Title: Rectification
Spoilers: up to 2x18 (Born This Way)
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I don't think I'd be here if I did... jus' saying :)
A/N: yeah, I seriously don't know what I'm doing here- I randomly had this muse for some Mike & Quinn friendship ('cause that girl seriously needs some friends) and was all set to do a short piece when RIB lets loose the surprise attack that was Quinn's from-out-of-nowhere backstory. Sooooo yeah. I don't know what I'm doing, so bear with me... and let me know if I should continue or not :)
Mike Chang has never liked the spotlight, and that's how it's always been. He knows full well the workings of adolescent social structure- high school hierarchy is a dangerous one- it's dog eat dog, eat or be eaten.
And so, he employs an infallible survival tactic: camouflage. He can't be eaten if he's not seen.
He likes to think he's become quite the expert at the art of blending in over the years. No, he's not overly popular but he's no social pariah; not the star quarterback, but on the football team nevertheless. Hell, the one thing that sets him apart from the rest – his aptitude for dancing- used to be to him simply a hobby that never left the confines of his bedroom. It took months of being in glee club to realize that this difference, as detrimental as it was to his otherwise solid guise of unanimity with the student body, was not one to hide away.
That being said, this survival tactic most definitely kept him alive and thriving within the archaic environment that is school, whether it be McKinley High, or even back in his days at Belleville Middle School.
Yes, he went to Belleville.
His social status back then was not at all dissimilar to the one he holds now. He had his core group of friends, and they were neither at the top nor the bottom of the socialite hierarchy, and that's how he liked it. He vaguely recalls the adornment those at the top would garner (whose names, funnily enough, are now hazy in his memory), and how such people set the standard, dictated what was what, and what would go down. He also vaguely recalls some girl that everyone picked on and avoided like the plague- not so much because she did anything wrong, but because it was dictated that it should be so. And truthfully, everyone (Mike included) was simply thankful that it was her and not them, that no one bothered to step in and question such unjust workings. He recalls her being the butt of everyone's jokes- friendless, chubby, alone- you know, the stereotypical outcast. He recalls her name was Lucy something or other. Now that he thinks of it, he doesn't remember ever knowing what her last name was; everyone just referred to her as "Lucy Caboosey" anyway... and he was too naive back then to see her as anything but that.
So yeah, camouflage kept him alive, but in the back of his mind, he's always seen it as a sacrificial sort of survival; Mike has always prided himself in his morals. Sure, he may not always act on them, but they're instilled in him- and not being able to act on them has always given him some sort of inner turmoil. He never did quite approve of what goes on in the cruel social world, but, when it came down to it, he chose his survival at the expense of that of others, and so, he has always refrained from speaking out. He didn't want to be seen. He won't be eaten if he's not seen.
But that's a thing of the past. If there's anything he's learned from glee club, it's to embrace differences, and especially in light of Mr Schue's latest theme for them – acceptance - Mike has resolved to start stepping out of his comfort zone and shed his invisibility cloak of conformity. It's time to start actively exemplifying the morals that he so believes in, it's time to walk the walk... a bit late in the game, but better late than never, he muses.
So of course, he's in for quite the surprise when he steps out of history class after third period. With a bounce in his step in anticipation for lunch time, he heads down the main hallway towards the cafeteria, where he usually meets up with Tina. However, as he turns the corner, he sees an unusually large cluster of students surrounding the bulletin board.
Curious, he edges closer to crowd to see what it is that's so enticing.
What he sees brings the all-too familiar feeling of uneasiness that starts in his stomach and makes him twitch with guilt.
VOTE FOR LUCY CABOOSEY.
And in all honesty, he is at first baffled that he never knew that this Lucy chick had also transferred to McKinley as well, and that in the picture she looks exactly the same as the vague memory of her he has in his head. He would think that if anything, her high school self would at least look older or something, he's not quite sure.
Then he starts to hone in on what the others are whispering about in fits of disbelief and laughter:
"... Fabray, seriously?..."
"...yeah, didn't you hear that..."
"...that's what I heard too, and..."
"... Quinn Fabray! Totally..."
Mike doesn't even have a chance to catch anything else, because at that moment, he hears the slam of a door being thrown open, a flurry of wild footsteps, and (speak of the devil) it's Quinn Fabray in the flesh, frantically pushing past the crowd, and in one sweeping movement, she rips down the poster and sprints back from the direction from which she came.
In her wake, she leaves a crowd of snickering teenagers, and one bewildered Mike Chang.
He feels his stomach drop, and he's not quite sure which is more shocking to him – the look of pure and absolute terror he saw in Quinn's face just now, or the fact that Quinn, the Quinn Fabray is (was?) the infamous Lucy Caboosey of Belleville Middle School.
He's also unsure of what to do in the moment - to go and comfort Quinn or not? He can't quite remember the last time he ever talked to her; they were by no means close, nor did their relationship go beyond fellow glee clubbers (although now... he can add that extra association of bullied victim and useless bystander to the list, he supposes).
What Mike is sure of though, is that while he may not have been the reason Lucy was treated the way she was back then, he feels indirectly responsible. He did nothing to stop it, and sometimes even participated in the social quarantining; the way he saw it, he had some sort of score to settle, a knot that needed untangling.
Well, that, plus the fact that he wants to live up to his reputation of being a nice guy and team member, and hey, the girl was absolutely devastated... what was the gentlemanly thing to do?
And so, he picks his jaw (his mouth being agape from shock) up from the floor, texts Tina a quick heads up that he'll be a tad late, and goes off to look for Quinn.
A/N: Yay? Nay? Let me know - reviews & comments are definitely welcomed. Oh, and thanks for reading!