As soon as the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Rachel made her way straight for the doors. She had no intention of going to Glee today. Hiding from her friends was exhausting and she just wanted to go home and feel the comfort of her cotton pillows and satin sheets.

As exhausting a day as it was, she had to admit that her lunch was … surprisingly pleasant. She never thought the day would come when she would describe time spent alone with Santana Lopez as pleasant. Heck, she never thought she would survive a one on one encounter with the girl.

She let out a sigh of relief as she pushed open her front door. It was the earliest she'd been home from school in a while. Her fathers were still at work so she had a couple of hours to herself.

She spent most of her evening scrolling through Broadway performances on Youtube before eventually growing frustrated with herself. Ordinarily she found pleasure in watching these performances. She kept a record of almost every performer she'd watched along with notes on their various performances and performing styles. But today, all she could think about while she watched was how much a failure she was.

She had always prided herself as a perfectionist and no matter the situation, she always gave her all whenever she step foot on stage. Whether it was the 3x3 plywood on her neighbor's porch with family and friends watching or the nationals stage with hundreds watching her, she was going to knock everyone's socks off with a Rachel Berry performance.

'Where had that Rachel Berry gone?' she sighed to herself as she blankly stared off into the distance. Her hands sat on her chest as it rose and fell with her slow, deep-in-thought breathing. She know it was unfair of herself to have such expectations, but she could not help it. Some may find her obsession and dedication to her craft annoying and over the top, but she knew that it always came with extraordinary results .. or at least it did. She shook her head to chase away the swarming thoughts. They were beginning to feel grey and heavy and she knew how easy it was for them to overwhelm her.

Maybe she needed .. a break? Maybe that was it. A cheat day .. days? No... it was definitely practice. She needed more practice and taking today off was already setting her back by miles.

As for today, she was already at it so, might as well commit .. right? She popped in the disk of one of her favorite Broadway movies and fished in her backpack for one of her textbooks. Broadway and World History homework ... that should do it.

Her parents were back and busy in the kitchen preparing dinner together. She could hear them singing and laughing together and knew they'd be calling her down to eat any minute now. They respected her privacy and tried to give her time to herself to do as she pleases, but they also insisted on dedicated family time and mandatory meals together was one way they achieved that.

The musical was halfway through its second run and her homework was now mostly completed. It would have been done already had her mind and thoughts cooperated with her. As if she had not given herself enough to do with the movie and the homework. She sighed.

She couldn't help but think about her lunch time encounter. She had so many questions, but she knew better than to think she was in any position to ask some of them. After all, spending almost an hour together with someone in an agreeable silence doesn't really give someone any leeway.

"Rachel, dinner's almost ready! Can you come down and set the table please," she heard her father Hiram below from the kitchen.

"Will be right down!" she called out in reply. Quickly and neatly she put away the book and stack of papers she had scattered on her bed and switched off the television in her room. She was on her way to her doorway when she heard a double beep tone coming from her phone. Her forehead crinkled in confusion. All of her close friends and important chats had special tones dedicated to them, so this message was certainly out of the ordinary.

She went back to her bed where her phone was laying and unlocked it to find out who was trying to reach her. The message came from an unsaved number, but from the message alone she could tell who had sent it and she could not help the warmth that filled her chest and floated down to the depths of her stomach as she read it.

"I don't know what happened and you do not have to tell me, but whatever it is ... it'll pass ... you'll get through it Rachel. Also, don't worry about Glee, I covered for you."