And here's my new story. This isn't going to be nearly as long as most of my other stories, but it's an idea I've had in my head for several years, so I thought I would write it before I started on something longer. Thanks to totheseaandbackagain for the title and for the edit.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1

"Mr. Schue," Rachel said, thrusting her hand into the air.

"Ah, yes, Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked.

"I would like to share my ideas about this year's competitions," Rachel stated. "I've put together a small presentation that I think will guarantee us a win at Nationals, and—"

"That's an interesting idea, but Sectionals are months away," Mr. Schue interrupted.

"It's never too soon to begin thinking about it," Rachel insisted.

"Maybe in a couple months, but right now I think we should just have some fun," Mr. Schue said. "Finn, you said you know of someone who might be interested in joining us this year?"

"Yeah, there's this new kid on the football team," Finn said with a proud grin. "I've talked to him about joining Glee and I think he's interested."

"See, guys, that is what I'm talking about!" Mr. Schue said. "You need to take the initiative like Finn has. We're down a few members and we need to find people who are interested. Do what Finn has and find those people! I know they're out there and they're just waiting for that push that they need."

"I actually addressed this in my presentation," Rachel said, putting her hand back into the air.

"That's great, Rachel, but we need action," Mr. Schue replied.

Rachel sighed to herself as she slumped down in her chair. Mr. Schue was never going to listen to her suggestions; if Finn came up with them, though, he would think they were the greatest thing he'd ever heard. She didn't understand why their teacher didn't like her. Out of everyone in the room, she would expect better from a teacher. Instead, he was no better than her fellow Glee members who called her names and threw slushies in her face. He was just more subtle about it than some of the rest.

"Your assignment for next week is to find us two new members," he announced. "Talk to your friends, talk to your teachers—sing in the halls if you have to. I want this school to know that we're not going anywhere and we are going to bring home that Nationals trophy this year."

"Yeah, maybe if we can get the hobbit to shut her mouth and let someone else sing," Santana said, looking down at Rachel.

"Santana, I don't believe—"

"No one cares, troll," Santana said, holding up her hand.

"That is very rude, Santana," Rachel said, flipping her hair as she looked over her shoulder.

The Cheerio smirked at her, clearly about to respond, but then Quinn said, "Can we get on with this? Some of us would like to go home."

"Right," Mr. Schue replied when all eyes were on him again. "As I was saying, I want two new members by the end of next week. Preferably two members who can sing and dance, but we are the Glee Club, after all. Anyone who wants to join us is free to do so. I want this to be a welcoming environment, where everyone is free to be themselves."

Rachel scowled slightly. Mr. Schue always talked about people being free to be themselves, but it didn't seem to apply when it came to her. Anytime she said anything, one of the more popular students would always put her down. Usually Santana or sometimes Quinn. Even in a group of misfits, she still felt like the outsider. She thought dating Finn would increase her popularity, but it only brought his down. It was the major reason why Finn broke up with her over the summer. He didn't say so, but he didn't have to; she knew it was the real reason despite what he said.

"Alright, guys, does anyone have anything else they would like to sing?" Mr. Schue asked.

Rachel looked around, but no one said anything. She crossed her arms, unimpressed at the lack of effort from her fellow classmates. She had been the only one to participate in that week's assignment. She would have thought that with having the whole summer off, everyone would have come back refreshed and ready to go. But it seemed like this year was going to be just like the rest. She just hated being one of only a few to take this seriously, one of only a few to actually care about the club and always give it everything she had.

"Okay, if no one else has anything, you can go, but I want you all participating next week," Mr. Schue said as he picked up his briefcase from beside his stool. "I want to see you out there in the school performing. Show the rest of the student body just how awesome it is to be part of the glee club!"

Nearly everyone was out of their seats the moment he dismissed them. As Rachel was reaching for her bag, Santana kicked it on her way past, spilling some of the contents onto the linoleum floor. Rachel frowned at the back of her head, but didn't say anything. Santana could be quite mean when she wanted to be, and the last thing Rachel needed in her first week back was to be attacked by her. So, she knelt onto the ground and began reaching for her belongings.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked, kneeling down in front of her.

"I'm fine, Finn," Rachel answered.

"Let me help," Finn said, reaching for her tube of lip gloss.

"You don't have to help," Rachel stated. "You should go."

Finn hesitated, but then he handed over the lip gloss and stood up. As he left, she looked around to find that almost everyone else was already gone. The only other three people who remained were Kurt, Tina, and Quinn. Unfortunately, Kurt and Tina were in conversation and didn't seem to notice her, and Quinn was the last person she would expect to help her. So, with a sigh, she picked up the rest of her things by herself.

"What are you still doing here?" Kurt asked as he walked down the hall.

"Well, I left, but then I realized I forgot my geometry book in my locker and Mr. Reynolds assigned us some homework for over the weekend," Rachel explained.

She grabbed her book from her locker and put it into her bag before double checking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything else. She didn't want to have to come back again and she definitely didn't want to fall behind after only being back a week. As she was looking, she suddenly remembered that Mrs. Parker insinuated that they may have a pop quiz on Monday, so she grabbed her chemistry book as well, figuring it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Where's my phone?" Rachel asked herself as she looked into her bag. "I know it was in here." She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "It's probably somewhere on the choir room floor."

"Why would it be there?" Kurt asked.

"Santana," Rachel stated. "She kicked my bag earlier and a lot of things spilled out. I thought I picked up everything, but it must have fallen somewhere and I didn't notice it."

"When did this happen?" Kurt asked.

"As she was leaving," Rachel answered, shaking her head. "I thought this year was going to be different. I thought we had all bonded. We've been through so much together and I thought that meant something, but everything is exactly as it was before any of us ever joined Glee."

"That's not completely true," Kurt replied. "We're friends now."

"I guess," Rachel said. "But I'm still single, Tuesday I had to dodge a slushie on my way to lunch, and the Cheerios still seem like it's their mission to make my life as miserable as possible. As if it wasn't enough that—"

Rachel quickly shut her mouth. She wasn't going to bring up the adoption; it seemed too petty. She tried not to fault Quinn for giving Beth to Shelby, hurting her relationship with her mother even more. She sometimes wondered if Quinn had done it to purposefully hurt her, but she had yet to voice those feelings to anyone. Rachel hoped the other girl wouldn't do such a thing, but she sometimes had her doubts.

"Wasn't enough that what?" Kurt asked after a few moments.

"Nothing," Rachel replied. "So, how did your first week turn out?"

Kurt shrugged and said, "I was shoved against a locker twice, had my scarf thrown in a toilet, and I was threatened multiple times. You're not the only one who nothing has changed for.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," Rachel said with a frown. "I know you hoped things would be better this year."

She and Kurt had bonded during the summer over their personal experiences with bullying. Kurt finally seemed to realize that he had a lot in common with Rachel—even if she knew he would never admit it—and Rachel felt like she could actually call him a friend now. They weren't best friends by any means, but he had made the summer a little less lonely for Rachel. And she certainly appreciated him being there for her after Finn had broken up with her.

"What are you doing now?" Kurt asked.

"I thought I would go home and work on a list of students who may be interested in joining the New Directions," Rachel stated.

"I was just asking Tina if she wanted to come with me to this new boutique on Main Street, but she said she's having dinner with Mike's family," Kurt said. "Maybe we could go together. A little retail therapy could be just what we need after a long, hard week of school. Not that what you're doing doesn't sound like a lot of fun."

"You want me to shop for clothes with you?" Rachel asked, looking at him skeptically.

"I promise no makeovers." Kurt huffed. "Are you ever going to let me forget that lapse in judgment? I have apologized and I think we should both move on."

"Fine," Rachel replied. "And, yes, I would love to go with you. Although, I do not appreciate the sarcasm. Mr. Schue has given us an assignment, and even if he doesn't take his job as leader of the Glee Club as seriously as he should, as captain, I am going to give it my all. And we really do need two more members or we'll have to forfeit and I refuse to go down without a fight."

"There's plenty of time to worry about that later," Kurt said, looping his arm through her. "Tonight, though, we're going to have fun."

"Alright," Rachel agreed. "But then I want us to join forces for next week's assignment. Everyone knows we're the two most talented singers in the club, and with us working together, we'll be unstoppable. We'll have two new members and then maybe Mr. Schue will finally have to listen to my ideas."

"Deal," Kurt replied.

Rachel smiled as she closed her locker and let Kurt lead her to the school's entrance. Maybe the first week of her junior year hadn't gone exactly as she'd hoped, but she was going shopping with a friend, and considering how her sophomore year started out, she would certainly take this over that any day. At least now she wasn't completely without friends and she had managed to avoid being slushied that week, which was an accomplishment for her.

"Oh!" Rachel said, halting in her tracks. "My phone is still in the choir room!"

"We can't forget that," Kurt said, turning them around.

"I hope it's still in one piece," Rachel remarked, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"Is that it?" Rachel asked. "How long has it been there?"

"It opened last month," Kurt answered.

"I don't understand how I've never noticed it before," Rachel said. "My fathers and I just drove down Main Street yesterday on the way to dinner."

"I've seen you in a car," Kurt stated. "You were probably too busy singing to look out the window."

Rachel grinned and replied, "That is a very good possibility."

Regardless, the place looked nice and it seemed like something Rachel would have noticed. Of course, she had been so focused on the breakup and school beginning that she had obviously just overlooked it. It wouldn't be the first time she had been completely oblivious to something because she was so wrapped up in the things going on in her life. Her fathers often joked over the summer that she wouldn't notice if they were replaced by two other men. It was an exaggeration, but Rachel did have to admit she had been rather distracted for the past few months.

"I'm surprised you haven't come sooner," Rachel remarked.

"Everyone was always too busy to come with me," Kurt said with a shrug. "Tina was always doing something with Mike, Mercedes was too busy talking to some guy she met at church, and you've barely been reachable the past few weeks."

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, frowning.

"Look, you can also have your fortune told," Kurt commented, pointing to the advertisement in the window.

"Isn't this a strange place for a fortune teller?" Rachel asked.

"You should do it," Kurt said.

"Why me?" Rachel asked.

"So you can see if your name is going to appear in lights on Broadway one day," Kurt answered.

"Well, I already know that's going to happen," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Maybe she'll tell you something about your love life," Kurt added.

It was tempting; she'd never had her fortune told before and she was curious about what the woman would tell her. If the woman really could predict the future, there were certainly some things Rachel would like to know. Rachel definitely believed in such abilities—she even thought of herself as a little bit psychic—and she hoped this woman wouldn't say that she had them if she didn't.

"I think I will," Rachel finally said after thinking about it for a moment. "It could be fun."

Rachel smiled at Kurt and then opened the door to the shop. The inside was bright, smelled faintly of flowers, and had rows of racks that were crammed full of clothes. The building itself was one of the smaller ones on Main Street, so there wasn't an abundant amount of room. Despite that, though, the shop looked well organized and clean.

"Welcome," the woman behind the counter greeted. "I'm Abby; if you need any assistance, let me know."

"Thank you," Rachel said, smiling at her

"Where's the psychic?" Kurt asked.

"She has a room in the back corner," Abby answered, pointing them in the right direction. "She's with a customer right now, but she should be available soon."

"In the meantime, let's go find you a new outfit," Kurt said, linking their arms, and pulled her toward the nearest clothes rack. "I think your wardrobe could use a little update. Nothing extreme; I just think we should add a few pieces to it."

"I thought you promised no more makeovers," Rachel reminded him

"This isn't a makeover," Kurt replied. "I'm just going to find some things I think will look good on you. Ones that are you, of course."

Kurt began pulling clothes from the racks and holding them up to her. She didn't bother fighting it because her wardrobe really could use an update. And as long as he wasn't trying to sabotage her, he really did have good taste in clothing. Thankfully, he really was picking up things that she could see herself wearing. They were her, but a more stylish Rachel Berry.

"Let me hold that," Kurt said, taking the skirt she was holding, and turning her around. "Now, go to the fortune teller."

Rachel saw that a woman was leaving, which she assumed was the customer the lady at the front told them about. She glanced over her shoulder at Kurt, who gave her a gentle push, and she began walking toward the corner. It was a little silly, but she was nervous, and she thought about turning around and telling Kurt she changed her mind. What if the woman told her she was doomed to fail or forever going to be alone? If that was her fate, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know.

The woman at the front had said the fortune teller had a room, but it was less of a room and more of a sectioned off part of the shop. There was a colorful curtain around the area and Rachel peeked into the front. She didn't just want to walk in, but since there were no actual walls, she couldn't exactly knock. Just as she was about to clear her throat, hoping to announce her presence, a voice said, "You can come in."

"I didn't want to interrupt," Rachel said as she walked in.

"What's your name?" the fortune teller asked.

"Rachel," the brunette answered

"I'm Nadia," the woman said. "Are you here to find what your future holds?"

"Yes," Rachel answered. "How much does it cost?"

"Forty dollars," Nadia answered.

Rachel reached into her bag and pulled out her pocketbook, hoping she had the money on her. Thankfully, she did, and she pulled out the money, setting it on the table. The woman picked it up and put it to the side, motioning for Rachel to take a seat across from her. Between them was a crystal ball, some unlit candles, and what Rachel could only assume was incense, which all sat on a purple and black cloth.

The woman closed her eyes for a moment, whispering something to herself, and then opened them, staring at the crystal ball. Rachel glanced down at it, wondering how exactly it was supposed to work. Rather than ask, she sat quietly, not wanting to interrupt the process. It felt like forever that they were sitting there in silence, but then the woman finally looked up at her.

"You've recently gone through a breakup," she stated.

"I have," Rachel confirmed.

"You're sad," the woman continued. "But it won't last long."

"It won't?" Rachel asked.

"You're also part of a group," she said. "A club of some kind. That's where you will find your true love."

"Finn and I are going to get back together?" Rachel asked hopefully.

The psychic shook her head. "This is a new love, not an old one. That's all I can say."

Rachel huffed. "That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Oh, and you'll find your phone on Monday," the psychic stated.

Rachel's mouth opened and closed several times before she said, "Thank you for the information."

Rachel stood and calmly left the small room despite her mind racing. She looked around for Kurt, wanting to run over and tell him everything. It took her a moment to find him, but then she saw him kneeling down, looking at the hem of a dress.

"That was quick," Kurt said, his arms loaded down with garments as she approached. "Here, try these on."

"But—"

"Go," Kurt said, pushing her toward the dressing room. "You can tell me all about it while you're trying the clothes on."

Rachel sighed and took the skirts he was holding out. "Okay, but you're going to want to hear about it."

Since the moment Rachel learned she would find her true love, she couldn't think of anything else. Although, she did find it hard to believe that it wasn't Finn and wondered if the fortune teller was wrong on that part. Despite the fact that he had dumped her twice, she always thought they would eventually end up together. Maybe not in high school, but she had a fantasy that he would come to see her on Broadway and the two would have a reconciliation, leading to their happily ever after. But now that she knew it wasn't Finn, she couldn't stop wondering who it was.

The most obvious choice would be Puck or Mike, but the latter was in a relationship with Tina and Puck was—Puck. While Rachel found him attractive enough and she thought he was very talented, she just couldn't imagine him being the one for her. As far as she knew, he'd cheated on every girl he had ever been with and she didn't relish the thought of going through that. Mike, on the other hand, was very trustworthy and one of the few guys who had actually treated her well even before they were in Glee together. But he and Tina were obviously in love, so she was doubtful it was him.

That left Artie and Kurt. Kurt was certainly not the one due to obvious reasons and Artie, while nice enough, wasn't someone she could see herself being with. It wasn't because of him being in a wheelchair, but because they had absolutely nothing in common other than them both liking music. But even their musical tastes were vastly different. And he had once insinuated that Barbra Streisand was overrated, which was something Rachel could never forgive.

In the three and a half hours that Rachel had been home, she had made a pro and con list for each guy in Glee and ranked them from most to least likely. And then starting Monday, she would go through and eliminate them one by one until she found out the identity of her true love. Thankfully, her list was only three people—she had immediately eliminated Kurt—so she hoped it didn't take more than a day to figure it out.

If it wasn't for the psychic knowing about her phone, she would have been inclined to believe the woman was a fraud. But there was no way she could have known about that; she was positive neither her nor Kurt had mentioned it at the boutique for anyone to overhear. Plus, she'd also been correct about the recent breakup. Rachel figured it was too much of a coincidence to know about both things, so she had no doubt the woman really did have psychic abilities. She just wished she had been a little more informative. How hard would it have been for the woman to give her some details? She didn't know how the whole fortune telling thing worked, but it seemed like she could have at least given her a physical description of the guy.

Regardless of the lack of details, she was going to get to the bottom of it and figure out who her true love was. She had a short list and was confident she would have it all figured out by the end of the week. After all, how hard could it be?