N/A Once again, a HUMONGOUS thank you for the reviews/favourites/alerts etc. I know some people don't read the N/As, but I generally mean it; you guys are important to me. Sorry for the lateness of this update; I got a job and it's been crazy hectic.

As it's Christmas, I just want to say I hope you all had a happy and healthy one. One of my best friends had some sad news only a couple of days before Christmas about a family member and honestly, through out today (Christmas day) I didn't stop thinking about her and her family. I truly felt the real meaning of Christmas this year and I made sure to appreciate every second of it. Some people wouldn't have been able to have Christmas this year for a huge range of reasons; homelessness, being a soldier, nurse, police officer, fire fighter, losing someone, war, floods etc. so I didn't care about the presents, the food or any materialistic stuff, I just really enjoyed the company of my parents, grandparents and my brother. Sorry for sounding so cheesy, but it really only hit me this Christmas. Hope you all had a nice day too. Lots'a love.

Enjoy, my little stories buddies. xxx

"Yo, where were you last night bro?!"

"And then she said that she totally didn't like him back; it was crazy…"

"Then I drank it thinking it was milk… but it was definitely not milk…"

"No way! I thought that he was gay!"

"So then I told the doctor that I hadn't even had sex, so how the hell can I be pregnant!"

"… my mum always thought I was a boy."

Rachel shook her head as she squeezed her way down the corridor. It was rush hour at the moment and the students were buzzing. Girls were chatting animatedly by their lockers; jocks were chucking the ball over the heads of other students, while the teachers tried to push their way through the crowd. Rachel just kept her head down as she followed Quinn to the head teacher's office; she would be thankful when she got out of this crazy crowd.

The ride to school was really fun in Rachel's opinion. Quinn and Ella had already been at breakfast when Rachel had made her way down. It was either porridge or fruit salad and Rachel had never really been one for eating in the early hours, so she settled for a cool fruit salad and tucked in as Ella explained what would happen when they got to school.

Quinn's car was a little, fairly worn, red Volkswagen beetle and smelt like fresh clean linen sheets. The brunette had smiled when Ella offered her the front passenger seat, as the small blonde took the backseat. Quinn had been pleasant and made sure that Rachel wasn't too nervous and had all the things she needed. As soon as they set off on their journey to school, Quinn turned the radio on so it was playing faintly in the background. Rachel turned towards her as if to ask why she wanted it on, but the blonde gave her a small smile and then concentrated back onto the road. The slight silence didn't last long, as Ella heard the radio tune into a song that she loved; AC/DC 'Highway To Hell'. She demanded that Rachel turned the volume up high, as Ella belted out the lyrics while head-banging in the backseat. It must have been normal, as Quinn laughed while rolling her eyes. The best part for Rachel was when they had to stop at a red light and the old couple next to them looked at a head-banging Ella like she was crazy, so Rachel bit her lip feeling a little daring and joined in, banging her head in time with the music. As they drove off from the light, Rachel collapsed into a fit of laughter and not before long; Ella and Quinn were joining in. Those old people must have thought they had just been let out of the nut house, which to be honest, wasn't far from the truth.

Quinn and Rachel finally made it out of the busy corridor and into the warmth and peacefulness of the reception lobby, just off from Mr Figgins's office. Quinn told the receptionist that Rachel was here to sign in and get her timetable for the day. The brunette was going to tell the blonde that she was more than capable of telling the receptionist herself, but when Quinn turned around and gave her a bright smile, Rachel let the sentence die before escaping her mouth. Usually she wouldn't like depending on someone, as she was constantly let down, but with Quinn she let herself feel relaxed.

"Mr Figgins will just give you your timetable and then let you go off to homeroom," Quinn smiled as she took the seat just off to the right of the little lobby.

Rachel nodded back and joined Quinn on the other seat, brushing her nervous hands down her jeans. She was going to wear a skirt today but then realised that with this October weather, it wouldn't have been a good idea. She was only joining a month after the start of the September semester, so she shouldn't be too far behind on work. Plus, Rachel would say that it was more than achievable to catch up and even overtake other students on her work; she was a quick learner.

"Rose, you can send in Miss Berry now, thank you," a voice came over the intercom and Rachel assumed it was her head teacher.

The receptionist looked up at the two girls and nodded them in. Was she ever going to actually speak?

Quinn automatically stood up and walked up to the office door, just ahead of Rachel.

"It's okay Quinn, I can find my way from here," Rachel said, not wanting to be a nuisance to the blonde.

Quinn stilled from the door and stepped back, shaking her head a little. Rachel was right, was she being to bossy? She just wanted to make sure that Rachel was okay here and that the brunette settled in easily. She didn't know why she was so nervous to make sure Rachel was safe in her new school, she hadn't done this to any of the other newbies, but there was something about the brunette that made Quinn feel protective. She also felt like she needed to make a good impression on Rachel, seeing as the brunette seemed to be trying the same on everyone at Stoneson, it only seemed fair that they did the same to her, right?

"Yeah, you're right, sorry. I'll, umm, I'll just get going…" Quinn said, not really looking Rachel in the eye, but rather looking a little lost.

The brunette immediately regretted saying that to Quinn. Maybe the girl wanted to do this for her? She probably helped all the new ones settle in.

"No, stay. Sorry, I didn't mean that you had to go; I just didn't want to be in your way," Rachel smiled, tucking some hair behind her ear.

Quinn finally looked at the brunette in the eye and just saw friendliness and warmth, like lots of warmth and chocolate, deep chocolate. Averting her gaze once more, she finally turned the handle to Mr Figgins office.

"It's fine, I'll come with you, you're not in my way," Quinn said quietly, pushing the door open and ushering Rachel in.

Mr Figgins looked up from his desk and smiled at his new student, swaying his arm to point at the two chairs opposite his desk.

Rachel and Quinn went to sit down in the two chairs, but that's when Quinn finally realised the fourth person in the room. Sat just behind the door was Santana, filing her nails. Quinn grinned at her friend but then her eyebrows furrowed confusedly. Why was Santana here?

She didn't say anything just yet, but gave Santana a little wave, who just nodded her greeting back. Sitting down next to Rachel, Mr Figgins finally began to speak.

"Welcome to McKinley High School Rachel," he smiled, "it's good to have you here."

"Well, thank you for accepting my application," Rachel smiled back, twisting her hands in her lap.

"Of course! Your application was wonderful; you have a lot of achievements young lady. Winning a dance competition at the age of 4 is excellent and then a National singing competition at the age of 5 is incredible! We should be saying thank you to you for giving this school the opportunity to have you here," Mr Figgins laughed whole-heartedly.

Quinn's eyebrows furrowed when she heard that Rachel sings and dances. Obviously there was a hell of a lot that Quinn didn't know about the girl, but she was surprised to hear that Rachel was so talented at such a young age. She wanted to know more about Rachel; if the girl would so kindly let her.

Rachel ducked her head and had a small bashful smile gracing her lips. She had forgotten about those competitions; it was so long ago. She hadn't sung since… well, since that day…

"Anyway, your homeroom is with Mrs Dowan and here's your timetable of lessons," Mr Figgins smiled and passed Rachel two sheets of paper.

Quinn grinned that they shared the same homeroom teacher before peering over Rachel's timetable and smiling even more when she saw that they shared English, Math, Home Economics and Gym.

Rachel was looking over her timetable and smiled when she realised it didn't look too bad; she had quite a few free lessons.

"I was going to have Santana here be your buddy, but seeing as it looks like you've already met Quinn, she can be your buddy," Mr Figgins smiled back, sorting out some paper work on his messy desk.

Rachel looked confused before she turned in her chair and saw the person that he had pointed at. She was a little taken aback to find out there was someone else in the room, but relaxed when the dark haired girl smiled at her. Rachel thought the girl looked amazing, her fashion sense was really confident and her hair was nearly the same length as Rachel's. She turned back in her seat and addressed Mr Figgins.

"What's a buddy?" she asked.

"Oh, it's just someone that goes round with you for the first week. Seeing as you've come in a month late, you'll need someone to show you the ropes. Quinn here will help you, won't you Quinn?" he addressed the blonde, who smiled back and nodded her agreement.

"Of course," Quinn said, more to Rachel than their head teacher.

"Santana? Quinn? Seeing as you both share homeroom with Rachel, can you take her there now please? And maybe at lunch give her a tour of the school or something," the man smiled, before going back to his work.

Rachel liked that the man actually cared for his students; he seemed pleasant at least.

Grabbing her little bag that she had put next to her chair leg, Rachel got up off her chair and waited for Quinn to lead the way. The blonde smiled at Santana, as the Latina opened the door and lead the trio out of the reception lobby.

Luckily for Rachel the corridors were clear of students, having already gone to their perspective homerooms. No words were being spoken between the three girls, mainly because Quinn was just waiting for Santana to say something crude, Rachel didn't really know Santana that well, or Quinn for that matter and Santana was just trying to remember if she had done her homework.

"Can we just stop at my locker? I need to get some books," Quinn spoke up, breaking the silent atmosphere.

Rachel smiled at her with a little nod and Santana shrugged; seemingly looking a little bored.

As the three girls got to the blonde's locker, Santana lent sideways onto the steel door of another locker and finally spoke up, slightly shocking Rachel.

"So, what brings you to McKinley?" Santana said towards the smaller brunette; well, the slightly smaller brunette, but not by much.

Rachel wouldn't lie and say that she wasn't slightly taken aback by the bluntness of the sentence but replied nonetheless.

"Umm, I moved here to Ohio only yesterday; I was assigned to this High School," Rachel said a little quietly.

She wasn't exactly big on talking about her past or about being in a home to strangers; it made her feel a little odd, like she was less of a person than them. She knows she shouldn't feel that way, but she naturally does.

"That's cool. This town is pretty shit, but you'll get used to it," Santana gave her a very small smile and went back to inspecting her nails.

Rachel didn't want to admit that she has been in worse places than this; much worse.

"It's okay so far, I've met some nice people," Rachel said instead, quickly eyeing Quinn before going back to looking at the floor.

The eye movement of the newbie didn't go unnoticed by Santana, but she let it slide.

"So, off to homeroom?" Quinn finally spoke up, shutting her locker with a slam.

"Let the day begin," Rachel mumbled with a nervous smile.

The two other girls just gave her encouraging smiles and a pat on the back from Santana.

~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~

The first half of the day had gone surprisingly well in Rachel's opinion. She had History first thing and was absolutely terrified because neither Quinn nor Santana shared that class with her. She had gone in with her head held high and sat in the seat near the door, she had never liked not being near an exit route; it was one of her anxieties, she always needed to know where the door was. Once she was seated, a girl came and sat next to her. The other girl obviously knew Rachel was new, having not seen her here before. Just as the lesson was beginning, the girl tapped Rachel lightly on the shoulder, bringing the brunette out of her daydream and introduced herself as Mercedes. Rachel knew that she was going to like this girl, as when Mercedes brought out her pencil case to start writing, it had music notes and a microphone on it; at least they had one common interest they could discuss… music.

Her second lesson of the day had been Biology and she wasn't going to lie; she couldn't stand Biology. Cutting up pieces of fish or learning about the heart pumping blood around your body wasn't Rachel's idea of fun. Don't get her wrong, she had plenty of respect for people that learn about it and become doctors and nurses and things, because at the end of the day, they can save your life, but it just wasn't one of Rachel's interests.

On the plus side, she had met a quiet boy called Mike. He had sat next to her straight away and immediately, however quietly, introduced himself and asked her if she liked Transformers, having seen that she was sketching a little Optimus Prime on the corner of her notepad. She bashfully ducked her head at the question; Transformers and Pokemon were her two guilty pleasures. She answered him with a little smile and then he grinned madly at her, immediately bringing out his Transformers pencil case and asking if she would like to completely ignore what the teacher was saying and play Tic Tac Toe instead; of course she replied with an eager head nod and a Rachel Berry smile.

Running a hand through her hair, Rachel made her way to the cafeteria or where she assumed the cafeteria must be as the majority of the students were heading that way.

She was taking in her surroundings and looking around at all the other students that she didn't realise she was about to walk straight into someone else. When they bumped, she fell back onto her backside and squeaked loudly. The other person, obviously stronger as they were still standing, quickly put his hand out to help her up. She took the hand and got back on her feet rubbing at her ass. She had already fallen on her backside twice in two days, dammit!

"Sorry, didn't see you there," the boy replied a little awkwardly.

Rachel finally looked up, but then had to look further up as this guy was majorly tall. Rachel had to admit that she was slightly uncomfortable as she was practically at his nipple height. He had a dumb, embarrassed sort of look on his face and was shuffling his feet clumsily.

"I'm sure you couldn't from all the way up there," Rachel replied, trying to make the situation humorous.

The boy looked incredibly confused and just scratched his head. Rachel was a little surprised that this boy didn't understand her joke, but just rubbed her ass once more, before asking a question that the boy couldn't possibly get confused at; or maybe he could.

"What's your name? I'm new here," Rachel asked, leaning onto one hip.

"The name's Finn, lead quarterback," he nodded, a small smug look on his face.

"Umm, cool," Rachel replied, not seeming interested in his football status and was not impressed that he didn't ask for her name, so she gave it to him anyway, "my name is Rachel."

"I like that name, it's a nice name," Finn smiled, but to Rachel he just looked sort of constipated.

"Thank you," she replied with a small, slightly uncomfortable smile.

As he loomed above her, not seeming like he was going to make conversation any time soon, she took this as her opportunity to leave.

"Anyway, I'm just going to go now, got some things to do and… stuff," she said, as she started to shuffle away.

"Okay dude, catch'ya later," he nodded his head once and then walked off in the other direction, looking over his shoulder to look at her once more.

"I'm not a dude," Rachel's mumbled with an eye roll, as she made her way back to the cafeteria.

Opening the door to the busy and majorly loud cafeteria, Rachel's eyes went wide and she closed the door immediately and put her back against the wall in the corridor just beside the entrance to it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, revelling in the quietness of the empty corridor. Why do schools have to be so crowded all the time? Letting her thoughts swirl around in her head, she didn't hear the cafeteria door open and close again. She knew she would have to go in there sooner or later, she was starving. She just really didn't like the crowds, the fact that there were only two doors into the cafeteria or the fact that she didn't know anyone really. Breathing once more through her nose and letting it fall slowly out of her plump lips, she gradually opened her eyes again, but immediately clutched her heart and let out a small scream, jumping back but realising she was already against the wall. She let her heart relax when she realised that she wasn't in any danger, but really wished Quinn would stop surprising her like that.

"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you," Quinn said, looking at her shoes and feeling a little guilty for having made Rachel jump again.

"It's okay, but we should really stop meeting like this… with me screaming in your face," the brunette replied, laughing a little.

Quinn just smiled at her and then brought the sandwich out from behind her back, handing it to the brunette.

"I saw you come in but then go out again, I thought that maybe you had forgotten your lunch money, so I bought you a sandwich. I hope you like cheese," Quinn smiled with a little friendly shrug.

Rachel couldn't help but grin at the girl. Quinn had bought her a sandwich because she thought Rachel had forgotten lunch money, even though the blonde had been there when Rachel had got her lunch money allowance from Justin that morning.

"I love cheese. Thank you," the brunette replied, smiling and opening her sandwich, taking a bite from it straight away.

Quinn wondered if Rachel was actually going to come into the cafeteria to eat that, but didn't want to question the brunette so just fiddled with the ring on her finger and waited for the other girl to speak.

"I'm probably just going to eat this on the bleachers or something. Get some fresh air," Rachel smiled, not wanting to tell Quinn she couldn't face the crowded cafeteria right now.

The blonde looked a little confused.

"It's quite chilly out there Rachel, you sure you don't want to come in here and eat?" the blonde asked, pointing towards the cafeteria.

"No really, it's fine. I fancy some fresh air," Rachel replied, not knowing why she was getting so worked up about not telling Quinn the real reason and started to walk away down the corridor, sandwich in hand, "thanks again for the sandwich Quinn!"

The blonde stood by the cafeteria door a little worried. Rachel had seemed so distant just then and something was definitely not right with the girl, she had seemed so certain that she didn't want to go into the cafeteria with everyone. Quinn didn't jump to any conclusions because really, it could be anything. Maybe she did just want some fresh air, maybe she didn't want to hang out with Quinn, maybe there was someone in this school that she didn't want to see or maybe she just wanted to eat her sandwich alone? Quinn shook her head and willed herself to stop worrying about other people for a second. Rachel would speak to her when she wanted to, so instead of following the brunette like her mind was telling her to, she turned and went back into the cafeteria, sitting back next to Santana and laughing with Puck who was making his cucumber sticks into walrus tusks.

~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~

The fresh air had actually done her some good, it had let her clear her mind and prepare for her next class; Math. She would admit that she was pretty good at Math; it was one of her strengths. It just made sense to her. Also, as she walked down the corridor, which according to her school map, lead to her designated Math room, she smiled because she knew that she would be sharing this lesson with Quinn and Santana. It made her happy because she hadn't seen Quinn that much all day and she felt more relaxed with the blonde around because she was the only person, as well as Ella, that she slightly knew.

Opening the door to the classroom, she felt slight panic rise up through her body. Quinn was already sat next to people on her row of tables and there were only a few empty spaces spotted about in random places.

Walking cautiously into the room, she stopped by the teacher's desk, lightly clearing her dry throat.

"Oh hello, you must be Rachel?" the young man asked politely.

"Yes, that's me," she replied, eyeing the tables and looking for a space that looked okay to sit in.

"Well, welcome to Math, I'm Mr Tanner," he smiled sweetly at her.

Rachel turned her attention back to him and returned the friendly smile. He didn't look very old at all, only about late 20s, if that. If Rachel was into that sort of thing, she would even say that he was cute. Young features and a bright smile made him come across very handsomely. She then started nibbling her lip, as she really didn't want to have to sit next to someone she didn't know.

As Mr Tanner went to get a book for Rachel out of his top drawer, the door banged open and a flustered Santana rushed in, before looking slightly apologetic at her teacher as she sat down in the empty seat in the front row.

Rachel spotted that there was a seat next to Santana that was free and also it was near the door, so it was a perfect spot to be!

Grabbing the book, she made her move to quickly leave her teacher's desk so she could grab the seat before any other late-comers got the chance.

"Oh wait, Rachel," Mr Tanner exclaimed.

She stilled in her movements and inwardly cursed the man; if she didn't get to sit next to Santana, she would be incredibly annoyed. She only knew Santana a tiny amount but it was better than sitting next to a stranger.

She turned on her heel but didn't move any closer to his desk.

"We have a seating plan for this class, it just makes things quicker, instead of students choosing where to sit at the beginning of each lesson," the man explained, picking up a sheet and reading over the plan.

Rachel looked around and could only see three empty spaces that could possibly be her 'designated' seat. One was next to a guy at the back, who looked either high or in a complete daydream, another space was by two cheerios, who were giggling and gossiping about something completely ridiculous Rachel would assume and the last one was next to Santana. Please let luck be on her side today.

"Umm, ah, here you are," Mr Tanner said cheerfully as he looked up from the paper, "you're next to Santana, just over there."

The teacher pointed in the direction that the brunette was initially going and she grinned widely at him, before turning around and quickly making her way to her seat.

"I see you're my new Math buddy then," Santana said casually as Rachel got comfortable in the plastic chair.

"Your new one? What happened to your old one?" Rachel laughed quietly, smiling at her acquaintance.

She didn't feel that she could call Santana a friend yet, as she had only met the girl this morning. Rachel didn't know anything about Santana, so until she got to know the girl, she would just be polite and try to make idle conversation.

Before Santana could reply though, Mr Tanner had spoken up and started to speak animatedly to his class, getting excited that they would be doing an algebra test today. Rachel noted that the brunette beside her seemed to be relieved that Mr Tanner had started talking, but Rachel didn't know why.

Their teacher walked round and gave each of his students a short algebra test paper, but when he got to her and Santana's desk, Rachel spoke up quietly.

"Umm, sir, I'm not sure where I am compared to the class in terms of my knowledge just yet. Does this still mean I must participate in this algebra test?"

The male teacher smiled down at her, thinking it was nice to have a student be so polite and intellectual with their manner of speaking.

"I think it would be a good thing for you to start with actually, just so it gives me a good idea of how you are with the topic. There's no pressure, just answer what you can," he smiled as he put her sheet in front of her.

The man then moved round the table slightly and placed a sheet in front of Santana, the girl seemingly not wanting to look up at her teacher.

"Remember what you learnt last lesson. Just try Santana," he said very quietly to the girl, before he moved back to his desk and took his seat.

"Right, you may now start the test. You have half an hour," Mr Tanned announced.

Rachel immediately flipped over the paper and her smooth tongue darted out to stick out between her lips at the corner of her mouth; an action she did unconsciously. Her brown eyes scanned the first question and she smiled when she realised that she had this in the bag. Pencil hit paper and then she was away, scribbling answers furiously as her mind worked at a rapid pace.

Santana looked down at her paper and immediately began to lightly sweat in her palms. She kept her head low but subtly looked around at her class mates. Everyone's heads were down and their pencils were either tapping their papers or writing down answers. Santana's eyes came in contact with Quinn's and the blonde gave her a reassuring smile but then went back to slowly writing her own answers down.

The brunette turned her head back to her own paper and just wanted to punch the damn table. She couldn't make a scene though, as last time she got frustrated, she had detention for two weeks and that was incredibly annoying as it took up all her lady times with Brittany.

She put her head in her hand and averted her eyes down towards Rachel's paper, where the girl's answers were blatantly staring back at her.

Taking the opportunity with open arms, Santana scanned the first two answers and immediately scribbled them down on her own paper, managing to even copy some of Rachel's working outs as well.

As she turned her head to look back and get the next answers, she was met with the questioning gaze of Rachel. Santana swallowed before trying to look down at the smaller girl's paper, only for it to be covered by Rachel's petite hand. Sighing loudly through her nose, Santana turned back to her own paper and started to draw stickmen in the corner of it, annoyed that Rachel would cover hers up. Just because the other girl could do the stupid questions didn't mean she had to be so mean and cover it up, obviously knowing that Santana was copying her answers. Stupid algebra and stupid Math!

When Mr Tanner eventually announced that their time was up, Santana had successfully managed to draw a whole family of stickmen, including a stickdog and a stickpostman. Nodding her head proudly, Santana folded her test paper in half and pushed it to the edge of the desk to be handed in. Rachel had seen the doodles Santana had conjured up and didn't understand how someone couldn't care about a Math test; they were important for their academic records.

The lesson went by fairly quickly after their test, but Santana hadn't bothered to make conversation with Rachel for the whole time, deciding it was easier to avoid having to speak just in case questions were asked.

Their teacher finally let them go five minutes early and Rachel packed up at a leisurely pace, hoping that she would be able to spend her afternoon break with Quinn as they both had free lessons after it, so she was thinking they could hang out. Hopefully she would be able to get to know the blonde a little better.

"Hey Rachel," Quinn said cheerfully, as she stood next to the brunette's desk, watching the girl pack her last things.

"Hello," Rachel looked up and smiled pleasantly before going back to packing her Math book, "would it be possible to spend our break together?"

Quinn grinned at this because of course she wanted to spend some time together. She wanted to make sure the girl was okay, because at lunch she had seemed a little off and then the blonde had noted that Rachel hadn't spoken to Santana for the whole lesson, or Santana hadn't spoken to Rachel; either way.

"Yeah, sure, where did you want to go?" Quinn asked, fiddling with her ring again.

"Umm, I haven't seen the library yet. Shall we go there?" Rachel asked as she finally swung her bag over one shoulder and waited for Quinn to lead the way.

"Okay, it's quiet in there, but it's quite nice," Quinn looked thoughtful at first but then smiled back.

Rachel didn't understand why it being quiet would be a bad thing but was thankful that they would be spending it in the less-crowded library rather than the full dining room.

Quinn led the way out into the corridor and Rachel followed closely behind. The blonde had spotted Santana looking angry and talking to Brittany, as her girlfriend just tried to calm the angry ex-cheerio down. Quinn didn't want to intrude right at this moment, as it looked as though Santana was in deep ranting mode and it was never good to stop her, so she thought against it and just carried on with their journey to the library.

~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~

"Then I caught her copying my answers, so I simply covered them up with my hand. I don't understand why she wouldn't talk to me because of that," Rachel shrugged, as she lent further onto the table, making herself comfortable.

Quinn and Rachel had grabbed a table in the corner of the library, where there weren't many other students and had talked all through their break and it was now nearly the end of their free lessons.

Quinn had asked Rachel a little about how her first day had gone so far and Rachel had talked non-stop about the people she had met and how she had really enjoyed her company with people called Mercedes and Mike, then Quinn explained that they were two of her good friends.

It was really enjoyable for both girls to have new company and to be able to just flow through conversation so easily. Rachel would admit that there were a couple of silent moments when neither knew what to say and a few moments when Quinn was doing her intense staring and Rachel had to shyly tuck her hair behind her ear and make casual conversation about the school to gain the blonde's attention back on the conversation.

Quinn couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to Rachel. Usually if there was a newbie at her home, who also went to the same school as her, they never seemed the same at home as they were at school, but Rachel was just as polite, just as interesting and just as intriguing. Throughout the conversation, there were a couple of moments when Quinn couldn't help but just stare at Rachel with complete wonder, especially when the brunette was talking about how she and Mike played Tic Tac Toe instead of working and then when they had a little Transformers battle with their pencils, because really, it was so dorky it was refreshing.

"You're right; it doesn't make that much sense. Santana is a hard nut to crack though. It will take some time for you to get to know her," Quinn said with a small smile, playing with the hair-tie she had round her wrist. She always seemed to have a random hair-tie on her wrist.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Oh well, I'm hoping she'll talk to me soon, she seemed like an okay person to be around," Rachel said, friendly shrugging.

"She is a good person, she's just very closed off around people she doesn't trust just yet and she's incredibly protective of the ones she loves; I've known her quite a long time," Quinn smiles to Rachel, before bringing her bag up onto the table, ready to leave when the bell rings.

Before Rachel could ask Quinn exactly how long she had known Santana, the bell chimed loudly throughout the school and the blonde stood up fairly quickly, shuffling on her feet and looking a little awkward.

"Umm, you okay?" Rachel asked, as she stood up and grabbed her bag as well.

Quinn pursed her lips wondering what Rachel is going to think of her when she explains she is in the Glee Club. She was hoping that Rachel wouldn't know how lame Glee Club was perceived by the rest of the school; it was like the lowest of the low apparently. Quinn couldn't think more different; she loved every single second of it, well, mostly all of it.

"I… I actually have somewhere I need to go after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and sometimes Fridays," Quinn explains, babbling a little.

"So, basically every day after school then?" Rachel laughed.

"Umm, yeah, pretty much. So, I'm not sure I can give you a lift back," Quinn looked really guilty for having not told Rachel this morning so the girl could sort out lift arrangements.

"It's really no trouble Quinn, I'll just wait here in the library until you finish," the brunette smiled back, sitting down and getting out her old, battered MP3 player, ready to just listen away the hour Quinn was away.

"Are you sur…" Quinn was then interrupted by Santana jogging up behind her and poking her in the sides.

"Yo blondie, you ready to go to Glee Club?" Santana said, avoiding the other brunette's presence.

"You're in Glee Club Quinn?" Rachel voiced up, forgetting about her MP3 player.

Quinn slowly turned back to Rachel and tried to figure out the brunette's reaction to that information. Did she still want to hang out with Quinn? Well, judging by the intrigued smile that was plastering Rachel's face, she assumed the brunette was happy about this revelation.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Why do you sound so unsure? I think that's great; I've always wanted to know what being in an actual Glee Club would be like, but I've never had the guts to go to one," Rachel said with a small smile.

As if a light bulb went off in Quinn and Rachel's heads at the time, they both spoke up with big grins on their faces.

"You could come and sit in on our session!"

"Can I come with you and watch?"

"Okay, that's sorted, Rachel you're coming with us and Quinn, if you don't move your ass we're going to be late. Santana out!" Santana said with a bored tone and sauntered out of the library, heading to the choir room.

Quinn just rolled her eyes and giggled at her best friend, while Rachel looked a little confused at how blunt Santana was, but she could get used to the brunette, as sometimes it was nice to just be told how it was.

"So, I'm guessing we're both going to Glee Club then?" Quinn smiled and went to lead the way out of the library.

Rachel took a few moments to just breathe. She was truly thinking that life was starting to look up now. School seemed okay, her hew home seemed alright and she was mentally becoming stronger. It would be hard to hear people sing out loud all around her, but she needed to do it. She hadn't sung for a long time, so maybe being in a place where it was completely accepted and sort of wanted it would make things associated with singing more positive in her mind.

Nodding her head determinedly, she quickly jogged to catch up with Quinn, before the blonde led them all the way down the corridor. They weren't even near the choir room, when Rachel could hear a guitar being softly strung and the voice of a girl, or boy, singing the supple tune of a song that was unfamiliar to Rachel. Their voice was amazing and Rachel had to stop herself from running to the choir room so she didn't miss a minute of the comfort of song rushing over her.

As Quinn and Rachel stepped over the threshold of the choir room doorway, Rachel nodded to herself and noted it was in fact a 'he' singing; but by god was his voice unique. The boy strumming the guitar had a mohawk; a much smaller one than Eddie's.

Quinn walked towards the seats on the bottom row of the risers and took a perch on one before motioning that Rachel should sit next to her on the other one. The brunette was slightly relieved that people hadn't seemed to pay much attention to her arrival, because sometimes it was just nice to look upon something without being looked upon yourself.

It wasn't long before the lesson began; everyone taking their seats, while a curly haired man scribbled something, completely unreadable Rachel noted, on the white board on the front wall.

"Right, it's time to start preparing for Sectionals," Mr Schue began, the vested man grinning madly.

"Again," Santana mumbled from the back row, causing a few members to laugh at her joke.

"Enough Santana. Anyway, we need to bring it this year; we've got to show those judges everything we've got," Mr Schue ended, slamming his hand on top of the piano for 'dramatic' effect.

"My sweet moves," Mike nodded proudly from the back with a cheeky smirk on his face.

"My awesome guns," Puck kissed each bicep.

Rachel noted that this Puck guy seemed slightly full of himself, but she didn't know if he was doing it jokingly or if he generally thinks he's god's gift. She would hopefully find out soon.

"My voice," Kurt said with a grin.

"And mine," Mercedes grinned back, as the two shared a secret handshake, which wasn't as secret as they showed everyone every time they did it.

Rachel had thought that Kurt's voice was amazing, but it didn't mean the boy had to say it himself. If you're good at something, you shouldn't have to boast about it. Rachel shook her head, not wanting to judge the boy before she really got to know him… if she got to know him. She didn't even know if the Glee Club was where she really wanted to be, she just wanted to try it out.

"Okay, anyway, we need to start researching songs now. It's better to start early… oh, hi, who are you?" Mr Schue spotted Rachel and did a double take, as he was pretty sure she's never been in this school before.

Rachel inwardly cringed. She was hoping she could just watch the club without being seen, but she was stupid if she generally thought that could happen. She looked to the side to face Quinn. The brunette gave the blonde a look of embarrassment and smiled slightly, willing herself that she could just at least say her name. The blonde saw how Rachel was hesitating and turned to her teacher, speaking up for the petite brunette.

"This is Rachel. She's new here and just fancied sitting in on Glee," Quinn smiled at her teacher, "I told her she could come."

Mr Schue grinned once again, seeming to get excited and move closer to the brunette.

"Great! Are you thinking of joining because it would be fantastic to have another person on the team! Oh, can you sing?" Mr Schue blabbered out and everyone seemed to have the same idea and just relaxed back in their chair and watched him, because once Mr Schue got talking, he wouldn't stop.

"Umm, I wasn't sure; I just wanted to see what it was all about really…" Rachel began, giving the teacher a slightly uncomfortable smile.

"That's fine, but of course you want to join! Glee is the future! So, can you sing? You can sing right? Can you?" Mr Schue had grabbed a seat and sat on it backwards during his ramble.

Rachel was getting angry that this man was so persistent and she was also trying to battle all the emotions that were crazily bubbling up inside of her.

"No, I don't sing, I just want to watch for today," Rachel said through tight lips, trying to get her point across.

Obviously the man didn't get the hint.

"I understand, but there's no harm in trying? Just sing a little for us today, no one here judges," Mr Schue smiles what Rachel assumes is meant to be an encouraging smile, but she just sees it as patronising.

He blatantly doesn't understand.

"I thought you won a singing compe…" Quinn said quietly to Rachel, before the brunette turned to her and gave her a pleading look of warning and the blonde cut herself off immediately, taken aback by the amount of confusing emotion that was swirling in the smaller girl's eyes.

Rachel turned back to her teacher and looked him straight in the eyes, as she punctuated each word very clearly.

"I don't sing."

Mr Schue nodded his head slowly and got off his chair before moving back to his spot in front of his class.

"Okay, that's umm, that's fine. So, Sectionals," he smiled back to the rest of the Glee clubbers.

Rachel kept her head down for the rest of the hour, because that really wasn't meant to go like that. She couldn't stand to turn around to face Quinn, just in case she saw confusion and questions waiting to be asked coming back at her. Of course the blonde is going to be confused; Rachel had just given her the most pleading look ever and also swore she almost had tears in her eyes as she warned Quinn not to speak anymore. There were definitely going to be questions wanting to be answered. Rachel didn't want to answer them, not yet and maybe not ever.

Soon the clock ticked to signal the end of Glee and everyone made their own way out to either their cars or their parents that were waiting to take them home.

Rachel had only given Quinn a tiny smile as they made their way out to Quinn's car. The blonde had stayed back a little to try and talk to Santana about earlier today, but the brunette had explained she was really late for work so would talk to Quinn another time. Santana had a part time job at the local pub, having turned 18 at the beginning of term, and sometimes they made her work the weekday evenings. Quinn had told her it was okay and went to get into her own car, seeing Rachel just shuffling by the passenger door.

Quinn knew that Rachel obviously didn't want to talk right now, but Quinn had so many questions that she wanted to ask the brunette; so many. But she knew better than to pressure someone to talk, she had been on the receiving end and it wasn't what you needed when you just wanted to be left in your own peace. She clamped her mouth shut and just proceeded to drive them home. It was only two minutes into the silent drive that Quinn quickly leaned forward and clicked on the radio, turning the volume up to drown out the awkwardness and also to just have it on in the background.

Rachel had watched her actions and also had many questions of her own. She hadn't met someone as polite and nice as Quinn, so she really didn't want to lose her growing friendship so early on in the journey, but she really didn't want to speak right now. To be completely honest, she was really looking forward to just getting into bed and sleeping. First though, she had to survive dinner. Maybe Ella would distract her from the blonde who would no doubt be sitting right next to her like last night.

Day one; done.

~O~X~O~X~O~X~O~

N/A Sorry it stopped so abruptly but the next chapter should be up much quicker than the last! Hugs and love. xxx