A/N: This chapter is another more lighthearted chapter with not any huge plot developments. But I hope you still enjoy it. Blame the French parts for me doing French homework as I wrote it :) I changed the tense from present to past, I hope that doesn't irritate anyone. If you have any suggestions on future plot ideas or developments, feel free to mention them in a review! I will not necessarily use them because, when it comes down to it, the direction the story goes is my decision. But sometimes I need inspiration, and I could definitely take your idea into consideration. Enjoy!

….

"The participe passé of an ir verb is just i. Rachel, an example sentence?"

Madame Moreau, an eccentric woman with curly white hair, pink glasses, and a tendency to wear furry scarves, taught French at McKinley.

"J'ai fini mes devoirs."

"Fantastique. Finn?"

Finn frantically paged through his book and ran a hand through his hair. "Figgins a grossi après l'été?"

"Principal Figgins gained weight after the summer?" Madame Moreau raised an eyebrow. "Well, it was grammatically correct. Work on the pronunciation, though, you sound like you're congested."

A crumpled ball of paper flew over Rachel's shoulder and glided precisely to the center of her desk.

"Remind me why I took French again?" it said, with a doodle of a frazzled stick figure with asymmetric eyes and Einstein-style hair. Rachel swiveled in her seat to look at the note-writer. Finn gave his French book the most perplexed look she had ever seen, making her struggle to stifle a laugh.

"Possibly because I convinced you over the summer that it would enrich you and open your eyes to the rich cultures of Europe. Which it has! Plus, your mom thinks taking multiple languages looks good on a transcript, which is something we agree on, Finn. It's the reason why I'm taking Spanish, French, German, Latin, and a Russian online course." Rachel wrote back in pink gel pen, refolding the note neatly and sliding it backwards with her foot.

"The only good thing about this class is eating the creeps."

"Crêpes, Finn. Crêpes."

"Whatever. Can I pleeease hear your song?" When Rachel turned around, Finn gave her an endearing puppy-dog look.

"Absolutely not. It's not like I'd sing it in the middle of class!"

"Can't you just tell me the lyrics?"

"Okay. How about this. I'll give you a line of the lyrics or so, once in a while. Out of order. Deal?"

"Deal."

Rachel taps her pen as she thinks, then writes: "What can you do when your good isn't good enough, and all that you touch tumbles down."

"That's awesome, Rachel. Really. It's sad, but good. And you don't deserve that, y'know."

Rachel didn't reply back for the rest of class. Partially because of Madame Moreau's glares in her direction, but mainly because she simply didn't know how to respond.

As the bell rang at the end of class, Finn literally launched out of his chair and raced to the door. Rachel lightly touched his elbow in the doorway.

"Yo, it's lunchtime, and I need to get there before they run out of chicken. Or else I'll get fish sticks, and… oh, it's you, Rachel!"

"You and lunch, Finn, my word. I was going to ask, how are things with Quinn?"

He suddenly found his sneakers fascinating. "Uh, okay. Kind of awkward since the other day. And she's more controlling."

"I'm genuinely sorry that things got out of line. I got carried away…"

"No, I got carried away. I shouldn't have been so pushy about the song. I'm just excited, y'know?" He squeezed her on the shoulder.

"Me too. I won't let you, or the glee club down this time."

"I trust you. I have to go, because I have to accompany Quinn in the line, or she'll freak. I don't even know what that word means, just that you and Quinn seem to use it a lot."

"Have fun." Rachel gave a little wave and dialed her locker combination.

Oh, the way things so quickly go back to the way they were.

…

Rachel liked to observe people at lunch. It was the sole time of the day where she mainly kept her mouth shut, and just got lost in her thoughts and vegan sandwich. She sat with Tina, Mike, Artie, Brittany, Santana, Sam, Puck, Lauren, and Mercedes. It felt nice to belong, unlike last year when she sat by herself much of the time. Finn used to sit with them, but now he sat with Quinn at the edge of a table of football players and others on the top of the pyramid. He faced Rachel, so occasionally he'd roll his eyes at her or send a goofy face her way.

But Rachel had to admit, she was very observant. She noticed little things. Like how Tina always had a salad. ("Thank God there are no chicken feet in this thing.") And Mike would smile a little and sometimes wipe the ranch dressing of the corner of her mouth with a napkin. Artie and Brittany's hands were always touching. Rachel noticed that, despite Sam's arm around Santana's shoulder, she seemed busy mournfully looking at Brittany.

"What are you staring at, Berry?" The rest of the table had gone up to throw their trash out, leaving only Santana and Rachel.

"You stared at Brittany's back until she reached the trash cans." Rachel replied.

"I'm jealous of her hat."

"I know for a fact that you think those furry hats are tacky. You constantly say so to the rest of the glee club."

Santana gave her a defeated look.

"You love her, don't you?"

"You need to stay out of my business." Santana said with a scowl.

"You sang Landslide together last week. And I saw you at her locker yesterday looking all sad."

"What are you, my counselor? Seriously, fuck off Berry."

"I'm just trying to be a friend. I… I know how it feels, that endless waiting for them to just break up with that person who isn't right for them already. And my dads are open for discussion, if you want to talk with them. They understand what it's like to be… a little different."

Santana softened a bit. "Thanks for the offer, Berry. Not sure if I want to know that I'm acting as pitiful as you. But it's nice to know that I'm not alone." She walks away with her tray as the others sit down.

Santana Lopez. I love her I-don't-give-a-crap-what-you-say, I'll-do-whatever-the-hell-I-want attitude. I love her voice.

I hate the fact that she hides her true feelings, true thoughts, under that cold façade. I hate that she had sex with Finn and he ordered her a cheeseburger. I hate how outright cruel she can be. I hate that she declines my attempts at friendship. I hate that she doesn't realize how great she could really be.