Turned out that Kurt and his friends had been hanging out in the auditorium instead of the canteen, wanting to rehearse some Glee songs. They apologized for not telling me, but I waved them off, I had been the one too lazy to look into the auditorium when I had already guessed them to be there.

And lunch with Puck turned out to have a good side effect, he told me in chemistry class that the football players had started to talk to each other instead of awkwardly fulfilling the status by silently sitting next to each other.

Of course, it made me wonder why they had never talked before and Puck shruggingly explained, "Everybody expects us to sit together at the same table. They expect us all to be bros or something. But we actually never talk to each other, there is no topic to talk about except for football and it's getting boring by the time. So we cut it."

"And you all never even tried to find something else you had in common? Not even discussing girls, video games and all that shit?"

"Erm...I never bothered to find out. I mean, Finn's always moaning my ears off about his relationship with Quinn and how she never lets him get further than first base. It's enough when he does that, I don't need more guys running to me, complaining about their girls."

"That asshole..."

After that, I had completely forgotten about the social issues of the football team and had lurched into a daydream where I used different methods of torture to harass Finn.

School was quickly over and I was one of the few students still wandering around the hallways. I didn't know why I hesitated to go the field where I was supposed to assist Sue in drilling her Cheerios, but my feet were walking in a slower pace than usual.

Finally, when I stepped out on the field, Sue had already made the cheerleaders run laps.

"I almost thought you wouldn't come," she said when I was within hearing range, her narrowed eyes not straying away from the jogging Cheerios.

"Worried?" I smirkingly asked and that made her look at me; an unreadable, hard expression was on her face. Everyone else would have already run away crying but I understood her enough to not feel bothered.

Yeah, I considered myself this cool. Not feeling bothered under Sue Sylvester's hard stare was the ultimate proof of badassness.

"I just saw myself in you. Always challenging higher authorities because there was no authority higher than myself," Sue simply said. It almost sounded like a praise and it was betraying her frowning expression. She turned her head to watch the cheerleaders again, "I need a new choreography, Ray. Something Sue-tastic, so out of this world that it has its own rating. Rated S, for 'So Sue-per Sue-sational'."

Most of the time, I really liked challenges, but I had no freaking idea of cheerleader choreographies, I only knew some lame pom-pom waving moves that I had seen from those horrible chick flicks which my dates had always made me see. And it wasn't like I had ever paid attention to their dancing, I had been more busy staring at their well shaped bodies in those hot uniforms.

I didn't want to come up with a reply that started with, 'I'm sorry to disappoint you', so I chose to say nothing instead, hoping that Sue would think I was contemplating on something. Trying to search for answers, I absently gazed at the jogging cheerleaders.

Most of them were already exhausted and slowing down. Only few Cheerios kept running in their fast set pace and one blonde Cheerio seemed to particularly enjoy using her long legs, she even started wildly jumping around and doing cartwheels, all the while still faster than the rest. I squinted my eyes to see better and as I had already suspected, it was Brittany who was happily running in front of a panting Quinn, followed closely by a chuckling Santana.

And that was when a brilliant idea popped up in my mind.

Sue was barking into her megaphone to insult the slow cheerleaders with long-winded speeches, ordering them to do more laps until they collapsed. By the time she thought that they were warmed up enough, she let them crawl their way across the field to where we were standing.

"Sue Sylvester's choreographies are like a good horror film. Even if you don't want to watch it, you can't look away and even when it's already over, it's still stuck in your head for months, haunting you in your dreams," Sue said, with her usual stern look. "And it's time for the sequel. Ray, your ideas."

I stepped forward and received several sceptical looks, including Santana's infamous 'No way, bitch' posture – crossed arms, raised eyebrows and pursed lips. But I knew that that was about to change.

"I actually have no idea about choreographies," I simply said, "but I know for sure that Brittany is the right girl to go to, when it comes to dancing and choreography. I would like her to show us some steps and moves, and then we can decide on whether to use them or not."

Many Cheerios gaped at me, then shot an envious look at an oblivious Brittany who tried gazing at the sun until Santana softly turned the blonde's head to herself and patiently explained to her about what had just happened.

I watched her entire face light up in slow motion and then she squealed and bounced up and down, hugging Santana while doing it, making her laughingly bounce along. And Quinn, of course, got engulfed into a bone crushing hug, too.

I looked to my side to see if Sue supported my idea and she seemed to sense my uncertainty about this decision, so she slightly nodded. Her lips barely moving, she whispered out of the corners of her mouth, "I used to secretly watch her dancing in Glee, copying her moves. I had cameras installed in the choir room and thank god I don't need them anymore, it's like watching soft porn most of the time."

Deciding not to dwell on this disturbing piece of information, I sighed in relief, feeling something close to self-satisfaction over the fact that I had done something right again.

The rest of the Cheerios practice went quite well in my opinion. Brittany was completely in her element, she was dancing all the time, her excitement seemed to fuel her energy and she let everyone else look like an amateur. And another good thing came out of this, Santana was visibly less vicious to me now, she didn't feel like insulting me every second anymore. In fact, I caught her almost grinning at me when Brittany swooped me up into her strong arms and effortlessly tossed me into the air several times, because she was so thankful that I had given her a chance to prove herself.

"Ladies!" Sue barked into her megaphone as the practice came to an end, "I expect perfection the next time you stand on this field and if I only detect one single little finger twitching when it's not supposed to, I will make you do push ups with a sumo wrestler eating nachos on your back. Now get out of my sight."

The cheerleaders scurried away, quickly running back to their dressing rooms, because they feared to stay any second longer in Sue's presence. I was tempted to follow and watch them undress, but I had no good reason to be there and I didn't want to seem like a creep. I would get to see them naked anyway, some time in the future.

"Hey," a bossy voice said behind me and I quickly turned around, knowing it had been Quinn's voice.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to sound bored and not hopeful.

"I expect you in half an hour at my place," she sternly said with her arms crossed and I simply stared at her with wide eyes. When I gave no answer, realization dawned on her and she pulled a grimace, taking one step back. "For the Spanish project, you pervert. Gosh, I should have chosen Pimple Peter as my partner instead, at least he's asexual."

Not sparing me another glance, she walked past me to the dressing rooms and I finally snapped out of my trance.

"Wait!" I shouted. "I don't know your address!"

Quinn didn't turn around as she dismissively waved me off with her hand, gracefully strutting away. "You knew my name without telling you, I think finding out my address is manageable."

Good one. She got me staring after her, contemplating on whether to follow her or not, but she was right. It would cost me some badass points if I went after her, begging her for her address.

So I found myself waiting outside the dressing room, leaning next to the door where all the cheerleaders would go through if they left. It didn't take long and the first cheerleader, changed into jeans and a t-shirt, came out but she wasn't pretty enough for my standard, so I let her leave. She didn't notice me anyway.

I waited another minute and a group of giggling cheerleaders walked out. Finally, they were more my type. Though they just looked like those typical hot bimbos, I couldn't care less, because what did character matter if you just wanted one-night-stands with them? I didn't want to talk about the origin of the galaxy with them.

To make my presence acknowledged, I lightly drummed my fingers on my motorcycle helmet which I had fetched from my locker before, just for this purpose.

Hearing the small noise, the five cheerleaders turned their head to the source of the noise and five pairs of curious eyes were instantly trained on me. Wanting to do it smooth, I only nodded at them like I hadn't expected them to acknowledge me. If I smirked at them, it would only make them think I was an attention seeker and that was a big turn off for girls.

"Coach Berry!" the cheerleaders exclaimed, startled and a bit afraid that I would use my power outside the field, too. Sue had given me full permission to order her Cheerios around, anytime and anywhere. But I wasn't going to take advantage of that, I didn't need that.

"It's Rachel outside the field," I simply said, without the bossy and cocky tone I usually used on the field. "I'm just a fellow student within these school walls."

Relieved, the cheerleaders smiled, before they slowly walked up to me with sly grins.

"So," one of them teasingly drawled, batting her thick, long eyelashes, "Rachel, tell us, what does it take to convince Coach Berry to go easier on us?"

Now I was allowed to smirk in satisfaction as I already got them hooked. "Oh, I don't think that Coach Berry is easy to please. She has high standards, you know."

"Is that so?" another Cheerio slyly said, "I think we'll even surpass that."

I chuckled and lowly said, "Why don't you show Coach Berry some other time your other talents? I'm sure she will be positively surprised."

And the rest was history. I collected their phone numbers whereas I avoided giving them mine for obvious reasons.

This was too easy, I thought to myself as I watched them go, not feeling the same satisfaction I always felt when I added new numbers to my phone. I frowned at myself and shook my head. I was just imagining things, why would I feel different today?

Finally, after what felt like hours, Quinn and her two best friends emerged out of the dressing room and I quickly pushed myself off the wall and followed the Unholy Trinity.

"Qu – Fabray!" I almost called out her first name but for a reason unknown to me, I decided against it.

"Oh look, your stalker waited for you, Q. Probably been spying on us showering," Santana sneered as they turned around, though with less malice. I mockingly gasped.

"How did you notice me?" I dramatically asked, "I thought you were busy doing Brittany."

The reaction of the Unholy Trinity was hilarious; Quinn turned red and looked away, Brittany happily nodded and Santana looked like she had bitten her tongue.

"So, Fabray," I said, to change the topic, "the sooner we finish the project, the sooner you can get rid of my lazy ass."

The blonde slowly nodded and said goodbye to her friends, hugging each other. I startled when I found myself in a bone crashing hug, too. While Brittany took her time to squeeze the last bit of oxygen out of my body, I looked over her shoulder and gave Santana a small nod and when she hesitantly nodded back, I knew that we had a mutual understanding from now on.

We departed outside of school and Quinn and I silently watched Brittany happily jump into Santana's car, waiting for them to leave the parking lot.

"I guess you didn't find out my address then," Quinn suddenly said, starting to walk to her car. I hesitated, then followed her.

"I didn't want to seem like a stalker if I asked everyone for your address," I shruggingly said, standing by her car now. Quinn unlocked the driver's door and climbed into her car, looking up to me with a small smile. "I'm actually surprised you made the effort of waiting for me."

I really had many cocky and disarming remarks for this, all on the tip of my tongue but I found myself abashedly grinning back instead. I could have easily said something so arrogant that would have ruined the moment, but it didn't feel right. Being an asshole around her never felt right.

"You are worth it," I mumbled, immediately biting my tongue when Quinn raised her eyebrow. "I mean, the project is worth it. The waiting. It was worth waiting for the project, right." I quickly corrected but it was too late, the blonde's lips were already curved into a smirk. How could she? That was my trade mark expression!

"Come on, get in the car," she said with a grin, jerking her head to the passenger side. I instantly stumbled back a few steps.

"No!" I hastily said, swallowing down the lump in my throat. The thought of sitting so close to her with no chance of escape, unless I jumped out of the car whilst driving, scared me slightly. I knew I would say stupid things and try to hit on her when I had sworn to myself to be just a friend to her.

What have I gotten myself into?

"I'm riding my bike. Don't want to leave it here over night," I stuttered and before I could make a bigger fool out of myself, I quickly put on my helmet to avoid talking to Quinn. The blonde tilted her head in a questioning manner, then simply shrugged and closed the car door.

I strode in a fast pace to the field to get my bike. Mounting on it, I immediately felt a wave of relief wash over me. This is freedom, I thought, as I turned on the engine and carefully steered the bike to the parking lot, where Quinn was waiting in her car.

Her car door window rolled down and she gave me a hand sign to follow her. I simply nodded and let the motor roar a few times, loudly announcing that I was ready. The blonde shook her head to herself and pulled her car out of the parking space, driving away. Wondering what her head-shaking meant, I accelerated and followed her, quickly catching up with her.

"Come on," I muttered in my helmet. Quinn was driving so slow and there were no other cars on the streets. Her Lexus wouldn't explode if she stepped on the gas some more.

Seeing that the road would stay straight for at least another mile, I added some speed until I drove next to Quinn's car, on her driver's side. I knew it was dangerous but since when had I been reasonable?

I glanced to my right side to see if Quinn had noticed me yet, and of course, she was frantically waving her left hand, motioning me to get the hell away from her side, the other hand still tightly gripping the steering wheel.

I chuckled to myself and accelerated some more, now driving in front of her, though I was sure I would be lost if a crossroad turned up. Just to annoy Quinn, I drove in snake lines, from right to left, left to right. Loud honking could be heard behind me and I smirked to myself.

I steered the bike to the right side and stopped accelerating, waiting for Quinn to catch up and sure enough, I saw her driving next to me. She had a frown on her face and her mouth was moving, like she was mumbling under her breath. I really wanted to know what she was saying, but all I could make out was the roaring enginge of my bike along with the soft purr of Quinn's Lexus.

Still letting my motorcycle roll with its previous boost, I slowly drove behind Quinn again. I didn't do anything stupid after that, I kept a safe distance to her car and tolerated the fact that we were almost driving with walking speed.

Finally, pulling up to Quinn's house, I mounted off the bike and took off my helmet, running my hand through my ruffled hair to make it look okay again. I watched Quinn emerge out of her car and gracefully closing the door offhand.

"Didn't think we would arrive here before midnight," I mumbled, not quiet enough for Quinn to miss it. She shot me a glare and strutted with her head held high to her house door. I had no other option than to trail behind her. When she opened the door, I moved to follow her in, but she turned around and poked a finger into my chest, pushing me back.

"Before you enter, I want you to get acquainted with a few rules in this house," she said with a stern look and I blankly stared back. What? Rules?

I really wanted to say, 'Sweetheart, do I look like I'm following rules?' in that moment.

"First, don't touch anything here unless I allow you to."

Does that imply you?

I weakly nodded, feeling stupid for standing at the threshold, only to be let in after I had heard some rules I was going to break anyway.

"Second, I expect full concentration and participation when working on this project. You will do your part."

Again, I shortly nodded, longingly looking past Quinn. The hallway was nicely decorated and had a warm beige color to it and I caught a glimpse of the living room. It had a mix of modern and old-fashioned furniture and the large, comfy looking leather couch was calling my name.

Straying away with my thoughts, I missed Quinn's third and fourth and thousandth rule, until she loudly said, "Berry? Did you understand what I said?"

"Nope, but I'm sure you'll remind me when I break one of these stupid rules," I said and quickly slipped past her, earning an indignant gasp.

"Berry, I swear..." Quinn growled behind me and I turned around to put a finger to her lips, effectively silencing her.

Oh, wow.

Gosh, were they soft and I really wanted to lean forward and replace my finger with my mouth, when I remembered that I wasn't supposed to do that.

Any other girl and this would have been my cue to kiss her senseless, then lead her to the living room and have my way with her on the couch.

I bet the couch was mocking me right now. I felt it.

"Quinn, I was kidding," I quietly said, almost softly. Her beautiful hazel eyes widely stared at me and I didn't dare to blink, not wanting to break the intense contact.

Ray. The plan.

What plan?

The plan of just being friends.

With benefits?

No, Ray. Just friends. This means, get your fucking finger off her lips!

Suddenly realizing that my finger was still on her lips, I quickly took my hand back like I got burned, hiding it in my jeans pocket. The other hand was scratching my neck in a nervous manner.

Quinn blinked a few times, then shakingly said, "Here or my bedroom?"

Almost choking on my breath, I spluttered, "What?"

The blonde blushed when she realized the double meaning of what she had said. "I mean, the project. Want to do the project in the living room or in my room?"

Get your mind out of the gutter. This instant.

Feeling overwhelmed, I shrugged, "Whereever it's more convenient."

"My room, that is," Quinn muttered more to herself than to me, walking up the stairs without looking back to see if I had followed her. Not that I wouldn't do it like a clingy puppy anyway.

Staying innocent around her turned out to be the most difficult task in my life.