Expect The Unexpected Chapter 1, a glee fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any songs performed in this story. This is purely a work of fiction.

A/N: Set after Sadie Hawkins.

Finn watched her sit at a table by herself and open her bag. She pulled out a book, put her feet up on chair and started reading. Finn took a deep breath and started walking over. As he got closer he could see her long brown hair made a curtain over her face. A guy in a letterman jacket walked over and took a chair without a word, laughing as he walked back to his friends. Finn sat down in the only other chair that wasn't being used as a foot rest. "Hey, Paige," he said with a friendly smile. She lowered her book and looked over. She didn't respond and went back to her book. He figured she wouldn't want to talk to him, but he had to try.

"So, been having a good day?" he asked awkwardly. She sighed and put her book down. "Let me guess, Sugar Motta jumped ship and you need another loser to fill your little rag-tag band of misfits so that when Mr. Schuester comes back you might just get a full time ass-kissing assistant job?" Finn looked at her in confusion. "You sound just like Sue," he said. Paige shrugged. "Count me out," she said. "Come on, Paige. We need you and you need us." At this she laughed and put her book on the table. She narrowed her blue eyes at him. "I don't need the glee club, Hudson. Let's get that straight. And what you need is to find another freak to fill the hole in the club." This made him angry, but he kept his cool. He knew she was trying to get a rise out of him.

"First of all, the glee club is very diverse. It's not just geeks and losers. We have two Cheerios, we have football players, basketball players..." Paige shook her head and reached for her book. Finn grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. "You always say you're proud of who you are, and I've never doubted that. You sit alone every day because you refuse to be like everyone else. Fly your freak flag high and join the glee club," he pleaded. She took her hand back and picked her book back up. Finn knew he'd gotten through, though she might need one last push. He knew better than to push now. "Where's your lunch?" he asked. "I forgot it. I was late," she replied. "Let me buy you lunch," he said. "No, thank you. God only knows what they put in there."

After school Paige was at her locker when someone stood on the other side. She shut her locker to find her brother Cam looking down at her. "Hey, Finn wants to see you in the choir room," he said. "And he sent you to find me?" she asked. Cam shrugged. "Not directly. Ryder told me," he replied. "Well you can tell anyone in glee you happen to trip over that I won't be attending," Paige told him. He grinned and shook his head. "For someone so small, you have a huge attitude," he said. "You're just huge. Seriously, did you grow six inches since lunch? You make me look like one of the seven dwarfs," Paige replied. He threw his head back and laughed hard. "You'd be a whole new dwarf and they'd call you Hippie."

Paige smiled and shook her head. She started towards the exit. "Hey, Hippie!" Cam called. She turned. "Got any lotion? My knuckles are dry." She dug through her bag. "What I have I told you about keeping some with you, Cam? Now you're gonna get picked on for wearing girl lotion," she scolded, producing a bottle of Paris Amour from Bath & Bodyworks. He grinned and rubbed some on his hands. "No one picks on me. Besides, I don't have practice today." "How are you getting home? Do you need to borrow my bike?" He laughed and handed the bottle of lotion back to Paige. "I'm good. I'm going to glee rehearsal and waiting for Ryder." He laughed some more. "How would I ride your bike? You ride a kid bike. I'm almost six feet tall!" Paige grinned and shrugged.

She wasn't very good at making friends and often came off as unapproachable, but when it came to her family she was really loving. "Just come to glee," he said. "Why don't you join glee?" Paige huffed. "Because they need a girl and because I don't sing," he pointed out. Cam was the only Berry with no musical talent to speak of. He was also the only Berry sibling who wasn't adopted via a surrogate. "Ugh, I hate you so much right now, little brother," she said, leaning in to his shoulder as he put an arm around her and started walking to the choir room.

Finn smiled as they walked in. "Look what the cat dragged in," he joked. "You're so funny I almost puked blood," Paige said, walking past him and sitting in the back behind Tina. Finn ignored her comment. "Okay, everybody...REGIONALS!" The glee club applauded and Finn went into a speech about needing money for a bus. Tina stood and suggested a Men of McKinley calender. "Oh, God," Paige whispered to herself. "This is the cutest crop of glee boys we've ever had..."

Glee clubbers were flowing out of the choir room on both sides. Paige stood and collected her things. "Hey, you need a ride?" Ryder asked as she straightened up. "No, thanks. I rode my bike," she replied. "Are you sure? It's pretty cold..." She put on her gloves. "I'm okay," she told him. "Okay...if you're sure, I guess," he said, looking worried. "Thanks anyway," she said. Ryder smiled and walked back to Cam, leaving Paige the last one out.

Finn had her right where he wanted her. She walked down towards the door, which Finn blocked. She looked around. "Curse my slow movements!" she exclaimed. Finn smiled. "I just have one more appeal," he said. Paige crossed her arms over her chest. "Go for it. It's only gonna take me an hour to get home on my bike." Finn laughed. "Why didn't you take Ryder up on his offer?" "He hangs out with my brother all the time. I know what he drives. There's zero room for me in there with my brother in there. But let's get this over with." "Fair enough. Join glee, not for the glory or to show people you don't care what they think...Join because you love music. I've known you for four years, Paige. You might not want to be on Broadway like your sister, but you never turn down an opportunity to sing." Paige frowned.

"When Mr. Schuester posted a sign-up sheet at the beginning of the year, there were tons of people on it. Go find someone else," she said. "When Mr. Schue posted that sheet, we were coming off of a Nationals win! Right now, we're only performing at Regionals because the Warblers were doping." Paige shook her head. "There are two reasons you lost at Sectionals. Number one...'Gangnam Style'? Really? Why the hell would you do that? And number two...that one girl fainted. I had actually considered joining glee until I saw the performance at Sectionals. The day you decided 'Gangnam Style' was a good idea was the day I knew for sure that glee club was a joke." Finn looked hurt. "What's wrong with it?" he asked. "It's, like, the biggest Youtube video ever..." "It's awful. It's more annoying than Taylor Swift live and I never thought I would say that about anything."

"Wait, I thought you liked Taylor Swift?" "Her lyrics are pretty good, but her voice is whinier and more nasal than Sofia Vergara's impression of Fran Drescher on SNL. I like her songs, I just wish someone else would sing them..." She turned to leave. "Paige, wait. I'm not asking you to perform in front of anyone. Just...come with me," he said. Against her better judgment, Paige followed Finn into the auditorium. "What are we doing here?" she asked as the reached the stage. "You're going to do a solo. Anything you want. The band will play it..." Paige sighed. "I don't need a band, I just need a guitar." Someone walked over and handed her an acoustic guitar. She sat down on a stool in the middle of the stage, hating herself for giving in.

She started playing a song by one of her favorite artists.

"White lips, pale face
Breathin' in the snowflakes
Burnt lungs, sour taste
Light's gone, day's end
Struggling to pay rent
Long nights, strange men

And they say she's in the class A-Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen, but lately
Her face seems slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries, and they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
'Cause we're just under the upper hand
Go mad for a couple grams
And she don't wanna go outside, tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the motherland
Or sells love to another man
It's too cold outside for angels to fly
Angels to fly..."

Paige officially had that rush that only came from being on stage, singing her heart out. She hated to admit that Finn was right.

"Ripped gloves, rain coat
Tried to swim, stay afloat
Dry house, wet clothes
Loose change, bank notes
Weary-eyed, dry throat
Call girl, no phone

Would it be selling out to join glee? It wasn't like she completely hated pop and only listened to underground stuff or classic rock. She listened to whatever she liked, even if it was a boyband that only 13-year-olds liked. And it did feel good to be on stage, with all eyes on her, even if it was just Finn's eyes and maybe the band's.

"And they say she's in the class A-Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen, but lately
Her face seems slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries, and they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
And we're all under the upper hand
Go mad for a couple grams
And she don't wanna go outside, tonight
And in the pipe she flies to the motherland
Or sells love to another man
It's too cold outside for angels to fly
Angels to fly
Fly, fly
Angels to fly, to fly, to fly
Angels to die..."

Finn clapped slowly and came up to the stage. "Felt good didn't it?" he asked. "I hate you, Finn Hudson," Paige said, walking the guitar back to the band guy who had let her borrow it. "So, I'll see you tomorrow," Finn said. Paige grabbed her bags and left without an answer.

Thank you for reading! I hope you like it. Please take a second to review if you enjoyed it.

Songs:
"A-Team" - Ed Sheeran