Rachel Berry's heart ached soundlessly as she forced herself to walk across McKinley High School's parking lot, her mind a thousand miles away from where it should have been. It'd been hard for the young starlet, dealing with the newfound emptiness in her life over the past couple of weeks, and the challenge of bouncing back from it all had been one of the harshest things she'd ever had to endure. On nights when the pain seemed almost unbearable, like it would never subside, she'd turn to The Way We Were for comfort; Barbra Streisand always soothed Rachel's nerves, even on her darkest of days. Most of the time, it was the only thing that could.
Still, the tears always returned.
Finn Hudson had been everything to her. Now that he was gone, Rachel wasn't sure what it was that she had left other than her prodigious talent; it wasn't like she had many friend out of, or in for that matter, Glee Club. She'd gone from feeling like she was on top of the world back to feeling like the same, unappreciated loser who strived for stardom far more than any normal teenager should. And all because of a stupid mistake. Honestly, it didn't even compare in size with the one Quinn Fabray had made last year, and yet she was the one on Finn's arm nowadays. The girl who'd betrayed him with his bestfriend and ended up pregnant from the light affair was the one who everyone had smothered in empathy as soon as the news had gone public; there'd been never-ending support for the beautiful blonde, all because she was much more acceptable to society. Did no one remember the amount of pain she and Noah had caused Finn? Didn't Finn remember? It simply didn't make any sense.
"Good morning, Rachel."
Mr. William Shuester appeared out of nowhere, falling perfectly into step with her. No wonder the man was eligible for Broadway, Rachel thought as she pursed her lips together before facing the only other person at this school who believed in her and her talent.
"I see nothing good about it, Mr. Shue, but good morning to you as well," Rachel replied solemnly.
The frown he gave her didn't go unnoticed by the brunette; she was trained to notice even the slightest furrowing of skin. Usually when she'd run into her talented teacher, Rachel would be in high spirits, in love with the world for all the great things that had been happening for both herself and the Glee Club, but now she just seemed miserable and upset while trying extremely hard to maintain an air of composure around her fellow peers.
"Hey." Mr. Shue touched her shoulder lightly in an effort to bring her to a stop. "Is everything alright, Rachel?" She kept her brown eyes averted as he spoke, refusing to look like a fool yet again for not being made out of stone the way everyone else appeared to be. "You seem a little upset."
"'A little' would be an understatement," Rachel finally caved.
Mr. Shue crossed his arms. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"There really is no point, Mr. Shue," Rachel brushed the pain away. "I'm simply waiting for everyone to realize how insufferably stupid they've been acting lately, but until then, I'm afraid I'll just have to cope with it for a while longer." She looked up at Mr. Shue with a small smile of reassurance, hoping he would rest assured she'd be alright. "Honestly, I can't bother to worry about other people's future's when mine's barley hanging by thread."
"Rachel," Mr. Shue sighed. "I—"
"After everything that's happened this year," Rachel interrupted, "I thought we would've at least made a microscopic dent on the social ladder. I swear. The football team gets more praise then we do and, mind you, we've won more singing competitions in the past few months then they've scored touchdowns in the past few years. Not to mention Coach Sylvester's even more hellbent on destroying Glee Club than before all because of her damn Cheerios and to top it off, I'm back to being McKinley High's biggest loser. Especially after Finn broke up with me so publicly."
Most of what Rachel had said was old news to Mr. Shue; though he wasn't in accordance, slushy facials weren't exactly an extinct concept around campus and Karofsky seemed to be enjoying pushing Finn up against the lockers from time to time even more. Still, Rachel was tainted by personal issues that appeared to be reeking havoc in her heart and her head and, whether he wanted to or not, he just couldn't do anything about it.
"Rachel," Mr Shue sighed again, taking it all in. "I don't really know what to say."
"There's not much you can say, Mr. Shue, though I know you mean well," Rachel gave him a weak smile. "I've learned to accept that this town is crawling with vile people who's only ambition in life is to crush those of us with true zeal. Thankfully enough, I've had time and practice to build up an immunity to these horrid beings and the only real torture for whatever crime I may have committed in a past life is to withstand another year of this mediocracy before reaching my true potential. I'll see you in Glee, Mr. Shue." The short, yet riveting speech Rachel gave him demonstrated just how true her words truly were. Somehow, it'd been enough to alter her day drastically as well.
Rachel Berry finally felt like herself for the first time in a long time as she walked through the main doors of the school, oblivious to the snickers and glares most of the student body threw her way. In her haste to saunter past such mindless drones without giving them an opportunity to ruin her brand new cardigan with anything artificially-flavored, Rachel barely had time to acknowledge the presence of the football player who'd broken her heart repeatedly. Giving her a look meant to start small talk after days of no communication, Finn was stunned by the way her eyes skimmed over him as if he were just another face in the crowd as she made her way deeper into the bustling hallway.
Hanging back for a moment, Mr. Shue watched the lack of exchange between the two, Rachel's destination evidently far more important than any conversation with the handsome quarterback could be; the girl had done a number to the poor guy, not that Finn would ever admit it out loud, and whether he accepted it or not, he missed her and her projected quirks. All that had happened set aside, from what he could see, Mr. Shue knew that not even Quinn had dedicated as much time to him, cared more for him than Rachel had. Rachel just needed to give Finn time to realize that.