Note: AU. Kind of.
Disclaimer: The characters of Glee are not mine and no infringement is intended.

Okay guys, here is the deal. I was listening to this one song and I got this idea, so I tried to write it down because it wouldn't leave me alone.

The biggest thank you to my beta nataliving.

Thanks for reading!

It was the day Rachel first noticed the invader.

It wasn't anything special that there was a new student, at least not for everyone else because at McKinley everyone knew about everything. Well, everyone but Rachel. Rachel Berry didn't care about anything that wasn't music. Nor did she care about the people around her. You could say she was a loner. It never really bothered her; at least that's what she used to say to herself while cleaning her face after receiving another slushie facial. It didn't bother her that there was no one who would stand up for her, who would protect her in front of the jocks or who would help her clean up. She didn't care about the people laughing at her while she was standing in the hallway with her clothes red from the slushie. She was too proud to let them see her humiliation. She never cried.

The thing is, Rachel Berry never showed emotion. She never screamed after the coldness hit her in the face. She never let the tears fall from her eyes after yet another bitchy comment from some cheerio. She never let them see the hurt after everyone picked their partners in class but she didn't have one. Nobody ever saw Rachel even crack a smile either. They didn't know what her laugh sounded like or what her smile looked like.

The truth is, nobody knew a thing about her. She intimidated the jocks and cheerios with her 'doesn't give a fuck' attitude and that's why they hated her. They wanted to break her, to show her who's the boss, but she didn't even flinch.

Rachel just wanted to disappear.

She didn't care about her tormentors, she just wanted to be invisible or disappear from this world. You could say she was depressed.

Life taught her to be like that.

The only thing Rachel cared about was her music. That was the one thing she didn't share with anyone. True, she was in a glee club, but she never actually sang. She just listened to other students talk about things she wasn't interested in, pretended to sing when she had to, and danced when everybody else did only so they wouldn't notice her. Then, when it was over and everybody left, she would stay behind, sit down on the piano bench and let her fingers gently trace the keys before she pressed down and first notes filled the room. She didn't sing out loud, afraid that someone could hear her but she didn't care about someone hearing her play. Not after she got lost in the sound of music.

Music was her only friend. It was her friend, her boyfriend, her girlfriend, her lover—the only thing in this world that could make her happy. Even if it was only for a while. She never realized that when she was lost in music and her fingers were softly touching the piano keys, it was also the only time she was smiling.

Just like she didn't realize that someone was listening to her while she was lost in her own world. That is, until she accidentally hit the wrong note and stopped, frustrated.

"Fuck," she muttered to herself. Then there was a rustling sound in the empty auditorium and she lifted her head to see a shadow of a person running away and closing their door behind them.

Rachel didn't really care about the mystery person. She was just annoyed that someone invaded her space. Although, she couldn't help but notice two things: That the person was definitely a girl and Rachel had never seen her before. Or she hadn't noticed her. In Rachel's case both could be true.

She didn't care about the girls gossiping next to her. She really didn't. She wasn't interested in their stupid talk as they were excitedly whispering to each other about something she didn't give a shit about. But she had to listen because the drama queens sitting next to her weren't really quiet. She wanted to tell them to shut the hell up but she knew she wouldn't. She never did. Instead, she just sat there quietly, trying to escape the world at least in her mind.

"So have you seen her already?" She heard a not-so-quiet whisper coming from the boy with the funny but beautiful singing voice. Kurt was his name. At least she thought so.

"Of course, everybody saw her, silly," was the reply from his friend, an Asian girl.

She really should learn their names.

"It's been a week, Kurt. I feel like you're the only one who hasn't seen her yet." From the corner of her eye Rachel saw his other friend—Rachel was pretty sure her name was Mercedes—roll her eyes.

She heard the boy huff. "Well excuse me because I don't stalk new people like you guys."

"No one is stalking her," Mercedes said before adding, "Well, maybe Coach Sylvester. She is dying to have her in her little club of skinny bitches."

Rachel smirked. Who knew the diva could be funny? She wouldn't admit it in a million years but she was becoming curious. Who was this girl they were talking about? What was so special about her?

Sadly, she realized she would have to remain curious. The other students stopped talking as they spotted the teacher making his way into class. Then she heard another whisper beside her. It was the Asian girl speaking. "There she is, Kurt. That's her, behind Mr. Schue."

Rachel lifted her head to see the mysterious girl they were talking about and she raised her eyebrow at the sight. That was her, the intruder from the other day. She didn't catch her face back then but she clearly remembered the blonde hair and her features. Rachel tilted her head in curiosity, her eyes never leaving the girl behind the teacher. Then for a second her intruder looked right directly at Rachel, and her eyes quickly widened with embarrassment. The blonde quickly broke eye contact and Rachel didn't fail to notice the blush on her cheeks. Now she was sure it was her. And the blonde girl obviously knew she was caught.

She moved her eyes to the teacher in front of class as he started talking. "Guys, this is Quinn Fabray." He looked at her and pointed at the empty seat next to Rachel. "You can sit there," he said.

Rachel sighed. That is not what she wanted. She didn't want to sit beside the person who caught her in her moment of happiness. She didn't want to talk to her. However, it became apparent that wouldn't be a problem because the intruder sat as far as she could from her and didn't even glance her way. Rachel didn't know why it stung when it was exactly what she wanted.

Rachel decided she didn't care as she tried to ignore the hurt she felt.