Shelby Corcoran looked at the material in front of her, the three members of her new glee club. Sugar Motta – long on money, short on talent. Mercedes Jones – long on talent, baby comes first. Tim DeCastro – pretty good singer, band comes first. Alice McKenna - dancer, same band conflict as Tim. She'll be working around Mercedes' doctor appointments, Tim and Alice's band practice, and Sugar's horrendous voice. Luckily Tim and Mercedes are friends, actually Mercedes dragged Tim and Alice in here because they're hoping for that trip to LA when they win Regionals. Tim practices with Mercedes. Alice is on hold until Shelby can get at least one more dancer. But what about Sugar? What does Sugar really want or need? She stared at Sugar.

Currently Sugar was sitting there talking nonsense and blaming it on her Asperger's. Mercedes was rolling her eyes, Alice was writing in a notebook and Tim was drawing in a sketch pad. Shelby had to put a stop to all that and right now.

"Sugar?"

"Yes ma'm?"

"Why do you act this way?"

"Why?" Wasn't it obvious? "Well Asperger's ma'm."

"Did a doctor tell you that?"

"No, Ms. Corcoran. My dad figured it out, said there must be some reason for the way I act. Doctors can't find everything, you know. Why, just the other day-"

"Okay." she interrupted. "Sugar, would you like to behave differently? Yes? Then can you write 'Asperger's' on a piece of paper and bring it to my desk?"

"Okay." This was confusing all three kids thought.

"Sugar, this is what we're going to do with your Asperger's. As long as you're in this room, Asperger's goes here." She put the piece of paper in the shredder. Sugar gaped. "Did you see what I just did? In this room, no more Asperger's. Understand? You're going to focus, and listen, and learn while you're in this room." Sugar nodded. "Does anybody else have something they want to shred? Some label people have pinned to you that doesn't apply?"

Mercedes wrote "lazy" on a piece of paper. She didn't see what Tim or Shelby wrote on theirs.

Now, Shelby thought after the papers were shredded, how do we use Sugar's money?

Morning announcements.

Monday

Principal Figgins was droning on about something inane, something about a sponsor for the morning announcements, when the music started. Tina looked up. Clashing guitars. Sugar Motta, dressed all prim and proper, strode confidently to the microphone. That's sad, Tina thought, that girl can't sing for shit. Sugar started to sing.

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation
You're living in the past it's a new generation
A girl can do what she wants to do and that's
What I'm gonna do
An' I don't give a damn ' bout my bad reputation

Not bad. Not exceptional but she didn't embarrass herself either. "You're only 17 once." Sugar was saying. "Are you going to waste it worrying about people you won't know 10 years from now?" she started singing. "Or do you wanna have fun? Fun. Fun?" On pitch. That Shelby must be a magician. "Come join us in room 307 – that other glee club."

Tuesday

Blaine saw Mercedes' friends Tim and Alice playing the guitar, on stage at a coffee house, backed by Mercedes and Sugar. Tim started singing.

She wore a raspberry beret
The kind you'd find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret
If it was warm, she wouldn't wear much more
Raspberry beret
I think I love her

"Principal Figgins wanted us to remind you all of the dress code. It's been warm but please, put on some clothes. And join us at that other glee club, room 307."

Wednesday

Finn saw those guitarists from the backing band, Tim and Alice he thought their names were, singing lead, backed by Mercedes and Sugar. Only Tim was singing,

It's poetry in motion
She turned her tender eyes to me
As deep as any ocean
As sweet as any harmony
Mmm - but she blinded me with science
"She blinded me with science!"
And failed me in biology

"Reminder – sign up for AP Chem prep classes is in Mr. Dolby's room, room 157 if you've wiped it from your memory. Don't forget to bring protection." Sugar poked him in the ribs and they both laughed. "I'm talking safety glasses! Brought to you by that other glee club, room 307."

Thursday

Mr. Schuester saw Mercedes, glowing, backed by Tim, Alice and Sugar.

And who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything
So don't dare tell me who to be
Who died
And made you king of anything

All my life
I've tried
To make everybody happy while I
Just hurt
And hide
Waitin' for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide

"It's your turn to decide. Are you going to follow your own dreams or stay chained to somebody else's? Stop hiding and join us at that other glee club. Room 307."

Friday

Sugar started up.

would you think if I sang out of tune?
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

A little wobbly, Santana thought, but she hit every note. Mercedes, Alice and Tim joined in on the chorus. The camera pulled back to show 10 kids in room 307 singing,

We get by with a little help, with a little help, with a little help from our friends.

"There's still room for you! Join us at that other glee club, where you don't have to be perfect to belong. Room 307." Sugar said.

"Be there!" Alice said.

"Or be square!" Tim laughed.

"Or round, if that's how you roll." Mercedes said laughing.

"Okay, spill. How did she pull that off?" Blaine was sitting in Mercedes' room, having stopped by to drop off some work she missed.

"I'll tell you, but first, how's West Side Story going?"

Blaine frowned. "Rachel loves to practice. Over and over and over. I guess with NYADA and all it's critical to her, but the rest of us are in it for fun."

"And how's Kurt taking the whole thing?"

"Good, he's good. A little quiet but good."

"Hmmm." Kurt being quiet, that's not good. "Okay, so anyway, Shelby looked at what she had - Sugar's money, my voice, and Tim's sex appeal. Evidently guitarists are considered sexy and he was pretty full of himself before he heard that. You should see him now. Alice used to be a dancer before she started playing. So she used Sugar's money to buy the announcement sponsorship. She guessed Sugar just wants to stand in front of the microphone so we let her do that. Sugar's not tone deaf, you know, she can sing a little. Shelby thinks nobody's hopeless and it turned out she was right, she could do something with Sugar's voice. Tim comes over here to practice, Sugar's been here a couple of times. Shelby doesn't mind working around me and Tim, unlike some people who want to suck up all your free time."

"Bitter much?" Blaine asked laughing.

"Who, me? So... how's glee club?"

He wished he could tell her that people missed her, but they didn't seem to. "It's good." He lied. It's atrocious he wanted to say. He'd never seen so much fighting and so little working.

"Yeah, sure. Alice's in band and standing right there, you know. So is Tim. When I asked him to join glee, before" as in before I got kicked out she thought "he said Schuester's too disorganized and wastes too much time. Said he's only got so many hours in his life and he didn't want to spend them watching people fight. Like I said, Shelby works around us. She spends a lot of time working with Sugar and the dancers. We have a lot of dancers and they need to work as a group." she grinned. "Shelby, Shelby, Shelby. I must sound like I have a girl-crush."

"Shelby helped you when you needed it. I guess that's when you find out who's a friend."

She smiled. "She kinda saved my life. I had just come from the clinic, that's why I was late for practice that day. I just found out and was panicking. I really didn't know what to do, and then Schuester started yelling at me, and everybody just stood there and stared at me. Shelby, and you, helped me a lot that day. Thank you." She reached over a picked up a stuffed animal. "See this, it's a swan. Shane saw it at the mall and bought it for Jackie. Wasn't that sweet?" Mercedes didn't want to know if the baby was a boy or girl so she used Jack and Jackie interchangeably.

"So you guys are back together?" He asked looking at the swan.

"No. He stopped by to tell me he's found a new girlfriend. Like I said, I can't expect him to sign up for all this. He wanted me to hear it from him and he wanted to give me the swan, for Jack."

"Don't you think..." He paused. "Don't you think Sam should be hearing from you? I mean, what if he finds out accidentally? Won't he be upset?"

"I talked to Sam the other day." she said with a small smile.

"Really?" Blaine sat down on the edge of the bed. "What did he say when you told him?"

"I didn't." She saw the disapproving look on his face. "I started to. I really did. Then he told me about his new girlfriend, and how happy he was, and how he had his whole future planned out. Listen, I know what you think but financially, I don't need his help and his family can't afford it anyway. Emotionally, I need to let that whole thing go. It's done and over. Physically, there's going to be plenty of people around to hold my hand when the time comes, and after. There's nothing he can do from Memphis."

When she left school the next day, she saw Kurt standing outside the auditorium. Just standing there leaning against the wall. Mercedes stopped outside the auditorium door and opened it a crack. Practice for West Side Story. The entire cast was on-stage for the party scene where Tony meets Maria.

"Do it again!" Coach Bieste yelled. Mercedes could see Kurt flinch from where she was standing. It had been close to a year since she'd last had a conversation with Kurt that lasted more than 10 seconds but when they had been friends they had been really close friends. She knew him well enough to know he was hurting now.

"Hey." she said stopping to stand next to him.

"Hi, Mercedes. How are you?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Peachy. How about you?"

"Fine. Just fine." They stood there in silence for a few minutes.

"You always were a bad liar. This must be killing you."

He stared at her with that watery, trying not to cry look of his.

"On the one hand." she continued "you want to be supportive of Blaine, on the other hand you really wanted that role. One the one hand, he's doing a good job, on the other hand he's kissing Rachel, over and over again. On the one hand-"

"Is there some point to this?" he asked softly.

She held his hand. "Yes, there is. I know how you feel. I really do. They think you're too girly to be believable as a romantic lead. They think I'm too fat. That hurts. Only you have to factor in Blaine and that makes it even worse for you. And you feel like you can't talk to him about it because he came here trying to make you happy." He was smiling weakly at her. "I know things aren't like they used to be between us, and they never will be again, but you can call me if you want to talk some time."

"Thank you. I've been an ass to you, and you're being so nice. Thank you." he hugged her. She really had put on a lot of weight lately.

"Life's short, you know? You don't want to waste a lot of time. Plus, I wanted to ask you something." she pulled away from his embrace. "Now, you can say no if you want, remember that."

"What is it?"

"Well," she started slowly, "Shelby is having a fund raiser for Beth's nursery school. It's mostly Shelby singing but she said we could sing. Sugar's getting bored with the whole choir thing already and said no, Tim agreed but a paid job for his band came up. Shelby didn't mind, this is just for practice, not a requirement of anything, she's not going to kick him out over it. So anyway I'm doing a couple of songs when she's on break. And I thought, we haven't sung together in years, so..." she grinned at him. "The theme is Great American Songbook. I thought you, me, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland. I've always loved your Garland."

"When is it?" he smiled a real smile this time.

"Sunday night. The same Sunday as West Side Story but after the matinée. Assuming there's no cast party of anything you'd be able to make it." She could hear rehearsals breaking up. "Think about it."

The cast flowed by her like a river. They said 'hi' in Kurt's general direction and since she was standing next to Kurt she could take that as a hello if she wanted to. Guilt over the way she'd been treated had been replaced with self-righteous indignation over her treacherous (in their eyes) behavior that resulted in Shelby adding 6 more members in her glee club. That, plus any Cheerios Shelby needed for dance numbers, gave her more than enough people to compete. Turns out Coach Sylvester has nothing against the arts, it's just that pissing off Mr. Schuester is her hobby. Schuester was stuck at 11 members.

Only Blaine and Shane stopped to say hello to her and that was better than good. "You bring Dinah Washington and I'll bring Jimmy Scott." Kurt said before he left with Blaine.

"Jimmy Scott? Bring it on!" she called after him.

Bad Reputation – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Hey Big Spender – Sweet Charity (play)
Raspberry Beret - Prince
She Blinded Me with Science -Thomas Dolby
King of Anything – Sara Bareilles
With a Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles

Note: Jimmy Scott is a male jazz singer with a particularly wide range, the kind of stuff Kurt should be singing, in my opinion.

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