William McKinley High School was just like any other high school. You had your usual cliche cliques; the jocks, who were usually at the top of the social ladder; your average kids who, if you were lucky, went usually unnoticed; and your losers who, well, were picked on mercilessly.

Ellie glanced at her reflection one last time. Her dark hair had been cut short a few weeks prior, and was longer on one side, framing her face and giving it a more mature look. She didn't wear much make up, just enough around her eyes to give it that cat eye effect. She had the cute freckles other girls envied, just sprinkling across her nose and cheekbones, which was the reason she didn't like to wear cover up. Ellie applied a little lip gloss to give them color, and was careful to avoid the small stud next to her bottom lip. She sighed at the girl staring back at her. Ellie knew she wasn't ugly, but she knew she wasn't drop dead gorgeous, either. She had always liked to be different, and in New York, that was perfectly fine. But in a small town, she wasn't so sure. Would she be judged for the gauges, the tattoos, and facial piercing? She rubbed her arm uneasily at the thought. Transferring her senior year was not the ideal way of spending it, but her father had persuaded her to at least give it a day or two before deciding she completely hated Ohio. After living in New York with her mother for the past ten years, the teenager had grown accustomed to the big city life. It was almost too quiet in Lima at nights, and she usually tossed and turned before finally falling asleep. She was used to the sounds of traffic and occasionally sirens. The only noises she heard in the night were crickets and a toilet flushing once in a while. It was hard getting used to the small town life, but she knew that it was for the best. Her mother had gotten too caught up in her new boyfriend, a boyfriend that Ellie was also not too fond of for particular reasons. Honestly, Ellie didn't really know why she still called him her new boyfriend when they had already been together for four years and had been living with them for two; it was more like her newest boyfriend. She shook her head and sighed. After the first few incidents with Eric, she had decided to call her dad and move in with him and his new wife. Kerri was a sweetheart and Ellie loved her. Though, she could get a little too high strung at times. It was her father that she was more worried about getting along with. But so far, so good.

Ellie approached the office secretary uneasily. Even though she had come from a school probably three times this size, she had always been on the shy side. The woman smiled at her warmly, and she returned it in a weak attempt. "Uh, I'm Ellie Florence. I'm new this year." She told her, and the woman looked through her papers. "Ah, yes. Eleanor Florence. I have your schedule right here… We actually have a student who will be showing you and a few others around the school in a little bit. You can take a seat right there next to Mr. Iverson." She said, and Ellie nodded in response. She cringed at the use of her actual name, and took the schedule from her. She sat next to the boy the woman had pointed to, and he glanced at her. 'Holy shit, is he gorgeous,' she thought to herself, and tried not to stare. His hair was dark and slicked back, the sides shorter in a fade fashion. His eyes were like emerald pools, with a defiant gleam to them. He wore your average teenage boy clothes; vans, jeans that sagged slightly but didn't fall past his ass, (thankfully), and a hoodie she could only assume was bought from a store like Zumiez. She glanced over once more and noticed tattoos sticking out from underneath both sleeves, and his ears looked like they were pierced, but he didn't wear any jewelry in them. He caught her eying him and rolled his eyes. "Take a picture, it'll last longer. And you can have something to look at while you play with yourself at night, added bonus!" He said to her and she narrowed her eyes. She was definitely reconsidering the 'gorgeous' thought, and rolled her eyes as she turned.

"Hey guys! I'm Tina, and I'm going to be showing you around today. And if you have any questions, ask me and I'll do my best to answer them." Ellie looked the girl up and down. She was Asian, with long hair and wearing a dress that looked almost as if she should be going to a prep school. Ellie stood up and followed the other new students; other than that prick Iverson, there were two other kids. One was an awkward boy who she later learned was named Ian, and a short hispanic girl named... Alysia? Tina turned to the two who had yet to introduce themselves. "Blake Iverson. I'm a senior." He almost mumbled. Someone was obviously not excited to be transferring their senior year, either. Tina turned to Ellie. "Ellie Florence. Also a senior." She said, and Tina smiled. "Do you mind if I look at your guys' schedules? I'm a senior, too! Maybe we have some of the same classes." She said excitedly, and Ellie handed her her schedule. Blake did the same. "Hmm… Looks like we all have AP Bio together. That's the only class I have with either of you… But it looks like you both have photography together." Ellie inwardly groaned. Seriously, she had to see this asshole twice a day? "Well! Let's begin the tour!"

The first room they passed was what seemed to be a choir room. "Do you guys have a school choir here?" Ellie asked curiously. She had loved choir at her old school and had taken it quite seriously. Singing was the one thing she loved, considering she didn't have much of a talent for anything else. "No, that's where we have glee club. We won nationals this last year, so if you plan on trying out, I would suggest signing up now. Tryouts are gonna get filled up-" Tina snapped her fingers- "like that." Ellie bit her lip thoughtfully. Blake rolled his eyes. "Thanks. But no thanks. I'm not gay and I definitely don't plan on being in a boy band when I grow up." It was Tina's turn to roll her eyes.

After the tour, Tina lead them to lunch where the group seemed to dissipate. Tina looked at Ellie. "So are you thinking about joining glee club?" She questioned. Ellie shrugged. "To be honest, I wanted to keep a low profile at this school. At my old school our choir was a group thing, and I loved it. No spotlight on one specific person, and no competitions. I've already made friends and I just didn't want to go through all that again, especially since it's my senior year and I'm never going to see half these people after graduation ever again… But honestly, when I saw that there was no choir when I signed up for classes, I was disappointed. So I guess you could say that I'm seriously considering glee club." She admitted, and Tina smiled. "Well, if you'd like, you can sit with me and my fellow gleeks for lunch. We're more like a family than friends. If you do decide to tryout and you get in, you'll love Mr. Schu. He's probably the best teacher at McKinley." Ellie followed Tina through the lunch line and to the table. The table already had a few kids sitting at it, and Ellie sat next to Tina. "Guys, this is Ellie. She's new, and considering glee club!" Ellie blushed, not used to the attention. The boy in front of her smiled a dazzling smile and introduced everyone. "I'm Blaine Anderson. That's Artie Abrams-" he pointed to the boy in the wheelchair- "and that's Sam Evans." The blonde at the end waved slightly. They were the only ones sitting at the table so far, but she knew there would be a few more soon. And sure enough, a boy with dreads sat on the other side of her. "Hello there. I'm Joe." He had one of the warmest smiles she had ever come across, and she couldn't help but smile in return. "Ellie." She replied, and he nodded. Blaine made a hand gesture at her to catch her attention. "You really should join. We lost a lot of members to graduation last year. We'll be getting a lot of tryouts this year since we won nationals, but I have a good feeling about you." He said, and she smiled bash fully. "I just got done telling Tina about how disappointed I was when I learned that this school didn't have a choir... That and art were my favorite classes at my old school." Blaine leaned forward, placing his chin on his fist. "So I'm sensing a yes..?" He said, batting his lashes at her. She laughed. "You're senses... Are right. I'm gonna go sign up right now." She announced, and both Blaine and Tina cheered for her. The rest of the table smiled in acceptance and she stood up. She hadn't really touched her lunch, but in all honesty, she hadn't really been that hungry to begin with. Ellie picked up her tray and turned as they started a new discussion (something about a New Rachel?), just barely running into- "Hey. Watch it." Blake Iverson snapped at her. She glared at him as he passed and watched him dump his lunch in the trash, and she followed.

"What the hell is your problem? I haven't even said two words to you and you automatically hate me? What did I ever do to you?" The boy seemed just as surprised with her as she was, but she didn't back down. He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm not usually this big of an asshole." Blake said to her, and she crossed her arms. "Well... Thanks for the apology." She said, and turned to leave. He grabbed her arm. "No, really. I mean it." He repeated his apology, and she softened her look. "I accept your apology, honestly. But I have to go do something before my next class starts." She said, and he let go of her. He noddedarted to leave. "See ya later, Eleanor." She could hear the smirk in his voice, and Ellie's eyes widened. Usually the sound of her real name made her cringe, but this time it sent chills through her that confused and excited her all at the same time.

She stood in front of the tryout sign ups for ten minutes before finally writing her name in. Well, there it was. Ellie smiled to herself. Maybe Ohio wouldn't be so bad after all.