Ch 1

In the weeks following Regionals, the members of Glee were focused on finals (Rachel) and setting up their summer plans (everyone else). Glee rehearsals were sparsely attended- mostly to avoid the awkwardness between Finn, Quinn and Puck when they were in the same room- and Mr. Schuester gave a reprieve from learning any new numbers until the fall, when they would refocus. Mostly, the crew gossiped in their pre-established subsets (Tina, Mercedes and Kurt in one corner, Brittany and Santana in the other, sometimes Artie jammed on the guitar, while Matt and Mike practiced dance moves) and discussed their respective summer plans:

Kurt would be visiting cousins in New York. He was simultaneously excited and reluctant to go. He worried about leaving his dad alone, but would never admit that to Mercedes and Tina. In fact, it had been his father's idea- that getting out of Lima and to a more "liberal" atmosphere (Kurt's words) with more people who enjoyed "girly stuff" (his Dad's words) would be a good experience for Kurt. Mercedes was going to a fashion design summer camp. Brittany and Santana had cheerleading camp -they would be bunking together and everyone else wondered but never asked exactly what that implied.

Rachel spent most of the post-sectionals Glee club meetings marking up sheet music of potential selections for her to practice over the summer (and ultimately debut as selections for Sectionals in the fall) and eaves-dropping on various conversations. Occasionally when Kurt talked about his plans in New York, she would play with the seam of her skirt and listen jealously. Her summer would be filled with her regular dance and music lessons, but she had no plans to go away- let alone to New York, the city of her future career. No one asked her about her summer plans and she wondered if anyone from Glee would even speak to her over the summer.

While Quinn and Puck didn't seem exceptionally upset that she had spilled the beans to Finn, it obviously hadn't sparked any new friendship between her and the two of them. She knew Finn was grateful she had told him, but since Sectionals he had really retreated from the Glee social scene. He never showed up for practices (although she suspected he would be back in the fall) and she would only see him in passing around the hallways. She didn't know exactly what she had expected- true, she had hoped that he would be eternally grateful to her and confide in her, and maybe they could go to the movies or something… but she understood he needed time and wasn't comfortable being in an environment where Quinn or Puck were in the same room.

The other members of Glee regarded Rachel with a wary distance- true, they had never been particularly close, but after she told Finn the truth about the baby's paternity it seemed as if the other members of Glee thought they couldn't trust her.

Rachel was more determined than ever not to let it bother her. She was focused on her goals: 1. preparing an incredible solos for Sectionals and Regionals next year, 2. Winning the national competition, and 3. propelling herself to Broadway greatness- and she had let her friendship (infatuation) with Finn interfere with her realizing those goals.

Still, she liked sitting in the choir room with her fellow Glee members and listening to their plans for the summer. She knew she would miss their company- it seemed likely her summer would be very lonely. Her dad was on one of many business trips scheduled to continue throughout her summer, and her daddy was preparing for a big legal case. While he often worked nights and weekends from his home office, the house was dark and quiet when Rachel got home. Most nights she would study in her room, spend forty-five minutes on her elliptical, and then record her daily myspace video before going to bed. While there had been no reprieve in negative (and harassing!) comments on her videos, she had at least one video which had over 500 views! Although she suspected this may be becomes Jacob Ben-Israel (shudder) had linked to it on his blog with the note that her panties were visible at minute 2:29 (they absolutely were not!). She had no idea how many of those views were in fact Jacob, but she figured that at least a substantial portion had to be other people, and at least one of those people had to watch because they enjoyed her singing.

The day of Rachel's last exam, she waited in the hall way (braving the risk of a slushy facial) looking for Finn so she could find out about his summer plans (maybe he wanted to hang out). As Rachel watched faces going by impatiently, she didn't see Finn, but saw Puck across the hallway, talking to a cheerio. She looked at Puck briefly, mostly to register whether he had a slushy in his hand. He didn't, but he must have felt her eyes on him because he looked up and caught her gaze. Rachel blushed furiously (she didn't know why really.. she wasn't *staring* at Puck, she just happened to be looking at him when he looked at her). To her surprise, almost imperceptibly, Puck nodded his head at her, and she waved shyly at him- "have a nice summer, Noah," she thought. With a final glance around for Finn, Rachel signed disappointedly, and headed home to begin summer vacation.

Ch 2

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