Here's the next chapter, don't worry, Puck will enter in soon. Gotta build up the anticipation…ALSO!! Read on E! online (they have videos of the upcoming Glee episode "Wheels"! ^_^) that they are considering dropping their Rachel/Finn "TV Couples We Love" picture for Rachel/Puck. YAYS! I do like Finn, I just think he reminds me too much of the football knuckleheads I had in my high school…anyways, I'm going to stop jibber-jabbering at you and let you read on, unless you skipped that all the anyways, in which case…right….R & R! ^_^

Rachel was up hours before Victor. Sneaking downstairs, she went to the pictures that she had spotted last night. Picking them up, she wandered over to the couch and plopped down. The one from Regional's was after their performance. They were standing there waiting to hear who had gotten first. Rachel felt the rush of emotions she had felt at that same time as she stared at the photo. Noah had his arms wrapped around her and had perched his chin on her head. Rachel knew that the whole team was in the photo but she couldn't stop staring at him. She set down the photo and looked at the next one. Rachel had taken this photo. It was the last day of summer before their senior year and she was perched on Noah's lap on a swing set at the park, smiling at the camera but Noah was smiling at her. She was disappointed he wasn't looking at the camera but the look on his face gave her goose bumps even now. Rachel set the photo down carefully on the coffee table and looked at the last one. Noah wasn't in this picture and Rachel's smile was fake and full of pain. Everyone else looked amazing; their smiled gorgeous, some of their cheeks were still dewy from crying, and their eyes were shining with unshed tears, whether it be of joy, remembrance or in Rachel's case, lose. She grabbed up the picture of Regional's and the graduation one and took it back to the hope chest. She eventually set the empty frame of the other photo on the chest as well before quietly making her way upstairs and into the shower. School was starting soon and she wanted to get there soon. Victor was still out like a light, so she left him a note, got dressed and hurried out to her old car. She traced her fingers over the dusty blue paint job of her car. It had been a graduation present from her father's since she gave her old one to Mrs. Puckerman after theirs had several expensive mechanical problems. She was never a huge car fanatic like how Tina was, (now that she thought about it Tina was a fanatic about a lot of stereotypical "boy things": Football, cars, sports in general, video games…) but she loved her new car with a passion. Washing it every weekend over the summer, usually for the car but sometimes for Noah, and keeping the inside relatively clean other than the odd CD, Rachel was relieved her fathers had kept the car. Sliding in, she turned it over and drove in the cold Ohio morning to the high school. Everything seemed exactly the same. Some classrooms had been moved around but other than that, the school was in the exact same condition. Rachel strode up to the front desk and asked if Will Schuester had shown up yet. The secretary nodded and told her that he was in his Glee rehearsal. She nodded and began to make her way to the choir room except the secretary stopped her,

"You need a visitors pass and Glee rehearsal's in the auditorium." Rachel nodded as she went back and got the little sticker that said visitor and went down the opposite hall to the auditorium. Hearing a symphony of voices, Rachel peeked in and was thoroughly shocked. The stage was filled with kids. Four rows of six kids, the majority being girls, and the way they spun around in the set choreography was amazing. She spotted Mr. Schuester at the desk in the middle of the auditorium and she quietly made her way to him. Sitting behind him, she saw Diana being spun by a muscular jock who had a goofy grin on his face as she sang to him. She did have a beautiful alto voice. The song ended and the kids nailed it.

"Excellent guys! Okay, sopranos' have practice today at three and everyone else at five. See you there." Mr. Schuester hadn't changed. Sure his curly hair now had a bit of silver peeking out but, it was barely noticeable and Rachel found herself remembering why she had a school-girl crush on him. Diana spotted her and began waving ecstatically while pointing her out to other people in Glee. Mr. Schuester turned around and his jaw dropped at the sight of her.

"Rachel?" he furrowed his eyebrows slightly as she jumped up with a smile and went around the row of seats. He gave her a warm hug and sat her down in the plush chairs. "What're you doing here?" he sat down next to her and twisted slightly,

"My fiancé and I are off for the next two weeks so I came home early." She glanced up at the stage full of twittering high schoolers as they looked at her, "Wow, Glee has really taken off." She smiled at them and some of the guys got cocky looks on their faces. She noticed the kid that was dancing with Diana had grabbed up his bags and looked at Diana before storming off the stage. A few other guys had grabbed up their stuff and wandered off as well.

"Well, ya know, winning Regional's and having an old student go on to become a big Broadway star kinda helped us out." Rachel smiled before tilting her head to the stage,

"What's the kids name who was dancing with Diana?" Mr. Schuester glanced up and blinked before nodding,

"That would be Micah Puckerman. Just as musically inclined as his brother." Rachel's head snapped around to look at him,

"Micah?"

"Yeah, he's one of the younger kids in Glee, but man is that kid big. I'm surprised he isn't mistaken for a senior more often." Diana had grabbed up her stuff and was standing next to Rachel with a large smile on her face.

"Hi Rachel."

"Hello Diana, how're you today?" she giggled uncontrollably as some girls in what looked like Cheerio outfits surrounded her,

"Good, I'm about to go visit my Cheerio coach. She doesn't like it when we have Glee practice in the morning, says it disrupts our sleep patterns and makes us too tired for Cheerio practice in the afternoon."

"Sylvester?"

"No, Tanaka." Rachel whipped around to look at Mr. Schuester, who nodded slowly.

"Like, Football Coach Tanaka?" Rachel was seriously confused,

"No," Mr. Schuester said, standing, "Sue Tanaka." Rachel stared at him before shuddering visibly. The Cheerio's laughed as did Mr. Schuester.

"I'm glad you stopped by, Rachel. It was good seeing you." Mr. Schuester spun around, grabbing a flyer and handing it to her. McKinley High's New Directions would like to invite you to see them perform for the first time this year. West McKinley High School auditorium Wednesday at 5 and 8 PM. Rachel smiled at him and nodded,

"I would love to come to this and you guys have to perform two different times? Jeez." Mr. Schuester smiled back at her before letting out a breath,

"Rachel, would you like to perform at it? Just a solo." Rachel felt her heart skip a beat.

"Sure. If your kids don't mind," he nodded and looked at the now empty stage,

"I'm sure they won't but I'll ask anyways. It would be an honor, for you to perform with us." Rachel beamed at him before hugging him and saying a goodbye. Mr. Schuester packed up his bag quickly and hurried off to get to his class before the tardy bell rang. Rachel stood in the auditorium for a little bit before hearing someone else enter the dark room. It was Micah. She saw him see her and come to a stop. He had to remember her. Slowly, she walked over to him and smiled. He was about as tall as Finn with a mass of curly hair. He looked a lot like Noah except his skin tone and those dark eyes. His thick lips pressed into a line as she stood in front of him.

"Hey Micah," she said in a soft voice.

"Hi…Rachel." He said back. His voice was deep and rumbling. Rachel opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off, "I'm sorry, but I got to get my bag and get to class. I'll see you later." He went to the stage and grabbed a black duffle bag. He strode passed her easily and didn't look back. Standing there in half shock, Rachel took in a deep breath before releasing her tight clutch on the now crinkled flyer. She numbly walked out to her car and slid in. That's when she noticed a rumbling truck pull up to the school and Micah ran out to it. He threw the bag into the bed of the truck and leaned in the window. He stayed like that for about five minutes, sometimes moving his hands to emphasize what he was saying. Micah nodded eventually and ran back into the school. The truck sat there for a moment before it drove off slowly. It was Noah's truck and Rachel was extremely close to following it, to see if it was Noah, to talk to him if he stepped from the clattering cab. But she stayed in her parking spot, keys still in her hand, staring at the spot where the truck was a moment ago. She couldn't bring herself to open that wound again. She knew the things he said that day weren't true but he had said them to hurt her. He succeeded. Rachel eventually put the key in the ignition and pulled slowly from the lot, she headed to Mercedes dad's office; she needed to talk to someone who understood what she was going through.

Okay, see, I said he'd make an appearance. Of course, you don't see him, or hear him…but he was there. ^_^ I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible for all of you who are about to kill me for being a tease! R & R!