I was feeling a double update day, so here you go. Enjoy.

"Wow this car is pretty amazing. Hybrid huh?" I said examining the outside of Rachel's new car. It was bright blue and like no car I'd ever seen around here. I got in the passenger's seat and ran my fingers over the beautiful finishing of the car. This car must have cost more money than my family would ever have. "Your dad is a cool guy, was the car a gift?" I asked once we'd been driving for a few minutes.

"For good grades this year." She said in a modest tone. "What um…school do you go to?" She questioned curiously. I looked over at her intently wondering if she was asking because she actually wanted to know or because she knew what kind of school Lima Heights offered.

"I don't." I told her hoping that would be a good enough answer. "I mean…I go sometimes. Just enough to pass the grade, but I can't go too much." I didn't know how deep I wanted to get into this subject, but Rachel sure seemed like she wanted to know more.

"Are your parents okay with that? What do you do when you stay home?" She asked.

"Puck and I hang out…we go find trouble, find a job or something. We've gotta make money you know." She nodded but kept her eyes firmly on the road. She reached out her hand and turned her radio up so there was a balance between the building tension between us and the music. Adele's Rolling in the Deep was playing and I couldn't help but smile when I started to notice that Rachel had begun singing along.

I was just about to make fun over her when the chorus began and her voice broke through. I couldn't believe it, how could a voice like that come from a small girl like her? My heart was beating faster and faster and I didn't know why. It had to be because of that magical voice of her, it was so beautiful. I was absolutely stunned.

"Wha-….w-…wow." I stammered out as the song ended.

"Impressed?" She questioned with a wink. How could I tell her that I was more than impressed? And why on earth couldn't I talk like a normal human being right now? "Years of vocal training and Glee club." My face scrunched up in confusion as Rachel pulled into a parking spot on the street in front of an ice cream parlor.

"Glee club?" I said bewildered.

"It's a club where me and my friends sing and dance and mostly prepare for competitions. It's a lot of fun really. I mean except when everyone ridicules me because I have too much ambition." I smirked to myself as we got out of the car. A club where all you had to do was sing and dance? That sounded like a lot of fun.

"Ambition is good, and with a voice like that I'm sure you're winning all the competitions anyway." Rachel's cheeks flared red and she quickly turned away from me. I rushed up to the ice cream parlor door and held it open for her hoping that she'd lead the way with all of this.

"Thank you." She said quietly as we walked inside. The place was brightly lit and all the people behind the counter seemed to have smiles plastered on their faces. Even more surprising to me was that the place was spotless and no one was yelling. "Kurt! You never told me you worked here!" Rachel said to the feminine looking boy who gave Rachel a huge smile

"I just got the job, I mean it was either this or working at my dad's car shop…hello I do not look good in mechanic's gear." The boy said playfully. His smile slowly faded as he took in my appearance. Rachel's eyes followed his to me.

"Oh how rude of me, Kurt this is Santana, Santana this is my best friend Kurt." We both nodded in acknowledgement but didn't shake hands. The way he was looking at my face I might as well have been inhuman. "We'll have two double scoop chocolate and vanilla sundaes." Rachel ordered. The ice cream was ready in no time and Rachel paid for them before ushering me towards a seat. We sat down across from one another in the table closets to the window.

This was the first time I'd been out of Lima Heights in a few months and everything looked so vivid here. I looked across the table and caught Rachel's chocolate eyes staring at me. "You don't like it?" She asked sadly glancing down at my untouched ice cream.

"No! It's not that I just…I haven't been out of Heights in awhile." I explained to her before taking a huge spoonful of ice cream downing it in seconds. Rachel's smile returned when she saw that I was eating the ice cream. "So your friend Kurt seems cool." I said making small talk.

"He's been looking over here every five seconds." Rachel admitted with a giggle. "I think he's scared of you." Even I had to laugh at that.

"Do I look like a bad ass?" I asked grinning.

"Those bruises do make you look pretty tough. I mean if I didn't know you then I'd probably be making all kinds of judgments. Like maybe you're a thug or maybe you just robbed somebody and they happened to fight back." I listened to Rachel's descriptions with amusement in my eyes, but a little bit of sorrow in my heart. Even though Rachel was joking, I knew that's how some people saw me.

"Can I ask you something?" I said leaning over the table slightly.

"Of course." She said as her eyes widened with inquisitiveness.

"When I held that knife up to you a few nights ago, why weren't you afraid?" She opened her mouth to respond but I beat her to it. "And don't give me that shit about how you're not afraid of Heights because that just doesn't make sense to me."

"I knew you wouldn't hurt me." She said quietly. "And those bruises on your face let me know that I was right." Now I was confused what did these bruises have to do with that night?

"What do you mean?"

"You could've really hurt Quinn if you wanted to, but you didn't. You don't like hurting people that part is evident to me. Plus when I was over Quinn's house all Brittany could talk about was how cool San was." Rachel and I broke out into cheerful laughter and finished our ice cream. I tossed away the napkins we used and waited for Rachel to say goodbye to her friend Kurt. I held open the door for her again and she whispered thank you just like she had before.

"So…Lima, Ohio…the perfect utopian society." I said looking all around me. "Do you guys have any people of color out here, jeez?" I said as the sixth person who walked by eyed me curiously. Rachel giggled and walked along side me down the road. I stared into the shops that sold plain shirts for forty dollars and the fashion of fit men and women walking by.

"They're looking at your bruises not the color of your skin." Rachel informed me but I just shrugged. "Are you sure you don't want me to take care of those. They can get infected." She warned me.

"I think I'll take my chances." I told her. We made our way back to her car and she began driving back to my apartment. "So how much do I owe you? With the gas money and all?"

"Nothing silly." She said laughing. "This was my offer anyway."

"No, I owe you. I'll come by the food bank tomorrow and pay you back." I promised. Rachel pulled up to my apartment and I could see Quinn sitting on the stoop next to a sad looking Brittany. They didn't notice me but Rachel and I noticed them. "Shit." I muttered reaching for the door handle. Rachel leaned over and stopped me from opening the door.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to her now." Rachel said and I couldn't agree more. Rachel pulled out her cell phone and handed it to me. I had no idea why she did this but I held the expensive looking phone in my hand. "Put your number in."

"I'm dirt poor, and you expect me to have a cell phone?" I questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"I saw you texting someone at that Finn boy's party." She said. I smiled because I was caught and because Rachel had been watching me at Finn's party. I put my cell number in her phone and got out of the vehicle. I tossed the phone to her which she not-so-gracefully caught.

"I'll see you later short stack." I joked as she waved and drove off. I turned around and saw Quinn eyeing me curiously and Brittany sporting a small smile. I knew if I went over there by them then Quinn and I would get into it again, so I turned the other way and walked across the street. I'd just chill out in the liquor store until Quinn and Brittany went back upstairs.