Back-Up Plan - Book 1 - S.E.

Born this way

A/N: Not sure how I feel about this one, but oh, well... I do hope you enjoy it, though and, as always, let me know what you thought!

"Oh my God, you're getting a nose job." Quinn mumbled, after Rachel was done explaining what had happened at the doctors after Finn had taken her after breaking her nose during Bootycamp.

"I'm considering having a minor procedure to repair my deviated septum." Rachel corrected.

"So, a nose job." Santana said.

"Look, I'm... I'm happy with the way that I look, okay? And I've embraced my nose." Rachel said, as Winnie raised an eyebrow, not really believing a word of what she was saying. "But let's say I wanted to have a slightly more demure nose. Like Quinn's, for example. I-I would never change my appearance for vanity, but, I mean, the doctor said that it could possibly improve my talent, which would help us all for Nationals."

"Possibly?" Mr. Schue intervened. "What about the risks? Your voice is amazing as is, Rachel."

"Hold up." Santana shook her head then. "Could we all just get real here for a second? I hear that Rachel's got a bit of a schnoz. I mean, I wouldn't know because, like Medusa, I try to avoid eye contact with her. But can we all just stop lying about how there aren't things that we wouldn't change about ourselves? I mean, I'm sure that Sam's been at the doctor's office and rifled through pamphlets on mouth reduction. I'll bet Artie's thought about getting his legs removed since he's not really using them anyways. We all know what happened at Winnie's last Miss Ohio competition. And I'm definitely sure that Tina's looked into getting an eye de-slanting."

At her words, most of the mentioned people frowned, offended and Winnie slouched a bit in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest quietly and batting Mike's hand away from her when he tried to place a hand on her knee for comfort.

"That's extraordinarily racist." Tina mumbled, clearly offended by Santana's insinuation as well.

"I'm keepin' it real." The girl shrugged, unbothered

"Sorry, Santana. I'm a beautiful person." Tina said. "I'm in love with myself, and I would never change a thing."

"Is that why you're wearing blue contacts today, Tina?" Mike accused as Winnie cut her eyes at his sarcastic tone. "Self-hating Asian."

"Not many Asian sex symbols, Mike." Tina argued. "I'm just trying to be in fashion and mirror what I see in the magazines."

"My dancing kind of bothers me." Finn spoke up. "Hum, it almost killed Rachel, but I like the way I look."

"Oh, please." Santana rolled her eyes. "You have weird, puffy pyramid nipples. They look like they're filled with custard, or you could dust them with powdered sugar and they could pass for some sort of dessert. Look, maybe Rachel's fine with having an enormous beak. Maybe she needs it to crack hard seeds. All I'm saying is that if you look in the mirror and you don't like what you see, you should change it."

"Whoa, guys." Mr. Schue shook his head. "I'm really shocked at what I'm hearing here. It goes against everything the glee club stands for. I'm telling you, the thing you would most like to change about yourself is the most interesting part of you."

"Well, maybe..." Winnie shrugged, still with a deep frown and not really comfortable with the subject of the lesson. "But at this school, the thing that makes you different is the thing people use to crush your spirit."

***

"Hey. Can I talk to you?"

Sam lifted his eyes from his English textbook and nodded when he saw no one other than Winnie Archer standing across from him, in front of his desk.