𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐲 | q. fabray

Born This Way

"Oh my god, you're getting a nose job," Quinn said as Adalynn stared at Rachel in disbelief.

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

"So, a nose job," Adalynn said, furrowing her brows.

"Look, I'm happy with the way that I look, okay? And I've embraced my nose. But let's say I wanted to have a slightly more demure nose. Like Quinn's, for example. 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."

"Yeah, possibly," said Julian. "What about the risks? Your voice is amazing as it is, Rachel."

"Hold up," Santana spoke up. "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. I have a feeling Adalynn's considered getting a boob job since she's flat as a pancake-"

Adalynn's jaw dropped before pouting and crossing her arms over her flat chest when she saw some of the boys looking.

"Puckerman, if you don't take your eyes off of her, I'll hurt you," Quinn threatened, glaring at Puck.

"-And I'm definitely sure that Tina's looked into getting an eye de-slanting."

"That's extraordinarily racist," Tina scoffed.

"I'm keepin' it real," Santana shrugged.

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

"Is that why you're wearing blue contacts today, Tina?" Mike asked. "Self-hating Asian."

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

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

"Oh, please," Santana scoffed. "You have weird, puffy pyramid nipples. They look like they're filled with custard. 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."

"Woah, guys," Mr. Schue spoke up. "I'm really shocked at what I'm hearing here. It goes against everything the glee club stands for."

"Why do you always wait until the end of the conversation to speak up?" Adalynn asked as Quinn nudged her and gave her a look.

"I'm telling you, the thing you would most like to change about yourself is the most interesting part of you," the teacher continued, ignoring Adalynn's question.

"Well, maybe," Bailey shrugged, protectively holding her baby bump. "But at this school, the thing that makes you different is the thing people use to crush your spirit."

****

Adalynn sat between Tina and Santana as they had coffee with Kurt and Blaine at the Lima Bean. The younger girl looked over at the Latina out of the corner of her eye, who had her head resting in her hand as she stared longingly at Brittany and Artie. Adalynn looked back across the table at Kurt, who sent her a small smile.