GOD! I feel awful having left you waiting for so long! I seriously did not mean to do that! It had just completely slipped my mind! I'm so sorry! I hope this chapter makes up for it!

I'M SO SORRY!


Chapter 11-

By the time glee club started, Rachel was thoroughly annoyed. Brittany had actually managed to mess up everything Rachel had told the blond girl on Friday. Legwarmers on the arms! The arms! How could one misunderstand the use of legwarmers? And now the dim girl was getting all the attention for this stupid mistake and was considered fashionable! It had been her look Brittany was supposed to make popular, not make it her own and earn all the praise from her peers! Rachel had given up her allowance for this, the least Brittany could do was do it RIGHT!

The girl huffed and scowled when she walked into their choir room, not caring that almost all of her team mates were staring at her, The look on Finn's face was especially nasty. Rachel sat down in the front row and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was ready to sing, it would make her feel better that was for sure.

"So, Berry, who's that new boyfriend you got there? You seem to be getting over Hudson quite quickly, huh?" Santana piped up from where she sat in the last row. Rachel turned to the Latina, a questioned look on her face.

"What are you talking about, Santana? I don't have boyfriend and I don't intend on having one in the near future" she replied, annoyed that people were starting to spread rumors about her again. Soon they would draw offensive pictures of her on the stall walls in the bathrooms again and everything would be back to how it was the year before, before Glee club had brought them all together. But instead of Santana, Finn replied, standing up from where he sat and walking in front of the short brunette.

"Oh, you say that's not your boyfriend? It seems like you have become really cheap, then, Rachel, because a decent girl wouldn't practically sit in a boy's lap just for the fun of it and nearly make out with him!" he hollered and Rachel turned to look at him, a frown on her face.

"What on earth are you all talking about? I did no such thing!" she exclaimed, disbelieving that people would actually steep that low to make her look bad.

"Berry, don't deny your new boyfriend. He actually looks decent, okay? Why don't you just check your facebook and then you will see what we all talk about. It seems like other people already know about this relationship and wanted to make it public" Santana said, surprisingly calm and without any sneer to her voice, unlike her normal self. Rachel whisked out her phone and opened up her facebook account, waiting for it to load properly. She saw she had a bunch of notifications, all relating an update that was posted by… Jeff. Rachel rolled her eyes. What had the bubbly blonde done now? She clicked on the post and it opened up to be a picture of her and Nick, both engrossed in their game, Rachel leaning into the boy's embrace.

"You are actually making such a fuss about this? That is Nick, he is a very good friend of mine and we spent the afternoon yesterday playing Rayman on xbox. There is nothing going on between us, even though some of Nick's friends tease him and me about being a couple, which we are not" Rachel explained while scrolling down to read over the comments. She stopped when she arrived at the long note Finn had posted the day before and the answer he had received from Kurt.

"Finn, you should stop talking about my and your brother's friends and your brother himself like that. I have had enough of you trying to tell me who I am allowed to hang out and be friends with, because it is none of your business, since you broke up with me last Christmas. You don't get to say anything about my friends at all and I suggest you apologize to Kurt, because he's upset that you think about him and the Warblers like that. You should be ashamed, Finn Hudson! It is one thing to talk bad about competition that you don't know personally but to attack opponents even though some members are our friends is just below the line. That goes to all of you. Ever since Kurt decided to leave for Westerville, he had heard close to nothing from any of you apart from me and Mercedes. He's our friend and we should treat him that way!" Rachel burst out, her face reddened by her anger. She had wanted to tell them this for so long, and now that she finally had gotten it all out, she felt heaps better!

Feeling free of this burden, Rachel sat back down and crossed her arms again. No one was pulling her down only because they thought they were allowed to talk bad about her. This was simply not true. She wouldn't stand by and let others treat her badly anymore. Rachel had experienced how it felt being appreciated for who she was with the Warblers and now she was not going to go back to her old ways of trying to please others instead of making herself feel good. No, she would be happy and that would be her first priority.

In that moment Mr. Schuester saw it fit to finally arrive in the choir room, but he was not alone. Following him walked Coach Sylvester, a look on her face that Rachel couldn't quite categorize. Was she planning on high-jacking the club again to get it disbanded?

"Hi guys!" the curly haired teacher greeted the lot encouragingly, like he always did, even though the atmosphere in the room was more than tense. Mr. Schuester just didn't notice. "You are wondering why Coach Sylvester is here with us today. Well, we have decided that Ms. Sylvester is going to join the Glee club for a while. Just for her to get to know what we actually do around here. Now, let's give her a warm welcome." Mr. Shue had to be kidding Rachel thought when the scary cheerleading coach sat down in the last row of seats. Couldn't the teacher see that Ms. Sylvester was an evil person and clearly wasn't here to enjoy hearing the glee club singing but was rather scheming how to get the club to be closed? This was all the coach could ever think about!

When the choir had quieted down again after the uproar of murmurs Coach Sylvester's arrival had instigated, Mr. Shue smiled at the group of students and clapped into his hands, like he always did to get the attention.

"Alright guys. Has anyone prepared a piece of music to start of the rehearsal? Rachel?" he asked and looked at the brunette girl, but she had to sheepishly shake her head no. With all that had gone on at the weekend, she had completely forgotten to prepare something for Glee, or post videos on MySpace for that matter.

"No, I'm sorry Mr. Schuester. I didn't have time to prepare something for today. I promise to have something for the next practice, though" she replied and her peers looked at her strangely, as if she had sprouted another head. Even Mr. Shue looked perplexed.

"Oh, well, okay, then. Has anyone else prepared something? Anyone?" he asked, slightly desperate to have someone stand up. Sometimes it seemed as if Mr. Schuester didn't really know what he was doing leading this club. You could also see that in the way he chose songs for competitions. All songs they had sung so far were well and good, no doubt with that, but wouldn't it be better to actually have more than just one week to practice them? But who was Rachel kidding. Of course it would always go on like this. Mr. Schuester would get a sudden inspiration to do something in his opinion amazing and throw the whole plan over board, just to follow this slightly crazy mind of his.

"I have something" Rachel suddenly heard and turned to see Sam getting up and getting his guitar. The girl smiled to herself slightly. Sam was a good singer, so hopefully she would enjoy this performance. It wasn't everyday that the blonde was performing in front of everyone, so Rachel didn't really know what would be coming at her.

"That's great, Sam. The stage is all yours!" Mr. Schuester excitedly said and clapped his hands, then went to sit down in his chair next to the piano. Sam smiled slightly at the others and began to strum his guitar in a slightly familiar melody. When he began to sing the first few bars, Rachel began to smile widely. Never had someone performed something quite like that in front of the Glee club, Justin Bieber's 'Baby'. All the girls around Rachel began to squeal with joy at hearing the song and also Rachel had to admit that this song was really nice. She wasn't all that into current top 40 songs, but she really appreciated the young Canadian's voice. He had a very nice sound to it and Sam made the song his very own, improving the song's quality even more in Rachel's opinion. The girl turned to see her club member's reactions to the song, and while all of the girls were swooning to the song, the boys had rather… peculiar looks on their faces. They just weren't able to see how very good this song was and how brave of Sam to showcase something quite like that in a choir room that was mainly dominated by anything but chart songs.

When Sam was finished with the song, Mr. Shue stood back up from where he had sat and walked over to the blonde boy to clap him on the shoulder, showing his appreciation.

"Very good, Sam. I'm surprised you chose a song quite like that, but obviously the majority of the room liked it, so well done. Now, the main reason for this rehearsal today is to choose songs for Regionals. Even though it seems like there is still loads of time until then, there isn't. Regionals are at the end of March which means we only have little more than a month to practice the songs we will sing. Now, this Regionals competition has a theme and it is… Anthems" the teacher announced and was met with silence. Obviously most of Rachel's peers didn't know what that meant.

"An anthem, is a song indicating something bigger, it stands for something, someone, an opinion. We have to find the perfect anthem to represent us as a group, without leaving anything out. Now, I have brought some song books and today's lesson is going to be used by perusing these song books to find our perfect anthem" Mr. Shue exclaimed and smiled brightly at his students. One after the other everyone got up and over to the piano, where a large stack of books was laying. Everyone took one of the books and sat back on their seats, huddled together in little groups to exchange opinions about different songs. Rachel stood up as well, a smile on her face that was directed at her music teacher, but the girl didn't mean it. This action would be fruitless anyways. Rachel knew Mr. Schuester and she knew that whatever they would choose now as a song to sing for Regionals, it wouldn't be sung in the end anyways. But Rachel had to keep up appearance or else there would be a notice in her report later on at the end of the year, which would not help her get accepted at any college of her preference.

The rest of the lesson was spent in comfortable silence, everyone looking through songs and writing down names of the ones that were preferred to be sung. When the bell rung to let out school, Rachel got up from her seat and walked over to where Brittany was trying to fit everything into her bag, but was failing at it.

"Now, Brittany, I will send you a list of clothes to wear to school tomorrow and I will explain how to wear them correctly, okay?" she said to the blonde ditz and the ex-cheerleader nodded.

"I really didn't know it would be cold today, Rachel. I wanted to wear everything how you told me to, but I blame the weather fairy for playing tricks on me" she excused herself and made Rachel frown with her weird comment.

"Anyways, I will give you the money tomorrow, okay? The most important thing you have to do is telling everyone that you are copying my look. Do you understand, Brittany, if anyone asks how you got the idea of wearing what you are wearing you tell them you are copying Rachel Berry" Rachel pressed the matter one more time. Brittany smiled at the shorter girl and nodded.

"It's okay, Rachel, you don't have to treat me like I don't understand. I'm not stupid, you know? Now, will I still be able to use the money for Lord Tubbington? I think I will have to make an appointment with a psychiatrist, because he just won't listen to me when I tell him that smoking is bad for him. He just won't hear" she said and looked at Rachel with big eyes. Despite the odd things Brittany said, Rachel nodded again.

"Uhm, sure, you can use the money for whatever you would like. Just remember to tell everyone you are copying me. Okay, I have to leave now" she said one more time and made her way out of the room and out the school towards her car, shaking her head in bewilderment the entire time. Brittany really was a peculiar person.

The first thing Rachel did when she came home that day after school, of course after checking for mail, was go into her room and start her laptop to log into her facebook account. She had seen the picture Jeff had posted on her profile before Glee, but the image on her phone was too small to actually make out anything else than her and Nick sitting close together, playing the video game. When the picture finally came up, she studied it closely and had to smile. It really was a sweet picture, her leaning into her friend and being absolutely engrossed into the game she was trying to play successfully. Rachel could now understand why people could assume that there was more between her and Nick than just friendship, even though there wasn't.

Rachel sighed. It would have been so easy being friends with the Warblers, weren't there people in her environment who wanted to make Rachel's life really complicated, by being complicated themselves. But no, life had to bite her in the butt and have her sort out problems that really weren't necessary to be there in the first place would other people be a little more respectful and have a common sense and use it for a change.

Without thinking any further about the problems that started whenever Finn was involved, she opened up a message on facebook and searched for the addressee, Jeff. Then, she started to write.

Hey there, how are you?
First off, I'm not mad at you for posting the picture, really I'm not, because it is a really nice one. Look at how freaking into the game I am!
But this picture has cost me quite a bit of nerves today, because some people just aren't reasonable and never use their common sense. But that has nothing to do with you.
Now, I would just like to ask that whenever you will post another picture of me that could lead to a tirade such as the one that happened because of the last picture, just disable people you aren't friends with to comment on the picture, okay? It would safe me a lot of stress.
Again, this is so not your fault, because you aren't the one who tries to mess with me over and over again. You are a great friend, Jeffy! And I really love the picture, maybe you could send it to me?! =)

Anyways, I just wanted to get this out of my system, so we can move on from that.
I hope to see you sooner than just on Saturday, but if not, have a great week and say hi to all the others from me!

Much love Rachel*

After reading over the message one more time she hit send and closed her laptop. Rachel really hadn't wanted to write a message to Jeff, because surely the boy hadn't meant any harm, but after what had occurred with Finn that afternoon, she just wanted to make sure something like that would never happen again. Still, she felt a little sad about having to write to the blonde boy, because as far as she knew, Jeff was a real sweetheart who never wanted even a fly to suffer and this message surely would make the boy sad.

Still, she had to do it, or else Finn would never stop talking to her the way he had done earlier. Rachel just had to diminish any opportunity there was for the tall boy to start harassing her.

Rachel walked back downstairs and got her bag to start with her homework. She sat down at the dinner table and took out her assignment, trying herself in solving the equations that were given to her. She was done with them really quickly, which surprised her, because she hadn't really understood how to solve problems like these when they had been taught earlier in class.

Rachel was just about to start revising for the history test she was supposed to write the next day when the front door opened and both her fathers entered together. Rachel stood to meet them in the hallway and hugged both men tightly.

"Hey dad and daddy, how was your day?" she asked and smiled at them brightly.

"It was alright, nothing too special" her dad replied and put down his briefcase and hung his coat on the rack. "How was your day, sweetheart?"

Rachel huffed. She really didn't want to think about the incident in Glee anymore, but she always told her dads anything.

"It was alright until Finn gave me a hard time because I'm friends with some of the Warblers. He just doesn't get that it's not about competition with them. I just want to be friends with people and the boys from Kurt's school accept me just the way I am" she explained and her daddy smiled at her, understanding what she meant.

"Don't think too much about it, pea. Don't let Finn get to you with all his talking. I like you being friends with nice people and these boys seem to be really nice. Just don't stop being friends with them, only because Finn gives you a hard time. He tends to do that a lot lately. I really don't know what you liked so much about him" he said and hugged Rachel tightly to him again. The girl smiled. Her daddy always knew the best advice, probably something to do with him being a psychologist.

Right at that moment, Rachel heard her phone starting to ring from where it lay on the dining table next to her history book. She gave her fathers an excusing smile and walked over to answer the call before it clicked into voice mail. Rachel had to smile when she saw who the caller was.

"Hey Nick! My dads and I were actually just talking about all you guys!" she greeted the boy at the other end of the line and chuckled when she heard the sharp intake of breath.

"I hope nothing bad! I just wanted to make sure everything is okay with you. Jeff is going crazy because he thinks something horrible happened at your school and it is his fault. He would've called himself, but he is almost crying right now!" Nick said, concern for both Rachel and his best friend obvious in his voice.

"Nothing bad happened at school. Finn just was his usual inconsiderate self and tried to make my life harder than it actually has to be. Please tell Jeff that he doesn't have to worry about me. And you don't have to worry either. Don't tell me you didn't because that would be a lie" Rachel replied, smiling at the admonishing sound her voice had taken on.

"Hey, let me worry about my friends all I want, okay? But what I wanted to call about in the first place, before Jeff had a semi-meltdown, was to tell you that you forgot to take all your containers back home yesterday. There are still some of them in the kitchen. I don't know if you are allowed to or if you want to for that matter, but you could maybe come over and get them, and have dinner with all of us. Audrey's cooking is amazing and you wouldn't have to worry about it being vegan, because she always makes way too much of my special meals, it would be enough for at least another person. What do you think?" Nick asked, obviously excited, because Rachel heard his grin through the phone. The girl had to smile at that. She was beginning to spend way more time with the boys from Westerville than she had done with any other friend she had ever had before. She didn't even spend so much time with Kurt, and he was the closest to a best friend Rachel had ever had. Slowly, but surely, Nick was beginning to be the best friend Rachel could have.

"I definitely want to, but I have to ask my dads first, okay? Wait a minute, I'm going to ask them" she said and put down her phone on the table to walk over into the kitchen, where her parents were drinking coffee and reading the news paper.

"That's Nick on the phone. He's asking if I want to come over have dinner at Dalton. I left some of my containers there yesterday. Can I go?" she asked, giving them the puppy eyes to try and convince them. Hiram and Leroy looked at each other and smiled.

"If you really want to go to your friends, you can, but make sure you revise for your history test enough. Maybe your friends can quiz you. Also, one of the cars is in the shop and dad needs the other one to go to his meeting later, and I have my bowling club tonight, so I need to take your car. I could take you to Westerville, but someone would have to drive you home later, because my club doesn't end before 11pm and I want you at home by 9.30pm at the latest. If someone can get you home safely by then, there's no problem with you going" her daddy explained and Rachel nodded, walking back to where her phone lay.

"Nick? I can go, if someone drives me home tonight. My daddy needs my car, so I can't drive myself. Is there a possibility for you to get me home later?" she asked, hoping that he would say yes.

"Wait a minute, I have to ask Audrey if I can go out and get you home, but I don't think it will be a problem" the boy answered and Rachel heard feet walking down the stairs and a conversation that lasted a few moments. Then Nick was back. "It's not a problem. Audrey gave me permission to go out to get you home. She said as long as I just drove to your home and back it wouldn't be a problem. So I will see you soon?" he asked, and again Rachel could hear the excitement in his voice. The girl began to laugh.

"Yes you will. I doubt it will be a real fun evening, though, because I will have to bring my history book with me for you to quiz me on the current chapter. I hope that's alright!" Rachel said just as excitedly as Nick was.

"Yeah, don't worry, we will get you fit in history in no time!" Nick answered and after a quick good bye and see you later, the call ended. Rachel hurried to pack a small bag with her book and other essentials, like her phone and wallet, and then went into the kitchen again.

"Can we go, daddy? If I have to be back by 9.30, I want to go now!" she said, her happiness at seeing all her good friends again bubbling over. Her parents just chuckled and stood up from where he sat at the counter to go get his shoes and coat. Rachel slipped into her flats and pulled on her peacoat as well and then was out of the door, a quick 'bye dad' shouted to her father while crossing the threshold. Hiram and Leroy looked at each other, shaking their heads and smiling at the obvious display of happiness their daughter was showing. It wasn't everyday that Rachel was this giddy and excited about meeting her friends.

The first few minutes in the car were passed in silence, but it was comfortable. Rachel always liked driving in the car with her daddy, it made her calm down to a certain level. Eventually, though, Leroy spoke up.

"So you seem to really like this guy" he asked conversationally, trying to make sure he didn't sound pushy or prying for answers and information. Rachel smiled at her father's words.

"Yes, I really like them. They accept me for who I am and I have fun being around them" she explained, grinning at the thought of the day before.

"Sweetheart, that's not what I asked. I know you like all of them, but it seems to me that you like one of them in a completely different way" the father now urged her a little more, starting to grin when he saw the look on his daughter's face. "I don't want to force you to tell me anything, but you can if you want to. I won't tell your dad either, if you don't want me to."

Rachel looked at her father, blushing slightly at what he was saying. Was it that obvious that she held at least a few feelings of the romantic kind for Nick? If it was this obvious, did he know as well?

"I… I… maybe I like him a bit more than the others, but there is no way… really, I think it's just a little crush because he is still a new friend to me. Certainly he doesn't feel the same about me" she admitted after a while of trying to find the right words. Leroy smiled at his little girl. It was nice to know that she was comfortable enough with him to tell her everything that was on her heart.

The two continued to drive. After a few minutes spent with chit chat, Rachel looked out of the window and sighed.

"It is starting to rain… I'm going to text Nick that we are at Dalton in a few minutes, so someone can meet me at the entrance with an umbrella. I don't really look forward to getting wet. I still have a sweater from Nick, I can't take another one from them!" she said, mainly to herself than to her father, and got out her phone to do as she had said.

Hey, I'm at school in about five minutes. Can someone meet me with an umbrella? It's raining! Rachel*

A moment later her phone indicated a new message and Rachel knew that it was from Nick, confirming someone would meet her at the entrance.

It didn't take much more time for them to arrive at the boarding school. From afar Rachel could see a person standing at the large entrance gates, his body sheltered from the rain by a large checkered umbrella. Rachel's smile widened when she saw it was Nick.

"That's Nick" she voiced her thoughts to her father and Leroy looked at the boy more closely while stopping the car to let his daughter depart. The boy looked nice, having a smile on his face and dressed smartly in the mandatory uniform of his school, minus the tie and the jacket unbuttoned.

When the car finally stopped, Rachel turned around to smile at her father, the grin on her face almost blinding. It was really obvious how much she liked the boy and how much it made her happy to be around him and her other friends here at Dalton.

"I'm going to be home at 9.30 latest, I promise" she said and made to open the door to get out. When she heard another door opening, she turned back around.

"You don't have to get out, too, daddy. It's raining and you'll get wet" she said, confusion on her face. Leroy just shrugged and waved her words away.

"Doesn't matter. I want to make sure this boy you like so much is decent for you and that he knows he has to get you home on time, no exceptions" he said and got out of the car. Rachel sighed and followed suit.

"Hey you!" she greeted her friend and found shelter next to him under the umbrella. Nick smiled at Rachel, but his face turned somber when he saw the tall man getting out of the car as well and over to where they were standing on the curb.

"So, you're Nick?" Leroy asked the dark haired boy standing next to his daughter and smiled inwardly when he saw the boy swallow.

"Uhm… yes, I'm Nick, it's nice to meet you, Sir" Nick answered, not really knowing what to expect with one of the fathers of the girl he really liked. Leroy's face lifted up and a smile placed itself on his lips.

"Likewise, Nick. I'm Leroy, Rachel's daddy. I just wanted to make sure you know that my little girl has to be home by 9.30 and no minute later. And she has to learn for her history test some more. I expect you to make sure she knows as much as possible" he said and grinned further at the sight of the boy breathing out relieved there was no awkward conversation to be held.

"I'll make sure of that. I'm gonna quiz her until she knows the answers to all the questions in the chapter. And don't worry about Rachel getting home too late. I will get her home safely and right on time" Nick promised and smiled at the father. Leroy nodded and turned back to the car.

"Have fun" he said in departure and smiled brightly. Rachel and Nick waved after the car until it turned at the crossing and they were left behind, the rain pouring down around them.

"Well, that was slightly awkward" Rachel concluded with a giggle, "come on, let's get in. It's horrible outside!"