McKinley High School was just like any other high school. It didn't have a heated football field with a retractable dome like the one in Grand Ledge, and the cheerleaders and football players didn't intermingle with the members of the chess club and the choir kids, like all of the high schools on TV shows or in movies. McKinley High School was just like any other high school in the Lima area: a predominantly white student body, middle to lower middle class, and an organization of cliques so complicated it could easily trump the Caste system.

You figured out which clique you belonged to by the third week of your freshman year, even though the majority of your status in the middle school pecking order transferred over with you. There weren't any discrepancies from the expected order of power; athletes and cheerleaders still coming out on top with the prize by graduation day. They were the ones that everyone secretly wanted to be, whether they would admit to it or not. Even if someone was happy with the group of friends that they chose to associate themselves with, they all secretly wanted that recognition and fame with the school that came with joining the ranks of those who would actually be remembered once their days in high school came to an end.

Middle school was where the students always seemed to figure out the pecking order amongst themselves, with little to no help from the outside world. Little things like whether or not you wore clothes from the right brands, like Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister played an important role in how well-liked you were and how 'relevant' you were compared to the high school students at the time, who seemed to be in a league of their own compared to the middle school students. Little things, like whether or not someone still carried a lunchbox with a cartoon character on it or if they swore openly in the hallway weren't detrimental in determining how popular they would become, but played a bigger role in the long run.

Finn always thought that it was because he brought his lunch in a paper bag and Rachel still used the Scooby-Doo lunchbox she did in elementary school. That was the only real reason why he became popular in elementary school and she didn't.

Finn was one of the lucky ones. He had always been – or at least since middle school, anyway. Joining the freshman football team upon his arrival at McKinley didn't hinder him in any way, and before he knew it, he was going out on dates with the girls who were allowed to wear makeup that let them look like Britney Spears in her latest music video. Finn went to all of the parties where people drank and the occasional person would bring a Ziploc bag of weed, but it was never anything serious. At least that was what he would tell himself on his drive back home.

Rachel just existed in high school. She was a person that he knew existed still and wandered the hallways with everyone else every time the bell rang, but she never had the same presence in Finn's life that she once did back when they went to elementary school together. She had never really caught his eye until the end of their sophomore year, when she had been invited to sing the national anthem at one of the home baseball games. Finn had just gotten his driver's license and was able to drive everywhere (well, everywhere within a ten mile radius of his house to begin with), and most of his free time was spent going to the sporting events at school that he had never really had a chance to go to because of his mother's unwillingness to drive him to the school and back more than three times a week.

No one really thought that Rachel was important, but that was just because none of Finn's friends really knew who she was. It was kind of difficult to know who people were when they never went to the same parties they did.

"I think it's kind of stupid how you haven't asked out Quinn yet," Puck said to Finn the night of the baseball game. It was spring, the end of their sophomore year soon approaching them. With the end of sophomore year came more milestones than the students graduating that year – or, at least it seemed that way to the sophomores. The following year, they would be becoming upperclassmen, and would be granted access to all of the privilege that would come with it, like being able to leave campus for lunch and sitting on the good side of the gymnasium during pep fests – and, of course, prom. "I mean, she's into you. Why do you think she asked to be your lab partner?"

Finn looked at Puck and smiled to himself, not wanting to seem like he knew what Puck was talking about. It was true; he knew how Quinn Fabray was practically throwing herself on him in order to get his attention, but it wasn't like she really needed to do anything to catch his eye already. Quinn was beautiful; alabaster skin and golden blonde hair with sparkling blue eyes that made her look like she had been torn directly out of a fashion magazine. She was one of the only sophomore girls that had been promoted to the varsity cheer team in the fall, which made her hit among the football players and a target for mockery among the freshman and junior varsity cheerleaders. Finn didn't really see how it affected her, however, because every time Quinn walked down the hall, she looked the same – poised and perfect and effortless. The jaws of boys would hit the floor with an audible crash and the analytical eyes of girls would try to calculate just exactly how she swayed her hips from side to side when she made her way from geometry to US history.

"I don't know," Finn said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Right now, he was like any other guy he knew, and was more concerned about the food he had ordered at the concession booth than whatever Puck was talking about – even if it was about a hot girl. "I mean, I just don't want to ask her out and have her say no, you know what I mean?" Finn had never really asked a girl out before, but he didn't think that it would be that hard. He knew that he wasn't ugly or anything, and he played for the football team. For some reason, being a football player at McKinley somehow made you prime dating material. He had already experienced the clamor of girls that rushed up to him come February when the Sadie Hawkins dance came up. "I mean, if she's going to ask me, why doesn't she just ask me now?" His bag of popcorn and large soda appeared in the window of the concession booth, causing Finn to grab at them eagerly. "I don't get why she's playing hard to get or whatever."

Puck laughed to himself and looked at Finn before reaching across him for a fistful of popcorn. "Because that's how girls work," he told him coolly. Puck suddenly sounded like he knew all about how girls at their school operated. "They pretend like they're not interested in you or whatever, and then, once you ask them out, they're all yours." Finn rolled his eyes and sighed, spotting a place on the bleachers for the two of them to sit.

"Right, because you're dating Santana, you know everything about dating and stuff." Puck had 'dated' Santana Lopez since the eighth grade, but they hadn't started seriously dating until the fall of their sophomore year. The two of them sat down and looked out onto the baseball diamond, the stadium lights getting switched on along with the scoreboard. "I'll ask her tomorrow, I swear," he promised, not really promising anything at all. Finn wasn't even sure if he liked Quinn. She was hot, but he had never really talked to her before. Quinn was the kind of girl who was intimidating to everyone, no matter who they were.

An announcement came on the speaker system and the entire crowd stood for the National Anthem, Finn's eyes looking down at the baseball field as a girl walked onto it. Whoever was doing announcements didn't announce her name or anything, they just let her walk on with her portable microphone in hand and stand there, smiling brightly. She looked so sure of herself, pride and excitement glowing from every pore on her body. The longer he spent staring at her, the more Finn realized that he knew who she was. She really wasn't anyone memorable, but he at least recognized her face.

Puck noticed Finn's eyes divert to the girl that had walked onto the home plate of the baseball diamond and was now looking out into the bleachers, like she was smiling at someone specific.

"What are you staring at her like that for?" He asked, laughing slightly to himself. "Who is that, anyway? I don't think I've ever seen her before."

Finn looked at Puck and rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why it was such a big deal to look at her. Clearly, she wanted people to be looking at her. She was going to be singing the National Anthem in front of a bunch of people. Attention was exactly what she wanted.

"I don't know her name," he said, grabbing another handful of popcorn from the tub sitting in his lap. "She's in my homeroom, though. All she does is talk to Kurt Hummel or read a book when he's not there."

He watched her as she tapped on the head of the microphone and started speaking, not really paying attention to what she was saying. Her voice echoed from the sound system across the field, but she didn't sound the slightest bit nervous. Finn wondered if it was because she was used to singing in front of big groups of people or something. He never went to the choir concerts or musicals. He didn't care.

He couldn't really tell what she was talking about. Something about the spring musical and how everyone should go see it because she's a sophomore and sophomores usually don't even get cast in the spring musical and it's a really big deal and it's really good and tickets are only six dollars.

"She seems like a pill," Puck said, rolling his eyes. Finn wanted to laugh along with him and smile like it was one big joke, because it really was. He didn't need to feel any kind of attachment or sympathy for whoever this girl was. She was just there, and he knew that she existed. He could easily go through the rest of his life just seeing her in homeroom, occasionally hearing her gush about the musical or whatever song she got to sing a solo in for show choir that week.

But she wasn't one of those girls that were completely avoidable. She was pretty, and not like Quinn or any of her friends. She had long, dark hair and wore a teal dress that wasn't like the ones Quinn would wear, but instead had a back and sleeves and buttoned up in the front. She looked like a nice girl, and Finn was surprised that he had never really noticed her before.

He could see himself talking to her next Monday in homeroom, maybe. She seemed like a nice enough person.

She started to sing and Finn watched as Puck pulled out his phone, becoming more interested in whatever text he had gotten than the girl singing in front of them. He didn't really mind if people weren't watching her; he didn't feel any kind of emotion towards her like he thought he was supposed to. Maybe he was supposed to fall head over heels in love with her just because her voice, or the way she smiled in between the verses of the song, but he didn't.

He wasn't Heath Ledger and the girl singing wasn't Julia Stiles. They weren't going to fall in love with each other just because she was singing and had caught his attention. They were just two people, and Finn had happened to notice her. That was it.

"She's pretty good," he said, looking over at Puck. He wasn't lying. She was really good. It was no wonder she had been cast in the musical that only had two parts in it that spring. Puck didn't seem to care.

"She's got a nice ass," Puck said off-handedly, looking up at his phone for a moment. Finn shouldn't have expected any better from him. He was telling the truth, anyway. Whoever the girl was that was now both in his homeroom and singing the National Anthem did have a nice ass. He wasn't going to deny that just because he didn't know her.

"Yeah," he said, not really bothering to pay attention to Puck by his side. The girl had finished singing and walked off of the baseball field, finding her way onto the bleachers and sitting down next to Kurt, the boy she spent so much time talking to during homeroom. "Hey, the game's starting."

He looked at the girl for a while longer, watching her as she grabbed a bucket of popcorn from Kurt's lap and took a handful from it, counting the pieces out in the palm of her hand before beginning to eat them. She tipped her head up from her lap and locked her eyes with Finn for a second, noticing the way he stared at her. A small smile appeared on her face and she brushed her hair from her face, waving at him for a moment.

Finn looked away from her, looking back out onto the baseball field. She looked like the type who would get too excited about seeing someone wave at her, of all things. He wasn't in the mood to start that kind of relationship with anyone. He was supposed to be dating Quinn, anyway.

:.:.:

The baseball game went over fine. They were winning by the seventh inning, which was when Finn had decided to get up and buy a drink.

He hadn't noticed the girl who had sung the National Anthem standing next to him in line.

"Hi Finn," she said, blushing slightly. She was a lot prettier now that he was standing so close to her. She had big, brown eyes and a smile that seemed to light up under the dim lights of the concession booth. "How are you?"

He was surprised that she knew his name. Finn knew that he was considered popular by most people in their class, but he wouldn't have expected her to know what his name was. He looked at her, somewhat confused. She continued to look at him, fingering the hem of her dress nervously.

"Hey," he said, not wanting to sound like a complete jerk. He didn't even know what her name was. He knew that they had announced it before she sang and everything, but he wasn't really listening then. He didn't have any classes with her and he had never really gone to a performance of any of the musicals or anything. He had just recognized her from his homeroom.

No matter how many times he looked at her, however, she still seemed familiar to him, like he had seen her before.

She looked at him for a moment, furrowing her brow as he assumed she thought he was trying to recall her name. He couldn't, really, no matter how hard he tried.

"Rachel," she said, wiping her hands off on her dress. "We're in homeroom together." She giggled softly to herself and looked down at her feet, her yellow shoes sticking out against the concrete. "And, um, we went to elementary school together."

Finn felt like an idiot. He didn't want to ask her how he knew her, because he figured that would just sound rude. "Oh, yeah, Rachel!" He smiled at her and she smiled back, laughing as he looked at her. "Yeah, um, you did a really good job out there," he told her as began to rub the back of his neck. "I didn't know you could sing like that, or anything."

"You should come see me in the musical," she told him, blushing slightly. "We're doing The Last 5 Years. It's really good."

Finn had no clue what that musical was, but he figured that Rachel must have been pretty good if she had been cast in it. "Yeah, um, I'll try and see it," he told her, walking up further in line. She was still behind someone else by the time he had reached the counter. Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"I'll buy you whatever you were going to get here, if you want."

She looked at him with a smile and giggled again, making him feel like his heart was beating faster. Finn had never really heard a laugh like Rachel's before. It played on a musical scale and sounded like she was singing a song while she laughed.

"Oh," she said, her voice quiet. "Finn, you don't really need to do that-"

"It's fine," he said with a laugh, smiling down at her. He had never really noticed how much shorter she was than he was. He figured that she was at least a foot shorter than he was, but it played up how cute she seemed to him. She wasn't hot or unapproachable like Quinn and her friends were; put up on pedestals for everyone to envy and want even though they knew they wouldn't be able to date them or consider speaking to them without getting the cold shoulder. Rachel was just beautiful, and not because she wore a bunch of makeup or dresses that looked like they were a size too small for her. Finn hadn't really met a girl like Rachel before.

"What were you going to get?"

"Oh, um, red licorice," she said bashfully. "Kurt and I were going to share a bag." She turned over her shoulder and gestured at Kurt, who she waved at with a smile. There was a beat between them, Rachel kicking her feet around nervously.

"You know, Finn, I'm sure you've already got people to sit with, or whatever, but, um, if you wanted to sit with me, um, that would be-"

"Finn," a voice rang above Rachel's, causing Finn to turn around. Over his shoulder was Quinn, standing behind him with a smirk on his face. He felt his stomach tie itself in a knot and his mouth went dry.

He looked back at Rachel, who had looked down at her feet. She looked nervous and had crossed her arms over her chest, holding onto herself tightly.

Quinn's lips curled into a sneer and she rolled her eyes. "What is she doing here?" Finn looked back at Quinn and his mouth dropped open slightly, surprised by how rude she was being. Finn wasn't even dating Quinn or anything, and she was being rude to Rachel. He wasn't even sure if she had ever met Rachel, considering he really hadn't before he had run into her at the concession booth.

"Quinn, this is Rachel… Rachel Berry?"

"Yeah, I know who she is," Quinn sneered, rolling her eyes. "She's in my history class."

Rachel looked up at Finn, her voice suddenly quiet.

"Finn, it's okay. You can leave."

He looked at her and watched her as she turned towards the counter, ignoring him. Finn didn't really know what to say to her, of if he would be able to say anything to her after Quinn had snapped at him in the way she had.

"What are you doing here?" He asked Quinn, surprised that she was there. He never would have thought that she would have been at the same game he and Puck had gone to. It wasn't like she was cheering at it or anything.

"I came with Santana because she got bored," the blonde said, still looking over her shoulder at Rachel, who had preoccupied herself at the concessions counter. Finn looked at her and Quinn scoffed, rolling her eyes as she cast one last look at Rachel. "Why were you spending time with her?" She asked, her voice stern. Finn wasn't even dating her and Quinn had already wanted to know every little detail about what he was doing.

"Who, Rachel?" Finn looked over his shoulder at Rachel, who was already making her way back to the bleachers with her package of licorice in her hand. "She's kind of cool, Quinn."

Quinn started to laugh. "Please," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "She's a no one. She spends all of her time talking about musicals and singers and stuff no one cares about and it's disgusting," she said, shooting a glare over in Rachel's direction. "And look, I get that you think she's pretty and everything, but she's not really anything to write home about." Finn's eyes fell on Rachel in the bleachers, no longer smiling the way she had been before Quinn had come into the picture. Her eyes looked down in her lap and she didn't even look happy when Kurt tried to talk to her. "She could spare to lose a few pounds, anyway."

Finn looked over at Rachel again, feeling his heart stammer slightly. She suddenly looked so sad and ashamed while she sat next to Kurt, looking at him with sadness in her eyes. She had become the girl he knew that she wasn't, even if he was just taking a refresher course in meeting her again.

Part of him wanted to go up to her and tell her that Quinn was just a jerk, and that he didn't really believe any of the things she had said about her. Maybe Rachel would forgive him and wouldn't think that he was such an asshole.

But the dominant part of him turned back around to face Quinn, a crooked smile stuck to his face.

"Come on," the blonde said, a smile stuck to her face. She looped her arm through his and dragged him away from the concession booth before he was able to get the drink he had gone up there to get in the first place. "Let's go sit back down before the game starts again."

He did as he was told, dumbfounded. He cared about Rachel, really.

He just didn't care about her right in that second.