Wearing a Warbler Blazer – a Wes/OC story
By: Ashley Lotti
Chapter Two:
Lyla woke up to the sound of someone pounding on her door, surprisingly at the same rhythm that her alarm clock was beeping. "Lyla! Are you in there?"
"Cynthia?" Lyla rolled out of bed and dragged herself to the door, unlocking it and opening it. A tall red head, with perfectly straight hair and dressed to impress walked in, her heels clicking on the floor. "That's defiantly NOT school uniform," Lyla joked, glancing at her own green plaid skirt, peter-pan blouse, green tie and sweater.
"My parents are coming to get me, we're going on a college tour," Cynthia said."You know, Brown, Yale, Harvard…"
"I know Cyn," Lyla deadpanned. "Why are you telling me?"
"You're going to be the acting Prefect of the house while I'm gone," Cynthia smiled. "I've decided."
"I'm what?" Lyla stood up straighter.
"Acting Prefect," Cynthia smiled she turned to look at Lyla, smiled and patted her cheek. "It'll be a piece of cake girlie, Spring break is in three weeks."
"Three weeks!"
"Well yeah," her phone buzzed in her pocket and Cynthia pulled out a bright pink iPhone. "That's Daddy. Good luck Fletch." And just as she walked in, Cynthia McCoy walked out of her room like she owned the place.
"Acting Prefect," Lyla whistled as she went to her closet. Today was Saturday, she didn't have practice, but the yearbook had a meeting at noon and the paper had theirs at 10:30. Lyla glanced at her watch. 8 am. Plenty of time to roam around the school before breakfast.
"Lyla!" Wendy was knocking on the door. Lyla rolled her eyes as she jumped into a pair of green cargo pants before opening the door.
"Let me take a wild guess," Lyla said. "Tabatha is being a bitch?"
"In the kitchen," Wendy smiled sympathetically. "Cynthia made the announcement that you were acting Prefect – congrats by the way," Wendy said.
"Right, I'm so thrilled." Lyla threw on a white tank top and a black hoodie before she followed Wendy down the stairs to the kitchen, where they found Tabatha yelling at a freshman, waving a pot around. Lyla watched for a second, trying to remember the freshmen's name. She looked like she was about to cry.
"…you seriously think you're going to just burn down the kitchen and get away with it?" Tabatha yelled, swinging the pan again. Lyla stepped in and grabbed the pot as it swung, nearly hitting her and the other girl.
"What are YOU doing here Little Miss Perfect?" Lyla smirked. She was anything but.
"Well, I'm not the one swinging kitchenware at freshmen," Lyla replied.
"She nearly burnt down the whole fucking kitchen!" Tabatha threw a hand in the direction of the stove where a dozen black lumps were scattered.
"It's my…my home ec project," the girl stuttered.
"You should get an F," Tabatha growled.
"Tabatha, chill out will ya," Lyla held up the pot, now in her possession, her accent getting thicker. "You have Banshee practice in an hour, don't you?"
"Yes but…" Lyla held up the pot again, then reached in one of the drawers, pulled out a granola bar and grabbed a banana off the counter.
"Eat, leave." Lyla and Tabatha stared each other down before Tabatha huffed and took the food before storming out. The other girl still looked shell shocked.
"I…I…"
"Breathe, you're alright…" Lyla said. Wendy stepped in and began to clean up the destroyed cookie mess.
"I just don't know why they burnt! I did everything right!" She pouted and leaned against the counter. Lyla noticed that the girl's backpack and folders were on the counter, her name scribbled across the top of a pink binder.
"Esmeralda," Lyla started.
"Ez, please," Ez blushed. "My friends call me Ez."
"Ez, the stove here is whacky, if you set it for 350, it heats to 450," Lyla explained.
"What, that's ridiculous," Ez giggled.
"I know, it's nuts," Lyla laughed. "Wendy here, and our friend Maggie and I really did almost burn down the house, fire engines and all."
"We did fail our Home Ec assignment, now that I think of it…" Wendy spoke up. Ez laughed.
"Thanks for the advice," Ez said. "I'll try again."
"The Banshee won't be back until 3, you have time," Lyla smiled at the freshman. "Good luck."
She left with Wendy, her camera strapped around her like a satchel, and her backpack settled on her back.
"Breakfast?" Lyla asked Wendy.
"No, I'm good," Wendy said with a grin. "Maggie just went down; you might get to catch her."
"Okay…" Lyla raised an eyebrow. "See you later tonight? You still want my help with Stats?"
"Yea, I'll see you later," Wendy waved and turned in the opposite direction away from Bray, their dorm, toward Limerick, the other girl's dorm.
"Note to self, check on Wendy," Lyla said to herself. She wasn't sure if she was going to like this Acting Prefect thing.
"You don't know her name?" David asked Wes through their bathroom door.
"No, how many times are you going to ask me that!" Wes rolled his eyes and pulled a blue sweater over his head.
"Till I get the truth," David said. "Wesley Hughes would not just give his jacket to a total stranger and get all of his Warblers, his loyal friends, stuck in a 3 hour practice on a beautiful Saturday without a reason."
"I was flustered, I didn't' see her coming!" Wes rolled his eyes. And there also was the fact Wes got even more flustered when he got a decent look at the girl and noticed that she wasn't that bad looking.
Of course, she had the dear in the headlights look on her too so…
"She was hot, wasn't she?"
"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"
"Maybe," David laughed. "Hey, Katherine and I are getting something to eat after Harvey's Warbler Workout, want to come?" Wes huffed in the mirror. Another chance to be third wheel? Great!
"Sure, why not?" Not like he had anything else to do.
"Cool," David exited the bathroom and both boys looked at each other. Both of them were wearing Khaki slacks, a white shirt, and a blue sweater.
"We need to stop doing that," Wes laughed pointing to his clothes and then back to his own.
"Fine, I'll change!" David went to the closet to find another jacket.
"Lyla Rose!" Brent Smith, the St. Patrick Harold's newspaper Editor in Chief, hunted her down the second she walked through the door to the newspaper office. "How's my favorite Southern Belle?"
"I'm no southern belle, Brent," Lyla laughed. "What do you need?"
"Maria is doing a piece on music," Brent started.
"As she should, since that's what her column in the paper is supposed to be about," Lyla said. Brent rolled his eyes.
"And she has interviews and pictures from the Dorby Darlings and our own glee club, but she needs both from Dalton's."
"Why?"
"Because they're our brother school and her story just isn't complete without it. I mean, All Girls, co-ed, and…blank," Lyla was glad she had gotten used to how fast the Editor in Chief talked. "Follow me here?"
"So you want me to take pictures of Dalton's glee club?"
"And interview them," Brent smiled.
"Aw Brent!" Lyla stomped her foot down and pouted. "I hate talking to people I don't know… That's why I'm behind the camera lens, remember?"
"Well I'd send Maria with you, but she's in a tutoring session until five or something ridiculous." No she wasn't'. She was probably sleeping with her boyfriend, who happened to be Brent's roommate, and he had been pushed over into getting her out of finishing her assignment yet again.
"Please Lyla," Brent pouted. "Please please please, when do I ever ask you to do anything beside be our amazing photo editor?"
"Every weekend since I joined the paper," Lyla crossed her arms.
"You ARE the best photographer this side of Ohio's ever seen…"
"Now you're just getting pathetic," Lyla shook her head. "I'll do it, I'll do it. If it means you'll go and bug someone else, I'll do it."
"You're amazing, thanks doll," Lyla sighed and sat at one of the desks in the corner that she had rightfully called her own since joining the paper sophomore year. It was the closest to the dark room and she could move in and out (mostly) without people bothering her.
She looked up the phone number for the glee club director, and, taking a deep breath, made the phone call.
"Five minutes," Evan and Ethan whispered at the same time.
"Until what?" Reed asked from his seat behind them.
"Harvey's head explodes," the responded with wide grins. At that moment, Harvey was on a roll on a very long lecture about professionalism and presentation and they were lucky they put on one hell of a show yesterday because if anything had gone wrong they'd all be dead meat.
"Is the whole practice going to be him yelling at us?" Logan asked, looking at his watch. There were so many other things he could be doing with his time right now.
"The last time he was this angry, we had to sing our entire set for sectionals so many times I think Reed passed out," David said, crossing his arms.
"Are you going to see this girl again Wes?" Kurt asked leaning across Blaine to look at him.
"He doesn't even know her name," David murmured. The boys groaned quietly and Blaine flicked Wes in the back of the head.
"None of you are going to let me live this down are you?" Wes sighed, putting his head in his hands.
"Never," the twins smirked.
Lyla couldn't believe how turned around she had gotten. She didn't normally visit Dalton, except to occasionally find her dad in his classroom, but the rest of the school was simply a maze to her. Somehow she ended up outside again and she huffed, crossing her arms.
Across the courtyard that she was in, there was a boy who was concentrating extremely hard on a book in his hand and a silver container in the other. Lyla walked over to him and noticed that he was lining the edge of the building with white crystals.
"Salt?" she asked, making the boy jump. "Sorry!" She apologized quickly. The boy stepped back and looked at her skeptically. "Look I'm just looking for where the Warblers practice, I didn't mean to interrupt." The boy was still looking at her. He was taller than she was, but his face seemed younger. His lips were red and Lyla wondered if he bit them. He held out a squirt bottle and pointed it to her like a gun at the ready. "If that's holy water, I'm not demonic, I swear," Lyla held up her hands. The boy's eyebrows rose. "I did an article for the school paper about parapsychology." She smiled. "And my brother and I watch Supernatural on occasion." The boy seemed taken aback, but Lyla was still on a mission. "I'm Lyla Rose," she said, introducing herself and offering a hand.
"Dwight," Dwight shook her hand, still a little put off by her sudden presence. "Warbler hall is on the other side of campus."
"Of course it is," Lyla sighed. "You wouldn't be able to show me, would you?" Dwight seemed reserved for a minute before he nodded. "Thank you," Lyla smiled. Dwight headed into the closest hall and Lyla deliberately jumped over the salt line. Finally convinced Lyla wasn't a demon, Dwight seemed a lot more at ease as they crossed the campus.
"Down that way, follow the voices," Dwight pointed. "I have to go re-line the dormitory while it's semi-quiet."
"Thank you Dwight," Lyla smiled. Dwight merely shrugged and turned to walk the other way. His directions were rather clear, follow the voices. But the only voice Lyla could hear was that of a man screaming his head off. Lyla shrugged and, camera in hand, she headed down the corridor.
Boys in blue blazers sat (almost) quietly as their adviser lectured them. Lyla pursed her lips as she saw how red in the face he was getting. Eventually, he'd have to stop for air, and then she'd speak up.
"…and further more!" Harvey went on, pausing for air.
"There's a further more?" Kurt groaned, placing his head on Blaine's shoulder. Harvey took a breath but before he could continue, he focused on the back of the room.
"Can we help you?" the entire group of Warblers spun around to look at the girl in the back of the classroom.
"Mr. Harvey? I called you like an hour and a half ago?" the girl held up her camera, hoping to give him some recognition. "St. Patrick's newspaper is doing a story on vocal clubs in our school district…"
"Oh yes, yes, come in."
"Holy hell…" Wes whispered, grabbing onto David's shirt sleeve.
"What?" David asked his friend as Harvey conversed with the girl from St. Patrick's.
"It's her!" the boys snapped their heads to look at him.
"That's the girl who has your jacket?" Reed asked.
"She does have nice stems," Evan said.
"And petals," Ethan added.
"Don't let her see me…" Wes shrunk down in his chair.
"Boys, sit up!" Harvey announced. "This is Lyla Fletcher; she'll be taking pictures of us for her school's paper." Harvey said.
"Lyla!" Blaine and David both whispered at Wes.
"Are there any particular shots you want to take, Miss Fletcher?" Harvey asked.
"Um," Lyla looked around the hall. "Well, if you guys could perform?"
"Right, of course," Harvey gave them a signal and the boys rose. "Why don't we show her the song from last night, eh boys?"
"Maybe we should do something different," David suggested. "Seems like Miss Fletcher was already at Parent's Night." Lyla looked at the boy confused for a minute before she saw the boy standing behind him.
Their eyes connected and they both turned away quickly.
Oh my god. Lyla thought. It was the boy with the jacket.
Lyla had to admit, the boys were good. She hadn't had the chance to pay a lot of attention to the Warblers last night at parent's night, seeing as her father was talking to her about picking political parties to support and and organizations to get involved with, etcetera etcetera, but watching them do a rendition of "Raise Your Glass" (which was one of Lyla's favorite songs) Lyla could only think that she was very glad St. Patrick's didn't compete with their Glee club, because they would have never beat the Warblers.
"That was honestly amazing," Lyla smiled as she placed the lens cap on her camera and wrapped it around her body again. "Thank you for the show."
"Of course Lyla," Mr. Harvey smiled. "Do you need anything else?"
"I'd like to interview a couple of the members?" Lyla said. "Most likely just the leads will do. I'll need quotes for the photo captions."
"Sure," Mr. Harvey waved and four boys stepped up. "The rest of you, practice is over today; see you bright and early tomorrow." The boys groaned. Apparently, practicing on weekends wasn't normal for the Warblers.
Lyla interviewed Blaine Anderson, the exceptionally good looking and confident lead singer from the song she just watched. She also met Logan Wright (Oh, the senator's son) she thought, who seemed a little displaced and clouded; Kurt Hummel, very fashionable and had a lot to say about this's and that's, and finally Reed Van Kamp, who seemed a little shell shocked that Lyla was even interviewing him.
Outside the hall, Ethan and Evan had Wes by each of his arms. "Guys, let me go!"
"No," they said together.
"Where are you going?" David asked.
"Wasn't I going with you and Katherine?" Wes asked, confused.
"That was until Miss Lyla walked in and your IQ dropped impressively," David smirked. "You started singing the wrong song Wes."
"I...I…I…" Wes struggled. Ethan peered into the hall where Lyla had smiled and thanked the leads.
"She's done," Evan said.
"Go on Hare," Ethan said. "Go get your girl."
"Or at least your jacket!" they said together before shoving him into the room. He waved goodbye to Blaine, Kurt, and Reed, who were walking out together. Logan was in the far corner of the room, next to the piano and with Harvey. Lyla was sitting in one of the abandoned chairs, making notes in a notebook. He felt frozen. What should he say?
Lyla looked up, her hazel eyes blinking at him for a moment before she smiled. She closed her notebook and put it in her backpack. "Are you going to spill another soda on me? Because if so, I'm going to have to charge you for laundry." Wes unexpectedly laughed. He held up his hands, showing that he wasn't holding a beverage of any kind, and Lyla smiled again.
Wes really, REALLY, liked her smile.
"I'm Lyla," she extended her hand. Wes took it.
"Wes," he responded. "Nice to meet you."
"You two," Lyla said. "Oh, your jacket!" she had almost forgotten. "I have it, back at my dorm…I can, I can bring it to you tomorrow? Maybe? I don't know." What she did know was that her accent was thickening, a sure sign that she was getting nervous. Lyla didn't get nervous around boys...around anyone! What was up with this Wes guy that had her all twisted in knots that a boy scout would crap his pants over?
"Oh, don't worry about it," Wes said. "I've got a couple to hold me over," he shrugged. Say something IMPRESSIVE Wes. Say something COOL. "You take pictures?" he pointed to the camera hanging by her hip. He mentally smacked himself. Good Caveman Wes, point out the obvious.
"Yeah," Lyla said. "I'm the Photo Editor for the paper and the yearbook at my school," Lyla said with a grin.
"That's pretty impressive," Wes said. "Can I see some of the photos?"
"Sorry," she held up the camera. "Film camera only. I like how they come out in the dark room better than through Photoshop." She shrugged her bag onto her shoulder. "Can I ask you a favor?" Wes nodded. "How do I get to the parking lot from here?" Wes would have just pointed the way had a little voice in his head (that sounded scarily enough like David) spoke up for him.
"I'll take you there," he said. Lyla looked relieved. "Come on, this way." He led her out of Warbler hall and down a corridor.
"So your teacher…" Lyla pointed over her shoulder. "He seemed…"
"Pissed off to the extreme of extremes?" Wes offered.
"To say the least," they both laughed. "What happened?"
"Oh well he…um…" Wes suddenly looked embarrassed. "It was about Parent's night. He's ticked that we weren't all in uniform when we performed." He said quickly.
"I was there; you guys all looked the same. White shirts, Dalton ties…" realization flashed across her face and Lyla stopped and covered her face.
"Lyla?"
"Oh my god! Your jackets! It's my fault you guys are in so much trouble!" She shook her head and Wes saw her blush furiously. "Oh Wes I'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault," Wes couldn't help but smirk. "I spilled the soda on you, remember? I ruined your dress."
"Wasn't my dress, so no harm there," Lyla laughed. "But I had…have! I HAVE your jacket and then you weren't in uniform and now you and the rest of the Warblers are in Glee-club-boot-camp!" Lyla shook her head again. "Wes, I'm so sorry. Can I make it up to you?" She asked. Wes looked at the girl in front of him. Her hazel eyes were big and round, looking at him so apologetically. Her hair looked highlighted, but unlike the punk rock blue and purple he normally saw in girls' highlights, Lyla's were natural reds and blondes. It was tied up in a loose ponytail. Her clothes looked comfortable. She wore baggy green cargo pants, but her tank top was tight and fit her nicely. She had one hand on her camera the whole time they had been walking, as if she let go for one second, it would disappear.
And then there was that smile, with the little gap between her front teeth. Not a huge one, but one that was just endearing enough.
Wes really liked this girl.
"Tell you what," Wes's mouth was taking front seat to what his brain was trying to function. "Let me buy you dinner?" Lyla seemed a little taken aback. "Because, whether you think so or not, I feel like none of this would have ever happened if I hadn't basically tackled you in the hallway last night." He laughed.
"Okay," Lyla and Wes both looked at each other a bit confused. Then Lyla smiled again, and Wes let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Great," Wes smiled back to her. He felt like jumping up in the air and shouting, but he restrained himself. "Oh look, parking lot." And we were back to Caveman Wes.
"Thank you so much. I was SO lost earlier." Lyla said.
"So, I'll see you tonight?" Wes asked. "I'll pick you up at seven?" Lyla nodded. "Great." They exchanged numbers and then Wes watched as Lyla climbed into a lime green Ford Fiesta and waved to him as she backed up and drove off. Once the lime green car was out of sight, Wes ran all the way to the other side of campus where Winsor was and burst through the doors, tripping over Charlie who was sweeping salt off the floor. Huffing and puffing, Wes found himself being stared down by a dozen pairs of eyes leering in from the common room.
"I have a date," he grinned, trying to shrug it off and act nonchalant about it all. But the Winsor boys cheered in uproar and dog piled their second-smallest Warbler to the ground.
Up next, Lyla and Wes's first date. How are y'all likeing the story so far?