Something strikes Rachel as vaguely familiar when she hears Puck sarcastically mention his feelings journal. But it's just that - vaguely familiar.
She completely forgets about it until a few days later when she gets her English essay back. She's in the same class as Puck and Finn. When Puck shows her his essay with a big red "A" at the top, he says, "Take that, high school guidance counselor." She thinks it's a little weird, but it could just be a coincidence.
Rachel has her suspicions when Mr. Schue asks Puck for a word and he replies, "Anthropomorphic. All yours, big guy."
But when Rachel hears Puck refer to himself as a "danger-loving, girl-touching rock star", she knows.
Puck watches Veronica Mars.
Rachel decides she's going to catch him at his own game.
When Puck gets caught playing a prank on Coach Sylvester, she tells him, "Noah Puckerman, you are just trouble. All caps, underlined, written in bold." He does a double take.
As Rachel is sitting down next to Puck one day at lunch, she looks down at his tray and says, "Fish sticks and chocolate milk. Yuck! That can't be good for you." Puck definitely gives her a funny look.
After accompanying Matt to his cousin's wedding, Puck asks Rachel how her date went. Rachel's reply is, "Oh, you know. Lousy conversation, but the sex was fantastic." This time Puck isn't the only person giving her a funny look.
Puck finally has to take Rachel aside after he makes a lewd comment about the size of his junk and Rachel responds by saying, "Well let's see it. I mean, if it's as big as you say, I'll be your girlfriend. We could go to prom together."
Puck grabs Rachel's arm and drags her into the hallway, leaving the glee room full of snickering teammates.
They stand in front of each other with their arms crossed. Puck figures he can intimidate Rachel, but the longer she stands there not saying anything, the more nervous he gets. Obviously, she knows. He knows she knows. He just can't figure out a way of getting out of this with his manhood still intact.
He finally cracks.
"Look, my mom watches it. She wanted us to bond...and it's not awful. She's, like, badass, y'know, for a midget."
"Oh, Noah. Veronica Mars is a wonderful show. She's a strong female character with a very strong sense of right and wrong. She's a role model to the young women of our generation."
"Right. I don't give a crap about that. Badass. S'all I care about."
"As your girlfriend, you could have told me you enjoy watching this program. It's another activity we can do together!" Rachel claps her hands as she says it.