Just wanted to add in another disclaimer here, I don't own the song used in this chapter. It's Hero by Mariah Carey, and it belongs to her and whoever wrote it...Not Mine!
Chapter Two:
The next week, on Thursday morning, Abby walked into the school with a smile on her face, happy to be settling into a routine that included some new friends. She was beginning to understand the Glee dynamic, wherein the football players and cheerleaders were nice and fun during Glee rehearsals, but did not do anything more than give a nod of acknowledgment to the rest of the Glee members during the day in the halls. It was more than she was expecting, so it did not bother Abby at all when Puck and Finn barely made eye contact the day before when they passed her in the hall. The rest of the Glee members, however, were much kinder all day long, not only on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons when they held rehearsals.
Abby found herself being included into the day to day goings-on of Mercedes, Kurt, Artie, and Tina, getting to know them and finding that she had more in common with them than she had thought. Abby played a little guitar, and Artie had offered to help her hone her skills; Mercedes had an infectious sense of humour, and was letting Abby know about all the school gossip, which wasn't really her thing, but allowed her to create a bond with the girl; Kurt was hilarious and had a sarcastic wit that rivaled anyone Abby had ever known, and he was subtly but persistently encouraging Abby to 'fix up' her wardrobe; Tina was the one that Abby felt the closest to already, as they shared a common taste in music, movies, and though Tina didn't know it, Abby wished she had the courage to wear the kinds of clothes that she wore.
Mr. Scheuster smiled at Abby, Artie and Kurt as they entered the choir room after school that day, and they waved back as they claimed their usual chairs with Tina and Mercedes, who were already there. Puck was the last to enter the room, nodding apologetically at Mr. Scheu for being a few minutes late, and Abby was a little shocked to find Puck sitting on the empty chair next to her, instead of one of the ones on the other side of the room with Finn, Mike and Mark. Ok guys, so we're almost done getting Abby caught up on our old routines. By next week we should be good to go on starting on some fresh material for Regional's. We're going to run Don't Stop Believing today, so Abby, why don't you follow along as best you can on vocals for the first run through, and then we'll break it down for you so you can pick it up?"
"Ok, I'll give it a try" Abby agreed, moving to the front of the room to watch the choreography as she sang along following Tina's part in the music.
Once the song was over, Mr. Scheu made Abby get up and join the rest of the group, who helped her with the simple choreography as she fumbled along, trying her best to get the hang of it. They ran through the song twice more after that, and finally Mr. Scheuster agreed that it was decent enough and that with a little bit more practice Abby would have it down as solidly as the rest of the group.
"Hey Abby, next class we should show you our version of Proud Mary" Artie told Abby excitedly. "We do it with a special twist"
"Why wait? The wheelchairs are still in the auditorium" Brittany said with a smile and Abby looked at Artie curiously, mouthing the word 'wheelchair' at him questioningly.
"Can we Mr. Scheu?" Artie asked with a hopeful expression, ignoring Abby's curiosity for the moment.
"Yeah, alright let's go guys, to the auditorium" Mr. Scheuster agreed, and the class filed out, Brittany and Artie both telling Abby about how they came to create the routine and the whole debacle that went down at Sectionals.
"So they really stole your whole set-list? What did you do?" she asked in awe as the class entered the auditorium.
"We improvised. Rachel did a solo for our ballad, we put together a whole new number in under an hour, and we did an older routine we did at our invitational" Artie explained, allowing Abby to push him up the ramp to the stage while the other Glee members were setting up ramps on the actual stage and getting settled in wheelchairs. Abby and Mr. Scheuster moved out of the way and sat down in the audience as the band started playing the introduction to the song. Once it was over both Abby and Mr. Scheu started applauding and cheering.
"Ok great work for today guys, I'll see you all tomorrow" Mr. Scheu dismissed everyone.
"Hey Mr. Scheuster, would it be ok for me to stay behind and practice a little? I won't stay too late" Abby asked quietly, and Mr. Scheuster agreed.
"Of course Abby, would you like me to stay and help?"
"No, that's fine, I think I've got it, I just want to polish a little" Abby smiled
"Alright, well the school doors lock from the outside, so you'll still be able to get out if the janitors leave before you do. Just make sure you turn out the lights before you go"
"Ok, thank you Mr. Scheuster"
"No problem, Good Night Abby" Mr. Scheu smiled and started towards the door as the last of the students filed out in front of him.
"Night Mr. Scheu" Abby called after him, before double checking that everyone had in fact left.
Abby made sure that the doors were closed and then hopped back up onto the stage, which had been cleared of ramps and wheelchairs. Taking a deep breath, Abby looked out into the empty auditorium and began to sing.
There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
It's a long road
And you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
Oh ho, Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away, hey yea
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time, you find the way, hey
Then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
That a hero lies in you
Mmm, that a hero lies in you
When the final note faded out, Abby smiled to herself, the familiar sense of calm and peace that she got from singing washed over her. She was so lost in her thoughts and emotions that she hadn't noticed anyone in the theatre, and was therefore quite startled when a voice came from the shadows in the right wing of the stage.
"Hope Rachel doesn't know you can sing like that" Puck said as he sauntered out of the shadows "She'd through a fit if she knew someone better than her had joined Glee"
"Puck! You scared me" Abby breathed "What are you doing here?"
"Forgot my guitar" he motioned over his shoulder to where his guitar case lay. "Seriously though, does Mr. Scheu know you can belt it like that?"
"Well I didn't audition with a real 'belt it' song, but that doesn't matter"
At Puck's arched eyebrow, Abby sighed and continued.
"I don't want to be the star, or sing solos or anything. I get terrible stage fright if I'm the center of attention. I never would have been able to sing that song like that had I known you were there"
Puck wandered over to the edge of the stage while Abby was talking, and sat down, letting his legs dangle over the side for a moment before he looked back at Abby and patted the spot next to him. Abby sat down cautiously, leaving a fair amount of space between them.
"I don't bite you know" Puck leaned back on his hands, tilting his face towards the ceiling.
"That's not what I've heard" Abby told him quietly, mimicking his position "I heard you're one to avoid, someone to be scared of"
"Are you scared of me?" he asked nonchalantly, keeping his eyes closed, like he really didn't care what her answer was.
"Yes" Abby answered truthfully.
"You don't seem like it"
"Well, looks can be deceiving"
"Apparently. So why stay here after school? Isn't someone gonna be wondering where you are?"
"Not particularly. I stay behind because I like it here better than at home" Abby's eyes shot open as she realised that she had said that last part out loud. She braved a look over at Puck and found him studying her with curious eyes. "Can you forget I said that?"
"Forget you said what?" Puck smirked at her as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"What about you, anyway?" Abby asked, trying to change the subject.
"What about me?"
"Why are you sitting here talking to me? Not that I mind, it just seems out of character for someone like you. I mean, you're a football player, have tons of friends, could have any girl or woman in this town that you want, and either have the respect of, or scare the hell out of this entire school, yet you're sitting here after school talking to me, the newest gleek"
"You know, that may just be the longest sentence I've ever heard you say" Puck commented "And I am sitting here talking to you because you confuse me. All the other gleeks are easy to figure out. You, not so much. You don't let people see the real you, or at least not all of the real you"
"That's very perceptive of you Noah"
"Like you said, appearances can be deceiving" he glanced over at Abby again "I'm going to figure you out North" he said, almost more to convince himself than to inform her.
"Why does it matter so much to you that you figure me out?"
"I honestly don't know" he said as he stood back up, grabbing his guitar case and jumping gracefully off the stage, turning around to face Abby as he walked backwards out of the auditorium. "But I'm gonna do it anyway. Catch you later North"
"Good Night Noah" Abby said quietly as Puck turned around and sauntered out the door, letting it slam shut with a bang that made Abby jump a little, even though she knew it was coming.
