Note: I'm sorry for the long wait! I've been swamped with work and I lost my motivation somewhere. It's back though! So don't panic!
Hope you enjoyed the last chapter! Now Quinn and Puck are out of the way; there's nothing stopping Finn finding the diary girl!
I did have some trouble with tenses in this chapter, so I apologise if it seems to jump; I did try to fix it.


He doesn't register Mr. Schuester's shouts or Quinn's scream until he's been pulled right off of Puck and out into the hallway. He shook off whoever still had a grasp on him and stood up straight; his breathing erratic and his mind buzzing with adrenaline. Slowly, his focus returned and he saw Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford, from the football team, standing by him; looks of shock and guilt, etched into their faces as they avoid looking right at him. Finn doesn't say anything, and is tempted to just make a run for it, but he's stopped by the emergence of Mr. Schuester and Quinn, from the locker room, supporting a bleeding Puck. Finn had to hold back any more anger as he watched the two of them together; his ex-best friend and his ex-girlfriend. She avoided looking at him at all, but the mohakwed teen took a chance and glanced up, no expression on his face, but guilt in his eyes; Finn had done a pretty bad job on his face; his right eye was starting to turn a heavy shade of purple and there was blood pouring profusely from his nose, right down his shirt. For a moment, Finn almost felt guilty. He had to look away as Mike and Matt helped Puck off to the nurse's office, followed swiftly by Quinn. Meanwhile, Mr. Schuester approached him and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"Come with me" is all he said before he led Finn back to his office.

Once there, and sat before his Spanish teacher, Finn broke down. The tears he had once been fighting to hold in burst forth as he gripped his head in agony. The emotion was almost too much to bear as his mind whirred on the thoughts of Quinn and Puck together. Mr. Schuester didn't say anything as Finn physically and emotionally crumbled before him. After a good few minutes, Finn finally felt like he'd had enough and his eyes had run dry. He glanced up at his teacher, whose face said more than his mouth ever could. He didn't question anything; he didn't even berate Finn for physically assaulting another student. He just pulled a sympathetic smile and said;

"I'm sorry Finn" He gently nodded before continuing. "Would you like to go home?" Finn didn't know what to do, but he knew that if he saw the two of them together again, he was sure to lose it again. So he nodded timidly, rubbing his eyes and nose with his sleeve. Mr. Schuester nodded back as he reached for the phone; he called up the main reception and told them that Finn Hudson was going to be absent from his afternoon lessons. Once he'd put down the phone, he turned to Finn again; "Would you like me to call your mom?" Finn shook his head.

"No, she'll be at work. I think I'll just walk home" Mr Schue pulled a small, somewhat comforting smile, before standing up and escorting Finn to his locker.

Soon enough, they both stood at the main entrance of the school, Finn still trying to calm his breathing and Mr Schue still being comfortingly quiet.

"Thanks Mr Schue" Finn managed to whimper out. The teacher just nodded and waved him off as Finn began his slow walk home.

He knew he could make it home in no time if he picked up his pace, but he couldn't quite manage it today. His mind flooded with the thoughts of Quinn and of Puck, and of them together. He felt stupid for not realising it sooner; the way they were in the cafeteria, Puck's weird mood; there were signs everywhere. He was just too stupid to notice them. He cursed himself for not being smart enough to figure it out. The realisation came to him then; he now had no best friend and no girlfriend. The thought caused a lonely feeling to start bubbling up inside him. Strangely, his lonely thoughts turned him to his memories of the diary girl, whose journal still lay beneath his bed back home. He understood even more now, how lonely that girl must have felt, or is feeling. He sympathised with her situation, and as he thought about her, he could feel himself slowly growing warm, for what felt life the first time in since the betrayal.


Once home, he distracted himself with food; scoffing down whatever he could get his hands on; grilled cheese, pop tarts, even some old casserole that he could have sworn was starting to go mouldy. He just wanted to keep his mind away from those-who-must-not-be-named. Even the thought of having to go back to school tomorrow, and see them there, made his fists clench and the anger begin to bubble up again. To try and keep his mind from straying, he ran up the stairs and dag under his bed to pull out the diary. For everything that was going on in his life, the girl in the diary was a little comfort that he was hugely grateful for. In that moment, he forgot that he didn't actually know this girl and, instead, imagined she was a friend he could rely on and 'listen' to. He skipped through and found the latest unread entry.

Tuesday 6th April

Dear Barbara,

I'm an idiot Barbara. A stupid, silly, idiot. I'm just a little girl who has no idea how to handle herself. How could I have been so stupid in thinking a senior like Mr. Perfect, could possibly want anything to do with a junior like me? How could I embarrass myself so much by acting so childish and stupid?

Finn could see the writing had been scrawled quickly, and parts of the paper were dotted with circular creases, which Finn could only assume were caused by tears.

I won't go into detail because I do NOT want to relive that memory; but let's just say I'll be changing my dance lessons to another day from now on. I'm too embarrassed to go back to him. To see that face. Those eyes. And to hear that laugh; that horrid, ego-crushing laugh. I've had enough humiliation in my life, without adding that to my memories.

I can't believe I could have been so naive to think he actually took an interest in me! I knew it was too good to be true! But why did he have to be so cruel about it? God! I wish I could pay him back somehow. Throw some eggs at him or something. Flour him. Puncture the tyres on his fancy black land-rover. TP his house. Shave off all of that beautifully curly hair. Oh, who am I kidding? I don't have the guts to do any of that. I may be a drama queen, but I don't purposefully go around being mean to people. Then I'd be just as bad as Barbie or Satan. And I don't want anything to do with them. With ANY of them!

I guess I have to deal with the fact that I'm going to alone. It's inevitable; my confidence and talent is just too much for people to bear. I will have to go it alone until I make it big. That's the price you pay for stardom.

So I guess it's just you and me Barbara! To the top!

Goodnight x

Suddenly, Finn felt strangely comforted. Reading about the Diary girl's trauma and her confession of loneliness made him feel even more sympathetic; he was in the same situation. Alone and humiliated. Just then, his mind buzzed with determination and excitement. He had to find this girl. He had been trying so hard lately, but now it was his sole purpose. He no longer had any distractions to take his mind off the diary; no girlfriend, no best friend. He was completely and utterly dedicated to finding the Diary girl and sharing what he'd learnt of her. As the rest of his reality appeared to crumble around him, he just wanted to cling to something; and the diary girl just happened to be there. He wanted to find her; find her and befriend her and somehow help her take him away from the nightmare that his life had become. Of course, he kind of hoped she wouldn't think he was weird or rude for reading her diary, but he shook that thought from his mind; he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.


Rachel sat at home, writing animatedly on a thick pad of lined paper. Despite the nagging feeling in her mind that told her she didn't want to do it, she had to get this paper finished by tomorrow. It was only a measly essay; 1,000 words at the most; but she was determined to get it done before tomorrow. Albeit, it is not unusual for Rachel to be so determined and enthusiastic about her homework, but this dedication was not down to pressure from teachers, or to uphold good grades; instead, the pressure stemmed from a need to distract herself from one Finn Hudson, who had been plaguing her mind relentlessly since lunch.

She had once fallen into the trap of becoming 'hooked' on a guy, and the history of that should have been enough to scare her off her current crush that was slowly developing for the McKinley High Quarterback. But unfortunately for Rachel, she couldn't quite shake the feeling; there was something about the boy that seemed to draw her to him. As she quickly scribbled the last line of her essay she sighed heavily and planted her head on the desk in exasperation. Now, with no distractions, her thoughts began to whirl around Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome, and each time she kept coming to the same conclusion; He is not a cheater. She didn't know how she could possibly know this, but something inside told her that Finn Hudson was a good boy, and he would be perfect boyfriend material; he would never cheat.
And that of course led Rachel's thoughts to Queen Bee, Quinn Fabray. She may have seemed like the victim from what she heard in the girl's bathroom, but Rachel had a sneaky suspicion that the celibate cheerleader was more than responsible for whatever happened between her and Finn. She couldn't know for sure, but she definitely had a feeling that she would be the one more likely to cheat.


Rachel's suspicions turned out to be true the next day in school; she was standing by her locker when she heard a couple of the junior's discussing the subject. Being as accomplished as she was at eavesdropping, she hung around her locker, and listened intently to the conversation, intrigued to find out what exactly happened between Finn and Quinn.

"So, the rumour is, that she cheated on him, but tried to make out that it was him who cheated on her!" a male voice said, which Rachel recognised as Kurt Hummel from one of her classes.

"Oh my god!" a female voice replied; Mercedes Jones; also a fellow classmate.

"And that's not the best of it! I heard a rumour from the mouth of Jacob Ben-Israel himself that she cheated on him...with Puckerman!" Rachel almost gasped aloud as Kurt spoke. Rachel knew who Puckerman was; it's hard not too when his reputation precedes him. The guy with the Mohawk was a bit of a bad boy, but even Rachel never thought of him to be the kind of guy who cheated. Especially considering that Finn was his best friend, or so it seemed.

As she thought about it, allowing the information to whirl around inside her head, she breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Despite how bad she felt for Finn, she was glad her suspicions had been correct; Quinn was the cheater, and now the poor boy she'd been crushing on, was probably alone, hurt and depressed. Or at least, that's how she imagined him to be; that's how Rachel would be if it were who had been cheated on. Her imagination began to stir, as it often did when she thought about him, and she couldn't help but picture herself as Finn Hudson's girlfriend. She smiled at the thought, but real life, of course, would not let that happen. She may have developed a spark of hope that Finn was newly single, now that his bitch of a girlfriend was out of the picture, but Rachel knew that it would be even more difficult to get to him; considering how hurt he must be. She collected her stuff from her locker and made her way to her next lesson; allowing her imagination to return to the scenario where she was the one replacing Quinn as the object of Finn's affections.


He hadn't eaten that morning, and he had been beginning to develop a buzzing feeling in his head. But Finn couldn't care less. He stumbled into school, not caring about the looks or the whispers that people gave him. He could've guessed that the story would have traversed the school, but he hadn't bet on it happening this quickly. He traipsed to his locker, feeling thoroughly rotten about the whole situation. Albeit, he probably didn't look any different from the outside, but inside, there was an inner turmoil that made him tired and lethargic. He'd spent most of his time running the whole story through his head, trying to come up with some explanation for it all; which of course he never found. After all that, he felt practically drained, both physically and emotionally. He walked up to his locker, unlocked it, and rooted around inside. As he opened his rucksack to put away some of his textbooks, his eyes caught a glimpse of something pink from within the depths of his bag. As he pulled it out, his expression changed immediately. The Diary girl's diary. He'd almost forgotten that he had packed it today; he'd decided to take it to school in a moment of inspiration to provide an incentive for him to keep on searching. He considered it for a moment, as he stared at the pink cover, with the gold lettering, before quickly shoving it back in his bag, closing the locker and hurrying down the hall.


That lunch time, Finn found himself looking on a familiar sight; he stood outside the AV club meeting room, a determined look on his face, and the diary in his bag, clutched close to him. He entered the classroom, expecting to be bombarded with dirty looks and the whisperings of nerds, as he had been the first time round, but was surprised to find the room was in fact, almost empty and eerily quiet. He stared around, taking in the number of people there were, which were few. Have I come on the wrong day? He thought as he slowly walked further into the room. He stood awkwardly by a computer for a moment, before a small boy in a wheelchair rolled up to him. Finn looked down at the kid, who can't have been much older than a Freshman. The boy pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he cleared his throat, looking up at Finn, who felt like a giant in comparison to him.

"Um, Can I help you?" he muttered, a trickle of fear evident in his tone. Finn tried to pull a smile, knowing full well that his height would probably make him look hugely intimidating. He cleared his own throat before speaking;

"Uh, yeah. I was wondering if you could help me. I'm looking for someone" The boy looked around the room nervously, before turning his attention back onto Finn.

"Um. Ok. Like who?" He questioned, fidgeting with the straps on his driving gloves. Finn scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well that's the thing, I don't really know..." Artie raised an eyebrow, his resolve becoming a little braver. Finn continued. "I'm trying to find the owner of this diary" he pulled the pink book out of his bag and showed it to the boy, who took it in his hands and studied it, as if looking for some hidden clue that might be revealed on the cover. He nodded, as if to himself, before returning the book to Finn. The boy looked back up at him.

"Ok. Let's see what we can do" He pulled a genuine smile before turning around and wheeling in the direction of the door. Finn let out a sigh of relief before slowly following the boy in the chair.

"I'm Finn, by the way. Finn Hudson" he said, eyeing the back of the wheelchair-boy's head.

"Artie. Artie Abrams" the boy replied, turning his chair to face Finn. He stuck out his hand, which Finn shook gladly.


After a good half an hour, Finn and Artie had begun to get quite acquainted. They sat together in the library, pouring over some old yearbooks and chatting animatedly about anything and everything. Finn was surprised; he could get on quite well with Artie, even if he was a nerd in a wheelchair. It was strangely comforting having someone to talk too who was from outside his usual circle of friends. Maybe Artie could be Puck's new replacement? The very thought of his ex-best friend name caused his fists to clench up and his heart to ache. It would take a while to get over the hurt he was feeling, but somehow the Diary girl search was providing a much needed distraction. He let out a sigh and returned his attention to Artie, who was still talking to thin air; Finn had a feeling the kid was pretty happy about the whole situation; usually guys like Artie would be the target of some of Finn and Puckerman's lame pranks and nicknames, but instead, Finn had chosen to befriend the wheelchair-bound teen. It was strangely comforting; it felt like progress.

Finn finally snapped back to reality as Artie muttered something about clubs.

"So has this girl said she's part of any clubs? Every school club is in the Thunderclap and if she was in one in particular, that could lead us straight to her!" During their conversation, Finn had explained to Artie about the diary and the Diary girl. He had originally intended to be careful about what he revealed, but he found himself being rather open and honest with the disabled boy, which was surprising, considering he hardly knew the kid. Finn assumed it had something to do with the glasses; it made him more trusting, he thought. They'd quickly run through Finn's clue list, but Artie still had no idea what to make of them. They had been hoping to use the yearbooks as a way of finding the girl, but so far they'd come up with nothing.

Finn clapped a hand to his head in realisation.

"Of course" Yeah!" He exclaimed, picking out the diary and flicking through it quickly. "Here!" he pointed to a line in one of the older entries, where the Diary girl mentioned the renaissance club. Finn could feel the excitement build up inside him, the warm feeling he now associated with the Diary girl gradually taking over his chest. The feeling that, within seconds, he could find out the identity of this mystery author, was something he couldn't quite name or control, but it made it hard for him to sit still in his seat. Artie chuckled as he watched Finn bubble up in excitement.

"Ok, this is the Freshman yearbook from last year. Let's see...renaissance club..." Artie skimmed through the pages quickly, noticing the way Finn's eyes remained determined and unblinking on the pages of the yearbook. "Ah, here!" Artie exclaimed as he opened up the page.

However, Finn's face fell as he looked over the page. Yes, there was the quarter of a page dedicated to the Renaissance club, but where the faces of the individuals in the club should be, there was just a mass of scratches. There was no way neither Finn nor Artie could make out any of the faces on the page; it was hard to even determine how many people there were in the picture in the first place. Finn sat back on his seat and rubbed his face with his hands.

"So close" he whispered as Artie eyed the page carefully.

"There aren't even any names" Artie noted. "Why the hell would you be in the yearbook without having any names?" Finn sighed.

"It's the Renaissance club. I doubt very many people cared about who was in it"

So close, yet so far. Finn suddenly felt all the depression he'd been feeling since Quinn's confession come swooping back over him; the loneliness, the hopelessness, the general feeling that nothing will ever go right. He'd lost his girlfriend, his best friend, and now he couldn't even find this one girl. Albeit, he was probably overreacting, but Finn just couldn't summon the enthusiasm anymore. He was grateful for Artie's help, but it was clear he was never going to find this diary girl. Not now. Not ever.


She was surprised to see her walk through the corridor during lunch; her head held high, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. Rachel was never one to judge, but she couldn't help it when it came to Quinn. Especially considering what she'd done to that poor Finn Hudson. Despite how she held herself, she could tell that something was bothering the Queen Bee; she never even glanced at Rachel; neglecting to say anything about her "man hands" or her nose. In fact, she seemed as if she was just staring into space as she traversed the halls, ignoring the stares and whispers from the kids lining the walls and standing by their lockers.

Rachel let out a sigh as they passed one another. The fact that Quinn ignored her was a small miracle, and Rachel was glad; maybe now the cheerleader would actually leave her alone. Then again, she thought, now that she's been hurt she might be even worse. They do say; 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and Rachel didn't like the idea of a scorned Quinn Fabray. She shook the thought away and instead, let her mind flash with images of Finn. As she did so, she felt a warm feeling grow up within her chest, and it made a wide grin stretch across her face, despite herself.


Finn had done enough crying lately, he refused to do it now. Instead, he let his frustrations out on his pillow; pummelling it until he no longer had the energy to do so. He'd told his mom all about the Quinn/Puck drama that afternoon, after school, and she'd been pretty calm about the situation; which made Finn feel even worse. It was like she knew it was going to happen. She was comforting, but she didn't seem surprised. So of course, that had made Finn feel stupid for not realising it sooner.

As he lay on his bed, his face buried in his battered pillow, part of him hoped he could just sleep for days until all of the drama passed. But of course, that was never going to happen; Finn wasn't that lucky. Instead, he hauled himself up and out of bed and moved over to his Xbox to start his usual afternoon ritual. As he did so, he caught his foot on his rucksack, almost toppling him over. He managed to regain his balance, but not before swearing loudly and giving the bag a good kick. The bag flew across the room and its contents poured onto the floor; the pink diary being part of them. Finn stood for a moment, glancing down at the small journal that had slowly become an obsession over the last few weeks. He could've blamed the diary for his break-up with Quinn, but Finn knew that was just finding excuses; even without the diary, something would've gone wrong. It might not have been cheating, but something would've caused him and Quinn to break up. He bent down and picked up the book, sighing to himself as he flipped through the pages. He thought for a moment, knowing full well that he was probably never going to find the mysterious author who so eluded him, but something inside of him still drew him to her. This mysterious Diary girl. So, as one last-ditch attempt, he hopped onto his bed and flicked to an entry, and began reading.

Friday 9th April

Dear Barbara,

We had to write about our passions and our dreams in English class today. A trivial task, if you ask me, but one that I found relatively easy. I suppose I've never really told you about my passions before Barbara; you know my dreams, and you know my love of music, but my true passion; the thing I love to do the most...is to sing. Singing is my one true hobby in life, and I feel it's the thing that is going to lead me to my inevitable stardom. I know, one day, I'm going to be just like you Barbara. Well, not like you as in the journal, but you as in the singer/actress/idol that you're named after; Barbara Streisand. There are a lot of similarities between me and Barbara. We're both Jewish, we both have similarly large noses, we both have amazing voices. It's almost as if I was destined to follow in her footsteps. And that's exactly what I plan to do! I'm going to be so famous that all those horrid cheerleaders and football players will know my name and they would wish that they had befriended me in high school...rather than call me names or pour slushies over my head.

Of course, it's never going to be easy getting to that stardom; it wasn't for Barbara, and it definitely won't be for me. But I'll make it. I know it. I can feel it. Of course, It doesn't help that my school doesn't have a decent musical program. Apparently there used to be a Glee club, but that was disbanded before I joined. I really wish it hadn't; I could see myself excelling at Glee club. Then again, I'd probably just get hounded even more by jealous wannabe's who can't handle my talent. No, it's enough for me to just get good grades and graduate in two years time, and then go onto a college in another state. Maybe New York? That's the home of Broadway, and the place I'm bound to end up. As they say, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere!

It's funny though, Barbara. We don't have a decent musical program, but yet we have an auditorium. I suppose that was for when they used to have a Glee club, but it doesn't really get much use anymore. I think our Principal rents it out actually; I could've sworn I saw an Alcoholics Anonymous group in there the other week. It's actually one of my favourite haunts, the auditorium. Sometimes, when our neighbours start complaining, I practice my singing in there during lunch. No one ever visits, and the acoustics are perfect. I just wish there was more of an audience to listen...

Finn stopped dead. Looking up from the diary and staring into space, a huge grin appeared on his face. That warm feeling from before washed over him like a tidal wave and mixed with the excitement and hope that bubbled up inside of him. The Diary girl had just revealed a vital clue...now all Finn had to do was find the auditorium...


P.S. Oh! So here we are! Getting closer to the end now! The penultimate clue! Will Finn finally find the mysterious Diary Girl that has plagued his mind? And will Rachel's daydreams come true as she finally ends up with Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome? Stay tuned to find out!

Hope you liked this chapter, my inspiration went walkabout and I hadn't got it back until now. So I hope it's worthy! And I want to know if you think Finn seems distraught enough? I've read angsty fics before, and this didn't seem quite as bad as some of those. I honestly didn't want Finn to be too sad about the whole thing, but it was a pretty messy situation, and there had to be some kind of resentment and sadness there. Is there enough here, or too much? Opinions always welcome!