It Is Pretending Right?

chapter 3

Saturday slowly but surely rolled around. Each day the nerves grew inside Rachel. She had studied the leaflet Finn had filled out for days now and she felt like she was studying for a test.

Every day she texted Finn to ask if he was studying as well and each time he replied saying he has been but he was taking a break. He also had texted her everyday to express his nerves.

Rachel had spent two hours getting ready and was finally done. Finn had told her it was a black tie event so she wore a long, black dress with white lace around the neckline. She wore matching black high heels to go with it. She had her hair curled and pulled it over one shoulder.

She checked herself over in the mirror and grabbed her clutch bag. Why was she so nervous? She had done plenty of plays so why was this such a big deal?

She told herself it was because she wanted it to go well for Finn, her friend; but the truth was she really did want his Mom and Burt to like her. She couldn't explain why but his family liking her seemed like a big deal.

Had she prepared for this role so much that she was actually beginning to believe she was his girlfriend? No, they were friends.

Rachel's phone buzzed and she opened a text to reveal that Finn was waiting outside with the car. She felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach as she made her way outside.

As soon as the car came into view her eyes were drawn to Finn. He looked handsome in a black suit. He was freshly shaven and his hair was styled with not a strand out of place. When he saw her he walked over and hugged her.

"Thank you so much for doing this." Finn said as he pulled away.

"It's fine. Let's just hope they believe us." Rachel smiled at his panicked face.

"You look beautiful by the way." Finn looked Rachel up and down.

"You don't look too bad yourself. You clean up well."

Finn opened the door and helped Rachel into the car. He closed the door behind her and walked to the other side and climbed in. He gave the address to the driver and lent back.

"You need to relax, Finn." Rachel said after a few minutes of watching him try to hide his nervousness, and doing a bad job at that.

"What do you mean?"

"If you go in looking like that everyone is going to know that there is something wrong. You need to relax and have faith. They are going to believe us, Finn. Don't worry." Rachel grabbed his hand and rubbed it reassuringly.

"I hope they do." Finn admitted and looked out of the window.

A few minutes later Rachel spoke again. "Before we go in we need to decide how we met."

"They know we met when you and Puck went out though, my friends will recognize you." Finn frowned.

"Well how did we meet again? How did you ask me out?" Rachel explained.

"Maybe something simple. We ran into each other at the store?" Finn asked with a shrug.

"Or something romantic?" Rachel pointed out.

"Ok. How about we both reached for the last carton of milk, our hands touched, our eyes met and we instantly fell for each other?" Finn asked as a compromise.

"Well that could be believable. We got to talking and you asked me on a date. This happened three weeks ago and you asked me to be your girlfriend a week ago, got it?"

Finn nodded as they pulled up outside the venue. Finn got out of the car and opened Rachel's door. Rachel climbed out and Finn closed the door behind her.