Shelby swiftly made her way through the crowd-filled lobby and back into the auditorium. She was on her annual scope-out-the-competition outing, though she never found good enough competition to beat Vocal Adrenaline. She arrived back at her seat to catch the ending of Imagine by the school for deaf kids. She honestly had no idea why they were even allowed to enter the competition. But here they were.

The song finally ended and Shelby was beginning to get bored but there was only one more group left to perform so she figured so could wait.

"And now, the final competitor, the McKinley High School Glee Club: New Directions."

Shelby couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the name.

As soon as Shelby heard the beginning notes to Don't Rain On My Parade, she let out a sigh. Every time someone tried to sing a Barbra Streisand song it almost always ended poorly. It was impossible for the audience, as well as the judges to not think of Barbra's unforgettable performance. Everyone would immediately start comparing the unfortunate student to the legend.

When the spotlight moved to the back of the room, Shelby turned to look at the girl who started singing.

Shelby froze.

As she stared at the girl moving up and down the isle, she knew she was unmistaken. It was a younger version of herself. Her gorgeous brown eyes matched those of the baby she had given up all those years before. Sixteen years.

Once, the girl glanced at Shelby and she felt her heart stop. She felt like she had sought her out and was looking at her forever. But in reality, she only made contact with Shelby's eyes for a brief second. The girl was clearly focused on her performance, making sure the right vocals and emotion were put into this performance. And damn, she was getting it right.

Once the girl finished the showstopper, Shelby could feel a tear forming in her eye. She was looking at her baby.

When the group finished their performance everyone in the audience, including Shelby, gave the shocked kids a standing ovation.

Even though every part of her body was yelling at her to go after the girl, she forced herself not to. What was she going to say? Besides, that horrible contract she had signed bound her from contacting her. Still, her heart ached at the fact that she was so close to her daughter but she couldn't go up to her and tell her who she was. But she was not going to wait two years to contact her, not now that she seemed to be so near. She would wait until she had a plan. She had no idea how she was going to do it. She just knew that she had to see her daughter again.

When Shelby arrived home, she immediately raced to her computer and logged into facebook. It's something she rarely does, so for a moment she stopped to remember her password. Oh yeah, it 121894. Of course. How could she forget? Especially now. She typed " McKinley High School Glee Club" into the search box. One page came up. Yes! They have a facebook page. She slowly scrolled down the list of the names of the twelve members in the group, making sure she didn't miss any names. Then she caught the name Rachel Berry. Rachel, so that's what they named her. I knew they were huge Friends fans but I didn't think they would name their child after one of the characters. She clicked on Rachel's name to see her profile but was stopped when the page said that her profile was private. Good, at least she's smart enough not to let just anybody view her profile. Kinda like I'm doing right now.

Shelby felt a wave of relief wash over her. Even though she couldn't come face to face with her, she at least knew what her own daughter's name was.

Shelby sat in her office, slumped forward in her chair, her head resting on the paper-filled desk before her. She let her long, dark brown hair cover her face. It helped to block out the light.

For they past three days Shelby got up in the morning, went to work, and went to Glee rehearsal, all of which she wasn't really there. Her mind always went back to Rachel. She thought of how she could get in touch with her, but she couldn't figure out a plan that didn't involve breaching her contract.

And so here she was, struggling to keep herself awake. The number of hours she actually got to sleep went down significantly in the last few days.

"Uh, Shelby…." A voice at the door said.

Startled, Shelby shot up from the position she was in and immediately started smoothing her hair back into their designated spots. She hadn't even heard the door open.

"Sorry. I should've knocked," said the boy.

"Jesse, what are you doing here? I'm on my planning period and you're supposed to be in class," she said sternly.

"Sorry Shelby. I didn't mean to disrupt you in whatever it is that you were doing. But I wanted to see what was wrong. You haven't been yourself lately."

"What are you talking about," she asked but she knew what he meant. She had been moping around campus since the day she saw Rachel. If anyone would be able to see anything different in her, it would be Jesse.

"You know what I mean. You've been walking around here like you don't care anymore. Come on, what's wrong," he asked again.

Nervously, Shelby bit her bottom lip. Should I tell him? He's really the only person I can talk to. That's sad but it's true. She wrestled with the idea for some time. But she had to tell someone because the unusual emotions she was feeling were welling up inside of her and she felt like she was going to burst.

Shelby stared at Jesse for a while but he didn't say anything because he knew she was gathering her thoughts. Finally, after a few moments, everything came spilling out. Her need to be on Broadway, her greedy reach for money, how she practically signed her baby's life away, and what happened just a few days before.

When she finally finished her long and painful story she looked up to find Jesse, staring at her with wide eyes. She had told him everything; she just hoped she wouldn't regret it.