A/N: I'm so sorry! :( I was going to update so much sooner but my laptop restarted and the document wasn't saved… 'twas horrible. But it's okay because I have an update for you! xx

P.S. :( Two months without Cory. We gotta stick together, friends!

Rachel ran her hands through her curled hair before pulling up into a middle pony. She walked to the mirror and tightened it as she examined her outfit. She adjusted her red McKinley Phys. Ed t-shirt and tugged onto her short black shorts. She pulled her striped tube socks higher on her calves and bit her lip.

Earlier on the phone, Kurt said it was an acceptable outfit. He said he would never wear it, but it could easily be considered "sporty chic" so it was okay.

She grabbed her water bottle and headed towards the weight room where some of the girls were already waiting.

Just as she was about to walk into the room, she was stopped by Santana, Quinn, and Britney.

"Why were you wearing Puckerman's letterman yesterday?" Quinn glared with crossed arms.

Rachel sighed, "It was Finn's."

"Why were you wearing Finn's jacket then?" She repeated with an eye roll. "He's not your boyfriend is he? Are you forcing Finn to be your beard?"

"Finn's a beard?" The two girls turn to Britney, ignoring Rachel for the quick moment. "Why don't you just glue a wig on your face? That would be so much easier."

Rachel took that as her opportunity to leave them and head into the weight room. They called for her but she ignored them as she approached the room.

Once she walked in, Shelby took a gulp of her water and looked around the room. "Glad you're all on time. Like usual, I'll let you know when it's time to rotate on the equipment and then we'll head outside for some laps. Stacy, you can set up the music."

Stacy nodded and quickly turned the radio on and the girls went to the different exercise stations. Rachel went to the cable tower to work on her arms first. She grabbed the bar and started to curl it up to her shoulders, focusing on the way her muscles were toning up.

Jennifer started working on the tower next to her, and after a few seconds she cleared her throat. Rachel glanced at the red head in the hot pink spandex, but quickly returned her attention back to the machine and her exercises.

Rachel usually keeps to herself when she lifts. She doesn't like to waste her focus on talking when she could be focusing her energy on being the best she can be. Sometimes she's so focused that she doesn't even notice the music playing in the background.

But Jennifer cleared her throat again so Rachel turned glanced sideways once more.

She flashed a smile as she adjusted her white headband, "So I heard you're going to the dance with Dave."

Rachel just nodded, hoping to continue her workout in silence.

Jennifer eyed her carefully before continuing, "So you're not going with Finn?"

Rachel curled the bar towards her shoulders with furrowed eyebrows. Why does everyone ask if she's with Finn? She shook her head, no.

"Cool," she replied simply and continued with her exercises. Jennifer isn't bothered by Rachel's silence and actually preferred it since it seemed to be for the better anyway. She just needed her information and would be on her way.

"Why do you ask?"

She just shrugged, but Rachel knew she had her reasons and was just holding back. Jennifer was the type of girl who wasn't afraid to go after what she wants, but not in the admirable, determined way Rachel is. She's a bit on the promiscuous side, and Rachel's pretty sure that she'd be on the Cheerios if she wasn't playing volleyball. She thinks that's why she doesn't really like her. She reminds her of Quinn and Santana.

Jennifer finally shared her carefully chosen information, "Rumors say you're his girlfriend now."

"Really?" Rachel asked, her eyebrows raised slightly.

"Well people thought you were a new girl and then they saw you in his jacket all day." She said with an exasperated tone, "I don't know, Berry. Just put in a good word for me okay."

Rachel looked hesitant. She and Finn don't really talk about relationships or people like that. Sometimes Finn will mention a girl he's gonna take out or something or the guys will talk about girls they think are hot, but it's not usually what they talk about. If they bring up someone it's usually to complain about the guys or girls on their teams. To be honest, Jennifer isn't really her favorite teammate and Finn would already know that. Ever since Rachel was chosen to be the libero sophomore year, Jennifer made it clear that she was not pleased with it. She tried to compete with her or give her problems whenever she could.

"Oh come on," she started. "Just let him know I'm interested."

Rachel pulled the bar up, "Why don't you?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Just talk me up like guys usually do. You can be like my wing man instead of his or whatever you boys do."

Rachel didn't respond so Jennifer continued. "Tell him that if he takes me to homecoming, I promise I'll leave him satisfied."

Rachel wanted to fake a gag but decided it was smarter to not. She suppressed an eye roll. "Sure Jen," She said with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's Jennifer," She corrected and Rachel just shrugged.

Everyone switched machines and Rachel went to the leg press. She sat down and began to get into the zone again. After a few minutes, her mind wandered to her checklist.

Tina could count as her new female friend. Sure she talked to Kurt more, but a friend is a friend, right? Right. So that's done, she has a female friend. And she has a new wardrobe, some make up… She's even going to a dance now. Homecoming to be exact, so does that count as having/going on a date? Maybe she'll get a boyfriend out of it, too!

Her eyebrows were furrowed with focus as she continued to exercise. Oh, and does she really need a diary? She'll have to talk to her father about that.

She filed that thought away and rotated to the inclined bench. She grabbed the dumbbells and continued to think about her checklist.

She remembered it said something about her needing to try new hobbies. What can she possibly do that can be considered girly? Or at least something new that she'll like? She hasn't tried hockey yet, but she's pretty sure that Carol and her father didn't mean for her to try out a new sport. Maybe she'll call Kurt and see what he says.

She smiled a little to herself, or maybe the guys could help her. They were always helpful so they probably had some suggestions up their sleeves. After a few more minutes they switched one more time before finally going on a break. They grabbed their waters and then headed outside toward the field.

They all crowded near the bleachers and sipped their waters. Rachel immediately looked out on the field to watch the football team. She searched for her boys and smiled at Mike when she found him. He had just finished the drill and smiled back at her. Puck and Finn were busy so she didn't get to say hi to them. Once everyone looked rested and ready to continue, she decided that it would be a good time to start their stretches.

Like the incredible captain she was, she instructed everyone to spread out into a circle so she could lead the stretches. She started on their upper body and counted out.

Mike nudged Finn and Puck to say hi to Rachel. When they finally looked up, the girls were all stretching. Puck squinted, "I don't see her, but check out that ass."

The girls were bent over as they stretched out their hamstrings. They reached for their toes and Finn's eyes widened as he focused on the tanned legs and tight shorts.

"Whoa," he whispered then cleared his throat as they changed positions. "Wait, dude. That's Rachel."

They stared at her a little before turning their attention back to their practice. He should've known it was her, but he's not used to her wearing those kinds of clothes. Sure, she's been really hot lately but even for practice? I mean, the hotness had to take a break some time, right? Apparently he was wrong, but he wasn't going to complain.

Coach Beiste blew her whistle and told the guys to line up so they could run some plays.

Finn turned to look at the girls again, but noticed that they were all jogging to the track for laps. He was about to wave at Rachel, but Coach Beiste blew her whistle again.

"You boys better not be distracted by those ladies!" She warned before walking back to her spot on the sidelines.

They all ran to the line of scrimmage and found their positions. Puck and Mike jogged to the far ends of the line to their positions as the wide receivers. Dave found his spot as the guard as Azimio stood next to him as tackle. Finn fell behind and crouched down as quarterback.

He looked up and his eyes scanned the field and all the players. He ran through the play in his mind and waited for his coach to finally blow the whistle so they could start.

"Damn, did you see Berry? You aren't gonna wait 'til homecoming to give it to her, are you?" He asked and Finn's head jerked at the sound of her name. He turned to his left and right to see if Puck or Mike heard, but of course they were too far to hear so he tried his best to ignore him.

Dave replied back, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Finn didn't hear him. Azimio laughed, "She definitely has what it takes to be my tight end, if you know what I'm saying."

Finn's eyes bore holes in the two players' backs, what was taking Coach Beiste so long?

"I'd play quarterback if I could have her bent over in front of me." Finn could see his helmet turn to Dave as he spoke more.

"Knock it off, Azimio," Finn said, unable to keep himself from saying anything to him. "Focus on our play."

Dave replied but Finn couldn't hear him. Azimio continued, "Seriously, she could spread her legs wide and receive this-"

Finn lunged at him and tackled him to the floor. Azimio's helmet flew off from the sudden movement and Finn turned him so that he could face him. He took the moment to punch him square in the face two times, and Azimio tried to punch him back but was stopped. People were holding their arms back and separating them. Puck and Mike gripped Finn's arms tightly as Dave blocked Azimio off.

"What the hell is going on here?" Coach Beiste roared as she made her way towards the group of boys. She stood in between Finn and Azimio causing Puck and Mike to loosen their grips.

"White boy over there just attacked me for no damn reason!" Azimio glared.

"He was disrespecting-"

"Please!" Azimio scoffed. "I'm not the one who'll be "disrespecting" her homecoming night, that's all Karof-"

Coach Beiste put her hands up. "I run the S.S. Kick-ass, not the S.S. Girl fight! Save this for the locker rooms."

"But Coach," Finn started but she interrupted him.

"You guys have got to find a way to come together or we're gonna get our asses kicked from here until Tuesday finds a saddleback full of buckwheat!"

All the guys looked around with confused looks. Puck's voice was barely above a whisper, "What?"

"Now," She continued. "Unfortunately, I may have to have you guys sit out our next game-"

"You can't be serious!" Azimio exclaimed and she turned to him in an instant. "Watch your tone with me missy! You crap on my leg, I'll cut it off!"

"Please, Coach. I'm sure there's something else we could do," Finn pleaded. He can't miss their homecoming game.

She sighed, "Well I am a fair lady, so I won't do that. Instead, give me ten laps and we'll call it even. Don't make me regret it." She warned and gave them a look that made them drop their helmets on the sidelines and run onto the track.

Rachel's eyebrows were furrowed as she watched the guys from her spot on the track. She gave Finn a small smile as he came running onto the track. He's been acting strange lately. Finn never gets jealous of anyone or anything and he definitely never loses his cool. What's going on with him?

She knew that Finn had ten laps to do, but she only had three more. She turned to him, "You okay? What happened?"

He just nodded, "Don't worry about it. I just need to finish these laps so we can get home."

Rachel was about to question him once more, but he spoke again. "I bet you I could finish at the same time as you."

"Finn, I know how many laps Coach Beiste demands and I only have three more to go." She said as best as she could without sounding too out of breath. The sweat glistened on her face, "I highly doubt you and I can finish at the same time."

Finn smirked at her, "I'll see you when we're done."

She shook her head with a smile and watched him sprint passed her.

Finally done, she walked off the track and grabbed her water near the bleachers. Her brows wrinkled as she looked for her water bottle. She could have sworn this is where it was because she always leaves it there. When she looked up she gasped, "Impossible!"

She walked up to the step of the bleacher and waited for him to finish drinking water. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand after handing it to her. "You were actually really slow," He chuckled. "If you ran like you normally do, I probably would've been eight more minutes."

Rachel couldn't believe it, but didn't question it as they walked down to the locker rooms together. After they freshened up they went to the truck like usual and headed back to Finn's for their dance practice with Dustin.

A/N: So my university starts soon… I know it's later than everyone else's but that's not the point hehe. The point is… unfortunately I won't be updating as soon as I should or would! Just a heads up, but that doesn't mean I'm neglecting the story! You readers and reviewers (and the story of course) mean far too much for me to do that! Hope you enjoyed this little chapter hehe. Don't forget to review please! And watch Dancing with the Stars and vote for Amber! And the Emmy's for when they mention our love Cory!