Disclaimer: All characters belong to Ryan Murphy and FOX.

Full Summary: Hated by her peers but needed for her voice, Rachel balances the tight rope between enemy and member of the Glee Club. The unforgiving and hurt Finn, the very ignorant Mr. Schue, and the only friend at a different school, has left Rachel with no shoulders to cry on. With the last sheds of self dignity, Rachel makes a decision that causes more than one heart to break.

Author's note at the bottom of the page.

Chapter One

Rachel Berry sat in the back of the classroom in the last row. She would have preferred to sit center seat in the first row but ever since the break up, she'd been designated (more like forced by the burning glares in the back of her head) to the back.

She wondered if Mr. Schue noticed her lack of willingness to participate anymore. Anytime he offered a solo, she let Mercedes or Tina take it. Anytime a duet contest ensued, she ended up faking sick so she didn't have to deal with the embarrassment of being chosen last. Yet days passed into weeks and Mr. Schue continued to ignore her silent cries for help. He ignored the way Santana 'by accident' pushed Rachel into the lockers. He ignored the way the group's loud conversation turned deadly silent when Rachel walked into the classroom (always a minute after practice began so she didn't have to endure glares and whispers about her).

Today was no different. Finn continued his punishment to her by singing duets with Santana. The songs shamelessly stolen from the list Rachel and he had made when they were still dating. She watched the clock with a pained expression. She didn't think she could handle this anymore. The smiles Finn passed to Santana. The glares he passed to Rachel once the duet was over. The awkward moments after the duet where the group looked at Rachel in pity but remembered that she was the bad one in this, so they began clapping. It hurt her but she held her head high. After all, she is Rachel Berry – she showed no pain. Only quietly felt it.

"Alright, that was a good performance, Finn. Can you tell me where you even found that song?" Mr. Schue asked as he took over the small space in the classroom.

Finn shrugged, "Just looked it up on Google."

Liar. Rachel thought but she kept her mouth quiet. She found the song herself when she decided to make a mix CD of their list of duets. She sighed and sat on her hands so she wouldn't strangle his stupid neck.

Mr. Schue nodded and turned back to the whiteboard. With his infamous black marker, he wrote the next week assignments topic on the board.

Anger.

She nearly burst out laughing. Oh, anger had become her new best friend. Along with jealously, grief, and guilt.

The others sat dumbfounded. The topics almost always related to Mr. Schue's moods. He hadn't seemed angry these past couple days. In fact, his mood seemed brighter since he'd started dating Ms. Holiday.

"Mr. Schue, is everything okay?" Tina was the first to ask.

"Yeah, we rarely ever do angry songs," Mercedes chimed in.

Mr. Schue laughed. "Everything is fine, guys. I just got bored of happiness and love. I understand that we have a new couple," he gazed at Finn and Santana, "that like to share their happiness but I want different emotions. If we want to win Sectionals then we need to show that our songs can range from happy-go-lucky Broadway tunes to angry-I-want-to-punch-something songs."

"Can we do a duet, Schuester?" Noah asked.

Rachel, along with the rest of the group, turned their heads in his direction. He was strumming his guitar while looking pointedly at Mr. Schue. Noah didn't receive any of the hate that Rachel got. Instead, he got sucker punched by Finn (again) and a day of ignorance from the group. But his bad boy rep gained points for making out with another girl who had a boyfriend and even more that the boyfriend was Finn.

But a part of Rachel knew that the group just didn't want to hate Puck. He was a likable guy and his bad boy persona was a delight for everyone. When it came to Rachel, though, they just hated her because she did nothing right by their standards.

He shrugged, "That sounds fine, Puck. Do you know who you want to do a duet with?"

Noah nodded. "Of course. I'll have everything ready by Friday."

After that, everyone dispersed. Rachel sat quietly as she tried to think of which song would go over with the group. What song could convey the hurt she felt while also showing that she had moved on? (Well, feigning that she had moved on, anyways.)

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that when she finally realized the classroom had turned silent again, she looked up questioningly.

Noah stood in front of her with a small smile.

"Hey, Berry."

She looked behind him. Her eyes landed on Finn's and she could practically see the fire blowing out of his ears.

Thanks, Noah. Now he can use this against me.

Her eyes scanned the room. Artie, Brittany, and Mercedes stared at the pair of them in shock. Quinn looked Rachel up and down before she turned back to Sam and rolled her eyes. Sam smiled weakly once he realized Rachel caught him staring. Tina and Mike stared at Finn while Santana merely smiled darkly at Rachel and turned to Finn to say something.

Rachel looked back at Noah.

"What do you want, Noah?" She whispered.

"I want you to sing the duet with me," he replied nonchalantly.

She stared at him, perplexed. "Excuse me?"

He sighed and sat in the always empty seat next to her. "I know things have sucked for you. I'm sorry for that. I just think that maybe you need a friend, you know?"

"Well thank you for the offer, really. But I'm going to have to decline. I, um, I have a song already picked out."I don't need you getting me into any more trouble than I already am in with the club.

She stood up from her seat and grabbed her bag. She needed to leave and fast.

She walked towards the door where Mr. Schue was talking to Ms. Holiday.

"Mr. Schue, can I go to the library to get some sheet music?" She interrupted them.

He looked at her. "Huh? Oh yeah, sure."

Without another word, Rachel left. Instead of making the turn to the library, she found herself pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. She dialed the familiar number and it rang only once before the familiar voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Daddy? Can you come get me now?" Rachel winced at her voice. As brave as she tried to sound, it only came out a weak whisper.

"Is everything okay, baby girl? You sound terrible."

She nodded to no one, "I'm fine. Practice just ended short and I really need to get home. I have, um, I have a project for English that I need to finish," she lied.

It was silent for a moment before she heard her father sigh. "Alright, I'll be there in less than ten minutes."

"Thank you. I love you, Daddy."

"Love you too, baby."

Rachel sat on the curb and let the tears fall. She knew in reality that she only had six minutes before her dad would be there. She cried out her frustration and her pain for everything. She cried that the Glee club had turned on her. She cried that she had no one to turn to. She cried that Mr. Schue didn't care about her pain. She cried that she didn't have Finn there to hold her. Lastly, she cried for screwing things up.

As she saw the familiar headlights turn into the parking lot, she wiped the last of her tears and plastered a smile on her face.

As much as she wished it weren't so, she knew tomorrow would be no different.

A/N: This story should be about fifteen chapters with an epilogue. Length wise? I'd say about 2-3k a chapter.

I understand that some may feel that these characters will be OOC. That may be true and I'm sorry for that. For this story to work, I'm going to tweak their traits a bit. Don't worry, I don't plan on making Brittany the most educated or Mike the best singer.

Also, I'm posting once a week. Chapters should be posted, at the earliest, on Wednesday and, at the latest, Friday.

Please review and let me know what you think. I don't mind constructive criticism but there's no need to go flaming this story. I'm sure there are a bunch of Glee fics that are better than mine that you can go and enjoy.

Until then, I leave you with angsty!Rachel.