Chapter Seven
"Rach? Rach, wake up!"
It was five-ten in the morning when Rachel heard someone calling her name. It was the day after the afternoon at the bowling alley with Finn, and the only thing she wanted to do now was rest, and enjoy a day off. It had been a long week, and Rachel couldn't help but be happy that it was finally the weekend. But of course, someone had to ruin everything by making all that noise.
"Five more minutes, Papa," Rachel groaned, her face still turned towards the pillow.
She could barely hear a small chuckle followed by a reply: "Rach, I'm not Hiram."
"Daddy, let me sleep," she said once again, half asleep. She hadn't even noticed that the voice didn't correspond to a forty year old, but she didn't care too much. Since she had returned from her not date with Finn, Rachel spent all afternoon and most of the night to rethink the events that had occurred that day until finally she was finally able to sleep. It didn't matter who was trying to wake her; Rachel had to sleep for at least eight whole hours, and she strongly hoped that this person would leave her in peace.
"And I'm not your Daddy, either. C'mon, get up!"
Suddenly, a wave of wind crossed Rachel's bare legs, leaving her without blankets and eventually attracting her attention.
"What the-", Rachel stood up abruptly turned to come face-to-face with the last guy that she wanted to have in her bedroom at the time. "Finn? What are you doing here?"
The boy just rolled his eyes annoyed and pointed to a day of the calendar hanging beside her bed: Saturday.
That could only mean one thing: jogging.
Rachel had totally forgotten that her fathers had forced her to run along with Finn on Saturday mornings. Of course, she had promised them that she would, but in all honesty, she hadn't the slightest desire to go out and do physical activities, so she shook her head like a little girl and went back under the covers.
Nothing. No sound, no noise or any attempt to protest from Finn. She was relieved that he hadn't tried to force her, but also surprised, because he wasn't the type of guy to give up so easily. The surprise of Rachel disappeared in a flash, when two large hands leaned on her hips to tickle her. The girl began to laugh, wiggling around in bed and trying to shake him off.
How mature.
Rachel tried to move his hands away, unnecessarily causing even more intense tickling. "O-okay, f-fine! Ple-ease stop!"
Rachel was suddenly freed from Finn's grip and, although he had stopped, she continued to chuckle as she sat on the bed and looked at the amused face of Finn. She stared at him, and little by little, her laughter faded, her expression became more serious and her breathing more calm.
She didn't know how long they sat in silence, looking at each other, or why she was doing it instead of kicking him out so that she could get dressed. Strangely, it was Finn who broke the silence by clearing his throat and breaking eye contact. He stood up and headed toward the door, leaving a confused Rachel alone. "I'll wait for you downstairs."
Rachel was staring at the door, now closed. She took a moment to absorb what had just happened before she freed herself from underneath the blankets and jumped out of bed. She stretched, looking out the window to enjoy the peace and quiet that floated in the air. The sky was still a bit dark, and the streets were empty. Rachel turned one last time to the unmade bed, trying at all costs to drive away that little feeling of happiness in having that guy in her room in the early morning. She hated him. Or at least, that's what she repeated over and over in her head. But she secretly wouldn't have minded opening her eyes every morning and find herself in front of that face with those amber eyes and that adorable smile.
Twenty minutes after using the bathroom, having brushed her teeth, gotten dressed and made the bed, Rachel walked down the stairs towards Finn, who was waiting impatiently for her by the door.
"Finally," he muttered, going out of the house, ready to run.
"Wait; let me check the mail first." Rachel ignored the guy who rolled his eyes clearly annoyed and walked to the mailbox.
She felt the boy's eyes following her like a hawk, but she tried her best to ignore it.
What would she feel? Disappointment, if there had been no letter? Or... or... what would she feel if instead there was a letter in it? She had no time to think - apparently she'd thought too much - because before she could put off till later, her hand opened the small door, and her eyes lit up. It was there. The usual white envelope with her name on it. Rachel glanced at Finn who was scoffing and looking, clearly irritated, at his watch, and she opened the envelope quickly and furtively, as if she was afraid that someone else could read it.
Dear Rachel,
I thought and thought about what I wanted to write to you, and the only thing that I came up with is that I'm happy that your detention is finally over. When the last bell rang, and while all the others were happy to be able to go home, or just out, your sad and tired face was the only thing I could think of. The fact that you had to put up with undue punishment locked in school was unjust. A beautiful girl like you shouldn't have to spend her afternoon like that. You truly are. Beautiful, I mean. Beautiful in a special way. The most beautiful girl in the entire school, town, and even universe.
You're beautiful, Rach, so please don't let anyone tell you you're the opposite.
Promise to write to you soon and tell you how beautiful you are in person.
Love,
Your secret admirer
Rachel wanted to go back inside to read it again, and to make sure that those words really were written there, and that they weren't just her imagination, even though it seemed unlikely that she had imagined the same adjective written over and over again.
The fake coughing of a boy get her back into reality. Rachel fold quickly the letter, embarrassed to have been caught by the moment, and put it in her pocket and run as fast as possible.
She heard Finn's shouts from behind her become more and more distinct, until she found him running alongside her. She wasn't even listening to his baffled questions because her mind was elsewhere, still immersed in that letter.
"You're beautiful, Rach..."
Beautiful.
What did that guy have in his eyes? Salami, by any chance? Beautiful was an adjective that was used on girls like Quinn, but not on her. It was difficult for Rachel to feel beautiful. She always seemed to have high self-esteem, but in reality, she really had a lot of insecurities. Sometimes, she wondered whether this guy really meant what he wrote, or it was just lies. Her focus returned to the word written right after, the name by which he had called her: Rach. Maybe it might sound like a nickname, much like so many others, a affectionate sobriquet, but the point was, that only one person had used it with her before. Only one had addressed her simply as Rach, and that person was running right next to her.
Almost an hour had passed, but because of their fatigue, they both decided to take a break to sit and rest on a bench.
Finn got up to drink from a fountain, and Rachel stared into space as a small smile appeared on her face. Finn wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat down again. "Why are you smiling?" he asked, puzzled.
Her expression remained the same, and with a faint voice replied, "No one has ever told me I'm beautiful before."
"No way," Finn widened his eyes, his tone doused in sarcasm.
"Well, it's easy for you to laugh about it!" Rachel's face darkened, and she turned angrily toward him. She knew that he was just kidding, but she couldn't help feeling angry.
"I was kidding."
She continued, "Every single girl falls at your feet and would die just to go out with the most handsome guy in school!"
Suddenly, all her anger vanished and was replaced by a different emotion: embarrassment.
Her cheeks turned red and she bit her lip, hoping that Finn wouldn't pay any attention to the last sentence she had said.
She should have known that it wouldn't be that simple.
"Oooh, so you think I'm handsome?" Finn smirked, amused and pleased.
"What? No! Other girls think that. And don't try to change the subject. I'm mad at you!" Rachel defended herself, nervously trying to cover up her gaffe.
"Sure," Finn whispered flirtatiously, not believing a single word.
"Whatever," Rachel huffed, more than a little miffed, before getting up to resume running.
She had no intention of staying there and letting the ego of a Neanderthal grow even more. There was nothing wrong with finding him attractive, but that didn't mean he could feel like a Greek god because of it.
Rachel did little more than three steps before she felt a hand on her and drag her in the opposite direction.
"Where are we going?" Rachel asked bothered but leaving nonetheless drag wherever he was taking her.
Finn continued to walk looking straight ahead with an unreadable expression. Rachel thought that he had ignored her question or that he hadn't heard it at all when he finally answered her. "I wanna take you somewhere."
Rachel couldn't even remember how long they'd walked. They walked along a path until they reached a hill. They climbed it while Rachel looked around even more confused than before. There was virtually no one in the surrounding area, and the houses could be seen not far in the distance. She was about to open her mouth and ask him what he had in mind when they finally stopped near a tree. Rachel turned in the direction Finn was facing. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the sight of the landscape. You could admire some of the houses, streets and trees from the top and you could see those few people already awake, walking along the sidewalk with their dogs. It was all so... quiet, and very different from the environment to which she was accustomed.
The sky was, without a doubt, the view that Rachel preferred. It was a strange yellowish color mixed with a light blue and pink hue, typical colors of dawn. She had never been able to observe that shade of color locked in the house and it wasn't easy to appreciate the sky surrounded by trees, houses and streetlights.
"It's..." It rarely happened that Rachel fell speechless, but this was one of those rare moments, in which her extensive vocabulary suddenly seemed empty.
"...beautiful."
The girl suddenly shifted her gaze from the wonder of the landscape to the boy that who had finished the sentence for her. Both still had their hands joined together but neither of them seemed to want to break free from each other.
Finn seemed unaware of being watched by the petite brunette as he spoke.
"I discovered this place a few months ago, during my usual morning run. I consider it my hiding place, because you rarely find someone to come by in these parts. I come here when I need a place all to myself, to be alone and in peace, to think. A place where no one can disturb me," he explained.
"Oh, yeah, people disturb you," Rachel joked, nudging her shoulder against his.
"Hey, you're the only person that I like to annoy." Finn replied, finally looking at her with a small grin on his face and with a raised eyebrow.
Rachel put her free hand on her chest, over her heart, pretending to be moved and pouting playfully. "Aww, now I feel special."
"Maybe because you are."
Finn's smile was replaced by a sweet but, at the same time, serious look. Rachel's hands began to sweat with embarrassment and she moved her hand away from Finn's, not noticing the way his face fell.
"I, uhm," Rachel cleared her throat before looking down trying to avoid those two eyes so fixed on her. "Thanks... for showing me this place. It means a lot to me."
He didn't answer, instead he just nodded before sitting down and wait for Rachel to do the same. The two were sitting on the ground to admire the sunrise letting the silence to surround them.
"You should bring the girl you like here," Rachel said out of the blue.
She didn't know why she had said such a thing, what had prompted her to speak, but now she had done it. She hoped that Finn was so focus that he would not even hear her, but as it turned out, that wasn't the case. He replied in a tiny whisper, but they were sitting near enough to allow Rachel to clearly hear, "I just did."
For the first time in all of that time spent together, Rachel couldn't take her eyes off of Finn, even though she was terribly embarrassed without a concrete reason. The boy stared at her eyes, then at her mouth, and then at her eyes once again.
She wasn't sure what would happen, even when she found herself staring at the thin lips of Finn, and even when it seemed that he was approaching more and more and more.
Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter
Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade
Rachel jumped at the ringing of her cellphone ringtone. She pulled the iPhone out of her pocket and saw the picture of her dad illuminate the screen. She dragged the green strip to respond and move the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She heard a sigh but not coming from the other end of the phone. "All right. Bye."
Rachel hung up and turned the screen towards Finn before speaking to him. "Papa called to tell me that breakfast is ready."
"Sure," was all he said. Rachel thought to invite him to eat with them, but the mood of the guy seemed to be changed and not be among the best. "You should go, dwarf." Finn put on a smile and invited Rachel to go. He didn't seem to want to get up any time soon and this helped to her to understand that he wanted to be alone.
Rachel leaned against the palm of her hand on the ground to help her up. She wiped the dirt from her backside and legs before returning home. "See you at school, giant."
Finn waited for Rachel to walk downhill before replying softly, "See ya, Rach."
Wednesday seemed to have arrived in a heartbeat. Rachel was in the school library looking for a book that would help her to understand better the topic of the task of biology. She stood on her toes to try to reach the top shelf. Still, she didn't understand why there were so many shelves since almost nobody took advantage of the school library anymore. She tried to stretch as much as possible and barely managed to touch the book in question. "C'mon," she urged.
"Shhh."
Rachel immediately lowered her arm and turned to the old librarian who was staring at her as if to silence her. She had glasses resting on her nose and short but curly white hair. She must have been sixty years old and Rachel didn't understand why she hadn't yet made up her pension. She held up a hand as if to apologize, and waited for the woman to come back to reading her magazine before trying to take that damn book.
She didn't have the time to raise her arm because soon she realized that the book was gone.
She checked on the floor if by chance it had fallen and, keeping her head down, she turned around. A relieved smile appeared on her face when she saw it in the hand of a guy who was handing it to her. Rachel took it without making a fuss and looked up to thank her savior. The smile turned into a frown when she saw that classic half-smirk as she just grumbled a miserable, "Thank you."
The boy giggled, only worsening her mood, and when she noticed that the librarian hadn't silenced them this time made her even more nervous.
"Did you need something else, Finn?" Rachel whispered sore by the fact that he was still standing there.
"Mercedes is looking for you. She's waiting at your locker."
Rachel nodded and walked to the counter to record the book she had taken. She ignored Finn's comment coming from her shoulders about taking a stepladder next time, obviously referring to her little problem in reaching the last shelf.
The girl rolled her eyes and walked down the halls once again befuddled by Finn's behavior. How can a person be the sweetest guy in the world one day, and an idiot the next?
Rachel drove away every thought when she saw Mercedes leaning on her locker, too busy to exchange messages, presumably with Sam, to realize that Rachel had reached her.
"Cedes?"
Mercedes jumped suddenly but visibly calmed down when she saw her friend. "Oh thank God you're here," she said, placing a hand on her chest. "Do you remember Sam's siblings?"
"Stacey and Stevie. Sure, why?" Asked Rachel curious.
Mercedes took a breath before answering with a pleading look. "Could you do me a favor?"
"'The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop.' What kind of book is that?"
Finn immediately put the book back in place when he heard someone's voice. He had been in the library to take advantage of his free time to read and do some personal research. He was immersed in reading that sort of "manual", not realizing that someone had approached him. "Nothing, just a, uh, a research for my English class." Finn replied nervously and looked at his interlocutor. "What's up, Sam?" He asked trying to drop the topic.
"I need a favor," the blond suddenly seemed to be embarrassed and scratched his head straining a smile. "My folks will be out of town this weekend and I was going to spend some quality time with my girl..."
"Oh, I see," Finn stopped him smirking as if he knew what he was trying to say.
"No, no, it's not like you think," Sam blushed even more embarrassed than before. "I wanted to take Mercedes out to dinner and then to watch a movie since there will be Avatar in 3D again, only for a few days," he said exalted. "The problem is that I have to find someone to look after my brothers, but everybody seem to be busy and when I asked Brittany she thought that she had to babysit me!" He pointed to himself in amazement. The two boys laughed but were forced to stop as soon as the librarian scolded them.
"So, you're asking me to babysit them?" Finn asked rhetorically. Of course he wanted him to babysit, why else he would have asked him otherwise?
"Will you?" Sam asked pleadingly. Finn didn't know if he was more worried about not being able to go out with his girlfriend or not being able to watch his favorite movie in 3D, even though he had already seen it countless times.
Finn pretended to think about it while he was amused to see the desperate expression of his friend, but eventually, he laughed, no longer able to restrain himself. "Sure, dude."
Sam showed a 32-tooth smile and raised his fist in the air to contain his joy. "Irayo," he said, joining his hands as he walked toward the door.
Finn looked at him quizzically, wrinkling his brows, and before the blond could leave, he asked, "What the heck does that mean?"
Sam put a hand on the edge of the door amused. "It's Na'vi. It means 'thank you'."
Finn had no idea what Na'vi was, but instead of bombarding him with questions, when it was obvious that he just wanted to give the good news to his girlfriend, he just nodded. "You're welcome."
"Mer!"
Mercedes turned around when someone called her name down the hall and smiled when she saw her boyfriend running toward her. She was looking for him for the whole school and couldn't wait to let him know that they could have their date.
"I have a great news!" Sam said, out of breath, standing in front of her.
"Me too."
The girl waited for him to continue, but for the excitement, she exclaimed with him, "I found a babysitter!"
It took only a second to swing open their eyes and look at each other amazed and replicate again in unison. "What?"
They were all sitting in their usual table during lunch time. Mercedes' mood had gone from excited to worried, like Sam's, and neither of them knew how to inform the others about the "babysitting thing." The whole gang knew they couldn't find one single person to look after Sam's brothers, but now they had the opposite problem: they had found two people who happen to hate each other to the core.
"Rach, hand me a tissue." Finn said with his mouth full.
Rachel rolled her eyes before handing him one waiting for him to use good manners. "What do you say now?" Rachel asked with the tone in which the teachers speak to the children of the nursery.
Finn took the handkerchief from Rachel's hand and belched beating five with Puck, who just chuckled proudly.
"Pig," she snorted. "I'm so glad that I don't have to spend another afternoon with you."
Finn finished chewing before whispering flirty in her ear, "You weren't so disgusted last Friday." He mimed a kiss, making her shiver.
The girl grabbed the spoon and pointed it threateningly in front of Finn, but the boy only raised his hands, amused, and laughed. Rachel glared at him muttering insults but only feeding the boy's enjoyment.
Mercedes notice Rachel's exasperation and realized that she couldn't tell her in any way, not if she wanted to stay alive. She exchanged a look with Sam and both understood to be screwed.
"Rach. Rach. Rach!"
Saturday.
Again.
Rachel felt that her shoulders were shaking, and unfortunately, she knew who was shaking her. Though she tried to pretend she was still sleeping, the boy insisted, until he even throw a pillow at her. That was enough for Rachel to wake up and kill the "aggressor" with her eyes.
Finn was as always sitting on the edge of his bed blissful, as if he enjoyed to disturb her rest. Rachel was about to scream at him but the boy stood still before she could open her mouth, and shouted from behind his back to hurry up and telling her that he would wait downstairs.
Rachel sighed loudly when the door closed and was ready to change with the jogging suit when the phone lit up showing a message:
Thanks again for agreeing. See you tonight at 6:00 pm at Sam's. xo - Mercedes
Rachel suddenly remember the commitment that she had taken for that evening, and finally found the perfect excuse for not jogging: if she had to spend the whole night out, she should have rest and not go out for a run.
She left the room to get to Finn, who was leaning on the railing of the stairs and she stopped off to admire him. He still had his hair uncombed and she rejected the mad desire to dip her fingers on them. Feeling observed, Finn looked up and when he noticed that Rachel was still wearing her pajamas, he raised his arm to her questioning.
"Why haven't you changed yet?"
"Can we skip our jogging session?" Rachel asked, slowly walked down the stairs. "Just for today," she added soon after.
Finn seemed to take seriously into consideration her request. Rachel crossed her fingers hoping that the boy would accept but all her hopes were extinguished after a miserable, "No."
Finn opened the door, "C'mon, you can also stay dressed like that if you don't want to change you."
Rachel followed him out of the house oblivious to still be in her pajamas and stopped him, taking him by the arm and forcing him to face her. "Please," she looked at him imploringly. "I have to do a favor to a person and I think it would only be fair for me to rest and consider this as a reward for my act of generosity."
"I would not consider it to be generous if eventually you want something in return," Finn said, amused.
"Okay, so I'm just gonna ignore what you just said."
The tension was finally relieved followed by Rachel and Finn's laugher. She took advantage of the situation to convince him again reopening the discussion with a simple, "Will you allow me to stay home just this once then?"
Finn sighed on the verge of surrender. "You know, I'm busy tonight as well but that doesn't stop me from continuing to exercise."
Rachel froze involuntarily to his words. "You have a... a date?" The idea that Finn could have a date never crossed her mind. She couldn't fathom what kind of emotion she felt. She wasn't angry or confused. Maybe shocked or sad, but she didn't expect to be...
"Jealous?"
"What?! Why should I be jealous?" She pointed immediately on the defensive when the boy accused her of jealousy. "I mean we're not dating or anything and it's not like I like you or something. I mean yeah I like you a tiny little bit when you don't act like a complete jerk, but I don't like you like you, I mean-"
"A favor to a friend." He stopped the constant babble of Rachel.
"What?" She asked, trying to calm down and not understanding why she had reacted that way.
"I have to do a favor to a friend. No date." Rachel exhaled and tried to contain a small smile.
"And just for today, I'll let you skip jogging." The girl jumped into the arms of the boy for the joy thanking him repeatedly failing to feel his smile before pulling away. Finn glanced at her as if he wanted to add something else but instead he gave a small nod to greet her and running down the street.
Rachel watched his figure until it disappeared completely. She was about to go back inside when she noticed the mailbox. She walked over to it and was surprised to find only one letter there, a letter that refilled her mind with a thousand doubts.
Dear Rachel,
I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.
Okay, I admit I blatantly copied this phrase from Forrest Gump. I have read many books about how to write poetry but, as you can see, without success. It's difficult to find the right words to say to you, because you're so smart that I'm afraid that you'll consider someone like me just stupid. Sometimes I think that I'll never be good enough for you, but the idea that someone else can have you because I was too cowardly to man up, kills me. One day, I'll know exactly how to express my feelings, and that day I will share them with you, but not through a letter, it's a promise.
Love,
Your secret admirer
"Babe, will you relax?" Sam said patiently while Mercedes kept walking back and forth across the room.
"She's gonna kill me, and then she'll kill him," she said, continuing to walk.
The sound of the bell stopped her from her pacing and the boy gave her a kiss of encouragement before opening the door.
"Hello, Sam," Rachel greeted him, stepping inside. "Aw, Mercedes, you look beautiful." She complimented her friend who was wearing an elegant black silk shirt, dark jeans and stiletto shoes. Her hair was loose and her make up was simple but elegant and Rachel could only imagine how long she had spent to prepare. "Where are the kids?" She asked, looking around as she took off her jacket and scarf and put them on the couch.
"They're playing in their roo-"
Sam's voice was muffled by the sound of the doorbell. He glanced at Mercedes, who was praying for the best.
"Are you expecting someone?"
Instead of answering Rachel's question, Sam went to the door, held out a long breath and opened it. As expected, on the other side stood a guy with a leather jacket, smiling and letting himself in. He turned to greet Mercedes but his attention fell on a certain other girl, who looked at him with the same stunned expression. "What are you doing here?"
A/N: No, you're not dreaming. I finally posted after I don't know how long, lol. I'm terribly sorry, you can't even imagine how much. School is pretty stressful lately, and I never have time to write. ç_ç I've tried to make this chapter as long as possible, and I know that is not worth the wait, but it will improve, I swear.
Anyway, I am really and immensely grateful for all your kind reviews, and seeing that some of you even kept reviewing, asking me if I continued to write this story, made me really happy. :')
No matter what, I promise to finish this story and give Finchel the happy ending that they, and also you, deserve.
A huge thank you to my wonderful beta, Rebecca Ripple, who is more and more
gracious each time in helping me improve every chapter. You're the best!
And last but not least, thanks to the man to whom I dedicate this chapter, as always, Cory. I miss you every single day.