Sam was a relatively easy sell; he was the new kid, the one who had no idea of the back story behind the sordid drama with Jesse the previous year. Rachel knew that talking to Mercedes would a heck of a lot more challenging, especially since she was there at the time of the incident. Between spending the whole day dodging Sam's questions and the coffee date with Mercedes after the glee club practice, Rachel was definitely stressing the entire day. And when Jesse had asked her to come out and have lunch with her, she asked if they could dinner instead. She hoped by then she could offer him an answer about her prom plans.

By the time her school day was over and she walked over to The Lima Bean to meet with Mercedes, Rachel was somewhat exhausted. It wasn't just about going through the motions of school and the glee club practice, but she was a lot more stressed than she was used to. The truth was, Sam was one of two who didn't know about the whole Jesse ordeal and the only one that mattered. She didn't want the prom to be affected by events of the previous year. She just...well, she wasn't sure what she wanted at this point. Going to the prom with a group seemed like a safe thing to do.

She was her vocal equal, she was a strong personality and she wasn't afraid to tell it like it is. Mercedes was the true test, if she couldn't get this past the girl, then she would have to lie to Jesse about her prom plans, which wasn't a problem since she had contemplated doing it anyway, but a part of her missed him, despite the eggs. If Finn could forgive Quinn, certainly she could forgive Jesse, right? She had to wonder...

She entered the coffee shop, scanning the vicinity for a familiar face and found Mercedes sitting at a table by the window with a drink in hand. She gestured towards the counter and signalled to the other girl that she would be on her way. After purchasing her drink, Rachel joined Mercedes at the table and sat down in front of her.

"So, is it true what I heard, about Jesse St. James being back in town?"

She shouldn't have surprised by Mercedes' abrupt bluntness but yet she was still taken aback by it. Rachel took a sip of her low fat soy caramel macchiato before she replied, "Yes, it's true, he's back in town."

"So you're ditching me and Sam for a guy who broke eggs over your head?" Mercedes continued on, her voice taking on a confused yet sassy tone.

And that's when it hit Rachel that she needed to convince Mercedes to have Jesse come along. "Well, I was thinking...I thought maybe it would be nice to have Jesse as a fourth person in our group...so it's not weird, you know, with dancing and stuff."

Mercedes just looked at Rachel with a skeptical look.

"Sharing Sam as a prom date wasn't the ideal plan for you, Mercedes. I want you to get the boy who will tell you that you look beautiful and take you for a spin on the dance floor, and after getting to know him, I think Sam would do that for you," Rachel went on with a sincere look on her face, "Jesse will be there as...someone to keep me occupied, that's all, a distraction. I'm not about to let him in again. It's not gonna happen. That would be stupid. It's just that, no one deserves to be alone. And maybe there's the tiniest part of me that believes he's changed and maybe we could be friends."

Mercedes took notice of the second half of her mini-monologue but did not address it at that moment. Instead, she took the offer at face value, and she had to admit to herself that it was a sincere gesture from Rachel.

"Okay, Rachel, I'll bite, but if he steps even one toe out of line, I'm beating his sorry white boy ass," she said threateningly, then she said with a soft tone of voice, "I hope for your sake, he's changed."

"It's not even like I'm just going to fall back into his arms," Rachel pointed out, "He wants to have dinner, and we're going to the prom, as a group. If he tries anything, I know you guys will have my back."

Mercedes raised an eyebrow. "Dinner?"

"Trust me, Mercedes, I have this under control."

"I hope so."