A big thank you to all my lovely reviewers- Starophonie, Hollie, DarkestAngel, Kizzy, GGabz, and TwilightEquestrian. I'm glad you all liked it!

This chapter takes us up to Theatricality, where Rachel finds out Shelby is her mother, and is more of a filler chapter. After this, we're going to skip pretty quickly to the end of the summer and the new school year. The next chap will assume you've watched the Glee season 1 finale.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

After Jesse had come and gone, I was in shock. He was so perfect. Well, no, he wasn't. He was arrogant, harsh, and went around McKinley with a disdaining look on his face. I suppose it had been par for the course, refusing to notice these things because it seemed like he was perfect for me. Finn had been kind, up until the horrible ending of our relationship, but Jesse was the man I had dreamed of ever since I was a little girl. An excellent singer, a good actor, handsome. In other words, he had a destiny on Broadway.

I'd kind of always known that our relationship was slightly strange, though. Like Finn said, he was the main lead of our competition. It was nice to believe that he transferred over to McKinley just for me, but it always struck me as a bit odd. As soon as the others mentioned this, however, my brain clammed up because I was just so angry over their accusations and their attempts to have me thrown out of the club. Then, of course, was his obsession over "helping" me find my mother, although it was more "forced" in the end. I was even more confused over that one.

Thankfully, (or not thankfully) that particular mystery got cleared up fairly quickly. Mercedes, Quinn and I sneaked in and went to sit up in the gods of the Carmel High auditorium. We weren't supposed to be there. Mr. Schuester would probably have stopped us had he known, but none of us were stupid enough to tell him. I had been surprised to find myself with Quinn and Mercedes in our little recon mission. Mercedes was a fellow diva, and even if we had a reasonably decent rapport, we were always going to be competing for solos. As for Quinn, the girl who had bullied me since I was fourteen, it was a miracle we could sit next to each other without violence involved. I shook myself out of thinking this way and concentrated on the task ahead.

"If they catch us, does that mean we have to go to jail?" whispered Quinn.

I rolled my eyes slightly. She needed to read up on copyright. "Stealing their ideas is not a crime."

After a couple more whispered mutterings, we settled to watch their show. They were indeed doing Lady Gaga, and I felt a small shot of pride in my spying skills. If my Broadway dreams didn't come to fruition, I had always thought being a spy would be quite an intriguing job. My obsessive need to win against my competition would probably be an asset. They were all there, cloaked in Lady Gaga outfits. Jesse was there too, although I never realised at the time, his face being hooded. What caught my attention was the woman talking to them, their coach, Shelby Corcoran.

"Ok, ok, ok, just...enough. You guys aren't getting it. You're letting the costumes do all the work. Theatricality isn't about crazy outfits! It's not enough to douse yourselves with gasoline, you have to light yourselves on fire to make it work!"

"God, she's good", I said with wonder. I kind of wished Mr Schue was like this. Dramatic, and not restraining herself.

She decided to demonstrate. Funny Girl, E flat. Exactly what I would have done, as I told Quinn and Mercedes.

As she began to sing, I felt my heart stop. It was the voice. The voice from the tape. I don't know now how I could have been so sure, but at that moment I just knew. Her looks, her voice, her dramatic tendencies, it just had to be her. I found myself moving towards the stage as she kept singing, in one of the most beautiful mezzo-soprano voices I had ever heard. It wasn't voluntary, but I couldn't stop myself as I spoke up at the end of her song.

"Miss Corcoran? My name's Rachel Berry. I'm your daughter."

I could hear the gasps of shock surrounding me. It isn't something you hear every day, the lead singer of your competition turning out to be your coach's long-lost daughter. I was still staring at her, when she made a motion to her students, and they began to file out. Finally, we were left alone together. I had imagined this moment a thousand times, and it had always involved singing, but not sitting in the empty auditorium afterwards, rows apart.

"Did you ever regret it?" I asked her suddenly.

"Yes...then no...then so much," she told me, her words stilted and clearly heartfelt. I didn't know what to do with that. There were so many things about that statement.

"When did you realise it was the right time for me to find you?"

"I saw you sing at Sectionals. You were extraordinary. You were me."

We had some small chat after that. Then I told her about my dads, and the glass of water they always brought me when I was upset. That was a mistake. She just looked at me, and it was obvious that she was regretting even meeting me.

"I am so sorry, Rachel... I'll call you." My heart sunk when she said that. It was pretty evident she had no intention of doing so, except maybe out of pity. I sat there, all alone, and wondered what I had done to deserve being abandoned by my own mother.