The rest of Rachel's day went by rather uneventfully. She introduced herself to her new students and reacquainted herself with her older ones. She enjoyed the playful banter surrounding her, but by three o'clock she was ready for the end of the day to come. At three twenty, the last bell rang and Rachel made her way to the choir room for her first Glee rehearsal of the Year. Rachel entered the small choir room and set her folder of sheet music down on the Piano and prepared for the rowdy group of students that would start to filter into the room in the next few minutes. Glee was always the best part of her day, and she was glad that she was able to take it over when Mr. Shuester had to give it up when he moved away. Rachel was surprised when she received the call from William McKinley saying she had gotten the position as the new tenth grade English teacher. She hadn't worked since she and Jason had moved to Lima over five years ago and her specialty was music not English. Though she knew there couldn't be too many people knocking down the doors of William McKinley High School demanding to teach tenth graders how to construct semi-decent essays. Rachel let out a small laugh at that thought, Jason had always thought her crazy for becoming a teacher.

"Miss Berry, while I realize that my 'boring' lectures are cutting into your precious nap time, do you think you could find it within you to stay awake for at least one of them?" Rachel slowly lifted her head up from the desk that it was currently resting on, a blush creeping across her cheeks as she realized that yet again she had fallen asleep during her philosophy class and everyone was staring at her. Rachel mumbled out an apology and straightened herself in her seat, determined to pay attention to the class for the remainder of the session.

Ten minutes later Rachel was gathering up her things and heading out the door when she heard someone behind her. "Geeze Berry, don't you ever sleep at night?" Rachel looked behind her to find a taller boy standing against the wall, his blue eyes lit up with the smile gracing his admittedly perfect lips. Jason Saunders was a senior at New York University. Other than that Rachel knew nothing about the man standing in front of her, so she had no idea why he was even talking to her. She didn't really have time to sit here and contemplate his reasons for talking to her though, she had to be home in exactly fifteen minutes to get herself ready for work.

"of course, I'm just really tired these days I guess." Rachel replied, and then quickly turned and left Jason standing against the wall outside the classroom as she made her way off the NYU campus, and onto the busy streets of New York City. When she entered her tiny apartment in Greenwich Village Rachel realized that she felt kind of bad for her coldness towards Jason. Though she figured a man like him would be over it by now she resolved to apologize to him on Wednesday before their next philosophy session.

"Are you gonna' be nice this time Berry?" Jason asked as Rachel approached him the next Wednesday after their philosophy session had ended. Rachel had her apology nicely rehearsed in her head, but the man's joking tone and warm smile threw her for a loop, and for a second she almost turned around. Letting out a sigh, she realized that she should really just get it over with.

"Mr. Saunders, I would like to apologize for my curt tone last Wednesday, as it was certainly unnecessary." Rachel apologized, and as she met his eyes she realized that Jason was desperately trying to bite back a laugh. Embarrassed, and slightly angry, Rachel started to turn around when she felt Jason grab her wrist.

"Wait, I'm sorry Rachel, and I accept your apology." Rachel turned around and looked back at the sparkling blue eyes looking apologetically down at her.

"Okay." was all Rachel could manage.

"If I let you go, will you at least stay for a whole conversation this time?" Rachel contemplated her options for a brief second. Her dad was staying at her place for the afternoon and she wasn't scheduled to work at the coffee house until tomorrow morning, so with a small nod she agreed. Jason let go of her wrist and then sent her for another loop that day when he asked "So, want to grab a cup coffee with me then?" A conversation was one thing, but this invitation was something more than she was expecting, once again though she found herself saying yes.

"Teaching? High School? Really? That sounds like a migraine waiting to happen." Jason said when she told him what she was doing at NYU.

"Yea, it's not really my dream job, but I'm warming up to the idea." Rachel told him.

"Why settle for something that isn't your dream then?" Jason questioned. Rachel thought about telling him for a second. This past hour had been one of the best hours of her life. Jason was kind, funny, and he was sweet. She didn't want to screw up this new friendship with her baggage just yet.

"I didn't really have the guts for my dream I suppose." Rachel lied and Jason studies her for a moment.

"What was your dream job?" Rachel sighed and answered

"Broadway." Before Jason could reply though, Rachel's phone rang and she realized that she had forgotten to phone her father and tell him that she would be late. Looking down at the caller ID, her father's name lit up the screen. "I'm sorry Jason, but I have to go. Thank you for the coffee, I had a great time," and just like before Rachel left Jason as she rushed back to real life.

"Mrs. Saunders? Are you okay?"Rachel turned around to find several of her Glee members standing just inside the choir room staring at her with questioning eyes. Rachel quickly recovered from the memory and plastered a smile on her face.

"I'm great! How about you? Are you guys ready for a new year of Glee?" Rachel asked as several more members made there way into the room and towards the chairs.

"Of course!" Rachel heard the voice of Sophia Marshall above the other's grumbling and mumbled responses. Rachel's smile grew at Sophia's excited response, thinking that the Glee club could take Regional's with the red headed junior's enthusiasm alone.

"Well let's get started then!" Rachel replied. Sophia's enthusiasm was contagious, and by the end of practice Rachel was looking forward to the promising year ahead of the club. Rachel watched as the students eye's seemed to come to life as she detailed the year ahead of them. Now if only she could breathe as much life into her own daughter.

AN: Okay, so there's the third chapter, I hope it was okay! Thanks for reading, and thank you to all who have reviewed!

Disclaimer: I realized that I forgot to do this earlier, but I obviously do not own Glee because if I did Rachel and Noah would definitely be together!