When Life Gets in The Way

Chapter 1: New, not so new, Girl in Town...(Continued)

An: So hi. I didn't expect so many reviews! Thank you, for reading my story! Anyway, Just to clear things up a bit..

Lauren: The characters are not in their mid-20's. Rachel left town when she was eight. Now, she's eighteen and a senior.

Anyway, here's what you didn't get to see in the first chapter. It's how Rachel and Puck meet.

This happens before the first chapter. It's a flashback for the readers. Enjoy and review!

Rachel pov

If you had told me ten years prior I would be back in Ohio, I'd say you're crazy. I was eight when I moved away from my best friends behind. On a plus, I had quickly made new friends in New York. Man, I missed them, but I knew that it was best for me and Abby to be in Lima, Ohio instead of New York.

I needed a cigarette. Badly.

Blah, blah, blah… I know what you're going to say. 'Smoking is harmful to your health'… whatever. I don't care. I mean, I do care, cause I have to stay around for Abby, but still. I'm eighteen; give me a break, okay?

I sighed as I pulled out of the day care center. I hated leaving Abs alone. She was only two, ya know. I tightened my grip on my old Volkswagen.

I needed a cigarette. I gritted my teeth together as I turned into the school parking lot. Being a senior sucked, but I knew I needed to at least finish high school before I could get a stable job.

I looked at the clock and realized it was only 7:30. I had plenty of time to get my schedule. Maybe then I could get a cig…

I shook my head as I walked into McKinley High School. I scoffed to myself and wondered if any of my old friends actually stayed in the same loser town.

"Rachel?"

I turned around to see a blonde girl in a cheerleading uniform. She kind of looked familiar… I squinted at her, to see if that would help me recognize her. Nope.

"Yeah?" I asked rudely.

She smiled at me and said, "It's Quinn! Quinn Fabray. We used to be best friends.

I blinked at her and shrugged, "Sorry, you must have the wrong Rachel."

I turned and walked towards the office. So, I was being a bitch. So what? All I had to do was let people know that I'm not here to socialize. I thought it was going to be easy, oh how I was wrong.

~Reading Between the lines…Reading between the lines.. Reading..~

I walked out of the office, schedule in hand, at 7:45. I looked down on my paper to realize that school didn't start for another thirty minutes so I decided to actually find my classes.

Surprisingly, my classes weren't all that hard to find. McKinley was a smaller school than I was used to. After finding my classes, I was shaking I needed a cigarette so badly. So, I quickly walked into the auditorium and pulled out a smoke. I sat down in a chair and sighed when I felt the first drag off the cig.

"You can't smoke in here." A male voice said from behind me.

I rolled my eyes and replied, "Who's going to stop me?"

"What he means to say is that people don't usually smoke in here, so take it away, sexy." a smart-ass voice said from behind me.

I stood up, cigarette hanging from my mouth, and looked at the two boys. It was easy to tell that they were the popular boys, obviously football players.

"Rachel?" one of them asked.

I groaned out loud. What is it with people recognizing me from like first grade? Get a life, people!

"That's my name." I said, taking another drag off the cigarette.

"Berry?" the same one that said I couldn't smoke in here said.

"Yep." I snapped and finished off my cigarette.

I threw it on the ground and stepped on it. I looked up at the boys and realized one of them had a goofy grin on his face and the other looked confused.

"I'm Finn. We were friends in first grade.." the freakishly tall one said.

I smiled slightly and said, "I remember. Now him," I pointed to the other dude, "I don't remember."

Finn slapped the boy on the back and said, "This is my boy Puck."

I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, "Your boy?"

Puck just smirked as Finn rolled his eyes embarrassedly.

"Well, this isn't awkward at all." I said sarcastically and moved towards the door.

"Rach!"

I didn't turn around. I had to stay strong and not give—

"What happened to you?" Finn said softly, but I heard him clearly.

Angrily, I pushed the door open with my hands and replied, "Life happened."

I walked out of the auditorium, not bothering to look back. I glanced at the clock above the office and groaned. 15 more freaking minutes until classes started. I walked around, attempting to find the music room. Music always helped calm me down.

AN: And that's where Rachel is walking around the school.