Particular Brand of Sunshine
Summary : AU. Sunshine Corazon never left McKinley and is now part of New Directions. (Other minor differences as well, i.e., Kurt's at Dalton).
The glee club doesn't realize it, but their lives are about to get irrevocably wrapped around the spunky, Philippine girl.
1. Beginning
If you had asked Sunshine to describe herself her first day at McKinley, she would have said, with no hesitation, "small."
2. Beginning (part 2)
You would have been left wondering if the girl was referring to her barely five foot frame, or her current social state of being. Rumors would have spread that the new girl was a pitiful nutcase who hated herself because of her height, or someone suffering from a serious inferiority complex.
Luckily, no one asked her.
3. Normal
Sunshine Corazon spoke with a heavy accent, pieced her outfits together from garage sales and Goodwill, and could speak a total of four languages. She couldn't help but laugh when Tina told her that she was the most normal member of the glee club.
4. Asian
Sunshine didn't believe in "Asian pride," or whatever, she believed friendship had nothing to do with race and Asian pride was exclusive. However, when Mike and Tina took her under their wing her first day at school, she thought maybe Asian pride wasn't so bad.
5. Greeting
"Hello, my name is Sunshine Corazon, and I'm going to sing "Listen," form the movie Dreamgirls." After that Sunshine forgot about words or good impressions, she just opened her mouth and sang.
The glee club thought that was the best kind of greeting anyway.
6. Artie
The first time someone slushied Artie in front of Sunshine, she couldn't believe it. The second time, she gave the football player a twenty-minute lecture filled with "How can you do this to someone in a wheelchair," and "Don't you have any morals?"
7. Surprise
Artie expected Sunshine to get creamed, but strangely enough, the football player looked helplessly at the tiny girl with her big, hurt-filled eyes and apologized.
8. Slushies
"What do you mean, she hasn't gotten slushied yet?" Rachel shrieked, "I am a mere two inches and three quarters taller and I've been the unfortunate recipient of the much cursed McKinley tradition—"
Finn only shrugged.
9. Special
When Rachel confronted Sunshine about her "slushie-freeness," Sunshine honestly had no idea what she was talking about.
It was Santana who snapped, "She's not getting slushied 'cause, unlike you, Rupaul, she's not a reindeer sweater wearing freak who won't shut up."
10. Santana
If Santana had elaborated, she might have pointed out that Sunshine also made a habit of smiling at everyone she met and that most of McKinley High found her accent adorable.
11. Tutor
Sunshine also happened to be tutoring several football players in various subjects, and Santana finds it hilarious when a jock randomly approaches Sunshine with a B+ quiz and Sunshine hurled herself at them and tried to hug them, squealing all the while about how she knew they could do it.
She finds it especially funny that the jock just stands there with a goofy smile on his face.
12. Puck
Puck has a tradition with making out with the Glee girls and never bringing it up again. Rachel, check. Santana and Britney, check, check. Tina, once, but it still counted. Quinn—check bolded and capitalized.
He leaves Sunshine off the list after he catches a senior leering at her with a predatory gaze and feels like punching him.
13. Protective
He claims that it's because she's about as tall as his ten-year old sister, but Puck's starts shadowing Sunshine because damn, the girl hugs everyone, and doesn't know that her innocent hugs are giving boys ideas.
14. Hypocrite
When Santana hears him muttering about "stupid boys and their hormones" and "if they so much as look at her wrong…" she smacks him over the head for being a hypocrite.
But when she catches a Cheerio making racist comments about the Filipino, she slaps Martha Blake so hard the girl falls down two flights of stairs and can't cheer for two months.
15. Tutor (part 2)
Finn thinks that having Sunshine as his tutor will be weird at the best and awkward at the most, but the girl tackles his (lack of) math skills with the determination of a bull dog and Finn learns to FOIL before the month is over.
16. Jealousy
Rachel's suspicious about their "tutoring" time, until Sunshine invites her along and Rachel realizes that Finn's too busy trying to wrap his mind around factoring to think about being unfaithful, and Sunshine's just not interested.
17. Switzerland
When Tina broke up with Artie and started dating Mike Chang, Sunshine spent a week comforting the broken-hearted Artie and the weekend listening to Tina sob about how guilty she felt.
18. Brittany
Brittany loves three people most in the world: Santana, Santa Claus, and Sunshine Corazon. She thinks its no coincidence that they all begin with her middle initial, "S."
19. Quinn
When Quinn got pregnant, she found out first-hand how fickle friendships could be. Santana took her spot as head Cheerio, Rachel got Finn, Puck only stuck around because he had a daddy issues.
When Sunshine Corazon finds out about the pregnancy, she sings, "Baby Mine," to Quinn, (or rather, Quinn's now flat stomach), Quinn feels something inside her break. Somehow, she isn't surprised when Sunshine is the one to hold her when she loses it.
20. Rachel
Despite being jealous, (Mr. Schuester, that was my solo!), Rachel has to admit that Sunshine's voice is good and that she might as well make friends with the glee club's new powerhouse.
She's pleasantly surprised when Sunshine accepts her, "offer of completely professional, practical rivalry with no hard feelings whatsoever." She's even happier when she realizes that Sunshine's willing to listen to Rachel's criticism on her singing.
21. Diva
When Rachel and Mercedes get into another fight over who's more suitable to sing Kesha's "Tik Tok," at the school assembly, Sunshine snaps, giving a short, angry lecture about how neither girl's voice is suitable, before promptly giving the solo to Brittany.
22. Thanks
Mr. Schuester smiles gratefully at her, and she beams back. She's always liked the Spanish teacher.
23. Guts
Mercedes isn't sure about Sunshine at first. The sweet, girl-next-door persona didn't do much for her, and she was another voice vying for a solo. When Sunshine abruptly resolves the Tik Tok argument though, Mercedes has to admit that the girl has courage.
They see each other at the karaoke machine at the mall a week later, and by the end of the day Mercedes wonders why she took so long to get to know the girl.
24. Sam
He was the new kid before Sunshine came along, and he knows the feeling. Maybe that's why he warms up to her so quickly.
Or maybe it's because she never makes fun of his mouth, not even as a joke.
25. Tension
Sunshine wasn't there at babygate, and she's unclear about the reason for the tension between Puck, Finn, Quinn, and Rachel, but when Sam starts dating Quinn and Finn's ears turn a permanent shade of red, she knows something's up.
She just doesn't know how to fix it.
26. Dalton
Kurt a bit miffed when he hears about the new girl, first from Tina, then Finn, then Mercedes, and then Rachel, whom he swears never talks about anyone but herself and Broadway stars.
Why does Dalton have to be so far away from McKinley?
27. Charity
Kurt's still complaining about never having met Sunshine when Blaine points out the tiny Filipino girl strumming her guitar and singing "Change," by Carrie Underwood outside the Coffee House.
Her "Donate to Jacob's Heart!" box, is half-full of money, and Kurt spots a Mohawked boy playing a second guitar next to her.
28. Coffee
Of course, Kurt has to meet her and Blaine's just as eager after hearing her sing. They buy her hot chocolate and Puck a double frappuccino, two muffins, and a turkey sandwhich.
Mercedes pouts when she invites Kurt and Sunshine over for a sleepover and the two already know each other.
29. Bully
The first time Sasha Martinez shoves Sunshine into her locker, Sunshine assumes its an accident. The second time, Puck sees it and nearly goes after her until he realizes that she's a girl.
The third time, Sasha walks into glee club with a slushie and Sunshine kicks the Cheerio's legs out from under her and twists one arm behind her back. Mr. Schuester decides its an act of self-defense and lets it go.
30. Queen Bee
It turns out that Sasha's a rising star on Sue Sylvester's cheerleading squad who's decided that in order to command the same amount of fear that Santana and even Quinn possess, she's going to have to make a name for herself by targeting the girl no one's touched yet.
She ends up with an (almost) broken arm, as well as on Santana, Brittany, and Quinn's bad side, and transfers a month later.
31. Birthday
Sunshine never forgets a birthday, and gets everyone in glee club a little present on their special days. What she lacks in funds she makes up with creativity.
32. Birthday (part 2)
Rachel and Mercedes both receive one "free solo pass, in which I, Sunshine Corazon, will willingly give up my solo to the one who bears this coupon."
33. Birthday (part 3)
Santana and Brittany get serenaded in front of the whole school, with Puck, Mike, Finn, Artie, and Sam singing and Sunshine playing background vocals.
34. Birthday (part 4)
She enlists Rachel and the girls spend a day baking Rachel's famous sugar cookies for Finn's, (and later Puck's, Mikes, Artie's, and Sam's) birthday.
35. Birthday (part 5)
Kurt and Blaine's birthdays happen to fall on the same day, and Sunshine sets up a visit to Dalton. The glee girls take the all-boy's school by the storm and serenade Kurt and Blaine with "Happy Birthday, Baby."36.
36. Birthday (part 6)
Quinn's the hardest to find a present for, but she manages it by designing her Prom Queen campaigning poster. She doesn't realize that her active support of Quinn's candidacy probably does more good than the posters do.
37. Birthday (part 7)
She's not sure why Mr. Shuester smiles with tears in his eyes when she gets him a puppy from the pound. She just thought he looked lonely, that was all.
38. Shock
On Sunshine's birthday, she calls in sick and doesn't show up to school. The New Directions, plus Kurt and Blaine, storm her house, planning to throw a party.
They find a tiny apartment with graffiti marked walls and a couple of druggies lounging in the hallways. They peek in through Sunshine's dirty window and catch her shoving the couch back in place.
"I don't think she's sick." Quinn, surprisingly, is the one who voices the thought on everyone's minds.
39. Pride
When they confront Sunshine about it later, they see Sunshine's stubborn side for the first time. "I'm fine, guys," she says, a bit too forcefully, "I was just sick, that's all."
40. Pride (part 2)
They end up going to Tina's mom, who's a good friend of Mrs. Corazon. The woman doesn't want to tell them at first, but after a couple minutes of begging, she relents, and informs them that Sunshine's apartment got trashed the night before by a couple gang members. Luckily, Sunshine was out and Mrs. Corazon was still at work.
"Otherwise…" Mrs. Cohen-Chang doesn't finish the thought.
41. Father Figure
Mr. Schuester isn't the most assertive adult around, but he puts his foot down and moves Sunshine and her mother into his house.
"It's too big for one, anyway," he tells Sunshine, and when that doesn't work, he adds, "And it's only temporary, until we find your mom a better paying job and you guys can afford a better place."
42. Sylvester
Surprisingly, it's Sue who finally gets Mrs. Corazon the job that moves Sunshine and her mom into their own (albeit small), clean apartment.
"I need a secretary who's not underage," she informs the glee club stiffly, "Becky's good, but the Worker's Union's been sniffing around, dropping accusations about child labor. I needed to hire a foreign, middle-aged woman to throw them off the scent."
43. Sylvester (part 2)
Sue's sudden need for employment has nothing to do with the combined efforts of Quinn, Santana and Brittany.
Or Rachel's anonymous phone-call.
Or Mr. Schuester's begging.
Really, it doesn't.
44. Memories
Sunshine's moved around quite a bit, and she's learned that there are only so many things a girl can take with her. Her voice, (thank goodness), was forever hers, and she had a small drawer of various souvenirs.
By the time the school year was over, she had a picture of everyone from the glee club, including Mr. Schuester in that box. Just in case.
45. End
If you had asked Sunshine Corazon to describe herself at the end of her first year at McKinley, she would have said, with no hesitation, "small."
What you wouldn't know would be that sometimes, the smallest beam of Sunshine can brighten up a person's day.
And McKinley High knows that Sunshine's particular brand of sunshine is powerful indeed.