"Aren't you gonna get in trouble for this?" Mercedes laughed out as Sam handed her a two-dollar hotdog he'd just finished purchasing for her at a concession stand near the packed bleachers next to the football field. Down on the field itself, the Cheerios could be seen already warming up for the game, and both football teams on the field were running passing drills and getting warmed up. Sam himself was in his uniform but had skipped the warm-up to show Mercedes to a front-row seat and buy her something to eat.
"Maybe. But I invited you, so I'm dedicated to making sure you're comfortable," Sam concluded, grinning at her as they walked towards the bleachers together. "Besides, Puck never does warm-ups; he's usually behind the bleachers with some girl until two minutes before the game. Looks like this week, it's… whoa."
He paused, looking to the space behind the bleachers with wide eyes. Mercedes followed his gaze and looked taken aback. "Is that Rachel?"
Sure enough, Puck had Rachel leaned up against the edge of the bleachers, one of his arms pressed to the metal beside her head as he hovered over her, whispering something into her ear. She laughed lightly and Sam's eyebrows went higher. "So on a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think Finn'll be?"
"Eleven," Mercedes concluded, taking a bite out of her hotdog. "You know, I don't understand girls at this school; they all let guys take advantage of them. Maybe McKinley's just experiencing a douchebag overload all of a sudden. If Quinn or Rachel actually had a guy show them respect, they wouldn't waste their time with two-timing guys like Finn or players like Puck."
"Yeah," Sam sighed out. "I mean, I try to be nice to girls, but I don't think a lot of them go for that. Even Mike had to act like a jerk to get Tina, from what I've heard. Helping her cheat on Artie and all."
"It's all just a popularity contest," Mercedes assured him. "And you're just new. Once everyone gets used to you, girls will be lining up to date you. I mean, you're actually cute and nice." She smiled at him and then proceeded towards the bleachers while Sam stared after her.
"…Wait, you think I'm cute?"
Mercedes took a seat between Tina and Kurt just as the coin-toss was being held on the field. Mike, Puck, and Finn were team captains but Puck, as usual, was missing from the toss, leaving Finn and Mike with the responsibility of calling it. Tina scowled at the field as Mercedes and Kurt watched her with amusement.
"Hoping they get it wrong?" Kurt guessed wisely.
"Hoping he face-plants on the kick return," Tina retorted, her eyes not leaving the field as she took a sip of the drink in her hand.
"You're gonna have to forgive him eventually," Mercedes reminded her while Kurt nodded his agreement beside her. "You know he's sorry."
"Of course you two can say that," Tina argued. "Kurt spent all night last night with Blaine, and Sam not only helped us clean up this morning, he also paid for your ticket and food, Mercedes. You guys actually have someone interested in you."
"We're not together," Mercedes argued with a laugh. "I don't know why everyone keeps acting like we are."
"Neither are Blaine and I," Kurt pointed out. "And I don't remember much of anything from last night."
"You woke up on top of him," Tina reminded him, earning a blush in response. "You two might as well be a couple by now. And don't even get me started on Ms. Thing over here, trying to act like there's nothing going on between her and Sam. I saw you two last night; he likes you."
"You don't know that," Mercedes replied quietly, turning to watch as the other team kicked the ball off to Mike and the game began. Beside the field, the Cheerios were pumping up the crowd and Quinn looked to be searching the stands for someone. "I wonder if she's the one who put Puck up to flirting with Rachel," Mercedes guessed, trying to change the subject.
"Wait, did you just say Puck and Rachel?" Kurt questioned, taking the bait.
"Yes, Sam pointed them out to me. Apparently Puck has a different pre-game hookup each week and this time it was Rachel."
"They were hooking up?" Tina asked with furrowed eyebrows. "That doesn't seem like Rachel."
"No, they were just flirting. I don't think anything actually happened."
"Hmm. Well, speaking of flirting, have you seen Artie?" Kurt asked Tina suddenly. "I thought he was supposed to meet us here?"
"Artie and I are not together," Tina insisted. "Not even remotely. That ship has sailed and we're just friends now. But no, he's not meeting us. Apparently things got pretty crazy at Puck's house after the guys left. I don't think he's feeling too good."
"That would explain Finn's horrible passing game. His arm is totally weak today," Kurt observed, only to receive incredulous looks from Tina and Mercedes. "What? Have you seen who my father is?"
Their surprised laughter was interrupted by Rachel, who came out of nowhere and plopped down next to Kurt without explanation, smoothing down her skirt as she did so. "Hello," she said calmly, eyes already on the field.
"Hey," Kurt replied with mild distaste, subtly scooting away from her. "I thought you normally sat alone, Rachel."
"Well, I figured we all bonded at the party last night and that you wouldn't mind my company," Rachel told them brightly, oblivious to their matching frowns. "Besides, I normally sit off to the side alone in order to lower Quinn's chances of spotting me here, but now… well, you might be surprised to hear this but Finn and I were… somewhat involved-"
Kurt let out a gasp while Mercedes and Tina struggled to force looks of shock onto their faces. "No!"
Rachel flushed slightly. "Yes, I know it was wrong, but I ended things last night and recently it's come to my attention that Noah Puckerman can be quite… charming. When he isn't making fun of my clothes or slushieing me, that is."
"You're dating Puckerman?" Tina deadpanned.
"Not dating, per se. We're talking."
"And you don't think this seems a little sudden?" Mercedes pointed out.
"Well, he had to get around to me eventually," Rachel surmised. "And I admire his dedication considering moving in on his best friend's crush is bound to cause some personal problems. Clearly he thinks I'm worth the risk. Finn would never risk anything to try and be in a real relationship with me."
"Real relationship," Kurt echoed with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure we're talking about the same Puck here?"
"Absolutely," Rachel replied mildly, a small smile gracing her lips. "He said he had a thing for my nose."
The game turned out to be mostly uneventful, but ended with a McKinley winning score of 7-0, courtesy of Sam's good running skills and Karofsky's ability to block three players at once with his body. Kurt and Tina left together as soon as the game was over, but Mercedes and Rachel stuck around and waited for the players to come out of the locker room. Sam was one of the first ones out and he grinned when he saw Mercedes, falling into step beside her as they walked towards the school's exit.
"Sorry it wasn't more exciting," he apologized as they left the school and headed for the parking lot.
"It's fine. Like I said, I come to every game anyway," Mercedes reminded him. "Besides, you were the one who scored. That was amazing. Even Quinn looked really impressed with you and she spends most of her game time scoping out Rachel and glaring at everyone."
"Thanks. But I don't care what Quinn thinks," he started slowly, not looking at her. "I've heard enough from and about her and her issues to last me a lifetime. I wanna know about you." He shot her a smile and she looked away shyly. "What's your family like? They must really trust you to have left you alone for a weekend like they did."
"They do. But my dad works a lot so I don't get to see him often anyway. It's just that this business trip my mom just happened to go with him, too, so I got left alone this time."
"Oh." Sam nodded. "I guess me and my dad are the same way. Except my parents are divorced. I went a while without seeing him after the divorce and now I see him on some weekends."
"Why didn't you see him at first?" she asked him curiously.
He laughed. "Man, I was pissed. But at least he makes an effort, I guess. I mean, having workaholic parents must have its perks but I don't envy it."
"You get used to it," she explained shortly as they arrived at the cars and Sam's smile faded.
"I guess so. This is me." Sam pointed to a car nearby and they both paused. He shoved his hands into his pockets awkwardly, then, and avoided her eyes. "So, uh… I have to admit, the whole 'game' thing didn't go like I'd hoped it would…"
"What do you mean?" Mercedes questioned, facing him.
"I guess I didn't think it through too well. I mean, we didn't get to talk all that much since I was busy playing, and after last night none of us were really on our games." He looked down at his feet and finished, "I was kinda hoping I'd get more of a chance to impress you."
Mercedes raised both eyebrows. "Impress me? Why?"
He flushed a little. "Well… you seem cool. And nice. And… what I guess I'm trying to say is…" He paused, then heaved a sigh, laughing a little. After another short pause, he finally shook his head and looked up at her. "Do you wanna, maybe… go out to eat sometime, or…?"
If possible, Mercedes' eyebrows went even higher, and she immediately felt her cheeks burn. "Oh! You…"
"Aren't really good at being up front," Sam finished knowingly for her, cringing a little. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I've just never really done this before. All-boys school, you know?"
"Right." There was an awkward pause, and Mercedes bit her lip before a moment, before smiling a little. "Um… I'll think about it."
Sam looked embarrassed. "You'll think about it?"
"Yeah. I've never done this before, either," she told him. "Just… ask me again after school on Monday, okay?"
Apparently a little pleased that he hadn't gotten completely rejected, Sam smiled slightly and nodded his agreement. "Okay. I'll see you Monday, then." He waved a little and started to back away toward his car.
"See you Monday," Mercedes echoed, trying hard to hide a smile of her own.
After a long weekend and an even longer Monday (keeping a secret from Kurt was about the hardest thing in the world to accomplish, especially when it involved a boy), Mercedes found herself in the choir room along with the rest of the club, sitting in their usual chairs while Will addressed them from near the piano.
"So last Friday we were treated to a somewhat obscure life lesson on growing up from Artie, Puck and Finn through a Blink 182 song," he reminded them, "and a lovely but rule-breaking solo of Five For Fighting's '100 Years' from Kurt-"
"Hey," Kurt interjected quickly, "Tina was on piano, which, in the rules made, qualifies it as a duet performance, even if there was only one singer. Your fault for not clarifying earlier, Mr. Schue."
Will shot him a disapproving look and continued, "Anyway, all that we have left now is Mercedes' solo performance. Mercedes, are you ready?"
Mercedes opened her mouth to confirm, but Rachel jumped in before she could speak.
"Actually, if I may, Mr. Schuester… I know our songs were due on Friday and I was unable to find a song in time due to my excessive anxieties about my first sleepover, but over the weekend Noah and I put together a duet." The entire club looked over at her, surprised, and Will looked ready to turn her down. Rachel cut him off hurriedly, "I know he's already performed this week but it'll mostly just be me singing; he'll only be playing guitar and doing background vocals. Conveying the message in this song is very important to me."
"I, uh, actually kind of put something together over the weekend too," Sam added with a raise of his hand, surprising the club yet again. "It's a solo but I thought maybe since I'm not getting an assignment I could do this one on my own, just this once?"
Mercedes shot him a curious look but he refused to meet her eyes, seemingly embarrassed, and everyone's attention went to Will, who looked hesitant. Finally, he sighed.
"I guess we have three performances today, then."
Rachel hopped up happily and reached for Puck's hand to pull him up to the front with his guitar, an act which didn't go unnoticed, especially by Finn. He glared at Puck as he took a spot on a stool next to Rachel, his guitar already resting on his lap and ready to go. Rachel cued Puck to start playing and immediately launched into a rendition of the Isley Brothers' "Love the One You're With" that left the entire club embarrassed and speechless with the exception of a slightly suspicious Quinn, an as usual out- of-it Brittany, and a silently fuming Finn. Puck smirked throughout the entire song and when it finally ended, he and Rachel sat down next to each other, hands clasped together.
"Well…" Will started awkwardly, "Um…good job, guys. Way to pick a song with a clear message. You're up, Sam."
"Not sure how I'm gonna follow that one," Sam muttered, standing up and grabbing a guitar of his own, then taking a seat on Puck's old stool. "Uh, this song is about how girls sometimes get more crap then they deserve, and… that we should respect them. That's all." He glanced at Quinn first, then looked to Mercedes, who gave him a questioning look. He just smiled and began to strum his guitar, and Mercedes immediately had to struggle not to grin when she recognized the song. He was serenading her.
I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls are continually changed
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me
Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
He finished the song and everyone clapped politely as Sam put his guitar up and then took his seat, looking over at Mercedes briefly and then grinning when he saw her shaking her head in disbelief and trying not to smile. Quinn, meanwhile, seemed to be watching Sam an awful lot as Will doled out his usual dose of praise to the blonde boy, and Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows at Quinn before eventually rolling her eyes and then looking to Will again as he finally addressed her.
"Alright Mercedes, think you can follow that up?"
She met Sam's eyes briefly again and they exchanged smiles before she nodded to Will. "I think so, Mr. Schue." She got up and took her place on one of the stools before announcing, "Well, I know we all had a pretty eventful weekend, but I did manage to pick a song, and my theme is that everyone should be themselves and stop worrying about what everyone else thinks." She looked to Quinn. "Even if it's at the cost of something you might care about. Just be yourself." She cued the band and they began to play.
Three little birds, sat on my window
And they told me I don't need to worry
Summer came like cinnamon
So sweet
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete
Maybe sometimes, we've got it wrong, but it's alright
The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same
Oh, don't you hesitate
As the band kept playing and the chorus started up, she could tell from the look on Quinn's face that the other girl knew the song was mostly being directed toward her. She kept her hand in Finn's while the tall boy continued to look perturbed beside her (probably still as an after-effect of Rachel's song), but as the song went on, she seemed to grow more and more thoughtful. Above her, Santana was rolling her eyes and Brittany just looked oblivious.
Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
Oh, you're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow
New Directions clapped as she finished her song, and she smiled politely at Will as he praised her performance, then stood up and retook her seat. Will dismissed them for the day and Mercedes gathered up her stuff and walked with Kurt to their cars in the parking lot.
"You did great. I hope my name gets drawn next," he told her. "No more sharing the spotlight or having to sing what Rachel wants; how heavenly would that be and what is Quinn doing with Sam?" He stared across the parking lot incredulously and Mercedes followed his eyes to see that sure enough, Sam was leaning up against his car while Quinn stood in front of him, obviously in flirt-mode, just judging by her body language. "I can't believe she's moving in on your man. And she's still got her claws in Finn, too."
"He's not my man, Kurt," Mercedes reminded him, glad now that she hadn't told him about Sam asking her out two days before. There's no telling what his reaction now would be if she had. Still, she hadn't exactly thought that Quinn would consider taking her advice, or that Quinn taking her advice would entail hitting on the less-popular Sam. She couldn't help but be disappointed, especially after Sam's song to her. "It's not a big deal."
Kurt sighed. "If you insist. But I still think it was a missed opportunity." He waved goodbye to her with a shrug and turned to go to his own car. Mercedes took one last glance at Sam and Quinn as she reached hers, and took out her keys to unlock it.
Suddenly, she heard Sam call her name, and when she turned, she saw him wave at her excitedly and then brush past Quinn to head towards her. Quinn watched him leave incredulously, before folding her arms over her chest and storming off in the direction of her own car. "Hey! I almost didn't see you there. I'm still waiting on an answer, remember?" Sam told Mercedes brightly when he reached her.
Mercedes looked back at him, confused. "But you and Quinn-"
Now it was Sam's turn to look confused. He laughed. "What? I told you what I thought of Quinn last night. She can flirt all she wants; she's still with Finn and I'm not interested anyway. I mean, if she got something out of the song I sang, great, but I sang it for you." He took off his backpack suddenly and dug through it for a moment, before coming up with two coupons. "Fifty percent off breadsticks at Breadstix," he proposed. "I know it's kinda lame to use coupons, but I'll pay the rest. Friday night?" He saw the look she was shooting him and smiled sheepishly. "Puck gave me a lesson on confidence Sunday. Am I doing better?"
"Miles," she agreed with a nod, accepting a coupon from him. "I'm free at eight."
"Really? I mean… okay, yeah. Eight it is." He shot her another sheepish smile and slung his backpack back over his shoulder, then pocketed his coupon. "I'll see you then. And at Glee practice and in class… but you know what I mean." He left and she smiled as he went, glancing down at the coupon in her hand with pride. After a moment, she unlocked her car and got in, sitting in the seat for a moment before she let out a small sigh and shook her head, then rested her forehead on the steering wheel with a grin.
Kurt was going to kill her for not telling him about this.
That's the end of Mercedes! Link to the Episode 4 vid is up on my profile; check it out if you want to see who's next :)
