Disclaimer: All characters belong to FOX and Ryan Murphy.

A huge thanks to my wonderful beta, sandra-wfg, for fixing this chapter & dealing with my complaints about writer's block. :-)

Author's Note: I am so incredibly sorry for this chapter coming out late. I went on a mini vacation and expected to come home and write this chapter but then writer's block came and it was just a huge mess. I also didn't send out teasers for this chapter. I thought you guys would rather get the full thing instead of a little portion. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Nine

After an emotional night, Rachel found herself too exhausted to get up. She replayed the conversation she and Kurt had had over and over again. Obviously Karofsky had done something horrible to him – but what had he done?

Throughout school, the question ate away at her. Every time she saw Karofsky, she would send a glare his way which somehow got him to back off. She wanted to go up to him and demand to know what happened but she knew that not only would he not say anything, but that when Kurt found out, he would never forgive her.

The last bell rang, signaling school was over, and Rachel left her classroom to go grab her things. As she made her way to her locker, she kept her head down as she pondered about Kurt and Karofsky.

"Hey, Rachel."

Rachel shot her head up only to be met with ice. The liquid mess dripped down her face and when she inhaled she smelt the cherry slushee that had plagued her from the beginning of high school.

When she opened her eyes, Santana stood in front of her with a sneer on her perfectly round, tan face. She tightened her eyes when she caught Rachel staring at her.

"Woops, did I do that?" She laughed cruelly.

"What the hell?" Rachel snapped. "Why would you do that?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Berry. As if you don't know why I would 'do that' to you."

"No, I really don't, actually. In fact, I don't understand why you make it your mission to torment me. What did I do to you? Besides comment on your lack of control while singing any type of song you perform during Glee," she replied evenly. She was sick and tired of Santana and her little stunts like these. She didn't deserve this.

"Well let's see, you're an annoying little twit for starters. You act as if you're some hot thing but in reality, you're just a dwarf who wears clothes that a blind grandmother would pick from the homeless shelter. And third, you just deserve to be slusheed."

Rachel opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it. She knew she shouldn't believe what Santana was saying but it still hurt to hear it.

"So what're you telling me," Rachel finally murmured quietly, "is that the way I dress and my tendency to be overbearing that make me the perfect target to be bullied?"

"Ugh and there you go playing the damn victim card. You can add that to the list of why I don't like you," Santana replied disgusted.

"I'm not playing the victim card! You slusheed me, Santana. You bully me every chance that you get for the most ridiculous and absurd reasons. And then when I try to defend myself, you just go and act like I'm making it all up! God, you are such a bitch." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could think.

Rachel heard someone gasp and she realized that a small crowd had formed. She didn't bother to look at anyone but she saw Brittany try and grab Santana away from her. Santana shrugged her off and walked till she was breathing down Rachel's face.

"Call me a bitch again and see what happens," she spoke calmly.

Before Rachel could reply, she felt someone tug her away. She turned to see Ms. Pillsbury looking like a deer in headlights. She moved so that she was in front of Rachel and began speaking.

"Santana, go to the office right now. I saw everything that happened and what you did to Rachel was uncalled for and inappropriate. Principal Figgins will be dealing with your punishment."

Rachel heard Santana's sigh followed by footsteps in the other direction. Rachel closed her eyes and tried to will the tears away.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Ms. Pillsbury asked hesitantly.

She nodded and shrugged – her first response to any question regarding her emotions.

"It's fine. This happens all the time so I guess you could say I'm used to it," Rachel laughed nervously. "Erm, thanks for defending me, though."

Ms. Pillsbury nodded. "Could you come to my office with me? I feel that we should talk about what just happened."

Rachel cringed. She didn't want to have a heart to heart with Ms. Pillsbury. She was a very nice lady and while her love triangle with Mr. Schuester was exhausting to watch, but she was tired of talking about everything that had happened to her. It wasn't like anyone gave her good advice, anyways. It was just the same sympathy looks and hugs.

But Rachel followed her anyways. Ms. Pillsbury started to grab some pamphlets on bullying but once she caught Rachel's glare, she silently put them away.

"So, would you like to tell me how long Santana has been treating you like this?" She asked after a few moments.

Rachel exhaled slowly. "Since elementary school, I suppose. It has progressed during high school, of course."

Ms. Pillsbury nodded. "Has anyone ever defended you against her? Does she do it during class or just during the breaks?"

"No, I guess not. Mercedes did once during Glee but Santana didn't even really do anything. Everyone else just turns a blind eye. It hurts," Rachel admitted quietly.

"Will – I mean, Mr. Schue has never defended you against her?"

"No."

Rachel looked down to see Ms. Pillsbury's hands shaking. She wondered briefly if she had said something wrong. She was just being honest. Ha, but isn't that the thing that always gets me into trouble? She thought sadly.

"Excuse me for a moment." Ms. Pillsbury left the room.

Rachel quickly followed her and felt a sense of dread wash over her as she made the familiar turn to where the choir room was.

She saw everyone look up when the two women entered the room. She watched as Ms. Pillsbury walked up to Mr. Schuester and started yelling at him.

"You are a sick man, Will. How dare you treat her like that! You know how it feels to be mocked for absolutely no reason yet you won't defend her? You are a terrible teacher! I can't believe for a second that I once believed you were one the greatest teachers to walk McKinley High."

Mr. Schue, obviously taken aback, stared at Ms. Pillsbury. "Em, what are you talking about?"

"Rachel!" Ms. Pillsbury threw her arms up. "You let her get bullied every single day and you do nothing about it. How could you do that? Do you want her to feel that pain? Because trust me, she feels it."

"I... I have no idea what you're talking about. Can we go somewhere private and discuss this?" He asked uncomfortably.

Rachel glanced towards the others and saw Noah and Mercedes staring at her.

"What happened?" Mercedes mouthed to her.

"I have no idea," she mouthed back with a shrug.

"No, we're going to talk about this now. I demand to know how you could let bullying get this far. Why didn't you stop Santana every time she called Rachel that? Why would you do that?"

"I... just, I don't know! I didn't really pay attention. I had no idea it was that bad." He mumbled lamely.

Rachel bit her lip. She knew he knew how bad it was. He watched Santana continually treat her like she was a piece of trash. How could he lie like this?

Ms. Pillsbury shook her head. "I can't believe you, Will. I really can't. What you did was unforgivable and you don't deserve to teach. Especially the Glee club. How can you go around and tell these kids they can be whatever they aspire to be, yet let them get knocked down and do nothing about it? What sane person lets that happen?"

With that, Ms. Pillsbury stormed out the classroom.

Rachel looked at Mr. Schue but he was staring past her – towards the door where Ms. Pillsbury had left. He glanced down at the floor before looking at Rachel.

"I apologize, Rachel. I really do." And with that, he was out the door as well.

She turned to the Gleeks and waited for their rude comments about how she just ruined everything. She wondered how bad the hate would be this time. Would she lose her friendships with Noah and Mercedes? Just the thought of that made her want to cry again.

"Come on, Rach. Let's go to the girls' room. You're a mess, hun." Mercedes spoke soothingly.

Rachel looked at her. "You don't hate me?"

Mercedes tilted her head. "Why would I hate you? Mr. Schue deserved to be confronted. I wish you were the one who did it but hey, Ms. Pillsbury is the second best thing I guess."

Rachel couldn't help but laugh loudly. She was so happy that she wasn't on Mercedes – and when she saw the others staring at her sympathetically – or the rest of the group's bad side again.

She sighed happily, linked her arm with Mercedes and followed her into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

A/N: Once again - thanks to everyone who has reviewed/alerted/favorited this story. The support is amazing and you all are fabulous. Teasers will be sent out for the next chapter, I promise. Make sure your PM is enabled. :-)

If you're still reading this story, thank you for dealing with the little break between chapters. I feel bad for not updating the past couple weeks but it won't happen again. The next chapter should be updated this weekend of the beginning of next week.

Until then, I leave you with happy!Rachel.

PS: I know there was a lack of Finn in this chapter. He'll be in the next chapter a lot - you can take this as either a good or bad sign. ;-)