Rachel tries to shake off her depression when she returns to school. She hopes she can get a part in the play and focus on that for awhile, but this year they are doing one with mostly male parts and the competition for the female parts is too high and she doesn't make the play at all. She still has to help with the sets and the costumes, but she has a lot of extra free time. Her roommates have lives that don't include her and she realizes she's never been so alone. She does a few auditions for plays outside of school, but they aren't really flexible about her class schedule and in the end none of them amount to anything. So she spends a lot of time on her computer. One night, she gets a message from Tina, and they start talking everyday. Rachel has never really had a girl friend before and she thinks she really likes it.
Tina tells her about how Mike has helped her get the courage to tell her parents she's going to be a writer, instead of a doctor like they've always wanted. Rachel wants to ask her how she got the courage to stand up to her parents, but instead she asks if Tina thinks Mike is 'the one.' Tina laughs into the phone and says she doesn't know, but she knows he makes her happy, that being with him makes her feel beautiful and confident, and that's enough for them. Rachel hopes her jealousy isn't evident over the phone, but it must be, because Tina mentions that Finn still isn't seeing anyone and wonders what happened to them. They were the "It Couple' the last two years of high school and it's so weird to think they didn't make it. Rachel doesn't know if it's the loneliness or the thrill of finally having a girlfriend, but before she can think it over, she's pouring her heart out on the phone.
She tells Tina how awful she feels for breaking up with Finn. She thought it was the best thing at the time, but now she's not so sure. Nothing in New York is what she thought it would be, she's so scared she's given up Finn only to fail at her dream. She tells Tina how lonely she is, that she's second guessing everything. She's lived her whole life with a goal and she doesn't know who she is anymore. Tina says only Rachel can know whether her dream is really to be a Broadway star or if it's something else. She says she shouldn't say anything, but that Rachel doesn't need to worry about Finn. He doesn't even look at other girls and the picture of them on their high school graduation is still sitting on his desk. Rachel smiles, because that picture is on her desk too, she loves the way they are standing in the picture, smiling at each other, their eyes full of promise. And suddenly, she feels guilty for giving up on them. Tina asks why Rachel broke up with him, and now the excuses feel weak, but she says them anyway. He's magnetic and she can't resist his pull. It's always Finn and Rachel with them, and her family doesn't think it's healthy. They think she needs to be just Rachel sometimes. They think it's too intense, but they don't seem to realize that even broken up, he still pulls her to him. They say 19 is too young and she has her whole life ahead of her. Tina asks if she's happy, and she says no, but she's not as brave as Tina. She can't tell her dads she doesn't want this anymore, not when they seem so sure she'll regret it. When she gets off the phone with Tina that night, she cries herself to sleep.
The rest of her year passes in a blur. She gets a call back from an audition for a charity play and she gets a big part in the spring musical. He hasn't been texting or talking to her much since her conversation with Tina, and she wonders if Tina told him what she said. He texts her 'break a leg' before the opening night of her musical and she's carries the memory of his first I love you with her the whole night.
When the school year ends, her advisor asks her what her summer plans are. She's been so busy with finals and the musical, she hasn't auditioned for anything and she thinks she'll spend the summer in Lima with her dads. Her dads seem surprised to see her, but she tells them this is probably the last time she'll be home for more than a visit, and they excitedly start planning for her summer vacation. She tells Tina her plans and is disappointed when she hears they won't be back for the summer. But she still feels happy at the thought of sleeping in her old room and visiting the other Glee kids, and goes to sleep hopeful about the future for the first time in a long time.