Disclaimer: I don't own Glee… if I did Lauren would never exist!

A/n: thank you for the reviews and all the readers. I never expected this to be so popular. Thank you :D I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Please tell me what you think or any ideas of where it should go.

Rachel hesitantly stepped into Glee, praying that a certain Mohawk-adorned boy wasn't there yet. She had managed to avoid him the rest of the day; a task she was rather proud of. The brunette was relieved to find she was the first to get to Glee practice, taking a seat in front. Why she had expected anyone to be at Glee practice 15 minute early, she didn't know, but she was thankful she was wrong. The emptiness would give her time to think. Without Puck in her space, her thoughts were clear. She cringed at how naïve she had been to allow his "charms" cloud her thoughts. There was no way she was going to go along with Santana's plan. She was stupid for even thinking the girl may have point. And even if she did, this was Santana she was thinking about; the Latina would probably end up using her and then make her life worse tenfold.

Rachel shook her head, a small chuckle leaving her lips. No, she wasn't going to fall for neither the Santana's tricks nor Puck's boyish charms. She was going to stick to what she knew, or at least what she thought she knew. Finn and her were meant to be. She knew that. They were the power couple after all. A few speed bumps weren't going to get in their way. She wouldn't allow that. The petite brunette smiled as she regained her thoughts.

"You're too strong to fall for false hope," she whispered to herself.

"Talking to yourself, man-hands," a familiar voice snickered. "And I thought you couldn't get any weirder." Rachel glared at the ex-cheerio who was standing right in front of her, hands folded across her chest. Rachel couldn't help but notice how odd Santana looked without her cheerio uniform. She didn't look odd per say, but without that uniform of popularity, Santana appeared more vulnerable than usual. Or maybe that was Rachel's over-hopeful side talking. "I didn't come here so you could gawk at me, Ru-Paul." The Latina put a hand on her hip, her fingers tapping impatiently against the sliver of skin her shirt had left exposed.

"If you don't have any better reason to talk to me than to make-fun of me, I would appreciate you take your seat and leave me alone, thank you." The smaller brunette smiled though the fire burning inside her wanted nothing more than to slap the girl silly.

"Don't play dumb, treasure trail," Santana tapped her toe. "You know why I'm here."

"If you're talking about that plan you told me about earlier, I'm afraid I'll have to decline you're offer. Unlike you, I don't go out of my way to ruin people's lives," she politely responded.

"You and I both know that last part is a lie," the taller girl rolled her eyes. "But suite yourself, the offers always on the table." With that Santana grabbed a seat on the other side of the room just as the other members shuffled in.

Rachel wasn't surprised when she ended up sitting alone. Ever since Finn and she had broken up, sitting alone had become a norm. She sighed. She supposed it meant that Finn had been the only one who had liked her. And now that he didn't even like her enough to sit with her, she could presume no one in Glee liked her. A twinge of loneliness bit at her stomach. She ignored it. She was going to have to get used to sitting alone. She wasn't going to let her emotions get in the way of her dreams, even if that meant being hated, plus, if all ended well; she'd be back with Finn in no time. Her eyes fell from Finn to Puck, who sat next to Lauren, his eyes fixed on her profile. Even if in her heart, she knew that wasn't truly what she wanted.

"Alright guys, I have one word for you" Mr. Shue's voice echoed through the room as he encircled the word love in a heart on the white board. Brittany's hand immediately flew up, a grin lighting her face. "Britney?"

"Is it love?" she proudly answered. "Totally gonna graduate now!" she proudly shook her hands in the air, smiling at Artie.

"Valentine's day is coming up, so for this weeks lesson, I want you guys to pick a partner," Mr. Shue just quirked an eyebrow and kept going. Hearing this Rachel watched ever couple look at each other. Her eyes, though, focused on Puck, who was staring at a very uncaring Lauren. Mr. Shue continued his speech, "because you're going to sing to them what you think is the world's greatest love song." He stopped for air. "Yeah, find a song that communicates all the things that love means to you, now partner up." Rachel groaned. Who was she supposed to partner up with? She had already seen everyone pick partners, though she really only cared about what duo as much as she tried to deny it. She bit her lip, eyes shooting arrows at Puck who was currently pleading with Lauren.

The jealousy from earlier that day suddenly resurfaced, this time stronger than ever. She gnawed on her lower lip, an attempt to ignore it. It didn't work. She tore her eyes away from Puck reluctantly, placing them on Santana who was also glaring at him. She had spent all afternoon convincing herself that she was stronger than this. That she wasn't jealous. That Santana wasn't right. She wasn't though. She was weak, and for the first time, she couldn't pretend otherwise. The green monster scratching at her thoughts was too powerful. Rachel shook her head in hopes to rid herself of these silly thoughts. She didn't want Puck; she tried to reassure herself, but no matter what she told herself, the jealousy didn't fade.

Rachel bowed her head, staring blankly at her dangling feet. She wished that she was stronger than this. It wasn't like her to let her emotions get the better of her, and yet here she was, victim to her feelings. She sighed, looking over at Puck once more. She couldn't deny it. She wanted him to be singing to her and not to that sad excuse of a girl. Santana's abnormally bitchy voice knocked her out of her thoughts.

"Actually you're just a bitch," she heard Lauren retort. Rachel saw a pang of hurt touch Santana's eyes, but it was quickly replaced with anger. Maybe the Latina wasn't as strong as she seemed.

"Okay, I'm sorry, you just have eyes for my man," she glared at Lauren. Rachel heart stopped. This only confirmed her doubts surrounding Santana's motive. She was just going to use her to get Puck back for herself.

"Okay, first of all, I'm not your man," Puck shot back. Rachel grinned. Something about Puck not wanting Santana relieved her. A sudden idea sparked into her brain. What if she could throw Santana's plan back at her? What if instead of Santana using her she could use Santana? A not so innocent smirk greeted Rachel's lips.

"Enough guys," Mr. Shue cut in before the fight could escalate. "Remember what we learned about team work!" Rachel could practically hear the entire club rolling their eyes. "Alright guys, I want you to go and work on your songs. As soon as you're ready, we'll start sharing your choices with the club." He tried to focus the clubs attention back on Glee. "With that, Glee is dismissed. See you, guys tomorrow."

Rachel made sure to make eye contact with the spicy Latina before she scurried out with the rest of the club members. She had business to discuss and she would rather not chase the ex-cheerio around.

"Brittany, go on without me, I'll be there in a second," the petite brunette heard the taller one tell the dumb blonde. The blonde nodded happily and skipped out the door. "What do you want, man-hands," Santana walked up to her when they were the only two in the room.

"If I'm going to participate in your plan, I'm going to need to know what it consists of and what I have to do," she fumbled with her hands which were rested against the middle of her thighs.

"English, please?" Santana raised an eyebrow, obviously confused by Rachel's wordiness.

"I'm in." Hearing Rachel say this, Santana grinned.

"Oh, this is so on."