"You're not just in my list Schwimmer, you are my list." Her threatening voice had somehow broken every last bit of strength Rachel had been able to muster in front of Cassie. "Class dismissed."

Rachel now saw how stupid she had been for bringing up that she, her teacher, had alcohol breath, but she had. Rachel hadn't thought twice about voicing it, but now she regretted it.

Cassandra's 'Americano' performance was flawless to say the least. For several minutes Rachel stood there speechless as the rest of the class gathered their things and made their way out in small groups until there was just one person leaning on the doorframe. Rachel finally reacted to his presence when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"What were you thinking?" She looked up to see a couple of gorgeous clear blue eyes staring at her thoughtfully and she instantly took away Jesse's hand to search for her bag in the corner.

"I don't know." The words were well thought through, she actually had no idea. In the past she had been impulsive and careless with her words, but over time she had figured she could control her lack of filter. At least, when it came to this particular teacher, who seemed to loathe.

"It was a nice dance, though." Jesse thought out loud as he watched her make her way back to him. Rachel took a deep breath before unconsciously taking a step closer to him.

"I didn't know you were in this class." She said, hopefully changing the subject, she had been embarrassed enough for today.

"I have the same courses you do, I'm a freshmen too, remember?" She nodded automatically, trying to smack herself out of her trance and putting more attention to his words. There was this peculiar something when she was with Jesse in her who always saw herself like that naive high school sophomore and Jesse as the experienced upper-class man. But she guessed she would have to get used to this.

"At least you don't get treated like that by her." He tilted his head considering, he didn't think she treated any other student that way; her way of teaching was very unconventional, but Jesse guessed Rachel had simply hit a nerve somewhere.

He walked to the door then looked at her inviting her to follow, and she did.

"You know, she hit on me once." Rachel raised both brows at him, she was surprised but not that much. After all, she thought, Jesse looked like he did. She had been in complete and utter awe when she first saw him in person. He snorted beside her.

"Really?" She asked, although her question was useless.

"Yeah. She thought I wasn't a student or maybe just not a freshman, I guess I do look older than all of you babies. And I didn't corrected her."

"Why?" He smirked at her pointedly, knowing she would already be very aware of the answer. "Oh, I know, I know. You couldn't let the opportunity go, could you?" He chuckled casually and nodded.

"So, where's Kurt?" Now that Jesse had successfully taken away most of her mortification, the air around them was more relaxed, and she smiled at the mention of her best friend. She missed him like hell.

"He stayed back in Ohio." She replied while still walking down the halls. "He didn't get in."

She still couldn't believe it, Kurt was one of the most talented people she had ever known, when he opened his letter and said that he had been rejected, she was speechless. Being in New York all by herself, without the soothing company and wise advice from Kurt, made her feel nearly lost. She would be lying to herself if she said seeing Jesse here wasn't in any way tranquilizing, it was a familiar face in an ocean of unknown ones and it was very well welcomed.

She really thought they could give it a try at being friends, but then she thought of it again, Jesse and she had never been just friends; it was either they were a couple, or him coming onto her not very subtly, and also there was the unexplored territory of old acquaintances. But they could give it a try although it was a new field for them. There had to have been some friendship material when they watched and debated musicals back when they were dating, she thought. Or when they gave each other advice and pep talks, friends for sure did that, she knew for a fact.

"And Finn?" She sighed slightly. "I mean, I know he isn't here but-"

"He enlisted in the army." She interrupted, she didn't want to sound too abrupt, but these days that was the way she talked about Finn. One part of her-the loving one-was mad at him for not even having the decency to call her or send her a letter once in two months, not even to check up on her and the other part of her-the rational one-was thankful to him for letting her go to chase after her dreams. "We broke up." She could be almost entirely sure Jesse already knew that, but without her best friend being around, she needed someone to talk, even if that someone was Jesse St. James. "Or at least I think so."

There was a strong silence next between the two of them, surrounded by louder conversations of the passersby, and although there was a lot of noise, she could almost hear Jesse thinking.

"Are you okay?" She didn't expect an 'I'm sorry' from Jesse, after all, Finn and him hadn't gotten any lost feelings between them, but the fact that there was true concern on his words made a little smile break into her face.

"Yes, well, I think I am. I haven't heard from him in a while. I can't decide whether that makes it more difficult or less." She had to think, with Jesse by her side, about how she felt when he went away to California and she didn't hear anything from him in the better part of a year. It had made it easier to forgive and forget him without any actual news from him and now that she thought about it, maybe the same rule worked with Finn.

"Do you still love him?" The words snapped her out of her thoughts without notice.

It didn't feel like the kind of conversation you want to have in a hall with one of your ex-boyfriends. But she did want to have the conversation with someone and anywhere works, she thought. Lately the talks with Kurt over the phone were all about him, and she wasn't complaining. He had a lot on his plate to even put her own drama in there too, it wouldn't be fair, he had always put aside his own issues to help her and now it was her time to listen and advise.

"I think so, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love him with all of my heart, but...is it possible to love a person that much and not being in love with him that much. I don't know if it makes any sense." She placed a hand on her forehead, frustrated with her own inability to put her thoughts into actual words.

"It does, it actually makes a lot of sense." Been there, done that.


When there were no more halls for them to walk through and there was no more time to talk, they both walked on their own to their respective classes. Jesse was proud of himself because had listened to Rachel talk about Finn endlessly, and he had not flinched once. He had let her go for quite a while now; he will always be happy to see her, she meant a lot to Jesse, in more ways than one.

At nights he would catch himself thinking about her, not as much as he used to, but then again, he always thought of his high school years and inevitably she would always be part of those memories. One of the most important ones.

To be honest, he had been a bit surprised seeing Rachel there. When NYADA notified him that they had been delighted to receive his application and that he was invited to be part of this year freshmen class, he had been excited for what his future would bring and not a single thought of Rachel had visited his mind in that instance. And although he had been nearly certain of her acceptance, he hadn't been thinking about her then.

But then she was in the common bathrooms and it was enough for him to remember why Carmen Tibideaux had been at Nationals in the first place, and what or rather who had started his conversation with the woman. Rachel Berry.

He had to laugh at the absurdness of the spot that the girl held irrevocably in his life, no matter how much he tried to make distance between the two of them, there was always something that pulled them in, in at least a single conversation. He also chuckled, impressed, sometimes when he thought about the life or death rivalry he had held for years now with Finn Hudson, all for the one girl that Jesse had learned a long ago was never going to be his to keep, she was nobody's.

The mutual hatred between Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions which at the end of the day would always end once they all got their diplomas, all that drama had always been useless. But those were the things that left marks in lives and made them worth being extraordinary, supernatural to others. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Of course there were things that he regretted, many of them included Rachel in their description, but he had apologized and everything was fine now.

When his improvisation class ended, he made his way to his next class, the one taught by Madam Tibideaux. The room was round, it made him fill kind of dizzy but it was beautifully designed. There were rows of seats and he sat down at the last one, almost at the edge, next to a girl he had seen in many of his classes; light blonde curls and big blue, noticeably scared eyes. The guy sitting to his right, greeted Jesse when he sat down, he knew him from several classes as well. The guy was calm compared to the girl on his left. He saw Rachel arrive and sit a row in front of him, he caught her eyes for a moment and gave her an encouraging smile, gesture she returned. The first class with Ms. Tibideaux was known for being merciless when it came to the teacher's opinion, all freshmen where supposed to be twice the good they had been at their audition. That was something he could be worried about, he hadn't practiced that much. Finally, Miss Tibideaux entered to the room with a skinny lady following her.

"Returning students, welcome back. New students, welcome to the round room." How creative. "The acoustics here are perfect and there are no corners, which means there is nowhere to hide in here."

If this was the woman's intent to intimidate them, he had seen lot better, he had done much better as well. However, when she began to explain about the freshmen debut taking place the present day, all of his mental critiques were thrown out the window.

Carmen sat down on the leather armchair in the middle of the front row and took out the list that had been handed to her by the lady following her minutes before. "Beatrice McClain." She called down and the girl that had been sitting on his left stood up and hurried to the front of the class.

"Hello, my name is Beatrice McClain and I'll be singing 'Ave Maria', written by Franz Schubert." When the girl started singing, Jesse had to recognize she had a beautifully toned voice, not the best he had heard, not at all, but it was good. Apparently not good enough for NYADA, he had heard that sometimes people got cut along the semester, he had never imagined that at the beginning of the quarter that would happen, but there was nothing to be done.

He felt quite at home in NYADA, the mentality was much like in Carmel High, more specifically in Vocal Adrenaline. To murder or be murdered. That mantra still lingered in his mind sometimes.

The girl left the room crying and right away another name was called down, as if she was just eager to bring another person down. "Rachel Berry." He could see how Rachel flinched in her chair before she made her way to the front hesitantly. He heard Miss Tibideaux say, "Surprise me" and Jesse got truly anxious out of nowhere, he didn't think he'd get like this when it was his turn. He even leaned onto his knees a little.

"Hello, my name is Rachel Berry and I'll be singing 'New York State of Mind' written by Billy Joel and popularized by one Ms. Barbra Streisand." He had to smile widely. Barbra was classic Rachel Berry, and of course she was going to mention her idol any chance she got.

The beautiful piano keys began the song and he once again was delighted to hear Rachel sing, he couldn't take his eyes off her, he didn't think anybody in the room could. Her voice had always pulled people's attention towards her, no matter the situation, no matter what song she was singing. He felt himself swallow hard at the last part of the song. Rachel Berry still got it and he hadn't doubted that for a second.


"Hello?"

Kurt Hummel was walking down the hallways of McKinley High once again this week, glee auditions were his visiting reason this time. And he was holding a camera with one hand and a tripod with the other, he had to carry both things with one hand in order to answer the phone, but when he saw the name of his best friend light up the screen any trace of discomfort was erased from his porcelain face.

"Hey, Kurt!" She sounded in a hurry, he could hear the noisy streets on the background. "I miss you like crazy."

"So, that's why you've been calling me every three hours." He noted smugly.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay." He could hear the concern in her voice and also the slight uneasiness.

"I'm okay, I assure you. Let's talk about you this once, how've you been?" He was getting really tired of telling people he was okay, it started sounding like a cover up to him as well even though it was true.

"I'm great, I love it here, and my dance teacher worships me." Liar "But I was also calling to feed you with the latest gossip." Her sudden change of subject made him analyze her voice further, but he couldn't quite manage to do it over the phone.

"Spit" he said excited while rounding the corner of the hall that finally led him to the double doors of the auditorium.

"You will never guess who's here..." Many names went through Kurt's mind, he was assuming the person was not famous, because if he was Rachel would have called squealing with excitement. She was rather calm but didn't sound bored, and that left him clueless as in whom was the person she was talking about.

"Patti LuPone?" He heard her laugh out loud.

"No, I wish." He had tried. "Jesse St. James." Rachel had just pronounced the familiar and intimidating name when he took his sit next to Blaine in the rows.

"What?! What is he doing there?!" He could feel all the glee club staring, but he didn't actually care, they were all very well aware that drama ran through his veins. Rachel laughed slightly again at his reaction.

"He's in NYADA." There was a small silence after. All Kurt could think about was his own application to the school. And how even Jesse St. James who had been lingering around his own high school glory days for some time, had moved on. "I first found out when I met him at the common bathrooms of the dorms. You can't even imagine my reaction when I saw he was only wearing a towel."

Kurt had to smile, imagining such a scene between the two of them almost made him want to laugh.

"Hey sweetie, I have to talk to you later, glee auditions are about to start." He said in a lazy attempt to end the conversation, Kurt didn't want to hear about the dorms and the classes, not Jesse St. James who he loved hearing her friend talk about because it made him want to mock her. That's what best friends are for, he thought. And all of that because he was absolutely stuck in life, he hadn't gotten into NYADA. But there were many things you could do in New York, if you truly wanted to live there. In a second, he was settled. His irreversible trip to New York wouldn't take too long to be executed. He was going to be a life over-achiever, even if his admittance to college was delayed by a couple of months. He could do this. Kurt Hummel was traveling to New York to make it his home.


Challenging the teachers hadn't really been Rachel Berry style, ever. She liked to think there were enough troubles in her life to even add academic issues. But this thing with Cassandra was getting kind of personal.

"You've got guts." Cassandra said, mocking. "I like that attitude in my students. That just means I will enjoy it even more when I'm making your life hell on earth."

Rachel had been threatened before, by Lima losers like they liked to call them, but being threaten by an actual person that had lived Broadway was a whole other situation.

She had been spending a lot of time in Central Park, viewing through photos of Finn and thinking about her home, her house, her dads, her friends, all of the people and things she had left behind to come and take NYADA by storm. She missed a lot of things, she had been remaining strong mostly, only crying silently at nights in her dorm when and where nobody could see her break down. She had been reckless and she was planning on staying like that. Her talks with Jesse had been very helpful, and she was very thankful for the new found trust they had now. She still didn't know if calling him a friend would be okay; she had no manifested opposition to it, but she didn't know if it would bother him some way.

"Hey!" She heard his voice and turned around to see him while slowing down out of the classroom. "I wanted to tell you how much I liked your song the other day in the round room."

"Thank you, I didn't lack Barbra's emotional depth this time?" He grinned widely at the memory.

"Well..." He tilted his face and she punched him playfully on the arm. "No, you didn't, it was truly great."

"I have been waiting three years for you to say that." He laughed and placed an arm around her casually while still walking, she didn't let that one act go, that was something she had to consider later. But, friends did that too, right? Truth be told, she hadn't had a lot of male friends, straight male friends, that is. She didn't quite know how all the affection gestures worked, especially if said friend is your ex-boyfriend.

"Better late than ever, right?" She snorted at his words, and only smiled at him as a reply.

"Do you want to go for lunch? I'm starving." Was that an invitation for a date? She wasn't sure. She had learnt to decode the intentions of boys based on what tone they used and it wasn't until now that she figured she had only learnt how to decode Finn's voice. And Jesse and Finn were from completely different worlds. "As friends, I promise." He once again was proving his exceptional reading skills to her. She smiled sweetly to him and nodded.

"Okay, where would you like to go?"

"There's this diner just around the corner that serves vegan." He offered.

"Alright." They walked their way out the school and with Jesse's directions arrived to the diner. It was rather empty and they picked up a booth. After the waitress offered water, handed them the menus and they ordered they began talking.

"How are your dads?" He asked, smiling.

"They're fine, they are still calling everyday to check on me, it makes more bearable the homesickness." He nodded understanding, his days back in LA were a blur in his memory. His family wasn't as close as Rachel's but he still looked back at Akron and his house and he saw a home. "How are yours?" In spite of only meeting Jesse's parents once, Rachel had gotten a pretty good impression of the kind of parents they were: not very good ones.

"Oh, you know, I think they are still under the impression that I am a junior at UCLA." He said, and a small chuckle escaped him. Rachel couldn't tell whether or not it was genuine.

"Have you heard from Finn?" It was obvious he was uncomfortable with the topic of his family, so he avoided it and she did her best to flow over the topic too.

"No." She said looking at her fingers and twitching them until a hand was placed on top of hers.

"Don't worry, he's probably just being busy, I mean, I don't think they have a lot of free time in the army." He spoke, grimacing into a smile and playing with her fingers. She nodded and held the tears in her eyes, she had to be strong.

"Thank you." She almost whispered but because there was nearly nobody at the diner he was able to hear her.

"That's what friends are for." They looked at each other's eyes and smiled, there was her confirmation and she couldn't help but feel like maybe she didn't want it that much.


The car was parked in front of the airport, and suddenly it all was too real for him, he had fantasized about this moment for such a long time; and now that he had to say goodbye to his dad and walk in determined to start off fresh, he had no idea how to do it. This was his future.

The song Blaine had sung to him back in the McKinley patio had opened his eyes, there was nothing left for him in Lima. He had to go or either way his drive and spark would vanish in a second. He would miss his life as it was right now, even though he wasn't happy. He would miss his family and his friends, but he knew he couldn't stay there forever. It was the time to go.

"You're scared?" His dad asked him with a faint smile in the face.

"Terrified." He was also very much excited, it was written all over his voice.

"New York is filled with people like you; people who are different, you're going to feel at home." He gave Burt a smile and a hug and then got out of the car. "And if not, you can always come back...but you won't." He heard his dad whisper the last part and it shattered his heart, this was one of the reasons he didn't want to go.

"You truly are the world's best dad." He said before shooting a last smile at his dad and turning on his heels, walking towards the gate. His future was waiting.


There she was again, in Central Park, viewing through pictures in her phone of Finn all over again. She didn't know if it was in any way healthy. She was craving for something. A closure? A fresh start? None of those terms seemed to be the one she was looking for. At first she had been miserable, she was telling people they had broken up, in her head they had, but she couldn't quite put a word to their relationship status yet. Were they in a break? What were they in, anyway?

After a month passed and he didn't communicate with he, at all, she had assumed that it meant they had broken up, a month was too long of a time for just a break. She knew, that space was the thing he believed he was providing her, but she wasn't happy like this. She didn't like the uncertainty.

And that left her heart exposed to whatever came next. She was ready to move on, but deep within her, she knew that if Finn wanted to keep trying, she would follow him wherever and yet the small part of her that had been born the second she set a foot in New York, refused to follow anyone but herself. Finally, the tears of pure frustration and newly found confusion made their way down her face and she couldn't hold herself anymore. She called Kurt, she needed her other half desperately.

"Kurt?" She was sobbing now.

"What's wrong? You sound sad."

"I lied, I'm not okay. I miss you and I miss everything." She cried, she was tired of holding everything in. "My dance teacher is a monster and I can't even be in my dorm room because my roommate is sleeping with the entire school." She complained, drying up her tears as she could.

"Maybe you should move out and find another roommate." She had thought of that already, but who would possibly want to be roommates with her? Everybody hated her.

"Ha, yeah." She talked sarcastically.

"Turn around."

And in that moment, Rachel knew that everything would be alright again.