you belong with me

chapter 3

knuckles were turning white from how hard she was gripping the steering wheel as she approached the school building. It wasn't the school itself that she was so worried about, but rather the reactions she would be receiving from the people she hadn't seen in years. Surely the students she hadn't seen in four years would recognize her, and they'd have to make a huge deal about the event.

Rachel pulled into the student parking lot of the school and searched for an available parking spot. Many parking spots were still available, but Rachel wanted to find the best one in the lot. After driving around for a moment, she parked next the cross walk that led to the school building. She realized that if she parked there, it would be easier for her to make it back to her can quickly at the end of the day and make a fast exit.

As soon as the car was parked, Rachel shut off the engine and stepped out of the car, scanning the area to see which students were occupying it. She saw a few students that she did not recognize standing in a group. The boys in the group were on the larger side, seeming to be very muscular and strong. They all wore football themed jackets as they stood in their circle.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel noticed another car entering the parking lot. The car parked on the far end of the parking lot, and the door swung open. Mercedes Jones stepped out of the car and began walking towards the school building, not noticing Rachel standing beside her car. Rachel saw that Mercedes hair was much longer now, and she seemed to be much more… loud. The girl wore a necklace that spelled "DIVA" in large letters and she wore bright blue jeans. Rachel smiled because the outfit described Mercedes perfectly.

Rachel watched as Mercedes waved hello to a girl that was just stepping out of her car too, and Rachel realized that she knew that girl as well. She had her hair up in a high ponytail and wore a short cheerleading uniform. The girl was Santana Lopez. Rachel considered going up to the girl and talking to her because Puck told her to, but soon a few other cheerleaders huddled around Santana and they started a conversation.

The sound of tires screeching against the pavement caused Rachel to turn around quickly to see what all the commotion was. A large truck entered the parking lot at full speed and swung into a parking spot, taking up four unnecessary parking spots. Rachel watched as the door was thrown open and an extremely large buy stepped out of the truck. Rachel shrunk down in her position and tried to stay out of the view of the terrifying boy, Dave Karofsky.

He walked through the lot, scooping the place out as if he was searching for his next prey. He continued to scan the area as he joined the group of football players.

A shorter boy wearing designer clothing happened to walk past the group, and Karofsky eyes followed the boy. Karofsky started walking behind the boy, motioning for his friends to follow. The boys cornered the shorter boy and forced him to walk towards a dumpster in the corner of the lot. Rachel watched in horror as they lifted the boy up and tossed him into the dumpster. All the football players then high-fived and walked off towards the school building.

Rachel ran towards the dumpster and extended a hand inside the foul-smelling box. The boy gratefully grabbed on to her hand and pulled himself up and out of the trash.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, trying to ignore the terrible smell coming from the area.

The boy only nodded as he peeled off his stained jacket. "This happens to me everyday, I'm used to it by now." He pulled some garbage off of his parts and shirt. "You must be new here. I'm Kurt Hummel."

"Rachel Berry," Rachel introduced herself, "and no, I'm not new here. I grew up here actually, but I spent the last four years in California."

"I see. I moved here with my dad about three years ago," Kurt explained. He held up a duffel bag, "I should get inside and change."