5 months later

Mercedes opened her new locker and frowned at the scent it produced. Everything about this place stunk. How long was this school year going to get progressively worse?

First it was the birthday present she got after she came home from her first day of school—lavender roses, two dozen of them, from Sam Evans. Chuckling, she shook her head at the irony of it all. A few weeks ago they thought they knew everything about each other but missed some big pieces like their ages and addresses. Now that everything was known, Mercedes would give anything for some ignorance. She tried to burn every memory of him from her mind but those flowers served as a reminder of what they shared not too long ago. But it hurt. It hurt to know he still cared about her, hurt to know nothing could be done about it. So instead of putting herself through further torture she chucked the ornate card that was sent with the flowers in the trash. She'd never admit to tracing her name on the front while she smiled fondly at his scrawl before throwing it away. In a split second she was in front of the hospital donating the roses to the children's ward.

Then it was the stupid sprained ankle which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After finding out she had to take another gym class, she was forced to run the track one gloomy October morning. She knew she shouldn't have told him his class was as useless as his degree but she was irritated. She apologized immediately but the damage had been done, so she took her punishment willingly—five times around the two-mile track. Unfortunately, some asshole left their bag on the track and she didn't see it until she tripped over it, twisting her ankle. She thought if she lay still and played dead no one would bother her. Maybe she could guilt trip her way out of gym this semester. He wasn't around, but the asshole was. He ran over to her and touched her ankle gently. "Aw shit, I'm so sorry."

Mercedes winced when he touched it, she could see it swelling already.

"Let me help you up." Not only did he help her but he carried her all the way to the nurse's office. He even stayed with her as she got checked out at the hospital.

His guilt must have been eating away at him because he offered to carry her books and bag every day that she wore her crutches. He even offered after she was cleared of injury.

She told him she didn't blame him, that he didn't need to feel obligated and he owed her nothing but he was there every morning offering to come along on her morning jogs. She hesitantly agreed and they have been jogging every morning before school ever since.

Soon she realized he wasn't going away and she gave in. Turns out Noah Puckerman was proving to be one of the best friends she's ever had.

Finally, and quite possibly worse of all, was the shocking letter she got during winter break that her school was closing and all students had to be relocated to a high school two towns over. This came right after she called Sam to congratulate him for graduating and hung up, too afraid to say what she really meant to say. It seems that during an extensive renovation project, an inspector found deadly mold in most of the old walls. A few L&I officers slapped some condemned stickers on the front of the school and a school district decision to merge McKinley High students with the neighboring Polk High was the reason she was stuffing books inside this stinking ass locker. It was the right decision. She knew it was the right decision. Teachers and students alike had been complaining for years of headaches and nausea which they now discovered was associated with the mold and Polk, with its dwindling student body, had more than enough room to accommodate McKinley students. Still that hadn't made it any less shitty. Changing schools in the middle of your senior year had to be the worst thing ever, or at least a close second behind childbirth, medical procedures without anesthesia, and broken bones.

Maybe she was being a little dramatic. The year wasn't all bad. Yeah there were some good points—gaining early acceptance into two of her top three schools certainly hadn't been horrible. Neither was her high GPA. Luckily, she used her heartache and channeled all of her frustration on her studies. And she was excelling. She was a straight-A student as far as she was concerned (especially since Physics didn't count in her mind).

She soon found out how important Physics was because the pièce de résistance, the rotten cherry on top of the moldy ice cream Sundae that was her life, happened a few minutes ago. She just had a meeting with her new principal to discuss her grades. On her first day! He was concerned about her Physics average, so much so that he warned she may not graduate with her peers. He droned on and on about some grade improvement program afterschool which she properly tuned out. Didn't he realize that a 67 was passing? Dr. Mortimer, her old principal, was never concerned about her grades. He even called her his 'shining star.' So why was this balding man with a slight lisp talking about his concern when he didn't know her? Glancing at the letter for her father, she rolled her eyes and fling it in her locker.

She closed her eyes for a second before ticking the date off in her calendar. Seven more months. Just seven months and she would be out of here.

"I can't wait to show everyone what a star I am." Rachel Berry beamed in her annoyingly smug yet obtuse way. She was Mercedes' best friend, sure, but that didn't mean she never entertained thoughts of strangling the sometimes overbearing songbird. Mercedes patted her friend on the shoulder. "Rachel, I say this with love. How about you tone down the 'I'm better than everyone' stuff so you don't get your ass kicked the first day?"

Rachel scoffed and immediately frowned when she got a whiff of Mercedes locker. "I'm not better than everyone else. We're better than everyone else and the sooner you accept it the sooner you'll shine like you were meant to."

She smiled, knowing that Rachel always meant well. No matter how much the girl aggravated her Mercedes knew how much she cared. They just balanced each other out. It had always been that way. "Thanks, but I'll just be happy getting through this year."

Mercedes smirked when she felt two big hands cover her eyes and she heard Rachel groan beside her.

"This better be Lance Gross, or I'll be real disappointed."

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "This ain't Lance Gross but I can guarantee you won't be disappointed."

Dropping his hands from her face she giggled, turned around, and enveloped him in a hug.

"So word on the street is you had to go to the principal's office on the first day." He flung his arm around her shoulder. "That's pretty badass."

Before she could respond, Rachel took it upon herself to. "No Noah that is not 'badass' that is unacceptable. This is horrible Mercedes, what will your father say? This is our final year. Our last chance. You can't make a bad first impression with our new principal. He could fail you, and I can't have a Lima Loser for a best friend. I just can't." Rachel then turned her focus to Noah. "And I hope you use this opportunity to turn over a new leaf Noah. These people don't know about your criminal history or philandering ways. Maybe you can actually graduate with the rest of us." She flicked her hair and flittered down the hallway while Puck sneered watching her.

Mercedes grit her teeth as Puck stood beside her fuming. "New school and I still have to deal with her uptight ass."

She hit his arm playfully and closed her locker. "There's still hope for her. You know sometimes change can be good."

He looked at her surprised. Mercedes Jones? Embracing change? Who was this girl and what had she done with his friend? "I doubt any change would help Rachel Berry."


Sam drummed nervous fingers on the table and sipped his lukewarm coffee. He looked around the teacher's lounge and couldn't help the pride that swelled in him. Yeah it was a long hard road but he had made it. He was actually going to be doing something he always wanted to. Still, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach and couldn't shake the feeling that he was just a kid pretending to be grown up and his students would find out and eat him alive.

He was incredibly blessed. He focused all of his energy on his studies and was able to graduate a semester early. Everything was in his favor when his mentor, a former dean of students in a high school, got wind of some teaching opportunities at his old job. Sam applied, flew down for the interview, and within a few weeks he was flying back, bags packed, leased signed, ready to begin his foray into the working world. He hadn't mind moving far away from his family, opting to take this as an opportunity to re-invent himself. Maybe he could heal and let go of the girl he couldn't have.

But his heart ached when his mentor mentioned the mid-western state. He thought about her every day. Wondered how she was doing, prayed she was happy. Their last interaction had been just a few weeks ago, after his graduation ceremony, and it left him more broken than before.

FLASHBACK

Sam stood in the sea of graduates smiling and waving at his family. This was it—he was well and truly on his own. After shaking hands, hugs, and exchanging numbers he stepped into a quieter place when he heard his phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Sam?"

He took a deep breath when he realized who it was and moved further down the hall. He needed as much privacy with her as he could get. "Mercedes?"

His heart raced as he waited for her to say something. He couldn't think of anything that wasn't inappropriate. He wanted to let her know how much he loved her. How he saw her face every time he closed his eyes. How he hadn't had a proper night's sleep since she laid in his arms. But he couldn't. More than that he shouldn't so he waited. Just being on the phone with her was making him unravel. He wanted her here beside him. But he'd settle for hearing her breathe on the line.

After several agonizing minutes of anticipating the dial tone she spoke. "Congratulations." And just like that she was gone, he heard the phone click and knew she wasn't calling him again.

END OF FLASHBACK

He shook his head thinking it would erase all memories of her. He couldn't be thinking about her here—his first day at a new job. He had big shoes to fill. Taking over for a beloved physics teachers who due to a medical procedure was out for the rest of the year was going to be tough. Adding an after school grade improvement program for struggling students was going to be unbearable. But he had always thrived in high stress situations and was sure he would do well here. In fact the principal practically gave his word that should he excel this year, he could take on more classes next year. He checked his watch, downed the rest of his coffee and prepared to get his class roster from the main office.