Chapter Four
Finn and I were in my room, jamming out. He had one of his drumsticks and I used one of my hairbrushes and we were using them as microphones. Paradise City by Guns 'n' Roses (karaoke version) was playing on my phone.
"Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home." I sang.
"Oh, won't you please take me home?" Finn sang.
"Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home."
"Oh, won't you please take me home?"
"Just an urchin livin' under the street
I'm a hard case that's tough to beat
I'm your charity case, so buy me somethin' to eat
I'll pay you at another time; take it to the end of the line."
"Rags to riches or so they say
You gotta keep pushin' for the fortune and fame
You know it's, it's all a gamble when it's just a game
You treat it like a capital crime, everybody's doin' their time."
Then we sang together.
"Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Oh, won't you please take me home? Yeah
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away."
"I want to go, I want to know
Oh, won't you please take me home?
I want to see, oh, look at me
Oh, won't you please take me home?" I sang.
"I want to see, boy, I'm gonna be mean
Oh, oh take me home
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Oh, won't you please take me home?" Finn smiled.
"I want to go, I want to know
Oh, won't you please take me home, baby." We finished. At the end Finn laughed and twirled his drumstick in his hand. I paused the song.
"That was awesome." He said.
"It was. We need to do that more often." I exited out of YouTube.
"Definitely."
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Finn?" Aunt Carole opened the door. "Quinn's on her way. She said she texted you but you didn't reply."
"Oh, crap." Finn dug into his pocket and pulled his phone out. He started texting. Carole smiled slightly and I set my phone down. Great. The Queen Bitch was coming over again. How freaking amazing.
"Isn't this the third time she's been over this week?" I asked.
"Well, she is his girlfriend." Carole responded. Finn apparently didn't hear us, since he was on his phone. I got up and left the room.
"This is just amazing." I went and I sat on the couch.
"I know this is hard, Terra, but...you've just gotta be patient."
"I don't like Quinn." I kept my voice low. "She's such a bitch."
"To tell you the truth," Aunt Carole sat beside me. "I'm not that fond of her either. But I tolerate her for Finn. Because he loves her for some reason."
"God knows why." I muttered. "I don't even think its love. The only reason why I say that is because I don't believe in it because it's never happened to me."
"When you find that one special person, you'll know it's real."
"Were you like that with Uncle Christopher? I mean, I know I never knew him, but..."
"Yes. I always thought that Chris was my soul mate. That we would grow old together. Unfortunately that never happened. But you're young. You're only fifteen." Carole brushed the hair out of my face. "It might not happen right away, but I promise you it will. You're very easy to love."
"I am?" I looked confused. "How?"
"You're funny, you're goofy, you're sweet, and you're ambitious. People like that. Especially guys. Now all you need to do is get confident." At this, I shrugged. "Trust me. Men like a girl who is confident in herself. They think it's the sexiest thing."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah."
I smiled.
The Next Day
Mr. Schue was handing out the sheet music.
"E-Excuse me. This-This isn't the right key." Rachel looked a little confused.
"No, it's actually the right key." Mr. Schue said.
"This is the alto part."
"Yep. Tina's doing the solo."
Tina looked a little shocked.
"I'm-I'm sorry. There must be some sort of mix-up. I thought I made it very clear that anything from West Side Story goes to me. Maria is my part. Natalie Wood was a Jew, you know. I've had a very deep, personal connection to this role since the age of one."
"Well, I'm trying to shake things up a bit, get us out of our boxes."
"You're trying to punish me."
"I think you're being irrational."
"I think you're being unfair!"
"I think you're being unfair to Tina, who might have been happy about getting her first solo."
"Tina knows how much I respect her, and I think she would agree with me that she's not ready for such an iconic role as Maria."
"Wait..." Mercedes spoke up. "I'm a Jet?"
Rachel threw her music down and stormed out of the room.
"The more times she storms out of rehearsal, the less impact it has." Artie said.
"Congratulations, Tina." Mr. Schue smiled. "This is going well."
"Mr. Schue..." I walked over to him. "Is it okay if I take over Rachel's part if she doesn't come back?"
"Yes, but only if she doesn't."
"Which she might because she always comes back in order to storm out again." Artie rolled his eyes.
"Finn? I needed to ask you something." Kurt walked over to him.
"Thanks, but I already have a date to the prom. But I'm flattered. I know how important dances are to teen gays."
"I'm not gay."
At this I looked over with my eyebrows furrowed. Finn nodded.
"Oh."
"I just—I needed a favor."
I walked over to my things, tired of listening in, and sat down, beginning to write.
A Few Days Later
"I can't believe this happened. Rachel actually quit Glee Club." I shook my head.
"It's terrible. What're you gonna do?" Kayden looked at me.
"I don't know. She was our best singer. Annoying at times, but...she is really, really good."
"She did get annoying a lot." He nodded. I looked at him and my breath caught again. I felt a little flittering in my stomach and I looked down.
"So..." Kayden lifted my chin up slightly and I looked at him. "Want to go to the football game with me on Friday?"
"I'd love to." I smiled.
"Do you want me to pick you up around six?"
"Sounds perfect."
I had the urge to kiss him but I held back. The bell rang and I stood and gathered my things.
Home
Finn was acting really weird.
"Hey." I walked over to him and he jumped five feet in the air. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. Why?" Finn looked around.
"You just seem really jumpy."
"I'm fine. Don't worry." He disappeared into his room, and I looked down. Then, I shook my head and knocked on his door.
"Finn. Please. I know something's up. Just...tell me. Let me in." I pleaded. The door opened a bit and I walked in to see Finn on his bed. He was laying back and didn't look too good. "What's wrong?"
"It's Quinn."
My hopes went up a bit. "Did you break up?"
"No." and then my hopes went back down. "No, it's nothing like that."
I sat next to him. "What's up?"
"She's pregnant."
"She's...what? Quinn Fabray is pregnant? Miss Holier than Thou?" my voice went up just a bit. Finn shot up and covered my mouth.
"Shh! Yes. Now be quiet, I don't want Mom to find out." He removed his hand.
"But...but she's the head of the Celibacy Club. This is insane!"
"I know..."
"So when did you guys do it?"
"What?" Finn looked confused.
"Y'know...how long ago did you guys have sex? I mean, from the way she looks it had to have been at least four weeks ago."
"We didn't."
This time, it was my turn to be confused. "Huh?"
"We were in her hot tub and we were making out and even though I thought of the mail it didn't help and well...yeah. From what Quinn said, the temperature of the hot tub makes the sperm swim faster."
I looked even more confused but I said nothing. Well, if that's what he wants to believe, let him, I thought to myself.
"Can you do me a favor?" Finn asked.
"What is it?"
"Can you help me find my gee-ge?"
"Your gee-ge?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's my baby blanket. I want my baby to have it."
"Sure." I nodded. He smiled slightly.
"Thanks."
"Anytime." I nodded.
Friday
I sat in the bleachers as the players ran out onto the field. We watched as McKinley got beat up constantly. It was hit, after hit, after hit, after hit. Even the Red Oak Hawks weren't this bad. And I thought we were terrible. I mean, Red Oak was never the best but we were never this bad either.
"This is terrible." I muttered.
"Your school any better?" Kayden looked at me.
"Eh...they had their moments." I shrugged.
"Why'd you come here anyway?"
"It's a long story." I shook my head. "Not even my cousin knows about it. And when Finn doesn't know something, you know it's something I'm scared to talk about. I mean, I asked Aunt Carole not to tell him and that I would when I felt the time was right."
"I'm good at secrets."
I looked at him. "You swear you won't tell a soul?"
"Scouts honor."
"Last year, when I was fourteen, I broke my collar bone in a car accident. My mom was hurt badly too, but it was mainly bruised ribs. We were given pain medication and stuff. Well...around two weeks after the wreck, my pills began to go missing. At first I thought I was just taking too many so I just cut down and used them only when necessary. When I figured out that they were still going missing, I confronted my mom and she ended up hitting me. It was so bad that the next day at school I had a black eye and my counselor actually called CPS. Well my father, who hadn't even been a part of my life since I was seven, was contacted. He was told about what happened and he came to get me. I went to live with him and it wasn't too far from my mom's home so I could still go to the same school. It was just like a fifteen minute drive. Anyway, when I got there I found out that he was abusing drugs and alcohol, a lot like my mother and when I tore a ligament in my ankle from falling and with no explanation to give anyone, I was once again, sent to the CPS thing and they kept me with my grandparents until they died and Aunt Carole came to get me. And now I live in Lima. That's my sob story."
"Jesus...Terra...I'm really sorry. Really and truly, I am."
I smiled softly at him. "It's fine. Besides...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"
"Right." He nodded. We leaned forward towards each other but were forced to separate when a little kid started screaming. We pulled back and saw a mom trying to calm him down until she eventually had enough and left the bleachers.
"Don't piss her off." I joked. Kayden smiled and we turned our attention back to the game.
Later
When there was one second left in the game, the score six to zero, I saw Finn do the time out signal. Suddenly, Beyoncé's Single Ladies began to play and our team began dancing. I quickly took out my phone and filmed it, trying not to laugh.
"This is awesome." Kayden smiled.
"I agree." I kept laughing. "Go Finn!" I smiled.
The other team stood there, mainly in shock. People in the bleachers stood and danced. Then, they stopped and began to play. Finn threw the ball and the player that caught it-number 20-quickly ran to make a touchdown.
We were six to six.
Then, the kicker, number three, ran out. The music began again and he began dancing.
"Yup, that's Kurt." I smiled.
Kurt kicked the ball, making us win the game. The crowd went insane. We won seven to six.
Home
Kayden got out of the driver's seat and walked over to my side of the car. He opened the door for me and I smiled at him.
"Thank you." I got out.
"It's nothing. Want me to walk you to the door?"
"Sure." I blushed slightly and we walked up to the front door.
"I had fun tonight."
"Me too."
We stood at the front door. Kayden looked down and then looked back at me. "Listen...about earlier with my prying and all...I'm sorry."
"Don't be." I shook my head and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm a strong girl. I got through it."
"I'm glad you did." He took my hand and stroked it with his thumb. "I really am." We stayed quiet for a bit. "See you on Monday?"
"Yeah. Definitely."
"Good. I'm looking forward to it."
"Me too."
He smiled and walked back into his car. I walked inside the house and closed the door quietly behind me. My legs were still shaking and my stomach was doing flip flops. I felt like I was on cloud nine. Maybe Lima wouldn't be as bad as I thought it was originally going to be. Besides me wanting to punch Quinn in the face. There was something up with that story she gave Finn. It wasn't right. Hot temperatures kill sperm, not make them swim faster. He couldn't have gotten her pregnant. But, I guess, stranger things have happened.
Glee Club-Monday
Mr. Schue walked into the room.
"Hey, guys, let's give a big Glee welcome to our new three members, fresh off their big win on Friday night, Noah Puckerman, Matt Rutherford and Mike Chang." I smiled at Puck and he nodded his head, trying to act cool. "Regionals, here we come. Let's start today with "Tonight" from West Side Story. Tina. Show us what you got."
Tina walked to the front, with Rachel looking down.
"Tina?" She snapped.
"I told you she was going to be taking over the solo."
"And I said it wasn't fair."
"Rachel—"
"I quit." She stormed out. "This is ridiculous." She yelled.
"Tina. From the top." Mr. Schue smiled at Tina reassuringly. Tina nodded.
"Y-yes sir." She stuttered. I looked over at Kayden who was standing with his bass. He winked once and then proceeded to tune his instrument. Or do something with it. I wasn't quite sure. I'm not an instrument person. But I did know one thing.
I really liked Kayden. A lot. And I was hoping and praying that he liked me back. Of course that would take a miracle, but with some things...you just never know.
