This is set after Regionals. Though technically, I wrote this part before the Finale and I thought they would win, but, they didn't, so a few minor adjustments were made. This is set while Rachel is still at Regionals after losing, but the rest will be at the start of the next school year.

I should be updating this every two days, just FYI, because I didn't get quite as far as I planned, but as of now, I have 1/3 of this completed.

Okay, I'm done talking now.

Disclaimer: [Insert pointless and somewhat witty disclaimer here]

Prologue: The Seed of Doubt

"Vocal Adrenaline!" Rachel's heart stopped. The two words she did not want to hear. Blood pounded in her ears and she could feel tears rolling softly down her cheeks. She turned her head slightly and saw Jesse, taking the trophy, and she doubted anyone missed the smug look her sent her way.

She let out a deep breath as Rod Remington handed them the considerably smaller third place trophy, and let Artie squeeze her hand even tighter as he said quietly "We didn't even place."

She swallowed again as the mother that didn't want her gazed her way. She shook her hair back and stood a little straighter, trying to ignore the cheers coming from the other side of the stage. Then she let out her most professional, "Congratulations" complete with her own megawatt smile. What the crowd didn't know was that this was something Jesse had taught her. A fake showface.

A smile so bright it was literally killing her.

A tall man walked up to the young brunette who was currently shaking hands with countless amounts of adoring fans, each giving their praise. He watched as they exited one by one, leaving the girl to finally sit, with a smile as bright as the stars. Surprisingly cheerful for one who's dreams had just been crushed.

He walked up slowly and sat down in front of her.

"You're very good you know." She opened her mouth to thank him but he merely cut her off. "I'm almost positive they've been over hyping you though. You're good, special, but not great." Her jaw went slack in surprise. "You have potential, it's such a shame you lost."

"T-thank you?" She answered timidly, as if it was a question.

"What's your name?"

"Rachel Berry." She answered automatically.

"Well Rachel Berry, my name is Mr. Mann." He said, twiddling his thumbs. "I'm from the Illinois show choir department." He paused, scratching the back of his neck before continuing. "We could use your talent on our team."

Rachel's look turned icy. "I'm sorry, I'm with New Directions." She replied tartly, gathering her things.

Mr. Mann put a steady hand on her shoulder. "Rachel, you do have potential. But be honest, do you really think the rest of them are going to make it out of Lima?"

"She jerked out of his grip. "That's none of your concern." She turned on her heel and began to walk away.

"Rachel!" He called after her. "You don't need them!"

She slowed down her pace just enough to say, "But they need me," over her shoulder. But then Mr. Mann said something that made her stop.

"But they don't want you. And they don't deserve you." She blinked several times, unsure how to respond, but the man only tipped his hat and walked away as if nothing had changed.

But the seed of doubt had already been planted.

A/N: Okay, I'm putting another little note here because there is something I need to explain.

This IS as I said before a PuckelBerry piece, but it's not gonna be one of the those unrealistic 'Finn never even existed, I always loved you' ones that I hate to death though sometimes tolerate. Finn existed and Rachel wasted a good portion of her time chasing after him. So that means you're going to have to put up with some Finchel (dramafied) closure before we get to the good stuff.

But yes, still PuckelBerry.

Chapter One: Foreshadowing

Three months later…

"Are you ready?" Rachel stopped staring out the window for a moment and turned to her boyfriend as Finn gave her a goofy grin. She laughed silently and answered, "Right now I'm just praying for a slushie cease-fire, I didn't bring any extra clothes today."

"No I mean about Glee! I think we have a real shot this year!" He said excitedly. He saw the lack of emotion on her face and his smile dropped slightly. "Don't you think? I mean, Jesse isn't on Vocal Adrenaline anymore…"

She had to physically stop herself from wincing. She may be completely over the boy who had broken her heart just months ago, but it been a long time since she had heard his name thrown around so causally.

That and the fact you don't usually talk about your ex's with your boyfriend.

She plastered a large grin on her face as they turned into the school's parking lot. "Well, as long as everyone doesn't slack off, I do think we have a chance of winning. After all, we hit quite a few roadblocks last year, so who knows? If things go smoothly we might finally be able to take Nationals."

Finn looked somewhere between satisfied with her answer and confused by it, a face she saw a lot. She smiled anyway and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she got out of the car. He followed her like a lost puppy all the way to her locker, saying hi to friends along the way. He silently took her books as she emptied them out of her book bag.

Finn glanced around the hall quickly. "Wow." He breathed. "It looks exactly the same as last year." She let out a little laugh as she starting pinning up her mirror.

"Except we're older now." She pointed out. "I'm not a sophomore anymore." He nodded, watching as she adjusted the mirror one last time before heading down the hall to her first class.

"Umm, Rach? Aren't we a little early?" He glanced at the nearby clock. "Class doesn't start for like five minutes." She quickly grabbed the books out of his hand.

"Timeliness is very important Finn." She gave his hand one last squeeze before turning to face the near empty class room. "See you in second period."

She was really not looking forward to going back to school. In fact, if it wasn't for Glee she wasn't sure she would have dragged herself here at all.

But then again, she gets that feeling every summer. Every time she goes to various camps and makes friends, and is properly free of corn syrup for more than two days in a row. And of course, without school, Finn and she could just exist. They didn't have to worry about people watching, or trying to get in the way. There was no stress. It was like they were lost in time. Things were perfect.

Boyfriend. She loved saying that word. Being able to use it in a sentence, or even just say that she had one. It was a rare coincidence for her. She loved just being able to throw it out there, and she noticed that sometimes when she did, people looked at her a little different. Like they had just realized that she obviously had some redeeming qualities if she had a boyfriend.

But she was worried. Because they last of her in school boyfriends didn't go so well. Finn included. In fact, it pretty much ended in her singing All American Rejects quite loudly, (she tended to do that when she was angry).

Plus, she just had this feeling. A sixth sense, if you will. That this year was not a good one. That something bad was just destined to happen. That things were not going to end well.

She just hasn't figured out if that means Finn or the apocalypse yet.

"Oh, hi Rachel." Mr. Schuster's voice snapped her out of her daydreams.

"Hi Mr. Schuster. Did you have a good summer?" He stapled a packet together and nodded.

"I got a lot of things done actually. I sold my apartment and moved into a somewhat smaller one, and I have a lot of plans for Glee this year, of course I'm sure you do too." He said, smirking knowingly at the end.

She returned the gesture. "As always. I think it might be key to focus on the emotion in the songs this year, we don't want to end up like Vocal Adrenaline."

"That sounds good," He agreed, gathering up the papers. "I'll be right back; I just need to make a few copies." She nodded, as he collected all of his things before exiting, leaving Rachel completely alone.

Rachel came home to the sound of yelling.

"You spend every waking minute at the damn firm! You've gone away for cases before, but this is the week of our eighteen year anniversary! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Leroy, calm down, Rachel's home." There was silence in the kitchen as Rachel drew a breath and walked into the room quietly. Her dad gave her an apologetic look as Daddy nodded and walked out of the room.

Dad turned back to the stove as is nothing had happened. "So how was school?"

Rachel let the hot water of the shower wash away her pain and memories of the long day. She scrubbed until her skin peeled, and until she couldn't waste any more time in the shower. So she drew the curtain back and pulled on her pajamas, getting ready for the long night ahead.

After setting her clock she turned to her computer, the screen playing the same slideshow of pictures over and over again. She gave a sigh and took a seat on the spindly chair.

She wasn't sure why she was on her laptop, just to waste time, she supposes. So she checked her mail. Nothing. She checked her MySpace. Nothing. She checked her Facebook. Nothing.

She was just about to click out of the internet when something caught her eye. Her lonely little friend box, that read twenty-four, and was filled with family and glee club members. She might see it about every day but for some reason that little box put a tiny sinking feeling in the middle of her stomach that she didn't quite know how to place.

In fact, it wasn't until she was lying in bed did she figure it out. It was the type of feeling you get when you read a sob story too many times. It's sad at first, but then it happens again and again, and you get bored. You don't want to feel sad for the same reason anymore.

Rachel was tired of being lonely, and upset, and friendless, and crazy, and slushied.

Screw psychic ability, this year was going to be great.

A/N: Yeah, it's short and not that good. But it WILL get better, and it WILL be long. So give it a chance! Also, does anybody know how old Finn is? Sophomore or Junior? Or senior? I really don't know. But if I don't get an answer I'm just going to assume he's a sophomore like Rachel. But wouldn't that make them all sophomore's? A glee club of just sophomores'? Is that weird?

Also! It would tickle me pink if you guys would try your hand and predictions! This goes for all chapters! I wanna see if what I'm planning is completely obvious of not. Thanks again, R&R!

Oh yeah, Puck's grand entrance next chapter. (REMINDER: THIS IS A PUCKELBERRY)

-xoxo SIL xoxo