you belong with me

chapter 2

Rachel fluffed the curly waves in her hair and gazed at her appearance in her bedroom mirror. She fixed each individual wave before she put on a thin layer of hairspray. When she was satisfied, she turned away from the mirror and looked at all the unpacked boxes scattered around on her bedroom floor. It was going to take her forever to make her room look the same way it did all those years ago.

The Berry family lived in California for four years before her dad's job position was transferred back to Ohio. Of course, the new job happened just as Rachel was becoming comfortable in the state of California. The state had never been one of her favorites, so naturally it took her a while before she was able to settle in. She wasn't a big fan of Hollywood's inaccurate portrayal of reality. So, when she discovered that her family was returning to Ohio, she couldn't have been more thrilled.

The house that the Berry's owned before the move to Ohio happened to be for sale upon their return. The Berry's quickly made an irresistible offer on the house, and soon enough, Rachel found herself living in the same house she grew up in.

Rachel heard a knocking sound coming from the door, and turned to see her dad standing outside of the door frame. Rachel offered him a friendly smile and invited him in to her bedroom. Her dad walked into the room and took a seat on the edge of her bed.

"What's up, Dad?" Rachel asked, moving some boxes around to make the room seem a little more presentable.

"It's a little strange being back here, isn't it?" her dad commented, watching Rachel move the boxes around in the corner of the room.

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, "I grew up here but it feels so different. It's almost like I don't belong here anymore."

Her dad nodded, "Do you're friends know you're back?"

Rachel stopped her box rearranging and turned back to her dad. She shook her head slowly, wondering why he would even bring them up into conversation.

"Why don't you give them a call? I'm sure Finn and Noah would be ecstatic to see you again," her dad said. "You three used to be like the three musketeers."

Rachel gave her dad a knowing look. "Dad, you know I can't do that…" he voice trailed off as she lowered her eyes to the floor.

"Well why not?" her dad asked her. "You haven't seen them in four years! I think it would be nice for you to see them again. You three do have a lot of history."

Rachel didn't say anything; she just kept her eyes trained on the floor.

Her dad stood up from the bed. "Just think about it, okay? Don't shut them out of your life."

Rachel nodded as she watched her dad leave the room. As soon as he was gone she collapsed on her bed. Truthfully, throughout the past four years, not a day went by that she didn't think about her friends, especially Finn. At first, she talked to Puck and Finn on the phone all the time. She was sure to talk to Puck at least once a week, but she and Finn talked everyday. Even with the time difference, she was sure to always have Finn in her life. She texted him all night long sometimes while he was at school, just to be able to talk to him. On the weekends their phone calls would last forever as they shared everything that happened between them. Rachel told him all about the school play she auditioned for and Finn told her all about his football tryouts. Rachel got the lead role in the play and Finn made quarterback. As their lives became busier and busier with schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and friends, Finn, Puck, and Rachel found it to be harder and harder to keep up with their constant chats. Rachel first noticed the lack of contact with Puck when their weekly conversations changed to monthly conversations. Eventually, their contact ceased to exist at all. Her contact with Finn, however, remained strong, no matter how difficult it was. Unfortunately, even though Rachel was determined to keep a hold on her strong relationship with Finn, he seemed to contribute a smaller amount of effort with each phone call. He would always end calls quickly saying he had a football practice to get to, or that a friend was coming over. Soon, half the time that Rachel called she only reached his voicemail. Eventually, Rachel stopped trying, and resulted to sobbing in the arms of her dads, wondering what she did wrong. The last words she shared with Finn that night in his bedroom still echoed through her head.