A/N: Special thanks to Princess808! Enjoy everyone! Sorry for the wait :). Pardon for mistakes as well!

Who's the new girl?

Is that Finn's girlfriend?

Is she new?

Wait. Is that man hands?

What's she doing?

Rachel hurriedly grabbed her things from her locker as she tried to ignore the whispers coming from her classmates. She really wished that Finn hadn't gone to his own locker after parking this morning. She shut her locker closed and rushed down the hallway to Finn's locker. She walked as fast as her new flats would let her, without looking awkward, and tried her best to avoid the stares and ignore the whispers.

Once she reached Finn, she sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Why won't they stop staring?"

Finn chuckled as he messed around in his locker, trying to find the perfect spot for his letterman jacket. He turned to face her so that he could reply but stopped and-

"Finn! That's not funny!" She punched his arm and he stopped staring with a slight shake of his head. He cleared his throat and furrowed his eyebrows as he turned back to his locker.

"Chill, Rachel," He said, keeping his attention in his locker.

She sighed once more, making sure to keep her back to the hallway, especially those who were talking about her.

She didn't really understand why they were so interested in her though. I mean, she didn't look that different. At least not enough for people to mistake her as a new student. Maybe enough for people to question her change but nothing more. Sure her jeans were tighter and she was wearing a sweet tart-heart or whatever the cut of her tank top was, but she was still the same girl.

I mean seriously, even Finn was acting kind of weird. Rachel kept her eyes on him as he moved things around and tried to put her jacket inside.

"Damn girl," he let out a low whistle and continued speaking to Rachel's back, "You could be-"

She turned around with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Rachel?" Puck laughed wildly as he turned to Mike and back at Rachel, "Wow. You clean up real good."

Rachel looked down at the ground as an attempt to hide the small smile that was creeping on her face, "Stop it."

Puck grinned, "Seriously Rach, if I knew you-"

"We get it!" Finn said as he yanked his letterman jacket out of his locker. "She looks good," he finished with a slam of his locker.

Mike jumped a little at his outburst but Puck just continued checking Rachel out. Mike cleared his throat, "Well uh, Rachel you do look good."

He smiled at her and tugged playfully at the ends of her hair, "The new hair suits you."

Rachel smiled and quietly thanked him and walked with him to his locker. Finn grabbed his jacket and followed them with Puck on his side. He really wanted to shove Puck into the locker for staring at Rachel like that, but he couldn't understand why. Maybe it was some protective older brother thing that he just picked up.

"Is it gonna mess you up when you play though?" Mike asked as they reached his locker.

Finn nodded, "Yeah, will it like, get in your eyes or something? I know coach says we don't need your help right now, but I'd still want you to be an option if Evans gets injured or something."

Rachel shrugged, "I don't think it should get in the way. Especially not for volleyball," She finished. "I see other girls use headbands all the time."

Finn nodded. He forgot that she had been playing volleyball instead of helping out with football this season, which meant that he would have to wait a few minutes for her after football practice today.

"So anyway," Mike said as he opened his locker. He changed the topic, "I think you and Tina could really hit it off."

Rachel smiled uneasily as she rubbed her bare arms, "I don't know. I-"

Before she could protest Tina Cohen-Chang walked up next to them. Mike greeted her with a chaste kiss on the lips before she said hi to everyone else.

Finn gave her a small smile while Puck gave her a nod. They turned their attention more towards Mike, leaving Rachel to chat with her before the bell rang.

"Mike told me about your makeover." The Asian girl in the lime green dress said with a smile, "You look really cute, Rachel."

Rachel thanked her, mentally letting out a sigh of relief. She was so glad that Tina wasn't one of those girls who made fun of her. This was the first time that she really had the chance to talk to her besides the hello's they've shared after games or before practices. Mike's told them that she's in the choir or wait, it's called the glee club right? Rachel's surprised that Tina doesn't get made fun of like she does. At least Rachel plays sports, Tina's in the glee club for crying out loud. Rachel chose to just ignore it however and continued talking to her.

Surprisingly to Rachel, they did get along. While she and Tina do not click as quickly or as well as she and Kurt did, she could already tell Tina was going to be a good friend. She didn't judge her new situation and if she was confused, she asked polite questions. With all the chatting with Tina, Rachel found it easier to ignore the odd looks and loud whispers. It was much more helpful than chatting with the boys.

"You should totally join glee club. They're really welcoming," Tina smiled and Rachel shrugged.

"I don't even know how to sing," Rachel said lamely. "I think I'll just stick to my sports…"

Tina nodded, "Well, if you change your mind, we're always open to new members. Maybe you can check it out before volleyball one day."

Rachel bit her lip, but before she could reply the bell rang so she just nodded. "Maybe, see you Tina."

It was now lunch time, and Rachel was growing tired of all the gossip that filled her ears. She tried her best to pay attention in class, but the eyes of the students bore holes into her. She hated it and rushed to the bathroom as soon as class was over.

She examined herself in the mirror and played with her freshly cut bangs until they looked like they did when Cassandra styled them. She adjusted her straps and smoothed her skinny jeans before walking out of the ladies' room and to her locker. Just stay calm she repeated to herself as she unlocked her locker.

"Hey, the name's-"

She rolled her eyes, when will people stop introducing themselves? She turned around, "Dave, if I know you can barely throw a decent pass, I'm pretty sure I know who you are."

"Berry?" His voice was full of surprise. He laughed, "There were rumors about a new girl so I thought I'd check her out…" They bumped fists, "My bad, I thought you were a chick."

She raised her eyebrows and he put his hands up, "Sorry, you know what I mean."

She gave him a small nod as an attempt to ease the sting that came from the unintentional insult. She rubbed her bare arms as she watched the burly teen walk away, really wishing that she could just have her old clothes on to cover her up.

She closed her locker as Finn walked up to her, "Was Karofsky giving you trouble?"

Rachel smiled at him as she shook her head, "No, are you ready for lunch?"

Finn replied with a small nod as he gripped his letterman jacket, still in his hands from this morning. "Are you sure?"

She sighed as they walked down the hallway together, "I just don't understand why people feel the need to stare at me or whisper. I shouldn't have agreed to this."

Finn frowned and put his arm around, "Don't worry about it, Rach. It's just the first day. Students at McKinley always give people trouble for being different."

Rachel nodded, he had a point but it still didn't help settle any uneasiness she was feeling.

He stopped walking which caused her to look up at him. Her eyes widened with confusion as he unfolded his letterman jacket in his hands and turned towards her.

"Why don't you wear my jacket?" He asked with a slight shrug, "You know, until you're comfortable enough to wear your own clothes."

She asked him as he helped her shrug the large jacket over her small frame, "Are you sure? I have my own jacket at home, I can just wait."

Finn just nodded, "Yeah, it'll stop you from rubbing your arms off… and that way I won't have to hold it anymore."

She grinned, "And here I thought you were just being chivalrous. Thanks, Finn. Let's eat unch now."

They met up with Puck and Mike who were already eating. Tina joined them today and sat next to Mike.

"Why the hell are you wearing Finn's jacket?" Puck asked in between bites of his burger.

Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but Puck continued. "You'd look much hotter in mine… or out of it."

Rachel scoffed, "While I appreciate your comments about my new look, please don't think that this is the signal for you to treat me like the rest of the girls here. I'm still Rachel Berry, and I am more than capable of beating you at anything."

Puck grinned as he took a chip from her bag, "Exactly."

Despite herself, she smiled with a roll of her eyes. Mike just laughed at the two, but before he could put his two cents in Finn spoke up.

"Seriously, Puck, stop personifying her."

"Objectifying," Rachel corrected immediately before Mike could laugh louder. Tina gave him a look to make him stop laughing and smiled apologetically at Finn.

Puck laughed before he took a large bite of his burger, "Really though, you look hot Rachel. I can't believe you've been holding out on us."

Rachel's cheeks tinted a light pink as she shook her head, "I'm sure this is just your initial shock of my new look speaking."

Finn felt himself shake his head, he agreed. He wanted to tell her that she was more than 'hot,' but he didn't want to make things weird by commenting. Talking about girls like that was Puck's thing, not his.

They finished eating their lunch with a few jokes and comments here and there. Finn remained silent the whole time, letting Puck flatter Rachel and letting her blush at his compliments as Mike and Tina exchanging their googley eyes and laughed at the other pair's reactions from each other.

As lunch ended, Puck, Rachel, and Mike left the table to throw their things away. Tina got up but then turned back to Finn.

"Hey, you were pretty quiet… Is everything okay?

He look up at her, "Y-Yeah, just a little confused that's all."

"Why?" She asked gently as she waited for him to get up from his seat.

He doesn't know why he's feeling this way. I mean she's obviously wearing his jacket, but it seems like she'd rather be wearing Puck's, rather be talking to Puck, rather be with Puck. Normally, he'd be able to tell Rachel what he was feeling but this time it just felt right to keep it to himself. He looked Tina and just shrugged.

"Are you… Jealous?" Tina asked as they walked out of the cafeteria.

Finn shook his head vigorously, "What? No! Why- I- Should I be?"

Tina laughed, "I just noticed how you were acting earlier. It's normal you know, to be a little protective of Rachel having this new kind of attention. It's probably a new thing to have to share your friend that way and have to witness boys speaking to her differently."

"It is?" Finn asked with wide eyes and Tina nodded.

"Maybe it's your big brother instincts coming into play," She smiled as exited the doors together.

"Yeah," Finn smiled. "You're right, thanks Tina. She's my number one team-mate, and it is kinda weird having guys hit on her."

Tina nodded, glad that she could help her boyfriend's friend.

"Don't tell them about this please," He said quickly as they walked towards the rest of their group.

"Sure," She smiled as they finally met up with them. Mike put his arm around her, "What were you guys doing?"

She smiled, "Just cleaning up."

Finn nodded and let her previous words echo in his mind. She was completely right. Finn was just finally given the opportunity to act as the protective brother he felt like, and though it came naturally it still felt weird.

They were all still the same people, he reminded himself, no matter how much he wanted to kick a chair when he heard Puck talk to her and about her the way he did. They were gonna stay the best of friends, the four of them. Just because Rachel's skin looks softer, her hair looks shinier, and her lips look plumper, it doesn't mean anything is going to change. And come on, he's a dude. He's supposed to appreciate hot girls, even if she's supposed to be one of the guys.

A/N: Don't forget to review and let me know what you guys think! :) Thanks for all the feedback so far!