Three days had passed since the history project was first assigned and while Rachel had already begun working on it, she had not yet been able to get Puck involved. She was finally able to corner him in the hallway and convince him to join her in the library during her free period.
"Since you weren't there when Mr. Johnson explained the assignment, I went ahead and typed out a detailed description for you. Basically, we need to pick a time in history and compose a detailed paper describing everything about the time period, like customs, social norms, food, clothing, gender roles, daily activities, class divisions, literature, music, and etcetera. We also need to come up with a creative component of the assignment in which we present some aspect of the time period in an imaginative manner. Since I am a fan of Jane Austen, I was thinking it might be fun to choose late 18th/early 19th century England."
Rachel looked down and saw that throughout her entire speech, Puck had been drawing a picture. Looking closer, she saw though he was obviously quite talented at drawing, it was rather inappropriate as there was nudity depicted. Looking even closer, she saw that the subject of the picture was her! She grabbed the paper and crumpled it.
"The way I see this, we're going to be stuck together for the rest of the semester, so I think we should make the best of it. I know that I could do this project on my own, but I would appreciate your participation. I know you're intelligent, Puck, and I really think you can make some positive contributions."
It was strange for Puck to hear someone actually talk about him like he had potential. He knew Rachel didn't have to get stuck with him as a partner and figured he should at least attempt to make an effort.
After a long pause, Puck finally spoke. "Okay, I'm sorry. I promise I will try to make an effort."
"Great. Well I've taken a lot of initial notes from sources. Can I come by your house to bring you copies this afternoon, after your football practice? You live on Willow, right?"
"Yea, that's fine. I'll be home by 4:45. My mom will let you in if I'm not there yet."
"You know, Puck, you really should try to attend your other classes. I'm in most of them, so I know you don't usually come. Even if we do well on this assignment, it's only one class. If you want to bring up your GPA, you've got to put some effort into these other classes also."
Puck smirked, "Yea, okay, thanks Mom."
Rachel sputtered an apology for overstepping her bounds, but Puck quickly interrupted.
"Tell you what, Berry. I'll try to attend classes a little more often. But since I'm taking your recommendation, I think you should consider my suggestion to have a little bit of fun in life."
"I have plenty of f…"
"Yes, you have very innocent, good girl fun. I'm just saying you should try a little rebellion once in awhile. It'd be good for you. Nothing crazy…just live a little."
Puck stood up to leave. Just when Rachel thought that they had managed to have an innuendo-free conversation, Puck continued. "Oh and Berry, make sure you knock before you come into my bedroom…wouldn't want you to see anything that would offend those virgin eyes of yours."
Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed. "Goodbye, Puck."
After her left, Rachel looked at the picture once again. It was wildly inappropriate and offensive, but she had to admit…he made her look good. Suddenly Quinn slid into the sit next to her and Rachel quickly hid the picture in her textbook.
"Thanks again so much for being Puck's partner on this assignment. I know what a pain he can be. It's just that Finn is so worried about him and I am too."
"No problem, Quinn. I'm sure that Puck and I will be able to work together successfully so his grade can be salvaged."
"Well good, I'm glad that's settled."
"Quinn, do you think I need to have more fun?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just something Puck mentioned…that I should have non-good girl fun. Do you have a lot of non-good girl fun?"
Quinn chuckled and pointed at her belly. "Um, Rachel, what do you think?"
Rachel laughed, "Oh yea…"
"Listen, Puck is probably just messing with you. Not in a mean way, just his way. I wouldn't worry about it. But it probably wouldn't hurt to try new things."
"That's true. If I'm going to be an accomplished Tony award-winning actress someday, I have to make sure I take advantage of opportunities for varied experiences."
"Exactly. Now, we have to talk about plans for the weekend. I'm thinking a girls' night…we can invite Tina and Mercedes also…oh and wouldn't it be great if we…"
Rachel listened, smiling at her good fortune to finally have friends.