on the bed and held her hand.
"I'm so sorry, Rachel." Finn said while rubbing circles in Rachel's hand with his thumb.
"What you saying sorry for?" Rachel asked.
"For not noticing anything." Finn said. "I could have stopped it."
"It's not your fault, Finn." Rachel said. "It's mine. I really should have told you."
"Why didn't you tell me? Or your dads?" Asked Finn.
Rachel started to tear up again. "I was scared. They threatened me not to tell anyone. My dads were fighting to much. I didn't want to make things worse."
"It's over now, Rachel." Finn said. "They will never hurt you again."
After a few minutes, Mr Schue, Sue Sylvester, Principal Figgins and Miss Pillsbury were in the nurses office. Rachel lifted her sweater to show the damage done to her stomach.
"The Cheerios and the football players did that to you?" Miss Pillsbury said in shock. Rachel nodded.
"Do you know the names of the people who did this to you?" Sue asked.
"It was all of them." Rachel said.
"I think Quinn, Santana and Brittany caused her the most pain." Mercedes said.
"Don't worry, Rachel. I'll deal with this." Sue said as she started to walk out.
"Wait! Coach Sylvester!" Rachel called.
"Yes?" Sue said as she walked back in.
"Don't let Brittany Pierce get in trouble." Said Rachel.
"Why not?" Asked Sue.
"Rachel, she hurt you." Mercedes said.
"No she didn't." Said Rachel. "She was there but she never hurt me. She helped me."
"Then why didn't she tell anyone about it." Said Mercedes. "She could have stopped this."
"She was scared." Rachel said back. "She told me that before she became a Cheerio the girls who hurt me used to hurt her. She said that she thinks it's because she has Dyslexia."
"She's lying!" Said Mercedes. "The Cheerios are her best friends."
"I don't think she's lying." Said Miss Pillsbury.
Everyone looked at Miss Pillsbury.
"I'm not meant to tell you but when Brittany was 11 her family moved here from Belgium. Brittany does have Dyslexia. When she moved here she spoke very little English. She found it very hard to keep up with her school work and she had to be held back. She attended counselling sessions with me cause the other girls would tease her about being held back. She told me she did dancing and gymnastics back in Belgium. So I suggested that she could try out for the Cheerios. Afterwards they stopped teasing her but Brittany never told me about them hurting her."
"Their still hurting her now, Miss Pillsburry." Rachel said. "They still hit and threaten her."
"I'll talk to her about it. I have to contact your dads first." Miss Pillsbury said as she left the nurses office.
"Leave this to me." Sue said as she left with Miss Pillsbury.
"You think there infected?" Rachel asked, looking at her stomach.
"I don't think so." Mercedes said as she looked at the burns.
"Attention students." They heard Sue say over the intercom. "Can all the members of the football team and the Cheerios come to the sports hall. NOW!"
"Their dead." Said Finn.
"Good." Mercedes said back. "They deserve it."
"Should I go to the sports hall?" Asked Finn. "I'm on the football team."
Rachel shook her head. "You didn't do anything. I don't want you to leave."
They looked at the door and saw Miss Pillsbury come back in.
"Okay Rachel, I called your dads. There on their way to get you and bring you to the hospital."
"What? I don't want to go to the hospital! I want to go home!" Rachel said, starting to cry.
"Rachel, I know your scared and you want to go home but you have to go to the hospital." Miss Pillsbury said while sitting down on the bed. "Being kicked and punched in the stomach is a serious thing. They just want to see if there's any damage done."
Finn sat down next to Rachel. Rachel cuddled into his side.
"Can I go home tonight?" Asked Rachel.
Miss Pillsbury sighed. "That's up to the hospital."
"Can Mercedes and Finn please come with me?" Rachel asked.
"I'll talk to the principal. They have to ask their parents." Miss Pillsbury said. Rachel nodded.
After a few minutes Leroy and Hiram Berry ran into the nurses office and went straight over to Rachel.
"Rachel, What's going on here?" Leroy asked.
Rachel didn't say anything. She just pulled her sweater over her stomach. Leroy and Hiram gasped in horror.
"I was being bullied." Rachel said quietly.
"For how long?" Leroy asked.
"Since the start of the year." Rachel said, holding back tears.
Finn, Mercedes and Miss Pillsbury moved to the side of the room.
Hiram was visibly angry. "Rachel Barbara Berry you could have told anyone about this! Why did you keep it to yourself?"
Rachel let a tear fall when her dad raised his voice at her. "I was scared."
"Rachel, you know you can tell us anything! Why didn't you?" Hiram shouted.
Rachel started sobbing. "Cause you and daddy were fighting. I didn't want to make thing worse."
"Mr Berry." Miss Pillsbury. "Rachel has been through a lot these past few weeks. She's had a very long and emotional day. You shouting at her is only making her more scared."
Rachel was still sobbing. "Please don't be angry at me dad."
Hiram sighed. "I'm not angry at you, Rachel, I'm angry cause this happened to you."
Hiram sat on the bed and hugged Rachel tight. "I love you, baby girl."
"I love you too." Rachel looked at Leroy and pulled away from Hiram.
Leroy stood there in shock that this had happened to his little girl.
"Daddy?" Rachel said as she lifted her arms up towards him.
Leroy sat down on the bed and lifted Rachel onto his lap and rocked her back and forth. "I love you, Princess. I'm so sorry we let this happen."
"The school contacted the hospital their waiting for you to arrive." Miss Pillsbury. "Finn and Mercedes wants to go with Rachel if that's okay with you?"
Hiram looked at Rachel. He knew Rachel wanted them to come. "Yeah of course they can come."
Leroy put Rachel back down on the bed. "Where your bag, Rach?"
"In my locker." Rachel said.
"You want me to get it?" He asked. Rachel nodded. She sat up and whispered her locker number and combination to her dad.
Leroy left and Hiram put his arm around Rachel and helped her up.
"You want me to carry her?" Asked Finn.
"Would you?" Hiram said back.
Finn nodded and went over to Rachel. Rachel put her arms around Finn's neck. Finn lifted her up so her legs were around Finn's waist. He carried her out to the car. Rachel was sitting in between Mercedes and Finn in the back of the car. Finn wrapped his arms around her. When Leroy got back with Rachel's bag they lift for the hospital. The whole time Finn's eyes were on the small girl who had fallen asleep in his arms.