His name was Jesse.
Rachel caught herself daydreaming about him during glee rehearsal on Monday. Mr. Shu had been working out parts with Finn and Puck over by the piano leaving the rest of the kids to do whatever they pleased until then. Well, that was not entirely true. What he had told them to do was try and sight read their own part until he could work with them. But, as usual, no one really took the instructions seriously. Which would explain why Mercedes and Kurt were smearing some shade of color on Tina's eyes with Artie nodding in approval. It would explain why Mike and Matt were discussing football plays while Brittany and Santana were going over Coach Sylvester's new routine. It would certainly explain why Quinn was, more or less, pouting over at the two cheerleaders, with a hand resting on her growing baby bump. Maybe it could even explain why Rachel's thoughts kept traveling back to him.
Her eyes had been trained on the sheet music but she wasn't really seeing the notes. They were just dark blots on the page. Her thoughts had abandoned the music long ago. Now they were focused on a certain boy with brown curls and blue eyes. Her thoughts were skipping around the events of Saturday night, shaking his hand, watching him smile. Though, for reasons she did not quite comprehend, when Santana had called for a briefing Rachel had not been able to recall a single thing either of them said to each other. The Latina had been furious and Rachel had suffered so much verbal abuse that she nearly started crying. But as soon as that one single sentence left her lips the situation made a complete turn.
"We have a date Friday night."
And now, ever since Saturday, Friday was all she could think about. It was interfering with her daily life. In history her teacher had called on her thinking his beloved straight A student would have the answer to a question that had left the other students befuddled. She had asked him to repeat the question. She, Rachel Berry, had asked him to repeat it! Not only that but she had started to say the wrong answer. Even now she could not concentrate on glee club, the most important part of her day. Frankly, she was not too thrilled about the turn of events. But at the same time she could not stop herself from thinking about him.
Her mind was filled with the images. His brown hair styled just the right way. His blue eyes with the navy and grey flecks in them. She also noticed that the light danced in them when he laughed. His voice with the musical quality that only grew more intense when he sang. She had also caught the envious looks his team members had shot her way. He had caught them too because they made his smile grow. He was cocky and so sure of himself. Sadly, she found it attractive.
His name was Jesse, a well-suited name, and he was all she could think about.