Glee: Stereo Love Chapter 1, a glee fanfic

It was the fall of 2012, and the Glee Club was more excited to start the new school year. Tina and Artie were eager to get fresh blood for the club. They rounded up all the remaining Glee members to hand out flyers and put up posters. Tina started them off in their first spontaneous burst of song and dance.

Tina:
I had a way then
Losing it all on my own
I had a heart then
But the queen has been overthrown
And I'm not sleeping now
The dark is too hard to beat
And I'm not keeping up
The strength I need to push me

Glee:
You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine them when I'm alone
And so I tell myself that I'll be strong
And dreaming when they're gone
'Cause they're calling, calling, calling me home
Calling, calling, calling home
You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine them when I'm alone

Tina:
Noises, I play within my head
Touch my own skin
And hope they'll still be there
And I think back to when
My brother and my sister slept
In another place
The only time I feel safe

Glee Cast:
You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine them when I'm alone
And so I tell myself that I'll be strong
And dreaming when they're gone
'Cause they're calling, calling, calling me home
Calling, calling, calling home
You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine them when I'm alone

A few of them were worried that their recruiting attempts would be met with the same contempt and apathy that they had gotten every year prior, but after last year's victory at nationals, their reception became much warmer. People smiled at them in the halls, many stopped to read the posters, and a few even stopped the Glee kids in the hall to ask about auditions. Glee Club wasn't "cool" yet, but it was respected.

The glee kids missed the class of 2012 dearly, but it seemed to hit one of them the hardest. While the others paraded down the hall, in a manner eerily close to a slow motion victory walk from a bad 80's film, Brittany Pierce stood alone by the drinking fountain. She half-heartedly began putting up posters, many of them upside-down. Tina and Artie saw her and quickly made their way down the hall to join her.

"Hey, Brittany," said Tina, "Are you okay? You seem kinda down."

Brittany's expression was blanker than usual. She didn't turn or acknowledge the other two in any way. This concerned Artie.

"Brit, can you hear us?" asked Artie.

"Lord Tubbington won't cuddle anymore. No cuddles to be had. Cuddle buddy number one is gone, along with the unicorn, the scary tall one that lived in my closet, and the other members of the lollipop guild. I shoulda thrown away that evil ring when I had the chance. Brittany responded in a curt and robotic manner. Tina and Artie stood agape. This wasn't the same quirky dialogue they had come to expect from Brittany; this was straight up gibberish.

"Wait, who lived in your closet," asked Tina.

"You guys should go. The FBI's been following me since I started building my time machine," said Brittany, and then she turned away from them and began walking to class.

"I got a bad feeling about this," said Artie.

By lunchtime, the entire glee club had taken notice of Brittany's peculiar behavior. They sat down together at the cafeteria, casting worried glances over to the lunch line, where she had begun to take corn muffins and drop them one by one onto the floor.

"Well that's it," said Sam, "She's gone completely nuts."

"Who broke Brittany?" asked Sugar.

"This should be obvious," said Joe, "She's sad because she misses Santana."

"I don't think so," said Blaine, waving a finger at Joe, "We all miss them. Not to mention Tina and I who have also lost significant others. There's something else eating at her. We gotta figure out what."

Artie snapped his fingers triumphantly and smiled at the group.

"I know just who to talk to," he said, "I just happen to know someone who can 'speak Brittany'."

He pointed over to a table across the cafeteria. Around it were several freshman and sophomores. They were a rather good looking group of kids, some in Cheerios uniforms. They were all laughing and talking boisterously, except for one girl nervously poking her fork at her macaroni. Her straight blonde hair was left down. She wore just a baggy green hoodie and jeans. She gazed around the room and eventually met eyes with Artie. He started to wave to her, but she quickly looked away. When she sneaked a peek back at Artie, he was tapping his friends on the shoulder and pointing over to her. She lifted up her hood, trying to hide her face. When she looked back again, Artie and Sam started to get up and come her way. She promptly got up and disposed of her tray, in the most static and ungraceful ways possible. Her abrupt departure left a quizzical look on the faces of her friends, who soon returned to their conversation. Artie and Sam sped up to try to follow her into the hall.

"Sophia," called out Artie, "Hey, Sophia! Wait, it's Artie!"

"I don't know you," she called back, hurrying her pace.

"Sure, you do! I'm your sister's ex!"

"Nah, nah, nah! Can't hear you! Go away!"

She turned a corner, flailing her arms as she speed-walked. Sam eventually caught up to her.

"Wait up," he said, "We just want to ask you something."

"What do you want?" she asked, stopping and lowering her hood. She shared many common features with her sister, like her eyes and nose. Her face was more rounded and she was quite a bit shorter, even for a freshman. Artie rolled up beside her.

"We were wondering if you knew what was up with Brittany," he said, "She's really down lately and –"

"Not my problem," she blurted, "Brit's a big girl. She can handle herself."

"What's going on?" asked a voice behind them. He was very tall and handsome young man, with black hair buzzed super short and very dark skin.

"Nothing," said Sophia. She bolted quickly from the group as the warning bell rang.

"Hey, aren't you guys in the New Directions?" asked the boy, "I'm Jeff."

"Yeah, I'm Artie, and this is Sam."

"So you must know Sophia's sister."

"That's what we were asking her about. Brittany's been in a funk lately."

"That one's always been special," sighed Jeff, "I've been a friend of Sophia's since kindergarten. Brit's always been a bit of a sore spot for her."

"Wait," said Sam, "I thought Brittany said her sister was nine or ten."

"She sometimes thinks people's grades are their ages," said Artie, "She says it's part of the metric system."

"Anyway," said Jeff, "Sophia doesn't like to be associated too much with her sister. Brit doesn't have the best reputation. And I'm not talking about her girlfriend, I'm talking about the getting held back and stuff. Sophia wants to distance herself from Brit. She's even trying to stop me from auditioning for New Directions. I really want her to join too, but she's really resistant."

"Well I hope we can change her mind," said Sam, "We should get to class. Can't wait to seat least your audition!"

"I'm not auditioning until I get Sophia to."

"Why not?"

"I need her; she's my DJ."

Then bell rang again and they parted ways. Still, the fact that Sophia wanted to be as unattached to her sister bothered Artie. He found out that she had math last period and waited outside the 9th grade math class for her. To his surprise, she did not come out of that class, but instead emerged from a class down the hall, the 11th grade math class. Artie had no idea she was so far ahead. He caught up to her in the hall.

"Are you seriously in that math class?" he asked.

"Just because I'm related to Brittany doesn't mean I'm also stupid," snapped Sophia

"She's not stupid."

Sophia stopped in the middle of the hall. She sighed and turned back to Artie.

"I know," she said, "But do you have any idea what it's like to be her sister? Everyone's always assumed that I was just like her, except not nearly as good a dancer. Not to mention I've always had to take care of her. It's pretty sad when a 6th grader has to teach math to a high school kid. Plus, now that she's been held back, I have to be here the same time she is. Now I have to take care of her again when she's all mopey."

"Why is she all mopey?"

"Because everybody's gone, everybody from her class. She was supposed to go with them but couldn't. This is finally starting to set in with her. I mean, it should be obvious. She feels alone."

"But she's not alone. We have to show her that we're here for her."

"Good luck with that."

"You're helping."

"Say what?"

"We're gonna solve this the Glee way: singing about it."

Later in the choir room, the New Directions assembled before Brittany arrived. When she walked in she was surprised to see a chair left just for her, with everyone standing by the piano. She was even more surprised to see her sister there.

"Hey, Brit," said Sophia.

"You don't live here," said Brittany sitting down.

"Your friends are worried about you."

"The goblin speaks but I only hear bubbles."

"You guys shoulda called me in sooner," Sophia said, turning to the glee club, "Anyway, when we were growing up and our parents would play their old people music in the car, there was one band that I couldn't understand but Brittany could. I thought it was all gibberish, but she always knew how to find the meaning. So this is for you, Brit: Siderwinder Sleeps Tonight by R.E.M."

Artie

This here is the place I will be staying.
There isn't a number. you can call the pay phone.
Let it ring a long, long, long, long time.
If I don't pick up, hang up, call back, let it ring some more.
If I don't pick up, pick up... the sidewinder sleeps, sleeps, sleeps in a coil

Glee Cast
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.

Sam:
There are scratches all around the coin slot
Like a heartbeat, baby, trying to wake up,
But this machine can only swallow money.
You can't lay a patch by computer design.
It's just a lot of stupid, stupid signs.

Blaine:
Tell her,
Tell her she can kiss my ass, then laugh and say that you were only kidding.
That way shell know that it's really, really, really, really me.

Glee Cast:
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.

Tina:
Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me.
Today I need something more sub-sub-sub-substantial.
A can of beans or blackeyed peas, some Nescafe and ice,
A candy bar, a falling star, or a reading of Doctor Seuss;

Brittany got up from her chair. A smile came onto her face as she joined into the song.

Brittany:
The cat in the hat came back, wrecked a lot of havoc on the way,
Always had a smile and a reason to pretend.
But their world has flat backgrounds and little need to sleep but to dream.
The sidewinder sleeps on his back.

Glee Cast:
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
I can always sleep standing up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
I can always sleep standing up. Call me when you try to wake her.
Call me when you try to wake her up. Call me when you try to wake her.
I can always sleep standing up. Call me when you try to wake her.
I can always sleep standing up. Call me when you try to wake her.

Brittany:
We've got to moogie, moogie, move on this one

Brittany hugged her sister and the other members of the club. Smiling, they returned to their chairs. Sophia remained standing.

"Nothing's better for a case of the crazies better than some good old R.E.M.," she said. She turned towards the door, but a tall figure stood in her way.

"I couldn't agree with you more," said Mr. Schuester, "You must be Sophia. Are you interested in joining Glee?"

"No thanks, I was just leav-" A hand took hers. She looked over her shoulder to her sister. She was gripping her hand tightly.

"You should join," Brittany said, "Goblin can live here too."

Sophia smiled.

"Fine, I'll audition."

End Episode One

NEXT TIME ON GLEE: STEREO LOVE

EPISDOE TWO: CALL YOUR GIRLFRIEND

The ball really gets rolling! Sophia's big audition with Jeff! New rivals! Secret crushes! Secret talents!