"Kurt." Marilyn said, her small voice getting lost in the busy hallways of McKinley High School. As usual, her older brother was worrying his head off about her. Adjusting the shoulder strap to her bag, she said, "I've been fine so far. I've found all of my classes, no one's slammed my locker on my hair…Nothing bad will happen, I promise."
"You don't know that, hon." Kurt's voice filled her ear, the tone filled with worry. "You don't know what my first day was like." Kurt fell silent as Marilyn reached her locker. Probably thinking about his high school years here, she thought as she cleared her bag for her next class. After a few more seconds of silence on both ends, Kurt's voice buzzed pleasantly in his sister's ear. "You know what would make me feel better?"
Marilyn groaned outwardly, causing startled looks and snickers from those passing behind her. "Kurt, I'm standing in the middle of the hallway and the bell is about to ring."
"Go to the choir room. Brad is usually there by now."
"What about my study hall?"
"Get a pass from the teacher. They do that, you know."
Marilyn sighed and hung her head in defeat. "Fine." At that, the bell rang, loud and shrill. "Let me put you on hold."
Marilyn tucked a piece of chocolate brown hair behind her ear as she peeked into the choir room. A man with graying hair and a beard to match was sitting at the piano. He looked up as she entered, a smile making his face glow. Shyly, she approached the end of the piano closest to her.
"Are you Brad?" The man nodded.
"Could you play Shake It Out on the piano? My brother's on the phone and he wants to hear it." She waggled the phone in her hand as she said this, the screen black due to inactivity.
Again, the man nodded, his fingers already poising themselves over the keys. Marilyn gently placed the phone on the piano, hit the speaker button, and nodded to Brad.
Regrets collect like old friends,
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way.
And all of the ghouls come out to play.
A soft sigh came from the phone as Kurt relaxed in his college dorm. Marilyn closed her eyes and imagined that her brother was there with her, singing the harmonies. Just like at home during the summer, their father leaning against the door frame leading to his son's bedroom, listening to his kids get along…
Shake it out, shake it out,
Shake it out, shake it out,
Oh-whoa.
I am done with my graceless heart,
Tonight I'm going to cut it out and then restart.
Behind the youngest of the Hummel family, William Shuester was leaning against the door frame, listening as the girl who stood with her back to him sang. Her voice was oddly familiar, the resonates sounding like someone he knew…
And it's hard to dance with the devil on your back,
So shake him off.
Oh-whoa.
With a flourish from the piano, the song ended. Marilyn opened her eyes as behind her, the sound of a single person clapping yanking her from her from the zone she had entered. Turning, she saw a man in his mid-to-late thirties leaning against the door.
"Marilyn?" Kurt's electronic voice rang from the phone, the speaker obviously still activated.
"Kurt?" The man walked towards the phone, a smile spreading across his face.
"Hi Mr. Shue!" Kurt's voice had the hint of a grin in it. "Did you hear Marilyn sing?"
"I did. She sounds amazing. Her voice reminds me of yours, Kurt."
"Well, I would hope so!" His voice had a small hint of alarm in it. "She is my little sister. I'm trying to get her to live up to her namesake, voice wise."
"Okay!" Marilyn interrupted. She strode to the piano and scooped up her phone, her finger poised over the end call button. "I'll call you later, Kurt, love you bye!" The call ended with a jab of a button, and the phone slid into Marilyn's bag as it was flung over her shoulder. Before Mr. Shue could call out to her, Marilyn was halfway down the hall.
As Marilyn rounded a corner, fiddling with her bag, the bell shrieked. All around the unsuspecting freshman, doors opened and students filled the hallways with chatter and opening lockers. As she kept walking, her attention secured on her bag, didn't notice the boy until she ran into him.
Stumbling, Marilyn looked up at the person she had just run into. He had messy reddish-brown hair that was falling into his deep blue eyes. His hand was holding her wrist, keeping her from falling. The wristlet that could be considered a watch was sliding down and resting on his fingers. He must have been carrying books because the sound of heavy objects bouncing on the floor filled their ears.
"Oh God." The boy said, helping Marilyn straighten up. "I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…" He knelt down, picking up his books and the lone paper. Without a word, Marilyn knelt beside him and handed him a Biology textbook that was beside her knee. With a sheepish smile, he took the book from her with a "Thanks."
"No problem." Marilyn picked up the one paper that had fallen onto the floor and glanced at it. "We have the last class together." She said, handing the paper to the boy.
"Cool." He smiled. Marilyn felt a blush rising up her face as she stared at his beautiful smile. "Want to walk together?"
Marilyn nodded, and they both stood. They walked down the hallway to their next class in silence until the boy said, "My name's Grey Anderson. What's yours?"
"Marilyn. Marilyn Hummel."
The boy stared at her, and then turned his attention to in front of him, probably so he won't run into anybody again. Marilyn looked away also, afraid that he had seen the blush that was burning her face.
The last class of the day passed in a blur. Before Marilyn knew it, she was packing up her things with Grey patiently waiting for her next to her desk. When she was all set, they walked out of the classroom together, talking about how they think the class will be as the year progressed.
They rounded a corner and were met by a freezing cold splash to the face. They both stopped in their tracks, the cold slushy dripping down their faces and onto their clothes. Behind them, someone called, "Welcome to McKinley, freshman!"
Marilyn felt a strong hand grasp her arm and pull her away gently, leading her away from the scene of humiliation. She felt like she was going to cry, and all she wanted to do was curl up on her bed at home with her ratty teddy bear and cry about her day.
A door opened and bright light penetrated through the thick slush that covered Marilyn's face. The hand released her arm, and Marilyn lifted her hands to wipe the slushy out of her eyes. As she did, she saw the person who had taken her away from the scene.
A colored girl was standing in front of the sink, water running and a wet paper towel under the stream of water. Next to her, a pretty Asian girl and a girl with blonde hair were cleaning off two other girls, blue coloring staining the edge of their faces.
The black girl squeezed the paper towel and stood before Marilyn. She gently started to wipe the ice and coloring off her face, heat warming Marilyn's face as the paper towel passed over her cheeks.
After the three freshmen girls were cleaned up- and hoodies were handed to them so they could warm up- the three other girls stood before them with their hands on their hips, looking them over.
"Those jocks should never have done that." The black girl said a disgusted expression on her face. "I'm Mercedes. This is Tina and Britney. We're part of the New Directions."