chapter four | a twenty-dollar wig and a blue tennis skirt
The younger Anderson awoke to her alarm clock blaring in her ear, a ring so loud it sounded like it was resonating from inside a bucket, and a peculiar itch festering at the back of her head. Eyes shooting open immediately, Lelaina tucked both hands behind her head to scratch the irritated area. Pulling them away again, she almost screamed when little snippets of her long, dark hair were spotted stuck to her fingertips. Then she remembered – she'd hacked most of it off the night before last before retiring to her bed in an annoyed exhaustion. How short she had cut it, however... that she could not entirely recall.
The same had happened the previous morning, and it was sort of becoming like Groundhog Day for her.
Hopping up from where she lay and racing toward the mirror, Lelaina began the same routine she'd performed yesterday and sighed as she surveyed that the length wasn't so bad – still a drastic change, but barely a bob in consideration. Where it had once almost touched her waist, Lelaina's hair now settled just below her shoulders, ends still blunt looking from her half-assed self-administration of a haircut.
Glancing back toward the clock, she groaned audibly as it hit the hour dot of six AM. God almighty – why had she set that damn thing to ring so early? And then, just as the remembrance of the haircut had come swimming back to her, the realisation of what a big day ahead of her hit her something like a mental tsunami.
Lelaina exhaled heavily.
"Alright," she said, prepping herself for an out-loud pep talk from herself, "I fully believe... that you can do this. I mean, probably. It's not entirely unachievable, this moving to a whole new school, whole new environment business. Unless you screw it up. Unless you let your mouth run loose... which you completely tend to do, so you should stop that and-"
"Lelaina," a groggy voice sounded from her doorway. It was Blaine of course, who occupied a room all too close to hers, in her believing.
Lelaina simply turned and stared at him – no apologies for her seemingly crazy crazy-talk.
"Well, my hair's still short," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Blaine slipped her a sympathetic, big brotherly smile as he crossed the room to stand next to her. Lelaina noticed that he still wore a hint of that look he was wearing when she first revealed her drastic new look. Descending the stairs and entering the kitchen for breakfast, her entrance was greeted with Blaine spitting his orange juice all over the kitchen table, soaking the corner of their father's newspaper. After that came a lot of speech-speechy nonsense about how Lelaina would be regretting it in an hour and would want her 'crazy Bianca Jagger mane' back. Throughout the rest of that day, she caught him staring at her with a thoroughly disturbed look contorting his face. Upon asking what was wrong, she received the response, "I just have to keep telling myself it's not as bad as a buzz cut."
"It's a friggin' haircut, man."
"Don't pretend! I know how you felt about that Amazonian mess you had going on atop your head. Seriously. This is a statement and I'm freaked because I haven't figured out what it is yet."
It was a little bit of a weird day.
"You nervous?" Blaine asked straight out, eyes all tainted with concern.
"I'm up at six in the morning," Lelaina sighed, sitting down on the bed, "I didn't know this early existed before now."
Her brother sat beside her and Lelaina had to move a little bit. Parting his lips to speak, she had to interrupt him then, too.
"Look, listen," she waved her hands in front of his face to indicate that he should stop trying to speak, "I know you owe me big time, okay, and I know you're probably trying to be concerned and all that jazz, but seriously... Blaine... if we have any more of these weird heart-to-heart talks, I think I'm going to start pooping roosters. I am so not comfortable with this... thing that's sort of established. I don't mean to be-"
"Lainey, I was totally just waiting for your dismissal because I really need to catch that last hour and a half of sleep but yeah, whatever," Blaine said, a glaze of relief coming over his face. Shooting Lelaina a parting grin, he dashed toward the door.
From an outsider's point of view, it might have seemed like their relationship was too dissociate from both angles, but the Andersons were cool. They were on good terms, mostly, and far be it from anyone else to question that. But how it might seem to other people was something that crossed Lelaina's mind a lot.
Shaking the thought away and running to rifle through her records, Lelaina realised she needed something quirky and upbeat to get her in the mood for the day. Regina Spektor seemed the obvious option to her, and in no time at all, seven thirty rolled around. Lelaina was putting the finishing touches to her eyeliner, hair still in a towel turban. She had decided that, outfit-wise, she could either decide to be understated and forgettable or overstated and outrageous. It was her best option to find a steady middle ground between the two, so she wore a loose-fitting grey sweater emblazoned with a sequinned set of lips, stretched in a screaming motion. Along with that, she wore a red and white zebra print skirt that fit closely to the curving line of her hips. Simple red kitten heels cushioned her feet.
It didn't take long for her to realise that she needed to create some great Elizabeth Taylor-esque miracle with the still-in-shock state that was her hair. Retrieving a curling tongs from her mother's room, Lelaina attacked her barnet just after it had been freshly blowdried. The end result was not unlike that of Liz Taylor's elevated seventies roots in the film X, Y and Zee, but Lelaina paid no mind. From her own viewpoint, she exuded a certain kind of confidence, or was forced to by the fierceness of her outfit. Luckily, forced confidence was the idea.
She played with her Lucky Charms with more gusto than she put into eating them as she waited for Blaine to come downstairs and drive them off. Their parents had given them the lowdown last night when they'd both returned from their separate stay-spaces – the night of Blaine's dinner party, their mother had stayed with their aunt and their father was away on business. However, they both wrangled a second phone conference with McKinley's principal, Mr. Figgins. Apparently, nothing about the previous 'situation' at either Crawford or Dalton had been mentioned and the transition would be smooth.
Thank God for that, was all Lelaina could think. She didn't have the energy to put up such a multi-leveled charade once she actually got into the place, only for a hole to riddle it's way into the dam and then the whole dirty truth would bust out like a great, filthy flood.
"That's quite a colourful ensemble," Blaine said, swaggering into the kitchen with both hands in his... lemon yellow pockets. Black pants, with lemon yellow pocket appliqués applied. Lelaina had to wonder where he found some of his clothes.
"No socks again!" Lelaina responded accusingly, red painted lips curving into a malicious smile. She constantly taunted Blaine about his inability to wear socks with his dress shoes, apart from with his Dalton uniform.
"Socks with the prison garb," Lelaina would say.
"You're gonna get blisters, y'know..."
Blaine looked over her shoulder into her cereal bowl. "Look, you've mashed the shamrocks into oblivion! There better be some of that left..."
Lelaina watched as Blaine busied himself with breakfast, when a question suddenly occurred to her.
"You're asking all the time if I'm nervous about this... whole... new school venture thing," she said, pulling her glass of cranberry juice towards her, "What about you?"
Blaine sighed. "Thought we weren't gonna get into this..."
"Yeah, but... c'mon. I'm... curious, or whatever," Lelaina shrugged.
He turned around, a slice of toast in one hand and a knife loaded with butter in the other. His brows knitted together as he contemplated how exactly to answer such a question.
"Well... I guess so," he said, nodding, "But Kurt has said it's a good place. It has it's faults, like anywhere, but it's a good place. And to my own credit, I am a friendly guy... There's no use in going in there being the new guy asshole, y'know? I figure that if I'm nice, I should get it back somewhat in return."
"I like that you're being at least marginally realistic," Lelaina smirked.
Sliding the butter over his toast and taking a bite, Blaine spoke between chews, "What's that s'posed to mean?"
She quirked an eyebrow at her older brother. "You serious? This hasn't even crossed your mind yet?" she asked, "Um, in case you haven't noticed, Blaine, we're private school kids. We come from places with sky high tuition fees, uniforms and where everyone is super nice to each other because they were all raised in the same little bubble as one another. We had the upper hand there, of course, what with the previous public school experience, but you know what I mean. We were longer there than we were anywhere else, and that's the big ol' bullseye they're gonna see when we walk through that door. Aren't you just a little bit scared?"
Lelaina hadn't meant for all her theories and fears to fall out in a short little speech like that, but there it was, laid bare and naked on the table – something Blaine could really be concerned about.
She realised she was far too hard on him most of the time, but it seemed ridiculous to her that he still believed in that whole 'be nice to others and they'll be nice to you' charade. Especially in high school.
Naturally, he donned his big brother act and took a seat at the table across from her.
"Lelaina," he said, "Before we walk out that door, I want you to know something. No matter what you say, no matter where we come from and no matter where you are, you're safe. And as long as you're as stubborn and strong-willed as you are right now, you'll always be safe. Sure, I'll be here to help you and look out for you but... it's in your hands at the end of it, little sister. And you're just as capable as anyone."
Lelaina was stunned into silence as Blaine smiled a very different kind of smile. Warm, but with a reassurance that was unfamiliar to her. It took a couple of seconds for her to absorb what he had just said, but once she did, she erupted in laughter.
"Oh, cut the mush and get your bookbag, okay?"
"Ohio is a fake beach!" Lelaina exclaimed as she got out of Blaine's car, faced with the harsh sunlight of that pretty Thursday morning. It was dimmed some by the tinted shades of her red Ray Bans, but she still squinted a little.
"I mean, it's too sunny not to wear shades, but it's too cold to wear a tank top or something," she went on as Blaine emerged from the other side of the car wearing similar sunglasses, only his frames were a vibrant pink.
"You're like a hip Pee-wee Herman," Lelaina remarked.
"So, the first place we've got to hit is administration, or reception, or... whatever they call it here," Blaine said, he and his sister walking in time toward the double doors of McKinley. The flock of students that were gradually making their way into the building didn't pass much notice of them – or at least, Lelaina hoped they didn't. All of a sudden, she missed the mundane comfort of her Crawford uniform.
"That all sounds boring, let's just bail now and drive to Wisconsin where no one knows our names," Lelaina said, though she followed Blaine up the front steps regardless.
"Cousin Eddie lives in Wisconsin," Blaine said nonchalantly as he waited for his sister to fall back in step with him. They approached the school secretary's desk with an imbalanced attitude – on Blaine's end, it was all smiles and thank yous and on Lelaina's, it was chewing on the frame of her Ray Bans and avoiding eye contact.
They were ushered in to the guidance counsellor's office, who was going to give them a proper welcome and rundown of the school. She was female, and was already seated primly at her desk when the two arrived.
"Oh! Hello, you must be our new transfers!"
She spoke with a light, refined lilt to her voice that made her sound innocent and wholly approachable albeit little girlish. Her light auburn hair fell in perfect marcelled curls to just about the tops of her shoulders, and she seemed impeccably clean. Not a thread nor a hair out of place. Needless to say, it fascinated Lelaina to the point of rude staring, wherein Blaine had to nudge her forcefully in the ribs.
"Yep!" Lelaina said, more in shocked reaction to the pain that bolted across her ribcage than in an actual attempt to be friendly and open. To double the offence, when the word left her mouth so did the slightly gnawed temple of her Ray Bans... as well as a nice, long string of drool. Slurping and wiping the mess away from her mouth, Lelaina struggled not to giggle at the deeply disgusted way that Blaine was looking at her.
"Dude, it's not like I threatened arson!" she hissed and turned her attention back to the auburn haired guidance counsellor, "New transfers. Yeah, that's us – me, Lelaina and he, Blaine. Anderson."
She nodded, straining a smile as she too looked somewhat disturbed by Lelaina's little mishap.
"I'm Miss Pillsbury, and I'm the guidance counsellor here at McKinley High," she said before handing the Andersons plastic pockets packed with sheets of paper – brochures, by the looks of it. And maps. Miss Pillsbury cleared her throat, "That's, um, that's our little survival guide. The student council compiled it and it's got maps of the building and your personalised timetables. Oh! And a list of all the schoolbooks and things you're gonna need to buy..."
"Thank you, Miss Pillsbury," Blaine gushed. Lelaina side-eyed him with one eyebrow quirked.
"You wanna curtsey now, or somethin'? Seriously," she said, tossing her eyes to the ceiling. Pulling the map of the building from her plastic pocket and examining it, "Is there some kind of 'You Are Here' starting point or are we just livin' on a prayer with this thing?"
"Well," Miss Pillsbury said, "I appointed two tour guides for you two but it seems they... have disappeared!" She followed this statement with a giggle that Blaine engaged in but his sister did not return. The butterflies Lelaina had suffered had subsided by now, but were only replaced by a sincerely dismissive disposition.
"Or..." Miss Pillsbury began again, seeming to spot someone over Lelaina's shoulder, "I think one of them seems to have arrived. Finn, you do know you're late!"
"Sorry, Miss P," said someone behind Lelaina. Looking over her shoulder, she recognised the boy's face but couldn't quite place it. He was kind of common looking, in Lelaina's opinion, so he could have been anyone... admittedly, with his flannel shirt draped over a t-shirt and his friendliness just flowing from him, he had a kind of home-grown cuteness.
"You both know Finn Hudson, I'm sure," Miss Pillsbury said, smiling, "Blaine, he'll show you around... and Finn, if you can find anyone who would show Lelaina around, I'd be really, really grateful."
Finn nodded and grinned at the siblings. It was only then Lelaina realised where she'd seen him before – he was Kurt's step-brother. So that made sense.
Finn led them both out of the guidance counsellor's office and started in a conversational buzz with Blaine that Lelaina opted to tune out of – instead, she started surveying the talent of McKinley. Or, rather, search for it.
Within moments of eye-hawking, Lelaina found that all the kids here had that decidedly Lima tone about them – extraordinarily ordinary, or otherwise trying not to be. But, when they tried not to be, they just faded in with the rest of the crowd. That was, until, she lay eyes on a girl who was a good deal shorter than her and dressed exquisitely... for a Shirley Temple impersonator. Her smile was blinding, all perfect teeth and expensive Christmas present bleaching and her hair shone like a sheet of brunette syrup. No distracting from that Good Ship Lollipop vibe she was giving off, though.
The girl clung to Finn and waved at Blaine, and Lelaina took a moment to half-listen to his introduction.
"And this is my girlfriend, Rachel-" Finn began, but was cut off.
"Finn, we've met a million times," Rachel said. Lelaina saw Blaine stiffen beside her.
Oh! Wow, that was a memory she sure knew Blaine didn't want to revisit.
"But who's this?" Rachel asked, sunshiney smile still intact.
"This is my sister, Lelaina," Blaine said, shifting from one foot to the other and avoiding Rachel's gaze.
"Sophomore!" Lelaina intentionally chimed, holding a hand out for Rachel to shake, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss... it is Berry, right?"
Rachel beamed even brighter, if that was possible, as they shook hands firmly. Lelaina was the first to slip her hand away and in doing so, she passed out the threesome.
"Think I'll try and navigate this cess pool on my own!" she called back toward her brother and the couple, "Let's see how long it takes before I get-"
SPLASH!
The shock was so cold that Lelaina nearly screamed, but managed to hold it in as the bone-chill settled into her skin at a rapid pace, and the syrup burned her eyes. She could feel the dampness gather at the neckline of her sweater and drip down into her bra – little pieces of ice sliding down her face, and her stomach, eventually. She lifted two fingers to wipe some of the slush from one eye in order to peek over her shoulder. Blaine, Finn and Rachel stood there in complete shock, unlike the rest of the hallway where giggles erupted after the triumphant roaring of, "Welcome to the real world, noob!"
"So, uh," Lelaina said as the tension built up on both of her temples and tears welled in her eyes, "Anyone wanna direct me to the ladies, or...?"
She thought she saw Rachel step forward before her arm was grabbed, and Lelaina was swept away by a girl whose silky black hair almost blinded her as she swung it around in her face. In seconds, she was marched into the girls' bathroom and thrown toward the sink.
The student who had helped her set the faucet running and then said, in a most threatening tone, "Look, I'm only helping you out because I had this sort of split-second notion that I might try and garner some good karma this year... but then I realised how stupid that'd be."
"When did you realise that?" Lelaina asked.
"When I opened the bathroom door," the girl said, and gestured toward the running water, "C'mon, I'm not about to sponge-bath your noob ass."
Lelaina set about trying to clean herself up, but the more she glanced at the girl who had helped her, the harder she found it to look away.
As she pulled her make-up from her bag to touch up her ruined face, Lelaina asked, "So, uh... Do I get to know the name of my knight in shining... latext?"
She was referring to the black faux leather jacket that the other girl wore. The girl regarded her with a look of blatant hostility, and Lelaina both regretted her joke and regretted the fact that no one in McKinley seemed to have a freaking sense of humour.
"You'll know soon enough," she said, walking toward the door, "I'm kind of unwillingly notorious."