Authoress' Notes: Okay so this is my first piece for Glee. The first episode I ever saw was the "Thriller" one that aired after the Super Bowl and I was hooked. So I got this idea in my head and started working on it. Now this would have never happened without Arichey! She helped me edit my grammar and she's a wonderful writer! She's marked as one of my favs and after you read this you should go read her stuff!
Disclaimer: Okay so Glee does not belong to me or something would be slightly different. So this is just for entertainment purposes. Enjoy!
The song is not mine either that belongs to Christina Aguilera and whomever writes for and/or represents her.
Finding Your Voice: Part One
Will Schuester was sitting at his desk looking over Spanish tests, but his mind was wandering to his glee club and the lack of ideas for this year's Regionals. The competition was about a month away, and the New Directions were missing something beyond their set list. They had good teamwork and there was decidedly less drama than had been present in past years, but frankly, as much as he hated to admit it they were missing a Rachel or Mercedes. While the girls could be divas, no question there, they were very talented and they had been driven. The team was missing a catalyst and they needed it soon if they were going to do well. They had only made it through Sectionals because their competition had made mistakes. That wouldn't happen at Regionals; Vocal Adrenaline was one of the four choirs they were competing against.
He looked at the club photo from 2012, the year they won Nationals, and it still made him smile; that was year it had really come together. Last year hadn't been that bad either; they'd placed third and he couldn't complain about that. Unfortunately, he'd lost so many kids last year that he'd nearly had to rebuild the club from scratch. It helped that winning Nationals had made the club more popular, but some of the members were still harassed.
The fast thump of athletic shoes drew his attention to the doorway. Adrian Daniels - tall, blonde, blue-eyed and the only cross-over between the Cheerios and glee - called out urgently, "Mr. Schue, there's fight in the hallway!"
He jumped up from his desk and chased behind the sophomore. "Do you know what started it?"
"No." She shook head and motioned for him to hurry. "It's Carl from the football team. He went after a girl, I think she's a freshman."
"He went after a girl?"
The "fight; fight; fight" chant was resounding from the wall of students cheering on the contenders.
"You f'ning bit me you little slut!" Carl yelled in indignation. The six-foot plus defensive back lunged at the petite brunette, who bobbed out of his way causing him to collide with the row of lockers behind her.
Will pushed through the students, "Break it up! Break it up!" He ordered as he saw Coach Beiste rounding the corner from the opposite end of the hall.
The brunette looked up at the sound of Will's voice and Carl caught her cheek with a left hook. She hit the ground hard, but pushed herself back up onto her feet.
"Wilson!" Coach Beiste bellowed at Carl, while she snatched the freshman girl up around the waist.
"Say it again! Call me that again you inbred hick!" The smaller girl was still trying to launch herself at the football player. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to get away from Coach Beiste. "Put me down."
"Knock that off." The football coach had no problem keeping a hold on the girl. "I can bench press more than you, missy." She looked back at Carl, "Principal's office."
"But coach she. . ."
"Now." She snapped at the jock. She sat the girl back on her feet and made eye contact with her. Upon seeing only defiance reflecting back at her, the coach shook her head, "With that attitude I should have known." She pushed the door to the women's bathroom open, "Go clean the blood off your face. I'll be walking you down to the principal's office."
Will was already directing the other students to their respective classes. He asked Shannon, "You have any idea what caused this?"
"Probably genetic." She scoffed.
He might have asked her what that comment meant, but the football coach had pushed the door to the bathroom back open.
"Adrian, please tell Principal Figgins I'll be down in a moment." She requested of the cheerleader, who nodded and scurried down the hall. She hollered into the bathroom, "Stop trying to wedge yourself out that window."
"Seriously guys get to class." Will finished directing the rest of the stragglers.
"What do you mean she got into a fight with Carl? You didn't try and stop her?" Devon Becker's voice questioned as he raced around the corner, with his twin brother Jared in tow. Both of the African-American boys were in Will's glee club and he quickly intercepted them.
"You guys are late for second period." He informed them. "Jared, go to your seat and tell the class I'll be there, in a moment."
"Sure thing, Mr. Schue." He nodded and hurried to the classroom.
Devon started behind his brother, but Will stopped him.
"Devon, do you know the girl who was fighting with Carl?"
Devon turned around and looked at Will. "Yeah, we're friends. I shoulda been there."
"Do you know what the fight was about?"
He rubbed the back of his neck and admitted quietly, "He's been givin' her a hard time. I told her to walk with me, but she's . . . stubborn."
"Next time let me know, okay?" Will patted Devon on the back, "Now get to class."
"Okay. Thanks Mr. Schue."
"No problem, Devon. I'll see you at practice this afternoon."
Will started back to his room as Coach Beiste walked out of the bathroom with her hand clamped on the younger girl's shoulder. The girl's head was down and she was tugging on her FlyLeaf t-shirt as she plodded towards the principal's office.
.:.
When Devon hadn't shown up in the choir room Will was worried; the junior had transferred in last year and he was never late. Kylie said that Devon's car was in the parking lot, but none of the members had seen him since last period. He asked Jared, but the other Becker boy had said that he was getting a ride home with Amaya because Devon asked him to. Will was gathering up his sheet music when a knock on the door echoed through the room.
"Mr. Schue?"
"Devon, where were you? I was worried when you didn't show up for practice. Is everything alright?" Will questioned the young man.
"Yeah, I got caught up helping Sarah, my friend from the fight this morning."
"Is she okay? I didn't get a chance to talk to Coach Beiste after the incident, but Emma said they had trouble getting a hold of her mother."
"She's okay. Her mom goes out town for work, so she can be hard to get a hold of sometimes. Principal Figgins made her sit in the nurse's office all day, since they couldn't send her home." Devon rubbed the back of his neck. This was a habit the boy had developed when he was nervous. "Mr. Schue?"
"What is it, Devon?"
"I think glee club could really help Sarah. I know she didn't try out or anything, but she can really sing. You think you could listen to her and encourage her join?"
"If she wouldn't try out, how are you going to convince her to sing for me?"
"She's in the auditorium. Just give me like five minutes and sneak in the side door."
Will shook his head, "Devon, I don't think this is a good idea."
"She's worth it." Devon argued. "Please, Mr. Schue, she needs something to keep her on the right path and I think you and glee club could do that. You've helped me so much and I know you could do that for her too."
"Ok." Will reluctantly agreed. "But she's going to have to agree. I could never force anyone to join glee."
Will waited outside of the auditorium's side door and listened to Devon talking to Sarah.
"Why should I? It's dumb and I'm not that good." The girl's voice was quiet and apathetic.
Devon countered her excuses and reminded her, "Baby-girl, you know that's a lie; you've a got a great voice. Besides, singin' always settles you down after a load of crazy, and that shit this morning, was crazy. How's your face?"
"It's okay. Ma's gonna flip when she sees it. I promised no more fights."
"This one really wasn't really your fault. He had no right to. . ."
"Don't matter. I'm gonna hear it over and over again 'til I graduate. High school just sucks."
As the girl paused Will could image her touching her right cheek, which was probably already purple.
"Alright, fine, I'll sing it. Just use the track we recorded at your house last night, that'll give me the background vocals."
"You got it. Belt it out, Baby-girl, just lose yourself in it."
The track started out with a just a bass beat and a piano, and Will slipped inside and sat down in the next to last row.
Whoa, oh, yeah,
She was so young with such innocent eyes
She always dreamt of a fairytale life
And all the things that your money can't buy
She thought that he was a wonderful guy
Then suddenly, things seemed to change
It was the moment she took on his name
He took his anger out on her face
She kept all of her pain locked away
Sarah's head was down at first and she sang quietly into the microphone she was clutching. She clenched and unclenched her free hand, as if trying to force herself to be stronger for the song. At the line about taking on his name she motioned sliding a ring on her finger and continued with touching her cheek as she sang about him taking his anger out on her face. She lifted her face up as she started the chorus and her voice started to gain strength.
Oh mother, we're stronger
From all of the tears you have shed
Oh mother, don't look back
Cause he'll never hurt us again
So mother, I thank you
For all that you've done and still do
You got me, I got you
Together we always pull through
Her cheek was slightly swollen and the bruise was already turning purple, but she still sang with a lot of power. Her voice had a raspy quality, and the emotion of it was very raw. Even though her eyes were glassy with tears, she seemed to hold them back from falling. There was something in Sarah's singing voice. . . it was so much more than her speaking voice. She was almost reminiscent of Rachel with her stage presence, even if her voice wasn't as polished or strong. The petite brunette seemed taller standing in the middle of the stage. This was what the New Directions needed: someone who sang with their whole being.
It was the day that he turned on his kids
That she knew she just had to leave him
So many voices inside of her head
Saying over and over and over,
"You deserve much more than this."
She was so sick of believing the lies and trying to hide
Covering the cuts and bruises (cuts and bruises)
So tired of defending her life, she could have died
Fighting for the lives of her children
She pulled her arms to her chest, as if trying to protect herself and the mother she was obviously singing about. She wasn't standing still: she stomped her feet and motioned towards her ears when singing 'over and over.' She put up her fists and her face displayed all the emotions she'd been trying to hold back.
"Let it go, Baby-girl. You got this." Devon encouraged.
Sarah's eyes flicked down to Devon for a moment, before she nodded and focused her eyes back upwards. Finally the dam broke and a tear slipped down Sarah's cheek.
All of your life you have spent
Burying hurt and regret
But mama, he'll never touch us again
For everytime he tried to break you down
Just remember who's still around
It's over, and we're stronger
And we'll never have to go back again
Her voice surged and her actions were open and dramatic. She wanted you feel everything that she was feeling. She wanted you know how much this hurt and how she was stronger for what she'd experienced. There was power in it that took the breath out of Will's lungs and brought tears to his eyes. Sarah was. . .
"Yeah, we're genetically pretty awesome." Noah Puckerman's voice made Will Schuester jump out of his skin.
He hadn't even noticed the boy crashing into the seat nearly directly behind him. "Puck, what are you doing here?" Will's eyebrow arched at the boy's use of the word 'genetically,' but chose to ignore that for the moment. "And are you seriously trying to convince me that Sarah's talented because she's Jewish?"
"Naw, she's talented because she's a Puckerman," Puck corrected matter-of-factly.
"Sarah's your younger sister?"
"S'what I said."
Oh mother, we're stronger
From all of the tears you have shed
Oh mother, don't look back (oh mother don't look back again)
Cause he'll never hurt us again (cause he'll never hurt us again)
So mother, I thank you (and I thank you for everything you've done)
For all that you've done and still do (together we always move on)
You got me, I got you, (you got me, I got you)
Together we always pull through (always pull through)
We always pull through
We always pull through
I love you mom
Puck stood up and pointed up towards the stage, "I'm back in town and back here because of her."
"I take it not for her birthday or a holiday." Will deduced.
"Got that right." Puck nodded before storming towards the stage. "Hey yenta! Where the fuck have you been?"
Devon jumped to his feet at the front of the auditorium, "What the hell did you just call her?"
"Keep your nose out of it, kid."
The boy might have gotten into Puck's face, but Sarah had launched herself at the older Puckerman. She was crying into his shirt, as he wrapped in a hug. Devon opted to stand off to the side quietly, letting Puck take over the care of Sarah. He did however make a mental note to find out what the hell Puck had called her later.
Puck couldn't make out what Sarah was saying. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Are you okay, Sarah?"
"No." She shook her head. "I can't believe you're here."
Puck tipped her chin up and turned her face to get a look at the bruise, " 'Course I am. Ma's been calling the house for two days and you ain't picked up. Where you been? And who did that to your face?" He eyed Devon suspiciously, trying to figure out if this was the problem in his younger sister's life.
"I've been around. Devon let me stay with him." Sarah watched Puck's eyes narrow dangerously. "Not like that!" She smacked her brother in the chest. "I was supposed to be with Rebecca's family, but I. . . we just didn't get along." She dropped her head. "Can you just take me home?" she requested, her voice cracking.
"Yeah." Puck swung his arm around her shoulder and they started walking up the aisle.
They stopped near the top of the stairs and Puck nudged her towards Mr. Schuester.
Will took his cue and offered his hand to Sarah, "Sarah, I'm Mr. Schuester and I'd love for you to join my glee club. You've got talent and we could use you on our team."
Sara looked at him, back at Devon, and then back at the teacher. "Maybe. I'll think about it."