Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Glee but the two characters I created, and the storyline. Enjoy! :)
Lily Jacobson walked through the double doors of McKinley High. This was her school for the rest of her high school career, a place that wasn't completely different from her old school in Chicago but would grow to be home in time. She was a 10th grader. As she walked down the hallway, through a large crowd of students, all either wearing a sports jacket or a Cheerios uniform, she found the door labeled "Ms. Emma Pillsbury," opening it up.
Inside the room, the supposed Ms. Pillsbury and another male teacher stood inches apart as if they'd just got done arguing.
"Oops," Lily said, "I should have knocked." She started backing out of the room.
"Wait, you can stay, I'll go." It was the male teacher who spoke and turned to look at Ms. Pillsbury, walking out of the room.
Lily stood in the threshold, awkwardly.
"Oh come on in, sit down." Ms. Pillsbury said. She went to the filing cabinet in the corner, pulling out a manila folder. She sat back down at her desk, opening the file. "How are you today, Lily?" She asked.
"Nothing bad has happened so far so I'm actually doing well today." Lily said in a chipper voice. She intended to make herself seem happier than she actually was. She hadn't been happy about the move to Lima considering that it had been her father's infidelity that led to her and her mother's placement in Ohio.
"Well, good, that's fantastic to hear. So, um, I assume you need a tour of the school?"
Lily nodded, "I haven't exactly toured here before, so it would be nice to be showed around."
"Okay," Ms. Pillsbury picked up the phone, talking to someone quickly, and then hanging up. "There will be someone here soon to take you on a tour."
"Thank you so much, Ms. Pillsbury."
"You're welcome. Anything you need, just come talk to me and I'll do my best to help."
About 5 seconds later, the door opened. Lily turned to look who her guide was. It was a guy wearing one of the sports jackets; he had a Mohawk and looked a little bit on the misunderstood side.
"Hello, Noah. Thank you for coming so soon."
Noah eyed Lily. "No problem, Ms. P. I needed a reason to get out of Math anyways."
Lily laughed as did Ms. Pillsbury.
"Always a jokester, Noah," she looked at Lily, "Oh and this is Lily Jacobson. She's a new student here are McKinley."
Noah came closer, extending his hand. "Noah Puckerman." Lily took his hand, shaking it.
Lily was in awe. He was more than she expected would come to a small town high school. She wasn't a snob but she had her shallow moments.
"Let's go on a tour of the great ol' McKinley High." Puck said.
He and Lily walked the halls. He told her just about anything and everything he could about each teacher and classroom. Some were personal stories; others were gathered stories from his friends. They'd passed a few of his football friends. Puck had introduced Matt, Mike, and Artie to her. All seemed pleasant.
"Finn Hudson is the one guy I can't seem to find at the mom-, "Puck began as he and Lily found their way outside. He spotted Finn standing with a group of girls around him. He was holding a football, appearing as though he'd been throwing it around. "Hey, Hudson!" Puck yelled, catching his attention.
Finn waved, excusing himself and walking over to Lily and Puck. "Hey man." Finn said. He looked at Lily, partially unsure of what to say. He was not the type of guy to start the conversation, especially with a person he'd never met before.
Puck automatically took over the conversation, "Finn, this is Lily Jacobson. She's new."
Finn smiled, "It's nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand. He learned from his step-dad, Burt, that it's always nice to greet someone with a hand shake.
Lily smiled shyly. Finn was taller than most guys and he was super cute. She was speechless.
"I was just showing her around, ya know, helping her learn the place." Puck said heroically. Finn patted him on the back.
"I'm sure he did a good job." Finn said as a small girl came over, standing next to him.
"This is Quinn Fabre. She's head of the Cheerios."
Quinn looked Lily up and down with a slight amused look on her face. "Are you new?"
Lily nodded.
"Well, it's great to have you here." She said snotty. She looked to both Finn and Puck, "Glee rehearsal starts in 5 minutes, don't be late." And she turned on her heel, walking towards the school.
"Oh shit!" Puck exclaimed. He looked at Lily, "I don't want to leave you but we have Glee to go to…"
"There's a Glee club here?" The guys nodded. "I was in one back in Chicago. Mind if I come with you?"
"Yea, Mr. Schuester will love having an audience and possible new member." Finn exclaimed a little too happily.
"Well, let's go then!" Lily exclaimed. She'd been the lead in her old school's Glee Club. She felt pretty confident that she would fit in just fine.
The trio walked through the choir room's door and the entire group of students already in the room stopped what they were doing and just stared at Lily. A petit girl wearing a sweater with a horse on the front of it walked up to them. "Hey Finn, Puck. Who's this?"
"Rachel, this is Lily Jacobson. She's new." Finn said. "Lily, this is-"he was cut off by Rachel.
"I'm Rachel Berry, captain of New Directions." She declared loudly.
"It's nice to meet you." Lily said, feeling shy once again. She had no idea why she'd already flaked on her new attitude here at McKinley.
Just then, the guy that Lily had walked in on in Ms. Pillsbury's office walked up behind Rachel. "Hello, I'm Mr. Schuester." He said, extending his hand.
Lily shook it, "Sorry about earlier. I should've knocked."
"It's quite alright, Lily. No need to apologize." He turned to the group, "Everyone, we have a new addition to our group for today's rehearsal. She's new, so let's all give her a warm welcome."
The guys in the group all smiled while only 3 of the girls waved. The others didn't really acknowledge Lily's presence. They were the cheerleaders, also known as the Cheerios. Of course the top of the social pyramid in the school, along with this club wouldn't talk to Lily, she was the new girl. The exact reason she wanted to stick out her very first day.
Lily took a seat next to Finn and listened to Mr. Schuester talk about the word he'd written on the white board. It said 'courage', a word that Lily knew too much about. She'd been told by both her mom and her dad, before their split, that courage would help her thrive in life. Help her achieve all her dreams. She had to tune out the bad and look to the good.
"So who has a song they'd like to sing?" Mr. Schuester asked the group.
Lily looked around the room; everyone seemed too distracted to answer. She sighed, looking at both Puck and Finn, and raised her hand.
"Miss Jacobson?" Mr. Schuester asked.
"I'd like to sing a song…"She began. She looked to her right to see that Rachel had staring at her intently.
"Well, come on down. Just tell Ryan here what song and he'll begin when you're ready."
Lily got up, walked over to the piano, "Courage Is by The Strange Familiar," she began, turning to the group, "It's a song that has meaning." Then she nodded and began to sing. She closed her eyes to ease the pressure she was beginning to feel.
Courage is when you're afraid,
But you keep on moving anyway.
Courage is when you're in pain,
But you keep on living anyway.
We all have excuses why
Living in fear something in us dies
Like a bird with broken wings
It's not how high he flies,
But the song he sings.
As Lily finished the last word of the song, she opened her eyes and saw the entire group just staring at her, in awe. She smiled, "Okay," and walked to her seat.
Finn turned to her, "That was…amazing."
"Thanks." She said, shyly.
Mr. Schuester came over to the two. "That was quite the performance, Lily. Would you like to join New Directions?"
"What?" Rachel asked, clearly eavesdropping.
"Is there a problem, Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked.
Rachel got up and walked over to them, making sure she was overly dramatic about the situation. "I just thought we'd all vote on it."
"Well, clearly she auditioned and no one has gotten turned down, so it's just up to her." He replied.
Lily was blown away. She'd been to the school for not even a full day and she already had an offer to join a club. "I-I would love to join, actually. You see, back at my old school, there was a glee club. But we weren't that good."
"Why don't we show her how good we are then?" Rachel boasted. And with that, the group performed their highly acclaimed "Don't Stop Believing" for her.
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