Author's Note: Again, thanks for all the reviews, alerts, favorites! This chapter should answer some of the questions asked.

Jesse St. James did not get called into any sort of office with any sort of frequency. The fact that he had arrived at his first period class, only to immediately be ushered out at the request of Shelby Corcoran and into her office. At first he thought it might be an impromptu Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal, but as he entered the office it was just him. Curious. It should probably be enough to make him nervous, but Jesse stopped getting nervous a long time ago.

Instead, he stretched out his legs, the tips of feet hitting against the bottom of the desk while he waited to be joined by Shelby. This was a power move, he was sure of it. He always observed and took notes on what she did. He had since he first met Shelby back in eighth grade, when she had recruited him and Rachel. They had been in the school play together, both leads of courses, and afterwards she had pulled both of them aside and told them about Carmel High's show choir. And what they had to do if they wanted to be apart of it.

Shelby was the closest thing to a star that Ohio had, and Jesse St. James wanted to be a star. It was only a matter of time until the student outshined the master, but until that time he observed, he took notes, he got better.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here, Jesse," Shelby began as she walked into the office, and closed the door behind her.

"Well I know it's not about any flaws in my vocals," he responded as she took the seat behind the desk. "Or my dancing." Such flaws did not exist, he was sure of it. "So, am I to assume you summoned me for some sort of illicit affair?"

Shelby arched an eyebrow at that, and shook her head. "Please, I could chew you up and spit you back in less than a second." She wagged a finger at him. "And don't ever think those things don't need improving. Such arrogance leads to laziness, and I won't have that."

She looked like she was expecting a response, so he crossed his ankles and said, "Yes, ma'am."

"I know you're still friends with Rachel," Shelby announced.

Oh, well he supposed she should have expected this. Vocal Adrenaline was only so loyal as long as you remained in the pack. Leaving for any reason: death, sickness or parents, was considered the gravest betrayal.

"Well, that's a fanciful tale," Jesse drawled out the words, as though testing their potential. "Tell me another."

Shelby smirked at that. He was in checkmate. "Jesse, we both know you're a better actor and liar than that."

Well, he certainly liked to think so.

However, he did not respond to that, so she continued on. "I want you to be friends with Rachel."

Jesse tried not to react, but it was hard not to. Over the past two years or so, he could not remember any sort of partiality that Shelby had displayed towards Rachel.

His words were hesitant. "You do?"

"I do," she confirmed. "I need to know what she'd doing, what she is plotting." There really wasn't an answer for that. She was doing nothing, as her lame ass school seemed to prevent her from doing anything.

Jesse frowned. "Are you worried about New Directions?" He wasn't. Rachel couldn't carry an entire team, no matter how talented she was. She could maybe, just maybe, carry them through sectionals but nothing further than that.

"God, no," Shelby said. This was getting more cryptic for a second. "This is a personal favor to me, Jesse. If I tell you something, you can't tell anyone. Especially Rachel."

Jesse leaned forward slightly, curiosity getting the better of him. It was almost like attending one of those murder-mystery dinners. "Yes?"

"Rachel's my daughter." She waved off any question that might follow that. "Details aren't important, but she can't know. Keep an eye on her, be friends with her still, and, also, make sure she doesn't become competition."

Well that was a vague and strange request. It was unlike Shelby to put him in such a precarious position. Without Rachel there, he was unarguably the star of Vocal Adrenaline. To encourage his friendship, if it must be labeled as such, with Rachel was akin to putting a loaded gun into a depressed person's hand. Were the other members to find out, he'd be the outcast. Cast as a person of suspicious loyalties.

Jesse knew this well. He had practically invented this mindset. When it had been anyone else, he had been ringleader. The only reason it had yet to come up was because Rachel had transferred to McKinley, of all places, and the only people that took McKinley serious were the ones in the cheerleading circuit.

"Why me?"

It was probably obvious. She had already informed him that she knew he still saw Rachel. Had seen Rachel once. He hadn't even meant to. He had sent the first text back because he had thought it was clever. Clever things should never be left unsaid. He had learned that from Oscar Wilde. The second, because she sounded so small in her text and that contradicted everything he knew about Rachel Berry. Big voice, big personality, big mouth, big ego. The only small thing about her was her structure. Plus, he honestly had no idea what being slushied meant and had to find out for himself.

It wasn't that Rachel Berry was his friend, because he didn't think he had any of those. He had classmates, colleagues and teammates. However, Rachel had been his equal and he was accustomed to treating her as such. Maybe in another's reality that made them friends.

It seemed as though Shelby knew all of his private thoughts, because she answered, "Because you care for each other." She held up a hand to stop him from responding. As if he had a response for that. No one had ever accused him of caring for another before, it was usually the opposite. And was shouted at him by his sister. "I've tried my best to keep you two separate. I've pitted you against each other in competition since the moment I met you two. Despite that, you take care of each other."

Jesse never really thought about it before. Rachel was his equal; it had just seemed natural to include her into things. And while yes, Shelby frequently made them compete against each other, they were competitive by nature and understood the thrill of challenge.

"You want me to make sure Rachel's not a threat?" This was the part of the request he could understand. "If you're her mother, why not just use that to keep her in the district?"

Shelby pressed her lips together. It wasn't a good question for him to have asked. "Her fathers don't like my style, and no longer wish to have me as her coach."

Jesse didn't understand that either.

She shook her head, the topic dropped. "Still be her friend, keep it a secret." She understood the innerworkings of Vocal Adrenaline. She was not one to keep a pretense of obliviousness. "I'll let you know if I need anything else, you'll let me know if I need to know anything."

Jesse nodded. There was never any option of saying no to Shelby. She was the ticket to success in this town, and there was little Jesse cared for more than success. The only part that was tricky was to continue to play a role he hadn't been aware that he had been playing to begin with.

He left the office, and left the school grounds to grab a tea from the Starbucks down the street and clear his head. School could obviously wait, but he needed to plan.

Without Shelby's interference, what would Jesse normally do? He thought for a moment, or maybe several moments, before taking out his cell phone and sending a message.

Bikram Yoga, tomorrow after school?