Danielle "Dani" is a New Yorker and fifteen. She has been in foster care all her life so she has bounced from home to home in New York, until now.
Sitting on the sidewalk next to the building where Broadway shows are held at, Dani is in her worn out clothes and shoes.
Holding out a cup asking for change, no one gives a dime. Looking down close to crying, Dani is terrified. She is trying to get money to help raise enough for her friend's baby.
Being fifteen, just turning sixteen, Dani refuses to give up.
Hearing a couple of coins land in her cup, Dani looks up to see a man and woman.
"Thank you." Dani whispers. Watching them kneel down before her, the man pulls out his wallet.
"How much do you need? What is it for?" The woman asks pulling out her own wallet.
"My friend has a baby. We are trying to get enough for her to get enough to keep the baby alive." Dani answers softly.
"Who is 'we'?" The man wonders.
"Other foster kids." Dani looks down ashamed.
"Where do you live?" The woman questions.
"Foster care centre." Watching the man slip more money in, Dani's eyes light up.
"That's all I have. You need it." The man smiles. Watching in sadness, the woman takes the cup away, "Sue, what are you doing? That is her's."
"I'm going with her to her home. You can see the second half of the musical without me." Sue answers, "Will, she needs more than money."
"I never have seen you care for someone other than Becky." Will states getting to his feet. Helping Dani to her's, the woman dumps the money into her pocket and throws the cup away.
Arriving to the foster care centre, Dani silently opens the door with fear in her eyes and a deep frown.
"Did you raise any money today, Danielle?" The front desk lady asks. Watching Dani nod, the lady smiles, "Where is it?"
"She has it." Dani mentions to Sue. Pulling out the money, Sue passes it to Dani. Putting the money on the desk, Dani watches her count it.
"Not bad, twenty dollars." Seeing Dani's eyes light up, Dani looks at Sue with a smile.
"We did it." Dani whispers, "We have enough for food for the baby." Dani walks around the desk and hugs the woman before giving Sue a hug, "Thank you." Wrapping her arm around Dani's shoulders, Sue hugs her back in surprise, "I'll go tell everyone." Running out of the room and through another set of doors, the woman and Sue hear cheers.
"You look attached to Danielle." The woman looks to Sue.
"No I'm not." Sue lies looking away from the doors.
"That's a lie. You know, you can take her in."
"I'm not a foster parent. Besides, she can get taken away at any time."
"They only do that if the parents are hurting the child."
"Really?"
"Positive. So do you want to take her home with you?" Nervously nodding, the woman smiles. Signing paperwork, and doing a background check, it takes a couple of hours so Sue heads into the back room with the woman.
"Danielle." The woman calls catching Dani's attention, "You have a new home." Hearing cheering and applauding, Dani walks over in shock, "Go pack your things, Danielle."
"I don't have anything, remember?" Dani asks. Sue's eyes widen in surprise. Watching Dani look down, Sue can tell she is an incredibly shy girl.
"Right. This is your foster mom." The woman introduces them to each other, "Her name is Sue Sylvester. She's the principal at McKinley in Lima, Ohio."
"They are actually letting me leave, New York? All my other foster parents lived in New York."
After a couple of minutes on saying goodbye, Dani walks out with Sue. Watching Dani watch her feet as she walks, Sue suddenly pulls her back in time of a car speed by.
"Here sweetie, hold my hand." Seeing Dani shake but accepts her out stretched hand, Dani keeps her head down. She is happy to be out of the foster care centre, but that is where all of her friends are.
Sitting in an apartment, Sue makes them lunch.
"Here you go." Sue smiles.
"Thank you." Dani speaks softly accepting the plate. Taking a small bite of her sandwich, the door opens.
"Sue, what the hell are you doing in our apartment?" A woman asks making Dani jump, "Who is this?" Peeking at the woman, Dani recognizes her from the posters around the city, it's Rachel Berry.
"This is Danielle. She's my foster daughter." Sue explains.
"Poor her. Stuck with you." The guy laughs, "Kid, if I were you, I would run." Seeing tears in Dani's eyes, Sue storms over to the guy and slaps him in the face, hard.
"You're making her scared." Sue snaps. Staring at the girl, Rachel watches her curl into a ball and covers her ears as tears fall.
"Guys!" Rachel snaps, "Kurt, shut up. Sue, deal with Danielle." Looking at her foster daughter, Sue rushes over and kneels down in front of Dani. Pulling her into a hug, Dani cries into Sue's shoulder.
"Do you want to finish your lunch?" Sue asks softly. Feeling Dani shake her head, Sue stands up, lifting Dani off the ground, "Let's go home."
Just as they are leaving, Dani is holding Sue's hand tightly with tears streaming down her face, they bump into Will.
"You took her in?" Will asks smiling before frowning seeing Dani's tears, "What happened?"
"Kurt, Rachel and I had a fight and it scared her. I did take her in, to answer your first question."
"Are you heading back to Lima?" Sue nods, "We should get going then." Will smiles.
Arriving to Lima a couple of hours later, Dani refuses to let go of Sue's hand and sits as close as she can to Sue.
Getting out of Will's car with Sue, Sue takes Dani's hand and leads her up to the house. Since it is late, Sue makes dinner, allowing Dani to take a shower and wear one of her t-shirts.
Hearing footsteps a couple of minutes just before the food is made; Sue looks at the doorway to see Dani carrying her clothes.
"Would you like to keep those or throw them away because of all the holes?"
"They don't fit anymore." Dani whispers.
"The trash is right over here." Sue speaks softly careful not to scare Dani. After putting her clothes in the trash, Dani moves over to the table and sits down on the chair not knowing what to do, "So Danielle, tell me a bit about yourself." Sue smiles wanting to hear Dani speak.
"I go by Dani. Danielle is annoying." Dani explains tapping her fingers on the table, "I'm fifteen, turning sixteen. I love music and acting."
"So you're into the arts?" Sue looks over at her.
"A bit. Not everything, just music and drama." Dani explains.
"If you had to pick a sport to like and participate in, what would it be?"
"I'm not sure." Dani admits, "I like cheerleading to a point, but people get a bigger ego. Same with other sports."
"I was the cheerleading coach before I became the principal." Dani looks at Sue with a sorry look.
"I'm sorry for insulting cheerleading."
"You didn't, Dani. You were speaking your mind. You are allowed to." Taking the food off the stove, Sue puts it on two plates before putting the plates on the table with two bottles of water.
"I don't know if I can eat all of this." Dani whispers looking at the food with wide eyes.
"Just eat what you can." Sue reassures her.
"Okay." Taking a bite of the food, Sue eats her's easily as Dani eats slowly.
After dinner, Dani helps with the dishes before she and Sue move over to the couch. Watching a movie Dani picks, the young girl curls up and rests her head on Sue's lap. Covering her up with the blanket, Sue strokes Dani's hair soothingly. Halfway through the movie, Sue hears soft snorts. Knowing Dani is asleep; Sue turns off the movie and TV, before slowly standing up. Picking up the young girl, Sue lays her down under the blankets of the spare bed.
The next morning is Sunday. Giving Dani a pair of shorts, Dani honestly doesn't care what she looks like. Buying some clothes and getting laughed at, Dani does her best on ignoring them. Buying everything Dani needs, they head home. Home, a term Dani can finally say, but for how long?
Filling Dani's dressers and closet, Sue finally asks the question she has been wondering.
"Dani?" Dani turns to face her, "Did you go to school in New York?"
"I had to drop out. The centre couldn't afford the books and transit."
"Would you like to go to high school?" Watching Dani shrug her shoulders, she looks down at the floor, "Honestly, I know I can trust you, but I don't feel comfortable with you staying home alone. I don't want you to get hurt or anything."
"You want me to go?" Dani whispers.
"I would like you to. I have to go to the school tomorrow, so would you like to come with me?"
"I'm scared of people." Dani admits, "There are too many."
"I know, sweetie, but you will get used to school over time. It will take a while." Nodding, Dani moves over to Sue.
"Hug please." Smiling, Sue wraps her arms around Dani in a hug. Hugging her back, Dani admits to herself she likes Sue's hugs.
The next day, Dani gets up early to take a shower and to get dressed. Wearing a dress with leggings and skateboarding shoes, Dani walks into the kitchen to find Sue already awake and making them breakfast.
"I'm contacting the school board to get you into McKinley for September. There is only a week left of school."
"May I get a job this summer?" Dani asks.
"To have something to do?" Sue checks making Dani nod, "I know Lima Bean is hiring. We can swing by there after school. We will have to make a resume for you though."
"I barely finished grade nine." Dani sighs sadly, "No one will want me."
"Dani, even if they don't hire you, there are other jobs around town. Besides, I want you. You could help me get the school ready."
"Really?" Dani asks peeking up with a frown on her face.
"Yes. I'll need the help."
After breakfast, they head to McKinley and head to Sue's office. Entering the room, Dani takes Sue's chair with a cheeky smile on her face. Chuckling, Sue is a little surprised but mostly not. She's just happy that Dani is slowly getting comfortable around her.
"Sweetie, the paperwork I had to sign said you don't have a last name." Sue starts.
"I don't have one." Dani agrees.
"On the paperwork I wrote my last name to be yours. Was that okay?"
"Sure." Dani accepts.
"Good. I just wanted to see if that was okay with you."
"I don't mind."
"I'm going to call the school board." After speaking with the school board, they promised that they will contact Dani's old school for her school records. Dani was asked a few questions, like what her last name was for school so they know what to call her to get the records.
Giving Dani a tour of the school, they stop at the old choir room.
"Why are there no art classes?" Dani asks curiously.
"The school board and I took them out so we are an all academics school." Sue reveals.
"Why?"
"Better academic levels." Dani looks to the floor, "You wanted to take an art class, didn't you?" Dani nods, "I can talk to the school board and put one art class in." Seeing Dani's head shoot up with light in her brown eyes, "I can't promise anything though."
"At least you will try." Dani smiles.
At the end of the week, Dani is now a McKinley student and the school board has declined the art class. A little upset for Dani not being able to take an art class, Sue knows it's out of her hands. The school's budget has been set and that's the end of it.
Letting Dani play on her computer in her office, Sue does paperwork. Sue has assigned Dani to make a school website, which Dani learned at her old school to do.
"How is this for the logo?" Dani asks making Sue to look up. Turning the screen to her, Sue smiles.
"It's perfect, sweetie. Would you like to use the camera to put the pictures of the school up?"
"Okay!" Dani agrees excitedly. Taking the camera, Dani runs outside and starts with the front of the school.
"Who is this?" A voice asks. Turning around, Dani finds a tall guy standing there with a guy with a Mohawk.
"Who are you?" Dani counters.
"Puck and this is Finn." The Mohawk guy answers.
"Dani." Dani states.
"Do you have a last name?"
"Do you?"
"Puckerman. Finn's is Hudson."
"Sylvester. Now if you excuse me, I have a task to do." Taking a few pictures of the front of the school, Dani takes off into the school.
"She's related to Sue." Puck states.
"Must be." Finn agrees before they head into the school to walk down memory lane.
Inside the school, Dani arrives to the gym to take pictures after taking some upstairs. Hearing a fight down the hall, Dani ignores it and continues with her photos. Arriving to Sue's office, Dani finds the two guys in there fighting with Sue. Stepping into the office, Dani squeezes through and approaches Sue.
"Here you go." Dani whispers handing her the camera shyly.
"You can upload them, sweetie." Sue smiles letting Dani to take over the chair once again.
"Sweetie?" Finn asks confused.
"She's my daughter." Sue explains.
"Your baby died." Puck starts, "How can she be your daughter?"
"Foster care." Dani states.
"Wait, you're a foster kid?" Puck snorts. Glaring, Sue orders him out, "Your parents didn't want you, huh Dani?"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE!" Sue shouts making Dani cover her ears as she starts to cry. Closing the door behind them and locking it, Sue lifts Dani off the chair and sits down. Holding her close, Dani sobs into Sue's shoulder.
Outside, Finn shoves Puck into the wall.
"What the hell?" Puck questions.
"Attacking a little kid? What the hell is wrong with you?" Finn glares.
"Sue took the arts away. Sue doesn't deserve family."
"You made a little girl cry!"
"What a baby." Puck laughs. Punching him in the face, Finn storms to his car and drives away leaving Puck in the parking lot.