Chapter 9
Dinner for Three*
Will had been passing by the bulletin board near the principal's office way too many times he had lost count. He'd done so since he arrived in school that morning, even to the point of changing his routes and almost arriving late in one of his classes just so he could pass that particular hallway. He'd casually walk by and look for any posted note from the New Directions, but the spot especially reserved for glee club announcements was empty the entire day.
A kind of obsessive feeling stole over him; he just wanted to know if he and Emma had gotten into the club— knowing that and Will could finally put his mind at rest. He felt like standing at the edge of a cliff, and if he didn't find out about the results soon, he might as well jump off and fall. It was strangely funny though, because he didn't really want to try out in the first place; if it weren't for Emma, he never would've considered it at all. But the exhilarating feeling he had gotten from merely standing in the middle of that choir room, preparing to sing again—it was the first time he'd felt alive in months! And Emma—god, if it weren't for Emma….
Where was she? He'd been trying to find her all day too, which was another thing that bothered him besides the audition results. Will had no idea what her schedule was that Monday; he was hoping he'd run into her in the cafeteria at lunch instead but his worry only rose when Emma never showed—no trace of her, not even with her best friend (and Will's half-brother) Henry, who had chosen yet again to sit with his teammates from the swim team. His spirits rose though, when he found Emma by her locker after the final bell rang; she was returning her books, her wavy, ginger hair concealing her small face. This was, at last, Will's time to approach her before he lost her again; he didn't know if it was because he hadn't seen her the whole day, but Will was relieved—almost to the point of being overjoyed—to see Emma again.
"Emma! Hey, Emma!" Will barely hid his excitement as he ran to her, grinning from ear to ear, his green eyes sparkling with unabashed anticipation. He reached Emma's locker and leaned next to it, catching his breath. "Hey," he heaved, still grinning.
The petite, ginger-haired Emma underwent a series of reactions, her face portraying how fleeting the change in her emotions were; her eyes widened as she looked around and realized Will was calling for her; a brief but giddy smile formed on her face, seeing him running to her; but her face then dropped and her lips tightened into a look of unspoken mortification upon realizing why Will was approaching her. She knew he had come to talk to her about the glee club audition results—and that was exactly the reason why she had been avoiding him all day; she didn't want to know how it turned out, not because she was afraid the club wouldn't take her in (no thanks to her nervous wreck of a performance)—she just didn't want to be involved in it, if, in the slightest chance she did get accepted. Auditioning with Will in front of eleven kids was harrowing enough for Emma; she could barely see herself performing on stage during a competition in front of who knows how many people—singing and dancing while they watched, and cheered, and judged… it was unbearable just imagining it all.
"Hey," mumbled Emma, her voice soft and barely audible. She took a few of her notebooks and, feeling Will's eyes watching her, began clumsily stashing them into her school bag.
"Are you okay?" Will asked, leaning closer and trying to see Emma's face through her mask of ginger hair. "I've been looking for you all day."
Emma couldn't help but smile upon hearing that, but she bit hard on her lower lip because she didn't want to give herself away. During the weekend, Emma had come to terms with herself regarding how she really felt about Will; she had come to the conclusion that maybe she had started to develop a bit of a crush on him, particularly due to the fact that they had gotten closer when they practiced their audition song from her favorite movie of all time—but that was it, she believed (or rather, what she forced herself to believe). It was nothing too serious: it was just a crush. But she knew why Will had been wanting to see her all day and it was what she wanted to focus on, instead of her apparent admiration for the curly-haired boy.
"Will," she mumbled again, "I was really busy today…."
Will nodded thoughtfully as Emma closed her locker and slung her school bag onto her shoulder; she still had not chosen to look at him, and while he couldn't exactly pinpoint the reason for her withdrawn behavior, he chose to ignore it—at least for the time being. "Well, are you going to be busy for the next five to ten minutes?" He couldn't stand not seeing Emma's face while he talked to her so he carefully took a lock of her hair in his fingers and placed it behind her ear.
Flinching away from Will's touch, Emma cleared her throat. "Yes, actually." This time, she finally turned and looked at Will straight in the eye. "Henry and I will be studying together. We've got a huge exam coming up tomorrow, and we don't want to fail again… like we did with the, uh, previous one…." She swallowed loudly, uncomfortable in admitting she had failed an exam.
Will nodded again, not completely giving thought to what Emma just told him. "I'm sure you won't fail the next one. But will you come with me now, please? I won't take up much of your time, I promise."
She could tell from Will's fidgety manner that he was excited to see the results of the glee club auditions; it was pretty obvious—what with the way he entranced the New Directions last Friday—that he was going to get in anyway. As much as Emma was thrilled that Will was finally getting into something he loved to do, her stomach had a sinking feeling of deep anxiety that has been building up inside her for days now; she'd be far from ecstatic if she ever got accepted into the glee club and honestly, she wished and prayed that the New Directions thought of her as an unworthy addition to their group, because—well, frankly speaking—isn't she? Emma couldn't help but think that on the most insanely surreal scenario that she does get accepted into the glee club, she'd most probably just end up bringing the New Directions to ruins.
"Only for five minutes, okay?" Emma said sternly, as Will beamed happily at her response. "Five minutes," she warned him.
They walked together solemnly, past empty classrooms and a few janitors who had begun mopping the empty hallways.
Will kept throwing side glances at Emma, slightly bothered by the silence between them. Sure, it was a comfortable enough moment for the both of them, but somehow he felt that Emma wasn't as open to him the way she had been the past few days. "So, what kept this student assistant busy today, huh?" Will nudged Emma's arm playfully as they made a left turn into another corridor.
Emma shrugged and held on tighter to her bag. "Well today, I was helping out at the cafeteria, preparing the food and everything. Maybe that's why you didn't see me at lunch; I was in the kitchen."
"Oh, that figures," Will smiled. "And my sandwich tasted a lot better today—I guess you had something to do with that, so thanks."
"Not really." Emma finally chuckled. "I ate a sandwich too and it didn't taste any differently. I'm pretty sure you just made that up."
"You're calling me a liar?" Will played along, pretending to be appalled by Emma's accusation. He stepped back and shook his head defiantly, his unkempt, curly hair in a flying mess around his face.
"I didn't call you anything—well, not directly!" Emma giggled, slapping Will's stomach lightly. "I never called you a—you know," she said, raising her eyebrow at him.
"A what?" Will prompted her.
"I'm not saying liar because if I did—"
"Emma, you just said it—"
"I did not!" Emma's eyes grew big and her mouth clamped shut.
"I win!" Will bragged, pretending to dust off his shirt, smirking.
"This is the first and last time, Will Schuester," Emma grumbled, softly slapping Will's arm.
"Oh hey, here we are…." Brushing a few stray strands of hair away from his eyes, Will tilted his head towards the pink sheet of paper plastered onto the bulletin board they were standing in front of. They've both been too busy with their flirtatious bantering to realize they have arrived at their destination.
Emma quickly turned away upon realizing what was about to happen, clutching Will's hand instinctively. "I can't look at it, Will." Her voice was breathy, and the choking feeling seemed to have resurfaced.
Will was silent for a while as he quickly read and reread a few more times the post from New Directions, written in Rachel Berry's handwriting: Congratulations, Will Schuester and Emma Pillsbury! As of this posting, you are now officially part of the McKinley High School Glee Club. Meet us in the choir room at 3:30 p.m. sharp today for your first glee meeting. New Directions is thrilled to have you both! At the bottom of the note was Rachel's flaunting signature and a sticker of a golden star right next to it.
"Holy… wow," Will muttered, squeezing Emma's hand. "Wow! Emma!" He turned to face her and pulled her into a crushing hug.
"Oh god, Will—!" Emma screamed as she found herself slammed against Will's warm body. It should make her feel giddy, having her crush pull her into a tight embrace, but Emma couldn't keep her mind off the audition results; the fact that Will was thrilled beyond words only worried her more.
"We're in!" Will was still holding Emma and was now jumping awkwardly at this point, lifting Emma along with him. "We're both in!" He whispered triumphantly into her ear. "You and I got in…."
Emma felt her body collapse against Will's but he didn't seem to notice because he was already holding her anyway. "M-me too?"
"Yes!" Will loosened her grip on Emma and brought her to face Rachel's pink note; true enough, it was there—Emma's name was clearly written in flashing pink ink. "You're in, Emma…," Will repeated, burying his face into her hair. "Congratulations."
But Emma backed away from the bulletin board and pulled herself away from Will's embrace, opting to wrap her arms around herself instead. She mumbled inaudibly, seemingly out of herself. She shook her head in disbelief and looked at the bulletin board one last time; her name was still there, in Rachel's note. It was unbelievable.
"So, shall we go?" Will rubbed the back of his hand against Emma's.
"I can't." Without as much as making eye contact with Will, Emma strode away—seeming as though desperately trying to get away from him.
"Emma—?" Will made to reach out after her but his reflexes weren't quick enough this time. "Wait! Aren't we going—Emma, wait!" He ran after her and caught up in no time, his longer strides no match to Emma's shorter legs.
"You said five minutes, Will!" Emma broke out into a shrill retort as she continued to stride hurriedly, although she was beginning to catch her breath. "I can't go because I promised Henry we'd study together, and now I'm probably late for that too, so I have to go!" She couldn't help but glare at him, her patience waning and her anxiety making her lose her composure.
Will pressed his lips together, unable to hide his disappointment. He raised his hands in surrender and gestured for Emma to move along and leave. "Y-you're right," he agreed, defeated. "You should go." Will sighed. "And, uh, best of luck on that exam tomorrow…."
Emma's eyes glowed with tears that were ready to fall with one blink, but she had turned away immediately and ran for the exit before the first drop fell.
"I think," Henry mumbled, tapping a pencil against his forehead, "I actually think we're ready for tomorrow's exam." He grinned widely and dropped his pencil unceremoniously as he stared in awe at all the scribbles of numbers, occasional curse words, and question marks throughout his notebook. For more or less four hours, he and Emma have worked together, answering all the available algebraic problems on their textbooks, figuring out how they went wrong in the previous exam—which they both failed— and reviewing the remaining mathematical concepts to help them ace tomorrow's test.
"I don't know, Henry," Emma yawned, gently setting her own pencil down. "I don't feel a hundred percent ready for this."
"But you've been studying for this since last week!" Henry said reassuringly. "I've only started studying three days ago, and even I already feel confident—"
"Well that's because you have your father's IQ—"
"Emma, I'm not any better in math than you are! Why'd you think I failed the last exam too? My dad—however super smart or whatever he may be— has nothing to do with this." Henry cut her off. "We're best friends for a reason: we have a burning passion for hating numbers." He smoothed his blond hair and stood up, stretching. Just then, they both heard the sound of keys rattling at the front door.
"That must be my mom. Right on time for dinner—I'm starving." said Henry. "Just wait for me, Ems, I'll get my phone upstairs." He left the living room, running.
"Yeah, I won't go anywhere," answered Emma, as she stood up and stretched her arms and legs. Her knees made soft cracking noises in its joints; has she really been seated way too long? Her thighs felt numb and slightly wobbly too, and with a grumble from her stomach, Emma realized that yes—she and Henry were indeed both starved.
"Why not?" A male voice answered, and Emma—startled from believing she'd hear Henry's mother's voice— jumped in surprise, her insides seemingly freezing up in yet another wave of anxiety.
"Will, you scared me." Emma turned to face him, her neck beginning to redden. "I—I thought Henry's mom was at the door…."
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you." Will shrugged.
"N-no, that's not—I meant—I'm not disappointed." Emma's response was a scramble of phrases, but she got her message across.
Will couldn't hide the smile forming on his face, as well as the soft dimples on his cheeks that accentuated it. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked up to Emma, scanning the mess of notebooks, pencils, and textbooks on the coffee table. "Done studying?"
"For now, yes." Emma's hands unconsciously found the tips of her hair and began twirling it around her fingers. "But as soon as I get home I think I'll brush up on it again." As soon as she realized Will was watching her hair-twirling mannerism, she dropped her hand and instead took to fixing her school things on the table.
"Good luck on that exam." Will said, setting his backpack down and collapsing on the couch. "Where's Henry?"
"I'm right here." The younger Schuester's voice echoed from the hall leading to the living room. Henry stepped cautiously around Will, eyeing him contemptuously, his jaw clenched. "Anyway," he intentionally turned his back on Will, facing Emma instead. "Mom just called. She told me to order pizza instead because something came up at a friend's house and she couldn't leave yet. She and dad will be home in a while—oh, and Ems, you'll have to stay until they get back because dad's offering to take you home."
"It's okay," Emma shook her head and crinkled her nose. "I can take the bus—"
"But it's too dangerous for you to ride the bus tonight—alone! And don't worry, Mom said she already told your mom and she's fine with it, so—"
"I wouldn't want to bother Dr. Schuester, he's a very busy man—"
"Emma, it's not a problem," Henry reassured her, patting her arm.
"Thanks for the offer but I—"
"I don't think you have a choice, though. Henry's right, Emma." Will glanced quickly at Henry before smirking at Emma, knowing she was at the losing end of her bargain.
Henry narrowed his eyes at Will, but was secretly grateful that his half-brother took his side to get Emma to stop arguing her point. "I guess that one's settled. Let's order some pizza now, shall we?"
Needless to say, it was one of the most awkward scenarios that Will has ever taken part of. On the coffee table in the living room were two boxes of pizza, opened but untouched. Seated on the couch were Will and Emma—the former holding a can of grape soda and the latter holding a glass of water—while Henry was on a separate armchair across the two of them, keeping his eyes on the pizza. No one was going to say a word about it but Will knew he was the cause of this strangeness; this seething, deafening silence among the three of them wouldn't really exist if he wasn't in the room—if it had only been Henry and his best friend, Emma. The truth was that Henry still would not acknowledge him as his brother—not even a half-brother— and Will was very well aware of that fact; in spite of this, he had come to the acceptance that even though Henry still continued to treat him as an outsider, the fact that he was living in his father's house and with his father's family, the very least he could do was to respect them.
"The two of you should go take the first slices," Will began, and he was relieved to get the buzzing silence out of his ear. "Your brains must be exhausted from all those math stuff earlier."
Emma leaned forward, setting her glass down, and took the first slice of pepperoni pizza. Henry shrugged, pretending to ignore Will and taking one slice too.
"Here's to passing that exam tomorrow!" Emma cheered, raising her pizza up in the air and gesturing for Henry to follow. "And Will—c'mon, take your own slice," she said merrily.
Henry heaved a sigh of relief. "Cheers!"
Will only half-raised his pizza, feeling Henry stealthily giving him side glares when Emma wasn't looking.
"Raise it up, silly!" Emma nudged Will's arm higher. She hated having to see him isolated in his own home, uncomfortable because Henry was hard on him— so she took it upon herself to open Will up into this dinner for three and include him in the conversation. "And cheers to Will for getting into the glee club!"
Both Henry and Will reacted at once.
"But so did you!" Will laughed, nudging Emma in return.
"You sing—wait, what? You too, Ems?" Henry almost dropped his pizza.
Emma's eyes grew big—mortified that her attempt to get Will and Henry talking to each other took a different direction and lead back to her. She bit her pizza and chewed as slowly as she could.
"How the hell did you join the glee club?" Henry hungrily attacked his pizza. "You didn't tell me you could sing," he said, his mouth full.
"She can sing," Will chimed in. Henry's jaw tightened again but he didn't glare this time. "She's got an amazing voice too." He couldn't help but gush about how much he loved Emma's singing voice.
Hastily swallowing, Emma cleared her throat. "C-could we talk about something else, please? Like how—how good this pizza is?"
"I can't believe it, I mean really—" Henry actually turned to face Will for the first time, to address him. "I've known this girl for eight years yet I've never heard her sing before!" He scratched his head in confusion and turned to Emma. "Whatever would possess you to join the glee club?"
"I blackmailed her," Will said jokingly, but he and Emma instinctively faced each other, and with a mere look into each other's eyes, they both knew the truth: they shared an experience—a bond—which Henry could never be a part of.
"Dammit, how come he gets to blackmail you and I don't?" Henry scoffed.
"Maybe it's because I'm too stubborn for you," teased Emma, raising her eyebrow at the younger Schuester.
"Nah. It's because you allow him to." Henry bit off his pizza again.
Emma's face flushed because it was true—she'd drop everything in a snap for Will if he asked her to. She grabbed her glass and chugged as much water as she could, avoiding eye contact with both Schuesters.
Will wondered if that had ended the brief conversation among them, but as he chewed on his pizza, his half-brother spoke again.
"If you ask me though, you should've joined something else." Henry was addressing Will once again, and Will was only more than eager to take on this possibly brewing new friendship.
"Why's that?" He mumbled, his mouth still full. Emma set her glass down, keenly observing the two brothers.
Henry shrugged and scoffed, as though the answer was pretty obvious. "Glee club's going down the drain. Those losers couldn't even get past regionals or something."
"Yeah, they told me," Will answered a little too quickly, feeling himself getting defensive.
"And did they tell you that if they lose again this year, the glee club will be disbanded for good? Probably not. That's why you joined, huh? A faulty, misinformed decision—you'll see." Henry seemed to be unaware of the boundaries he was crossing; Will could feel his facial muscles tensing up, but even as Emma reached out to squeeze his shoulder, he didn't seem to feel anything.
"We'll get to nationals this year." Will spoke with an eerily strong conviction. He wasn't even looking at Henry anymore; his eyes were far ahead, the memory of his past victory at nationals with Vocal Symphony replaying all over again.
"I'll believe it when it happens," replied Henry. "Whatever." He was the first of the three of them to take a second serving. "Hey, did you know the water in the school's swimming pool's got this creepy fungal thing going around? That's why they've suspended our swim practice until they clean it out."
"Henry, that's gross!" Emma spluttered, cringing. "Stop it!"
Will couldn't help but laugh, amused by merely watching his brother and his best friend teasing each other.
"Do you think that's gross, Will?" Henry actually called him by his name, and Will couldn't help but beam. He knew they were far from being close, but this was a start and it was better than his half-brother ignoring his existence every single day.
"Not really, no," Will shook his head, chuckling.
"Will, you're supposed to be on my side!" Emma pokes his side, laughing.
"There's no rule that says that, is there?" He glanced at Emma and winked at her, and she knew he was teasing her all for good fun.
All in all, it turned out far from what Will had expected he'd get from having dinner with Henry and Emma; they were just two sixteen-year-olds and a seventeen-year-old stuck together in a house—who'd have thought it wouldn't be as chaotic as Will thought it would be? They kept the conversation light—throwing random topics in just as long as anyone reacted to it—and as long as no one brought up the fact that Will was Henry's half-brother, everyone kept a cool head for the rest of the evening.
It must've been an hour or so later when Dr. Schuester and his wife Susan arrived back home, both of whom were caught off-guard when they discovered what the three teenagers were up to in the living room.
Two pizza boxes lay empty on the coffee table, surrounded by an empty glass and a few cans of fruit soda. Curled up on the cozy armchair was Henry, his blond hair shielding his face as he slept, earphones plugged into his ears as he cradled his phone; on the sofa across from him was Emma—also fast asleep—with her math notebook resting on her lap while she rested her head comfortably on Will's shoulder; Will, loosely holding sheet music in his hands, was also leaning back on the couch, his mouth slightly open as he snored lightly.
"And here I was, praying your two sons didn't try to kill each other," mused Susan as she and his husband fondly looked in awe at the scene before them.
"Kids are unpredictable these days," sighed Ed Schuester; he too, couldn't help but smile at what he was seeing. "Now let's bring Emma home."
