Hey all, just wanted to put out the disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own...I own the plot line and the character Abby North, and any other secondary characters not related to Glee, and that is all. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter One:

"Alright everyone settle down!" Will Schuester called out to the glee club members who were chatting idly in the choir room before rehearsal began one Tuesday after school. The group ended their conversations and turned their attention towards their teacher. "Ok, so we've got a new member joining our ranks today. Some of you may have seen a new face in your classes today – we have a new sophomore, Abigail North, who has just moved here from Canton, so let's all make her feel nice and welcome"

Mr. Schuester moved aside and Abby stepped forward smiling shyly at the group of teens in front of her, and she got a warm reception of smiles, waves, and people saying 'hello'.

"Ok, so Abby, why don't you have a seat, and everyone can introduce themselves while I hand out the music for our new song. We did great at sectionals, but we don't have much time before Regional's now and we need to get to work" Mr. Schue said with a smile, letting Abby move past him to join the rest of the club.

"Hey girl, I'm Mercedes, welcome to Lima" Mercedes stood up and shook Abby's hand.

"Hi, thank you" Abby said softly, returning her handshake and looking around at the teens who had circled around to introduce themselves, feeling fairly overwhelmed as she tried to remember all of their names.

"Hi, I'm Artie"

"I'm Rachel, and I just want to make it perfectly clear that-"

"Ignore her, we all do. I'm Kurt, and when you're ready to update your wardrobe I'm who you call"

"I'm T-t-tina"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Quinn Fabray"

"Hey, I'm Finn, we're glad to have you"

"I'm Brittany, this is Santana, and we're Cheerio's"

"What's up? I'm Mike, this is my boy Mark"

"Name's Puck"

"Hi everyone, it's nice to meet you all" Abby smiled and accepted the seat that Kurt offered to her between himself and Tina, and took the sheet music that Mr. Schuester passed her, smiling when she read the title.

"I love this song" she said quietly, and she and Tina shared a smile as they looked over the sheet music for the ABBA song 'Mamma Mia"

"Mr. Schue?" Rachel spoke up "I don't mean to make Abigail feel unwelcome, but how do we know she can sing? Did she even have to audition?"

"Yes Rachel, Abby auditioned just like everyone else. She was in my first period Spanish class this morning, and I told her about Glee, so she came and auditioned for me over lunch. Now, is everyone ready to give this one a dry run?"

There was a resounding yes from the girls, and Kurt, and a slightly less excited mutter from the boys, but Will shrugged and cued the musicians to begin playing the upbeat song. The rest of Glee rehearsal went by quickly for Abby as she watched the other members dancing around and goofing off as they sang, while she stayed seated and sang along quietly, clutching her music.

"Alright guys, good practice. I'll see you all tomorrow" Mr. Schuester ended rehearsal and everyone started to scatter off in different directions.

"Hey Abby, did you want to come to the mall with me and my boy Kurt here?" Mercedes offered.

"Oh, well that's really sweet, but I just got here on Sunday night and I've still got tons of unpacking and settling in to do. Some other time for sure though, ok?" Abby asked tentatively.

"Sure thing girl, we'll catch you tomorrow" Mercedes grinned and, hooking her arm through Kurt's, strutted out of the classroom.

Abby looked around and found that the only people left in the room were Puck and Finn, the two most intimidating people in the club, in her opinion. She tried to pack up her things as quickly and quietly as she could, so as to not draw attention to herself, but just as she was getting ready to bolt, Finn walked up to her with a friendly smile.

"Hey, so how did you like your first practice?"

"It was fun...you guys are all such good dancers though. I'm going to need to work hard to keep up"

Finn laughed and shook his head "No worries, Mr. Schue is a good teacher, you'll catch on fast"

"Alright, we gotta jet, catch you later new girl, Hudson you coming?" Puck asked from his place by the door, saving Abby from having to respond.

"Yeah" Finn nodded, then flashed another easy grin at Abby "See you tomorrow"

"Bye" Abby said with an awkward wave before she gathered her bags and, turning out the lights as she went, left the choir room and made her way out of the deserted school.

***

Half an hour later, Abby was letting herself into her apartment, firmly locking the door behind her as she set down her bag and surveyed the living room/dining room. Taking in the stacks of boxes that littered the floor and sparse furniture, she sighed and went to the kitchen, where she remembered that she still had no groceries. Deciding to wait until the next day to tackle that task and just order take-out again, Abby carried on through the small apartment to her bedroom, where things were a little more orderly, as she had spent the day before trying to get some of her things unpacked.

There was a light flashing on her answering machine when Abby went back out into the main room and she pressed the button as she settled down onto the small space she had created on the couch, pulling her backpack onto her lap to sort through that night's homework while she listened to her messages.

Beep "Hey Abby, this is Carla Fortney, from the Ohio Student Welfare program. I was just calling to see how you were settling in and to make sure that everything was squared away at your school. If you could give me a call back at your convenience, that would be wonderful. Looking forward to hearing from you" Beep

Abby sighed deeply, looking forward to a time when she would not have to deal with the Student Welfare people anymore, though that would most likely not be for another two years when she turned eighteen. Mentally shaking her head, Abby paid attention to the next message that was playing.

Beep "Abigail, this is your father. What makes you think you have the right to-" Beep

Abby cut off the message and deleted it immediately. She did not want to deal with that again...ever.

Trying to put the message out of her mind, Abby pulled her iPod out of her pocket and turned it on, letting the familiar songs of the Rent soundtrack wash over her as she started in on her Spanish homework, grateful that she seemed to be on par with where the class was for at least one of her classes.