𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍 | 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐘

four.

rachel had followed hazel the entire way to the bathrooms, hazel had pretended not to notice in the hopes that rachel would take the hint that she wanted to be alone. but rachel berry was stubborn and hazel knew she wasn't getting rid of her. "you don't have to keep your distance," hazel commented as lightly as she possibly could as she held the bathroom door open. "i don't bite."

"no, i know, it's just-" the girl trailed off, looking hazel's food stained clothes up and down. "i'm fine," hazel said, trying to break the awkwardness in the room. all of glee club were friends with each other but obviously some were closer with others. hazel had never been extremely close to rachel despite them actually sharing a lot of their dreams and aspirations in common. instead they usually just ended up bickering over who deserved what solo in glee club. "do you need help?" rachel gestured towards the girls clothes. "i don't have any tricks to get stains out that fast but i could check the lost and found for you?"

the thing about rachel berry was the 90% of the time she was extremely self-absorbed and she annoyed hazel a lot. she would do things so unbelievable and selfish that hazel was thrown off but she could also be nice when she wanted to be. hazel never fully knew where she stood with rachel but being in glee club alongside the girl had made hazel realise that there was a part of her that was sweet. they might have argued a lot but a little piece of hazel did consider rachel to be her friend.

"no it's fine, i keep clothes in my bag," hazel sighed. "usually it's puckerman ruining my outfits but i guess it's just quinn being quinn." hazel usually kept her spare clothes in her locker but had completely forgotten about it that morning because she'd borderline been late. she was extremely grateful for her bad timekeeping knowing that minutes beforehand she had rushed past her locker mainly due to the humiliation she was feeling.

she really didn't care about what mckinley high students thought of her but quinn fabray hurling her lunch tray over her had sparked something within her that was a mixture of total rage and the need to curl into a ball and cry. hazel was not liking that feeling at all. "for what it's worth, i think she's just jealous," rachel shrugged. "she's really pretty, you're really pretty, she just doesn't want anyone taking the spotlight."

hazel snorted at that and tried to imagine a world in which she could take the spotlight from pretty, popular cheerleader quinn fabray. even if she wasn't in glee club and was a cheerio, nothing would ever take the light off quinn. mckinley high practically revolved around her. she knew rachel was just trying to be nice or to comfort her in some way but the idea of quinn being jealous of hazel? it was absurd. "thanks," hazel settled for instead of asking her had she banged her head off of anything recently. "i'm fine, seriously you don't have to stick around." rachel didn't look all too convinced by that statement. "are you sure?"

"yeah," hazel replied. "i'll see you in glee?" rachel smiled slightly. "you're coming back?" hazel nodded. "apparently my walkout was a little dramatic," she shrugged. "i think i was completely justified but others do not." the bathroom doors swung open, two of sue sylvester's cheerios descending into fits of giggles the second they saw hazel before pushing their way past both girls into the cubicles. "so mature," hazel rolled her eyes. "i better get changed before my next class." rachel nodded. "i'll see you later," she said, hazel spun around to one of the empty cubicles.

"hey, hazel?" the girl spun back around to face rachel. "you should try and give finn a chance," she said. "he's not like those other guys." hazel didn't want to tell her that she didn't trust finn because she didn't even know him. maybe it was a little judgemental on her behalf but she knew that he stood by while his friends behaved like heathens. in a perfect world, he would be different and glee club would be better with him in it. but hazel couldn't help but think that this was all going to come crashing down because there was no way the students of mckinley high were ever going to let the quarterback join glee club. and when it came down to an ultimatum, hazel knew finn would choose football. "yeah," hazel lied. "i'll try."