Chapter 4

A story about genetically programmed soulmates

Rachel sat at her desk looking at the clock every couple of minutes to check when her fellow classmates would arrive. She had drawn more than a few doodles while she had been waiting, but she was beginning to become impatient. The students at Mckinley were not timely at all.

When Rachel looked at the clock it was 8:00 A.M. and she was still alone in the classroom. She sighed and went back to her doodles. At 8:02 another student finally walked into the room. He was tall, very tall, and he had a dopey look on his face. Not the stupid kind of dopey, but the 'I'm a big tall stud and everyone thinks this face is cute so I just keep doing it' kind of dopey. He sat all the way in the back and she was not surprised.

He was wearing a Letterman's jacket, clearly the boy was a jock. Rachel kept looking him over trying to figure out if she wanted to speak to him or not. In the end she decided she should take the opportunity to speak to a fellow student. His friends were probably not far behind and if she could talk to him for a few minutes alone maybe she could make an acquaintance. She turned in her desk to fully face him and cleared her throat. "Hello. I'm a new student this year. My name is Rachel Berry."

The boy quickly turned his head to look at Rachel and smiled. Even his smile was dopey. It was endearing..in a strange way. "Oh hey. I'm Finn. Hudson. I'm a Sophomore."

"Nice to meet you Finn. I'm very sorry to bother you. I'm a new student. You were unlucky enough to be the first person to walk in here," Rachel joked.

"No that's cool. I'd be happy to show you around if you'd like. I mean if no one has yet." He smiled his dopey smile again. Rachel wondered if he did that to all the girls he talked to. He probably did because it was effective.

"That would be great. I'd really love that actually."

"Sure. No problem. I can show you - " But before Finn could finish his sentence he was cut off.

"Finn! Where were you this morning…You did not come to my locker! You are supposed to walk me to homeroom every morning! Not just when you feel like it! What kind of boyfriend are you?" A blond girl stormed through the door and plopped down in the seat next to Finn.

Finn rose his hands defensively moving away from the girl, "I had football practice this morning. It was mandatory. Some guys got busted for drugs and we all had to go in. I'm sorry babe. I'll tell you next time something comes up."

"Good." The blonde turned forward in her chair and looked straight at Rachel. It was the girl she had run into this morning. Typical relationship. Football player and cheerleader. Rachel chuckled in her head at it. "What are you looking at?" 

Rachel looked around the room to see who she was talking to and pointed to herself when she didn't see anyone else. The blonde nodded her head in confirmation. "Nothing. I'm sorry." Rachel turned back around in her desk and folded her hands not wanting to anger the girl anymore than she already had.

"I don't want to see you talking to my boyfriend again. Do you understand?" The blonde growled at the brunette.

Bossy thing isn't she..Rachel thought to herself, but she didn't answer out loud, not wanting to anger the girl anymore than she already had. She nodded her head showing her that she understood.

When Rachel looked around the room again it was almost full. She looked through the classroom trying to find another potential friend but didn't see anyone who caught her attention. Her eyes kept drifting back to the blonde and Finn. Another two girls had sat beside and in back of the blonde, they were both wearing cheer uniforms as well. Rachel rolled her eyes at typical cliche the girls had form. 

The homeroom teacher finally walked into the room and took attendance before sitting at his desk and messing around on his computer. The class sat around and talked for the remainder of homeroom.

Rachel sat at her desk and doodled. She looked down at her wrist. It was so hot Rachel could feel the heat on her other arm as she drew in her notebook. She didn't want to touch it again fearing that she might get burned again. Instead Rachel took her pen and poked it. The ink from the pen turning into liquid and running down her arm as soon as it touched her skin. It was a first but Rachel was scared of her own skin.

She tried to ignore it but it was becoming bothersome. It was so hot, but it didn't hurt…it was just hot and annoying. She had no idea what was causing it so she continued examining her wrist until she felt eyes on her again. Turning around, Rachel saw the blonde looking at her again, but this time instead of anger she saw…sadness. Was she bipolar or…was Rachel imagining these emotions on the girl's face?

Rachel knew she wasn't imagining things when the brunette cheerleader sitting next to her swatted the blonde's arm and shook her head. Rachel was confused as to why none of them were allowed to interact with Rachel but whatever she had done to the group she could not concentrate on. She had to focus on getting through her first day of class.

When the bell finally rang Rachel watched the blonde sprint out of the room. It was the strangest thing she had ever seen. First she was yelling at her boyfriend to walk her to class and now she was running away from him.

Rachel turned around and saw the three people the blonde had left behind gaping after her. The two cheerleaders ran after her while Finn just kept staring at the open door. "I know I'm not supposed to talk to you..but is this normal?" Rachel asked.

Finn shook his head. "No, this is definitely new. I'm sorry, I have to go check out what just happened. It was nice meeting you though."

"Likewise," Rachel replied as he walked out the door.

This was going to be a very…eventful year.