Hello! I'm back with another chapter. Hope you enjoy this one :D

The first weeks of school were going great, just as Rachel had imagined. She had no trouble joining the cheerleaders, and cute boys were starting to notice her around the halls. She knew Monica was also having some trouble fitting in, but they still used to have lunch together every day like they had done since they were children.

She also noticed that Monica's brother also waved at her a lot. He said hi every time they crossed paths in the hallway, even on the rare occasions when she wasn't with his sister. She knew he was just trying to be nice to her, but she never really thought of him as someone she could be friends with. He was her best friend's geeky older brother with weird afro hair.

It was now Thursday, and Rachel had just finished cheerleading practice. She and the other girls were changing their uniforms in the changing room.

"Wow, you are amazing, Rachel!" Sarah, another cheerleader, said to her.

"Thanks! My older sisters also used to do cheerleading, and I spent years practising with them," Rachel explained, excited to be able to share her passion.

"Look, the other girls and me will meet Katie tomorrow to practice. Want to join us?" Sarah asked.

"Sure!" Rachel said.

Later that afternoon, Rachel sat at the library with her books spread across the table while doing her homework with Monica.

"So, Rach, how was cheerleading today?" Monica asked excitedly. She wasn't into gossiping like Rachel, but she loved to hear the stories about Rachel's days, which were far more interesting than hers.

"It was great. Sarah invited me to go with the rest of the girls to Katie's tomorrow; To practice a bit outside school."

"Great! You totally should go!" Monica said while she wrote an answer in her book.

She hadn't looked directly at Rachel when she spoke. She was happy for her friend, but at the same time, she felt a little jealous. Rachel had been invited to hang out with other popular girls while Monica would stay at home, probably baking cookies. It was just a matter of time until her friend started to trade her for the other girls, just like she feared on the eve of their first school day.

"So, has Liam asked you out already?" Monica changed the subject when she noticed the little hearts with the letters R and L in the middle that Rachel was drawing at the edges of her notebook. The reality was that she just wanted to talk about anything else, hoping her friend hadn't noticed her slight jealousy.

It worked as she expected because Rachel turned to her, ready to talk about her crush.

"Oh noo. But I can tell you that Liam is totally into me; just wait. He will ask me out before you know it."

"I hope he will, Rach! Finally, you will have a boyfriend! Maybe I can get one too, and then we can talk about them!"

Rachel agreed. Then, she lowered her head, and Monica knew she was about to tell her some gossip.

"Speaking about that: do you know whom I think is into me too? Your brother!"

"Whaat?! No way!" Monica yelled louder than she intended, receiving a not friendly glare from Mrs Altman, the old librarian.

"I know. But every time that Ross sees me in the hallway, he says 'hi' and gives me that awkward smile."

Now that Rachel said it, Monica started to see she had a point. Whenever Rachel was mentioned, Ross ran into the conversation. He always made sure that he was the first to see her when she came over, and he would stare at her with the most idiotic face Monica had seen. How had she never noticed his brother had a crush on her best friend? Oh, he was so screwed. She loved her brother, but he could drive her insane at times, and now she had the perfect blackmailing tool.

"Oh my god, Rach!" She shook her head, trying to get the awful image of her head.

She must have again yelled louder than she was supposed because she received another even less friendly glare from Mrs Altman. She took the hint, and they both headed back to work. After all, they still had homework to do, even if Rachel cared a lot less than Monica about it.

Time went by, and Rachel started hanging out more with the other cheerleaders. They would often make plans to hang out after school and have lunch together. Rachel loved to be with them. They all shared her passion for cheerleading and gossiping, which Rachel could not get enough of. Besides, some of them were older and more popular, which helped Rachel become more popular.

She loved the feeling of being known by everyone and having all the boys staring at her. However, she just wanted one guy to notice her: Liam Collins. He was older than her and had the most beautiful green eyes Rachel had seen. And she could bet he had a smoking hot body because he was also a player in the football team. She could not remember how many pages she had written about him in her diary and how many times she had drifted off in class, daydreaming of him.

"I saw him once taking his shirt off before entering the changing room after the game, and Oh My God, I wish I could just touch him!" Katie exclaimed. Rachel loved to talk with Monica about her crush; she did it all the time. But being at the lunch table gossiping about the football players and who was crushing on who felt different. Not better, but also great.

Meanwhile, Monica sat alone at another table, watching Rachel giggle with the other popular girls. They used to have lunch together, but now Rachel had lunch with the other girls and made plans to hang out with them without her. The sting of jealousy she felt in her chest grew each day. Maybe she had been right, and Rachel was not her friend anymore. At least not like they used to be. Rachel was now a popular girl, and she was just the fat girl, Monica.

At the end of the day, Ross and Monica walked together through the school campus when they spotted Rachel at the football field, dressed in her white and red outfit. She was talking with a black-haired guy, clearly flirting with him. Ross could tell by how she flipped her hair at him and laughed when he passed her a water bottle. The guy seemed like a jerk.

He could understand why every guy was flirting with Rachel. What he did not understand was why Rachel flirted with them back. How could she like those guys who only cared about sports and perfect looking hair? He had been trying to get her attention since they started to go to the same school, but it had been useless. And he knew he needed to find a way for Rachel to notice him before she started to date the Mr Perfect.

He just had yet to figure out how he would do it.