Disclaimer: I own nothing except my cliché little plotline. If I owned Glee, Puck would be secretly in love with Kurt and Chris Colfer would be my bff.

A/N: I've been reading Glee fanfiction practically religiously for the past few months to get me through the Glee hiatus, but this is only my second attempt at writing my own story. Tell me if you think I should keep writing or just stick to reading, and if you have any other tips or constructive criticism for me, that'd be awesome.

What Doesn't Kill us Makes us Stronger

Chapter 1

In attempt to be the most involved student at William McKinley High school, Rachel Berry had decided to join to speech team. It was a wonder how it never occurred to her to join before, considering how much she loved to talk. She knew that she was a born speaker and actress, as well as a singer and dancer.

"That's what showbiz calls a 'triple threat'," she explained to her entire team upon announcing her participation in this activity.

Rachel would have loved to do an original oratory, creating a riveting monologue about the undeniable need for more funding for the arts, or even a dramatic interpretation. She was fabulous when it came to putting intense emotion into anything. However, their speech team coach placed her in the one category she would have rather sacrificed solos in glee club for a month than be assigned to.

"Rachel, I've chosen you to do an HDA piece this year. I'll get you your materials and partner at the next meeting." Mrs. Gillies said very matter-of-factly and then immediately looked back toward her computer idly, obviously expecting Rachel to protest.

Rachel stood mildly shocked for a moment but then pressed on with her well justified argument in her best persuasive speech tone.

"With all due respect, Mrs. Gillies, but I think my talents would be better utilized in a…"

Mrs. Gillies cut her off. "Rachel, honey, we all know your talents. None of us doubt that you would do a wonderful informative speech," Rachel couldn't help but smile at this, "but I want to get you a bit more outside your comfort zone. Expand your horizons." She smiled weakly, hoping Rachel would understand her good intentions.

Rachel's first instinct was to rebut each of her coach's points, but she knew that she didn't have the authority on speech team that she did in Glee, and that if there was ever a chance of her getting an event she wanted in the future, she didn't want on Mrs. Gillies' bad side.

But HDA? Did Mrs. G hate her? In humorous duet acting, not only would she have to try to be funny, something highly over-rated as dramatic acting was so much more respectable, but she also had to work with someone else on her piece! It's not that she wasn't a team player, but part of the reason she joined speech was because in her own event, she would have all the creative control and only herself to rely on, just the way she liked it. Now, however, she was not only going to be forced to pair with someone who would never be able to keep up with her impeccable acting talents, but also trying to contribute inevitably inferior ideas about their technique. She already has to tolerate enough incompetence during glee club and now speech team? All she could do was sigh. No one ever said it was easy being the best.

"…I suppose it would assist my versatility as an actress, as I already excel in all the other aspects of speaking and…"

"That's a great way to look at it!" Mrs. G said smiling, obviously happy she wouldn't have to deal with an unhappy rambling Rachel longer than she already had to.

"You'll receive more information tomorrow."

Rachel had been dreading her impending doom in the form of the HDA partner she would be assigned to at the end of the day. At this point she simply hoped they wouldn't be entirely inadequate and would be able to take criticism well, of course of the constructive variety.

She flounced into a practice room immediately after school, ready with suggestions as to who might be an appropriate choice for her partner when she saw Artie talking to Mrs. Gillies. She assumed that she had just been his last block teacher and was staying after to finish some sort of quiz or project when she caught Mrs. G's attention. The coach acknowledged Rachel's presence then looked back at Artie and smiled almost sympathetically.

"Artie, I don't know if you know Rachel Berry, but she'll be your HDA partner this season."

Artie's face flashed a quick look that was a mix between fear and disappointment, with a slight hint of amusement and anticipation. He then smiled his adorkable smile and greeted his glee club captain.

"Oh, Hi, Rachel. You didn't strike me as an HDA type."

"Oh, I'm not, but I'm trying to expand my horizons as to make myself an even more valuable actress. You didn't strike me as someone interested in speech team. You always seemed pretty content with your jazz band buddies and AV geeks."

Artie, not quite sure whether to be offended by that statement, simply responded honestly, leaving out the part where he requested HDA because he thought that was the event least likely to have Rachel Berry in it, as her speech team reputation was even more infamous than her glee club rep.

"Well, it's always nice to try new things. I joined to spend more time with Tina. Ever since she confessed to never really having a stutter and then realizing how nice and accepting people can be, she wanted to join more clubs. I figured the two hour bus rides to and from competitions would be great bonding time. We rarely get to see each other outside of school and glee. She has really strict parents."

"Oh, I see, well as you should know, speech team is a very serious commitment requiring lots of dedication and hard work and spending time with Tina should be the least of your speech team priorities. That being said, let's get to work."

Artie sighed to himself, obviously seeing this coming, and hoped that speech team would be just a fraction of the fun that he thought it was going to be approximately ten minutes ago.

A/N: If you've made it this far thanks for reading. I'd love any suggestions and I'm not quite sure whether to go in a romance direction with this or just friendship. Any opinions?