A/N: So the most non-funny thing every happen, my lovely mother decided to extend our vacation an extra week. Then, low and behold- two days after returning (aka, the day before yesterday) I had to pack up and move back to school. But now I'm unpacked and back in full swing- I have a few chapters for tonight, and another will probably be up tomorrow. Sorry for being AWOL for so long, thanks for sticking with me!
Chapter Three:
Despite a particularly gruesome spat in front of the majority of McKinley's student body with "one Sue Sylvester" in the hallways just minutes before, Will Schuester walked into the teacher's lounge on Monday afternoon with his head held high and a ridiculously wide smile on his face.
The Glee Club had performed on Sunday night for the first time that year and it had ended up being a real big hit. All of the kids performed excellently, even their four newbies, everyone else was getting better, they were flowing better as a team, and things were finally starting to look up for them. Figgins had even pulled Will aside afterwards and suggested they put on another performance in a few weeks- how about that for recognition!
The kids were still complaining that they were at the very bottom of the proverbial high-school food chain, of course, and with the infamous slushie-facials still being a regular morning occurrence for most of them, he couldn't really say that he disagreed, but he knew it was only a matter of time now before he would be able to restore Glee's rightful place back at the top. Just like it had been in his glory days when he walked the halls of McKinley.
He took his usual table at the center of the room and looked around at all the faculty present, pulling out a sandwich from his brown paper bag. Searching the sea of faces for a particular red-head, he was only mildly surprised to not find her anywhere. Emma seemed to be avoiding him a lot lately. He assumed it had something to do with that dentist she was still seeing, but he also knew she could just be busy. Begrudgingly, he took a bite into his deli-meat and sighed.
"Hey, do you, uh…" Will looked up at the flustered man standing awkwardly on the opposite side of the table, gesturing towards the empty chair in front of him, "do you mind if I sit here?"
Struggling to swallow the dry bread, Will shook his head. "No," he finally managed after a labored second, "not at all, go right ahead." A little company would be nice, even if it wasn't with Emma.
The man grinned and took the seat. "Gee, thanks," he replied sincerely. "It's just so embarrassing," he confided as he leaned in with a quick glance around at the other teachers going about their own business around them, "I never know where it's ok to sit. And it's so nerve-wracking to ask. I swear, it's just like the first day of high school all over again!"
Will looked him over closely as the man began to eagerly dig through his own paper bag for his lunch; he had mused up sandy blonde hair, startling blue eyes that were impossible not to notice, and an easy smile- the classic American golden-boy. "You're the new math teacher right?" Will finally recognized the face, "You took over for Mrs. DuPont when she retired last year."
"Yup," he replied around a mouthful of chips, "the name is Henry, it's nice to meet you."
Will took the offered hand with a smile, shaking it firmly, "I'm Will Schuester, I teach Spanish and mentor the school's Glee Club."
"Ooh!" Henry's eyes went wide, "you guys did that show this weekend, right?" Will nodded his head, "My wife and I came and saw it- you guys did a really great job!"
"Really?" things were going even better than he thought, "you think so?"
Henry nodded enthusiastically again, "Definitely! Lisa, that's my wife," he explained off handedly, "she's totally into all that stuff. When we lived in New York she used to drag me into The City to see that kind of stuff all the time. So I was reluctant, being in Ohio I thought I might have escaped all the show tunes, but it ended up not being too bad.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it," Will looked him over again. Henry didn't look very much like any of the other math teachers in the school, he was far too young, he looked like he should still be in high school himself, "how long have you been teaching?"
"I'm just starting, this is my first year," Henry replied quickly, wiping a bit of mayonnaise off his cheek with the back of his hand, "I got certified in New York, but the state boards for Ohio weren't much different, I was lucky."
"Oh," Will shook his head, "I didn't mean at McKinley, I meant in general."
Henry nodded, "So did I. My distant, some odd amount of times removed, cousin works at the middle school and told my mother about an opening coming up here in the math department and she let me know. There weren't many opportunities where I did my Teacher-Assisting grad work, so I moved out here to see for myself. You gotta take what you can get in this economy, right? And I really didn't want to move South."
Will sighed with an empathetic nod, "I understand that for sure. You know," he added thoughtfully, "I even did part-time as a janitor last year."
"No way!" Henry exclaimed, "Well, I hope we never get quite that desperate, but I guess you never know."
"At first I didn't want anyone to know, but now it's kind of a joke," Will admitted with a shrug, "but, like you said, you do what you have to." His gaze drifted over Henry's head and towards the door, where Emma just walked through. She flashed him a nervous smile and he eagerly waved her over. "Henry," he stated as she approached, Henry looked up, "this is Emma Pillsbury, she's the school's guidance counselor."
She gave him a quick grin and a small polite nod as she took her seat to the right of Will, "Nice to see you again, Henry."
"You guys know each other?" Will did very little to hide his surprise.
Emma answered quickly, "Yes. We met last week. Principal Figgins suggested that Henry help me with the SAT-prep classes after school for this term.
"Oh," Will was oddly relieved, "I think that's a great idea."
"You know what would be even better?" Henry piped up after watching the odd exchange, "if you could help us out too."
Will gave him a confused look, "But I teach Spanish. The SATs are just math, reading, and writing, right?" he looked to Emma for conformation, she nodded.
"Yeah, but…" Henry hesitated for a moment, "but what if you and your Glee kids could come up with some study songs? He asked quickly. "Just the other day I heard one of the history teachers complaining that kids these days could remember the words to hundreds of songs, but couldn't list half the Presidents.
"It's true. The patterns in music make it easier for kids to recall information. I think that would be a wonderful idea," Emma agreed eagerly, "don't you think, Will?" she asked hopefully, looking right at him with her big brown eyes.
Will hardly even thought about it for a second before he felt himself nodding in agreement, "Sounds good. I'll see what I can get them to come up with and let you know."
"Lisa and I are having a BBQ with some of our neighbors this weekend, you guys can join us and we can see what you've come up with then, if you like. It's supposed to be the last night day before autumn sets in too; you could even invite the kids to use our pool one last time before we close it up for the season. Lisa would love to tell them how much she enjoyed their show."
"Yeah?" Will asked, Henry nodded, "Great, I bet they'll love that. I'll let them know and we'll get started right away."
"Perfect!" Henry grinned.
…
Saturday came with a warm breeze fighting off the autumn chill for one last sunny summer day with the smell of sizzling burgers and a charcoal fire filling the air. Henry and Lisa eagerly welcomed half their neighborhood into their fenced in backyard and greeted Will and Emma with the rest of them. Lisa immediately latched onto Will, introducing herself before going off about how much she loved the performance and wished there would be more. Emma watched idly on, making small chit-chat with Henry before he chased the small children away from the fire with a spatula. She stood awkwardly near the back door until several faces she recognized appeared around front.
"Oh, hello Miss Pillsbury," Rachel Berry greeted with a smile on her face as she lead the rest of Glee Club into the cheerful house.
Ten short minutes later, Rachel was screaming as Puck shoved her, still fully clothed, into the deep end of the large in-ground pool. Nearly landing right on top of Tina's head as she finished racing with Mike and Brittany, Rachel let out one last gurgled scream before her head and flailing arms disappeared under the surface.
Finn's outrage could be heard over the music, "Dude!" he yelled, jabbing a finger at Puck, who was grinning proudly from the opposite side of the pool, "so not cool," he declared firmly before whipping his top off and diving in head first to rescue her.
Puck, still grinning, only offered a quick shrug of his shoulders in apology as Finn resurfaced with Rachel clinging to his chest. Kurt, appalled, and soaked from head to toe in his perfectly matched ensemble of designer wear, approached Puck in a huff with the most disgruntled look on his bright red face. He angrily jabbed a slim finger into Puck's chest, bursting into a tangent about how Puck was a Neanderthal, amongst other, slightly more unmentionable, things, only to receive a bark of laughter in response as Puck asked whether he would like to be thrown in head, or feet, first.
Quinn laughed from the lawn char beside the sun bathing Santana, watching as Brittany launched herself onto the unsuspecting Finn's back, trying, quiet unsuccessfully, to dunk him back under the water after he finished helping Rachel out of the pool. Mike eagerly joined Brittany in her valiant efforts against the taller football player, and soon the three of them were splashing around in a tangled pile in attempt to keep their head above water as Finn's feet finally slipped out from under him.
Mr. Schue, standing a bit too close to the pool, ended up with his pant legs soaked up to his knees. With a regrettably girly yelp, he jumped away in surprised. "Hey! Come on guys," he pleaded, "settle down, would you?"
Finn offered him a sheepish grin as Brittany and Mike scurried away before he had the chance to enact his revenge. "Sorry, Mr. Schue," he replied lamely, looking only the least bit apologetic.
Will rolled his eyes and turned away from the laughing group of teenager with a shrug of his shoulders to Henry, going back to their conversation about who the club had been put up against for Sectional's this year, and how it was looking like a much more difficult crowd than the last time, even with the cheating that had happened.
Lisa walked out of the house with a spare towel in hand, passing her husband and Will, while making her way over to Rachel. Rachel was sitting on the edge of the pool, muttering angrily to herself and shooting dark glances at Puck every few second, who was much too busy flirting with the older ladies present to notice her. "Here you go, Dear," she offered gently.
Rachel glanced up for a second before taking the towel, and automatically replying "Thank you."
Suddenly, Santana shot up from beside Quinn and dashed across the other side of the backyard as Puck began to approach her mother with a sly grin plastered on his face. "I swear to god!" she yelled, jabbing him hard in the shoulder with her fist, "if you so much as look at her funny, I will castrate you. Hands off, Puckerman."
"Well, you are all certainly a lively bunch," Lisa commented kindly as she took the vacated lounge chair.
Quinn laughed and looked up from her magazine, "you have no idea. This is them on a good day."
"Really?" Quinn nodded, "I find that lovely. Most of the time teenagers just mope around. I'm Henry's wife, by the way," Lisa greeted, holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sanders, I'm Quinn."
"Oh!" Lisa gasped, "Quinn, Dear, please call me Lisa. Can I tell you how much I loved your show last weekend? You were all absolutely fabulous, and you have a lovely voice. It was so cute, and such a refreshment from the same old shows I used to go see all the time."
"You used to see a lot of shows?" Quinn echoed, Lisa nodded her head and began to list the various shows she'd 'dragged' Henry to.
"But, if you ask me, he enjoyed it more than I did," she joked with a cheeky grin, Quinn giggled, "seriously, watching men in tights? The best thing for other guys, they love it."
Henry, oblivious to his wife's bashing, walked out of the kitchen with a plate full of raw burgers, finally ready to throw them on the fire. "I tell you what, Will, I make a mean burger," he bragged, "do you two want with cheese or without?"
Emma starred at the burnt bits of char stuck on the grill for a long moment before managing to shake her head, quickly explaining that she wasn't hungry. After burgers, most of the neighborhood retreated back to their homes as the afternoon wore on.
Not five minutes after they were done helping clean up and just about to jump back into the pool, a dark cloud rolled in over head and a loud crack of lightening had them all running inside for cover as the storm let loose and rain fell from the sky. "Well," Puck huffed, glancing at the others who were starring out the back window, "this is great."
"I'm really sorry," Lisa apologized immediately, her face all torn up with guilt, "the weather man called for clear skies all day."
"No, no, it's ok," Will assured quickly, "it was nice enough for you to offer the kids the pool in the first place, it's not your fault the weather didn't hold out. Don't you think guys?" he shot them a face, hoping they'd catch on.
"Maybe we can keep the pool open a little longer?" Lisa offered, glancing to Henry who shrugged his shoulders, "let's see if we get another good weekend out before it gets cold."
Puck rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah whatever, well I'm heading home."
"Oh," Henry stepped forward, "I'd prefer it if you kids called your folks for a ride, I wouldn't feel right making you walk in this storm."
"I've got my truck," Puck replied honestly, "Finn?" he called.
Finn glanced over at Kurt, "you ready?" Kurt nodded his head and gathered his bag, Puck mumbled something under his breath but didn't otherwise object as he led the two other boys out the front door.
"Does anyone need to borrow our phone?" Henry asked glancing over at the rest.
Quinn raised her hand from the back of the group, "my mom won't be able to come get me."
"Oh, well, I can give you a ride home, Quinn," Will offered.
She shook her head, "Thanks, but you live on the other side of town, Mr. Schue, I couldn't really impose. I don't live that far, I can walk."
"Don't be ridiculous, Henry and I can drive you home. We haven't got anything else to do, have we, Henry?" Lisa asked hopefully, he looked over from where he was talking the phone back from Mike as he held it out.
"My Parents will be here soon," Mike explained simply
"Really," Will shook his head, "I can't ask you to do that, you guys have already been generous enough, Quinn's my responsibility."
"But I insist," Lisa argued, "it's really not that big of a deal. And I don't want her walking in the rain, she'll get sick."
Santana scoffed from the other side of the room, "You're all being retarded," she snapped, Mr. Schue gave her a hard look and Emma looked like she was about to say something, but she ignored them both, "Quinn can just come home with Brittany and me, we live right up the street. Right Britt?" she asked, looping her arm through her best friend's.
Brittany grinned and nodded her head, "O, yeah, Quinn used to come over loads when we were younger, it's no big deal."
"Well, if you guys are sure your parents won't mind," Will nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Schue," Rachel piped up, separating herself from the others, "my dad's will be at work until late," she explained.
"No problem, Rachel, your place is on the way anyway to Miss Pillsburry's," then he turned to look at Emma, "are you ready then?" she nodded his head and they walked at the front door behind the three Cheerios as Mike asked Tina if she'd like to come hang out with him and Matt at his place.
A/N: So I know this chapter seemed kinda pointless, but it was a part of my original plans and for some reason it was just like impossible to avoid (I really tried)- anyway, another chapter will be posted momentarily if they don't all show up at the same time, so please continue and enjoy! It will pick up soon, I promise.