Gah! I know, I know, I deserve to die a slow and painful death because it has been forever! I've just been a little bit preoccupied with other things, like Ned Flanders hot chocolate, and girl scout cookies. (I just found a box I must have bought AGES ago, thank god they're not stale)

Also, I deleted three of my less popular stories in order to save space, so Green Eyes, When the Time is Right, and The Grass is Always Greener have been deleted. Sorry to anyone who liked those.

Disclaimer: I'm feeling dumb today, so I'll just say, no, I don't own Glee. Or Chicago.

Chapter Eleven: People Never Learn

One week later…

"So nobody can figure out what to do without you gone, and Santana just keeps bitching everybody out, and yesterday she was yelling at Tina for being too shy to take all the solos, and Tina just like, snapped. Artie actually had to break it up, it was kind of hilarious." Rachel gave an appreciative laugh, swinging her legs over the side of the couch.

Shortly after their brief encounter at the movie store, Puck starting calling more often than normal. Eventually, Rachel decided it would save her minutes and messages to just pick up, which led to them talking and hanging out more than usual. Rachel was a bit surprised at the sudden interest, but it was nice to be with someone who wasn't almost exactly like her. With her and Puck, it was like a mash-up, they didn't seem like they'd go together, but that's what made them great. She hadn't told any of her new friends about him yet. She wasn't sure how they would react. None of them seemed to be too comfortable when she mentioned his name, though Paige thought he was hot. Amanda, begrudgingly, told Rachel she thought so too.

Puck smiled at her, and casually tossed his arm around her, not taking his eyes off the show they were watching. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Smooth." She said coolly, without removing his arm. This happened a lot, moment of sexually tension, or a small romantic gesture would take place. Rachel wasn't sure what to make of it, and often times she had to ask herself what she would do if he did make a move.

She looked up at him through her eyelashes, biting her lip to keep herself from smiling. He looked in her directions and grinned slightly, and suddenly he was a bit closer to her face than she realized.

Her phone rang from the coffee table, causing Rachel o nearly jump in surprise, and Puck's head was back to the TV again. She sighed before picking it up, trying to clear her head. Of course it would be Christian that would interrupt and moment like that. She let it go to voicemail, leaning back again; sad that Noah's arm was gone. He turned to her for a second. "Who's Christian?"

The question caught her off guard. "Oh, umm, you met him? Remember at the movie store?" He nodded.

"Is he your boyfriend?" He asked, with a pained expression on his face. She laughed.

"No, he's just a friend, and I'm pretty sure my other friend Amanda is into him." He nodded, looking somewhat relieved, before putting his arm around her again.

Puck walked into the choir room, ten minutes early, and was welcomed by the sight of Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Artie standing (well, sitting, in Artie's case) in a line, like they were waiting for him to come. "We need to talk, white boy." Mercedes said in a threatening manner. Puck was badass, he wasn't afraid of anything, but right now, he was a little scared. So he sat right down.

Kurt looked right at him. "You need to hurry up. Sectionals is coming soon. Okay, we can't win with only eleven people, we can't even compete!"

Puck scoffed. "No shit, Sherlock. I'm trying okay, but Berry…" He trailed off as they all looked at him suspiciously. "It takes time, okay?"

"Yeah, well we don't have time. You just need to try harder." Artie said huffily, his arms crossed.

"Yeah, what's your great plan?" Mercedes and Kurt exchanged looks, which made Puck think that they actually did have a plan.

"You're mom and sister are out of town, right?" Kurt asked slowly. Puck didn't answer, wondering why the hell he knew that. Kurt glanced at Mercedes again. "Why don't you go over the Ft. Wayne? Just for a day or two? You'd have more of an advantage if you just had more time, as you asked for." Puck was silent for a moment, trying to work it out in his head. Could he really just seal the deal in a day? He shook his head.

"I don't think Mr. Schue would go for it."

He went for it.

"Come on, Puck!" Quinn encouraged him. "If anyone can do it, it's you." He crossed his arms sullenly, pouting. Quinn continued like she hadn't noticed. "I already texted Rachel from your phone, she knows you're coming." Puck stared at her dubiously. They weren't dating! She couldn't just go on his phone and text people. Quinn paused, once again ignoring Puck's unspoken complaints. "She seemed excited." She said, her voice guarded and light, though her eyes were boring into his.

It was his turn to ignore her. "Fine, make sure I don't miss anything big." He continued shove things from his locker into his backpack. At this point he was just grabbing anything his hands touched, it's not like he knew his homework anyway. Quinn noticed his fake preoccupation, and happily slammed his door shut.

"Sense subtly obviously doesn't work for you," Each word rang sharp, and he would be scared if he didn't know that that was just normal Quinn, every sentence dripped with sarcasm. "I'm just gonna come straight out and say it. Do you like her or not?" He was surprised by the sudden turn of conversation.

He suddenly became very interested in the zipper of his book bag. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said, his voice coming out rough. He snuck a peek up at Quinn. She looked somewhere between annoyed and bemused.

Her mouth started opening and closing like a fish out of water, and just as he was about to start worrying she laughed. "Oh my god." She cried in between breathes, her laughter calm and somewhat sinister. "I know that voice Puck, I should. That's your 'complete bullshit' voice." Puck didn't know he was supposed to respond. Was he really that easy to read? Quinn shook her head slowly, staring at him. She gave a short breathy laugh again. "You've got to be kidding." She sighed. "I'm not mad, confused and jealous, maybe." His eye widened at the latter. "Mostly confused." She backtracked. "Why do you even like her?"

He shrugged as he thought about it. He wasn't really sure why either. But when she wasn't giving an insanely long speech or talking about show tunes, she was actually kind of fun to be around. And sure, she kind of drives him crazy, but even when she does, he doesn't really mind. He opened his mouth to say so, when it actually seemed to hit him what she was actually about to say. He wasn't a chick! He wasn't about to blab to Quinn about how he 'like-liked' Rachel. So instead he just said, "I never admitted to anything." Quinn gave him a look of disappointment, before tapping him on the shoulder and walking off, leaving Puck even angrier than before.

Everyone in the room grew silent as Mr. Schue entered, a huge smiled plastered on his face. "Alright guys, good news." The room stirred, interested. Mr. Schue glanced around briefly. "Has Puck left already?" He asked.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Mr. Schue continued smiling. "Because I think we might have sent him over there for no reason." People looked confused. "I found another member." He admitted, his voice brimming with excitement. Shouts exploded all over the room.

"What, who?" Kurt demanded, his voice going several octaves higher.

"Boy or girl?" Santana shot out. Mr. Schue waved his hands, trying to get everyone to calm down. He pointed his hands to the door. "My I introduce you all to Alicia Walker." A tall, tan girl walked through the door. Her teeth were sparkly white, and she had long, black, glimmering hair.

She stopped at the center of the room. "Hi, I'm Alicia." Her voice was soft and controlled. Mercedes gave Quinn and impressed look. The boys shuffled slightly, eyeing over the Spanish beauty. Mr. Schue clapped his hands together and he gave his students to thumbs up.

"Alright, Alicia, would you like to sing for us?" Alicia, nodded, smilingly warmly. She turned to Brad, who was sitting at the piano, staring at her in surprise.

"Roxie, Chicago, please." She grinned again, facing the room head on.

The name on everybody's lips is gonna be: Roxie
The lady raking in the chips is gonna be: Roxie

Mr. Schue smiled somewhat evilly as the rest of the room gaped at the as the girl continued to sing with a smug look on her face. She was almost as good as Rachel. Almost.

I'm gonna be a celebrity,
That means somebody everyone knows,
They're gonna recognize my eyes, my hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose.

From just some dumb mechanics wife, I'm gonna be: Roxie
Who says that murder's not an art?
And who incase she doesn't hang,
Can say she started with a bang?
Roxie Hart!

But almost was good enough.

Sorry for the shortness. I was planning on it being longer, but I cut it in half in fear of it being too dramafied. My goal is at least three reviews! That way I'll be able to pass my other story, Unexpected, in review numbers! Yay!

-xoxo SIL xoxo