a/n: hey so remember when i said i was going to write nanowrimo? i gave up after about 6,500 words. it just isn't happening this year. fortunately this ends up well for you guys, since i finally got around to working on my au idea i've had for awhile. hope you enjoy~

Rachel Berry could see the sun.

It wasn't blocked by tall buildings, or smog, there were no cabs or cars rushing past her, tourists yammering on about how everything seemed to bright and dirty at the same time.

There were trees, and houses, and she already hated it. They hadn't even arrived at their new house-not even an apartment, a house, with a driveway and everything-and she already wanted to go back. She had wanted to go back about three weeks ago when her dads first announced the impending move, and she tried-unsuccessfully-to find a way around it. But they were stubborn, even more so than she was, and so she lost out.

And now she was moving to Lima, Ohio. Even the name was boring.

"I hate it here," she announced, and her dads just gave her a bemused smile as one played with the GPS while the other drove.

"You'll have to get used to it dear," one told her.

"You need something new," the other added.

"I'm going back as soon as I can," she informed them, and they just chuckled.

"We'd expect nothing less of you," they said, practically in unison as she sighed, going back to her magazine only to realize she had finished it nearly two hours ago. The drive from Manhattan was long, and tedious, and nearly as boring as she was sure Lima was going to be.

She already wanted to go back.

"This is Mr. Schuester," the principal introduced to Rachel as a curly haired man walked into the office, reaching out a hand to shake with Rachel's dad. "He's one of our Spanish teachers, as well as the advisor for our glee club."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Rachel," Mr. Schuester greeted, shaking her hand next. "I hear you're an incredibly talented singer."

"Yes," she replied, and added a "Thank you," quickly after a glance from her father. She had the potential to be snotty and a bitch, but she was taught impeccable manners and respect. You can't be respected if you don't respect others, her dads always said when she snapped back at them.

"Well, we're all set in here if you want to go to the rehearsal now," Principal Figgens allowed, and Rachel stood, thanking the principal and placing a kiss on her father's cheek before disappearing down the hall, listening as the teacher went over everything she needed to know.

"We have our sectionals coming up in a couple weeks-we've given a solo to Santana and then Quinn and Finn are performing a duet, with Puck and Blaine leading the group in an song to end our performance, but I'm sure you'll fit in right away," he rambled, Rachel nodding politely as she listened. He led her into a small choir room-at least, small to Rachel, who was used to her private arts school she had been attending since kindergarten, with an emphasis on the performing arts and more specifically musical theater.

She looked around as Mr. Schuester tried to grab their attention, to introduce Rachel. There was a tall boy playing drums in the corner with a guy sporting a mohawk playing guitar quietly along with him, three cheerleaders sitting in a group gossiping, a guy and a girl talking animatedly, the boy signaling to his scarf about something. She let her eyes scan the room, finally resting on where a curly haired guy was sitting next to the scarf boy, looking right at her with what looked like interest. She would have passed it off as being the new girl, but she knew it was something more than that.

"Guys!" Mr. Schuester yelled, everyone settling down and turning to face him now, before their eyes settled on Rachel. "I'd like to introduce you to our newest member, Rachel Berry. She's new to the school, all the way from New York, so please give her a warm McKinley welcome," he said, and a few of the guys grinned at her, the girls mostly eyeing her warily.

"Can she even sing?" the boy with the scarf asked, the boy next to him shooting him a glare.

"Of course I can,' she answered cockily before Mr. Schuester even got a chance to defend her. She turned to the guy at the piano-there seemed to be a whole assortment of musicians just waiting for their cue to sing, and quietly asked if he knew Don't Rain On My Parade. When he nodded, she grinned and turned back around, grabbing a microphone-it was plain, and she longed for the bedazzled one she had decorated one Saturday morning two years ago, but it was packed away. Regardless, when the moment arrived, she started singing, the room stunned into silence as she belted out a song she knew few could. Barbra was her idol, her inspiration, and Parade was always a song she liked having in her back pocket whenever she needed it.

When she was done, the guy who challenged her was wiping away a tear as she fought off a smirk, the room clapping politely as she found a spot right in the center of the group.

"Thank you for that Rachel," Mr. Schuester said after a moment. "That was-that was phenomenal." She could tell, by the glint in his eye, that the thought of winning a competition seemed a lot more likely now.

She had that effect on people.

"Hello," Rachel said, appearing at the locker of the boy she had noticed the day before, biting back a grin at his startled expression. "I'm Rachel," she introduced, holding out her hand.

He chuckled, taking it and shaking it. "I remember," he said, "I'm Blaine."

"Blaine," she repeated, swirling the name around in her mouth for a second before she noticed the look she had seen the day before-the one that meant he was interested in her, intrigued by her, one she wanted to capitalize on quickly. "Well, it's lovely to meet you Blaine. Walk me to class?" she asked, a coy smile on her face as a taller boy slid up, the scarf one from yesterday, now wearing a different Alexander McQueen scarf.

"Actually," he said, interrupting them, "he has to walk me to class," he replied with a smug, kissing Blaine quickly. Rachel glanced between the two, trying to figure out what was going on. The obvious answer was right there, that they were dating-she had already assumed the taller one was gay, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. But Blaine-he threw her for a curve. She had very good gaydar, she thought, for practically living and breathing nothing but a musical theater atmosphere since she was a fetus, and having two gay dads.

"Rachel, this is my-Kurt," Blaine stumbled, blushing a bit, and Rachel smiled graciously at Kurt.

"Boyfriend," Kurt said, his glare in Blaine's direction going unnoticed as Blaine went back to his locker, trying to grab more books. "I'm his boyfriend," he repeated, turning to Rachel.

"Well, then you can both walk me to class," she decided, and while Kurt raised an eyebrow, he took the schedule from on top of her binder and looked over it.

"AP French first period? I'm in that class too, so I guess we will walk you to class," he mused, looking over the rest of her schedule. She grinned, linking arms with Kurt-she could tell he was a lot like her, already, and could see the future for them-an up and down relationship with an argument over who was more talented on a daily basis, but she knew she'd always win. Blaine trudged along behind them, quietly, and Rachel decided to indulge in more of a conversation with Kurt for the time being.

"So, tell me about this glee club," she started, and he laughed, a pleasant noise, not even bothering to wave as Blaine disappeared a different hallway before starting in on what sounded like twelve years worth of gossip.

By the time glee rolled around that afternoon, she knew most of the groups names. She knew Puck and Quinn were off and on dating, but they were currently off since Finn was now dating Quinn again. Brittany and Santana-the other two cheerleaders-were dating, but that was supposed to be a secret. Mercedes was Kurt's best friend, and Sam did impressions of people a lot. Quinn had apparently been knocked up a couple years previous, a big scandal as she was caption of the Cheerio's and president of the celibacy club, and more importantly dating Finn even though it was Puck's child.

They sat through AP French going over everything and anything she might have needed to know, their teacher completely ignoring them. "And we haven't won since Mr. Schuesters older son, Jesse, left a couple years ago-I was a sophomore then, but god he was talented," he said wistfully, staring off into the distance.

"Was he cute?" she teased, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I would never say he was-Blaine's lived in the shadows of Jesse's spotlight for so long that it'd break his heart," Kurt admitted, and Rachel raised an eyebrow but nodded. So Blaine was Mr. Schuesters son. That shouldn't have been too surprising, she supposed, though beyond the hair and the vests they seemed keen on wearing, she couldn't really see the resemblance.

"How long have you and Blaine been dating?" she asked nonchalantly. She still wasn't 100% convinced Blaine was totally gay, but she'd play along, for now at least.

"Over a year now," Kurt sighed wistfully. "He was originally going to a private school, but I guess with Jesse going to college they couldn't afford it anymore, so he transferred here, and it was love at first sight. We're moving to New York for college next year," Kurt gushed.

Rachel smiled politely, nodding along. "New York is amazing," she admitted, and this seemed to capture Kurt's attention away from himself as he prodded her for details, wanting to know exactly what it was like living there, and Rachel was never one to shy away from talking about herself, so she answered every single one.

By the end of the period, Kurt was already her new best friend, and while Mercedes didn't appreciate Rachel's new place next to Kurt-Blaine on his other side, still quiet, though Kurt assured Rachel that he just was over stressed with college applications due so soon, Rachel was content enough to sit through Quinn and Finn singing an old Fleetwood Mac song, Kurt humming along under his breath.

When she glanced past him, over at Blaine, he was looking at her again-in the same, intrigued but quiet fashion.

Yes, she was going to have to find a way to get closer to him, she was already sure of that.