It was almost time for Glee and she found it difficult to go through the afternoon without thinking about Berry. She hated that her instincts wanted to care for the midget like some Mama bear who couldn't find her cub. She wonders what could have made Rachel so down that she had to resort to isolating herself in a dressing room to cry. Then she realized that not too long ago she was in that very same situation.

'Finn has the emotional depth of a plank of a wood,' she thinks. Perhaps Berry's issue does lie in her suckish love life. She pushed her thoughts aside and made her way down the hallway towards the choir room. Berry wasn't there yet, which was certainly odd. She was usually one of the first persons in the choir room. As usual the room was a abuzz with conversation. Mike and Finn were going over a dance number at the center of the room, with Blaine watching along encouragingly, while Puck and Sam were playing guitar and singing acoustic covers of old rock hits. The others were busy with their own small group conversations. As she made her way through the doorway, she weighed her options.

'If I sit with Quinn, I sit with Brittany and by default Artie and I can barely handle seeing just Brittany right now so .. '

As the last thought crossed her mind she halted her movements and landed herself in the first row directly opposite from them. She did not even bothering to look back at them, she just couldn't. She had sat herself in the seat right next to .. Kurt .. perfect. She cringed inwardly at herself before sneaking a glance at Kurt and Mercedes, who was sat right next to him. They were eyeing her cautiously with confused faces. She shot them the fakest smile she could muster before rolling her eyes slightly and slouching deeper into her chair. She reached under her Cheerio's skirt and pulled out her phone. She sometimes liked to tuck it in her spankies when her backpack was in the locker room, like now, or for when she just was on the move or needed to be sneaky.

She wiped at the screen and immediately maneuvered her way onto Instagram. The annual Fall fashion shows were coming up and she always enjoyed the Pre-show looks that various artists and models would drop on her feed. She got lost on her feed, going from page to page that she did not even notice that from her side, Kurt and Mercedes still had their eyes on her .. observing her. That was, until she heard them.

"OMG! Is that Billy Porter?!" Kurt questioned in a screech that was unusually high even for him. She turned her head slowly to face them to find that their eyes were now glued to her phone screen. I

"Uhhh .. yea it is," she said once the initial shock had died down, "you guys fans?" she asked with a smirk.

"Fans? OFCOURSE we are!" Kurt exclaimed while Mercedes nodded enthusiastically. "I didn't peg YOU for a fan though", he continued with a look of disbelief and a ping of amusement.

"Fan? Pfft, I've met the guy," she bragged with the cocky roll of her eyes.

Kurt's eyes grew the size of saucers and was about to say something when Mr. Schue walked in with a folder in his hand gesturing for everyone to get seated and quiet down.

"Alright guys! I know Sectionals is still many weeks away but .." his voice trailed as he looked around the room, his forehead creasing as his eyes continued to scan. "Where's Rachel?" he finally asked.

Santana's brows furrowed to match his countenance, before she quickly schooled her features. 'Rachel skipped Glee?!' By the looks of the faces of everyone in the room she could assume that they were all just as surprised as she was.

"Finn?" Mr. Schue called out, "Do you know where she is?" he asked as all eyes moved to the boy in question. She internally rolled her eyes. Finn had on his 'concentration' face. His eyes were looking up to the heavens and his tongue jutted out against his upper lip as he scrambled through his brain for info on the whereabouts of his off-again on-again girlfriend.

"Uhhh .. dunno," he finally responded. The shrug of his shoulders saying that it wasn't a big deal but his raised left brow indicating that he was at the very least curious.

'Maybe it had something to do with her being in the dressing room today .. and maybe it didn't have to do with Finn after all?' Whatever it was that was keeping Rachel away from Glee today, Santana was sure that she did not want her friends to know.

"Maybe we should call her?" Kurt suggested bringing everyone's focus back to the room and out of their disorganized thoughts. The others in the room nodded and hummed their agreement. Except Santana.

"NO!" she exclaimed, a little louder than she had intended, cringing a little at the tone and emotion displayed in her voice. She cleared her throat before carefully continuing feeling as a though a blazing spotlight was now being shone upon her. "I met her on her way out .. she said she couldn't make it today and that she'd talk to you guys tomorrow," she said with a nod at the end, satisfied with what she was able to come up with given the situation.

The others look skeptical, especially Finn and Mr. Schue, but they all seemed to be willing to let it go .. for now. They were probably trying to piece together whether or not Sue and the Cheerios were already up to no good this early in the school year, but pointing fingers without evidence would do no good. But that wouldn't stop their inner wheels from turning and Santana could handle that much.

She didn't think she could do with anymore lying for the girl. She didn't even know why she was doing it in the first place. Mr. Schue began his usual spiel in an attempt to get them to sing outdated love songs, with a few protests from some of the Glee members. Santana was too dazed to make any snarky comments or to focus on any of the discussions.

Glee was over and the Cheerios practice that followed was enough to have Santana deep under the sheets of her bed. Her father was still at work and her mom was in the kitchen wiping up some pozole for dinner. It was her dad's favorite and her mother liked to treat to him every now and then with good food after long hours at the hospital. He was a general surgeon who often worked long hours in the ER, which sometimes meant spending many hours away from his family. Her mother worked regular hours as an elementary school teacher and so they often had dinners alone without her father. It hurt sometimes, but they understood it, they understood each other.

She had homework to finish, but her body was still exhausted from her day. She figured she could just gain some energy from dinner to get her going. She let out a deep sigh, staring through a gap between the pile of pillows she had stacked on top of her. Her ceiling was filled with small stars that lit up her otherwise dark room. They had been there ever since she was a little girl, too afraid of the dark to close both of her eyes and stay away from her parents' bed.

She hadn't had a bad day at school. Brittany had stopped trying to reach out, finally respecting the space that she was trying to set for herself. She wasn't behind in any of her classes and she was surprisingly okay with the weekly assignment from Glee club. It wasn't a bad day, but that isn't to say it wasn't a strange one. Only one thing .. no .. one person made it that way. Rachel Barbara Berry.

She sighed and sat up on her bed, letting the pillows and sheets slide right off of her. She still felt as though there was one more thing she needed to do. She didn't care .. she shouldn't care. But she'll do it anyway, just to get her stupid brain to shut up. Or at least that was the excuse she was holding on to. She felt for her phone under the sheets and once she found it she went to the Glee group chat and scrolled through its members until she saw her name. She opened a new chat and sent the girl a short message.

Once it was done and over with she groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and onto her feet, stretching her limbs from floor to ceiling as she did. By the smell of it, dinner was almost ready and her stomach could not wait to be filled. Tomorrow would be an interesting day.