Chapter 1: Reflection
Hearing the late afternoon bell of William McKinely High School made me feel even more self-conscience than I had been the whole day. It's only been eight days since I've transferred her from my small town in Kentucky, and I've dreaded every single day. Why? I'm one of those quiet chicks, you know that type that tends to slip into the background in a group people, and yeah, it makes me hard for me to make any friends. Wait, here's a news flash for you- I don't have any yet, and I probably never will.
Then why am I out here, waiting to see what Glee Club is all about? Truthfully, I don't even know myself. I guess seeing that big sign in my spanish teacher's, Mr. Shuester, room that said "Live. Dance. Sing. GLEE." must have flipped a switch in my brain. I ended up asking him about it, much to his excitement, and he invited me to stay after school to see how the club was. So here I was, lsyening through the dorr as Mr. Shue told the club's members that I was a new recruit. I could see their preppy faces now; their once excited smiles turn to a huge frown as the news hit them. No one ever wanted me - ugly, quiet me- to be a part of their club ever.
The door clicked open, and I felt my heart jump up and get stuck in my throat. Maybe I should run while I still had the chance. It would be better than another round of embarrassment. Mr. Shuester stepped out, a huge grin on his face. Yep, I should have ran, but it was too late now.
"Come on in!" He said warmly, making me feel a tiny bit better. "They're all waiting to me you."
I nodded, and tightened the grip on my messenger bag, praying that joining this club wouldn't be a huge mistake. I walked inside the music room with him, only to see twelve faces gawking at me. Some of them were preps, and some weren't, so I knew with the diversity of this group, I'd probably fit right in. Still, I knew their thoughts: "Wow, look at that freak! Her hair is so last century! She looks as flat as a piece of paper, and her taste in clothing is so bad that my granny has better fashion than her."
"Guys," Mr. Shue said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "This is Emerald Seton. She'll be joining us today to see how she likes Glee Club."
All eyes turned towards me. I really wished I was a turtle, so I could hide back in my shell and never come out. I cleared my throat and gave a tiny smile.
"Hi." I greeted, my voice coming out more timid than I intended.
A hand shot up from the crowd, from a buff guy with a mohawk. "Are you Jewish, Emerald?"
I heard a unison of groans from the crowd. Apparently, that guy had a thing for Jewish girls, or he was Jewish himself. "No," I replied, shaking my head. "I'm not. And please, call me Emi. Emerald is way to formal."
"Thanks for that little note, Puck." Mr. Shue said, laughing. "Why don't you take a seat, Emi? We'll let you watch a few of our routines."
I scanned the crowd, and found that the only vacant seat was next to that guy Puck. I made my way over there, and just stood there, staring at the chair. I really did not want to sit next to him.
The girl with the long brown hair, who was wearing a checkered cardigan and sitting next to him, looked at me and smiled. "You can sit down. Puck doesn't bite, but he does like to touch."
That creeped me out even more. I definitely did not want to sit next to him; I was one of those girls who liked her own personal space. I hated when guys touched me, because I knew what was on their minds, and it made me feel uncomfortable in my skin. Finally the guy in the dressy shirt sitting next to her said something to her.
"Rachel, why don't you just move over and sit next to Puck? The porr girl's scared out of her mind to sit there next to Puck, and I wouldn't blame her."
Rachel nodded, and scooted over one, which made Puck frown. Thank goodness I didn't have to sit next to that jock. I looked over to the guy that saved me and gave him a smile.
"Thanks for saving me." I said, putting my stuff down beside the chair.
"No problem." He said, his voice somewhat girlish/ I'd hate to admit it, but he kind of sounded gay. "My name's Kurt Hummel. We have Fashion Marketing together, right?"
"Yeah!" I said. No wonder he seemed so familiar!
"You have great fashion taste." He said, looking from my dark blue jacket to my matching quilted flats. Oh my god, he really was gay. "I love your quilted flats! Where did you get them?"
Before I could answer, Rachel turned around and sighed. "Kurt, your fashion talk with Emi will have to wait until later." She turned towards me and extended her hand. "I'm Rachel Berry. It's nice to meet you."
"Same here." I said, shaking her hand. She was the formal type, for sure.
"So why did you decide to join Glee Club? Not to be rude, but not a lot of people join out of the blue."
"Oh, I moved her a little more than a week ago." I said, tucking a strand of my almond color hair behind my ear. "I was in show choir in my old school, which is pretty much like Glee Club from what Mr. Shuester told me."
"Were you good?" Puck asked, staring at me, but then he turned away. "I mean, at singing and stuff like that."
After a sigh from both Rachel and Kurt, I answered. "I have no clue. I really enjoyed it, but I was always shadowed over by the richer kids."
"I can understand what you mean." Rachel said, staring at the cheerleaders in the row in front of us.
"Okay guys, enough chit chat." Mr. Shue said, grabbing everyone's attention. "Let's start singing! Emi, you can come sit next to me and watch. I'm sure you'll catch on to the gist of things soon enough."
The kids went through the song "Don't Stop Believing", and I sat speechless for a little while. Rachel and this guy named Finn sand the leads, and then everyone else just used their voices to sing the accompaniment and harmonize with them at the chorus. It was like nothing I had ever heard before, because my show choir had never really been that good. Then, they moved on to the song "Somebody to Love" which was equally awesome vocally, but out of the two of them, I enjoyed the first song the most. Maybe being apart of this club was going to be better than I expected.
By the end of the hour, I became acquainted with Mercedes, Tina, Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Finn, Artie, Mike and Matt. Most of them were really nice; Quinn and her little Cheerio friends didn't like me that much, but I expected nothing less. It's her loss, not mine. I said goodbye to most of them, even that guy Puck, who gave me one last look over before he left. Yuck.
"Hey Emi, do you mind singing for me?" Mr. Shuester asked, waving me over to where he was sitting at the piano. Kurt and Rachel were standing behind him, chatting about the choreography that needed to be worked out before their performance.
"Is this okay?" He asked, handing me some music.
"Reflection?" I said, reading the title. I haven't sung this song since I was a little chickie who was obsessed with any and every Disney movie. "Like from the movie Mulan?"
"Yep." He said, nodding his head. "You don't have to sing it acapella though; I'll be playing some accompaniment on the piano. You'll do fine, I'm sure."
His reassurance didn't do much for my nerves. I just nodded my head, letting him know that he could begin, and let out a series of deep breaths to the beat of the music. I could feel Kurt and Rachel's eyes on me as Mr. Shue played the opening chords on the piano, but I ignored them and began to sing:
"Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
can it be
I'm not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family's heart
Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don't know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I've tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside."
I finished singing, and looked sheepishly over at the three who had been listening. Rachel and Kurt were just standing there, smiling at me while they gave a round of applause. Mr. Shuester was smiling too, and I felt really happy, as if now I was truly accepted by someone in this school.
"Wow." Mr. Shue said, running a hand through his hair. "Your vocals are great; it's like you're a mix of Mercedes' deeper vocals and Rachel's higher octaves. As for singing the lead, I think Rachel still beats you to it, but it really depends on the song. You'd be a valuable new member for Glee. Will you join?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" I said, smiling wider.
"Great!" Mr. Shue exclaimed, extending his hand. "We officially welcome you into Glee Club, Emi."
I shook his hand, and turned back around to grab my stuff. As I fished around in my messenger bag for my car keys, I listened to Kurt explain his ideas to Rachel and Mr. Shuester for the makeup and outfits that should be done for each of the songs they sang. He really knew what he was talking about, and it was the first time I had ever heard a guy care so much about things like that. At my old school, no guy had ever gone public with the idea that he was gay. It was kept locked away, deep inside of them, like it was something to be ashamed of. Looking at Kurt, I knew that was a lie.
Finally I found my keys, and picked up my things and headed back towards the door. I said goodbye to the three of them. Rachel and Mr. Shuester said goodbye, but Kurt immediately saw the car keys in my hand and looked back up with me.
"You're going out to the parking lot, right?" He said, pointing to my keys. "You mind waiting a minute? I'll be going out there too."
"Sure." I said, nodding. "I'll wait outside the room for you."
I walked out of the room, and leaned against the cold, whitewashed wall of the hallway. I started to hum something under my breath, my heart pounding wildly in my chest from all the happiness that was circulating around my body. Today was a good day, and hopefully I would have more days like this. It felt good to be needed be someone every once in a while.
"Sorry for making you wait." Kurt said, bringing me back into reality. I stared over at him, to see his car keys in his hand, and a really cute bag slung over his shoulders. He really did have a great sense in fashion taste. "I had to make sure that everyone will look perfect when they perform."
"With all the effort you're putting into this, I have no doubt that they will." I said, as we began to walk out towards the parking lot.
On our way out, we talked about different things, like what I thought about the songs that they sang today, the school in general, as well as Glee Club. It was easy to talk to Kurt; he was one of those people who enjoyed having a conversation and that took a load off of me, the person who hates getting the nerve to start talking to anyone.
"Well, this is my ride." Kurt said, stopping beside a black Escalade in the middle of the parking lot. "Where's yours?"
"Down at the far end of the parking lot." I said, pointing down a few more spots to a little lime green Beetle.
"Oh my god, such a cute car! You really do have a great taste in things." He said, smiling. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Sure." I said, smiling. "See you later, Kurt."
As I walked down to my car I felt like I was a different person. People liked me, and I actually joined an awesome club. This was going to be better than I ever expected!
AN: Yay! Please review and give me any ideas you have for the rest of the story! I do not own "Reflections" or any of the Glee charaters, but Emi is my O.C.! :) ~E.F.