hey there! so nick is basically your stereotypical football captain: pretty, popular, not terribly bright, and a bit of a jackass. more precisely, he's friends with a lot of jackasses, and while he doesn't necessarily participate in the jackassery, he doesn't try to stop it either, so the reputation kind of rubs off on him, though most people will acknowledge he's one of the more decent ones. anyway, i was kind of going for a cliched "unpopular nerd tutors the star quarterback" kind of thing, though it obviously doesn't have to be a romantic line. she can resent having to waste her time on some guy who clearly doesn't care about his grades, or she can be the shy sweet good girl who's always had a thing for him even though he never knew she existed, or just not care about him either way or whatever else. basically, i wanted him to be forced to interact with someone from a completely different social group, just to open his eyes a little and make him realize that there's a world outside of friday night parties and popularity contests, and help him on his way to becoming a real live human being. i'm not married to the idea of lea michele either, she was just the first name that came to mind when i was trying to think of pb suggestions, so that's definitely up for discussion. but if you think that's something you'd be able to work with, let me know!