A/N - A Tike story, with a heavy undertone. Yes, there are Original Characters in the story, but they play an important part to the story, but it is primarily a Tike story.

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"Mr. Schuester. I have someone who would be awesome in Glee." Tina Cohen-Chang said with a smile. "She's just moved here and tomorrow will be her first day of school."

Will Schuester, or Mr. Shue, looked up from the papers he was grading. "That's great Tina, get her to come along."

"There's a p-problem Mr. Shue. Ms. Sylvester is going to get her before we do. H-have you heard the name Layla Ahmed before?" The Asian girl asked, trying to keep her stutter down.

"It sounds familiar, but I'm not sure why." Will replied putting his pen down.

"She's the youngest individual w-winner at the n-national cheerleading c-championships." Tina explained. "Her dad works for the same firm as my dad and I overheard t-that he was getting t-transferred from M-Minnesota to L-Lima." She gave a shy smile. "Layla and I m-met at a summer camp a c-couple of y-years ago, and Mr Shue, she can sing and dance with the best of them. S-she would be great in Glee. A-and her younger brother Jamal, h-he's amazing."

"I'll see what I can do Tina. Can you write their names for me? What grades are they in?"

"Layla, she's a sophomore, like us. And Jamal, he's a freshman." She wrote the names neatly on the notepad. "Mr. Shue, we need more people in Glee…and after our p-placing at Regionals…"

"I know Tina. Thanks for the heads up."

The tiny Asian girl flounced from his office. Will sighed and opened his laptop. He typed Layla Ahmed into Google and watched as 4, 945 hits popped up. He clicked on the first one and stared at the article on the screen. 15-year-old Wows at National Cheerleading Competition. 15-year-old Layla Ahmed stuns crowd. Small but mighty, Ahmed floors judges.

The pictures were of a girl, tiny with dark curly hair and bright eyes, wearing a smile from ear to ear. One headline caught his eye. At 15, Ahmed retires from cheerleading. He continued through the article, reading about how two ACL injuries and a cracked vertebrae in her back from overtraining forcing her into an early retirement. The picture was the same girl, in a neck brace and on a stretcher leaving a cheerleading competition. Will sighed. If the girl had half the talent in singing and half the determination that she had in cheerleading, she would make the team better.

Typing in her brother's name, less articles came up, but more than most kids. 12-year-old Jamal Ahmed wins Little League World Series for MidWest. A picture of a boy with short blonde hair and dark eyes graced the page. Will shook his head. Hopefully, if what Tina was saying was true, he could get them to both join Glee.

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Mike Chang watched Tina with a careful stare, his dark eyes following her carefully. She always sat quietly between Mercedes and Artie, and with the two of them she easily blended into the background. Mercedes drew attention to herself with her flash and personality and Artie with his chair. Though, he wasn't one to talk, hanging around with Finn and Puck. She sat quietly in her red plaid pants and black long sleeved shirt. She almost always wore long sleeved shirts, and if she ever wore something shorter it wasn't for very long and she usually wore gloves.

"Hey." He said quietly, leaning forward on his elbows.

She shivered and turned around at the sound of his voice. "Hi."

"Do you know what songs we're doing today?"

She shook her head. "No…"

"Oh." He gave her a small smile. They were so different, he was in the cool group, a football player, a slushie thrower. She was different, she was an outcast, a goth and on the receiving end of the slushies. But they were also so similar. There were only three Asian families in Lima. Their parents were friends. They were both quiet, almost painfully so, and both used glee to get out of their shells. "I like your pants."

She smiled. "Thanks."

He looked down at his hands, smiling shyly.

"I have two more people that m-might join Glee." She said softly.

"Really? Cool. Two girls?"

"No. A girl I knew from camp a few years ago, and her brother."

"Oh, what's her name?"

"Layla Ahmed."

"Layla Ahmed? THE Layla Ahmed?" Santana Lopez leaned forward. "YOU know THE Layla Ahmed?"

Tina shrugged. "Y-yeah. Like I said…we m-met at camp."

"And she's coming HERE? To William McKinley High School?" Santana nudged Brittany. "Layla Ahmed is coming here."

The blonde titled his head sideways. "That short kid?"

Santana rolled her eyes and raised her hand. "Mr. Schue? Is it true that you're going to ask Layla Ahmed to come to Glee?"

"We'll see." He pointed to the piano player. "Okay, let's try the next number…"

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Tina waited outside the main doors, hoping to catch Layla before the Cheerios got to her. She was easy to spot. All of 5'3, with dark curls and crutches she stood out.

"Laaaaaaaayla!"

The girl turned around slowly. "CiCi!" She hobbled towards her. They met with a tentative hug.

"What did you d-do?"

"Cheerleading." The small girl shrugged. "Work hazard." Her blue eyes shone. "My mom said that you wanted to talk to us about something." She motioned to the tall boy standing behind her. "Remember Jamal?"

Tina smiled. "Oh…hi Jamal."

The boy nodded in acknowledgement. He was a freshman, but he also knew how schools worked and kids that looked like Tina Cohen-Chang weren't in the cool group.

"I-I wanted to talk to you guys about joining Glee club." Tina mumbled. "W-we're looking for more people…and w-we're pretty good."

Layla nodded. "Well seeing as I'm not going to be doing cheerleading anytime soon…Why not?"

"Jamal?"

The boy shook his head. "Nuh uh. I play football. And baseball. And hockey. And lacrosse. I DON'T sing and dance."

Rolling her eyes, Layla pulled her sleeves down over her hands. "He'll be there." She started hobbling towards the door. "I will be…if I make it through the day." She shot Tina a smile. Tina smiled back, rushing to catch up to her friend.

"Here l-let me carry your stuff." Tina said with a smile. She pulled her long sleeves over her hands.

"Thanks."

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"We have two new members here for Glee." Will started motioning to Layla who was sitting with Mercedes and Tina and Jamal who looked like he was trying to blend into the wall. "Layla and Jamal Ahmed. Do either one of you want to show us what you've got?"

Tina nudged Layla. "Come on Layla. Sing something!"

The tiny girl stood up and tottered on her crutches. She slowly made her to the piano and whispered something to the piano player. He started playing a slow jazz song. Layla opened her mouth and a voice, far too large for her small frame came blaring out.

"Rusted brandy in a diamond glasseverything is made from dreamstime is made from honey slow and sweetonly the fools know what it meansTemptation, temptation, temptationoh temptation, temptation I can't resistOui, je 'il est fait fumeOui, je me suis a moi de jouer."

She stopped and turned to the rest of the Glee Club. The kids exchanged glances before Tina stood up and rushed up to her friend. "I t-told you Mr. Shue, she's awesome."

Will nodded in agreement. "I have to say Layla, that was incredible."

The girl smiled. "Thanks." She hobbled back to the seat and sat down with a heavy thud.

Santana leaned over. "That was great. I'm Santana. We met at Nationals. I'm one of your biggest fans."

Layla groaned and hid her head in her hands. "I'm retired from cheerleading Santana. But thanks."

"Okay, Jamal. How about you?"

The boy dug the toe of his shoe into the tile. "Nah, I'm not much of a singer. He blushed. I'm more into football." He said deepening his voice momentarily.

Mike laughed. "Don't worry kid. So are we. We aren't going to judge you." He gave him a soft shove. "If we know the song you want to sing, we'll even sing it with you, right Matt?"

Matt nodded. "Sure."

"So will the rest of us." Finn added with a smile.

Jamal sighed. "Okay. He stood up and waited for the rest of the guys join him. He said something softly and Mike nodded. "Yeah, I know that." He went over the stereo system and flipped through the Ipod for a second before pressing start.

Will chuckled when he heard the choice of song. Mike started the dancing, with Matt and Jamal quickly following.

"A little less conversation, a little more action pleaseAll this aggravation ain't satisfactioning meA little more bite and a little less barkA little less fight and a little more sparkClose your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy meSatisfy me baby"

Jamal grabbed Mercedes from the front row and brought her in to dance. The rest of the Glee crew followed leaving Layla sitting on the chairs watching. Jamal followed Mike's dancing, adding his own moves in, receiving a huge cheer from the group.

"Come on baby I'm tired of talkingGrab your coat and let's start walkingCome on, come onCome on, come onCome on, come onDon't procrastinate, don't articulateGirl it's getting late, gettin' upset waitin' around."

The music stopped and Jamal grinned, finishing with flare.

"You're good kid." Puck said, giving the freshman a punch on the arm. "At least in here. I'll wait to see on the field how you are there."

Jamal smiled. "Thanks."

.

Mike sat out in his car, checking his text messages before he drove off. A blur caught his eye and he looked up to follow it. It was Tina.

"Hey Tee."

The girl gave him a shy smile. "Oh, hey Mike."

"Waiting for a ride?"

"N-No. I have to walk. My d-dad is busy at the firm today and my mom had to take David to practice." She shouldered her backpack. "I'll s-see you at glee tomorrow."

"Hey…come on, I'll give you a ride. It's too late to be walking, even in Lima." He flashed her a smile.

"Sure, if it's not too much trouble."

"For a girl like you? No trouble at all." He opened up his car door and waited for her to get in.

They drove in relative silence until Mike turned to her. "Layla and Jamal are pretty cool."

She nodded. "Yep."

"You said you met Layla at camp? What kind of camp?"

She froze. "J-just a camp. U-up in Minnesota."

"Oh." He racked his brain for a new topic. "Layla is cute."

The look on Tina's face told him that was the wrong topic.

"I mean…she's cute…but not…in a way that I like. I mean…I like my girls…"

"More like Brittany?" She filled in with a sad look.

"No…no…I like my girls more like…"

"My house is right there. T-thanks for the ride." Tina said softly getting out of the car.

"More like you." Mike whispered, watching as she disappeared into the house. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel getting a large honk for his troubles. God damnit it Chang, why are you such a loser? He berated himself? Why must you screw up everything? Why must you suck at life? He pressed his head against the steering wheel before driving away slowly. Why must you screw up the one good thing in your life?