A/N
Hi all, sorry it's taken me so long to update, exam season caught up with me. Thanks for all the reviews though, they've really helped me keep going with it. Here's the next chapter, it contains some bad language towards the end.
Rehearsals for Venice were going well. They'd gotten three numbers into the show after only a week of rehearsals and, when the football team had practise, they'd managed to block Olivia and Mercedes's duet. They'd been concentrating mostly on numbers so the scenes still needed work but, on the whole, Olivia thought things were really starting to come together.
Also, Rachel seemed to have calmed down. At one of the rehearsals where the boys were at football practise, Derek had pulled her aside and asked about her dance ability. There was a section at the end of the show where Venice is talking to his dead mother, Anna, of course she can't reply but in it she has a part of the song. Basically, Derek had an idea for the scene that involved Rachel dancing around Blaine. This opportunity for Rachel to show off, cheered her up no end. She was now really embracing her part and she had even taken to giving Oliva friendly tips. Although this was starting to get a little bit irritating, Olivia could see Rachel's intentions were ultimately good.
Sometimes Kurt would interject to stop Rachel's onslaughts but he'd been awfully distracted lately. He and Blaine both actually. Even though she noticed it, Olivia felt she wasn't really close enough to them to call them out on it.
Luckily for her, however, Mercedes wasn't about to take any of it. On the way to rehearsal, that Tuesday, she asked "Are you two all right, because you've both seemed real distracted this last couple of days?"
"We're fine," Kurt said, blushing a little.
Blaine, who was a much better liar when it came to things like this, replied "We've just been wondering who Mr Wills is."
"Who he is?" Rachel asked, as she fell into step beside them "What's that supposed to mean?"
With a shrug, Blaine explained "A guy like him doesn't seem like the sort that gets the call to start teaching. He's more the go out and get it type, right?"
"Really?" Mercedes rolled her eyes "You two have been so distracted lately because you've been psycho-analysing our glee club coach's life choices?"
Raising his arms, in an attempt to convince them, Blaine said "Come on, don't you think he's a little bit of a weird choice to replace Mr Schu?"
"Maybe," Rachel shrugged "But this is Sue we're talking about, are we sure she even wanted to replace Mr Schu? She's never been the glee club's biggest fan." The conversation continued, Olivia began to feel uncomfortable. They hadn't asked for her opinion yet and, honestly, she didn't know what she'd do when they did. Of course, she was the best informed of all of them but they didn't need to know that. What had brought this on though? It didn't bode well for her, if they started sniffing around her father. Before they could get round to asking her anything, however, they reached the auditorium. It was too risky here to gossip about their glee club teacher.
They settled in the auditorium, dropping their bags onto chairs and moving to where they were needed. Rehearsals progressed as they always did, Olivia was probably quieter than usual but no-one seemed to pay any attention to that. They ran the number called Anna it was a big production number but not one Olivia was needed for so she could sit it out in the audience and watch her father.
Unlike the others, Olivia had seen her father direct before and that meant that she knew his style, knew how focussed he got. So she was also the only one who would notice how distracted he was today. On the one hand, he seemed fine, he was going through the motions, but he wasn't in it, she couldn't help wondering why. As the rehearsal drew to a close, she barely resisted going up to him and asking outright but Puck caught her arm with a smile and brought her back to reality. She couldn't quiz her Dad, she had to keep up the illusion.
"Now, I would ask Rachel but I want an answer not a lecture on acting technique," Puck said as he pulled her aside "Am I getting the subtext of that scene right?"
With a frown, she asked "The subtext?"
"Well I know that it's in that scene that you get all of the backstory right? Because Venice was always Anna's favourite son, which is why Markos hates him so much," Puck explained "But if I don't react right, you're not gonna get that so I want to know if I'm playing that right."
Awkwardly, Olivia admitted "I kind of zoned out a bit, so I wasn't really watching you but you're clearly well-informed which is always gonna help… I'll pay more attention next time we run the scene and tell you then."
"Deal," he grinned and swung his backpack over his shoulder "And here was me thinking you'd be watching me all the time." Something in his smile, set Olivia on edge. It made her feel all warm and fluttery and weak. She hoped to God she wasn't blushing.
Most of the glee club had vacated the auditorium now. The only ones left were Brittany and Santana, who'd just located a lost pencil of some significance to Brittany. Olivia offered them a cursory wave as she hurried out into the carpark and then round the corner to where her Dad was parked. Before she hopped in, she righted herself, making sure no signs of her earlier flustered state remained. Distracted or no, however, Derek knew his daughter "What's got you blushing?"
"Nothing," Olivia sunk into her seat, awkwardly "It's the heat!"
"It's October."
"Exactly, it's the heat of the heater, in comparison to the cold outside," she grinned up at him, hoping he believed her.
With a roll of his eyes, he started up the car "All right darlin', all right…" She was so glad that he'd let it go, she completely forgot to ask him what had him so distracted in rehearsals.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
In her New York City apartment, Karen was setting dinner on the table, ready for Kyle and Meredith to get home from school. She had to get to the theatre soon, to start prep for the show that evening but she always tried to be home when the kids got in, so she knew they were okay.
Meredith, of course, got in first. Long brown hair that had been straightened that morning was now slightly rumpled where she'd been running her hand through it all day. She was twelve, just starting to look less like a little girl and more like a young lady. Every day it was Meredith that scared Karen, she changed every minute, grew every second and Karen was never sure she'd be able to keep up.
"Hey Merry," Karen smiled, setting down her plate "How was school?"
With a shrug, Meredith replied "The same as always…" she set her bag down by the door and shook off her coat, shuffling awkwardly on the mat. There was something she wanted to say, something she was nervous of saying. With a sigh, she made her way towards the kitchen and her mother. "Mom?"
"Yes," Karen said, mimicking her tone.
She tugged nervously at her own hair "They're reviving the Sound of Music…"
"I'm aware," she thought she saw where this was going.
Staring at her feet, Meredith continued "And they're auditioning for the kids this weekend and it's an open call and-"
"Meredith, what did we agree?"
"That we'd wait until I finished school before I started auditioning for jobs but Mom, I could do both, lots of kids do it and it's not even every night of the week, they hire more than one kid so-"
With a shake of her head, Karen replied, more sternly "No, Meredith, you don't understand what it is to do a show like that, even if it's not eight shows a week."
"No-one understands better than me, I grew up with Broadway stars, I know this business, I know it's hard but Mum, I know this is what I want and I know I'm capable of doing this," there was something in the girl's determination that made Karen think twice. That sort of fire couldn't just be put out, you'd only get burnt trying. She needed to handle this a little differently.
Quietly, Karen gestured to dinner "Sit down and eat, let me sleep on it, I'll talk to you about it tomorrow, okay?"
Though not completely satisfied, Meredith nodded and sat down. At that exact moment, the front door slammed open and Kyle walked in. Without much more than a grunt in greeting, he marched up to the table, picked up his plate and stormed off towards his room.
"No you don't Kyle, sit down and eat with your sister and I." Not for the first time, Karen wished Kyle was more like his namesake and less like his father. Unfortunately, Karen was stuck with a moody Jimmy-double who liked to shut himself away for hours on end, something that worried Karen a little. It wasn't his anti-social nature, it was that Kyle and Meredith were often home alone for long periods of time while she was working. Their neighbours kept an eye out for them but still Karen relied on her kids to look after each other. When Kyle seemed more than eager to ignore Meredith indefinitely, it played on her mind a little.
As soon as he sat down however, Meredith started teasing him about some girl and he was grinning. No, she didn't have anything to worry about really, her kids loved each other.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Just before lunch the next day, Olivia was walking past the lockers to the choir room. Her and Blaine were getting together to run their duets this lunch and she'd talked to her Dad so she knew he'd be there to give them any extra direction they needed. She was actually running through the lyrics in her head when the cheerios surrounded her. There were around five or six of them, taller than her and moving in perfect group formation.
Olivia hadn't felt this alone in weeks "Er, can I help you?" They giggled a little about her accent and Olivia blushed, she knew she was better spoken than most kids.
"A little bird told me you're the newest glee club freak, blondie," said one of them, the leader by the looks of things.
Backing herself up against the lockers, in an attempt to defend herself, Olivia whimpered "Yeah, I er, guess so."
"And you haven't been initiated, well we have been negligent, haven't we girls," said another, laughing. Olivia's stomach turned as she considered what exactly initiation might be.
Still, she pulled herself together. Possible escape routes? There weren't many, her best option was probably to dart through them. She was a dancer, she just had to get from mark A to mark B like she would onstage. A simple move, no worries. At least that wouldn't be the case if she wasn't frozen with fear. What exactly was she even afraid of? They were just cheerleaders.
Suddenly there was a rush of cold and stinging blue liquid in her eyes. She gasped and shut her eyes tight for a minute. The girls retreated, laughing "Welcome to glee club."
Olivia wasn't sure how to react or where to go and then two hands grabbed her arms "Shit, are you okay?" It was Puck, handing her tissues to rub the sugared ice from her eyes and ushering her back along the corridor until he found an empty classroom. He sat her on a desk and went to the sink "You're lucky you're on the home economics corridor." Quietly, he cleared away the slushy and she just sat there, too close to tears to move. He did all that he could and then said "Do you have a change of clothes?"
The shake of her head was enough to bring on the tears. Worriedly, Puck frowned and wrapped his arms around her "I know, getting slushied sucks." It was strangely comforting to have his arms around her
"People have done this to you?"
"Not as much as they've done it to people like Rachel but yeah, they have, the crying helps by the way, Kurt says it clears the sugars and stuff out of your eyes," he smiled a little, shakily, trying to cheer her up. It worked, somewhat, making her hiccup on her tears, trying to stop them. Grinning then, he said "That was almost a smile."
As she tried to pull herself together, she shrugged "Sorry, I over-reacted." She took stock of the blue stains on her pink dress, making it look tie-dyed purple, she hoped to God it was easy to wash out.
"Nah, it's always a shock to the system the first time it happens, you're all right," he replied, thumbing a tear from her cheek "You wanna head to the cafeteria, get some lunch."
Rather abruptly, Olivia remembered where she was supposed to be "No I already ate, I was heading to the choir room for rehearsal with Blaine."
"Okay, I'll walk you there," Puck shrugged, helping her down off the desk and heading for the door. As they walked to the choir room, Puck walked with her protectively. It wasn't that he put his arm around her or anything like that, he just stood a little behind, like a bodyguard, looking over her shoulder and glaring at anyone who looked their way. Something about it made her feel safe, until they entered the choir room.
Derek and Blaine were sat on the risers, going through the script, her lateness had clearly been noticed. When the door clicked open, Puck holding it for Olivia, they both looked up. Immediately, Blaine looked somewhat empathetic but Derek stood and paced towards her "What the bloody hell happened?"
"It's fine, Mr Wills, Olivia just got slushied," Puck shrugged.
That wasn't going to placate Derek, however, he was fuming. True, he was trying his best to hide it but there was no doubt he was angry. He was barely resisting taking Olivia into his arms and telling her it would all be okay, they'd deal with it, it would be fine. She'd been crying, he could tell.
"Who did this to you?"
Seeing the teacher's anger, Blaine stood to explain "It's their personal torture for the glee club, Mr Wills, it's okay, you just have to remember to bring a change of clothes and stuff."
"How can you be so casual about this?" Derek spat at the boys, making them back off just a little.
Of course, Olivia stood her ground, staring at her feet "Mr Wills, it's fine, I'm okay."
"Are you really?" Derek looked unconvinced, sarcasm was dripping from his tone and he was searching her face.
Having calmed herself down a little, Olivia could see where this was going, her father was being too obvious. When he went into protective-dad-mode he lost his ability to think straight, if he wasn't careful he'd give everything away. She needed to diffuse this situation, right now. Dropping her bags by the risers, she said "I'd like to just forget about it, to be honest, can we run the numbers?" Derek was about to argue when he turned and met his daughters eyes, she wanted him to drop it. With a sigh, he shrugged and agreed.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It was Jimmy's weekend to have the kids, unfortunately for him, both were moody. Meredith was moping about Karen not allowing her to audition for a show and Kyle was being… well he was being Kyle. To be honest, Jimmy was starting to suspect that Kyle hated coming to his apartment every other weekend. Every time he discussed it with Karen, she said he was just like that all the time but Jimmy didn't buy it.
As he sat down at the table, Jimmy sighed "Kyle, get off your phone and come eat with us."
"No thanks, not hungry," he said, without looking up, his chocolate hair falling over his eyes.
Jimmy rolled his eyes "Don't be an ass."
"I'm not being an ass Dad, I'm just not hungry," Kyle shrugged, curling into himself as he sat on the sofa.
Picking at her food, Merdith announced "He skipped lunch today."
"Did not!" All at once Kyle was glaring up at the table, looking alert and alight with anger.
"Did too! You weren't in the cafeteria all lunch!"
"That's 'cause I went off-campus, dummy."
"That's against school rules."
"Bite me, rat."
Desperately, Jimmy tried to regain control of the situation. Karen was so much better at dealing with stuff like this. Waving his arms about Jimmy said "Wait, wait, wait, Kyle, why the hell are you going off campus?"
"Does it matter?" the boy shrugged, returning his gaze to his phone.
With a sigh, Jimmy replied "Yes it matters, why are you going off campus?" Kyle shrugged it off again. Why couldn't the kid have picked up more of Karen's DNA and less of his? Then again, the stubborn nature was probably as much hers as his. The brooding of course, was definitely his fault and the mood swings, more him than her. Okay, so Kyle was pretty much a chip off the old block, that didn't make him any less irritating.
"Meredith, why is he going off campus?" Jimmy knew his daughter, she was a compulsive gossip. If there was any word going round school about Kyle, Meredith would know about it. Her big brown eyes – Karen's eyes – widened and she glanced across at Kyle. Oh, it was bad, Meredith was fine winding Kyle up about stuff that didn't matter, like skipping lunch or not cleaning his room but she wasn't a snitch. That meant it was something that she knew Kyle would fry her for telling.
Slowly shaking his head, Kyle met his sister's eyes "Not a word, Mer."
"Meredith?" Jimmy kept staring at her too, she wasn't her brother, she wasn't good at standing up to authority.
Standing, Kyle shouted "Don't do that, don't pressure her, don't make her choose, it's not fair!"
"Then why don't you tell me, Kyle?" he retorted.
Incredulous, the boy laughed without humour "Don't do that, Dad, don't use her to emotionally blackmail me, that's fucked."
"Watch your language!"
"My language is the least of your worries," Kyle's face was twisted with anger and he marched through to the next room. Usually, Jimmy would have followed him but honestly, he didn't have the energy to fight any more.
In the next room, Kyle was crouched on the floor, trying to suppress the anger within him. Then he saw a letter on the floor, a letter addressed to his Dad from a Derek Wills. Kyle recognised that name, it was one his father cursed every now and again, it was one his mother tried not to mention. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea of how to mess with his Dad.