"Have you ever thought of joining a glee club?" My uncle asked after we jammed to Queen for five minutes straight on our way to the game. I laughed softly.

"If I could remember what that is, then maybe." I said, my hair blowing in the still warm September air. Uncle Will turned his head toward me.

"Glee club is a place where talented young students, much like yourself," he sent me a funny look and I punched him lightly in the arm, "Go to express that talent and share it with other people. It's a really great experience, Hales, and I know you'd love it." He smiled at me again while I was thinking.

"Is that why you gave me your old acoustic? Barbara meant a lot to you when you were…younger," I teased, fingering some grey hairs on top of his curly head.

"Hey now, Barbara has now been passed to you, a Schuester with an amazing talent," he sent me a proud smile. "So how 'bout it? Think you can spend an hour with your boring old uncle every day?" He elbowed me across the armrest as we pulled into the parking lot of the school.

It was a pretty large one, for Ohio. I probably wouldn't know since I haven't been in a high school. And I'm sure I would feel just like a freshman, even though I'm seventeen and due to start my junior year here at William McKinley. There were tons of people here; I guess the big Saturday night game is a standard event in Lima. I couldn't see anyone clearly, but I guessed tons were my age. I threw my uncle a nervous sort of smile as I got out of his tiny car.

"Sure. It would be a good place to hide if I ever needed to." That earned me a smile and it was one I returned.

"That's so great, Hales. Really awesome!" He kissed the top of my head as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders again as we made our way toward the field.

"Will!" I heard my uncle's name behind us, and both of us turned to see a pretty woman with red hair and wide brown eyes jogging towards us in heals. She smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back. She looked so nice.

"Oh! You must be Haley, Will's niece." She stuck out her hand and I gladly shook it. "I'm Emma Pillsberry and I'll be your guidance counselor here at McKinley." She smiled warmly at me and I automatically felt so much better about school on Monday.

"Hi, Ms. Pillsberry, nice to meet you." I smiled again.

"So how are you…feeling?" she sent me a careful look, telling me that I didn't have to talk about it if I chose not to, but I did anyway.

"I'm feeling a lot better than I have in a really long time. Thank you," I smiled comfortingly at her, and she returned it.

"Hey, Emma, Haley just agreed to audition for glee!" He said with a smile, and Emma's face just lit up.

"Oh, Haley that's wonderful!" She said with another smile. She was really pretty in an innocent kind of way. And she had a lovely smile.

"Yeah, I heard that-woah, woah, wait. Audition?" I asked incredulously, turning toward my uncle. "You mean I don't even get to slide in on account that I'm a blood relation? Oh, come on, uncle Will-"

"Sorry Hales," he said with a laugh, "Everybody has to audition. And besides, with your voice, everyone is going to love you. You can bring Barbara if you want." He said wrapping his arm around my shoulders as the three of us started making our way to the bleachers again.

"Um…who's Barbara?" Ms. Pillsberry asked, clearly confused.

"She's my uncle's old acoustic guitar that he gave to me when I got here this afternoon." I laughed and so did she but my uncle seemed to go a little pink in the cheeks. We gave the woman behind the little table our tickets, she stamped our hands and we found a seat in the middle section right underneath the McKinley Rangers sign. The team's color was red, and dozens of kids who looked three times my size were warming up on their respective side.

I saw a tall kid who looked my age throwing a ball to a guy with a Mohawk, and somehow they both caught my eye at the same time. Mohawk guy got distracted and the throw hit him in the shoulder pad. He bounced out of it and bent to retrieve the ball, shaking his head as I tried to keep in my laughter.

"Oh those boys down there? That's Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman. Those guys are both in glee." I stared in fascination. Guys who play football and sing? Well, wait, I played softball and I sing so I guess that makes me a jock in my own right.

"Woah how'd you pull that off?" I asked curiously, my eyes wandering over the field as I pulled my knees up and rested my elbows on them. My eyes caught what I guessed was a cheerleading squad in the corner, warming up and practicing for their half time gig I supposed. The girls all looked super pretty and as I watched the smallest ones get thrown up into the air I couldn't help but shiver.

"Hales, you cold?" My uncle felt my shiver, and I sent him a wry smile as I pulled my sweatshirt on. The sun was well passed set anyway, and the breeze was getting nippy. I kept locking eyes with that Noah kid, his all out handsomeness making me more nervous by the second. I was also earning some curious looks from Finn and two other guys. I wondered if they were in glee, too.

A whistle sounded for a five minute warning, and I took this chance to go to the bathroom.

"Hey, I'm gonna go find a bathroom, okay?" I said to the two adults on either side of me. Uncle Will made a move to get up, too, but I pushed him back down. "I'll have to learn my way around sometime, right?" I laughed and got smiles from the both of them.

I nodded and made my way toward the bottom of the bleachers, passing the home team bench on the way. Finn caught my eye and smiled a little, and he raised his hand as he went to talk.

"Hey, are you new here? I saw you sitting up there with Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsberry. I'm Finn." He smiled a really great smile and I realized I was looking up at him. Usually I'm one of the taller girls, but man he is tall.

Mr. Schue, who's Mr.-Oh.

"Oh yeah, my uncle," I laughed and pointed up in his direction, "I'm living with him for a couple months. I'm Haley." Another whistle sounded and I looked behind Finn at his assembling team and he followed my eyes.

"Well then Haley Schuester. I have to delay this introduction a little. I have to go be a quarterback now." He smiled again and I laughed as he held out his fist. "C'mon, good luck?" I laughed again and punched his big fist, making it explode for an effect.

"Woah, explosion. I'll have to remember that one." He smiled again at me as his coach-a big, ugly excuse for a man-yelled his name. I was so stunned that my answer came about three seconds after he was gone.

"Uh…Good luck, Finn," I kind of yelled softly. But he heard me and waved. I smiled at him as I turned back on the way to the restrooms. Once inside the school, I couldn't help but compare it to my old one. Granted the last school I saw was a middle school, this one was still huge. The bathrooms were right by where I had come in, so I zoomed inside, the butterflies still buzzing in my stomach from talking to Finn.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I decided that my messy ponytail of red-brown hair was…cute. In an athletic sort of way. Unlike most cancer patients, I received radiation instead of chemotherapy. I lost some clumps toward the end, but not as much as other kids I knew. And my face was still sunken and pale from it…but the flyway hairs kind of masked it.

And I could not stop smiling! Seriously, one guy talks to me for the first time in almost five years and I freak out like this? But I wasn't freaking. I just couldn't stop damn smiling.

Just then the door busted open, and a lanky woman in a red jogging suit and short blonde hair barged into the bathroom. There was no other way to describe it. She looked angry and mean, like a gym teacher. And sure enough, I saw the glint of a whistle hanging around her neck and a bullhorn in the other. She seemed to notice me and sized me up.

"Have you seen any of my cheerios walk in here?" she said in this hard, mean voice. She then started opening stall doors, and I hoped that no innocent old lady was in there somewhere.

"Uh…the…breakfast cereal?" I asked, definitely confused. I ate Cheerios for breakfast every morning when I was seven. The woman looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind. And I looked at her right back because who comes into a high school bathroom looking for walking breakfast cereal?

"My cheerleaders," she said slowly sizing me up again. I was really starting to get freaked out by this woman. She walked toward me slowly, looking me up and down. "Do you dance?" she asked harshly.

"Um, a little but not much and no I haven't seen any cheerleaders in here. If you'll excuse me-" I made a way to walk out but she stopped me with her bullhorn.

"You must do something you look like a cheerleader." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I was just too dumb to realize it.

"Well I like having all of my brain cells, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me miss-"

"Sylvester. Sue Sylvester. You must recognize me from my segment on the local news." She stood back and let me appraise her in a way that definitely proved she was full of herself to the point of insanity.

"Uh, sorry, never heard of you." In one last stitch effort to leave, I shoved my hands in my sweatshirt pockets and tried to step around her.

"What's you're name, kid?" she asked meanly. I turned to look at her and said out of the corner of my mouth: "Haley Schuester." And honestly I have never seen one woman's face get any redder. It was close to the shade of her jumpsuit before I high-tailed it out of there. Apparently she was too absorbed in her apparent hatred over my own name that she didn't notice I was gone.

It had grown colder since my encounter with the lady named Sue Sylvester, and I dug my hands deeper into their pockets. Making my way back to my seat by my uncle and Ms. Pillsberry, I noticed the score was already 7-0 Timber Falls. I felt my eyebrows knit together in confusion, feeling bad for Finn.

"Hales, no offense to the guys or anything but McKinley isn't really known for it's football team." He gave me a small smile, gauging my reaction again.

"No, it's fine. There's still a whole lot of game left. A game doesn't just depend on the quarterback anyway." I said, watching as another one of our guys got tackled by a Timber Falls guard twice his size.

"Oh!" Ms. Pillsberry gasped, "Ouch, he's a student of mine." I chuckled, pulling my hair out of it's ponytail to keep my neck warm. On the bench, I saw the back of Noah's Mohawk. Hmm…so he's defense. From his size, he must be a left or right wing. Number 20...I had 21 when I played…

Gasps and boos erupted through our stands as Finn gets sacked by this monster defender. My eyes still on Noah, I watched him stand up quickly, almost as if he was getting geared up to fight. Another guy, a big tanned guy, had to physically drag him back to the place where he was sitting. Only he didn't sit down. He randomly looked up, running the hands on the side of his head, and somehow his eyes locked with mine.

At that moment a huge gust of wind had knocked over what I guessed was a box of confetti over my head and my uncle and Ms. Pillsberry started laughing as they got covered in the little strips of bright red and white. I joined in too, laughing warming my body, and held my hands palms out to catch some. Noah, still looking at me, smiled and seemed to chuckle once, then turned his attention back to the game.

My cheeks burned, and I shrank to my seat, the confetti finally stopping to fall at half time.

..:*:..

The game ended with a whopping loss for McKinley; 44-7 Timber Falls. It was almost painful to watch. Almost as painful as that Sue Sylvester woman glaring up at me from the sidelines as her 'cheerios' performed a complicated and tight number to some upbeat and quite annoying techno song during halftime.

I would shoot myself before I would let myself dance and tumble around like a robot in a sult-ified miniskirt.

Still looking at the scoreboard, I swear it had dropped ten degrees in the last thirty seconds. I wrapped my arms around my shivering torso, and Uncle Will sensed my discomfort, putting a warm arm around me. I smiled a small smile up to him, and he smiled back. Emma had left before the game even ended, with a smile and a promise she would meet me in her office at 7:45 the next morning to get my schedule.

"Sorry if it wasn't what you're used to-" my uncle started. I shook my head against his shoulder.

"No, it was fun. And I met Finn, so I'll know at least one person tomorrow." I interjected. He smiled back down at me, and I returned it, wrapping an arm around his waist as we made our way down from the bleachers. I breathed in the brisk night air, trying to ignore the dull stab in my chest every time I would take a breath. I should get home and under blankets soon.

"Oh, hey guys." I heard my uncle say, eyes on a group of boys in letterman jackets a few yards away from us. My eyes recognized Finn in the white glow of the field lights. He sent a smile my way, and I nodded, returning it slightly.

"Hey Mr. Schue, Haley." Finn nodded back. I noticed three more people standing with him: a broad-shouldered guy with cinnamon colored skin and a nice smile; an Asian boy with nice hair and lanky arms; and Noah Puckerman. He was smirking at me, his eyes raking over my body, and I immediately felt uncomfortable. He looked like a player. To the extreme.

"Hales, this is Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford," my uncle pointed to the two boys I didn't know, and they both waved shyly but smiled warmly. I smiled back. "They're in glee club, too." I looked up at my uncle, a sarcastic look on my face.

"Seriously, how did you pull that off?" I said softly, my chuckle turning into a slight cough and I had to turn away slightly. I felt my uncle's heavy gaze, but heard him laugh to pull the attention back to the boys.

"Guys, this is my niece Haley. She just moved here from Jersey and'll be starting here tomorrow." I rolled my eyes in a funny, but strained way toward them, and some chuckled. Noah, I noticed, was still looking me up and down, stopping at my face every now and then. I shifted my weight uncomfortably, rubbing my forearm awkwardly. Mike stepped forward, extending a hand.

"Well then Haley, we'll show you around tomorrow." I smiled up at him and shook his hand. Mike's eyes didn't leave my face as I looked over to Matt who came over as well.

"Jersey, huh?" He asked in a polite but funny way. I chuckled, shaking his hand, too.

"Yeah. Not as exciting as it seems." I smirked and they both chuckled. Mike's smile grew and Matt put his hands in his jacket pockets. "So you guys are in glee with this nut?" I asked, throwing a wide smile back toward my uncle, who had backed up toward the parking lot more, letting me talk. He beamed, shaking his head, motioning for me to 'c'mon'. I heard all of them chuckle now, even Finn and Noah who'd been quite. I looked at Finn.

"Sorry 'bout the good luck thing back there." I smiled apologetically, "Good luck is kind of karma just waiting to unfold on a football field." He shook his head and was about to say something when Noah interrupted, suddenly at my side.

"Nah, we just suck." He pointed out nastily. I looked at the other boys and wondered if that was something to say in front of his teammates. His purr brought my attention back to him. "I saw you staring back there. Like what you see?" He said in suck a cocky attitude I scoffed quietly, stepping away. He was definitely a player. To the extreme.

"Eh, I only came to one game." I said, my eyes only on the other boys, who rolled their eyes in Noah's direction, then all smiled at me.

"Uh…we have one tomorrow?" Finn said kind of awkwardly, fiddling with his jacket as he looked at me. Matt and Mike responded with a chorus of affirmatives.

"Yeah! You have to come to the Long Pond game tomorrow! It's a big game for us!" Matt said enthusiastically. I smiled again at his eagerness. Mike and Finn nodded their heads repeatedly.

"Uh, sure, I'd have to check with my uncle but I'm sure it'll be fine." They smiled at me again. "And I promise I will not wish anybody good luck." I smirked, and I heard my uncle call my name. I turned, my legs still facing the boys, and gave my uncle a fake exasperated look. He chuckled, waving his hand for my to come again.

"You have to leave?" Finn asked, only half dejectedly. I smiled in his direction, holding out my fist like he did before the game. He chuckled nervously, unsure what to do for a second, then smiled as he pounded my fist and we both exploded at the same time.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow?" I said, backing away with my hands in my back pockets, smiling again. I hadn't realized that it had gotten a lot colder in the course of the conversation. I could see my breath clouds every time I exhaled. Matt, Mike and Finn were just about to say something when out of nowhere Noah is in my line of vision, directly in front of me.

"Hey, sweetheart, I'm Puckerman. Noah Puckerman. But you can call me Puck." He said in that same cocky attitude. I stumbled back a step from his outstretched hand. He only got closer, his fingertips grazing the front of my North Face sweatshirt. I looked at him in surprise, still a little peeved at his attitude. I smirked at him, leaning purposefully to the side to better see the other guys I had been talking to.

"A little cocky one, you've got here." The guys all laughed loudly, coming closer.

"You got that right, Haley." Matt said. Mike was still smiling like a crazy person, and my gaze lingered on his before I turned to Finn.

"See you tomorrow Haley," he winked slowly, and I felt my cheeks flush. Smiling once more, it turned a little sour as I started to back away from Noah's still outstretched hand. God he looked so…aggravating. I lightly slapped his hand with my shivering, cold one in an almost horizontal high-five, but I meant for it to be a jab at his ego.

"Pleasure to meet you, Puck." I said with a little bite to my soft words, smirking behind him to Finn, Matt and Mike before turning around on my heels and walking into the parking lot towards my uncle's car. A shiver racked my spine, my sides hurting and my breaths coming out in bigger puffs. My hands trembled deep inside my pockets, almost numb.

I prayed my uncle had the heat blasting, and that those boys didn't see how sick and weak I felt.