Birthday Blues (1/?)
Title:Birthday Blues (1/?)
Author:MissyRivera
Rating:Pg-13 for excessive swearing. May move up in later chapters.
Length:1000+
Spoilers:Just to be safe, all of season 1.
Summary:Written to fill this prompt at glee_fluff_meme:
Everyone forgot Rachel's birthday and only realise the next day when Mr.Shue asks her how her bithday was. Cue the glee club feeling sad and guilty and trying to make it up to her. Bonus for Faberry.
Rachel didn't get it. Sure, she knew her enthusiasm and generosity of spirit could be over-whelming (suffocating, really) and she did have a not-so-well-received tendency to explain everything in excruciating detail but she was genuinely hurt that none of the Glee clubbers had wished her a happy birthday. All day long she had flounced off to all her classes, beaming because she had expected such an amazing day full of well-wishes, maybe a birthday card in the shape of a gold star or Quinn revealing her undying love for one Rachel Barbra Berry with a romantic speech over the PA during lunchtime. Hell, she would have even appreciated a crude offer for birthday sex from Puck (whom she had befriended over the summer and they were now officially "bros"). Nothing happened. Not one goddamn thing. By last period, her flouncing and flitting to every class had diminished into dragging her feet like a caveman. And her sadness had turned into fury by the time Glee practice rolled around.
There had never been any doubt. Rachel craved attention. And if it was any other day, she would have just chalked the lack of attention to the not-quite-talented masses' inability to recognize that true stardom and awesomeness were present even when it was right there in front of them, bouncing like a happy elf on prozac down the hallways on a daily basis. But it wasn't just any other day. It was her fucking birthday! And not one fucking birthday wish? Oh hell no!
Rachel Berry was livid. No, Rachel Berry was fucking mad as all fucking hell. If she was a cartoon, she'd have steam coming out of her ears and her nose. If she wasn't so angry, she would have been glad to add another chapter to her future autobiography that she'd entitle as "the turning point". The revelation that Lima really was too small for her big dreams and she didn't need the approval, acceptance or friendship that its closed-minded inhabitants offered her... or didn't offer her, as it were. She would just cut her losses now. She didn't need friends anyway. They would just hold her back.
This is what she told herself as she gathered her sheet music for Glee, chanting "will only just hold me back" under her breath over and over again. However, her reiterations made her all the more lonely. She wanted friends. She wanted someone to genuinely like her. Being friends with Puck was great but there was only so much sexual innuendos she could take. Her first visits to the Puckerman household during the time they've just struck up a tentative friendship consisted of Rachel having to turn down Puck's make-out and sex offers about 17 times.
"Come on, Berry. The good Lord wouldn't have brought you here if he didn't want me to get into your pants!" he had said the first time.
She let a small smile creep over her lips as she thought about those first summer days. Then she felt her smile slip off her face at the reminder that Puck hadn't remembered her birthday either. She started to feel sad all over again and that only served to make her angrier. She slammed her locker door shut and stalked to the choir room.
She could hear laughter and conversation as she neared the open doorway. It was like pouring gasoline over an open fire in the middle of the forest during a hot summer day. She initiated what could only be called a storm in. Clutching her sheet music in her right hand, she walked into the room and didn't bother responding to Brittany's "Hey, Rach!", didn't pay attention to the glare Santana threw her way when Brittany pouted at being snubbed. She made a big production of taking a vacated chair and moving it far away from where everyone else had been sitting. She sat down, crossed her legs, placed her sheet music on her lap and crossed her arms, waiting for Mr.Shuester to arrive.
"What is up with her?" Mercedes asked, loudly.
Rachel just steeled her gaze forward and ignored them. And she was doing such a good job of it too until she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
"Rachel, are you okay?"
It was Quinn. They had been civil towards one another for a while now and it was new and it made Rachel happy. In fact, it made Rachel want Quinn more. But right now, she was also annoyed and angry with the blonde. She wanted to ignore her question but found she couldn't.
"I'm fine, Quinn." Rachel answered shortly, not bothering to turn around and face her.
"Forget it, Quinn. You know you can't talk to her when she's in diva mode." she heard Mercedes say.
Mr. Shuester walked into the room at that moment, preventing Rachel from turning around and telling Mercedes to shove her opinion up where the sun don't shine.
"Alright, let's get started!" Mr. Shuester clapped his hands and looked around. "Anyone got anything they want to share?"
Rachel's hand flew into the air and a collective groan resounded throughout the room.
"I would like to share something, Mr.Shuester." Rachel got up and walked to the center of the room.
"Okay..." Mr.Shuester walked off to the side.
Brad magically appeared and Rachel handed him the sheet music and focused on the group in front of her as the music started.
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na
I guess I just lost my boyfriend
I don't know where he went
So I'm gonna spend my money
I'm not gonna pay his rent
I got a brand new attitude
And I'm gonna wear it tonight
I'm gonna get in trouble
I wanna start a fight
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
I wanna start a fight
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
I wanna start a fight
It definitely didn't follow her previous actions where song choice was concerned and some parts definitely weren't relevant to her situation but the only thing that mattered was that she got her point across. That she was pissed and she was done. The day of reckoning was at hand, so to speak.
Rachel had started walking towards the glee clubbers, training her eyes on each and everyone of them as she sang.
So, so what, I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't need you
And guess what, I'm havin' more fun
And now that we're done I'm gonna show you tonight
I'm alright, I'm just fine and you're a fool
So, so what, I am a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't want you tonight
The waiter just took my table
And gave it to Jessica Simps
I guess I'll go sit with drum boy
At least he'll knows how to sing
What if this song's on the radio?
Somebody's gonna die
I'm gonna get in trouble
My ex will start a fight
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
He's gonna start a fight
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Yeah, he's gonna get in a fight
So, so what, I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't need you
And guess what, I'm havin' more fun
And now that we're done I'm gonna show you tonight
I'm alright, I'm just fine and you're a fool
So, so what, I am a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't want you tonight
For the most part, everyone looked confused. Rachel always had a reason for singing a song and they had no idea what had brought this on. They got that she was pissed but why?
Puck thought back on his conversations with Rachel the last few days. Sex, drinking, Quinn (he knew about her crush on Quinn because Rachel was not subtle and Puck had caught her staring at Quinn's ass during lunch), sex, cleaning pools, Mario Brothers, sex, video games. Nope, nothing out of the ordinary that would make her inordinately pissed.
Mike and Matt had little to no interaction with Rachel apart from her telling them that their sub-par singing was adversely affecting the Glee club and that she was available for vocal lessons if they should be so inclined.
Santana knew she pissed Rachel off on a daily basis and she really didn't care. She's called her Man-Hands, Treasure Trail, Smurf but she's never sung about it. Maybe her telling Rachel to move back to Israel yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back. Santana just rolled her eyes and continued to watch.
Brittany was thinking about ducks and recipes. But not recipes that included ducks because that makes her cry.
Finn, being Finn, thought nothing was amiss and was quite enjoying Rachel's song.
Mercedes and Kurt rolled their eyes. They liked Rachel, they did. But it was times like these that made them want to grab a pair of the balled up knee socks and shove it into the brunette's mouth.
Tina and Artie were making googly eyes at eachother.
Quinn had her brows furrowed, still slightly hurt at having her concern be dismissed so quickly by Rachel. She had really been trying to befriend the brunette the last few months and though she knows she had been unfathomably cruel to Rachel for so long, she really thought they had made some progress. Sometimes, they'd sit beside eachother in their shared classes and, once or twice, she'd actually invited Rachel to sit with her for lunch. Quinn had found out she quite liked being around Rachel when the diva was relaxed but (and Quinn would never admit this out loud) she also found Rachel's obnoxious chatter to be endearing and adorable. Why was she singing this?
Rachel locked eyes with Quinn as she finished her song.
You weren't there, you never were
You want it all but that's not fair
I gave you life, I gave my all
You weren't there, you let me fall
So, so what, I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't need you
And guess what, I'm havin' more fun
And now that we're done I'm gonna show you tonight
I'm alright, I'm just fine and you're a fool
So, so what, I am a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't want you tonight
I'm alright, I'm just fine and you're a fool
So, so what, I am a rock star
I got my rock moves and I don't want you tonight
Quinn blinked. Okay, ouch. Was she just singing that part to me?
Rachel was breathing hard when she finished. Singing the song was satisfyingly cathartic and she felt better but she couldn't ignore Quinn's look of hurt and the others' confused expressions. However, she did not want to have to explain herself. That would defeat the entire purpose of the song and if they didn't know, then that was just too damn bad. Rachel moved back to her seat and remained icy during Glee.
She made no effort to interact with the other Glee clubbers unless she needed to and it was always in a very off-putting manner. Mr. Shuester sensed the tension in the room and decided to cut practice short. As everyone began gathering their things, Mr. Shuester turned around and called to Rachel.
"Oh, Rachel. I almost forgot, happy birthday! How has your day been so far?" he asked from his place in front of the piano, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Movement around the room ceased. Even Brad the piano-player stopped in the middle of his disappearing act.
Rachel set her mouth into a tight line, grabbed her sheet music and responded with as much sarcasm as she could muster as she left the room," Terrific, Mr. Shue."
Everyone watched Rachel leave the choir room, their guilt setting in as realization hit them. Even Santana started feeling guilty. (The least she could have done was insult Rachel in a birthday-related way.) And Santana does NOT do guilty.