Author Notes: I already have the first three chapter typed up, thanks to 's "Two Day No Spam" rule, so if I spam you, I apologize.
Disclaimer: If you recognize anything in this story from anywhere but here, it's not mine, and I don't claim to own it.
It was almost lunch time on a Tuesday afternoon, and already my nerves were almost totally fried. There'd been too much stuff going on, too many people talking about the new girl who'd joined us for this semester. I felt very sorry for her, having to deal with all the small town gossips. I could barely deal with them, and they never even talked about me. In order for them to talk about me, that would require they even notice my existence, which very few people did.
I was incredibly shy when it came to people my age, and had very few friends. Sure, I would eventually make friends, hang out every day, then when Summer Break would come, we'd grow apart without school to keep us together, and at the start of the new school year, the process would repeat with entirely new people. That's how it had been for the past 5 years, and probably how it would be until I went on to college. I had no problem with this. I did have one friend who was surprisingly more loyal than any friend I'd ever had before.
The bell signaling lunch shrieked—or that's how it seemed to my muddled brain—and tore me from my thoughts. It was then I'd spent the last ten minutes of my Algebra class completely spacing out. Thankfully no one had noticed, so I gathered up my things and slipped out of the room, allowing myself to get lost in the crowd as I headed to my next destination.
There were two places that I spent my lunch period; the library, which was really more of a last resort, and Sue Sylvester's office. Sue was a. . . . complicated person. Everyone in the school hated and feared her, some respected her, and hardly anybody liked her. I was one of those few that could say they were among the few that actually liked her. True, Sue could be a royal bitch the likes of which no one had ever seen before, but I was fortunate enough to see another side to her.
It was around the time when the Glee club (ugh) was going to Regionals, and everybody was talking about it. Now, don't get me wrong, I harbor no ill will towards the Glee club. I think it's absolutely wonderful what they do, I'm happy that they're doing something they enjoy, but good god I couldn't care less about that damn club. I don't hate them, I just don't care. Anyway, like I said. Everyone was talking about Glee club, and I couldn't take hearing about them anymore, so I'd ducked into the first open room I saw to escape. It just so happened to be Sue's office. She'd demanded to know what I was doing in her office, and when I explained the situation, her hostility ebbed a bit. Even a blind monkey could see that Sue hated the Glee club with a passion. Her reasons are still unknown even to me. She reluctantly had let me stay, and over the next couple of weeks leading up to Regionals, it had become a daily event, my hiding in Sue's office. We would talk while I was in there, and ended up actually growing kind of close. Regionals came and went, and I still hung out in her office, because now we were actually really good friends.
Do I even need to explain the irony in that the social hermit's only real friend at school is, according to everyone else, the biggest bitch in the entire place? I think not.
Getting back on track—They'll be plenty more side-tracking here, folks, so no worries—I made my way through the hallway crowd towards Sue's office, eager to see my only friend and have her sooth my frayed nerves. Unfortunately, upon reaching her office, I found the door locked and the lights off.
"Fudge bucket," I muttered in a defeated tone, slumping. Yes, people, I come up with my own creative replacements for curse words. Leave me and my special hobbies alone.
Grumbling many more of these creative epithets under my breath, I turned on my heel to go trudge off to the library to have lunch there, figuring if Sue came back and wanted to hang, she knew where to find me. I got about five paces down the hall before I suddenly found myself on my back on the floor, my backpack gone flying, spilling its contents along the way, and all thanks to the random asian kid who was now on top of me.
"Crap! Oh jeez! I'm so sorry!" he spluttered embarrassed as he shot to his feet, yanking me to my feet so fast I nearly toppled over again. I arched an eyebrow at his choice of curses. What, were we suddenly on national television or something? He knew he could curse like a sailor, right?
I waved off his pestering questions about any injuries and shook my head. "I'm fine. Just dazed is all," I said, turning to go gather up my books, only to find him already dashing over to pick them up himself. I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from asking him where he got his crack. Someone was rather. . . . energetic.
I walked over and squatted down next to him to help him out, and I finally got a good look at him. It was then that I realized I recognized him. He was one of the Glee club kids, and I'd seen him dancing through the halls a couple times. I remember being shocked each time, as I'd never seen random dancing outside of a music video or a musical. It was certainly odd to say the least.
I picked up the remaining books and stuffed them into my backpack which he was holding before standing up, him getting back to his feet as well. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked concerned as he handed me my backpack, still on about the possibly-hurting-me thing. The temptation to roll my eyes was nigh irresistible, but I managed to stifle it, simply looking at him as I slung my backpack over my shoulder.
"For the umpteenth time, I'm fine. And here's a hint: get decaf next time, Twinkle Toes," I said before walking past him on my way to the library, feeling a bit bad for brushing him off so rudely when he'd seemed genuinely concerned, but more surprised at my audacity. Granted, yes, I am usually a rather snarky person, but normally I'm too shy around people to show that. I was actually kind of proud of myself that I had run off as a blushing, stuttering mess like I usually would when confronted with a cute guy.
. . . . Holy fuckballs, did I seriously just write that? More importantly, why am I not deleting it? What the hell is wrong with me? Ah well.
Again I was intercepted on my way to the library, but this time it was thankfully by Sue. As she was passing me by, she'd spun me around so I was facing the same way she was and hooked an arm around my neck, dragging me alongside her as we headed to back to her office. She started talking at me, but I was distracted by the asian boy whom we passed by on our way to her office. He was staring at me with a confused, if somewhat hurt (damnit), expression. Our eye-locking was brief, as a short asian girl whom I also recognized as a Glee club member pounced on him from behind and pulled him in for a kiss. I promptly looked away just in time to be dragged into Sue's office and have the door shut, blocking out the couple.
"Were you listening to a word I said?"
Sue's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked at her as I sat in the chair in front of her desk. "Depends, would I get hit for saying no?" I said as I arranged myself in the chair in a way that was comfortable for me but might be uncomfortable for others.
Sue snorted as she sat at her desk and set her lunch sack on the desk. "Not unless you get within arm's reach," she quipped with a smirk. It was my turn to snort this time.
"I'll keep that in mind," I chuckled. "But the honest answer would be no."
"I was asking you how your day went so far. I can tell, though, by the look on your face that it hasn't gone that well," she said as she pulled an apple out of the lunch sack and took a crunchy bite. I sighed and rubbed my face.
"There's just too much stuff going on. No one will shut up about the new girl. It's like everyone in this bloody school has been turned into old women who have nothing better to do that gossip," I muttered, letting my head fall back so I was now looking at the ceiling. "Then I got accosted by one of the jerks in my Algebra class for the answers to the homework. My nerves are just completely shot right now."
"Here. This might help," Sue said as she tossed me a candy bar which I, of course, missed and picked up out of my lap. Sue always kept an extra candy bar stashed in her desk just in case I needed it when I was stressed out or PMSing. "If you were 21, I'd give you alcohol, which works even better. "Unfortunately you're only 17, and I have no intention of going to jail."
"Another thing we have in common," I said with a snort as I tore open the foil wrapper and happily took a bite. I could already feel the chocolate soothing my anxiety and calming me down. I was certain that once I finished it, I could handle the rest of the day with little to no problem.
"So how do you know Mike Chang?" Sue suddenly asked me out of the blue, earning a very confused look from me.
"Who?" I said after swallowing a bite. I hated talking with my mouth full. It was obnoxious, and not very attractive. But back to the point at hand.
Like I said, lots of side-tracking.
"Mike Chang. That boy you were staring at as we walked to my office just a couple minutes ago," Sue said, making a vague gesture to the door of her office. It took a moment for my synapses to recall this particular memory, and realized she meant the asian kid who'd essentially ran me over.
"Oh, him. He ran into me in the hallway, knocked me off my feet, sent my books falling. Helped me pick them up. That's about it, really. Why do you ask?" I said as I took another bite of the candy bar, a bit sad to see I only had two bites left. How had I already eaten more than half of it?
"Do you like him?" she retorted. I nearly choked on the bite of candy bar in my mouth and gaped at her in shock. Surely she couldn't be serious? (And don't call her Shirley) (Yes, there will also be randomness, get over it)
"N-No!" I stammered, though I could already feel my cheeks heating up at the blatant lie, dagnabbit. Though, was it even a lie? I thought he was cute. Did that mean I liked him? If thinking someone was cute meant you liked them, then yes, I was a big fat liar. But that's beside the point. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend."
"I can fix that for you," Sue said, getting that look in her eye again. I knew that look all too well. The woman was plotting. And this time, I would not stand for it.
"Sue, no. Just. . . . no. Look, I let you slide by with your demented little plots to destroy the Glee club, but I will not, repeat, will not let you make evil plans to interfere with my love life!" I exclaimed, pointing a warning finger at her while giving her the evil eye. Sadly, Sue's pretty damn tough, and I'm not that intimidating to begin with, so she wasn't fazed at all.
"You don't have one," she pointed out dryly. I was forced to once again ignore the voice in my head that reminded me how much I did want a love life. I was in the middle of an argument, and I was gonna win come hell or high water, logic and actual feelings be damned!
"Yes, and I'm fine with that," I said curtly, crossing my arms, refusing to back down from her glare, simply glaring at her right back. The voice in my head sing-songing 'liar, liar' only further fueled my temper. "I don't need a love life, let alone ruin someone else's to get it! They seem happy together, so just leave them be. Promise me, you will leave them be." Sue paused, much too long for my liking. "Sue, promise me that you will not try to break them up so you can then try and play matchmaker to set me up with Whatshisface!"
After a few more moments of glaring, Sue finally sighed huffily. "I promise," she relented, grumbling, slumping back in her chair with her apple. I relaxed, very relieved, and returned to my chocolate bar, which I ended up finishing in one bite.
"Good," I said once I swallowed, licking the chocolate from my fingers. With that little argument out of the way, we lapsed back into a casual conversation like always, all the while I doodled in my sketchbook and Sue worked on her schedule for the Cheerios for this semester. And much too soon for my liking, the bell rang, signaling time for my last two classes of the day. I gave Sue a quick hug—I was one of the few who could do so without fear of getting my head karate chopped off—and dashed off, once again disappearing into the sea of students.
The rest of my school day passed by in a rather uneventful blur. After leaving Sue I'd gone on to my Chemistry class, and then skipped happily to Art, my favorite class and also my last class of the day. I ended up staying late an extra hour after school to work on my project for our sculpture assignment, before finally trekking out to ride my bike home.
On my way out, I found myself following the Glee club out the door, no doubt coming from practice. I spotted three girls who I recognized and always thought I could get alone with but was too scared to approach, a girl I didn't recognize who I assumed was the new girl, and then I spotted Mike with his girlfriend whose name I either didn't know or couldn't remember. I debated on slowing my usually fast pace so as to stay behind them as we left, but they were walking much too slowly for my liking, and I really wanted to just go home so I could watch some scary movies while doing my homework. So if anything, I quickened my pace to get ahead of them.
As I passed Mike, I ended up glancing at him and found him looking at me. He looked like he was going to say something, but I was now in the middle of the crowd of Glee kids, and my social paranoia was starting to spike, so I continued walking as fast as I could, and was past them before you could say "hold your horses!" I could hear them all talking and laughing as I unlocked my bike, trying to hurry while also trying not to make a fool of myself, wanting to speed off on my bike before they got too close.
After a few messed up attempts at dialing in the combo—How hard is it remembering the date the world was supposed to end? I mean, honestly!—I had the lock off and stuffed into my backpack. Making sure my backpack was secure on my back before swinging a leg over and mounting my bike (stop giggling), I was then quickly off on my way home. And I can't be entirely sure, but I think as I started pedaling away I heard someone from the Glee kids call my name.
Weird.