Damian and I held hands as we walked through the front door of William McKinley. I looked at everyone and smiled. Damian and I found Lindsay and Cameron. I hugged Lindsay. "Wow," Lindsay said, smiling brightly, "Everyone's looking at us differently now that we've taken Nationals. We are moving on up on the social hier-" she said but stopped short when each of us met head on with cold, cherry slushies.

"Welcome back to school, Homo-Explosion!" a football player said as he and his cronies walked off, hi-fiving people on their way.

We all looked at each other in horror. Cameron and Damian waved and went into the boy's bathroom. Lindsay and I did the same to our bathroom. "God!" she shouted, wiping the slushy from her eyes, "I thought everything would change now that we've won National's. I thought I could come back and not get a slushy facial. What the Hell are their problems?" I had never seen Lindsay this upset.

I tried to cool her down. "Sweetie," I said, bracing her shoulders, "Don't worry about it!"

She shook her head. "When I was in middle school all I wanted to be was the popular girl in high school. I wanted people to see me differently. I wanted them to see me as someone other than the annoying, over-achieving girl with the teeth."

"Lindsay," I said, "There's more to life than being popular. When you're popular people don't see the real you. With glee you're surrounded by twelve people who love you and know you. Hell, even Emily loves and looks up to you! Isn't that better than being popular?"

She sighed and smiled. "Thanks, Mars," she said then kissed my cheek, "You're the best."

"I try."

She laughed then we continued wiping the slushy off us. I grabbed my gym clothes out of my bag and went into a stall to change. Lindsay did the same. I walked out and fixed my smeared mascara. "I'm trying out for volley ball," I told Lindsay.

"Really?" she asked from her stall.

"Yeah, this afternoon." I practiced my volley ball stances in the mirror as I made weird faces. I was in spandex shorts and a loose gray Thunderclap T-shit I had rolled up to my shoulders. Lindsay came back in grey sweat capris, a blue tank, and a yellow half-shirt. Her P.E. class was Competitive Dance, mine was Various Sports. Today we'd play volleyball which would help me get pumped for my try-outs that afternoon.

We nodded and walked out of the bathroom, head held high and eyes slushy-free. Damian and Cameron walked out about a minute after Lindsay and me. They too were wearing their gym clothes.

I felt naked wearing only my spandex shorts. Damian and Cameron were staring, making me blush. Thankfully the bell rang and I scurried off to my first class. I looked at my schedule to see that for the morning I had French History AP, French III AP, Literacy Elite, and Art II. I walked to History. For the afternoon Trigonometry, Various Sports, and Free Period were lined up.

Most French History students took French so Mr. DiMoggio would randomly throw in a French word in his lesson. I was sitting next to Samuel who was completely lost when our teacher spoke a full paragraph in complete French. I wrote the translation on a piece of paper but even I didn't catch some of the words.

We struggled through the first part of the class but when Mr. DiMoggio called me and a boy named David up to reenact how the late Marie Antionette curtsied when she first met her husband to-be was when the trouble stared.

I stood up and walked to the front of the room. "Mademoiselle," the teacher said, "What are you wearing?"

"Uh, shorts," I said, pulling at the spandex fabric. It retracted with a snap on my upper thighs. It hurt but I didn't let it show.

"That is not ladylike, at all," he said in French, "You must go change."

"I don't have a change of clothes," I said in English.

"I am tired of your belligerence," he said. I looked at him in shock. I wasn't aware I was being belligerent. "Go to the Principle's Office!" He was still speaking in French.

I grabbed my backpack and stormed out in a fury of red hair. I went to Principle Figgins' office and sat down in the waiting room. I saw Mr. Schue in there talking to him. I blushed, wondering how to explain myself to my favorite teacher.

A couple minutes later, Mr. Schue walked out and looked at me curiously. "I got in a… riff, you could say, with my French History teacher," I said, my head hung low.

He nodded. "Well, let's hope you don't get detention. Glee practice tomorrow. Hope you've prepared a song by now." He knew I had. I always met deadlines. I smiled and nodded. "Now, go explain yourself to Mr. Figgins." I smiled and walked inside his office.

"Shut the door, Marissa," he said. I complied then sat down in the chair across from him. "Now, why are you here?"

I reviewed the conversation Mr. DiMaggio and I had had. "Well," I said, choosing my words very carefully, "Understandably, Mr. DiMaggio was upset by the length of my shorts." I stood up to show him. "But sir," I said, sitting back down, "I had no choice. These are my gym shorts. I didn't want to wear them but I was slushied this morning."

He nodded. "I see. Could you tell me who slushied you?"

"No," I said, shaking my head, "They were football players but my eyes were clouded by corn syrup. Lindsay, Damian, or Cameron might know though, they were slushied too."

"I see," he said again, "Well, Ms. Von Bleicken, my hands are tied. I have to give you detention because your shorts are outside the minimum length. After school you'll have detention with Mrs. Pennyfeather in room 3B."

I nodded then harsh realism hit me. "Sir," I said, "Is there anyway we can move that to Wednesday. I have volleyball tryouts today and Glee Club tomorrow."

He sighed. "Yes," he said, marking something on a sheet of paper, "We need volleyball, our Football team is horrible and Glee Club actually brought some publicity to our school. So Wednesday afternoon?"

"Thank you so much!" I said, standing up.

"Goodbye, Ms. Von Bleicken," Mr. Figgins said, waving a little.

"Bye," I said, opening the door, "And thank you again." I sighed. I knew he had gone easy on me. Everyone was doing that now that my father was in a coma. I didn't like it but at that moment I wasn't about to complain.

I walked to the hall as the bell rang. Samuel came out of our classroom and smiled at my happy face. "What happened?"

"Detention Wednesday but I still get to go to try-outs and the Glee tomorrow."

"Thanks God for that," he said, looking relived.

"Why?" I asked, "What's up?"

"I'm having serious trouble picking a song," he said, "And I need your help tonight to pick one. You're my go-to song library."

I laughed at the thought. "Alright, I'll see you tonight," I said, waving and going to the next class.

The rest of the day flew by and as the time stretched on and the clock hands got closer to three I was getting more and more nervous. I clutched my stomach and waited for the final bell to ring. I gatheedr my books, stopped at my locker. Cameron wished me good luck as I put my books in. I grabbed my bag and went to the gym.

About twenty girls were lined up. The cheerleaders were in the stands, waiting for the gym to be there's. I waved a little at Emily and she flashed me a thumbs up. Coach Sylvester yelled at her for it but she brushed it off. As much as Em can annoy me I can definitely respect her ability to not let people get to her.

"Okay!" the coach yelled. She blew her whistle and had her assistant coach throw her a ball. "Basics: I'm going to throw you this ball and you're going to decide whether to bump or set it. Try to get it back to me. If you've never played this'll be hard so just try your best. If you have played before, impress me. In two lines now! This is a simple drill, ladies. I throw you the ball and I hopefully get to catch it. If not go get your own ball. You'll trade off between lines. Let's go!" We all assembled quickly into two lines. I was third in my line.

When it was my turn she threw the ball too high. I let it go, my experience telling me it'd be out. "Good judgement, Von Bleiken!" she shouted, "That was my bad. Try it again!" She threw me another ball. It went up and left to where the setter would be. I ran and dribbled it then put it back in the basket. I ran back to my place in the line behind a blond with a short pixie cut. I learned her name was Macy. It continued as such for twenty minutes.

We went on a three minute water break then we started serving. Coach divided us up on each side of the court by those with experience and those without it. I stood with the rest of the girls who'd played before, ball in hand. Coach blew her whistle and it was like all hell broke loose.

I tossed my pure white volleyball in the air, jumped and slammed it. It flew over the net and straight down. The girl next to me gawked, making me blush.

I had loved volleyball since middle school. While I was an outcast at any other given time, I was a start on the court. It was the only place I belonged back then.

After serving for twenty minutes we took another water break then we took on spiking. I was in my element. Spiking was my favorite part. We all lined up and Coach set us up. When it was my turn I ran up a little too late and ended up having to dive for it and bump. "Sorry, Coach," I said, standing up and running for my ball.

"No problem, Von Bleicken," she said, stopping the whole drill, "What Von Bleiken just showed was amazing judgment. She ran way too late but she saved it with a good bump." I blushed and cowered away to the back of the line. A couple girls eyed me with menace but most smiled at me and gave me thumbs up. The next ball I spiked perfectly then went to retrieve it.

I was the second to the last to go and when we were done Coach told us to take a knee. "Alright, ladies," she said, putting her arms around the two girls on either side of her. They did the same and soon we were all linked. "We saw some awesome skills today. Unfortunately, we only have room for twelve girls on the Junior's Volleyball team. The good news is, anyone not put on Varsity will be on JV so everyone here can play. The team roster will be posted tomorrow before school so be on the look out. Go home and get some rest. Good job ladies!" She applauded us as we left the gym and the Cheerios took over.

I climbed into my car and drove home, completely satisfied with my performance.