Author's notes: The Rachel Berry in my Rachel-Will stories is not the same person as depicted in Glee (at least as of 1/1/11). She's not a virgin, having had a long sexual affair with Finn and/or sex at summer theater camps (referred to in one story as a "cesspool of sexual depravity" but probably no worse than many Baptist church camps). As a result, she's confident, self-possessed, not in the least insecure, and well aware of her talent, looks, and brains. She has a higher IQ and more talent than Will, and is his psychological equal. She is always the aggressor, and he is the more vulnerable in the relationship.

To see an affair between a high school girl and a teacher depicted realistically and seriously in a movie, watch not Election, but The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, featuring one of the greatest characterizations in cinematic history by the wonderful Maggie Smith, who won an Oscar for the eponymous role.

Around noon on a hot Saturday in early August, Will Schuester's cell buzzed. There was a text message from Rachel Berry, the only student at McKinley High to whom he had ever given his number. The message read: "Can you come to my house this pm? Very important. Rachel." He replied that he'd be there at 2.

Rachel answered the door wearing what seemed like modest shorts from where Will stood, a light sleeveless blouse and sandals. "Hi" is all she said and her smile seemed forced. She offered Will a cold drink, and he accepted some lemonade. Her demeanor worried him. He'd never seen her quite like this. She led him out back to a two-seat swing suspended from a metal frame under an awning that provided welcome shade.

"Is something wrong, Rachel?"

"Let me first assure you that I'm not pregnant. That's probably what most high school teachers would think of first when a girl asks to speak to them about something important in the middle of the summer."

Will smiled at her attempt to relieve the tension.

"You're right, but it would never occur to me about you."

"Because you can't imagine me having sex?"

"Because I can't imagine you being stupid or careless."

"Thanks. But this is important and very serious and it affects you, so I wanted to tell you in person. I'm not returning to McKinley in the fall. I'm enrolling at Ohio State-Lima."

"You're going to college?"

"Yes. I've taken my SATs, the high school equivalency exam, all sorts of tests at the U, and they've accepted me into the Music Department. After auditioning, they're giving me the lead in a production of Funny Girl that opens in November. It's a big chance for me."

The news hit Will like a ton of bricks and, like getting hit by a ton of bricks, it hurt. But he wasn't about to show it.

"Wow! That's fantastic! I honestly can't say I'm all that surprised. I'd been wondering what you were doing at McKinley, anyway. Glee will miss you. I'll miss you."

"Glee will definitely not miss me and you don't need to miss me if you don't want to, at least not completely."

"Glee won't be the same without you. It certainly won't be as good."

"Glee is not a thing, it's a group of people, and most of them hate me. I know you've been out recruiting incoming freshmen and I happen to know from the host family that a terrific exchange student who can really sing is coming here. You'll be able to assign solos to more people and with you in charge I'm sure you'll be even more successful. I don't see it as a loss to glee."

"Most of them don't hate you. There are boys who've resented you because you wouldn't date them and girls who resented you because the boys wanted you to date them. This is all par for the course. The truth is they respect what you've done for glee and realize you've made them better as individuals and as a group. And what about Finn?"

"We broke up. He couldn't handle the U thing, and he's probably right. I really cared for him."

"Sorry. He's a great kid. I liked to think of him as my protégé. One day I'll confess to you what I did to get him to join glee."

"He already told me. He's sweet, but gullible. You and Quinn took advantage of that. Shame on you, but I'm so glad you brought him in. Our selfish ends justified the questionable means. You're almost as unscrupulous as I am, Will. I hope I may call you that, now that I'm no longer your student nor even in high school."

He couldn't very well refuse at this point, and wasn't sure he wanted to. What he was sure about, however, was that Rachel's seeming casualness about the matter was disingenuous.

"'Will" is fine, Rachel. We can be friends now."

"I hope so. I hope we can be good friends. There's a lot more I can learn from you. So you see, you can still teach me even though you're not formally my teacher, with all of the constraining ethical issues that go along with that relationship."

At this point Will expressed a great desire for a refill of his lemonade, even though he really would have preferred something more along the lines of a double scotch. The timeout gave him a chance to collect his thoughts, decode some of Rachel's transmissions, and watch her ass and legs as she returned to the house. He used the paper napkin that came with his lemonade to wipe some nervous sweat from his brow.

When Rachel returned, she was all smiles, relieved that Will had taken the news pretty well. She was also the perfect hostess, as she carried a tray with an ice bucket, a good California Chardonnay, Maker's Mark bourbon, no lemonade, and two glasses, should he care to join her in a toast to her future success and inevitable stardom. They chose bourbon, doubles closer to triples as Rachel poured them, pretending not to know how large a regular sized drink of hard liquor was. Will welcomed her faked naïveté and the 90 proof cold liquid. He needed it and he needed it bad. He also noticed that Rachel's shorts had ridden up quite a bit as she sat beside him on the swing set, being loose in the thighs but very tight where it really, really mattered. He didn't stop noticing it until, as events were to transpire, she was no longer wearing them.

They sipped their bourbon, engaged in light banter and, as their glasses emptied, their exchanged smiles increasingly turned to shared laughter. Rachel sang a medley from Funny Girl which Will sincerely appraised as being quite wonderful and for which she had kissed him on the cheek to express her delight. Exactly how or why Will ended up holding the hand of an underage girl drinking a triple bourbon on the rocks with him he couldn't have told anyone who might have bothered to ask, even if that had included the police or his defense attorney. What he did know for certain, however, was that he didn't want to let go of her anytime soon. After an hour had passed, they put their empty glasses down on the tray using their unengaged hands, and Rachel addressed her new friend.

"Will, dear Will, I'm going to say something I have said only once before in my entire life, to someone else I also loved, and I hope you take it in the spirit with which it's offered. You may kiss me if you want to."

Will, as Finn before him, wanted to. He truly did. And unlike his protégé, he lasted long enough.