Finn was walking down the hall toward his locker after English, trying to figure out what class he had next. His schedule hadn't actually changed since last year, but he'd had all summer to forget it, and the timetable he'd been given was really confusing. What time was 14:00 anyway? Clocks only had numbers going up to twelve, right? He could be wrong, it'd happened before, so he decided to ask someone.
He stopped the girl who was walking past him, with a gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping that she could help.
"Excuse me, hi. Um, do you know what time fourteen o' clock's supposed to be? That doesn't make sense, does it? Hey, I don't think I know you... are you new? I'm Finn, what's your name?" He rambled, looking confusedly down at the much shorter girl.
Rachel looked up...and then up some more at the giant boy who stopped her in the hallway. He had a confused, but gentle expression on his face and Rachel smiled at his cluelessness. "Hello, Finn. My name is Rachel and there is no fourteen o'clock. However, there is fourteen hundred hours which is actually using the twenty-four hour clock rather than the standard twelve with am and pm. Fourteen hundred hours actually means two o'clock pm. If you add two to twelve, maybe it will make it easier for you to understand," she explained, going over the points with him.
"As for being new...yes, I just started here this year. I'm still learning my way around, but thankfully time is universal," she grinned up at him.
Finn just stood there looking blankly down at Rachel as his brain worked overtime trying to get to grips with the long-winded explanation she'd given him. Finally something clicked, and he got it.
"2pm... Thanks Rachel," his expression morphed into a goofy grin. "Well, it's very nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out for her to shake. "I've been here a long time, so I know my way around. If you need like, directions or anything, I'll totally help you. You'd probably be able to see me if I was in the hallway, because I'm kinda tall." Finn explained unnecessarily. "My friend Puck calls me Gigantor." He started to blush when he realized how much he was rambling. "Sorry. I feel like I'm telling you my life story or something. You can tell me to shut up, if you want to. I'm used to it."
Rachel took his hand and shook it. "No problem, Finn. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. It's nice to meet someone who doesn't completely ignore me or say something rude," she puffed out her cheeks and released her breath. "I'll keep in mind to ask you if I require assistance." She nodded and looked him over.
"You are very tall, but then most people would classify me as short in stature even though I consider myself of average height," she huffed.
Finn got a half-frowning expression on his face, like he always did when he was trying to decide something that he wasn't quite sure about. "Well, you are kinda short," he finally said, before realizing his blunder. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that... Besides, I'm not really a very good judge of these things, being way up here," he said awkwardly.
He shook his head, trying to resist the urge to slap himself around or something. "Uhh... So what'd your next class? Do you need any help finding it?"
Rachel glowered at him for a moment before smirking. "Well. there are both pros and cons to both of our heights. I have training with Noah Puckerman next. I believe I know how to get to the bunker now that I've been there before, but thank you for your offer of assistance," she nodded at Finn in thanks.
Finn couldn't help but laugh. "Puck's your mentor? You poor thing. Does Dr. Shue pay you some kind of compensation for that? Or..."
Rachel laughed at Finn's joke. "Noah's all right. I think I'm teaching him more than he is me, however. Perhaps that's why the doc placed me with him," she shrugged. "He seems like a nice enough guy though. So far we've been friendly enough towards one another."
Fin raised an eyebrow. "You think he's a nice enough guy?" He asked seriously. He had yet to run into Puck this year, so who knew, maybe he had mellowed out over the summer. He certainly couldn't be any worse.
He suddenly realized how that sounded. "No, no, he is a nice guy. He's kinda awesome, actually. It's just that he tends to try to keep that as like, a secret or something... Just, watch out for him trying to get into your pants, ok?" If he really was back to his old self, he'd probably try at some point.
Rachel furrowed her brow for a moment, confused at Finn's response but shook it off and listened to what he had to say. "He does seem to try to act like he's the school's badass, but I can see beyond that. I don't think I'll need to worry about him trying that with me though," she chuckled, thinking about his interaction with Sam that morning. "Besides, he really wouldn't want to deal with someone like me."
Finn half smiled. "Wouldn't be so sure, about that. He might be trying to trick you into a fake sense of safety, or something." He had no idea how badly he'd just butchered the idiom. "Why do you say that? Did he tell you he was gay? He's totally told chicks that before, so they'd get changed in front of him. He likes boobs too, just as much as the next guy... Maybe more." He didn't ask her what she meant by someone like her though. He wasn't smart, but even he had a feeling neither of them wanted him to know what she was talking about.
"You mean luring me into a false sense of security?" Rachel asked with a short laugh. "I highly doubt that's the case, Finn. Believe me. Noah knows not to push his luck with me." She sighed and shook her head when the tall boy went on about Puck. "No, Noah never said he was gay. I think he just knows I wouldn't be someone receptive to his charms."
Finn was confused again. Was that the phrase? "Sure, yeah. That," he nodded, not actually knowing either way, but Rachel seemed smart, so she was probably right.
"Why? Do you play for the other team?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. "Not that you'd have to be a lesbian to not be into Puck or anything. Sorry, I don't even know you, that was really rude," he chastised himself. Then something else hit him. "Hey, why do you keep calling Puck Noah? Do you call him that to his face?" He couldn't imagine Puck liked that very much. He'd been punched in the nose for doing that, back before he'd gotten used to his best friend's new nickname.
Rachel raised an eyebrow at Finn when he boldly asked about her sexuality. "I wouldn't consider myself a lesbian, no, but I haven't exactly had the opportunities to be in a real relationship. Besides, I was taught that love is love and gender doesn't really matter," she explained nonchalantly. "Your question was quite forward, but I see you didn't mean it in a rude manner. It's really all right. I've put my foot in my mouth plenty of times and you had the good sense to apologize."
She smiled at the awkward boy and ran a hand through her hair. "I call Noah by his name. He introduced himself as Puck but I knew it wasn't his first name. He lets me," she grinned and shrugged, knowing it was because Puck had no other choice.
Finn was glad Rachel hadn't been mad at his tendency to open his mouth before thinking, and he smiled gratefully at her forgiveness. "Okay, cool. I think you're right about that. S'not like it affects what kind of person someone is, whether they like guys or girls." He nodded sagely.
"Really? He doesn't get mad or anything?" He was almost tempted to try it out for himself, but something told him that the rules still applied to him.
Rachel just shrugged. "He hasn't gotten mad at me, yet, but he could act slightly differently around me. Who knows? You'd know him better than I would. I only met him this week," she said, thinking about meeting the mentor.
"Yeah, maybe," he conceeded, leaning against a locker, as they waited for the warning bell. Apparently he had a free period, and athough Rachel had to get all the way to the bunker, she'd probably already learned to expect Puck to be late. So he figured it was okay to keep talking to her. Besides, he was pretty sure she'd have no problem telling him straight, when she really had to go.
"So, what is it that you can like, do?"
Rachel knew she'd have to leave soon considering her training with Puck, but she could spare a moment to tell Finn her gift. "I'm a telepath," she offered Finn and small smile and began walking the way she'd originally been headed. "It really was lovely to meet you, Finn. I do hope we see each other around here again." She shoved her hands in her pockets and began to head off.
He was about to tell her that the bell hadn't even gone yet, and she had ten minutes to make a five minute journey, but she was already making a move to leave, so he let her go. "Yeah, nice talking to you too," he called after her. "Tell Puck I said to drop by, later?" He added.