"This might be my last chance, Puck." Quinn whispered to the rebel who sat next to her one day before glee club rehearsals.
"I don't see what any of this has to do with me," he just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Puck," Quinn gave him a quick slap. "If you want anything to do with this baby, you'll get your act together."
Puck gave Finn a quick look. The tall jock sat as oblivious as usual, right next to his new found love interest - Rachel. Puck looked back at Quinn and shook his head. "If Mr. Perfect himself couldn't impress your parents, I don't see how I can."
"Well, we'll see what we can do about that, won't we? If you don't impress my parents, they'll never let me come back home." Quinn gave a little sob. "It's our only chance, Noah. I convinced my mom to forgive us, but it's up to you to impress my father. If you clean up, it just might work... They can give us the money we need so we can raise this baby ourselves." Quinn kept sobbing softly, unwilling to completely lose herself in front of the glee club.
"Shh," Puck gathered the emotional girl closer to his chest. "I want to do this kid right. I'll do whatever it takes to get the support we need. If that means impressing your father, well, I'll try my best." He nodded, gulping a little at the foreboding thought.
Across the room, another teenager was thinking about making his own bid at impressing his girlfriend. "Um, uh, Tina?" Artie looked up at over at his goth friend. "I really wanna take you to the dance," he smiled awkwardly.
Surprise crossed her face, than disappointment. "Oh, Artie," she sighed. "I would love to go with you, but my parents are really strict. You know that. They won't even let me go to get a haircut myself," she rolled my eyes.
"I know, but maybe if I can impress them, they'll let you go with me."
"I don't know... they've got really high expectations." She sighed, like she'd dealt with it way too many times before.
"Is this about... you know... me?" He looked down into his lap, at his useless legs, sadly.
"No, no way." She shook her head furiously, as if trying to prove her point. "Maybe if they meet you, they'll change their mind."
Artie smiled softly. "We've got to give it a shot."
"Are you sure about this, Puck?" Quinn asked softly, holding a barber's clippers in one hand. "You really don't have to do this..."
Puck just nodded his head. "I want to do this... Just do it before I change my mind..." Quinn turned on the clippers and you could almost hear the buzzing from down the hall.
Artie's phone buzzed in the middle of math class. 'Meet me plus parents in the school library at 7. Common ground. It's our only hope,' Tina said through text. Artie was suddenly confident, knowing what he had to do. He sent an SOS to Finn, who was happy to help out a friend in need.
Puck shook Mr. Febray's hand strongly. His smile was sincere, with none of his usual smug attitude. "Mr. Febray, it's nice to meet you."
The man studied the young man for a long minute, starting with his freshly shaved head. Finally, he nodded. "You know, I served a tour in Iraq myself. Never too early to dress like a solider."
Puck silently rose an eyebrow at Quinn. She just shook her head and pleaded with her eyes for Puck not to say anything stupid. Instead, Puck just nodded. "Yes, sir," he said softly but firmly.
"Well, sit down. Tell me about yourself." As Puck walked nervously over to the couch, Quinn just smiled, taking this as a very good sign.
"Tell me a little about yourself," Mr. C smiled as he sat down at the table across from Artie.
Tina however, was staring down at Artie's legs, tucked neatly under the table in a regular wooden chair. Artie ignored her questioning look. "Well," he folded his bare hands nervously, looking back between Tina's Korean father and her Jewish mother. "I'm on the honor role in almost every subject, except for-"
"But that's not important," Tina smiled sweetly at her parents. "Our Spanish teacher has really cracked down on us lately."
"Yes, but there's also-"
"Glee club," Tina nodded, silently pleading at Artie with her eyes. Why did he have to be so honest about everything? And if he wanted to be honest, she almost asked him, why not show them the one thing that really matters? "Tell them how you play the guitar."
"Well, yes, I play the guitar," the small boy smiled weakly, obviously at a loss.
"And I play the guitar," Puck smiled proudly. "I actually brought it with me. Do you think I could play something for you guys"
"No, no," Quinn said, standing quickly between Puck and his guitar. She remembered all too well what had happened when Finn belted out a song at her dinner table.
"It's nice to see you've got a man with confidence," Quinn's mother said, tactfully changing the subject. "Now, what about school? How well do you do? Our Quinn needs an educated husband to take care of her. You know, Quinn's sister married a Princeton man! I don't expect as much from Quinn, but you never know. Maybe you'll surprise us, Noah."
Puck smiled wearily. "Oh, I'm very smart, Mrs. Febray. You know, I never cheat on tests or stuff like that." He looked back and forth between Quinn's parents, who were now eying him wearily.
"What did you say your last name was?" Mr. Febray finally asked.
"Puckerman," The boy was clearly proud of his heritage.
"Hmm... a Jew..." Mrs. Febray shook her head sadly.
"Well, why don't we go to the choir room to see what you can play for us," Mrs. Cohen-Chang smiled sweetly across the table at Artie.
"Well, I um-" Artie looked around the table nervously. He glanced at Tina, who just shrugged. Artie let out a big, fake cough. "I'm not feeling so well... I don't want to throw my voice before Regionals. It's only a few weeks from now, you know." He nodded, his cheeks flushed red. He coughed again for good measure.
"Oh nonsense," Mrs. C said, still smiling. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Now come on, let's go..."
"Don't worry that he's Jewish, Mommy," Quinn shook her head, glancing at Puck for some help. He just shrugged, not sure what say. "It's not like he goes to temple or believes in any of the stuff they preach or anything. He's a good guy."
"Still," Mr. Febray said, standing slowly. "I'm not sure I can trust you... on principle, you know? What did you say your GPA was?"
"It's pretty high," Puck stood up and tried to stop Mr. Febray from changing his mind. "You know, almost 100."
Quinn cringed, "He means 100 percent, Daddy..."
Mr. Febray shook his head and started walking off. Quinn followed him closely, but suddenly, he turned around and said to Quinn, "I should have known better than to trust you and let back in. I want you out..."
Tina looked sadly at Artie, but she had no choice. She slowly got up to follow her parents towards the door. Mr. C turned towards Artie and ushered him towards the door. "Come on, boy."
Artie sat there, unnaturally still. "See, that's the thing. I can't," he said softly; a small, uncomfortable look filling his face.
"He's in a wheelchair, Dad," Tina explained softly.
"Well boy, why are you going around pretending to be someone you're not?" Mr. C shook his head slowly. Suddenly, he turned towards Tina. "As for you, young lady... You're still not ready to be dating. I don't care whose idea this was, but I don't trust you with this boy or any other. I don't want you to go out."
Mr. Febray pointed towards the door forcefully and yelled, "Out!"