Author's Note: Well, it seems I have an excuse for every chapter I put up late. And it's the same time: writer's block and no muse. But I won't keep you any longer. Chapter 8, enjoy!

Glee

Finn walked through the halls of McKinley sporting his leather football jacket, which instantly boosted his confidence levels as well as increased the number of glances that flashed in his direction.

Being one of the leaders of New Directions, Finn didn't like to admit that he probably liked wearing his football jacket more than he was supposed to. He loved playing football but he also acknowledged that it granted you social status. Playing football made you cool and when you wore the jacket people recognized you as a football player. Which, in turn, vastly allowed your cool points to elevate in people's minds. You gained respect when you were a part of a popular sports team, whether or not you were good.

He knew that everyone in the Glee club did what they loved, despite what others said or did. And he tried to do the same. As long as he was in the choir room or on stage he was fine. But when it came time to walk out of Glee club he found himself distancing himself from the rest of the group. He knew it was wrong but he couldn't stand the looks passing classmates gave him. The rest of the glee club had learned to hold their head high when walking down the halls. Why couldn't he? He's captain of the football team, has fairly good looks, and has pretty good friends. If people wanted to give him strange looks, so be it. He knew he shouldn't care. So why did it still bother him to be around the Glee club? He even tried to justify his feelings. The rest of the club doesn't have any idea of what I'm going through. They've been at the bottom of the food chain their entire life. And its great that they're coming to terms with that fact. But I've been at the top my whole life. They don't know what its like to have such a carefully crafted reputation constantly threatened to be ripped out from under their feet. They don't know. On some level Finn knew that it was shallow to come up with a reason to absolve his actions in public towards the Glee club. But on another level, one closer to the surface, he needed that justification there to get through the day without a freezing slushie being thrown in his face.

So he debated whether or not he should say hi to Rachel as he passed her locker this morning. As he, and practically everyone knew, Rachel was on one of the lowest levels of the social food chain. I could just stare at the ground when I walk by here. Like I didn't even notice she was there. Finn was about to follow through on his plan but hesitated as he took a second glance at Rachel. Her shoulders were slightly slumped and it didn't appear as though various songs were racing throughout her head, like normally. Seeing this as a sign of something gone askew, he made his way over to her locker, despite his feelings about interacting with Glee members in public. He wasn't a total jerk.

"Hey Rach," Finn greeted the petit brunette.

"Hey Finn," Rachel replied, not taking her eyes off her books she was retrieving from her locker. Her gloomy disposition shone through.

"Are you ok Rach? You don't seem quite like yourself," he said, taking note of her less than sunny demeanor.

"Just peachy Finn. Everything's just awesome," Rachel snapped, finally looking at him. How would he know anything's wrong? He's said two words to me in days. Noticing his furrowed brow, she sighed. "I'm sorry, Finn. I didn't mean to freak out on you like that. Things have just been hard and I've been a little edgy lately."

Finn took Rachel's free hand in his, surprising them both, and looked into her eyes.

"Rach, you know you can talk to me about anything right?"

Rachel squeezed his hand, grateful that someone cared. But at the same time she had no intention of filling Finn in on her situation. For one, he wasn't like Jesse where she felt close enough to him that she thought it would be fair to spill the details of what had occurred between her and Shelby. And two, she really didn't feel like re-visiting the painful memories.

She smiled. "Thanks Finn, but-"

"Guys, you have to come to the auditorium now," Mercedes interrupted, suddenly appearing beside the two, causing both of them to avert their eyes to the frantic girl in front of them.

"What? Why?" Rachel asked.

"Just come on," Mercedes replied, exasperated. "You'll see when we get there."

As the two followed Mercedes in tow, Rachel couldn't help but feel grateful for Mercedes' incredible timing. She really didn't want to explain to Finn that she didn't want to talk about anything right now, especially since she knew he would push he to talk about it.

The moment the three arrived in the auditorium, they mimicked the other 9 members of New Directions; wide-eyed and mouths gaping. Inside their auditorium their stage was Vocal Adrenaline.

Just then, Rachel's face crumbled slightly when she saw none other than Jesse St. James right smack dab in the middle, center stage.

"Jesse? What are you doing up there with all of them?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"I've transferred back to Carmel High Rachel," Jesse said with a smug expression fixed on his face. "I'm sorry that it's come to this but you guys were awful to me. You never listened to my clearly superior ideas."

"Why here, in our auditorium?" Finn asked.

"The blogs and chat rooms say we're finished and that you guys are ripe to topple us. We just wanted to show you a little something that we came up with a few days ago to see if you agree with that assessment."

New directions looked on in disbelief at Vocal Adrenaline performing on their stage.

I can't believe Jesse would do this to me…their choreography is incredible. Everything is clean and polished right down to the fingertips, Rachel thought.

Wow, I wish I could dance like that, Finn thought.

That red head chick is hot. No, stop it Puck!

By the time Vocal Adrenaline got into the ending poses, Rachel was fuming; so much so that she missed Jesse's face soften as he looked back at her before he turned to join his team.

Walking down the hall with the rest of New Directions, Rachel found herself unable to focus on what her team members were saying. He mind was son Jesse. She couldn't understand why he had left McKinley. She knew that the team wasn't at all kind to him but he didn't transfer school for them. He came for her. When he transferred, for the sake of the team, they both agreed not to be together officially until after Regionals so they could really prove that their relationship was not going to get in the way of New Direction's success. Rachel was really looking forward to that time so she would be able to spend more time with him than she already does. But all hopes were dashed when he jumped ship back to Vocal Adrenaline.

The group was nearing the choir room when Artie was informing everybody that Vocal Adrenaline's funkification was an annual tradition.

"At least they think we're worth the trouble of being funkified. We just have to pay no mind to it and keep working just as ha-" Kurt's voice stalled as he entered the choir room, the rest of the team trailing behind him.

Once again, New Directions found themselves gaping in disbelief. Their entire choir room was covered in toilet paper. Some stringing in tight waves across the ceiling, some making long droopy drapes almost coming in contact with the floor.

Glee

"Guys, the leeward side of a mountain is the side that faces away from the mountain. So in this case it would be a desert. I know we've gone over this. I don't know how you guys expect to make it in college if you can't manage to remember such simple things," Mr. Barber ranted.

The students just looked around to their classmates, stifling laughter. The entire class knew that they had never gone over what Mr. Barber was explaining but they knew they wouldn't argue the point with him, for he would no doubt lose his cool.

Rachel huffed a loud sigh out of boredom and looked at the clock. Only 15 more minutes. Yes. She once again found herself bored to tears in her most boring class, human geography. She already finished her work for this class, had no work to complete for her other classes, and had forgotten her novel at home that she was half way through.

Suddenly, she felt the vibration of her phone in her back pocket and was relieved that someone was texting her to bring her out of her boredom. Tactfully, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and slid back in her chair a bit. Then she hid the phone by putting it under the jacket that was resting on her lap, but hiding her hands underneath as well so she could text subtly. Her sleuthy methods didn't really matter since Mr. Barber barely ever turns around to watch the class, but she figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

As Rachel looked at the screen she saw that it was a text from Jesse. It read: "Hey Rach. Meet me in the parking lot after school?"

Rachel couldn't help but smile to herself at Jesse's text. She knew she was supposed to be angry with him but she figured he would explain why he left New Directions and answer all her questions.

She texted him back, "Yes. And you'll explain to me all about this morning?"

"Yes. See you later," was his response.

"She'll be here," Jesse said as he turned back to his teammates. He felt his stomach cringe as he watched smirks appear on all of their faces.

Glee

As the final bell sounded through the school, Rachel wasted no time on getting to the parking lot. This is just what she needed. Spending time with someone she knew would make her feel better. After feeling down in the dumps for the past dew days it was nice to know that she would be with someone who truly understood her.

As she rounded a row of cars she immediately spotted Jesse, still wearing his navy blue costume that he wore this morning when her performed. When he waved to her she couldn't help smiling and ran to him in order to get there faster. It was only when she saw his expression of joy morph into one of uncertainty, she stopped a few feet before him.

She then heard the crack of an eggshell collide with the back of her head. And then another. And another in her hair. She felt the slimy goo drip down her neck, her hands, even into the soles of her shoes, making her skin crawl. She was so horrified to see that a quarter of Vocal Adrenaline was basically attacking her with eggs. Eggs, of all things! Jesse must've told them. She couldn't move from her spot. Her feet were frozen to the pavement. But what made her even more disgusted was that Jesse just stood there, watching the whole scene play out. No intervening, no protecting. Nothing. Rachel stared into his eyes, mentally asking him how he could even fathom doing this to her.

That's when she noticed that all firing had stopped.

"C'mon Jesse, do it. You're either with us or not," Andrea said.

After a few moments of hesitation Jesse strode to where Rachel stood, egg shell and yolk dripping down her clothing, egg clasped in his hand.

"Do it. Break it like you broke my heart."

Jesse winced at Rachel's words. But only very briefly, and recovered without leaving any trace of it on his features.

"I loved you," Jesse replied right before he cracked the egg on Rachel's forehead. He watched for a moment as the yolk began to trickle down her face. Then he turned back to his teammates to see their smiling faces. he was given pats on the back and high-fives before they made their way back to their respective SUVs.

Rachel was left dumbfounded in the middle of the parking lot with egg contents splattered all over her.

Glee

Will tapped his fingers impatiently against his desk as he waited for her to pick up the phone. Finally, on the fourth ring she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Shelby, we have a problem."

Author's note: So that was chapter 8. I hope you liked it, even though it didn't end so well. Anyway, tell me what you thought of it. Please review. How about 5 this time? Thanks :)