The Transfer: A Glee Fanfiction

Chapter 7

 

The tears were pouring down her face, and she knew that she needed to pull herself together. Rachel ducked into the nearest stairwell, hiding away underneath a staircase before collapsing onto her knees. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. She knew that she had been unfair with Finn. He was only trying to help her, and she took her anger out on him. She wanted to go find him and apologize for her words, but she knew she couldn’t. Because deep down, Rachel knew that what she said was true.      

She stayed like that for a long time, curled in a ball underneath the staircase, sobbing quietly into her hands. By the time she had pulled herself together enough to get up and walk to her car, it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. Rachel checked her phone and found out that she had five missed calls from her fathers. They were probably worried about her when she didn’t come home on time. She sent Leroy a quick text letting him know that everything was fine and that she was on her way home. Rachel looked back at the school one last time before pulling out of the parking lot.

This is it, she thought. I’m finally free.

She was escaping the hellhole these people called a school. No more slushies, no more insults whispered in her ear on the way to class, no more being shoved against a locker in the hallway. No more McKinley. It was what she’d wanted for a very long time, and now she was finally getting it.

So why did she feel so awful?

......

Rachel woke up bright and early Wednesday morning to the sound of her alarm clock. She rolled over in her bed and hit the top of her clock, turning off the annoying alarm. She didn’t have her usual pep getting ready that morning; she barely got three miles on her elliptical, and she accidentally skipped the tenth step in her moisturizing routine. When she was done getting ready, Rachel checked herself over in her mirror. She inspected her uniform: a tight, white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to just above her elbows matched with a pleated red skirt that ended about halfway down her thighs and knee high socks. Rachel couldn’t help but find the outfit a bit too sexy for a school uniform. The blouse was tight on her chest, so tight that she had to leave the top few buttons undone, and the skirt hugged her backside, showing off all of the curves that she had been hiding with reindeer sweaters and wool skirts at McKinley. Rachel wondered what kind of perverts were running the school, making all of the girls dress this way.

Over-all, Rachel had to admit she looked pretty good. Her chocolate colored hair fell in waves past her shoulders and her makeup hid the worst of her bruises and made her usually dull, brown eyes bright. She could still see a few of the purple and blue blotches along her jaw as well as the cut on her cheek, but she’d managed to cover up the bruising on her nose and under her eyes thanks to some tricks she learned on Youtube.

Rachel’s phone buzzed on her vanity table. She picked it up and saw a text from Kurt on the screen.

“WE NEED TO TALK ASAP”

She had been meaning to talk to Kurt for days but kept putting it off, not exactly sure what she wanted to say once they spoke. She sent him a quick text.

“Tonight @ 4, Breadstix”

Rachel went to put her phone in her pocket, where she normally kept it, before she realized that she didn’t have any pockets. Sliding the phone into the side pocket of her backpack, she headed downstairs.

Her fathers’ eyes widened when they saw Rachel come down, but they didn’t say anything about her outfit. After a little breakfast, she kissed her fathers goodbye and went out to her car. She knew the way to Carmel by heart, thanks to all of the spying trips she’d taken with Mercedes and Kurt last year. She felt a pang of longing in her chest for her friends. Stop it, she thought. They aren’t thinking about you. You need to stop thinking about them.

Before she knew it, she was pulling into the Carmel parking lot. She didn’t have to search very long for a parking spot as it was almost a half hour before the bell rang. She walked up to the school’s main entrance and put her hands on the door handle. You can do this, Rachel,  she told herself. You can do this. Deep breath. One...two…three.

Rachel pushed the door out of her way and strode into the school. It was early, so there weren’t too many people in the halls. She was supposed to go to the principal's office to get her schedule, but she had no clue where to go. She was about to ask one of the other students when she noticed a little plaque on the door to her right that read “Principal Howard”. Well, that was easy.

Rachel opened the door a crack, knocking on the hard wood with her knuckles.

“Come in,” she heard a gruff voice say from inside.

Rachel pushed the door open all the way and stepped into the room. The office was larger than Figgins’s had been, but not by much. There were bookshelves lining the walls and a large window on the left that looked out over the courtyard. Several plaques hung on the wall behind a large mahogany desk, decorated with office supplies and pictures of the principal and his family. The principal himself, a broad, bearded man with graying hair, sat behind the desk in a tall black chair.

“Rachel Berry,” he said, his voice low and rough. “I’ve heard much about you. Please, sit.”

Rachel sat down in one of the plush chairs positioned in front of the desk. She sank into the soft material, trying to swallow her nerves and compose herself. She crossed her legs and placed her folded hands on top of her knee, straightening her back.

“You can relax, Ms. Berry,” the principal said, and Rachel felt the muscles in her back ease. “No need to be nervous. This isn’t an interview. I’m just going to give you your schedule and a few other things to get you going here at Carmel. One of the students has volunteered to help you out for the first few weeks: take you to your classes, introduce you to students and faculty, show you some extracurricular activities, the works. He should be here any minute now…”

Principal Howard ruffled through one of his draws, and Rachel was immediately reminded of Miss Pillsbury and her pamphlets. She had to stifle a giggle.

He pulled out a manila folder with Rachel’s name on the tag and handed it to her.

“This has your class schedule, a map of campus, a list of extracurricular activities and after school clubs, and letters from your teachers that highlight what they’ve covered in class this semester,” he said as Rachel flipped through the pages. “I heard through the grapevine that you are quite the extraordinary singer, Ms. Berry, so I contacted Mr. Careisy, the show choir coach, and he will probably be looking to speak with you sometime today. He was ecstatic when he heard about you; he’s been searching for a strong female voice to accompany his male lead, and you seem like just the girl.”

The principal smiled warmly at her, thinking that he was making her day with this chance to become a member of Vocal Adrenaline. Rachel felt her insides turn at the thought. She knew that she wanted to join the team, but every time she thought about it, she thought of what her ex-teammates would think when they find out. What Finn would think. Holding back a shudder, Rachel pushed the thought to the back of her mind and smiled at the man in front of her.

“I would be honored to be a part of the show choir,” she said, wearing her most dazzling smile.

There was a soft knock on the door.

“Oh that must be him,” Principal Howard said, looking at the door. “Come in!”

Rachel heard the door open and a sickeningly familiar voice said, “Good morning, Principal Howard.”

Rachel froze. The smile disappeared from her suddenly pale face. She didn’t dare turn around; seeing him would make it real. This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, she chanted in her head, hoping the thought would change reality. She felt like she was about to throw up, and it took her a few seconds to realize that she wasn’t breathing. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rachel heard the principal respond, but she didn’t have to hear the words to know exactly who was standing behind her.