Yes...I know. I'm crazy. But this prompt on the angst meme was just too good to pass up.
Five times Matt had something he wanted to say but stayed silent and once he spoke up.
I.
Mr. Schue had lost his mind. That was the only acceptable explanation. And judging by the way the majority of his teammates were eagerly dividing the box of wigs Mr. Schue had produced, they were all content to take the train ride to crazy town as well. Even Santana was grinning, putting the seriously ugly dreadlock wig on Artie's head.
Ok. Matt admitted that was funny. But still. Couldn't they see how absolutely insane this sounded?
Jane Addams Academy had been great. Clearly better than any of them had anticipated. Although why the rest of them thought Sectionals was going to be such a cakewalk when the schools were announced was beyond Matt. Twenty minutes on the Ohio Show Choir Board website would have told them Jane Addams might be one step up from juvie hall but they were serious about their show choir. Five trips to Regionals in the last six years was no joke.
And if his teammates apparently had a fatal allergy to doing actual research, the absolute confidence the other team strode into their auditorium should have been the tip off. There was no faking the authority with which they took the stage. Matt had seen it time and time again when the opposing football team took the field against McKinley. Of course to be fair, they were the team that lost to the all girls' school from Tennessee; so really everyone should walk with confidence in front of them but his point remained the same.
New Directions were apparently destined to be underdogs, no matter what the circumstances. This was fine with Matt. Underdogs weren't crushed by huge expectations. It would be way more fun to go out there and just shock everyone with how good they really were. And they were good. They wouldn't win Nationals anytime soon but there was no reason they couldn't at least get past Sectionals if they concentrated on what they did best.
And this proposed Hair number idea of Mr. Schue was the opposite of good. It was horrible. If they went on stage like this, more people than Coach Sylvester would make hair jokes. But from the looks of them, the rest of the team thought this latest addition to the Sectionals set list was a great idea. He could already see Mike and Brittany coming up with steps for the number. Finn and Puck were actually arguing over who made their new hair more badass. Quinn was trying very hard to not smile at Mercedes and Tina harmonizing with Artie. At least Kurt looked as disgusted as he did by then entire process, but Matt suspected that was more to the fashionable boy trying to mentally match his new accessory to his wardrobe and coming up empty.
This couldn't happen. He couldn't let them all go up there and look like idiots. Mr. Schue was a good teacher but he was rattled. For all his speeches about respecting the other teams and not being overconfident, to Matt it looked like his teacher was discounting their competition as much as anyone else in the room. The stuff Mr. Schue had them practicing last week was good. If anyone asked him, (and no one ever did) if they would just pick a set list and perfect those songs it would help. He was all about competition, he was on the football team after all, but seriously it was getting a little confusing which songs he should remember week to week and which ones he should just forget.
He should say something. He should go up to Mr. Schue and tell him the truth. Matt was sure Mr. Schue would at least listen to him. His teacher was cool like that. Didn't Mr. Schue always tell them his door was always open to them? They could tell him anything? Clearly Rachel did just that all the time. It was a little eye-rolling but Matt couldn't blame her. She was insanely talented and this was her dream. But sometimes her suggestions really were good ones, once they were expanded to include more people than just her of course.
He could chalk that up to just Rachel being Rachel and wearing Mr. Schue down. After all, Matt had seen his younger brothers do exactly that to his mom many, many times. But last week somehow Kurt and his dad managed to get Mr. Schue to change his mind about automatically giving Rachel the Defying Gravity solo. Yeah Rachel got the solo after all (for some reason, Matt was suspicious Kurt had missed that note on purpose. He didn't know why but something…something didn't feel right there) but still at least Mr. Schue had listened.
He had taken exactly one step towards the front of the room when he saw Rachel launch herself at Mr. Schue. Even though he knew she was trying to keep her voice down out of respect for their teacher, Matt could hear her every word. Every argument Matt wanted to make Rachel was making and Mr. Schue was just ignoring her.
Mr. Schue was ignoring Rachel Berry.
He looked around the choir room, trying to find anyone that might be willing to help him. Matt tried to catch Mike's eye but his best friend was far too busy laughing at Finn's attempt at a step Mike had just demonstrated. Kurt had thrown his wig behind him and was actually starting to enjoy himself. The rest of them were a lost cause. And it wasn't like any of them would back up Rachel to begin with. Plus, it was an open secret Mr. Schue's favorite was Rachel. If he was ignoring Rachel freaking Berry, what chance did he stand?
Instead Matt took a step back and faked a smile at Finn's latest attempt at choreography. Might as well be like the band on the Titanic and go down with the ship.