Hello everyone! I'm glad you are enjoying the story. I know Puck seems unfriendly now but in this chapter, we'll find out why he's so unhappy about Rachel being around. As for Rachel, we'll see her getting used to being in America as well as her interacting with Puck more. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: A Voice of an Angel

The rest of the day went by quickly for Rachel. She found herself mostly just observing American culture and noting the similarities to what she found in her research. But she was disappointed that she didn't see much of Puck. It was like he was trying to avoid her altogether and while this was disheartening, Rachel was just happy that she made at least two friends.

When it came time to go to glee club, she was buzzing with excitement. She and her mother had always sang for the kingdom in times of celebration or holidays. It made her even more excited to know that she could have a part of her that didn't have to be kept a secret from everyone.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Mercedes and Kurt came over to her. She smiled at them. "Is it time for glee rehearsal?"

Kurt nodded as they started walking to the classroom. "Do you know what song you're going to sing?"

Rachel looked back at them confused. "I have to sing a song? Alone?"

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, we can't let you join without auditioning. We have to make sure you can sing first."

Rachel remained quiet for the rest of the walk, unsure of what she was going to sing. She wasn't familiar with any American singers and she was sure that they wouldn't want to hear some song from Mercier. Then it hit her. She wrote a song during the plane ride to give herself comfort from the situation. She could just sing that to them.

When they walked inside the classroom, the teacher was writing something on the board before Kurt got his attention.

"Mr. Schue, we have a foreign exchange student who wants to be in glee club."

Mr. Schuester looked at Rachel and smiled, shaking her hand. "I'm Mr. Schuester and welcome to America."

"Thank you, it is so nice to meet you. My name is Rachel Barber."

Before Mr. Schuester could respond, a Latina snickered. "I guess in her country, everyone looks like a dwarf."

"And dresses like a homeless person," a blond smirked. Rachel frowned but chose not to let it bother her. If they were back in Mercier, she would have the power to feed them to her pet tigers so she decided to let it go.

"Santana, Quinn enough," Mr. Schuester scolded. "Let's make Rachel feel welcomed."

The girls rolled their eyes as Puck walked in, much to Rachel's surprise. He looked at her, obviously surprised to see her as well. "What are you doing here?"

"Mercedes and Kurt have convinced me to join glee club since my host is being a very bad one. Although I must say I am more than a little surprised to see you here. I did not know you could sing."

He shrugged, trying not to show that he enjoyed impressing her. "Yeah well, chicks dig singers."

As he walked away, Rachel shook off her confusion over the American language and turned to see that everyone in the club had arrived. Mr. Schuester clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Alright before we begin, I want to introduce you to Rachel Barber. She's an exchange student and she wants to audition for the club so let's give her our full attention." He motioned to Rachel as a way of telling her to step forward.

When she did so, she tried to shake off the nervousness of everyone staring at her. This is ridiculous, she thought. You performed in front of a whole kingdom and you are nervous about a group of commoners? She shook her head to erase the thoughts and looked at everyone. "I do not know any American singers so I am just going to sing that I wrote. It's very special to me and I hope you all enjoy it."

After giving the piano guy the music, Rachel took her place again in the center of the room. She began to think back to how she was feeling on the plane. How she felt so alone and afraid and just wishing for this whole thing to be a dream.

You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in
No I won't give in

She thought about her parents. How while she was safe in another country they were in danger. She just wanted them to be okay and make it through this.

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Rachel felt tears in her eyes as she sang the next part but she remembered her father's words. She had to be strong. If not for herself then for her parents and her kingdom.

So far away
I wish you were here
Before it's too late, this could all disappear
Before the doors close
And it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and defend
I'll fight and defend
Yeah, yeah

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Hear me when I say, when I say I believe
Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Puck sat there, speechless. He had never heard a voice so beautiful and it amazed him that it was coming from his tiny house guest. What else could she do that he didn't know?

La da da da
La da da da
La da da da da da da da da

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Keep holding on
Keep holding on

There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

When she finished, the entire club was silent. Even Mr. Schuester didn't know what to say. For a second, Rachel assumed they thought she was horrible. But the feeling went away when they started clapping for her, excitedly. Mr. Schuester got up from his chair, smiling.

"Wow." He looked back at the club who, with the exception of Santana and Quinn, were nodding eagerly. "Welcome to the glee club!"

Rachel smiled and for the first time since she got here, she felt truly excited for what's to come while she was in this new place.

XXXXXXXXXX

After glee rehearsal, Puck ran over to Rachel. "Hey, why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?"

"When would I have gotten the chance? When you did not talk to me the whole ride to school? When you left me in a strange school and did not help me find my way around?"

Puck sighed. "Look, so I was a little unwelcoming. Doesn't mean you have to get all uptight about it."

Before Rachel could respond, Kurt and Mercedes came over to them. When they noticed Rachel's angry face, Kurt frowned at Puck. "Really Puckerman? She's your house guest and you're being so rude. This is not how we want her to be perceiving America."

Puck glared at him. "Shut it, Hummel. This is none of your business.'

Mercedes stepped forward. "Rachel's our girl now so that makes it our business. And since you're not being a very good host, we're going to take her out and show her things about America that you didn't bother to show her."

He looked at Rachel. "I can't come home without you, my mom would kill me."

She frowned. "Why would she do something so extreme for a minor infraction?"

Kurt put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No sweetie, it's an American expression. His mom wouldn't really kill him. She would just be really upset with him."

Rachel nodded in understanding then turned back to Puck. "Well I'm sorry Noah but I already made plans with Mercedes and Kurt. It would be rude to just cancel on them so I am going. I'm sure Maria will understand."

Without another word, Rachel left with Mercedes and Kurt following behind her. Puck sighed in frustration but he couldn't help but find it attractive the way Rachel didn't listen to him. As much as this is going to annoy him, he couldn't help but like her confidence.

While he was thinking, Finn came over to him. "Hey dude. Since when do you have a thing for foreign girls?"

"She's staying with me and my mom. I was supposed to be babysitting her but she ran off with Lady Hummel and Aretha." He groaned in frustration as they left the classroom. "I don't know how I got stuck taking care of some girl that I didn't ask to be here in the first place."

"Why are you so against it?"

Puck sighed. "My mom has enough on her plate as it is. We don't need some foreign exchange girl coming in and adding more stress to our house. Plus, there's something off about her. You should see this chick. She acts like everything is supposed to be done for her. Just last night, she asked if I was going to 'run her bath' for her. Girl's weird."

Finn shrugged. "She's from a different country. Things are obviously done differently there. Come on, since you're not taking care of her we can go to my house and play Call of Duty."

While they walked to the car, Puck couldn't get Rachel out of his mind. She seemed genuinely hurt that he was being so uncomfortable around her. But her leaving with Mercedes and Kurt instead of hashing out their issues doesn't exactly help. He was sure his mom was not going to be happy about any of this but he can deal with all of that later.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Rachel came back to the Puckerman house that evening, Maria rushed over to her. Taking her face into her hands, Maria examined the princess to make sure she was okay.

"Oh Rachel thank goodness you're okay. I was worried about you."

Rachel frowned, ashamed that she caused her host so much worry. "I am sorry. I made new friends and they just wanted to help me."

Maria nodded in understanding. "I understand. But where's Noah? Was he with you?"

"No actually-"

Before she could finish, Puck walked through the door only to turn around to walk right back out when he saw the look on his mother's face.

"Noah, don't even try it. Inside now." When Puck came in and closed the door behind him, Maria shook her head. "Didn't I ask you to make her feel welcomed?"

"I did."

Rachel grew angry at the lie. "No you did not. You left me as soon as we walked into the school and I was very lost. I ended up getting what Mercedes and Kurt call 'slushied' and my clothes were ruined."

Maria turned to Puck. "And where were you when all of this was happening?"

Puck thought about his morning with Santana in the janitor's closet and felt his face turning red. Noticing that his mom and Rachel were staring at him waiting for an explanation, he snapped out of it. "I was busy doing other things."

Maria groaned in exasperation. "Alright we will discuss this later. Go to your room." Puck looked between her and Rachel before rolling his eyes and walking upstairs. Maria sighed to herself and turned to Rachel. "So what did you, Kurt and Mercedes do?"

"They took me shopping for new clothes. Apparently, I was dressed as someone's grandmother. I guess my princess clothing is extremely different from American clothing. Hopefully I can fit in now."

"I understand how out of place you may feel but I don't want you to lose who you are."

Rachel nodded. "I understand and I appreciate your concern. May I go upstairs now? Today has been a very long day and I am so tired."

"Of course." Rachel went up the stairs and before she went to her room, she stopped at Puck's door and knocked on it.

He turned to her. "What do you want? Trying to get me in trouble again?"

"I did not get you in trouble, you did that by yourself. Maybe you should not leave me alone in a strange place."

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"I want to know why you are not being friendly to me. What have I done to you?"

"Nothing, I just don't like you coming in here and acting like you're a princess or something."

Rachel's heart beat faster from him correctly identifying her but she knew that she had play it cool. "I would just like to be treated with respect and dignity while I am here, even though you do not want me to be here."

"Look, I really don't give a shit whether you're here or not. All that I ask is that you stay out of my way."

Rachel sighed, finding out that they are obviously not going to get anywhere so she decided to change the subject. "Where is your father?"

Puck snapped his head to her and found himself speechless. That question doesn't get asked often. Even when the subject is brought up, everyone blows past it. Now this girl who he doesn't even know is openly questioning the elephant in the room. "He left a long time ago. Why?"

"I just noticed that he is not around and there are not any photos of him in the house. But I am sorry that he is gone and for overstepping my boundaries."

"Don't worry about it." He sighed, feeling his hostility towards her breaking. "Look, I'm sorry about not being very friendly to you. I'm just not a nice person."

"I can see that," she mumbled. "But it is okay. I understand it has to be frustrating to have someone you do not know suddenly moving in. I hope we can eventually become friends."

"Yeah." Puck nodded, not knowing what else to say. She smiled at him again before turning away and going to her own room. Puck laid there on his bed for a second, wondering what just happened. He was so determined to make this girl wish that she had never came but in the end, she just made him want to know more about her. It's obvious she and his mom had a special relationship but he just wanted to know why she was so different and why she made him think about her. As he drifted to sleep, his mind was consumed with thoughts of the girl occupying the room down the hall.

And there you have it. We know why Puck was being so rude but we did see them come to somewhat of an understanding. But what's next for them? Will Puck go back to ignoring her or will he actually make an effort to get to know her? Find out in the next chapter. The song used is Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne. Just pretend that Rachel wrote it. Please please review! If I feel like this story isn't being well received, I won't be encouraged to continue. Bye for now :)