AN: elllllo. here we go again. please, no complaints. i'm just trying to get some action prepared and some more humor in. enjoy, and review pretty, pretty please with a ginormous sized puckleberry on top.
disclaimer: dun dun duhhhh.
Thursday, May 14th
10:37 am, McKinley Prep's First Floor, Library
"It doesn't add up."
Rachel held about two dozen folders that were very thick, and had them tucked under her chin for balance. Standing at the front desk, as the librarian walked away, she motioned for Puck to follow her towards an empty table at the back.
No she wasn't skipping class.
Ms. Sylvester had set up a free period for her, and made it so the team could watch over the girls.
Puck, on the other hand, was supposed to be in class, but had decided that Rachel was a better priority.
"I've studied that camera a million times. Its common among billionaires."
Puck merely raised an eyebrow in confusion, as Rachel began to frantically read over the files.
"….Yeah, so?" Puck dropped the remaining files onto the table and dragged a chair to sit next to her. "Dudes rich. Big deal."
Staring at each sheet of paper for only a moment, Rachel knew exactly where to look for the information she needed. Her Spanish class had been very productive that morning, and sent her into this wild-thinking spill.
Thursday, May 14th
9:06 am, McKinley Prep's AP Spanish classroom
The textbooks were oddly old.
This was a private school.
Filled with many rich children.
Why was her textbook falling apart?
A tearing sound echoed in the room as the small African American teacher at the front of the room accidentally dropped her own answer book and cursed loudly. Pages drifted slowly downwards as they had been pulled apart at the seam. Her book was torn and covered in brown areas. It was quite possible that they were learning curriculum from when the school was built.
"Damn Pillsbury. Cutting our expenses. Again. Christ."
Confused, Rachel leaned forward and tapped Quinn's shoulder lightly as the teacher was in a frenzy trying to catch the flying papers.
"I just realized something."
"And?"
"Why is everything so…old here?"
Quinn tilted her head a little, in a tiny shrugging motion.
"We don't get a lot of funding, I suppose, since not many people are willing to support a school where their kids can't go because its too prestigious."
What the hell.
That didn't even make sense.
Thursday, May 14th
10:39 am, McKinley Prep's First Floor, Library
"I still don't get it, Rach."
"He doesn't have a job, therefore he doesn't have legal money."
Puck opened his mouth a little, waiting for her to fill him in on the obvious situation.
"He has a sponsor."
The Schuester wasn't just one person.
A fucking group.
Rachel was most certainly a genius.
"Jesus."
"I don't think Jesus sponsors for this kind of thing, Noah."
Puck rubbed the back of his neck, and brought out his cell phone, connecting the remaining members to the meeting. He marked it private, so everyone could get somewhere in solitude.
Opening the back half of the phone, he turned the camera so it was facing Rachel and himself. On the screen, two faces were separated into boxes. Kurt was sitting comfortably in the fashion room's supply closet, which was dimly lit. Finn seemed to be stuck in a ventilation system and looked kind of tired.
"What's the issue?" Kurt purred happily, as he felt the fabric he leaned against.
"Can this be quick, I'm having an issue of my own." Finn grumbled unsteadily as he tried to move quietly.
Mike and Artie suddenly had a square of their own, and both looked flabbergasted.
"Shit. Brittany is a ninja." Artie gasped, as Mike sat atop of him and nodded unhappily. "We had a hard time losing her."
Sam was last to appear, and had a smirk plastered on his face.
Kurt was first to catch Sam's whereabouts.
"Are you in the girl's change room?"
That caught Rachel's attention. "Get out of there, Biebster. Or I'll personally have Noah caught your balls off. Well, either Noah or Sylvester."
"Can I?" Finn asked eagerly, and smiled wickedly at Sam's picture.
"Chill. No one in here."
Puck held his hand up for silence, which slowly turned into the finger directed towards Sam. "Meeting has come to order. Rachel's has done some figuring."
"We're aren't against just one man. We're against several."
Everyone stayed quiet, only the sound of Sam flicking the lights on and off for entertainment littering the background.
"They're a group, because this not a one-man-job. That camera is a lot of money. Which is something he doesn't have. Someone, or a lot of someones, are continually assisting him." Rachel breathed out her reasoning as if she was speaking to herself. "I have a theory."
All of them nodded for her to continue.
"I had somewhat of an epiphany in Spanish. This school has a very limited amount of spending, and according to these school finance files," she lifted a file to show the screen, "it just doesn't add up."
"What are you suggesting, Superstar?" Artie shoved Mike off his lap so he could get a better look at the uncommonly quiet girl on his phone's screen. "That we might be, as they say, in the belly of the beast?"
"Its an option." Mike said from the ground, not on the view of the camera. "Very plausible. And would solve the mystery of the finances."
"That's what I thought. If the revenue of the school was actually being divided in half, there is no way the school could survive. That money is going somewhere. It was just my first idea, and I'm sure that after the part tomorrow, I'll have a few more."
"HOLD UP." Finn screamed-whispered. "Could you please back-up this conversation so us non-nerds can understand?"
"Nerd? We prefer intellectual badass." Mike deadpanned directly towards Finn, who was giving a grimaced expression that could have been a mix of stupidity and sorrow. "Do the honors, Rach."
"I'm not positive, but it one of the sponsors can definitely be the facility we're in. The people who teach us, and the students who surround us. We're not safe...We're not safe because I think Pillsbury is in cahoots with Schuester."
Puck gripped the table with one hand, and slung his other over Rachel's shoulder.
They were in the fucking belly of the fucking beast.
With one smooth motion, Puck flicked the phone off and gathered the files which were spread out over the small table. Rachel leaned back and let him continue, as she pulled out a battery in the shape of a star from her bra strap.
Needless to say, Puck got a little distracted by the perfect view of her boobs, but quickly reformed himself once his fear kicked in again.
She practically turned her phone inside out with her nail clippers, and inserted the battery.
"Mike and I created this virus. Quite intelligent really." She typed happily, as she destroyed whoever could have been listening in to their conversation via technology. "We need to get out of here."
"I need to protect you, Rachel, so cool you're jets." Puck caught her arm, as Rachel slipped past him with a determined pace. "You're not in this alone, captain."
Switching so Rachel held onto his pinky finger, and he had to struggle.
She nodded, and trudged him out of the seemingly empty library.
Too bad that charming, curly haired man and Jewish, creepy-looking boy were not more then a few book shelves away.
Thursday, May 14th
11:03 am, Sylvester's office
"What can I do for you ladies?"
Rachel and Puck sat facing Sylvester, and both looked uneasy. Puck because he was being referred to as a lady, and Rachel because she was the only one with a sense of danger that surpassed any other emotion.
They were in grave danger.
The day was full of it.
"Not feeling well. I was wondering if I could go home with Noah. My fathers are gone at the moment, and I would feel better if I had someone with me."
Sylvester nodded curtly.
"And I wanted to let you know the other boys will accompany me home for lunch. They'll return afterwards. So, can you take care of Lucy for us until then?"
"I'll see what I can do. Get out, Rachel. Feel better, kiddo."
That was a final sign that Sylvester trusted her.
And God knows she needed that.
Exiting the office, into the crowded hallway, Rachel stayed two steps ahead of Puck as she made her way to her locker. Kurt was already there, his bag filled with his stuff already. Around him were several fashion forward students who sent mischievous looks to Rachel and Puck as Kurt. Something had just happened, which they obviously missed by seconds.
"My goodness!" Kurt clapped his hands together giddily. "Mercedes was talking to the boy who comes up with all of the names here at McKinley. Matt someone or other.-"
"Names?"
"You know...couple names? Anyways, the name is in. Brace yourself."
Rachel slammed her locker open and faked a cough diligently.
"Puckleberry."
"That sounds absolutely atrocious"
"Its not as bad as the other pairings. It seems you really are the talk of the school, Ms. Berry." Kurt chided her, and brushed his hair to the side in the view of her mirror which doubled as an Frisbee-weapon.
Rachel snorted, and watched Puck turn around the corner in search of his own things. Everyone had the feeling that they wouldn't be back for a while.
"I've been here one day."
"You're in the in-group. I question how, but I suppose your studying paid off. Do you want to here the rest of the names?"
"Not really."
Kurt smiled and skipped beside the short girl as she faked a sneeze on a ninth grader in order to keep up her sick-complexity.
"Well, there is Finchel. That's Finn and you. Not really all that appealing if you ask me. Cherry, which you brought upon yourself when you and Mike were going crazy in business class trying to explain what you were doing with your Cherry virus. Samchel. That's sort of self explanatory. We're Hummelberry, or Kurtchel. I prefer the first."
As the duo had tracked through the school towards the parking lot, the others had joined behind them and listened in.
Rachel mumbled about the ridiculous of its all while Artie scoffed.
"What about me and Rachel?"
Puck smirked at his attempt. "You wouldn't be able to handle Rachel and her high-maintenance ass. None of you would."
Sam opened the door, as he glanced around for anyone who could be watching.
"Lets blow this highly dangerous Popsicle stand."
