A/N: Hey guys so I've decided to do this story for two reasons. First, I'm in an angsty place right now so I feel like writing this sort of thing. Second, my other story 'Changes' hasn't gotten quite the reception I wanted. I'm thinking of scrapping it altogether. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and leave me a comment after.

Rachel Berry was officially at a loss for the first time in her life. It wasn't really a surprise; she knew that if she were to lose her voice, the glee club would drop her in an instant. Still, it hurt like hell; their words had finally penetrated the walls she had built around her heart years ago. After all, it's not like this treatment started all of a sudden.

"I want to punch you in the face…"

"We only pretend to like you…"

"You have a very bad attitude…"

The worse part had been that Finn, her now ex-boyfriend who was supposed to love her, just sat there. Not to mention finding out about his…dalliances…with Santana in such a way. She'd once thought that the egging incident with Jesse had been humiliating but being told in front of everyone trumped it. Not even one of them looked surprised. And then, finding out that everybody knew (including Kurt) except her just drove the point harder. She was never going to fit in, nobody would ever really care for her.

"Ugh, even my thoughts are a mess." The short brunette got out of her car and walked up to her house.

She knew that there was no one home the minute she closed the door. Her daddy's keys were not in the small table by the door and her dad's studio was closed. She walked to the kitchen to find a note tucked onto the fridge in the neat handwriting of her dad.

Rachel darling, daddy had a conference in Hawaii and we decided it would be fun to go together. We tried calling you but your cell was off, told you to check the battery. There's plenty of cash in the take-out menu drawer. We'll be back next week. Please, when you read this give me a call. Love, Dad.

The brunette took the bedazzled phone out of her pocket and sighed. The battery was indeed dead. Great! Now I have this whole house to myself to mope and be depressed. She grabbed the kitchen phone and dialed her dad's cell phone on her way up the stairs.

"Rachel baby! How are you?" Hiram Berry answered sounding so chipper that Rachel couldn't help but smile albeit wistfully. At least someone's happy.

"I'm fine dad. So…Hawaii, huh?"

"Yes! Your father surprised me with the tickets. I mean he is technically going for work but the conference is only for a couple of days. The rest of them are going to be like a second honey moon." The man gushed.

"Sounds like fun."

"Sweetie, are you okay? I mean I know it was last minute but we really want to do this, we haven't had any time four ourselves in years and…

"I'm okay dad, just tired."

"Sure?"

"Yes, what time does the plane leave?"

"In about half an hour."

"OK, well enjoy your trip. And tell daddy I said the same goes for him."

"Alright princess we'll see you in a week."

How nice was it to feel so wanted by everybody. Even her own parents wanted to get away from her time-consuming demeanor. She tossed the phone carelessly on top of her desk and decided to take a shower. At the end she didn't even have the strength to order something for dinner so she just turned in earlier than usual and hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

It was really too bad that the halls of McKinley High had other plans for the brunette. She had run late that morning, having forgotten to set the alarm the previous night. Maybe she had been really tired and that was what caused her to oversleep. Her usual morning routine on the elliptical had to be skipped.

Rachel ran to her locker to retrieve the books she was going to need for her first period class when it happened. Karofsky and Azimio appeared out of nowhere with two extra large cups of grape slushy and threw them right to her face. They were like heat-seeking missiles and apparently it was open season on Rachel Berry again. This was going to be a pain to remove from her clothes.

As the chill seeped deeper into her bones she heard the customary laughs of every other passerby. Witnesses if bullying were, in a way, just as bad as the perpetrators, right? At least it was what everybody said and then promptly forgot about. It was then that she heard his laugh. Wiping the syrup from her eyes she cracked one eye open and there he was. The sweet, goofy quarterback she loved so much was laughing at her.

Of course, there was also Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Sam and she even noticed Mercedes, Tina and Artie further away. However, it was the fact that Finn was also more than glad to see her suffering that instantly brought tears to her eyes. Maybe she had hurt him by cheating on him with Puck but she'd never contribute to his humiliation in such a way. Surely he must know how much it would hurt her, right?

It was, of all people, Puck who reached into her locker and retrieved her slushy emergency kit. "I'm sorry Rachel." Then, he handed the bag over and kept walking. Sure, he had said he liked her but not enough to stand up for her.

The rest of the day hadn't helped much for her already somber mood. Her English teacher got mad because she failed to hand in an assignment (it had been the victim of that morning slushy attack but she saw no point in trying to explain) and had decided to give her a four page essay to make up for the credits. The taunting and mocking had been especially brutal too. By the time Glee came around she was downright exhausted and couldn't wait to get home.

She was surprised to see everyone already there; usually Rachel was the first in the choir room. It didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Rachel…" Mr. Schuester started. "…I think that as our captain it is not a good example that you are showing up late like this."

"Sorry Mr. Schuester."

"Whatever Mr. Schue, we already know we can win without her precious talent. Now, let's talk about my solo for Regionals shall we?" Mercedes piped in making Rachel wince.

"What's the matter RuPaul? Can't take the truth?" Santana said.

"As a matter of fact Santana, I…" Rachel started to retort.

"Jesus Treasure Trail! I swear if you open your mouth I will really punch you this time!" It was Quinn who added that little tidbit.

"I don't have to say anything Quinn, my talent speaks for itself however much you want to ignore it and waste…"

"Enough Rachel! I don't want to have to tell you again about the attitude problem. Now shut the hell up!" Mr. Schuester yelled.

Silence fell on the classroom as Rachel valiantly tried to hold back the tears and embarrassment. Sure, he had lost it before sectionals too but it wasn't anywhere near this. Before everyone could recover from his little and entirely inappropriate outburst, someone cleared their throat from the doorway.

"Excuse me, Will?" It was Ms. Pillsbury, or rather Ms. Howell.

"Oh hi, Emma..." The Spanish teacher made puppy dog eyes at the guidance counselor and offered the best smile he could offer. "...how can I help you?"

"I need to see Rachel in my office." Ms. Howell replied very seriously. She'd witnessed his little stunt and now she felt worse for the girl and the news she was about to receive.

The curly haired man was surprised to see such a serious look in her face but said nothing and motioned for the girl to go.

"Rachel, it would be best if you took your belongings with you." Ms. Howell said once she saw the girl was leaving her backpack behind.

Once in her office Emma sat the girl down and gave her a glass of water. "Ms. Howell? What is this about? I have a perfect 4.0 GPA and I'm sure there's not another student in this school with as much extracurricular classes as myself so I really see no reason in being here. Am I in trouble?"

Emma sighed, there was really no way of sugar coating a piece of news like this one. "Rachel, I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news for you, uhm…the school-the school was contacted a few minutes ago, from Hawaii. It seems like the plane your fathers were in had an accident. Rachel I'm so sorry but uhm…you fathers-they-they've passed away."

The brunette had been in the middle of taking a sip of her glass of water. Suddenly, as if in slow motion, the glass slipped from her fingers and shattered on the ground. Very much like her life had just been shattered by Ms. Howell's words.

A single tear fell from impossibly sad brown eyes. "W-what?"