I feel like our favorite big-lipped blondie hasn't gotten the lovin' he deserves so I decided to introduce a new girl to shiver his timbers.

Title: Bad Company

Summary: The girl in the motel room adjacent to Sam's is a frustrating enigma. He just doesn't get her. But he wants to. The more he investigates and braves the rumor mill, the more intrigued he becomes. Can he solve the puzzle that is Carter Rae in time to help her and convince the glee club to accept her? Pairings include Sam/OC, Artie/OC friendship, and Brittana. Some Finchel but it's not a real focus at any point.

If there's one thing I've learned from living in a single motel room with my entire family, it's that privacy really is a precious commodity. That Friday night, I was relishing in one of those rare moments of alone time. My siblings were both at a friend's house for the night and my parents were on one of their "dollarless dates" at a free concert in the park. It was just me, my guitar, and the music of Mrs. Willowby's jazzercise tape coming through the wall, ever so softly. It may have not been picture perfect, but I was content.

Until the walls started to shake. The room on the other side of ours obviously had a stereo cranked up to full volume. The chords of a Bad Company song drown out all other sound, making it impossible to play guitar. Annoyed, I put my guitar aside and tried to lose myself in a comic book. No dice. The blaring music made it impossible to focus on anything. Fed up, I opened the door of the motel room, and walked into the summer air.

Mrs. Willowby was already outside, staring in the direction of the noisy room. Her plump figure was bulging through her jazzercise attire - a sight I could've lived without. "Do you know what all that racket is about, Sam?"

I shook my head and frowned. So far, since we'd moved here, Mrs. Willowby had been a constant neighbor. The other room, however, had already housed three different residents. The ruckus-causer was number four. And it seemed like they might be trouble. "I don't know, Mrs. Willowby, but I'll check."

The hefty middle aged woman grabbed my arm, concern in her eyes. "Be careful."

I understood her warning. Despite the motel being called "American Family," the residents weren't always the most wholesome bunch and some were best left alone. However, I thought it was worth a shot tonight. After all, I only had a few precious hours alone before my parents returned. And I wanted them to count.

I had to knock on the door a few times before the music was finally turned off and I could hear the door being unlocked. It opened just a crack and a face framed by long red hair. It was a girl around my age. The eyes seemed to look me up and down until the door finally opened all the way. "Yeah?"

The girl was my age, though she looked a good two inches shorter than Rachel Berry. Her long red hair fell almost to her waist, her eyes were rimmed with thick black eyeliner, and she had a ring on her left eyebrow - and she most definitely had a self-assured smirk on her face. It took me a minute to remember why I'd come over here. She wasn't what I'd been expecting.

I turned to look at Mrs. Willowby but she was already back in her room.

"Hey Blondie. Gonna tell me why you knocked on my door? Or are you just going to stand there looking pretty?" She folded her arms across her chest and raised one eyebrow.

I stifled a laugh and shook my head. "Actually, I was just wondering if you could turn your music down. The walls here are paper-thin so you can hear everything going on in the next room."

"I know. Why do you think I turned my music on in the first place? Nice guitar playing but Van Halen you are not." She twisted her curly red hair through her fingers and narrowed her eyes in contempt.

I was taken aback by her attitude. Why was she being so hostile? "I'm sorry. Maybe I should start over. I'm Sam. Sam Evans. And Van Halen I'm not, for sure. I was more aiming for Keith Urban. That guy can play."

Her nose wrinkled but I could see a smile in her eyes. "Carter Rae." She ignored my attempt at a handshake and instead, cross her arms in front of her. "You have pretty shitty taste in music but you're cute so I'll forgive it."

"So you insult me and compliment me in the same breath? Aren't we the Queen of Mixed Signals." I mirrored her stance by crossing my arms as well.

She shrugged, "Something like that."

And then she slammed the door in my face.

As I walked back to my family's motel room, the music blasted from her room again. Maybe I was imagining it but it seemed like the volume had been turned down. Just slightly. I smiled.

"Hey guys, do you know anything about a girl named Carter Rae?" I walked into glee club on a mission. To learn more about the enigma living next door. I figured someone in the club had to know something about her.

"Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while," Quinn said, looking up from her math book.

"Seriously," Puck chimed in. "Haven't seen her since...sophomore year."

"So she did go here, then. Why doesn't she anymore?"

"Because she was a total delinquent who only caused trouble," Rachel answered. Noticing my prompting gaze, she clarified. "She was expelled."

"Yeah, and after that, no one really saw her. She just kind of fell off the map," Tina added.

"Good riddance, I say. Did you know she once filled my locker with dead frogs from the biology lab? That's right. Dead frogs. In my locker." Rachel clearly wasn't a fan of Carter.

"I heard she once hacked into the school grading system and caused an entire Econ class to repeat a grade," Tina stated matter of factly.

"I heard she had an affair with a teacher. Or two," Santana said.

"I bet you'd know a thing or two about that, Lopez," Lauren quipped.

"Bite me, Zizes."

Brittany raised her hand like she was in class. I nodded at her to let her know I was listening. "I heard she was really an alien." Everyone gave her an incredulous look.

"Well, I heard she was selling stolen TVs out of her trunk during her lunch break."

"That's nothing. I heard she was on the lam and she thought Lima would be a good place to lay low."

Before I knew it, I was overwhelmed with the glee club's "information" on Carter. The more ridiculous the claims became, the more I doubted the credibility of this gossip fest. For instance, I found it incredibly unlikely that she was a Russian spy or made a sex tape with Principal Figgins. Maybe this was a dead end, after all.

"I heard she -"

"That's enough!" We all turned to see Mr. Scheuster standing in the doorway, sheet music in hand. He walked in and threw it down on the piano. "Now, guys, I let a lot slide but this gossiping has gotten out of control. I could hear you out in the hallway! I don't know what brought this on. Carter hasn't been a student here in over a year and it seems inappropriate to be talking about her like this when she isn't here to defend herself.

The rest of the glee club looked chagrinned, and even I was shuffling uncomfortably from foot to foot. After all, I was the one who had started the gossip by asking questions about Carter - and it hadn't even done any good.

"Alright," Mr. Scheuster clapped his hands together, as if to say that was that. "Start of a new school year guys and I have some great stuff planned. Gather round."

After glee club was over, I scooped up my backpack and headed for the door.

"Hey Sam," Artie was wheeling himself over to me, a serious expression on his face. "Why were you asking about Carter Rae?" He asked in a low voice.

I looked around to make sure everyone in Glee club was distracted, gathering their stuff. A few people were looking in our direction so I waited until everyone had left the room. "Why do you ask?"

Artie looked down, a serious expression on his face and picked a loose thread from his jeans. "Well, she was my friend...kind of. I mean, for a little while. That stuff that they were saying in there wasn't true. Okay, I guess some of it was but that's not the whole story." He sighed and started over. "No one in there really knew her. I did."

I dropped my backpack to the floor and leaned against the piano. "So what do you know about her, then?"

"The stuff they were saying in there? It wasn't true. Well, I guess it kind of was. But that's not the whole story." He fumbled around in his backpack and pulled out a photograph. "This is a picture of the chess team freshman year. Front row, far right."

I took the photo from Artie and looked where he'd indicated. A mousy red head wearing a Rachel Berry-esque sweater and long skirt smiled shyly at the camera. It took me a moment to realize it was Carter. "Doesn't look much like a juvenile delinquent."

"That's because she wasn't. Her freshman year, she was on the academic decathlon team, the chess team, she even founded the Dungeons & Dragons club!"

"Dungeons & Dragons?" I said mockingly, looking up from the photograph with one eyebrow raised.

Artie ignored my interruption. "The point is, she was nice, smart, cool...and then..."

"And then?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Sophomore year rolled around and she was just...different. Started skipping class, picking fights. Just a completely different person. She was expelled right before the end of the year."

I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment, thinking. "So why'd she get expelled?"

Another shrug. "Again, I don't know. There are a lot of rumors but no one really knows. I just wanted you to know all this because Carter...she was a good person. And I don't think that changed."

I handed the photo back to him, and nodded. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it. See you around." I slapped him on the back and began to walk away.

"Sam?"

I turned around to see Artie with a vaguely sad expression on his face. "Did you meet her? Is that why you want to know?"

I hesitated but finally nodded.

Artie gave a small smile. "Tell her I say hi, okay?"

"Will do." And I walked down the hallway, already intent on my new mission - to solve the puzzle that was Carter Rae.

I hope you all liked it! Should I continue? Please read and review! :)

Don't worry. They'll be more Sam/Carter in the next chapter. Just had to set the stage.