A/N: I will say once more, I'm sorry for a late update. I actually had a good reason this time! My laptop crashed lol, just stopped working one day and I had to send it in to get fixed. I had most of the chapter done, I think I was just fixing up the ending. Then half of my chapter was wiped, thankfully most of it was saved so I had to re-write the ending here.

Thank you for the recent reviews, glad to know you guys are enjoying it. I hope I don't disappoint! Reviews are always welcome. :) Enjoy this next chapter!

(I hope I don't have to say but I will anyways, do not attempt to call/text that number, it is at random. If you do and get someone, that's on you lol)

A sharp tingling sensation caressed her skin and settled in the pit of her stomach. She was on edge. She could feel the butterflies swarming inside of her stomach, and not in a good my crush likes me kind of way. It was as if it were an alarm of a possible impending doom. She didn't like this at all and no matter how many times she shifted within her seat; she couldn't shake the feeling. She was feeling extremely jittery, and not in the way of having too much caffeine, which was a surprise due to the large amount she had guzzled recently. It seemed to be the only thing allowing her to function at this point. Her beauty sleep/routine was long gone, at least within the last few days. She stared intently before her, her chocolate orbs never once leaving the white board. She scribbled the notes anxiously determined to try on remaining focused with her current class.

Her foot tapped anxiously against her chair creating a small thudding sound to echo in their small space. A small, warm hand reached over and touched her forearm causing her to halt all her actions. She stiffened slightly at the sudden interruption. She glanced towards the random classmate that was seated next to her, she watched as her eyes flashed down towards the desk as a small, folded piece of paper slide discreetly towards the brunette. Her eyes glanced back towards the teacher to ensure his gaze was elsewhere before she pulled the note to her lap and cautiously opened it. 'Are you okay? -Krissy' it read. Rachel couldn't help but smile softly at the obvious question, who else could it possibly be from.

Instead of risk getting caught passing notes in class, she turned towards her classmate and nodded gently before turning her gaze back to the front. Needing a form of fidgeting, she gently tapped the eraser part of her pencil against her book creating another new sound. She could see the girl next to her turn towards her slightly and glance in her direction. She met her gaze and smiled sheepishly mouthing "Sorry" knowing she was probably disturbing another with her irritating antics. Of course, how dare she bring her distracting notions into the classroom of all places, there were some students who rather remain, well studious. Rachel was one of them, in fact she had often prided herself with her good grades and incredible ability of ignoring her fellow peers who rather do other things than focus on schoolwork.

Great, now here she was drifting off in class and not paying attention in the least. God, what was wrong with her! Her lips tightened into a thin line as she leaned forward in her chair hoping that this new change of posture will increase her ability to focus. It did not. Nevertheless, her gaze remained stern on the white board of scribbled notes trying to absorb as much information as possible. A gentle throat clearing reclaimed her attention as Krissy was nudging another note in her direction. She looked at the girl questioning before she slipped it to her lap and opened it once more. 'Clearly you are not okay, I won't pester you, but can you tell me one thing? Why is Quinn staring at you?'

Rachel's eyes widened as she looked up towards the girl seated beside her. She simply nodded her head, causing her adorable red curls to bounce against her shoulders. The Diva swallowed harshly, now she was even more stiff than she already was. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Was Quinn really watching her? She looked over her shoulder discreetly to confirm the accusation that Krissy had left her with. Instead of coming eye to eye with the hazels orbs she was so used of seeing, she saw Quinn glaring at Santana beside her, her lips moving in a near sneer. She could see Santana smirking triumphantly, obviously a cause for Quinn's glare and fowl behavior.

She redirected her gaze back to Krissy, of course. Someone else who wanted to lie to her. Rachel had never thought badly of the girl, she had this Krissy in several of her classes but had very little interaction. They often caught each other's gaze in the hallways and smiled politely, it never reached anything beyond that. Krissy seemed like a bit of a loner, like herself so they had often paired with each other in group or duo projects. She liked to work quietly with minimal interactions, which worked rather well for Rachel herself. She wasn't sure if they had yet to hold an actual conversation other than simple greetings and wishing the other a good evening and/or weekend. Krissy shrugged her shoulders and pointed towards her cellphone, signaling she wanted Rachel's number to make this quiet converse exchange a little more discreetly than passing a note and probably much more secretive. Rachel reached down and scribbled her number on the paper before sliding it back towards the girl. She saw a light smile graze along her lips as she tapped away in her cell phone. Shortly after she felt the device in her hand buzz with alert.

Tuesday, 9:04AM

235-408-2357: Well, she was staring at you! I swear it.

Rachel: She seemed rather occupied with Santana when I saw her…

Krissy: I swear it! I saw her watching you a little too much when she entered class and have been watching her closely this entire period, she hasn't looked away from you.

Rachel's eyes widened with this new information. That couldn't be right, right? Immediate panic bubbled in the pit of her stomach causing her to feel a bit queasy. Her palms began to sweat as the heat rose within her. She knows! She must! What other explanation could there possibly be!? She is going to plan my death now. I'm way too young to die, I didn't even get to have my first kiss yet or have sex for that matter. I'm going to do die a virgin! I know I told myself I was going to wait until I was 25 years old or win a Tony first. I haven't even lived yet! Her mind began to go on its own tangent nearly working her into a hyperventilating.

Tuesday, 9:10AM

Krissy: Um Rachel? Are you okay? You look like you're going to pass out.

The buzzing in her hand brought her back as she looked back down at her phone. She licked her lips slowly willing herself to calm down. Her fingers lingered over the keyboard of her phone, twitching with anxiety. She didn't know Krissy; she was one of the few girls in this entire school who was somewhat decent to her. Did she really want to inform the girl of how unpopular and a loser she truly was? If she played her cards right, this girl could actually become a friend.

Tuesday, 9:12AM

Rachel: Yes, I'm fine. I just had little to no sleep last night and I'm feeling rather lethargic.

Deciding it was best to give a half-truth rather than the full. It was a miracle already that Krissy didn't know of the dispute of the Rachel/Quinn saga that has been around for God knows how long. It has dated back so far that anyone who grew up in this godforsaken town knew about it. Krissy being a transfer student was a lifesaver in Rachel's eyes.

Tuesday, 9:13AM

Rachel: Truthfully, I have the no idea in the slightest to why our resident HBIC is staring so intently at me. Perhaps it was to admire my new state of dress as of late?

She could hear the girl beside her giggle quietly. Rachel turned towards her new acquired friend who was already gazing at her fondly. "You do look rather cute," she whispered. "I'm digging the new look, aside from the socks." She winked playfully before she went back to focusing on class.

A blush immediately blossomed on the Diva's cheeks. This was new. No one had ever complimented her before, never once has she ever been referred to as cute. She fidgeted in her seat, for an entirely new reason now. She couldn't help the bubble of excitement replace the previous one that was filled with anxiety.

However, her little joyous feeling was cut short when she heard the teacher clear his throat. She jumped slightly, lost in her own world. Her head casted downwards towards her paper gain in shame for being caught. Except, it was Santana's voice that chimed in instead. Her head whipped up and whirled around to see the teacher chastising the two cheerleaders for their conversing in the middle of his lesson. She breathed slowly feeling relief ease off her shoulder, she was fine.

Rachel attempted to focus the remaining minutes of class to get an idea of where she would need to study later. It didn't take long before the bell run and signaled the end of this class. She heard the chair beside her skid as her newfound friend stood up and smiled gently at the Diva. "I'll see you after lunch," Krissy said with a small wink before she left trying to beat the rest of the crowd.

Rachel smiled fondly at the girl. Perhaps this girl could make her high school a bit more bearable. "Stubbles got herself a girlfriend! Glad to see you finally moved on to a loser more your speed," Santana sneered as she roughly hip checked her as she walked by. Maybe not.

She could see the smirk in place of Santana's face in triumph daring Rachel to say anything. She knew better than to lash out at Santana, it would only cause more problems for her. Her gaze quickly moved to Quinn, she looked at her briefly with almost, there-is-absolutely-no-way, guilt written on her face. Well, that's definitely not true.

x x x

"She's not here you know." Words mumbled around a sandwich.

Light blue eyes gazed up towards hers and looked at her captain expectantly. Her eyes widened slightly in shock. Had she really been caught again? She would have to work on that and become more discreet. She turned her attention back to the food that was on her tray. They had been at least 15 minutes into their lunch hour and Quinn had barely touched her food. "Who's not here?" Quinn mumbled as she slowly picked up her sandwich to occupy her hands and make it seem like she was not actively looking for a certain brunette.

Brittany gave her a knowing look; in fact, she was rather irritated that Quinn thought she was stupid enough to not know exactly whom she was in search of. Brittany and Santana were seated directly across Quinn, she could see Quinn move in the corner of her eye. She knew that if Rachel was in the room, generally she was seated directly behind them a few tables down. They were seated in the back of the cafeteria against the wall. Most of the other Cheerios and jocks were seated further down the table leaving the three Cheerios in their own little bubble. They were all popular, sure. They were just on a different level than the rest of them. No one ever invaded Quinn's personal space unless she allowed you to, which is why Finn was so popular among the jocks and cheerleaders alike. He was one of the few allowed to invade her space and be within her presence without consequences.

Quinn glanced back up and shrugged her shoulders. "Britt, what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

A snicker signaled Santana's time to chime into the conversation, well this won't go well. Any time that Santana is involved usually leads to pending disaster. "B, she won't ever admit it. It's rather cute though. I just thought she would have better taste."

Bright baby blues continued to stare her down causing Quinn to shift uncomfortably under her gaze. Brittany was staring so intently at her, and it was making her twitchy. "B, what?'

Brittany just smiled in response and turned back to her tray in front of her. She reached down and picked up her sandwich once more. She took a small bite out of it and continued to stare at Quinn.

No one ever made Quinn feel nervous or flustered, but in this moment? She was both and the worst part is she had no idea why her body was reacting this way to the intense stare that Brittany was giving her. "Rachel. She's not here." Brittany responded trying to let Quinn calm down.

"Why would I care where she is?" Quinn attempted to play it off coolly as she took a big bite of her sandwich, in a rather aggressive manner.

"Because you were looking for her just now." Brittany said.

"I- "

"Q, don't even try to hide it from B. She sees everything. And you were." Santana chimed in, looking rather bored of the conversation. Normally this is something the fiery cheerleader would be enjoying, watching Quinn get flustered and panicked over a topic. She was getting a bit bored of the whole Berry thing; Quinn was taking all the fun out of it.

A light flush crawled up Quinn's face and settled on her face. She could feel her temperature rise, she just hoped it was an angry flush caressing her skin. "Why would I care where the Troll is? Finn told me he was going to ask her out today and I was just trying to find her for him. He told me he would do it around lunch time." She lied smoothly.

That knowingly look was back on Brittany's face. She placed her sandwich black on its plate and stared at Quinn, her eyes narrowing slightly as if to challenge her. Quinn's throat bobbed harshly. She was really a terrible liar; they knew that much. Brittany knew it was better to let this slide, for now. Quinn was too repressed to ever admit there might be more to her obsession than meets the eye, it will just be something for another time. She allowed her face to soften into a small smile and shrugged her shoulders in response. She hoped that she acted as if she believed Quinn's blatant lie and hopefully disarm the defensive stance she was taking. "Okay," she breathed.

"Wha….? Okay? That's it?"

The cheery blonde smiled a bit more brightly and nodded.

"You were just… How can you-? It doesn't make any…" She was stunned to say the least. Brittany was staring at her so intensely as if she knew something more than she was letting on, but to just let Quinn slip by so easily without even fighting her? Worse of all, Santana was staying eerily quiet throughout this entire exchange, she hardly seemed fazed by it all.

"Sense?" Santana finished the sentence for her. "Q, you know we don't question B here. My girl is a genius. She just sees that you are a pressed lemon and there isn't anything we can do to help that." Speaking of Santana.

"Pressed lemon? What the does that mean?" She grumbled and glared at her best friend.

"Why are you taking offense to something you don't even know the meaning to? You know what, why bother. You take offense to everything. I think you need to get laid." Santana shrugged her shoulders. She hardly even realized what she had said.

Brittany elbowed her in the side roughly causing Santana to look at her questioningly. The blonde nodded her head towards their captain sitting directly across from them. A dark, angry glare was set in her features. Her lips were curled into a snarl. Now Santana was never one to be afraid of Quinn, in fact she and Britt were the only ones in the school that weren't bothered by their captain. It was one of the few reasons they could hang out with her, Quinn didn't scare them in the least. At least, until now. Santana swallowed in fear. This was the first and only time she actually feared Quinn. "Look, Q, I didn't…"

"I would shut your mouth while you are ahead Santana." Quinn was sneering. Her voice dropped an octave into a harsh whisper. It was as if it was physically hurting her to speak so softly. "You're one to talk, with all those secret glances you give. I see the way you look at her. You act tough but really, you're just a scared and insecure little girl who will get turned down."

Quinn should have taken her own advice and stopped while she was ahead as well. She said one too many things. She could see she had Santana backed into a corner, but the moment the last sentence had passed through her lips, Santana regained her control. She sized Quinn up reasonably with her own glare set on her features. "I don't know what the fuck you think you're talking about Fabray, but you should look in the mirror. Pot calling the kettle black." She bit back.

"That's racist." Brittany chimed in.

The head cheerleader gave her one last glare before she got up and roughly shoved her tray away. She stalked off hotly. She needed to get out of this place, she needed air. It felt too stuffy. The air felt sticky and thick.

Her legs were taking her more than she knew where she was going. She felt so claustrophobic and just a need to get outside. Her head was reeling, and she had no idea why she was even feeling this way. The only thoughts in her head were that she needed to get outside, or she might pass out. Thankfully for the HBIC, the hallways were deserted during the lunch hour. There may have been a few stragglers around, but most of them would dive out of her way, literally. She swears she saw a kid squeak and leap into an empty classroom. It would have been funny if she wasn't in such a foul state. Her emotions were everywhere, she couldn't even begin to pinpoint what she was feeling. The only things sure thing was that she never hated Santana more than she did in this moment.

She felt her shoulder hit something rather roughly, she could feel the pain register in her arm but not in her brain. She could feel the ache begin to set in and throb as it crawled down her arm. She was unsure what she had just run into, nor did she seem to care.

"Oh, my. I'm terribly-" A small voice echoed in her head.

She had to get away, she knew that voice and it was one she didn't want near her. It echoed and followed her causing her to sprint down the hallway. Damn the school rules. She couldn't be sure if the voice called out to her, or it was her imagination. Perhaps even wishful thinking?

Quinn will never laugh over the overexaggerated things in action movies, more specifically, the sound of muffled noises and loud ringing in your ears. The disoriented feeling of dizziness wash over you are causing your vision to blur. In action movies, these things tend to happen during a large explosion that someone was standing to close to. Someone should really tell the directors that it happens to teenage girls in a fiery rage, panic, fear and whatever else was coursing through her at this moment. The head cheerleader had no sense of time to how long she had been running, or where she was even going. All she could hear was the loud echoing sounds of her feet pounding against the ground, her ragged breathing puffing out harsh breaths. She had no idea why she was even running, what was causing her to flee? The only thing racing through her brain was to get out, get away.

x x x

Well, I suppose these answers why she is head cheerleader at such a ripe young age, especially since we are only sophomores. She had to pause and catch her breath, she certainly didn't have the stamina to keep up with someone who does it nearly every single day, and with such speed too. She pressed her body against the lockers to help hold her up briefly as she continued to pant heavily. "I guess it shows that my elliptical only helps so much." She puffed. She was rather active with her work out routines, using the machine she thought it was the same amount of cardio as running would be, just a bit shy it seemed.

After a few seconds she pushed herself off the wall and continued to venture in the direction she had saw the head cheerleader go. Seeing her in the state she was in, it seemed like she was running from something, if Rachel knew anything about fear and needing to get away, she knew Quinn would go somewhere that would help her calm down to gather herself again. For Rachel, that would be the Auditorium, a place where she often spent a lot of her lunch hours and after school hours in. For Quinn though, that was a completely different situation.

Rachel knew Quinn wouldn't leave school grounds. She was a very studious student; she was always on the honor roll in their school and often beat Rachel herself at several topics of their shared classes. So, there is no way someone like that would risk missing the remaining day of school unless it was truly a serious reason. Her mind began to run with worry, all the worse possible scenarios began to play out. What if she was hurt? What if someone did something to her?

Rachel knew following the girl was a bad idea, even if something was wrong with Quinn, the cheerleader would never indulge Rachel in the details. In fact, this was worse than bad, this was a horrible idea, if she was angry, she would take it out on someone, and Rachel seeking her out could cause more problems for Rachel herself. It really was more trouble that it was worth to search for the blonde, but at the same time the Diva was not one to leave someone alone, no matter who it was. She could easily tell that the girl was in some sort of desperation, which was more than a valid reason to continue her search.

She continued to follow the hallways of school, peeking in classrooms as she went along. Most of them empty, she didn't see a single soul her entirety. At this point during their lunch break, it was not unusual. Reaching the end of the school with no visible signs, she decided to try looking outside. Perhaps the track/football field, the cheerleader did spend an awful lot of time there due to practicing.

Her stomach twisted in a nervous knot as she pushed the double doors open leading to the outside field. Her eyes flinched closed with the bright sun rays. Her hands blocked some of the brightness away from her eyes as they fluttered to get used of the change in light. Her chocolate orbs scanned the empty football field in hopes of finding a certain cheerleader. No luck, she continued to move out towards the open field thinking she was hiding somewhere else.

x x x

Her chest felt tight, there was a burning sensation deep within her lungs making each deep breath painful. It was different for the blonde cheerio; she welcomed the pain that came alongside a good run. The loud thundering of her footsteps below her feet were beginning to slow as she was coming to a halt. Her breaths came out in pants as she tried to catch her breath. Her hands rested on her hips as she wandered around the empty football field. She felt herself coming back to ground, the short ran she had was enough to clear her head with whatever was troubling her. She couldn't be exactly sure what splurged this newfound emotion. She opted to sit on the bleacher to help catch her breath. As she was moving towards the bleachers, something underneath it caught her eye. Moving around the bleachers, she came across a small, chained fence. Inside she could see two benches and something that looked like a rolled-up rug stuffed under it. There was a pile of cigarette butts shoved in a corner. It reeked badly by several different scents that she couldn't pinpoint to just one.

Quinn eased herself through the fence and took a seat on the bench, it was secluded and quiet. It really would be a good place to hide out if she ever needed to in the future. Considering that is exactly what is she doing now, she opted to spend the remaining lunch hour here out of the eyes of others. It wouldn't take long before someone searched for her, most likely it being her fellow Cheerios. Her eyes moved around to examine more of the area, it didn't take long to realize who this usual hang out spot belonged to, the Skanks. They were rather an unusual group, delinquents mostly. She could see someone carving out their group name in the metal post of the bleacher stand.

"Quinn?" A voice cut through her thoughts, and she bit back a groan. So much for being alone. "Is that you?" Of course, it was the one person she really didn't want to see right now, aside from Santana that is. Maybe if I stay quiet, she won't see me.

She could hear the soft footsteps of Rachel scuff against the dirt surrounding the bleachers. "Maybe it wasn't. I swear I heard someone." She breathed. "Please don't be a Skank." She pleaded

Quinn's lips couldn't help but curl into a smile, it was no surprise that Rachel would fear the Skanks. Most people did. She closed her eyes to wait for the girl to give up and move on to a different location.

"Oh, it was you. Thank goodness, I don't know what I would do if it was one of those Skanks." Rachel looked genuinely happy to see her. Which was a surprise. Their last actual conversation wasn't exactly a pleasant one that ended up with Quinn running away from. Rachel was the one who was more defensive and unwilling to be the friendly one in that encounter. The only other encounter shouldn't be considered an encounter, no words were exchanged other than Quinn's usual degrading name to make Rachel run leaving Finn to her wrath.

She closed her eyes and pursed her lips together as she heard the girl move closer to her. "What do you want?" She whispered harshly. Her hazel orbs moved up to look at the approaching diva. She saw her pause obviously noticing the foul behavior that still lingered around Quinn. Her mouth opened, then closed. For once, it seemed like she was struggling on what to say and was a loss for words. "If you have nothing to say, leave."

"No." Came a simple response.

Well, that was certainly not the answer she was expecting. Quinn narrowed her eyes at the girl who resumed to move cautiously closer to her. She hesitated with each small step she took. The head cheerleader never said anything more, hoping the other girl would elaborate. There was no response as Rachel simply took a seat beside her leaving a decent amount of space between them. Her brown eyes broke their gaze and looked out towards the field with the little visual they had between the seats and steps.

Quinn continued to stare at the girl with a glare in place, but it seemed to unvexed the diva seated beside her. Obviously, she wasn't going to say anything, so Quinn looked out towards the field feeling rather uneasy about the situation. In a strange way, she felt relaxed. The silence between them was a bit awkward, but she didn't see the need to fill it. Whenever they talked, it always ended with a fight anyways.

"I don't know why you seemed to be in a panic before, I just…" She paused, taking a deep breath as if to steel herself for the rest of her sentence. "I suppose I wanted to ensure your safety. People tend to make thoughtless decisions in the heat of the moment."

"You don't even know? Why are you really here?" Quinn asked.

"Just to make sure you were okay. You don't have to share Quinn, I don't expect anything, I promise."

Quinn just nodded in response, not that Rachel could see anything. Both of their gazes seemed fixed on the field. Silence engulfed them once more and oddly enough, Quinn seemed content to just sit here with Rachel in that silence. She could still see that something was different about Rachel. That desperation seemed to vanish overnight.

"Finn…" The brunette paused. Quinn looked back over at the girl waiting for her to continue. Rachel continued to avoid her gaze. She could see the brunette's lip disappear between her teeth as she chewed on it clearly nervous with whatever she wanted to say. "He um, he asked me out. I never gave him an answer though, I told him I would let him know at lunch time." She breathed.

So, he did do it, I wonder why he never told me. Rachel looked back towards her, their eyes locking as they tried to gauge each other's reaction. "Why are you telling me?" Quinn challenged.

"I felt guilty. I know you two are broken up, I also know I was relentless to gain his favor. I didn't expect it at all, in fact it was quite the surprise. I'll admit, my coming here to find you was partially because of my guilty conscience. I had thought you were escaping because you had found out about his plans with me." She looked away shyly.

"Uh thanks, I guess. But I really don't care what he does. I'm over him." Quinn shrugged her shoulders.

This announcement caused Rachel to whip her head back in the direction of the cheerleader. "Are you sure? I mean, it is not uncommon knowledge that you two spend quite a bit of time together outside of school grounds even after your breakup."

Shit. Quinn flinched; they would have to be more careful about that. She could only assume Finn was either bragging about all the time he spent at the Fabray residence after school and on the weekends, or that creepy JewFro kid was stalking her again. "I don't care Rachel, do whatever you want with him." She grumbled. She let her guard down around the girl and Rachel seemed to be taking advantage of that allowing them to have a somewhat decent conversation that didn't have any insults thrown at each other.

"Oh, well then. My apology for assuming Quinn. I'll just leave you alone then." She gave a soft smile and stood up. She brushed her skirt down from any dust. "Make sure you have something to eat, class should be resuming soon. You shouldn't go the rest of the school day without proper nutrition." Rachel didn't say anything more before she turned and left.

Quinn looked after the girl as she left. It was a rather strange encounter. Figuring it was time for her to head back inside anyways to try and find something to eat, she stood up and brushed herself off much like Rachel had before her. She looked back down on the bench to find a granola bar sitting there in the spot the brunette had been seated before. She couldn't help but shake her head but scooped it up, nonetheless. This would at least help tide her over.