Prologue

A/N: So this is my first Glee story! I love that show unconditionally, and I decided I would write a story about it. But before you read, here is a little background (I am not going to give much away, since that ruins the element of surprise) Quinn never got pregnant, and Rachel never truly dated Finn. You will see more on their relationships in this chapter, but this story line does stray a little from the show. This story centers mostly around Rachel… and another character :) I hope you all like my first shot at Glee!

Rachel Berry walked the hallways of McKinley High School, singing silently to herself. It was just another monotonous, ordinary day. She was slushied when she got to school (strawberry, today) by the hockey team, found a vulgar drawing of herself taped to her locker (seriously, her boobs weren't that small), and was either taunted or ignored by the majority of the school. You would think she would be crying in a bathroom stall, complaining to her friends on how much she hated her life. But Rachel Berry had no friends. She was too bossy, too clingy, and used too big of a vocabulary for people to understand. That's what people told her, at least. She thought that she actually could be kind of a fun (if she let loose), but nobody gave her a chance. Nobody wanted to be near her, because talking to Rachel Berry was committing social suicide. So Rachel held her head high, threw herself into getting good grades, and carried on with her life. And sang.

Though she would never admit it, Rachel Berry was absolutely nothing without Glee Club. Yes, she 'quit' several times, but she always came back. It made her feel like she was part of something special. And when she pretended like the other glee club members liked her, it made her feel… normal.

Obviously, she tried to befriend the members of the club. She thought that her and Kurt would get along, since they had similar personalities, but that friendship didn't last. Kurt became best friends with Mercedes, and they united together to stay away from Rachel. That was that. And then there was Quinn, Santana, and Brittany. Santana never liked her since she was 'too much of a good girl,' Brittany was too clueless to have any real opinions, and Quinn stopped talking to her when she dated Finn for a week. That led her to Finn. She automatically liked Finn the second he joined the club, which was one of her biggest mistakes. She practically threw herself at him, and he did not know how to handle Rachel Berry. So when she asked him on a date, he couldn't help but say yes. (He was a little scared of her, which was kind of sad, since he was a foot taller than her.) Finn had just been dumped by his long-time girlfriend, Quinn, and he hoped that this date would help him get over her. It didn't. Rachel leaned in to kiss him, and he murmured Quinn's name. That didn't go over very well. (Go figure) He left Rachel Berry's house with a long lecture, desperate need for ear plugs, and a black eye.

So that was the end of the fabulous relationship between Rachel and Finn. After that fiasco, Rachel truly had nobody in glee to talk to. Finn hadn't talked to her since his awkward apology, Tina couldn't handle Rachel's mile a minute talking, and Artie just agreed with whatever Tina said. Mike and Matt, the football players and great dancers, ignored her or just stared at her boobs when she was dancing. So that left… Puck.

Rachel detested that foul, crude, wise-ass, disgusting excuse for a man. He was everything that she didn't like in a guy. Though he hadn't slushied her in a few weeks (Sadly, that was progress), she still couldn't stand him. He made fun of her clothes, her dancing, and the fact that she was so uptight. She was not uptight. She simply had high standards for herself that she wanted to meet, and she did whatever it took to get there. There was nothing wrong with having goals.

And that was Rachel Berry's life. In all honestly, it really wasn't anything special. At least, that was all Rachel thought until that morning. Her ordinary day? Not so ordinary after all.

Homecoming was a big event in McKinley High School. Girls would do anything to be on the Homecoming court. (And even some of the guys) Being a nominee meant that you were popular, which was what most of the school population wanted. It showed that people liked you, and it meant that you were one step closer to becoming Homecoming Queen. That was the ultimate prize. Wearing a crown, frilly dress, and having all eyes on you was Rachel Berry's dream, after all.

So in homeroom that morning, when Principal Figgins said through the intercom, "This year's Senior Homecoming Court is: Santana Lopez, Finn Hudson, Michelle Hastings, David Lowers, Quinn Fabray, Noah Puckerman, and Rachel Berry," Rachel almost had a heart attack. In fact, she thought she was dreaming when everybody looked at her. And what shocked her most was the fact that people weren't looking at her in horror, shock, or disdain. Her classmates had tiny smiles, and looked… proud? It didn't make sense to Rachel, but she didn't care. She was going to be on the Homecoming court. She was somebody. She would get to walk down the football field, between her two dads, smiling and wearing a pretty dress. She would have a chance at being on the top of the social pyramid.

"Um, congratulations Rachel," Finn said awkwardly, shuffling around at his locker which happened to be next to hers. It was after homeroom, and Rachel and Finn were at their lockers. The shock still hadn't worn off Rachel, so she was on cloud nine and barely heard him.

"Oh yes, thank you. Congratulations to you too Finn," Rachel said politely, deciding that being civil towards Finn was better than having an awkward tension around them. The last month had been awkward to say the least, especially when they sang together. Which was very often, considering they were the lead singers. (Rachel didn't think Finn was always the best, but she kept that to herself. She was a bit bias)

"I am a bit shocked that people voted for me," Rachel admitted, finally realizing that the odds of her being nominated she should have been microscopically slim. It made absolutely no sense that people voted for her, since people hated her. Why did they have the sudden change of heart?

"Oh… yeah, totally unexpected," Finn said, a flush creeping into his cheeks.

"You know something!" Rachel said suddenly, hating how accusing she sounded. Even though she didn't like Finn, she didn't want him to think of her as the lonely, crazy, girl she was to other people. She vowed to change the way people thought of her.

"No," Finn quickly shook his head, "I don't know anything. See you in glee," he said, grabbing his books and speeding to his next class.

Rachel was perplexed by Finn's odd behavior. Oh, there was definitely something weird going on. And Rachel was positive that he knew more than he let on. Even though she was sure her curiosity would get the better of her, she decided to let it go. Either way, she was on the Homecoming court, and nothing could change that fact. Maybe her dreams had finally been answered? She had so many dreams -one of them had to come true- right? Or maybe it was a fluke in the ballot counting? She immediately thought of the creep Jacob Ben Israel, stuffing the ballot box in Rachel's name.

The day passed by in a blur. A few people congratulated her, and she thanked them all with a hundred watt smile like a real star would do. She had been practicing that smile for a while now, and she was glad she finally had a chance to use it.

There was something odd, though, much like Finn's behavior. She couldn't help but notice people's expressions when she walked by. Usually they were mocking, but today they were… smug? The hockey team all had smirks on their faces, and their eyes were lit with amusement when Rachel walked by. One of the team members even whistled, much to Rachel's horror. She was used to the attention (negative, but still), so the day was peculiar for her. Just this morning, she was being treated like a stray dog, and now people were whistling at her? High school made absolutely no sense to Rachel. But she decided that she would pick whistling over slushie-ing any day.

Rachel was relieved when the day ended and glee began. She felt like she really needed to sing, since this day had just been weird. It had been a good day, yes, but she still felt like she was in an alternate universe. (Or dreaming. But she pinched herself and left a mark, so she knew that she was awake.)

Maybe it was just her imagination, but everyone in the room looked up when Rachel walked through the door. Some had smirks and some had nervous frowns, which was an odd combination.

"Ms. Diva is finally gracing us with her presence," Kurt sniffed haughtily.

Rachel looked down at her watch - she had a fear of being late- and saw that she was right on time. Clearly Kurt was just in a bitchy mode. Maybe he was… jealous that Rachel was on the Homecoming court? It did seem like Kurt's dream to win Homecoming Queen.

"Were you looking up what dress to buy for Homecoming?" Mercedes asked, causing most of the room to laugh. "Or do you or already have one picked out?"

"Wait… what?" Rachel asked, not used to being at a loss of words.

"You still don't get it?" Quinn asked incredulously.

"No," Rachel said, her voice wavering. Why was everyone being so mean to her? She knew that they didn't like her, but this was just ridiculous. They were being downright cruel, and Rachel had no idea why. She hadn't done anything to them to deserve this treatment. She might have been planning to gloat a little about her nomination… but she hadn't even gotten to that yet.

"Listen Rachel, I am going to tell you this for your own sake, since nobody else will," Santana piped in, "But the only reason why you are on the Homecoming court is because it is a joke. People only voted for you so they could make fun of you. So don't be too flattered and on your high horse. It is just for our entertainment."

"What… why?" Rachel sputtered.

"Because we can," Santana said smoothly. "Somebody started a Facebook group to vote for Rachel Berry as a nominee, so we got the whole school to do it. And seeing you walk around all day, thinking that people voted for you? Well that was priceless. Now do you get it?"

Rachel nodded her head weakly, too stunned to speak, which was a first for her. She had endured a lot at this hell hole of a high school these past four years, but this was the worst thing that her classmates had ever done to her. She was just a joke to them.

Luckily, Mr. Shuester came in and interrupted the tense air.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. As a teacher, he knew when something was wrong. But he also knew not to push the kids to talk to him.

Everyone nodded awkwardly, and Rachel took a seat in the back of the stands, behind everyone else. She didn't feel like being front and center today. Puck was the only one back there. (He liked to goof off during practice)

Just her luck.

"You okay, Berry?" he asked. He noticed when a girl was not okay, and this was one of those times. She was deadly silent, which was actually kind of nice, in his opinion.

"Great," she whispered.

Puck shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to get involved. Rachel Berry was the kind of the girl that you don't get involved with. She would rope you into her complicated life and yap about her feelings 24/7. She was every guy's nightmare. Exhibit A: Finn. He went on one date with her and came out with a black eye (Dang, that girl could punch!) So, in conclusion, Rachel Berry was nuts. Maybe she was a hot crazy chick, but the crazy part kind of cancelled out the hotness. Yeah, he did feel bad when he looked over and saw unshed tears in her sad brown eyes, but she did kind of bring it all on herself. She did things that pissed off the other kids (lying to get what she wanted, using words that made her sounds like a dictionary, signing her name with a fucking star), so they retaliated. It was simple math that even Puck could understand. (He will admit he did do some of the retaliating)

It was kind of weird for Rachel when she declined the solo that Mr. Shuester offered her. Quinn got the part, and she felt even more depressed as she watched Quinn and Finn sing to each other with their goo goo eyes. Apparently she missed the memo of them getting back together. It wasn't the fact that they were together that hurt her, it was the fact that Finn used her to get over Quinn. She wasn't a tissue to be thrown away. Sometimes, Rachel thought that people forgot she was a human being with real feelings.

Glee practice went by too slowly for Rachel. She lip sang the entire time, which didn't go unnoticed by everyone else. Somehow the room felt quieter without her voice carrying the song along. Rachel wanted to sing, but she felt like at any moment her voice would crack and her eyes would flood with tears. She was usually a strong person, but her emotions were too busy catching up with her. She hadn't let herself be upset in a while, but this felt like it could be her breaking point.

A nudge broke Rachel out of her trance. Puck was looking at her with his intense hazel eyes.

"Sing," he commanded.

And out of habit, Rachel sang. She belted out the music number with the other glee clubbers, catching everyone by surprise. This was her way of telling them I am not going to let you effect me. She wouldn't let anybody effect her from this day on. She would stay in the Homecoming court, regardless of why she was put there. She would make herself into what she wanted to be and what others wanted her to be. She would show everyone just who Rachel Berry really was.

A star.

A/N: And there you have it, the prologue! (My chapters are usually longer and have more dialogue, so don't worry) I know some of you might be thinking, why wasn't Rachel immediately suspicious? She was so surprised and caught up in 'fame' that she didn't think of that. So that is the answer to your unspoken question. And also to clarify, I like Finn and Rachel together, but I also like Puck and Rachel, and this story seemed to fit them better. So… questions of the chapter: What do you think of this story so far? Should I continue? What do you want to see happen?

By the way, some of you that put me on your author alerts (from my Twilight stories) are probably wondering why I am writing in Glee all of a sudden. I just wanted to branch out of that fandom. I have had this written for a while, so I hope that you are okay with me doing other things. If not, just don't read this! This is pretty different from everything I have written, but I am glad I did something new.