Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lima, Ohio. I never thought I'd have to go back there, but as I sit in the car on the way to the airport, it's clear to me that all good things must come to and end.

I've lived most of my life in New York City with my dad, Hiram. He's gay, but had me with my mom, Shelby back in Ohio before he realized he didn't actually like women. I'd go on vacations with my mom in the summer, but never in Ohio, and I'm honestly dreading going back. My dream is be on Broadway, and being stuck in a rainy, woodsy town in Ohio is going to make that goal so much harder than if I stayed in New York.

The only reason I'm going to Ohio is because my dad got married. No he didn't kick me out, I chose to leave because dad wouldn't be able to travel with his new husband, LeRoy if I stayed. LeRoy is an actor, and acts in touring shows that play all over the country, and is away from New York a good chunk of the year. I'd overheard them talking about his work schedule and what that meant for me, and when Dad asked if I was willing to go to Lima to live with Shelby, I agreed (even if it wasn't what I really wanted).

The car stopped as we arrived at the airport. Dad turned towards me and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure about this, kiddo?" He asked.

I nodded. "I'm sure. Don't worry, I'll be back one day when I make my Broadway debut."

Dad smiled and pulled me into a hug. "I'm looking forward to it.... say hi to Shelby for me."

"I will." I assured him before exiting the car and grabbing my bags.

The flight from NYC to Dayton only took two hours, but I wished it was a little longer so I could be alone with my thoughts, but I know the trip can't last forever.

When I got off the plane, Shelby was waiting for me in the lobby. When she spotted me, she smiled and speed-walked over to me.

"Rachel, I'm so glad to see you!" She said, going in for a hug.

"It's good to see you too, mom." I told her honestly, accepting the hug. Even though I wasn't happy about being back in Ohio, I was still happy to see my mom.... even if it was a little awkward.

The car ride to Lima was a mostly quiet aside from Shelby asking a couple of questions like "How's your dad?" or "Are you excited to see your new room?" which I answered with short responses. When she asked me about a car, I perked up a little.

"Hiram told me you're looking to buy your own." Shelby said, grinning. "So I went ahead and got you a nice used one."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." I told her, feeling a little disappointed that she got me a used one. Call me spoiled, but I was saving up to buy a nice new one.

"Consider it a homecoming gift." Shelby said. "There's a semi-new tire shop in town and they were selling this nice, used Chevy truck, and I since you were looking for a car, I figured I could buy it for you so you could save your money."

Now I was even more disappointed, but I tried not to let it show- a truck was just about the worst car she could have bought for me, but I didn't want to be ungrateful, so I mustered up a small smile.

"Thanks mom, I appreciate it." I told her.

After a little over an hour, Shelby and I arrived in Lima. I was as cloudy and dreary as ever, but that was to be expected. She still lived in the same cream-colored two bedroom home her and Dad shared when they briefly dated, but it didn't seem like it was worse for wear save for a little chipped paint on the front of the house.

Sitting in the driveway was my new car- and it didn't look nearly as bad as I'd thought. The shiny silver truck looked clean, sturdy, and in good condition. Like Shelby said, it was used, but definitely not in bad shape.

"I really like it, Mom." I told her, flashing a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She mirrored my grin.

After getting an eyeful of my new car, Shelby and I carried my stuff into the house and up the stairs to my old room. I'd only been in there a handful of times over the years, and most of the essentials were intact- pink wallpaper, wooden flooring, four-post bed, and white curtains covering the windows. The only changes were that the old nightstand had been swapped out for a new one that matched the floor, there was a new vanity in place of the old one, in another corner was an elliptical, presumably bought by Shelby because I'd informed her of the routine I liked to follow in the morning, and a set of black and green sheets covered the bed. Overall the room felt comforting, but also in a way, refreshing.

Shelby let me unpack in peace, and while it was nice to get to arrange the room exactly how I wanted, it also meant that my mind went wild thinking about my new school, William McKinley High School. The only thing I really know about the school is that it had a small population, only a few hundred students, which means I have no idea what to expect when I show up on my first day.

I'd never really had friends, so I wasn't expecting that I'd be very popular with the students at McKinley. Most people back in my NYC school would describe me as "self-centered" and "annoying" but I think they're just jealous of my talent.... let's hope the students at this school are more receptive of my artistic vision.

I didn't sleep well that night. The rain pounding on the roof and against my window was more unnerving than it was comforting, and the "what if" questions about school kept me nervous enough to toss and turn for hours. When I did fall asleep, it wasn't a peaceful rest.

The next morning, I did my usual routine before joining Shelby downstairs for breakfast. She made blueberry waffles, one of my favorite dishes as a kid, but left out the eggs (thank God I let her know I'm vegan ahead of time).

"How did you sleep?" She asked when we sat down to eat.

"Not great." I told her. "The rain kept me up."

She fixed me with a knowing gaze. "Is that all?"

"No, it's not." I relented. "I'm nervous about school. If didn't really have friends in New York, what chance do I have here?"

Shelby reached across the table and took my hand. "Don't be so scared. You're a smart, talented, pretty young girl. I'm  sure the other kids will love you."

Her words helped put me at ease, and I squeezed her hand in appreciation. "Thanks mom."

"You're welcome." She let go of me. "How did you like your new sheets? I couldn't find Fanny Brice ones, but I figured Wicked ones would do in a pinch."

I giggled. "I appreciate the effort."

Thirty minutes later, I hopped into my new truck for the first time. It had nice black leather seats, a radio that looked to have been updated recently (it was more modern than the rest of the car) and there was a citrussy aroma that filled the interior due to the lemon-scented tree-shaped air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.

The car ran well, and it got me to my new school fairly fast. McKinley was composed of two buildings, colored a basic light brown. There were a large amount of students hanging outside the school, so I assumed I'd gotten there a little early.

I found a spot to park that was relatively close to the entrance, and quickly went inside. The interior of the school wasn't particularly special looking, but it was warm inside (a relief from the chilling pre-rainfall weather outside) and didn't feel claustrophobic or intimidating, so I counted that as a win.

I walked up to the front desk (which was in a weird spot- a mini room directly in front of the principal's office) and the receptionist looked up from the computer and gave me a small smile. She's quite pudgy with light brown hair and wearing square glasses.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm Rachel Berry." I introduced myself. "I'm a new student."

"Oh, that's right." She grabbed a pile of papers from the side of her desk and began to sift through them. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Donna." She said, handing me two slips from the pile. "One is your schedule and the other is a map of the school. I highlighted the rooms you need to go to so you don't get lost."

I thanked her before leaving, taking the time to read over my schedule and the map. My first class is English in room 204, which was up the left side flight of stairs, and the second door to the right. I followed the map there (while being careful not to bump into anyone else) and got there swiftly. I sat down at a desk in the second row and got out my notebook, pencil, and eraser, setting them down neatly on the desk. After a couple of minutes, a dozen or so students filed into the room, and an older woman with red hair I assumed to be the teacher (the nameplate on her desk read "Ms. Doonsenbury") arrived only a few seconds after the bell rang.

The class was fairly boring, and despite my glowing self-confidence, I didn't feel comfortable enough to raise my hand and answer any of her questions. Some people would call it nervousness, but I'd call it the new-school version of stage fright.

When the second bell rang, I internally breathed a sigh of relief, carefully packing my things back into my bag. When I finished, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around, I found myself looking up at a tall black guy wearing a green hoodie and jeans.

"You're new, right." He held out his hand. "I'm Matt, Matt Rutherford."

"Yes, I'm the new student." I shook his hand. "My name is Rachel Berry."

"Nice to meet you. What's your next class?" He inquired.

"Spanish with Mr. Martinez in room-" I took a peek at my schedule again. "Room 249."

"Hey, my next class is on the way there, want me to walk you?"

"Sure!" I agreed. The two of us left the classroom and made our way down the hall.

"So where are you from?" He asked.

"New York City." I told him.

"Wow, I've never met a New Yorker before. Does it rain as much there as it does here?"

"No, it gets about an average level of rainfall according to scientific consensus.... which is to say not as much as Lima gets." I tacked on an awkward attempt at a joke, which made Matt chuckle a little. At least the first person I officially met here is pretty nice.

We parted ways at my next class, which wasn't as boring as the last, but a little more humiliating because Mr. Martinez insisted I introduce myself to the class in Spanish (which I botched) but luckily no one seemed to really care, so it's not like I was going to get tomatoes thrown at me.

The following two classes passed by fast, and at the end of fourth period, the dark-haired girl that sat next to me during the class invited me to join her at lunch. She wore bright red lipstick, a black beret, and she spoke in a fast, cheerful voice that was sort of off-putting. Despite my reservations, I accepted her invitation because I didn't want to sit alone, and we walked to lunch together as she rattled off as many facts about the school and the students as possible.

After the noirette (I eventually learned that her name is Harmony) and I got our lunch, she led me to her usual table where she sat with her friends at lunch. They introduced themselves, but their names kind of went in one ear and out the other, but I assured myself that I'd memorize them eventually.

As they chatted with themselves and me, I glanced around the cafeteria, taking in the faces I could see. Matt gave me a wave from his table, and I waved back, earning a little teasing from Harmony that I brushed off. One group of people however, caught my eye.

I don't know what it was that got my attention- maybe it was because they weren't gawking at me like most of the other students, maybe it was because the table they were sitting at was completely bare which meant they probably weren't eating, or maybe it was because despite the fact that none of them looked alike, they all sported the same dark eyes and black shadows that hung under their eyes, giving them all sleepless looks. No matter the reason, the five of them had my full attention.

The group was composed of three guys and two girls. Two of the guys were sitting very close to each other and seemed to be talking in intimate whispers. One of them had nicely combed chestnut brown hair, pretty porcelain skin, and was dressed in a very stylish turtleneck and matching jacket. The other had more color to his skin, slicked-back dark hair (that was packed with way too much hair gel), and was wearing a rather strange outfit- a dark gray vest over a long-sleeved plaid shirt tucked into his pants, and a bowtie. The third guy was sitting separately from the others and not speaking. He had fair skin, dark brown hair, and was wearing a red letterman jacket.

The two girls were also quite snuggly with each other. One of them had beautiful sleek, black hair and brown skin. She was wearing a red dress that hugged her curves in all the right ways. The other girl had long, blonde hair, fair skin, and was wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt decorated with white hearts, and blue jeans.

After a long, drawn-out minute of staring at the five beautiful teens, I forcefully tore my eyes away and grabbed Harmony's shoulder (a little too hard) to get her attention, and whispered to her, "Who are they?" while gesturing towards the peculiar quintet.

"Oh, those are the Hudson-Hummels!" She informed me, flashing a bright smile. "They're strange, aren't they? They're a blended family that also happens to date each other, but not in an incestuous way."

"Uh, could you elaborate on that?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, they're the foster kids of a married couple, Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson-Hummel." Harmony explained. "Burt foster-to-adopted two kids by himself, Kurt and Brittany Hummel." She pointed out the girl with blonde hair, and the guy with pale skin wearing a turtleneck. "And Carole foster-to-adopted three kids on her own, Finn, Santana, and Blaine Hudson." She pointed out the guy in a letterman jacket, the girl with black hair, and the guy with a head full of gel, in that order. "Burt and Carole met sometime before they moved here and got married, merging their families.... although they ended up with two more couples- which you can probably take a guess at."

"Kurt and Blaine and Santana and Brittany, I assume." I said.

"Yep! It's a little weird if you ask me, but they didn't grow up together, so I guess it's not that bad." She shrugged and went back to eating.

"What about Finn?"

Harmony swallowed a mouthful of potato salad before answering. "He doesn't date. Trust me, I've tried."

I cast a glance at the man in question, and my heart fluttered when I saw that Finn was now staring at me. I held his gaze for a couple of seconds before turning away, embarrassed.

I spent the rest of the period forcing myself not to look over at the group, and attempted to focus on the conversations that were happening at the table. One of the girls at the table, an adorable Filipino girl named Sunshine, had the same next class as me (chemistry) and offered to walk with me, which I accepted.

When I got to chem class, Sunshine sat with another of her friends in the back, and as I looked around the room, I noticed the only open seat was next to Finn Hudson in the center row. His onyx-colored eyes met mine for the second time that day, and I could feel the intensity radiating off of him as I gingerly walked over to him and took my seat, taking out my usual notebook, pencil, and eraser combo. As soon as I sat down, Finn's shoulders stiffened, and he inched away in his seat, sniffing the air.

My heart dropped. I didn't smell, did I? Did I make a mistake in wearing a sweater today? Was there pit stains forming under my arms?! I quickly checked, and found none, which left me puzzled- if I didn't smell, what was Finn's problem then?

I pushed the thoughts away as the teacher began his lesson about chemical bonding- something I already learned at my last school, but I still took notes anyway since it seemed to be a good distraction from the way my neighbor recoiled away from me once I had gotten within a foot of him.

When the bell rang, Finn jumped up from his seat and speed-walked out the classroom without a word. I still had no idea what his problem was, but whatever it is, he didn't have to be so damn rude about it.

"Rachel?"

I snapped my head to the side upon hearing my name, and was greeted by a rather handsome guy with wavy brown hair and blue eyes.

"Yes?" I said, caught off-guard.

"I'm Jesse St. James." He introduced himself. "Need help getting to your next class?"

"I have music next." I informed him. "I think I know my way around the school by now though, so it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I have music too, why don't we go together?"

Not wanting to be rude, I agreed, and we headed to the music room together. Jesse was quite chatty, but didn't seem very bright, and he controlled most of the conversation. Normally I was the big chatterbox, but I guess being in a new school and being snubbed by a tall, cute guy with dark eyes was throwing me off today.

"What did you do to Hudson to make him run off like that?" Jesse asked at one point.

I shook my head. "I have no clue, and honestly it pretty impolite of him to just rush off like that- he acted like I burned him!"

"He's a weird guy for sure.... you should sit next to me next time, I'll be a lot nicer."

"I'll keep that in mind." I told him with a polite chuckle.

Of course, music class was the best part of my day, and I could tell I surprised a lot of my classmates with my pitch perfect voice. Jesse had some fantastic pipes as well, and I began to brainstorm the many duets we could do together in class.

When the final bell rang, I breathed a sigh of relief. The first day was over, and the worst thing that happened was that I somehow made a guy sprint from a classroom like Usain Bolt, but that was far from the worst thing in the world, so I counted it as a win.

Before leaving, I decided to drop by the front desk to thank Donna once again for her help, and I nearly turned and fled when I saw none other than Finn Hudson there, speaking with Donna himself. He sounded agitated, and he was trying to get her to switch his chemistry class with another- any class, it didn't matter.

I was admittedly angry- what had I done to deserve this kind of treatment? Was he really that much of a loner that me sitting at the same table made him want to swap classes?

Donna's eyes flickered to me, and Finn followed her gaze, his words tapering off when he saw me standing outside the glass door.

"Nevermind, Donna." He said to her, still looking at me. "Thanks for the help." He swiftly left the office, ripping his eyes off me as he passed. I wanted to tell him off, but for some reason the words died in my throat, and I decided to just stick my head in the office for brief moment instead.

"How was your first day, dear?" Donna asked, her voice still dripping with concern.

"It was..... interesting." I told her. "Very interesting."

Chapter Text

Unlike the first, my second day of school was rather lackluster. The sky was covered with a thick layer of light gray clouds, I hung out with Jesse, Harmony, and most of the same people I had befriended the previous day, and most of my classes went smoothly.... and by most of them, I mean that the one fluke was when I got called on during trigonometry and didn't know the answer, but that's nothing a little extra studying won't fix.

Something that I couldn't fix though, was the strange feeling of excitement that fluttered in my belly when I thought about Finn Hudson (and to a lesser extent, his family), but he wasn't in the cafeteria when I snuck a peek. I saw his siblings sitting at the same bare table, but he wasn't among them. When I arrived at chem class, I noticed he didn't show up there either which meant he probably didn't come to school at all. I thought that I might be partially to blame, but I hadn't done anything wrong- if he was so bothered, he could stay away as far as I'm concerned.

Someone who couldn't stay away though, is Jesse. He never left my side during lunch, and followed me around like a stray dog on our way to chem, and talked to me until the bell rung. Normally I'd welcome his chatter about the after-school show choir he runs, but today I was preoccupied by the missing Hudson boy (and my own mixed feelings about him) so I only half-listened to his rambling.

Once school ended, I hurriedly exited and got into my truck, thankful the day was over. As I turned on the engine, something outside caught my eye- a shiny, red Mercedes-Benz parked not too far from my own. It made me feel incredibly insecure in my modest, used truck, and I wondered what person at this school could afford a ride like that?

I shouldn't have been so surprised when the remaining Hudson-Hummels approached the impeccable vehicle and piled in, Santana getting into the driver's seat, her girlfriend joining her up front, with the guys sliding into the back. Of course they were the owners of such a nice car- it made sense that a group of attractive, designer clothes-wearing teens drove nice, flashy cars. They have to be loaded.

I watched them depart, then I pulled out of the parking lot myself, taking the short route home.... for some reason, driving around in my truck made me feel bad after seeing the red wonder that is Santana's car.

Shelby wasn't home, which confused me at first, but then I remembered that she was overseeing choir practice at the school she teaches at (not mine, thankfully) so she wouldn't be home until around four-thirty. I didn't have much homework to do, and after getting that done, I decided to crack open my email for the first time since my move to Lima. I had a few pieces of junk mail, but there were three fresh ones from my dad. The first was from the night I first arrived in Lima.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Rachel, I hope your flight went well. How is Lima? Still as rainy as ever I assume. I miss you already, kiddo. Email me back when you can.
Love Dad
(Also LeRoy says hi)

The second one was sent during my first day of school.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Hey kiddo, hope you're going okay. How was your first day of school? Make any friends? I still miss you lots.
Love Dad

The third one was from earlier today.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Rachel, I hope you're okay and haven't responded because you just haven't seen these emails yet. I would call you, but LeRoy and I just left and we don't have great cell reception right now. Email me when you can.
Love Dad

I chuckled a little, and finally sent Dad a response.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Hey dad, sorry I haven't gotten back to you, I'm still getting used to being back in Lima. It's been rainy and cloudy a lot, but it hasn't flooded or anything, so I'm not too annoyed by it.
School is okay. I've made a couple friends already like Harmony and Sunshine. Sunshine is sweet, and Harmony has a lot of energy.
Mom also got me a car. It's a used truck, but it looks nice and runs well, and I actually like it a lot (I never pictured myself in a truck before).
I miss you too, dad. I'll talk to you again soon.
Love, Rachel

After I sent the message, I heard the sound of the front door opening, so I left my room and headed downstairs to greet Shelby.

"Hey Rachel." Shelby smiled at me as she dropped her purse on the kitchen counter. "How was school?"

"It was fine." I told her. "How was work?"

"The same, just fine." She let out a laugh. "I picked up dinner for us from this diner not too far away." She deposited a plastic bag on the nearby table. "I made sure to get you the vegan lasagna and not the regular one."

"Thanks mom." I said. "What's this place called?"

"Breadstix." She answered, dropping her black suitcase off by her little office room. I always thought it was funny that she carried her supplies around in a suitcase like a lawyer, but it did give her an air of professionalism. "It's an Italian restaurant."

"Hmm. I don't think I've ever been there." I remarked, taking out my food.

"It's fairly new." Shelby told me. "The food's not too bad, though."

We sat down to eat. It was mostly silent, but not as awkward as last time.

"How are you liking your new school?" Shelby asked after a couple minutes. "Made any friends yet?"

"Yes." I answered. "I have a couple of classes with a girl named Harmony, and I sit with her at lunch. There's also Matt, Sunshine, and Jesse. Most of my classmates are pretty nice." Save for Finn, but Shelby doesn't have to know about him.

"Jesse St. James?" Shelby's eyebrows raised. "I know him. He goes to the choir class I run after school. I didn't know he went to your school though, I thought he was a student at Carmel."

"Really? That's interesting. He's never mentioned you before."

"He probably didn't know that we're related." Shelby snickered.

"Do you know the Hudson-Hummels?" I asked after a couple more beats of silence.

"Of course. The tire shop I bought your truck at is run by Burt Hummel." Shelby informed me. "And Carole is such an amazing woman."

"Their kids don't seem to fit in at school."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "People in this town, I swear." She said angrily. "They love to gossip so much that they completely miss the fact that the Hudson-Hummels are great people. Burt is a talented, passionate mechanic, and Carole is one of the most caring doctors I've ever come across. We're lucky to have them."

"They seem fine to me." I added on quickly, a little taken aback by Shelby's response. "They just kinda keep to themselves, that's all.... they're all pretty attractive, though."

Shelby laughed. "You should see Carole. If she wasn't happily married, all the male nurses at the hospital would be clamoring to see who could woo her first."

The conversation died down after that, and we ate the rest of our food in silence. I insisted on clearing the table since Shelby had gotten the food, and afterwards I went back upstairs to my room, aiming to get some quality alone time in before bed.

When I woke up the following morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt refreshed and well-rested rather than exhausted. I'm not sure if it was because I was feeling less nervous about my new school, or if it was because of the lack of loud rainfall, but I was grateful to get a fulfilling night of sleep.

The rest of the school week went pretty smoothly. I got a good grip on my classes, learned the names of most of my peers, and started feeling less like an outsider in my new friend group. The only downside is that Finn Hudson didn't return to school. I saw his foster siblings every day at their usual table when I snuck glances, but he was not among them. I wondered if something was wrong with Finn other than his apparent distaste with me, but I pushed those thoughts aside, trying to focus on the trip to Lake Erie that Jesse was planning. I had been invited, and accepted. Although I wasn't much of a beach person, it would be nice to get out of the house for a while.

The weekend was uneventful. I spent a lot of time doing chores or homework to keep myself busy since Shelby was unavailable most of the time grading exams- I'm sort of glad she's my mom and not my teacher, because her exams are notoriously difficult, and I would hate to be one of her students.

The second week started off well. I was greeted by quite a few people when I arrived to school on Monday, and it put a smile on my face to know that my classmates had not only learned my name (they would all know it famously one day) but they also took the time to greet me. Of course, Jesse walked with me to music class after chem, and also sat with me during English- apparently we both had it first period, but he didn't notice I was the new kid until chemistry class that day. We had a quiz about the book we were currently reading, The Scarlet Letter, and because I had read further than most of the class, I found the quiz simple and easy.

When the bell signaling the end of first period rang, I exited the classroom to see a group of students heading for a nearby exit, talking excitedly to each other. When they threw open the door, I realized why they were itching to get outside as I got an eyeful of the white, delicate snow falling to the ground.

"Oh look, it's snowing." Jesse said, coming to join me in the hallway. It was a bit of a Captain Obvious comment, but I decided to just let it slide.

"Ugh." The annoyed reaction came out before I could stop it, and I cringed a little.

"You don't like snow?" Jesse asked, sounding surprised.

"Well I don't dislike it." I told him. "But snow means it's too cold for rain, plus it's pretty hard to drive in."

"Yeah, that's true." Jesse agreed, watching a few more students leave out the same exit. "Want to join them?"

I shook my head. "No thanks, I can't be late for Spanish."

Jesse shrugged before walking towards the exit. "Alright. I'll see you at lunch then." He said with a passing grin.

I smiled back before departing for class, hoping that the snow would stop falling by the end of the day so I wouldn't have to navigate home while it was still falling.

The snow seemed to be a good reason enough for some of my peers to ditch class, since half of my Spanish class was either late or just didn't show up, much to Mr. Martinez's dismay, but I can't fault them for being excited about the first snowfall of the year.... even if I had no interest in getting my clothes soaked by melted snow myself.

Once lunch came around, Harmony and I made our way to the cafeteria together, and there were still a bunch of people outside lobbing snowballs at each other and laughing their heads off. Jesse was one of them, but he came inside when he spotted us, his normally well-groomed hair spotted with little white flakes.

"You look like you had fun!" Harmony chirped when he caught up to us.

"Hope you didn't get too wet." I chuckled, noticing the big damp spot on his jacket.

The three of us chatted a little about the snow fight as we got to the lunch line, but when I peeked at the Hudson-Hummel's table out of habit, my heart dropped when I noticed that there were five people again, instead of four.

"Rachel! What do you want?" Harmony asked, tugging on my arm and snapping me out of my daze.

"Oh, um." I tore my eyes away. "I think I'll just have a soda."

"You're not gonna eat?"

"No.... I feel a little sick, actually."

Both of my friends gave me concerned looks, but didn't push further. After they got their food, and I picked out something to drink, we took our usual seats. I sipped my carbonated drink slowly, trying to calm my churning stomach. I contemplated looking over at the Hudson-Hummel table again, and after a minute, I stole a glance at them, hoping that Finn wasn't staring me down again- and luckily he wasn't.

Finn and his siblings were laughing and talking amongst themselves. Him, Santana, and Brittany all had heads full of snowflakes, and Kurt and Blaine were sitting with a wide berth between them and the other three. When Brittany shook her snowy head at them, they recoiled, Kurt gesturing towards his very stylish outfit, and Blaine shielding his gel-coated hair- I'm guessing they aren't too fond of the snow messing up their looks.

"Earth to Rachel!" Harmony nearly yelled. "What are you staring at?!"

I snapped my head to the right to face her.

"Nothing." I told her, not sounding convincing at all.

"Finn Hudson is staring at you." She giggled.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I asked.

"No, why would he be angry?"

"I don't think he likes me."

"They don't like anyone." She looked over at them again, grinning widely. "He's still staring at you, though."

"Stop looking!" I hissed, my stomach twisting up in knots again.

Harmony chuckled mischievously, but complied, turning her attention back to her lunch.

Jesse piped up after that, informing us that he was planning a huge snowball fight after school and invited us to come. Harmony accepted immediately, but I declined, not in the mood to get my new sweater any more wet than it needs to be. I didn't talk much after that, preferring to be alone with my thoughts and half-empty soda.

When lunch ended, I left for chem, Jesse by my side as usual. As we exited the cafeteria, he let out an audible groan, and I followed his gaze, a little confused by his sudden noise of disapproval, but ended up almost making my own relieved noise when I saw that the snow outside had turned to rain. Now I won't have to be pressured to join in on Jesse's big snowball fight, nor drive in the annoying snow on the way home.

Jesse whined the whole way to class, and I was glad to split from him when we finally arrived. My table was empty once again, and after getting out my book, pencil, and eraser, I decided to pass time by making a little doodle of my truck. I'm not exactly sure why I picked to draw my truck of all things, but I guess it was probably because I was kind of over school today.

"Hey." An unfamiliar voice said from my left side.

I looked over to my left and nearly did a double take when I saw none other than Finn Hudson sitting on the stool next to me- well, not really next to me, in fact he was sitting as far away as the table would allow.

"I'm Finn Hudson." He introduced himself, his expression warm and friendly. "You're the new girl, right? Rachel.... Berry?"

It took me a second to respond since I was expecting him to show up to class at all, let alone talk to me, but I managed to compose myself and flash a polite smile at him.

"That's me." I said. "It's nice to finally meet you, Finn."

Mr. Clippinger started class then, interrupting my first ever conversation with Finn. We were apparently doing a short experiment today which involved making colored fire. While that did sound cool, the thought of lighting something on fire in the school made me feel quite nervous. I guess some of my classmates did too, because Mr. Clippinger assured us that he's had many students do it before and there hasn't been any accidents.

He then busted out the lab coats, gloves, and goggles for everyone to put on. I thought I looked silly in them, but the extra protection from any mishaps outweighed my insecurities, so I made sure the coat, gloves, and goggles were all locked on tight.

Finn laughed, fixing me with this cute, goofy smile that made my heart flutter. "You look silly."

"Speak for yourself." I joked, poking him in the side, which felt pretty hard- he must work out. "I'm just glad I won't catch any fire if this goes wrong."

"I don't think it will." Finn remarked with a shrug, shuffling through the box of items Mr. Clippinger left on our table. "It sounds pretty simple.... even if I'm not too good at this stuff."

"Well, I'm not a chemistry whiz either." I informed him, taking note of the necessary objects we had been given for the experiment- a little bowl of copper sulfate, a teaspoon, a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, a mini blow torch lighter, and a paper of instructions. I swiped up the bowl of copper sulfate, taking care not to spill it, and placed it on the table.

"Okay, how do we start?" Finn asked.

I took out the directions and skimmed the page. "We need to use the teaspoon to pour in the alcohol until the copper sulfate is soaked." I informed him, reaching for the bottle while my eyes were still on the paper. He went for it too, and before either of us could pull away, our hands met- his hand were shockingly cold- it was like he had been dipping them in the snow all morning, and to further add to my surprise, the contact sent a sensation similar to a jolt of electricity through my body, making me shiver.

"Sorry." The two of us said in unison as we pulled away. I instead grabbed the spoon, and Finn got the bottle, screwing off the cap and pouring it into the utensil. After making sure the crystals were properly drenched, Finn got out the lighter.

"Ready?" He asked, holding it above the bowl.

I nodded. "Ready."

Finn lit the torch and ignited the copper sulfate, and a green flame popped out. It was a little bigger than some of the other pairs in class, but that didn't bother me- I was just glad that Finn was being friendly and helpful rather than running away from me again.

"Nice!" Finn cheered as the crystals were set ablaze. "Up top!" He held up his hand to me.

I giggled as I slapped my hand against his, but as I did, I noticed something completely baffling- his eyes were a totally different color. Instead of a dark, ominous black, they were a bright, amber color almost like butterscotch.

"Are you wearing contacts?" I blurted out.

Finn shook his head. "No. Why?"

"No reason."

Before Finn could say anything else, Mr. Clippinger turned off the lights in the classroom, letting everyone see the bright green color in the flames more clearly.

"Nice job guys!" He congratulated us. "Especially you two, Rachel and Finn, that's the biggest one I've seen yet."

"That's what she said." Finn snickered.

I rolled my eyes at the juvenile comment, but I still found myself smiling at his adorable snickering. Mr. Clippinger went back to his desk, telling us we could talk amongst ourselves as the flames died down.

"So the snow, huh?" Finn said. "Too bad the rain ruined it."

I cringed a little at the awkward small talk Finn was attempting, but at least he wasn't just stewing in silence staring at me again.

"Not really." I told him honestly.

"How come? Don't like the cold?"

"The cold is okay. I just don't like driving in snow."

"Damn, it's gonna be rough for you then." He told me. "It's gets pretty snowy here in the winter.... where did you move here from, anyway? I'm guessing somewhere without winter like Florida or The Equator."

I chuckled a little at the thought of living in a house smack-dab on a physical line on the earth.

"No, I'm actually from New York." I told him.

"Oh wow, what made you move from New York to Lima?" Finn asked. "New York must be a lot more exciting."

"It's kind of complicated." I tried to brush off the question.

"We got time." Finn said, pointing to the still-lit green flame. "What's so complicated?"

"Well my dad got remarried." I told him.

"Oh. Do you not like your dad's new wife?"

"Husband, actually. My dad is gay, and no, his husband is a nice guy."

"Oh that's cool, I have two gay brothers."

I giggled. "I know, I've seen them. They're quite the duo."

"So how come you left?" Finn asked, getting back to the original question.

"Well, my new stepdad is a travelling actor, and my dad wanted to go with him, but couldn't really because of me." I explained. "I told him he should go because he really seemed like he wanted to, and I moved here with my mom."

"Who's your mom?"

"Shelby Corcoran. She teaches at Carmel High School and runs the after-school choir club there."

"Do you and your mom get along?"

"Yes...." I said, a bit hesitantly.

"You don't sound sure."

"Well, we haven't always had a close bond." I confessed. "I've lived with my dad for most of my life, and moving from the big city to a quiet, dreary town like this is...." I trailed off, struggling to find the right word.

"Lame?" Finn suggested, getting me to laugh once again.

"Sure, we can go with that." I agreed. The conversation paused for a minute, and even though it was dark, I could make out Finn staring at me with a confused gaze.

"You're looking at me funny." I said.

"Sorry, you're just hard to read." He told me.

The lights flicked back on before I could say anything else, and Mr. Clippinger jumped into a lesson as the various flames around the class started to fizzle out. Finn and I didn't speak for the rest of the period, and when the bell rang, he speed-walked out the classroom the same way he did last Monday.

Jesse came right up to my table as usual, following Finn with his eyes as the taller boy left.

"That experiment was boring." He said to me.

"I thought it was kind of fun." I told him.

"Hudson seemed pretty friendly." Jesse remarked, his demeanor significantly less cheerful than before.

I played it cool. "Yeah, he was."

The rest of the school day went alright, and the rain had turned into mist once the final bell rung, so I didn't have to worry about getting soaked on the way to my truck.

I flicked on the heater once I settled into my car, and took a second to absorb the hot air before turning on my engine. As I carefully backed out of my spot, I hit the brake once I spotted Finn staring me down from in front of a different car a few spots down (which I assumed was his). I sat there with my foot on the brake for a couple seconds before the sound of a honking horn snapped me back to reality, and I resumed my departure from the parking lot. I turned my eyes onto the road in front of me, but I could swear that in my side mirror I could see the Hudson boy laughing at me.

Chapter Text

When I peeled my eyes open in the morning, something was different- there was light streaming into my room through the little gap in the curtains. I sprung out of bed and drew them back excitedly.... and then my mood dropped immediately when I noticed that the light was coming from sunlight soaking through the clouds covering the sky- and because there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground.

I let out a groan and threw the curtains back into place, no longer brimming with the energy I had a minute ago because I was anticipating having to drive in the snow- I knew it would happen eventually, but I was hoping it would be at least a month before I'd have to bite that bullet.

After going through my normal routine, I went down to the kitchen and made myself a simple breakfast of orange juice and plain Cheerios (the only vegan cereal Shelby is aware of). As I shoveled the cereal into my mouth, I began to feel my eagerness to go to school rising back up. I tried to tell myself it was because I was actually fitting in with my peers at McKinley, but I knew it was because I was looking forward to seeing Finn Hudson again.

I don't know why I've gotten so attached to him- I've always prioritized my future career over boys, but something about Finn is unique- maybe it's his because of his seemingly changing eyes, or maybe it was just his whole attitude towards me in the first place, but there's something so odd about him and his siblings.... I just wish I could put my finger on it.

After finishing up my breakfast and nearly sliding across the ice on my driveway, I managed to get to school in one piece, driving slowly the whole way. Shockingly, I barely had any trouble getting there, and I discovered the reason why when I got to school- there were thin chains crisscrossed around my tires. After a minute of wondering who did this, I figured it that Shelby must have had someone install them for me.

I quickly took a picture with my phone and sent it to Shelby, following it up with a text thanking her. I didn't expect her to put this much effort into my safety, but it certainly wasn't an unwelcome surprise.

The second I pocketed my phone, I heard a loud, screeching noise. I turned my head towards the source, and saw a large, dark gray van skittering towards me, the driver struggling to gain back control of the vehicle.

Every instinct in my body was telling me to get out of the way, but instead I froze up as the fear coursing through me rendered me immobile. I caught the eye of someone standing four cars down from me, watching the scene unfold, and my heart dropped as I realized it was Finn, his amber eyes wide as he took in what was happening.

A sudden force against my abdomen knocked me to the ground, my head smacking against the concrete. Not even two seconds later, there was a loud crash as the van abruptly stopped only a foot in front of me.

I lifted my now swimming head to get a good look at what was actually happening, and noticed that the thing that had both pushed me to the ground and also halted the van was crouched in front of me- in a flash, Finn had not only shoved me out of the way, but also somehow stopped the van with his hand, leaving a huge dent in the passenger side door.

I didn't have time to ask him any questions, since after a moment of quiet, there was suddenly an eruption of noise from the other students in the parking lot. People were either shouting for someone to call 911, or they were screaming my name. Through the chaos, I could make out a Finn asking me a question.

"Rachel, are you okay?"

"I think I hit my head." I mumbled, rubbing the spot that hit the ground. "How did you get over to me so fast?"

"What do you mean? I was standing right next to you." Finn told me.

I opened my mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a flood of people crowding around me, finally getting past the narrow gap between the van and the next car over. There was more yelling as they either tried to make the gap more accessible, or helped the poor van driver out of his car. I tried to get up on my own, but Finn pushed me back down, his stone cold arm secured across my chest with an iron grip.

"Just stay down for now." He told me.

"It's cold." I whined. He chuckled a little at my tone.

"You were over there." I continued. "Standing by your car."

"No I wasn't." He shook his head.

"I saw you!" I insisted, the sound of an ambulance arriving at the scene nearly drowning out my voice.

"Rachel, I was standing with you and pushed you out of the way." Finn attempted to explain, but I wasn't buying it- no matter how sincerely he tried to plead with his amber eyes.

"No, that's not true."

"Please, Rachel." He begged. "Just go along with that for now."

"Only if you explain yourself later."

"Fine." He relented, glancing over at the approaching paramedics. "After you get checked out."

After a couple of teachers managed to get the van out of the way, I was loaded onto a stretcher. It was humiliating to be rolled into the back of an ambulance in front of my peers (especially after they fastened on a stupid neck brace), but it got worse when I saw my mother speed into the parking lot and leap out of her car.

"Rachel, oh my God!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the ambulance. "What happened?!"

"I'll be fine, mom." I lied, ignoring the pain in my head.

Shelby still insisted on accompanying me to the hospital, fretting the whole time. I told her what happened in the parking lot, and she was furious- not at me, but at the kid who nearly turned me into a mushed Berry. She swore that he'd "kiss his license goodbye" and I just let her ramble since I know once she'd calm down that she wouldn't do anything drastic.

When we finally got the the hospital, mom was escorted to the waiting room (not without some pushback from her) and I noticed that Finn had actually hitched a ride himself on the ambulance in the front, something I didn't even know was allowed. He cast me a concerned look before gliding through the hospital doors, following my mom and the escort.

I was wheeled into the emergency room where the nurse took my blood pressure and temperature before leaving in a hurry. I waited until she was gone, then tore off the ridiculous neck brace and casting it aside.

A couple minutes later, another stretcher brought in the driver of the van, who was then loaded onto the bed next to mine. I recognized him as Brody, a guy with dark hair and tan skin who sat behind me in Spanish. He was much worse for wear than me, having blood-soaked bandages wrapped around his head.

"I'm sorry, Rachel." He apologized to me once he noticed I was laying in the bed adjacent to him. "I didn't mean to almost hit you."

"It's okay, Brody." I said. "You look awful, are you okay?"

"My head hurts really bad." He answered. "How did you get out of the way so fast anyway?"

"Uh, Finn was there. He got me out of the way." I lied, keeping my word that I would stick with that story.

"Finn Hudson? I didn't see him there." He shook his head (as much as he could in his current state). "I'm glad you're fine, though."

I didn't get to talk to him much before the nurse came back and wheeled me into another room to X-ray my head. There was nothing wrong with my head- no bleeding, no concussion, no bruises, no nothing. I asked if I could go home then, but she informed me I had to talk to the doctor first, which made me internally sigh. I didn't want to spend any more time there, so I hoped the doctor would be quick.

I was unfortunately brought back to the ER where Brody was still waiting. He kept muttering apologies to me, and I kept telling him it wasn't his fault, that I wasn't mad, that he should focus on himself, but I didn't seem to be getting through to him- perhaps his head was worse off than I'd originally thought.

Thankfully, Brody was interrupted by Finn sweeping into the room and standing by the foot of my bed, smiling nervously.

"Finn, I'm sorry about almost hitting you." Brody told him, but Finn just shrugged.

"Don't worry dude, it was an accident." Finn assured him before addressing me. "What's the verdict?"

"They said there's nothing wrong, but they won't let me leave until I speak to the doctor first." I said. "How come you're not in a bed like us?"

"I know the doctor." He informed me. "She's actually coming in now to see you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the door to the ER swung open as a woman strode in. She had flawless, fair skin, brown hair styled into a pixie cut, and familiar-looking amber eyes. She was older, but age clearly did nothing to erode how naturally beautiful she is.

"Is that your mom?" I asked Finn.

"Yeah, she's your doctor." Finn told me, giving his mom a welcoming wave. She smiled at him before walking to the lightboard next to my head and flipping it on.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Berry?" She inquired, her voice sweet and calming.

"I'm alright." I said truthfully.

"Well your X-rays look good." She said. "Does your head hurt any more? Finn told me you hit it pretty hard."

"I'm alright." I repeated, giving Finn an annoyed look.

Dr. Hudson-Hummel's cool hands gently probed along my skull, making me wince a little.

"Tender?" She asked.

"Only a little." I said.

"Well your mom is in the waiting room if you'd like to go home with her now." Carole informed me, taking her hands off my head. "But please do come back if you feel dizzy or have any trouble with your eyesight."

"Can I go back to school?" I asked, not wanting to face Shelby's worried state again.

"I think you should take it easy today."

"Does he get to go to school?" I questioned, pointing to Finn.

"Someone has to spread the good news that no one died." Finn told me, flashing a smug grin.

Dr. Hudson-Hummel laughed. "Actually it seems like most of the school is out in the waiting room."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wait, really?" I quickly got up from the bed, secretly kind of loving the attention. "Can I go see everyone?"

Dr. Hudson-Hummel nodded. "Take some Tylenol if you have any pain." She said, signing my chart. "It appears that you got very lucky today."

"Yeah, I was lucky that Finn was standing next to me when Brody lost control of the van." I told her, fixing Finn with a knowing glance.

"Yes, I'm glad my son was there." She agreed, looking over Brody's chart now. She went over to talk to him, and I took the opportunity to pull Finn away while she was distracted.

"We need to talk." I whispered.

"Your mom is waiting for you." Finn tried to brush me off, but I wasn't having it.

"We need to talk. Now." I hissed. "Alone."

He sighed before taking off for the door. I trailed behind, following him until we reached the far end corner of the outside hallway.

"What do you want?" He demanded, spinning around to face me.

"You owe me an explanation." I reminded him. "And don't try to back out of it, you promised."

"You hit your head, you don't know what you saw." Finn said.

"You heard your mother, there's nothing wrong with my head!" I snapped. "Now tell me the truth- why am I lying for you?"

Finn threw up his hands. "Well, what do you think happened?"

"You were standing four cars away from me, but somehow managed to get me to the ground so Brodie didn't hit me- and don't tell me that didn't happen because Brodie didn't see you standing next to me either." I stated firmly. "The van should have crushed me, but you not only moved me out of the way, but you stopped it with your hand- that's not possible! Not according to the laws of physics!"

Finn was silent for a minute before countering with, "Nobody will believe you."

"Who said I was going to tell anyone?"

"Then why does it matter?"

"It matters to me. I don't like lying to people, so there better be a damn good reason for me doing it."

"Can't you just thank me and move on?" Finn grumbled, his tone sounding somewhat defeated.

"Thank you." I told him. I was still mad, but also sincerely grateful that he saved me.

Finn's eyes met mine, and he sighed again.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" He asked.

"Absolutely not." I answered.

Finn shrugged. "Hope you enjoy disappointment, then." He said before heading back to the ER.

I watched him walk away, silently fuming before I stomped towards the waiting room where there was apparently a crowd waiting for me. There was, but before any of my classmates could swarm me, my mom did instead.

"There's nothing wrong with me." I informed her as she ran to me.

"What did the doctor say?" She questioned me.

"Dr. Hudson-Hummel saw me. She said my head was fine and that I could go home." I eyed the crowd of my classmates, and I suddenly wasn't in the mood for all of the attention anymore. "Can we leave?"

"Of course." Shelby put an arm around my shoulders protectively as she guided me to the exit. "Oh, you should call Hiram."

"You told dad?!" I groaned.

"Sorry. He needed to be told eventually."

After Shelby helped me into the car (against my wishes) I dialed dad's number. He was even more worried than her, asking me if I was alright multiple times, and begging me to come home. I assured him I was fine several times, and told him I was staying in Lima and he should enjoy himself while on the road and not fuss over me too much. Dad eventually calmed down after many minutes, which was a relief, and when I finally hung up, Shelby was already turning into our driveway.

Shelby kept a close eye on me the rest of the day, and I ended up going to bed early, mentally exhausted from the complete doozy of a day I had. I ended up taking Tylenol like Dr. Hudson-Hummel had suggested, and ended up falling asleep pretty fast.

That was the first night I dreamed of Finn Hudson.

Chapter Text

In my dream, the room was almost completely shrouded in darkness. The only light seemed to be emanating off of Finn's flesh. The light began to fade as he walked away from me, and no matter how much I tried to chase him, I could never catch up, and eventually I was left floating in the void, alone and scared without Finn to comfort me.

When I woke from the dream, I found myself both relieved that I was not drowning in darkness, but also disappointed that Finn was not there for me to reach.... and those mixed feelings returned many times since I dreamed of Finn almost every night for a month.

When I wasn't dreaming about Finn, the rest of my time during the month was spent in a tense school environment. Brody kept trying to apologize and make amends for the accident no matter how many times I told him it was okay, Matt was getting increasingly more friendly with me, and Jesse was more attached to my hip than ever. If you had told me a year ago that I would have three guys competing for my attention, I would have been over the moon- but now I'm just exhausted because the guy whose attention I'm actually craving isn't any of them.

Speaking of Finn, no one seemed to be concerned for his well-being even though he was the one who saved me from being completely crushed. I told people that they should be celebrating him as well as me because of his heroism, but everyone I mentioned it to- Jesse, Harmony, Matt, and many others- commented that they never saw him there next to me. It was like he was invisible in their eyes. People didn't fawn over him like they should, and the Hudson-Hummels went back to their routine of sitting at the same empty cafeteria table by themselves every day.

Another thing that changed is Finn's attitude towards me. Gone were the goofy smiles and pleasant conversion we shared during chemistry- now he barely speaks to me during class and sits as far as away as possible.... and I think I know why.

He regrets pushing me out of the way of Brody's van. He could have had me out of his hair, but his conscious (or something else, perhaps) compelled him to save me, and now he's dealing with the repercussions.

I tried to tell myself that if that's how he felt, then he could stay as far away as he liked, but so many feelings gnawed away at my mind that I couldn't just let him go easily.

Those feelings got even more intense during chemistry each day, and today when I walked in and took my seat, it was no different.

"Hello Finn." I greeted him in the most sickly sweet voice I could muster.

He just shifted his eyes in my direction and awkwardly nodded before looking straight ahead again- the same thing he's done every day for weeks now. 

This aggravating routine continued day after day. The only thing that changed were Finn's eyes, which gradually got darker and darker over time, proving I wasn't just imagining things.

Aside from my troubles with the Hudson boy, Harmony made me aware of a major school event that was creeping up on us- the Sadie Hawkins dance in March. I learned about this when she called me and asked if it would be a good idea for her to ask Jesse to go with her, which got an affirmative answer from me.

"Really? That's great to hear, I'm not sure what I would have done if you said no!" She said with a laugh. "I thought maybe you were going to ask him first."

"Well, I don't think I'm going to go." I told her. Honestly I love the thought of going to a school dance (I'd never been invited before) but there was only one guy I was interested in asking, and he was avoiding me. "Go and have fun with Jesse."

The next day however, Harmony wasn't her usual babbling, bubbly self, wallowing in silence during class. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but if Jesse had turned her down, I was probably the last person she'd want to tell.

My intuition was confirmed during lunch when Harmony sat as far away from Jesse as possible and instead chatted up Matt. Jesse himself was as quiet as Harmony throughout the morning, only casting glances towards my way.

Jesse was still quiet as he walked me to class, an uncomfortable feeling in the air as we walked in silence, and that feeling only grew as I took my seat next to Finn in chemistry, and Jesse leaned over the table to speak to me.

"So, Harmony asked me to the dance." He informed me.

"That's great!" I chirped, flashing a beaming smile that probably made me look insane. "You guys will have a lot of fun."

"Well, I told her I had to think about it."

"Why would you do that?" I inquired, making sure to switch to a disappointed tone.

"Well, I actually was wondering if you were planning on asking me."

I paused, internally growing annoyed that he had asked me even though I haven't shown any signs of being interested in him romantically. As I contemplated my response, I saw Finn's head slowly turn to look over at me, and I suddenly found the words to say.

"You should tell Harmony yes." I said to Jesse. "I'm not going to go to the dance at all."

"Why not?" He asked.

"I'm going to Columbus that weekend." I told him. I needed a break from Lima for a little while- and I guess that was the perfect time.

"You can't go another weekend?"

"Nope. And you should give Harmony an answer soon. It's rude to make her wait."

"Yeah, I guess." Jesse muttered before skulking off towards his seat. I let out a sharp breath as I watched him leave, grateful that interaction was over. I cast a glance at my lab partner, and saw he was now full-on staring at me with his onyx-colored eyes.

As Mr. Clippinger began his lecture, I looked away from Finn, moving my hair in the process in order to shield my field of vision from him. I mentally scolded myself for letting a boy have so much influence over me- it was honestly pathetic and not becoming of a future Broadway star.

I managed to keep my steely resolve throughout the class, and when the bell rang, I packed up my stuff in a hurry, hoping to get out of there fast.

"Rachel?" Came Finn's voice, halting me in my haste.

"You're talking to me now?" I snapped, letting my voice show all the irritation I had building up.

His lip twitched, showing a ghost of his goofy smile. "Not really."

"Then what do you want?"

"I'm sorry for being a jerk." He said, his voice actually sounding sincere. "I just think it's better that we aren't friends."

"You could have told me that sooner." I said, rolling my eyes as I zipped up my backpack. "It could have saved us both a lot of regret."

"Regret? What am I supposed to be regretting?"

"For not letting me get squashed by Brody and his stupid van."

Finn stared at me again, but this time his expression was one of complete shock.

"You think I regret saving your life?" He asked.

"Yes. It's clear to me based on your attitude." I stated.

He shook his head. "You don't know anything."

My anger began to spike, and instead of starting an argument, I decided to just sweep dramatically out of the room- but as I stood up, I fumbled my backpack, causing it to slip out of my grasp. Before it could fully slam into the ground however, Finn's arm shot out and caught it by the strap, lifting it up towards me.

"Thank you." I said coldly, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"You're welcome."

I turned my back without another word and stalked out of the room, trying to quell my anger level.

Music class was fine. We were put into pairs again, and I picked Sunshine rather than Jesse since I wasn't in the mood for another awkward conversation. My mood got better when I discovered my voice mixed very well with Sunshine's who had a lot of natural talent (but not as much as me, of course).

When school was officially out, I nearly sprinted to my car, hoping to get home soon. As I approached my truck, I thanked my lucky stars that it only suffered minimal damage in the crash- from what I heard, Brody's parents had to sell his van for parts.

When I turned the corner to get into the driver's seat, I jumped back in surprise when I saw a tall figure leaning up against said driver's side door. My racing heartbeat began to slow down once I noticed who the figure actually was.

"Matt! You scared me!" I yelled.

"Sorry, I was just waiting for you to show up." He said. "I have something I wanna ask you."

"What is it?" I questioned, unlocking my car.

"Do you wanna go to Sadie Hawkins with me?"

"Aren't the girls supposed to be inviting the guys?" I inquired with a raise of my eyebrow.

"I guess." Matt shrugged. "But I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you for asking, but I'm not attending. I'm going to be in Columbus that weekend." I told him, my words a little more diplomatic than the ones I used on Jesse earlier.

"Oh, okay." Matt said, sounding a little dejected. "Maybe next time."

I nodded as he shuffled off, but before turning back to get in my car, I caught sight of Finn watching me, leaning against his own vehicle. As soon as our eyes met, I darted into my truck, throwing my bag onto the passenger seat, and turning on my engine, roaring it defiantly as I back out into the aisle. Somehow Finn was already in his car, and had pulled out his his spot just as I was, blocking me from leaving. I had a brief fantasy of ramming his nice, shiny black Volvo, but decided better of it. A line of cars began to form behind me and the Hudson roadblock, and I spotted Brody at the wheel of the car behind me (I assume it to be the new ride his parents got him). He stuck his arm out the window and gave me a wave, which I returned.

After a minute, I heard a knock on my window. Startled, I looked over to see Brody was now standing there. I spared a glimpse at his car to see it was still running, his driver's side door wide open. I rolled down the window, thinking he was going to tell me to move.

"Sorry Brody, I'm stuck behind Finn Hudson." I preemptively apologized.

"Oh, I know, I was just hoping to talk while we're here." He grinned at me, and my heart sank- I knew where this was going.

"If this is about the Sadie Hawkins dance, I'm not going." I said. "I'm going to Columbus for the weekend."

He shrugged. "It's cool, we still have prom." He gave me a little smile before walking back to his car.

I rolled the window back up and turned my attention towards Finn's still stationary vehicle. After a few more long minutes, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, and Brittany piled into the car. I could see Finn laughing at something in front- I wasn't sure why, but those dark thoughts of ramming his ride crept back into my mind, but he sped off before I could made any of those wishes come true.

When I got home and walked in the door, I was hit with the distinct smell of Shelby's cooking. When I wandered into the kitchen to greet her, she was squinting at a recipe on her phone, but smiled and gave me a side hug when she noticed me. She was making enchiladas for dinner (a vegan one for me, and a chicken one for her), and warned me it might not be great, but I wasn't about to criticize her cooking too much, I wasn't great at it either.

While doing my homework, I got a call from Harmony, who was over the moon excited because Jesse accepted her invite to the Sadie Hawkins dance. As she prattled on, she mentioned that Matt and Brody still didn't have dates in a suggestive tone, and I shot that down by proposing that Matt could take Sunshine, and Brody could pair up with Cassandra, the blonde who wears a lot of makeup (and doesn't really like me). Harmony seemed to think that was a great idea, and I hung up a few minutes later when she had to go finish her own homework, still bouncing off the walls with joy.

I didn't get much further in my homework after that because I was consumed by thoughts of Finn- I don't know why it hit me so hard all of a sudden, maybe it was my matchmaking discussion with Harmony, but I found myself mulling over Finn's words to me earlier, "I just think it's better that we aren't friends". One half of me wondered "Maybe he's right" but the other half blew it off with "What a load of shit". There's something he wasn't telling me, but he was either too afraid to tell me, or just simply didn't want to, even though he promised he would.

Whatever, it didn't matter. He didn't matter. In a little over a year's time, I'll be back in New York and working to achieve my dreams. I needed Finn like I needed another van to almost hit me.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when my mom called me from downstairs that dinner was ready, and I was suddenly aware of how famished I was, so I raced downstairs to see Shelby placing my plate at my usual seat before sitting down in hers. We didn't talk much because I was too busy stuffing my face, but when I had successfully devoured my dinner, it occurred to me that I should tell my mom about my upcoming plans.

"Oh, I'm going to Columbus next weekend." I piped up.

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Really? How come?"

"Well I wanted to get some more clothes." I told her truthfully. "I hear the Columbus mall is pretty nice, and I was thinking of getting some nice sweaters."

"Like the ones with reindeer on them?" She inquired with a chuckle.

"Maybe...."

"Are you going by yourself?"

"Yes."

Shelby's eyebrows raised some more. "It's over an hour long drive, you know. I can take you if you want."

I shook my head. "Thanks, but I managed to get around New York City alone a lot, I can handle Columbus."

"Will you be back in time for the dance that's going on?" Shelby asked before having another bite of her dinner.

I let out a little groan. It was just my luck that she knew about this stupid dance- where did she even hear about it? She teaches at a different school!

"No, I'm not going." I told her, my tone a little annoyed.

"Oh okay, I think you'd like it though." She said. The conversation died off after that, which was good- I didn't need anymore questions poking into my personal life.

The following morning when I got to school, I picked the spot furthest away from Finn's Volvo as I could muster, but just like when Matt scared me yesterday, I was startled again when I stepped out of the car and Finn was standing there, seemingly waiting for me. 

"How the hell do you keep doing that?" I demanded.

"Keep doing what?" Finn asked.

"Appearing out of thin air." I answered, locking my car. "And what was with the traffic jam yesterday? I thought you were avoiding me."

"Oh, that." Finn scratched the back of his head, and I noticed that his eyes were back to amber yet again. "Just giving Brody a chance to chat with you."

"You unbelievable.... man!" I spat, failing to find a word to properly convey my fury. "So we can't be friends, but you're allowed to make me upset? That doesn't seem fair."

He chuckled. "You're funny, Rachel. And I'm not avoiding you."

"Then you are trying to piss me off then." I shouted. "Why? Because Brody's van didn't do it for you?!"

Finn sighed, his grin curling downwards into a frown. "You're kinda exhausting, you know that?"

"Then why bother with me at all?"

He didn't answer, so I pushed passed him and started to stomp away.

"Wait!" He called after me. I ignored him, continuing to walk to the school, but he caught up quickly and soon fell into step with me.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't very nice." He told me. "But it's still kinda true."

"Why won't you leave me alone?" I demanded.

"I wanted to ask you something, but I got distracted."

"Fine. What do you want?"

"Ya know next Saturday? The day of the dance?" He started, and I cut him off.

"Don't you dare, Finn Hudson." I hissed.

He threw his hands up. "Woah, chill. I wasn't going to ask about the dance, I was wondering if you needed a ride to Columbus."

That threw me off-guard. "A ride? With who?"

"Me, duh." He laughed.

"But why?"

"I was thinking of going to Columbus soon too, and was thinking it would be nice to offer to take you with me." He explained. "I'm not sure your truck would do well with all that mileage."

My mouth hung open for a second, struggling to take in the sudden whiplash I just got from that proposition.

"Honestly Finn, you're impossible to follow." I told him. "I thought you didn't want to be friends."

"Guess I just changed my mind.... it would be better if we weren't friends, but I don't think I can stay away from you anymore, Rachel."

For a minute, I just stared at him, taking in the both the sincerity and intensity I could see in his golden eyes. Another cryptic statement from him, which launched another set of fresh questions into my head- when will this confusing dynamic end?

"So, you wanna go to Columbus with me?" Finn asked, sounding a tad unsure.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I swallowed and gave him a nod, finding myself unable to speak.

"Awesome, see you later." He turned and walked away, leaving me completely dumbfounded- how am I supposed to figure him out when he keeps pulling so many proverbial U-turns?

Chapter Text

I hurried off to English class seemingly in a daze. Unfortunately for me, class had already began.

"Thank you for joining us, Rachel." Ms. Doosenbury said in an annoyed tone as I took my seat. I didn't respond, instead opting to just get out my usual notebook, pencil, and eraser combo. I guess I won't be retaining my perfect attendance record after all.

Jesse wasn't in his normal seat during class, and for a while I was kind of worried about him (even if he is a bit clingy). However, he showed up at the door when English ended, waiting for me, so my concerns thankfully vanished. He seemed a lot more lively than before, talking about how the weather forecast predicted a rain-free weekend, which meant we wouldn't get stormed out during our trip to Lake Erie. The only disappointing thing is that the temperature probably won't even reach the fifties.

The rest of the morning passed by quickly, and when lunch came around, I was hoping Finn would be in his usual seat amongst his siblings- but he was nowhere to be found. My heart sank when I failed to spot the tall boy, and I could barely muster up any excitement when Harmony told me about her plans for the dance. I couldn't even bring myself to get any food, instead settling for a bottle of lemonade. The only thing I wanted to do now was sulk.

"Finn Hudson is staring at you again." Harmony giggled not too long after we sat down at our usual table.

"Where?!" I asked, both bewildered and excited.

"Over there." Harmony pointing over her shoulder. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today."

I followed her gesture to see Finn Hudson who was indeed seated at a table by himself. Once he noticed I was glancing his way, he waved for me to come over.

"Is he waving at you?" Harmony asked in disbelief.

"Maybe he needs help with chemistry homework." I said, trying to come up with a good excuse. "I should see what he wants." I scooped up my backpack and lemonade and scurried over to Finn's table, feeling Harmony's eyes burning into the back of my head the whole time.

Finn smiled at me as I approached. "Hey Rachel, wanna sit with me today?"

I nodded, plopping down in the chair directly across from him. "Well this is different." I said, trying to start the conversation on a light note.

"Yeah, it is." Finn responded. "I uh, think your friends are mad at me for dragging you away from them."

I shrugged. "They'll live."

"I might not give you back, though."

I raised an eyebrow, a little shocked by that comment.

"You look surprised." He said.

"I am. What brought all this on?"

"It's like I said before, I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, so I won't anymore." He explained.

"Giving up?"

"Yeah. I'm just gonna let whatever happens, happen."

I shook my head with a little laugh. "You lost me, Finn."

He flashed his trademark goofy smile at me. "I always say too much. Nothing gets past you anyway."

"So.... are we friends now?" I inquired.

"I guess so, but I don't think I'll be a good friend for you."

"You keep saying that."

He shrugged. "It's true. You seem pretty smart, so I don't know why you won't listen to me."

I mirrored his big-shouldered shrug. "Well I'm a big girl and can make my own decisions." I held out a hand. "Friends?"

Finn took my hand. "Sure."

After our little handshake, we fell into a brief silence. I ended up taking a tenative sip of my lemonade, keeping my eyes on the Hudson boy the whole time.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked after a minute.

"I'm trying to figure out what you exactly are." I told him truthfully- I still couldn't put my finger on what his deal was.

He jaw tightened. "Got any ideas?"

"I've got a few." I admitted, although these ideas were kinda embarrassing- imagining Finn Hudson as a young Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker was a pretty laughable.

"Wanna share?"

I shook my head. "No thanks."

He sighed. "That's really frustrating, you know?"

I furrowed my brows. "Yeah, I can't imagine why that would be frustrating." I said, my voice dripping with a heavy amount of sarcasm. "I don't see why you'd be annoyed with someone not telling you what they're thinking and making cryptic remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they mean."

Finn grimaced, clearly not happy with me turning his argument around on him.

"I'll give you one better." I continued. "Say this person did weird things like saving your life, then never explaining anything and avoiding you afterwards. That wouldn't be frustrating at all." I took another swig of my lemonade.

He shook his head. "You're-"

"Exhausting?" I cut him off. "I know, you've told me."

Finn's eyes briefly flickered to something behind me. "Your boyfriend thinks I'm being a dick to you." He informed me. "He's thinking about coming over here to break us up."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I told him, a little miffed that he was changing the subject. "I don't have a boyfriend anyway."

"That's weird, considering lots of guys here like you." Finn pointed out.

"I'm sure that's not true." That was a lie, but Finn didn't need to know that.

"It is. Most people here are easy to read- except you." He fixed his golden eyes on me once again. "I wonder why."

Determined not to show my nervousness, I decided to swallow down another sip of lemonade rather than the lump currently forming in my throat.

"Aren't you hungry?" Finn asked as I drank.

"No." I answered once my mouth was empty. "What about you? I never see you eat."

"I uh, don't like the cafeteria food." It was a clumsy excuse, but I decided inquire further to pry at the moment- I didn't think I'd get anywhere by prying.

"Can you do me a favor?" I questioned, not wanting to stay on the topic of food. "Next time you decide you want to avoid me, let me know in advance."

"Sure, I can do that." He agreed. "But in return, can I hear just one theory about what you think I am?"

I shook my head, regretting bringing that up. "No."

"Come on, just one?"

"You'll laugh at me."

"No I won't." He insisted, leaning forward and pleading at me with his golden eyes. "Please?"

"Um, well...." I stammered, strangely compelled by his scorching gaze. "Were you bitten by a radioactive spider?"

Finn's spellbinding stare broke when he let out a surprised chuckle. "Like Spiderman?"

"You told me you wouldn't laugh." I groaned, slumping a little in my seat.

"Sorry, it's just really funny. Kryptonite doesn't work on me either, by the way."

"I'll figure it out eventually." I told him.

"I wish you wouldn't." He said, his face losing most of the amused glee it had a second ago.

"Why?"

"What if I'm not a superhero like Superman or Spiderman? What if I'm a bad guy?"

I raised an eyebrow, cottoning onto what he was attempting to tell me.

"You're dangerous? Is that what you're trying to say?" I asked (although it came out as more of a statement than a question).

Finn nodded, his eyes conveying something between desperation and relief.

"You're wrong." The relief in Finn's eyes was completely taken over by his desperation now, as if he was pleading with me to believe him.

"You have way too much faith in-"

The bell rung, startling me in my seat and cutting off Finn from finishing his sentence. A few people nearby groaned as they began to stand up from their table, and I hurriedly scrambled to my feet as well, nearly fumbling my lemonade bottle as I picked it up.

"We're going to be late for class." I sputtered out, my heart still pounding from the loud shock of the school bell.

"I'm not gonna go to class." Finn told me, still sitting down.

"How come?"

"Don't want to. Plus, Santana says it's healthy to skip class now and then." He smiled a little at the mention of his sister.

"Do you always listen to her?"

"No, but she's right sometimes."

Well she sounds just lovely. I thought to myself before saying aloud, "I'll see you later" and scurrying out the door, not bothering to look over my shoulder because I knew that he was definitely still sitting at the table, watching me go.

I sped-walked to chemistry, my head swimming the whole way. I still had so many questions, both old and new, and very little answers to pair them with.

Luckily, I beat the second bell to class, and upon seeing that Mr. Clippinger also hadn't arrived yet, I let out a little sigh of relief. I took my usual seat, ignoring the strange looks I was getting from both Jesse and Sunshine- especially avoiding having to look at the peeved frown darkening the former's features.

Mr. Clippinger stepped into the room a minute later, right before the second bell rang, carrying a couple of boxes in his hands. After depositing them on his desk, he brushed off his pants before addressing the class.

"I'm not sure how many of you read the school announcement board in the lobby, but for those who don't know, the school is holding its annual blood drive this Saturday." He announced, slapping on a pair of gloves and reaching into one of the boxes. "I know analyzing blood types is typically a biology lesson, but Principal Figgins wants all the science teachers to go over blood types in class." He pulled out a little white card as he finished his spiel. "So today, you'll be finding out your blood type."

I spaced out during Mr. Clippinger's explanation of the process, feeling my stomach twist more and more as he continued, and once he pulled out the needle, my heart dropped. He began to hand out permission slips to everyone, but once he got to me, his expression fell.

"Rachel, are you alright?" He asked me.

"I already know what my blood type is, Mr. Clippinger." I told him softly.

"Are you feeling faint?"

I nodded.

"Can someone help Rachel get to the nurse?" He asked the rest of the class. I didn't have to look over to know that Jesse was the one who volunteered. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Can you walk?" He inquired.

"Yes." I whispered, slowly getting up from my seat. "We should hurry."

I trudged out of the classroom as fast as I could, leaning on Jesse all the while. As we continued to the nurse, it began to feel like the hallways were getting longer and wider with each step, and eventually I had to stop.

"Jesse, let me sit for a second." I told my companion, stumbling over to a nearby staircase and plopping down.

"Rachel, you're green." He said, joining me on the steps. "Do you feel like throwing up?"

Before I could respond, another familiar voice called to me from the adjacent hallway.

"Rachel?"

Oh no. I hoped I was imagining it, but the second the Hudson-Hummel boy came into view, I knew he was very much real.

"What happened? Is she okay?" Finn asked.

"She got freaked out in chemistry class by the blood type assignment." Jesse explained. "She looks like she's about to faint."

"Rachel, can you hear me?" Finn spoke to me directly, crouching down to eye-level with me.

"I'm fine." I told him. "You can go."

"I was taking her to the nurse, but she needed a second to sit." Jesse piped up.

"I can take it from here." Finn suggested. "You can go back to class."

"Mr. Clippinger told me to do it." Jesse protested, his tone sounding more defensive.

All of a sudden, my view of the stairs below me was ripped away as Finn scooped me up into his arms with ease and began walking away.

"Finn!" I scolded him, silently pleading with myself to not vomit all over him. "Put me down!"

"Hey!" Jesse called out, his voice already sounding far away.

"So you pass out at the sight of blood?" Finn inquired with a laugh.

I pursed my lips (partly because I was annoyed by his amusement, but also because I didn't want to throw up everywhere), and closed my eyes without responding, trying to keep my nausea contained. I stayed like this until I heard a door open and a woman gasp.

"Oh my!" Came Nurse Penny's voice.

I peeled open my eyes and cringed a little at the bright fluorescent lights that lit up the nurse's office. Nurse Penny put down her novel (why she chose to read Fifty Shades while working at a high school is a mystery) and guided Finn over to one of the cots, where he laid me down on top of the admittedly soft blanket.

"She fainted in chemistry class." Finn told her. "She got a little woozy over the blood type thing."

"There's always at least one every semester." Nurse Penny said before turning to speak to me. "Just lay down for a while, it'll pass."

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"Do you faint a lot?"

"Only with blood, and sometimes other bodily fluids." I informed her.

Finn let out a chuckle that he tried to disguise with a cough, and if I wasn't feeling so dizzy, I would seriously consider smacking him.

"You can go back to class now if you want." Nurse Penny told Finn, who shook his head in response.

"No, I'm supposed to stay with her." He asserted.

Nurse Penny nodded, then let me know she was going to get me some ice for my head.

As soon as she left, I turned to face my companion.

"Your sister was right- cutting class is healthy." I muttered.

Finn laughed. "She'd love to hear that.... you scared me by the way, I thought Jesse was going to drag you off and kill you somewhere."

"Very funny." I said, rolling my eyes. "Poor Jesse, we just left him behind in the hall."

"That guy hates me." Finn chuckled. "It's written all over his face."

"I don't think that's true." I disagreed, even though Finn may have been right. "Why were you lurking around the halls, anyway? I thought you were ditching like you said."

"I was looking for my brother." He answered. "He has a free period and we were going to get coffee together."

Before I could ask any more questions, Nurse Penny came sweeping back into the room with one of those blue cold compress bags.

"Here you go." She said, laying it across my forehead. "You're getting your color back already."

"Thank you, I do feel a little better." I told her, sitting up and securing the compress to my head.

Finn looked like he was going to make a witty comment, but at that second, the door to the nurse's office flew open, and Jesse came stumbling in, struggling to keep a very pale Missy Gunderson from falling over.

"We have another one from chemistry." Jesse announced, leading her over to the cots. I decided to stand and offer mine up since I wasn't feeling dizzy anymore. Jesse smiled at me and laid Missy down on the cot I had been warming for the past few minutes.

"You should go to the office." Finn suggested, his voice low.

"What?" I turned to look at him, confused.

"Trust me, just go." He insisted, gesturing towards the still-open door of the nurse's office.

I decided to listen, and while Jesse's back was turned, I let my hand holding the compress go limp before dashing out the door, Finn hot on my heels.

"I can't believe you listened to me." Finn said.

"I didn't want to talk to Jesse." I told him. "Plus I could smell the blood on Missy."

"People can't smell blood."

"Well I can, and the stench makes me sick- it reeks of rust and.... death!"

I heard Finn snicker, so I stopped walking to turn and face him. "What's so funny?"

"You are, when you're being dramatic." Finn responded.

I shook my head in annoyance, fully prepared to start walking again, but Jesse came jogging out of the nurse's office to us. He fixed Finn with a look that definitely confirmed the other's boy's theory of quiet hatred, then looked at me with a much more friendly expression.

"You look better." He said. "Are you going back to class?"

"Absolutely not." I shook my head vigorously. "I'd pass out for real if I did."

"Yeah, that would be best." Jesse agreed. "Are you coming to Lake Erie with us this weekend?"

"Of course, I said I was going after all."

"We're meeting at my place at ten, I'll text you my address." I'd forgotten I'd given him my number. "I'll see you in music." He fixed Finn again with that same hostile stare before leaving.

"Music...." I sighed. "I love singing so much, but I don't want to talk to Jesse again today."

"You could just go back to the nurse's office." Finn said.

I pressed the ice pack back to my forehead. "Sounds like a good idea."

The two of us went back the nurse's office, where I slumped down in one of the chairs and closed my eyes while Finn walked up to the nurse's desk.

"Nurse Penny? Rachel has music next period, but she's not feeling great. Can I take her home?" He pleaded in a voice so smooth and sweet that I wanted to melt.

"Of course, I'll have her excused." Nurse Penny agreed. "Do you need to be dismissed too?"

"Nah, I have Ms. Castle next period, she won't care."

"Okay then, I'll let Donna know. Take care Rachel." She called to me. I nodded in response, opening my eyes again to see that Finn was already standing right next to me.

"Are you gonna walk or do you need me to carry you again?" Finn inquired with a smirk.

"I'll be fine." I told him, standing up and depositing the compress on the chair before we left the office. Finn ended up holding the door for for me when we got to the front of the school, and I did a swift duck under his arm upon exiting, causing him to chuckle.

It was drizzling outside, but for the first time, the rain felt nice- it was like having a little shower washing off my face.

"So you're going to Lake Erie with Jesse?" Finn piped up once we reached the parking lot.

"Not just him, a few friends will be there too." I said. "Are you coming?"

"I don't think I was invited."

"I just invited you."

Finn scratched the back of his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Me and you don't need to push his buttons any more this week."

"Jesse-smesse." I said, appearing apathetic even though I liked the way Finn said 'me and you' (despite it being grammatically incorrect).

I spotted my truck a couple of seconds later, and began my walk over to it- only to be stopped by Finn's arm snaking around my waist to stop me.

"Where are you going?" He questioned.

"Going home." I answered, confused.

"I thought I was gonna take you. You can't drive when you're all woozy from a little blood."

"What about my truck?"

"I'll have Kurt drop it off after school." Finn said as he began to pull me towards his car. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he was just too strong.

"I'm perfectly capable of driving myself home!" I protested as my view of his black Volvo got clearer and clearer.

"You're so tiring." Finn sighed. "Just get in the car Rachel, the rain is getting worse." He released his hold on me once we had reached his vehicle. I contemplated running back to my own truck, but Finn could easily catch up to me, so just let out a loud huff and entered the car, dramatically slamming the door as I did.

"This is completely unnecessary." I grumbled as Finn got in the driver's seat and started the engine, cranking up the heat before putting the car in reverse. I was fully prepared to give him the silent treatment, but a familiar song came on the radio.

"You're a U2 fan?" I asked.

"Yeah. You know them?" Finn sounded surprised.

"Well they're not exactly obscure." I pointed out. "But I only know a few of their songs off the top of my head, my dad didn't play a lot of Irish rock while I was growing up."

"This is my favorite song." Finn informed me, smiling a little.

I sat and listened to the song for a little bit, relaxing against the gray leather exterior of the seat. The nostalgic tunes combined with the sound of the rain hitting the window was so soothing that it took me a while to realize that we were driving very fast- but not in a terrifying, out-of-control way, but in a speedy, yet steady fashion.

"What's your dad like?" Finn questioned, jostling me out of my thoughts.

"Well we don't look alike if you were wondering." I replied. "I get my looks from my mom."

What about his personality?"

"He's outgoing, friendly, caring, loves music, theater, and the opera. I may not have inherited his looks, but I did get a lot of his personality traits. He's probably my best friend." I frowned a little at the end, talking about my dad was making me miss him.

"How old are you, Rachel?" Finn's voice had a sort of confused tone to it.

"Seventeen." I told him truthfully as we pulled into my driveway.

"You seem old." I raised an eyebrow at that statement, and he quickly added on, "Not in like a crabby way, but in a.... mature way?"

I laughed. "My dad says I grew up too fast- you're the first person to say I'm mature though."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I did learn how to take care of myself when I was younger, dad says it's because I'm too smart for my own good." I was bragging a little here, but I think I had a right to. "Dad had me young and didn't get to enjoy his youth much unlike me, and I think being with LeRoy makes him feel like youthful again."

"Do you like him? Your dad's husband, I mean."

I shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"That's nice of you." He paused. "Do you think your dad would be the same with you? Would he support your choice in a boyfriend? Or girlfriend, I don't judge."

"I think he would." I said with a nod. "But he's the parent, it's different."

He grinned. "Well I guess as long as you don't date anyone scary."

"Scary? You mean someone who has multiple tattoos, drives a motorcycle, and probably has an assault charge?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"What are the other ways?"

Finn's eyes darted to the side, almost nervously. "Do you think I could be dangerous?"

"Hmmm...." I debated on whether the truth or a white lie would be better, and decided on the truth. "You could be, if you wanted to."

His eyes flitted back to me. "Are you scared of me now?"

"No."

"Okay cool." Finn's goofy grin got wider.

"So since I told you about my dad, you should tell me about your family." I said, changing the subject. "Yours sounds much more intriguing than mine."

"I was adopted and have four siblings, but you probably knew that already."

"What happened to your biological parents?"

"They died a long time ago." Finn told me.

"I'm sorry."

Finn shrugged. "Burt and Carole have been my parents for as long as I can remember."

"I can tell you love them." I offered him a smile.

"Yeah, definitely." Finn nodded. "I couldn't have been taken in by better people."

"You're lucky, lots of orphans don't get placed with great families." I frowned, remembering an old classmate in New York that had that problem. "What about your siblings?"

"They're uh, gonna be pissed if I sit here for too long." Finn announced, pointing at the clock. "I gotta get going."

"Oh. Well I'll see you on Monday then." I said, opening the car door.

"I'll make sure Kurt gets your car back as soon as he can." Finn informed me. "So you don't have to tell your mom about what happened in chemistry class."

"I'm sure she already heard about it." I grumbled. "There's no secrets here in Lima."

He laughed. "That's not exactly true, but whatever. Have fun at the lake."

"Thank you.... my invitation still stands, by the way." I told him with a coy smile.

"Nah, I can't. My family and I are going hiking this weekend, we're kinda outdoorsy."

"Oh. Well you have fun too." I said, trying not to sound disappointed.

"While you're out this weekend, don't have any more accidents, okay? I don't need to hear that you drowned or buried alive in the sand."

I giggled. "I'll do my best. Bye Finn." I hopped out of the car into the rain, slamming the door behind me. He peeled out of the driveway swiftly, flashing me that damn goofy smile the whole time.

Chapter Text

That afternoon, I spent a considerable amount of time listening for my truck; I kept an ear out searching for the sound of the familiar roar of the car's engine, but it never came. When night finally fell, I snuck a cursory glance out the window, and to my surprise (and relief), my truck was back in its usual spot in the driveway.

I wasn't looking forward to school the next day, and it was just as unpleasant as I expected; there were fainting jokes aplenty (which Harmony seemed to particularly enjoy) but no one mentioned Finn at all, which means that Jesse probably kept his mouth shut about the other boy's involvement.

"So what did Finn Hudson want?" Harmony asked me during fourth period.

"I'm not sure." I told her. "He didn't really get to the point."

"You looked pretty pissed."

"I did?"

"Yeah.... you know, it's weird, I've never seen him sit with anyone other than his siblings before."

"It is odd." I agreed, not wanting to continue this conversation anymore. A look of annoyance crossed Harmony's face; I guess she was looking for me to feed her some juicy gossip.

On top of the many grievances I had with today, the worst was still yet to come. Even though the possibility that Finn would decide to attend school today was slim, I still got my hopes up- only for them to be dashed by the fact that he was not sitting with the rest of his family at lunch.

Even though I was disappointed that Finn was a no-show, I instead swallowed my feelings and tried to focus on what my friends were talking about once we settled down at our usual table. Jesse was excitedly discussing the Lake Erie trip this weekend; the weather was supposed to be good, and if it was as nice as it was today (sixty degrees and not raining for once), then the trip may not be so bad.

Another thing that bothered me during lunch was the fact that Cassandra kept shooting dirty looks my way. I didn't really understand why she kept glaring me down until the bell rang and we had to leave the cafeteria; I ended up walking directly behind her, getting a good eyeful of her long, blonde locks as she leaned over to whisper to Jesse.

"I don't know why Rachel" She spat my name out as if it was poison in her mouth. "Doesn't just sit with Hudson-Hummel and his family now."

I was honestly shocked by how malicious she sounded talking about me- I barely know her, yet she still had such a sour view of me despite me never uttering a mean word in her direction. Thankfully, Jesse came to my defense, whispering back, "She's my friend, so she sits with us" which seemed to shut her up.

After eavesdropping on that awkward exchange, I slowed down a little to let Harmony and Sunshine pass me. I didn't want to hear Cassandra's voice anymore.

That night, Shelby was happy to hear that I was going out with my friends to Lake Erie. I know she was worried about me fitting in, and the fact that I was going on a trip with other kids from my school seemed to assuage her fears about me not making friends. I wondered what she would think of my plans to ride with Finn to Columbus.... but I wasn't going to mention that.

"Are you going to spend the night at the lake?" She asked me.

"I don't think so, I'm not the biggest fan of camping." I told her. "I know some of Jesse's friends from your choir group are bringing tents though."

"I prefer the cabins they have there." She said. "I'm not much of a tent person."

"Neither am I." I agreed. "Maybe I'll do what you do and stay in a cabin."

That was the end of the conversation for the night, and when the next day came, I woke to see the sun shining brightly into my room. I jumped out of bed and ran over to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, and sure enough, the light was real. The sun hung too low in the sky for my liking, signaling that I had woken up earlier than I expected, but the sight of a mostly blue sky kept my spirits up. I eventually left to start my usual morning routine, hoping that the sky wouldn't get swallowed by clouds again in the meantime.

Jesse's home was on the other side of town, which I hadn't been to yet. It was large, unlike most of the other homes in Lima, and there were a couple of nice cars parked in the driveway. I recognized Jesse's black GMC Yukon as well as Brody's new silver sedan right away as I was pulling up, and I waved a little at the group that had formed around Jesse's vehicle. I got a few waves back as I parked in front of the St. James home, not wanting to clog up their driveway any more than it already was.

As I got out of my truck and approached the group, I recognized quite a few friendly faces including, of course, Jesse and Brody, along with Matt, Harmony, Sunshine, and a couple other people I met at school. Cassandra was also in attendance, and she predictably greeted me with a sneer before turning her head away.

"Rachel, I'm glad you made it." Jesse said as I finally reached him. At least he was happy to see me.

"Me too, it's so nice out today." I told him, smiling up at the still mostly clear sky. "The weather is exquisite."

"Absolutely. I can't wait to get to Lake Erie." Jesse agreed. "We're just waiting on a two more people.... unless you invited someone?"

I shook my head regretfully, wishing Finn had accepted my invitation. "No."

Jesse's smiled widened. "Want to ride in my car?"

"Sure." I accepted, not wanting to ride with people that were unfamiliar to me.

"You can ride shotgun." He told me, and even though it sounded nice on the surface, I could just feel Harmony scowling nearby at just the thought of me being closer to Jesse than her.

Two more people turned into four since one of Jesse's choir buddies had brought his cousins, which meant the number of people riding in the Yukon increased. I was glad Jesse had invited me to sit in the front with him since it meant I wouldn't get sandwiched in between a bunch of strangers.

The drive to Lake Erie from Lima took nearly an hour and a half with traffic. I spent most of that time looking out the window at the passing scenery and drinking in the sunlight and fresh air that seeped in through the cracked open car window. Most of said scenery consisted of open fields and small towns, but the view I got of the Maumee River when we passed over it made up for the repetition leading up to it.

I had actually been to Lake Erie once with Shelby as a kid; she took me to the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve after our visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (which was still really interesting even if rock isn't my musical forte), and it was a gorgeous place. I knew that Jesse had picked a different spot at the lake I'd never been to, and while I doubted it could measure up to the preserve, the location he had chosen was still quite beautiful.

The location in question was a park not too far from the city of Toledo called Cullen Park. Aside from the familiar waters of the lake, the park had wonderful nature trails, a dock for visitors to take their boats out for a ride, bird-filled marshes, and rocky beaches, some of which had trees growing out of them, their branches stretching over the surface of the lake. The fact that the beaches consisted of rocks and not sand meant that the camping would be on the nearby grass rather than the beach itself, but that sounded preferable to me (even if I wasn't going to partake in the actual camping).

"Ever seen a driftwood fire?" Jesse asked once our group found a good place to plant ourselves.

I shook my head. "I haven't."

He smirked at me. "You'll like this then." He scurried off to my left, and returned with one of his buddies a few minutes later, the both of them carrying the aforementioned wood in their arms. They brought it over to a nearby fire ring where they crafted a little teepee shape with the wood.

At this point, I decided to walk over to them in order to see just what made this particular kind of wood so exciting. My curiosity was sated when Jesse whipped out a lighter and set fire to two of the sticks at the bottom. The fire very quickly spread across the wooden tower, and before my eyes, the flames changed color.

"Oh wow, it's blue." I said out loud. I thought I sounded pretty dumb, but Jesse didn't seem to think so based on the excited smile that creeped across his face.

"Yeah, the salt does that." He informed me. "It's pretty and less complex than the fire experiment we did in chem a few weeks ago."

I chuckled a little, wholeheartedly agreeing with that sentiment. For a split second, I remembered the conversation I had had with Finn on that day in the darkness of the classroom, but I banished the thought quickly, wanting to focus on the beautiful display in front of me. Several others joined us around the fire, and Jesse's attention was quickly snatched up by Harmony, allowing me to watch the flames without any hassle.

About thirty minutes later, some of the guys announced that they wanted to hike along some of the nearby trails leading to the marsh, and I was suddenly faced with a choice: join them or stay here at our campsite. One part of me favored the latter because of the fact that I didn't want to dirty the nice jeans dad had bought me prior to my move to Lima, but other part desperately wanted to drink in more of the scenery and get a better view of the marsh myself.

Before I could vocalize my decision, Cassandra piped up and said that she wasn't going to join since she was not in the mood for hiking, nor was she wearing the proper shoes for it. Most of the girls along with Brody and Matt voiced their agreement to stay behind, and in that moment, I stood up and joined the hiking group, no longer content to just sitting and staring at the fire for who knows how much longer. I didn't know most of the would-be hikers, but Jesse's face lit up when he noticed me rise from my spot on the ground to join them.

We spent a little over an hour walking along a long hiking trail, and I knew almost right away that I had made the right choice; the sun still shone down brightly, bringing a sense of liveliness to the various trees and plants that lined the hiking trail, and my mood was brought up yet again- I didn't even care that there were clouds slowly approaching, the amount of vitamin D I was absorbing at the moment made up for a potential late afternoon shower.

When we got to the marsh, I kept my distance from the edge of the water, not wanting my clothes or hair to be sullied by the marsh's brownish water. The others in the group were much less cautious, daring each other to see how far they could get into the marsh without chickening out. I was worried that they'd get stuck in the mud, but I doubted they'd listen to my concerns, so I kept quiet once again, preferring to watch a flock of ospreys swoop down low to fish for food.

After a while, the boys got hungry and suggested we all head back. I was once again growing bored of watching the same thing for an extended period of time (and was beginning to feel my stomach rumble myself), so I had no problem with heading back to meet the rest of the group for snacks.

When we got back, the food was already being shared amongst the group, which had grown in size since we'd left. A few of the local teens from Toledo had made their way into our little clique, and had seemingly already started socializing with everyone else.

The boys eagerly claimed their share of the food, jumping right into chatting with the new blood, while I settled down next to Sunshine and reached for a soda and one of the vegan sandwich options Jesse had brought. Sunshine was thankfully quiet during this time, giving me the opportunity to eat and soak in the last bit of sun before the thick clouds totally covered the sky (which wouldn't be too long by the looks of it).

After eating, the gathering began to break up, with most people getting into pairs or trios to go skip stones or walk along the rocky shore together. Jesse headed off to a shop a few minutes into town, Harmony right on his heels, and Sunshine ended up leaving to go walk with Matt and the girl from school whose name I didn't know, which left me with three of the neighborhood kids and Cassandra and Brody, whom were blasting music through a speaker someone had brought.

A few minutes after most people had scattered off, one of the three Toledo teens walked over to where I was sitting on a little driftwood log. He looked to be around my age with perfectly tanned skin, sparkling hazel eyes, and dark brown hair that was cut into an unfortunate-looking mohawk. He's a pretty attractive guy overall, but my opinion of him immediately changed when a surprising question left his lips.

"You're Berry, right? Rachel Berry?"

"Yes." I confirmed, astonished that this handsome local boy knew my name. "Who are you?"

"Noah Puckerman. But you can call me Puck." He told me, and I cringed a little- the nickname was terrible! However, his full name sounded familiar to me. Noah Puckerman....

"We've met before, it's kinda hard to forget the Puckster." He smirked, probably catching onto my confusion. "We were kids though."

Suddenly it hit me: my mom and Noah's adoptive mother had us play together as kids sometimes when they'd hang out. The playdates tapered off when I got older, but now I could remember me forcing Noah to have tea parties with me very well.

"Oh, that's right, how could I forget?" I laughed, trying to brush off my embarrassment. "Your mom used to be the football coach at Carmel, right? Shannon?"

"Dad goes by Sheldon now, but yeah, you got it." He plopped down beside me. "Long time no see, I thought you were done with this shitty state."

"Well, I wasn't planning on leaving New York, but things change." I said a little ruefully. "I'm still getting used to living in Lima."

"Take my advice: don't. That place blows." He made a raspberry sound with his mouth. "But seriously, I'm glad you're back, us Jews gotta stick together."

I chuckled a little. "I don't think you and your mo- dad even went to temple regularly."

"No, he's not even a Jew, but he still took me sometimes. We could go together, though." He fixed me with another smirk, although this one seemed to be more friendly- however, I wasn't the only one who noticed the shift in his tone.

"You know Rachel, Puck?" Cassandra inquired, a frown tugging at her lips.

"We met as children." I answered for him.

"How nice." There was a frosty hint to her voice, but I've come to expect that from her. "Hey Rachel, Brody and I were just talking about it's a shame that the Hudson-Hummels couldn't come with us."

"Are y'all talkin' about Dr. Carole Hudson-Hummel's family?" Asked one of the other local kids, and it was only just then did I notice that he was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Yeah, you know them?"

"They don't show their faces here." He replied shortly, sharping ending the conversation.

Cassandra went back to talking to Brody, content with that answer. I shifted my focus on the boy, but he didn't speak again, instead choosing to turn his chair to face the opposite way of us. The way he responded to Cassandra's question was strange; his tone implied that the Hudson-Hummels were barred from this place, like they weren't welcome, and that puzzled me.

Noah piped up then, jostling me out of my thoughts. "So is Lima driving you crazy yet?"

"Absolutely." I sighed. "'Crazy' would be a bit of an understatement, actually."

My mind was still preoccupied with Dr. Carole's family, and a brilliant idea crossed my mind: if I could get Noah alone, maybe he could tell me more about what his friend meant.

"Do you want to walk with me?" I asked him, hopping off the log, mimicking the way Finn pleaded with Nurse Penny in her office. The tactic worked wonders, because Noah stood up almost right away and followed me as I began to trek along edge of the rocky beach. The clouds had fully covered the sky by now, cloaking the beach in darkness, and I shivered a little as a chilly breeze started to blow.

"So how old are you, Noah?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"I just turned fifteen." He told me.

"Really? I thought you were a little older."

"Nah, I'm just super handsome and tall for my age." He boasted.

"Do you come down to Lima much?"

"Not really. But I can come visit you there when I finally get my damn license."

"That would be nice." I smiled up at him before throwing out another question, "Who's the boy with you? The one in the wheelchair."

"Oh, that's Artie, he's nineteen." Noah informed me. "Poor dude's stuck in that chair forever."

"That's terrible." I said truthfully. Although it was a sidetrack from the information I needed, it did cause me some sadness to learn about the older boy's condition. "What was he saying about the Hudson-Hummels?"

"They're not supposed to come around here." Noah told me.

"When you say 'here', do you mean this park, or Toledo in general?" I inquired.

"Shit, I'm not supposed to be telling people this." Noah shook his head.

"I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." I promised, not wanting him to withdraw from the conversation.

His face brightened up a little, and he smirked down at me once again.

"You like scary stories, Berry?" He asked, his voice taking on a bit of a teasing tone.

"I love them." I fibbed with a emphatic nod.

Noah stopped walking then. He looked over my shoulder for moment before sprinting over to white driftwood log, one that was a lot larger than the one we were sitting on before. He leaned back against the long, exposed roots of the toppled tree, and gestured for me to follow. I complied, hurriedly walking over to him and planting myself down on the tree's pale bark.

"How much do you know about the Ottawa tribe?" He asked me once I settled down.

I shook my head. "Not much."

"Well, I've got some Ottawa blood running through my veins, like a bunch of other people in this area." He said. "There's only a few full Natives left here, but since I'm one-eighth Ottawa- I think it's one-eighth anyway- I get invited to their gatherings where they tell us their tribe's legends."

"I didn't know you had Native American ancestry." I said.

"Yep, on my sperm donor's side." He rolled his eyes at the mention of his deadbeat father. "Dad's got some too, which means he comes with me. He's the only reason I pay attention because he says it's important that I learn the history or whatever. There's a lot of stuff they tell us about, but I'll just tell you a little about the most relevant one: the story of The Great Flood."

I nodded, priming my ears for listening. A lot of cultures have a great flood tale, but this one was immediately more interesting to me than the others.

"So there was this prophet slash hunter dude with a big, black wolf the size of a buffalo. The sea god saw the wolf and was so jealous that they killed him and made him into a big feast for the sea creatures." He recalled the story in a rather flippant manner, like he didn't believe the specifics were important. "The prophet got his revenge by killing the sea god, and that triggered the flood. He then had something called a muskrat get him some earth from under the water, then he tied it to a raven, and the raven spread the dirt around so when the waves died down, the land was made new." He paused for a second before a flicker of realization crossed his face. "Oh, and that legend can get a little more complicated.... sometimes there's an added detail that the wolf's spirit merged with the prophet's, and now his descendants also technically have wolf blood too."

"I wish I could be there to hear the whole thing." I stated. It's a shame that Noah was so scarce with the finer details. "Are there any other tales you can share?"

"There's the story about the 'cold ones'." Noah said, sitting down next to me once again. "Cool creatures, stupid nickname."

"Cold ones?" If he didn't have my attention before, he definitely did now.

"Yeah. There's stories about cold ones that are as old as the wolf stories. My great-grandfather, AKA the guy I get my Ottawa blood from, knew a couple. He's the one who made a deal to keep them off our land."

"By 'our land', do you mean Toledo?" I asked.

"Most of the city is covered by the treaty, yeah." He confirmed. "Great-granddad was the tribal leader, and he always said that the cold ones were enemies of the wolf- not the first wolf specifically, but his descendants, who were dudes that can turn into wolves themselves. You'd probably call them werewolves." He chuckled.

I paused. "Are you a werewolf?"

"I wish, Berry. It sounds cool as hell, though I'm pretty strong on my own." He flexed his muscles a little. "As for the cold ones, a pack of them came to the territory during great-granddad's time, and because they weren't really dangerous, he thought it would be a good idea to strike up a deal with them."

"If they're not dangerous, then why did you need a treaty?"

"They claimed to only snack on animals, but he knew there was always a chance that they were lying or could break their own rules, so he made the first move to protect his people- smart dude."

I mulled over all the information he gave me, attempting to put the pieces together.

"How does the Hudson-Hummel family fit into all of this?" I inquired, still looking for the final chunk of knowledge I needed. "Are they like the cold ones?"

"Nah." He shook his head. "They're the same ones."

I couldn't help but widen my eyes at the reveal, and the amused look that dawned on his face was probably because he thought he scared me with his story- and he kind of did.

"There's a couple more people in their group now, but the rest are the same." He continued after a moment. "Back then, great-granddad knew the leaders of the pack, Burt and Carole."

"And what are they, exactly? These cold ones." I asked, although I already had an answer knocking around my brain.

"Vampires." He replied, validating my suspicion. "That's what most people call them, anyway."

I didn't say anything after that, instead opting to stare at the still-calm waters of Lake Erie. I was sure that my face had betrayed just how I was feeling at this point, but I was long past caring now.

"Damn Berry, you look like you've seen a ghost." Noah said with a surprised snicker.

"You're a good storyteller." I mumbled, eyes still fixated on the water.

"It's crazy though, the stuff I've heard. No wonder dad doesn't want me to tell anyone."

"Don't worry Noah, my lips are sealed." I promised, finding the courage to tear my vision away from the lake.

"Seriously, you can't tell this stuff to anyone else- I could get in major trouble."

"Like I said, your secret is safe with me." I assured him again. "I'm not sure most people would believe it anyway."

The sound of footsteps brought our session to a halt, and the two of us turned our heads toward the noise to see Jesse approaching, back from his shopping trip with Harmony.

"There you are, Rachel." Jesse greeted me as he got closer.

"That your boyfriend?" Noah inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Absolutely not." I whispered before flashing him a bright smile and amplifying my voice. "When you get your license, you should come visit me in Lima."

"Definitely." Noah mirrored my grin.

"What have you been up to?" Jesse asked when he finally reached the tree I was sitting on.

"Noah was telling me some local tales." I replied, laying a friendly hand on the tanned boy's shoulder.

"Well, we're packing up to leave soon." Jesse said, tensing up a little. "It looks like it's going to rain."

I cast a glance up at the sky. The blanket of clouds had grown significantly darker in the past few minutes, which meant that precipitation may actually be on the horizon.

I stood up and addressed Noah one last time before leaving, "I have to get going now."

"Thanks for meeting up with me Berry." He said, clearly liking how uncomfortable he was making Jesse.

"No problem. Next time Shelby visits your dad, I should tag along."

He nodded. "That'd be cool."

I bid Noah goodbye then before heading off with Jesse and Harmony back to his GMC. Raindrops were beginning to hit the ground by now, and everyone else had bunched together, quickly shoving their supplies back into their respective cars. I slid into the backseat of Jesse's vehicle by Brody and Sunshine, allowing Harmony to claim the front passenger seat for herself. The chatter in the car started up the second Jesse began the drive back to Lima, but I just closed my eyes and laid my head against the headrest; I thought this would be a good way to calm my racing mind, but it soon became clear that nothing could keep me from obsessing over the history of Noah's ancestors and their run-in with the clan of vampires that I call my classmates.

Chapter Text

When I got home, I told Shelby I was really tired and wanted to turn in early. She asked if I was hungry, but I assured her I'd already eaten. I was expecting her to pry further, but to my surprise, she didn't give me any pushback, and just gave me a kiss on the top of my head and wished me a good night. I went directly to my room then, grateful that I wasn't subjected to a motherly interrogation.

When I got to my room, I closed and locked the door behind me, not wanting mom to come in that night. I skipped my usual nightly routine (something pre-Lima me would've considered a cardinal sin), and instead just kicked off my shoes and picked up the iPod and headphones I had laid on my desk.

I flopped down on the bed, switched on the Funny Girl soundtrack, and blared the volume as loud as I could stand. Back in New York, I would fall asleep to the sounds of Barbara Streisand's voice whenever I was feeling upset, and I figured that this strategy would be just as effective in Ohio. Luckily, I was right, and soon enough, I felt myself drift off to sleep.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing on a familiar hiking trail. At first, I was confused as to how I got here, but the sound of soft waves hitting the beach of Lake Erie distracted me, and I found myself walking in the direction of the lake.

As I moved, I could see the clear sky overheard begin to darken as gray clouds moved in, and soon enough, the sun was soon swallowed by them, blocking out most of the light. I didn't have much time to process this change, however, because as soon as the light began to fade, I was suddenly aware of that fact that Noah Puckerman was standing in front of me.

"Noah? What's wrong?" I asked, my feet finally coming to a stop.

"You gotta run, Berry," Noah told me. His voice was quiet and calm, but his face betrayed just how terrified he was. "Get the hell out of here!"

"Why? What's going on?" I questioned, aware of the fact that the clouds were quickly shifting from gray to black, draining the world of even more of its light.

Noah let out a yell of pain in response and collapsed to the ground.

"Noah!" I rushed forward to see if he was alright, but the second I reached his crumpled form, his body began to change; dark brown hair matching the mohawk on his head sprouted over every inch of skin, his limbs stretched and cracked as they reshaped themselves, and his face morphed into a snout. In a matter of seconds, my friend had transformed into a huge wolf at my feet, his green eyes now yellow and piercing into mine.

I backed up a little, vaguely aware of another familiar voice (Jesse's? Matt's? I couldn't tell) shouting for me to flee. I almost took their advice, but I saw something swiftly approaching that ended up stopping me from taking off.

A bright figure strode towards us. His skin gleamed like a diamond, standing out in the growing darkness caused by the clouds. As it got closer, I could see past the blinding glow and could make out that the person was Finn- and his eyes were jet black.

Finn smiled at me and gestured for me to come closer. The wolf that was once my friend growled, his hackles raising, but I ignored his warning and stepped towards the Hudson boy.

"Do you trust me, Rachel?" Finn asked, his voice just as smooth and hypnotizing as it was the day when he convinced Nurse Penny to let him take me home.

I felt inclined to respond, to tell him that yes, I do trust him, but I heard a rustling behind me, and when I looked over my shoulder, I could see the wolf was now standing and poised to strike.

"Noah, don't!" I yelled, but it was too late. The wolf pounced, gliding right past me towards Finn, his fangs on a course towards his neck.

I tried to scream, but nothing came out. Time seemed to slow down. My legs turned to jelly, and just like Noah had before, I fell to the ground. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the carnage in front of me, and this time when I opened them, I wasn't at Lake Erie.

Because I was never there in the first place.

I shot up with a gasp, snapping my head around to check my surroundings. The sight of dark clouds was replaced by the illuminating glare of my bedroom light, the sound of crickets chirping outside took the place of the lake's small waves, and thankfully, there were no humongous wolves, glittering men, or disembodied voices to be found.

I had been dreaming. That whole nightmare was just that: a terrifying manifestation in my brain.

I let out a few more sharp breaths before glancing at the clock on the nightstand. Upon seeing that it was five-thirty in the morning, I laid back down and tried to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in myself to doze off again. When I checked the clock this time, the blocky, red letters spelled out for me that it was about a quarter past six. I briefly considered turning the light off and trying again, but decided against it. Instead, I hit the shower.

I got out a new set of my clothes and made my way to the bathroom. I noticed the door to Shelby's room was closed when I passed, which meant she was still asleep, so I made sure to be quiet so as to not disturb her.

I hadn't noticed this before, but I found that the stress of that vivid nightmare had caused me to sweat profusely in my sleep, and it was only when I was peeling off my clothes when I caught on to the fact that my skin was soaking wet. I cringed a little at the smell and hurriedly hopped into the shower, fully intending to scrub myself clean.

During my shower, I heard what sounded like someone walking around the house. I momentarily paused my hair washing to listen, and quickly came to the conclusion that Shelby was probably awake. I went back to what I was doing, content that there wasn't an intruder in the house.

After showering, I changed into the fresh clothes I had picked out and brushed my teeth. After that, I ended up staring at myself in the bathroom mirror a bit, knowing that there was something important I needed to do, but the dread of actually doing it was majorly putting me off. So I did what any mature person does and procrastinated.

I started with blow-drying my hair, no longer concerned with being silent. I headed to my room then, dropped my dirty clothes in the hamper, moved the iPod and headphones back to their spot on the desk, and made my bed. I eyed the computer to my right, but the pit of dread in my stomach was begging me to delay the inevitable a little more, so I went downstairs to have something to eat.

Shelby was nowhere to be found, which I found odd, but any worries I had were dashed when I found a note on the fridge informing me that she had gone for a jog and would be back in an hour or so. I wasn't in a chatty mood anyway, so I decided to relish in my town alone and made myself a bowl of cereal with some orange juice on the side.

Of course, breakfast can't last forever, and after I had consumed the last of the cereal and guzzled down my glass of juice, I realized it was useless to prolong this charade any longer. I washed, dried, and put away every item I had used, then headed for the stairs to do the one thing I needed to do: research.

My computer didn't take too long to start, but the browser I booted up wasn't as fast due to the house's somewhat unstable Internet connection. It wasn't like I was doing extensive research- I just needed to check some things- but I still didn't want to wait forever for every page to load.

Luckily, my connection wasn't terrible today, and when I after I typed in my first search inquiry, I got a bunch of results.

Unsurprisingly, putting in the single word vampire yielded a ton of results, and I spent a little while wading through the various pages about vampire media to find something substantial.

Ten minutes in, I seemed to have struck gold when I stumbled upon a website called vampiresatoz.com. It was a simple website with red letters scrolling across a black background, and the content of the site was self-explanatory: a catalog of vampiric creatures around the world in alphabetical order.

For the next hour or so, I fell down the undead rabbit hole in front of me. I read about everything I could from the Chinese jiangshi that hops on one leg, to the African adze that spreads disease and can change into a firefly, to the witch-like Albanian shtriga, to the biblical, shapeshifting alukah, and quickly came to the conclusion that while vampire myths are pretty unique across many cultures, there's always one detail that tends to stick: the desire to drain something from a living soul. Of course, like with the jiangshi, it's not always blood they're after, but the parasitic nature of these diverse vampires is a constant theme.

Something else I discovered is that despite the distinctiveness of these creatures, I couldn't find anything that directly matches what Noah told me at Lake Erie. Sure, there were vampires that had some of the traits I was looking for, but nothing that followed the formula to a tee. I briefly considered walking away from the computer for a while due to my growing frustration, but a single sentence on the screen stopped me.

Stregoni benefici: A vampire from Italy said to be firmly on the side of humanity and an enemy of other vampires.

The perceived existence of virtuous vampire was both interesting to think about and a bit relieving; after reading about blood and/or soul-sucking monsters for a long time, seeing one that was apparently good gave me a small twinge of hope.

However, that feeling soon passed, and I found myself feeling frustrated once again. If I couldn't find anything that directly matched the story Noah had told me, how could I verify if it was true? What would it mean if he was wrong?

It only took me a few more minutes of pondering those thoughts for me to totally lose my patience. I closed out the browser window and stood up from my car indignantly before stomping over to where I'd left my boots and threw them on. I needed to get out of the house for a few minutes- maybe a little fresh air would clear my head.

I quickly went downstairs, scribbled a quick note for Shelby in case she came home before me, and pulled on my jacket as I opened the front door. The sky outside was overcast, but there was no sign of rain, so I continued on, hanging to the left towards the forest, walking in a straight line until I found the nearby trail that wound through the thick woods. There was no way I was wandering around out here without some kind of way back to the house- I wasn't stupid, after all.

I continued down the path for as long as it took me to calm down, focusing my senses on the earthy smells, the sound of soft birdsong, and the sight of endless amounts of trees around me. I wasn't knowledgeable in the field of identifying specific trees, so I couldn't really pick them apart. It didn't really matter anyway, it wasn't like I was out here to take a detailed report of the local fauna, anyway.

As I travelled deeper into the woods, the sounds of birds chirping began to fade, leading me further into silence the more I walked. The creepiness of this wasn't lost on me, but before I could totally lose my nerve, I spotted a tree coming up on my right. The fallen oak tree (which I could only identify due to the ring of acorns peppering the ground surrounding it) was laying parallel to the ground, making a perfect natural bench. It was almost like it was placed there intentionally for me.

Taking the opportunity, I sped-walked to the tree and daintily sat down, careful to not sit on one of the wet spots that dotted the bark. The silence was deafening now, and the only sound were the two buzzing questions in head that refused to go away. I knew I couldn't keep putting them off forever, so I decided that I would go over them here and now.

Firstly, I had to decide if Noah was right about the true nature of the Hudson-Hummels.

The logical side of my brain wanted to reject this possibility right away, which wasn't a surprise, considering most people would. But then again, most people haven't experienced the things I've seen. If I dismissed Noah's tale, then I would have no explanation for any of the incredible happenings; Finn stopping a car with his hand, the speed in which he reached me that day in the parking lot, the color-shifting eyes, the natural beauty him and his family possessed, and the fact that they never eat would give anyone pause, but when you pair it with Finn's apparent ability to read others, his absence during the blood typing assignment, his rejection of my invitation to go to Lake Erie, and the implications of the treaty discussed in Noah's story, these little details come together to form a very morbid conclusion.

The Hudson boy's statement from the cafeteria came back to me- he told me he was the villain, the bad guy. Was he warning me all along?

Could him and his family really be the vampires that stalk the night and haunt people's nightmares?

They very well could be, or at least, something equally as sinister. But if I wanted solid proof, I'd have to dig deeper somehow, so I decided the answer to this question was a very tentative maybe.

That led me to question two: what would I do if Finn is what I suspect him to be?

Of course, I couldn't tell anyone else. At best, people would assume I was kidding, and at worst, they'd have me committed. So without the involvement of anyone else, I had two options: the first was to take Finn's advice and avoid him like the plague. To pretend I don't feel his gaze burning into the back of my head when he stares at me, to pretend there was a wall separating us at all times, to pretend that my chemistry partner was a normal guy and not an immortal beast, or better yet, request a new one so I don't have to pretend.

However, the more I pictured going through with this option, the more I disliked it. There was nothing to suggest that Finn or his family was an actual threat- in fact, it was the opposite. I'd have been reduced to a puddle of guts on the ground if Finn hadn't saved me from Brody's van, and throughout most of the time I'd known him, Finn had actively tried to dissuade me from learning more about him. If he was really a bad guy, why would he keep me at an arm's length? Why would he save me?

I figured out then that option was one no good, which left me with the second one: to delve deeper into this supernatural hidden world. To keep being friends with Finn. To find out more about him and his family. To figure out what lies beyond the veil and open my eyes to a new reality.

But once again, without solid evidence, I couldn't really do that just yet. And what if other dangers lie ahead on this path? What if I find myself venturing too far into the dark? Even though Finn might not be evil, there might be other creatures out there that are.

Once more, I found myself hopelessly frustrated due to both a lack of clear answers and my own inability to find any semblance of closure.

The only thing in this moment that I was sure of, though, is that the eerie dream I had last night wasn't a representative of Finn as a whole, but rather the anxiety that had been slowly building since my arrival in Lima. I wasn't scared of Finn's glowing, pale form- I was scared for him when the wolf leaped for his throat.

A sharp breeze blew through the forest, making me shiver. I shook my head and stood up from the tree, fully broken out of the spell my imagination had conjured up. The clouds had darkened somewhat since my departure from the house, and I took that as a sign to leave. I didn't want to get caught in the rain and catch a cold. Shelby would never let me hear the end of it.

I carefully traced my steps back to the house, keeping an eye out for any familiar sights. Unfortunately, most of the forest looked the same to me, but upon hearing the sound of a car passing nearby, I picked up the pace, eager to find civilization once more.

Soon enough, the trees parted to reveal my street, so I cut right and ended up on my lawn within seconds. At this point, the neighborhood was starting to wake up, so I rushed back inside, not wanting anyone to notice me skulking around the forest like a creep.

Miraculously, Shelby still wasn't home when I got back, so I crumbled the note I'd left for her and tossed it in the trash before running back up the stairs to my room. I sat back down in front of my computer again, this time in order to work on my paper on The Scarlet Letter. I was almost done with my rough draft, and finishing it seemed like a good diversion. I mean, I'd basically made up my mind to stay friends with Finn already, so what more is there to mull over? I'm known for sticking to my guns when I make a decision, why would this one be any different? It had been so easy to pick what path to follow, anyway.

So unbelievably easy.

Shelby came home an hour later, carrying a plastic bag containing takeout for me. She apologized for being out for so long, but she had run into a friend on the way, and they ended up getting breakfast together. I told her it was fine and thanked her for getting me something to eat (while also making a mental note to pick up a vegan cookbook for her to study sometime).

Shelby asked me if I had plans to go back to Lake Erie anytime soon, and even though I gave her a noncommittal answer, I wasn't eager to visit again. A feeling of dread still crawled along my skin whenever I pictured returning to that sandy beach, and I was afraid that if I did venture back, there would be more terrible stories and earth-shattering revelations waiting for me. And right now, I don't think I can handle any more shake-ups to my still rapidly changing world.

I slept like a rock that night, exhausted from both my early rise and the mental stress I'd put myself under. Thankfully, I was granted a sleep free from nightmares, and when I woke up, there was another gift streaming through my window: sunlight.

I got out of bed and opened the window, taking in a big gulp of fresh air as I did. The sky only contained a few wispy clouds, and with no harsh winds or pouring rain in range, I found myself becoming invigorated by the lovely weather.

When I went downstairs, I could tell by the way Shelby smiled at me that she could sense my excitement, and the first sentence she said to me only reinforced my assumption.

"It's beautiful outside."

"Absolutely." I agreed, relishing in the happiness I was feeling in that moment. "It's always nice to see the sun here."

Shelby's grin widened, clearly amused by me, and in that moment, I struggled to understand why she hadn't landed another partner after her and dad split. It's clear to anyone that she's beautiful (and I'm not just saying this because I resemble her), with long brown hair that frames her face perfectly, and her killer smile would make any man melt. I only hope that when I reach her age, I would stay just as gorgeous.

Shelby left for work after she had her breakfast, leaving me to eat alone. I wasn't upset though, it was nice to just sit alone and stare out the back door at the mostly clear sky. When I actually finished my food, I grabbed my backpack and headed for the door, briefly stopping to wonder if I should take my coat with me. On one hand, this ill-fitting weather for a jacket, but on the other hand, the tides could turn at any time....

After a minute of contemplation, I grabbed my jacket and headed out. Better safe than sorry in a town like this.

When I arrived at school, I noticed that I was one of the first to show up. A quick look at the clock in my truck confirmed my suspicion that I had gotten here much earlier than usual. But I wasn't all that fazed; it was actually better this way, I could get some homework done.

I parked my car and made a beeline for the picnic tables sitting outside the cafeteria. No one was here (which wasn't rare, barely anyone used these tables), so I picked a table, laid down my jacket over the damp seat, and settled down.

My trigonometry homework was nearly done, so I finished it off, making sure to check my work when I looked over my answers. Unfortunately, I had nothing else to do, and I soon enough my mind wandered off, leaving me to absentmindedly doodle as I fell back into my imagination once again.

"Rachel!"

A sudden voice shoved me back into reality. I took a glance around and discovered that most of the student body had arrived at school, with me being none the wiser. I shook my head a little at my own inability to properly take in my surroundings before turning around to see who had called out to me.

"Hi Jesse." I greeted my taller friend. "Good morning."

"Morning to you, too. Hey, I never noticed how shiny your hair is." He reached over and brushed a strand behind my ear, letting his fingertips linger for a few seconds.

"Thank you, I make sure to condition it well," I informed him, feeling a tad uncomfortable at being touched in such an intimate way by him. "And being in the sunlight makes it more noticeable."

"It's a great day for that."

"Absolutely. My kind of day."

"What did you do yesterday?" He asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Finished my essay for English class." I told him.

"Oh right, that's due Friday, isn't it?"

"Wednesday."

"Damn, guess I'll have to work on that tonight," he pouted. "Although I was gonna ask you out."

"Really?" I stopped myself before I could outwardly wince. God, I wish he would stop making every conversation we have awkward.

"Yeah. I mean, we could still go to dinner and I can work on it later." Jesse suggested, his face brightening a little.

"I'm sorry, Jesse, but I don't think that's a good idea." I said, trying to be tactful.

His features dropped again. "Why not?"

"I.... don't think Harmony would like it." I said, both because it was true, and so I didn't have to drag my own complicated feelings about other guys into this conversation.

"Harmony?" Jesse asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He appeared to be genuinely confused by what I said.

I nodded. "No offense, Jesse, but you must be blind if you can't see that Harmony obviously likes you."

The confusion on his face melted into realization, and the only word he could muster up in response was a simple, "Oh".

Deciding I was done with this whole interaction, I told him, "I have to get to class now, I don't want to be late" and gathered up my books before heading into the school building. I knew he would have offered to walk with me, but I really wasn't in the mood.

When I saw Harmony a few periods later, she was brimming with glee, gushing about how her, Sunshine, and Cassandra were going to Dayton tonight to shop for dresses for the dance. She invited me to come too, even though I wasn't going, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to tag along or not. It would be nice to hang out with my friends, but the inclusion of Cassandra gave me pause. But it was beautiful outside, and I do need something to do besides sit at home obsessing over the Hudson-Hummels....

So I answered her with a maybe, for what feels like the hundredth time in the past two days.

She babbled about the dance after class on our way to lunch. I was hardly paying attention to her though due to my own barely contained excitement by the prospect at getting to see the Hudson-Hummels again (who said I needed to do something other than think about them? Not me). My renewed knowledge about their potential nature only increased my interest in seeing them, but once Harmony and I entered the cafeteria, my spirit fizzled out upon seeing the telltale table empty.

Dejected, I trailed behind Harmony, completely ignoring her at this point.

When we got to our usual table, I took a seat next to Sunshine, purposely avoiding Jesse. To my surprise, he held out the empty chair to his right for Harmony, who seemed delighted by his sudden act of chivalry. That perked me up just a tad- maybe he'd taken my warning about the dark-haired girl's obvious crush to heart.

Sunshine asked me about our English paper, and I did my best to answer her questions without sounding too upset. She also invited me out shopping, and this time I agreed right away, no longer in the mood to play the maybe game.

The rest of the school day passed by pretty uneventfully. I sat alone in chemistry, disappointed once more when Finn was absent. Music class was fine, but we had a lecture, so I didn't get to sing. Gym wasn't as bad as usual because we were learning a new sport (badminton) instead of participating, but I still wasn't looking forward to the coming days when I'd get a racquet thrust into my hand before being turned loose onto the court, woefully rueing the day that physical education class was invented.

I was glad to hear the final bell ring at the end of the day, making sure to speed-walk to my car and peel out of the parking lot as quickly as I could. The second I parked in my driveway, Harmony called and cancelled our plans for this afternoon in favor of going out with Jesse, who'd invited her out to dinner. I was happy for her, and told her as such, and she thanked me before saying she was rescheduling our shopping date for tomorrow.

After I bid my ecstatic friend goodbye, I went inside my house and was greeted by the smell of something cooking from the kitchen. Shelby wasn't known for being the best chef, but I wasn't about to crap all over her efforts, so I popped my head in to say hello and ask what she was making. For her, she was currently brewing up beef stew, and afterwards, she was going to make me chickpea soup. I'd ever actually had chickpea soup, but I was still happy she was attempting what sounds like a vegan recipe. Maybe buying a vegan cookbook for her wasn't needed after all.

Following our chat, I went to my room and checked my email to see if dad had made contact again. He had, sending me three more since our last correspondence, so I typed out a response.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Hey dad,
Sorry I haven't gotten back yet, I've been busy settling in.
How's your tour around the country been? Have you crossed 'seeing the Grand Canyon' off your bucket list yet? Make sure to bring sunblock if you do.
I went down to Lake Erie with some friends last weekend. I'm not sure if you met Noah and his dad, but I ran into him there. He got really tall!
I'm also going out shopping with friends tomorrow. I hope they have nice sweaters at the mall....
Anyway, Lima has seen a rare sunny day today, so I'm going to go out and enjoy it. Talk to you soon. And tell LeRoy I said hello.
Love, Rachel

After sending off that email, I decided to spend some time reading. I went to my backpack to dig out the next book we'd be reading for English class, but my motivation to get started died when I remembered that we were going to read Adventures of Huckelberry Finn. I tossed the bag aside, snatched up my throw blanket, and went back downstairs to ask Shelby if she had anything good to read. She was still slaving over the stove, but nevertheless spared a second to grab a suggestion from her bookshelf in the other room.

The novel she handed me was The Phantom of the Opera. I'd seen the play more than once, but I accepted the book anyway, interested in seeing how it differed from the musical. Shelby went back to cooking, cursing when she realized she had almost let the stew burn. I stifled a chuckle as I went outside, spreading the blanket over the grass and dropping down into a cross-legged position. I cracked open the book eagerly, and this time, there were no characters named Finn to be found.

Sometime into my reading, the sunlight soaking into my skin combined with the pleasant breeze brushing back my hair caused me to feel drowsy. I attempted to keep reading, but once my eyes began to flicker, I shut the book and laid down on the ground, fully closing my eyelids and allowing the sun, breeze, and earthy smell of the grass to lull me to sleep.

The next time my eyes flapped open, I was vaguely aware of the sound of Shelby calling my name. I groggily sat up and rubbed my eyes. As I took in my surroundings, I noticed that the sunlight had mostly vanished due to the sun having dipped behind the trees. The calmness I had felt earlier while reading in the sunshine was gone now, replaced with a sudden sensation that I wasn't alone.

Shelby yelled out my name from the kitchen again, and I scrambled to get up and collect the book and blanket. I peered over my shoulder at the woods, and even though I saw nothing, I still fled back into the house towards the safety of my mother's voice.

"Dinner's ready," Shelby informed me when I entered the kitchen. "How was your nap?"

"Good," I replied, the fear that had been stirring up inside me dissipating. "But I'm hungry."

"Well, I've got a bowl ready for you in the dining room for you."

I smiled. "Thanks, mom."

I deposited the book and now damp blanket in the living room before joining Shelby for supper. The soup she'd made me was pretty good, and I slurped it down in record time. Her meal admittedly smelled good, too. If only it was vegetable stew rather than beef.

After we both finished, I sat down with Shelby in the living room to watch TV. I wasn't super into the kind of dramas she liked, but she seemed delighted that I was spending time with her, so I didn't complain. If anything, making her happy made me happy, too.

"Oh, mom, there's something I want to tell you," I piped up about twenty minutes into the show. "Harmony, Sunshine, and I are going down to Dayton tomorrow to go shopping."

"Are you going to introduce them to the world of animal sweaters?" She teased me.

"No," I shook my head. "They're getting dresses for the dance."

"I thought you said you weren't going."

"I'm not, but they still want me to tag along."

Shelby hummed a little. "It's a school night, Rachel."

"I know, but we won't stay out too long." I assured her.

"Well, okay, but if anything happens, please call me. You have my number in your phone, don't you?"

I nodded, clearly remembering dad programming his and Shelby's number into my new phone before he got it for me last year. "Yep."

"Alright, but if you're going to be out past eight, let me know," She said. "I don't think your father can handle anymore bad news after the incident with Brody's car."

I cringed a little at the memory of almost being crushed (and also saved by a potential vampire). Leave it to Shelby to bring up the worst possible scenario.

The sunny weather returned the next day, which is just the thing I needed to start my day off right. I dressed appropriately in a yellow blouse and brown skirt, an outfit I'd worn several times during the summer back in the Big Apple.

Unlike yesterday, I got to school much later, and the only parking spots available were all the way in the back, much to my chagrin. I searched for a familiar black Volvo on the way, but there was no sign of it, so I parked and made a beeline to room 204, just barely making it to class before the bell rang.

The school day went back without incident, with the only thing to note being the absence of the Hudson-Hummel family, both in the cafeteria and in chemistry, where I once again sat alone.

The upcoming shopping trip to Dayton was discussed in detail again during lunch, and my excitement for it was amplified when Cassandra announced that she could no longer attend. I had promised myself to be in a good mood for Harmony and Sunshine's sake, and it appeared that I wouldn't have to fake it much now that the blonde was out of commission for the night. The only downside I could see now is that the prospect of shopping alone in Columbus sounded much more lonely without them. And it would be even worse if Finn decided to cancel last minute.

After school, Harmony followed me home in her white Toyota so that neither of us wasted any precious time. Shelby wasn't home yet, so I left her a note, dropped my bag off by the front door, and went to my room to retrieve a seldom-used purse from my closet, hastily shoving my wallet and phone inside. When I got back, Harmony simply commented, "That was fast" before pulling out of my driveway so we could get the last member of our trio.

Sunshine didn't live too far from me, so we picked her up in no time at all. She was already primed to go when we arrived, so she jumped into the car right away, making this stop only a few seconds long. The Filipina was just as thrilled as the two of us to get going, so Harmony hit the gas, propelling us down the street and to Dayton, where we'd be spending the next few hours.