A/N: Well, thanks to jjbroadway as well as all the feedback I've received, I can't leave this as a one-shot. The story will begin from when it all changed between Puck and Rachel until it meets full circle with the first chapter. And yeah, I'll stop babbling so you can get on with the story. Of course, I don't anything, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Rachel stood still as it all hit her like a ton of bricks. Well, more like a thousand dangers hitting her in the face. The brisk, icy impact of that slushie meeting her face was a feeling she had become familiar with, but not one that she had gotten used to. It was the worst feeling in the world. No, wait, it was now the third worst feeling. The first is losing a solo that she knows should be hers and second is the disappointment and hurt she experienced when Finn had so blatantly used her own feelings against her. Getting hit in the face with a slushie was now bumped down to number three on her list.
Her mouth was agape as the syrupy substance slid down her face and dripped down onto her shoes. After she got over the initial shock of the attack, she wiped her hands clean and whipped her head around to take a look at the culprit. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't Noah Puckerman. It was one of his teammates, Alex something or other. He slapped five with another one of his co-drones as he sauntered down the hallway.
This had become a natural occurrence that she had accepted as a ritual. She was the sacrificial lamb of the school. It wasn't so bad when she realized that in the long run, they'd all be sorry. She was destined for bigger and better things. In fact, she visualized herself on Oprah's show in a few years, exchanging witty repartee and boasting about her wonderful Broadway career while giving insight on how she got to where she was. All those naysayers would be a great foundation to use to catapult her into even more stardom while instilling herself as America's sweetheart because of how rough she had it. It was the typical 'underdog comes out on top' story that everyone ate up every time.
While she fantasized about her acceptance speech for a Tony, Puck repeated Rachel's last name for the millionth time. Apparently, he had been standing there for a good minute before she even heard her name.
"What? What do you want? In case you haven't noticed, someone already beat you to the punch."
Puck gave her a once over with his eyes before he let out an amused puff. "Yeah, well, if you haven't noticed, you're in front of my locker. Move."
"Oh," she said lamely, taking three steps to her right so he could access his locker. "Like you need to retrieve your school books, do you even go to any classes?"
"Not really, but that's beside the point. What business is it of yours anyway, Berry? It's my freaking locker." Upon setting his hand on the handle of his locker, he scrunched his face when it came in contact with the remnants of the slushie that was thrown at Rachel just a moment ago. "Ah, cherry, my favorite. You know, the color suits you. Brings out the rage in your eyes," he commented as he wiped his hand clean over one of the only spots that went untouched on her sleeve by the slushie.
Rachel jerked back in reaction, not even knowing why she was still partaking in this… this… whatever it was that this was called. "I don't even know why I'm still standing here; I have much better and productive things to do with my time." Turning on her heel, she was aiming to storm away in true diva form before he grabbed her shoulder to halt her.
"Berry, you talk more than you should. Here." She half expected to receive another slushie to the face which would be more realistic than what he did next. Of course, the students in the hallway had dispersed to go to their next class and they stood together alone. He made sure to peer to his left then right before he began wiping her face clean with what seemed to be a white undershirt that he had pulled out from his locker. "No sense in leaving a trail to the bathroom."
Rachel's eyes were wide with bewilderment and that right there was better than any reaction he had gotten from her by throwing a slushie. "It's clean, I promise," he stated, knowing that there were a million things going on through her head that one of them was that she didn't know where that shirt had been. Slamming his locker door shut, he hitched a smirk in satisfaction. He managed the impossible; rendering Rachel Berry speechless. "See you at Glee after school today?" It took Rachel a moment to respond 'yes' by giving him a head nod. "Yeah? Well, later, Berry." As he walked away, Rachel stayed behind. Now that he set his plan into motion, it wouldn't take long to know if she took the bait.
Meanwhile, Rachel couldn't figure out what just happened. Puck? Coming to her aid? Did she just imagine the whole thing or did that really happen? Well, the shirt was real enough. She held it in hands, staring at it like were some foreign object she'd never seen before. This would mark the moment when Rachel would start changing her mind about Noah Puckerman. There was still that suspicion that there were other motives for his sudden kindness toward her, but either way, she would get to the bottom of it. Poor Rachel didn't even know what she was in for.