Warnings for this chapter: Severe bullying, anatomical mentions, swearing

Chapter Nine

"I don't believe it."

Mr Ryans looked up at his co-worker, intrigued. "Don't believe what?"

Garretts pointed at the sheet of paper in his hand. "The amount of people who've signed up; there can't be more than fifteen on here...and I'm sure that most of them are freshmen."

"Is that bad?" Ryans asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's rather good news, actually: we won't have to worry about them all leaving for some time yet."

The other man sighed, throwing himself into a seat next to him. "Well, yes, but...what if none of these people can sing? Glee clubs need at least twelve members if they want to participate in competitions, which we're going to want to do at some point."

"We'll find the numbers we need," Ryans said in an assuring tone, picking up his mug of coffee. "Auditions are this afternoon, right? No matter how little try out, we should be able to work on getting the right amount of people. Besides, we already have three girls involved - that means we only need at least nine."

"I know, I know," Garretts sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"And glee club isn't just about singing," The other man continued. "We need dancers too - they'll give us an edge...an advantage...over the competition."

Garretts nodded. "Fine. Fine, I suppose that's true...we just need to attract more people to join..." He bit his lip. "Maybe the members we do get will bring their friends along now and then; then the friends would join."

"Exactly," The older man agreed, sitting back and nodding his head. "We're going to be fine."

The taller man paused and gave his colleague a somewhat sheepish grin. "Uhh...well, I know a fair bit about singing, but as for dancing...I have no ide-"

"Leave it to me," Ryans interrupted, much to Garretts' surprise.

"How do you-"

"Trust me," Ryans continued, smiling to himself in a somewhat knowing way. "I know what I'm talking about."


"NO LAGGING BEHIND!... IS THAT A QUIVER I SEE?! THERE IS NO QUIVERING ON MY CHEER TEAM!"

Meggie and Pepper looked at each other uselessly, giving it their all to keep up with the cheer exercise that they were being forced through; one that only the new people had to do, apparently, as if to prove themselves.

"TIME!" The coach yelled, and all of the teenagers in the room immediately stopped while letting out harsh panting noises - clearly Meggie and Pepper weren't the only ones not used to such a vigorous routine. Their Cheer Coach - Miss O' Neilson - scanned everyone with beady eyes, shaking her head so that her ginger curly ponytail shook. "Not good enough! In fact, the only person in this class who wasn't stumbling, quivering, had fat bouncing or failing was Tammy."

Oh, of course it's her, Meggie thought bitterly, trying to get her breathing under control. Stupid bitch.

"From now on," She continued loudly. "There will be a BMI check every other Thursday; anyone who does not fit my standards will be kicked off the team permanently. DISMISSED!"

Pepper muttered a rude word under her breath as they all started to retreat to the changing rooms. "Kicked off the team...I wouldn't mind kicking her right up the ass..." She shook her head, wiping at her forehead with her arm. "I swear that she's threatened us with BMI checks before."

"At least twice since we started," Meggie agreed dryly, shaking her head and quickly taking off her kit as they reached the bench where their things were. "And did you hear the way that she was kissing Tammy's butt all of the way through rehearsal? Tammy is doing it perfectly...everyone look at her... I wouldn't mind shoving the both of them off a cliff."

Her best friend let out a low giggle. "Wow, someone's a bit moody today!"

Meggie shrugged. "You know that I don't like her; she's a massive bitch who gets whatever she wants." She picked up a towel and wrapped it around herself so that she could head to the showers. "Besides, we have that Glee thing today with Cassie - I'm nervous about who we're getting."

Just as she was about to step into the shower, however, she found her way blocked by Tammy and two of her clones.

"Hey, Meggie," Tammy started, giving her a rather nasty looking smile.

Meggie straightened up. "Yes, hello. Could you move, please, so that I can go for a shower?"

"Oh, of course." She moved out of the way, smirking to herself. "Have fun."

Meggie didn't like the way that Tammy's voice sounded - it was sickly sweet and sugary, and she hated it. She didn't trust Tammy at all, but she knew that she had to shower before going to the auditorium to help judge the auditions.

That was why she stepped inside, taking off her towel while burning bright red in the face, and turned on the hot water. There were some snickers behind her and she went even pinker at the thought of everyone being able to see her naked.

"Wow, someone's been eating too many cookies... Everyone! I've got a new nickname for her! Bubble butt!"

One of the clones laughed in a high-pitched voice. "Too much lard more like. How about 'Piggy'?"

Just ignore it. Just ignore it.

Meggie only spend half a minute in there, long enough to wash the sweat off of herself - however, when she turned around to grab her towel, she realized that it was now missing.

She was going to have to stumble across the room to her clothes while naked.

There was more laughter as she hurried out of the shower and past the other girls on the team - it burned her ears, making her feel sick to her stomach.

"Bounce goes the big breasts!"

"My God, look at her stomach...I would kill myself if mine was as big as hers."

"Those are some pretty gross breasts though; most of its fat, I bet."

Thank God Pepper was still in the room, as Meggie was sure that she would have burst out crying if it carried on.

"Hey! Shut the fuck up!" Pepper snapped, quickly grapping her own towel and throwing it to her friend. "She's still a lot better looking than all of you idiots!"

I just need to put on my clothes, and I can leave...just need to be quick, that's all...

But her clothes weren't there anymore.

"Looking for these?"

Meggie and Pepper spun to look at Tammy, who was across the room near the showers and holding a bundle - a bundle that could only be clothes belonging to Meggie.

"Give them back to her, Barbie!" Pepper snarled, taking a threatening step forwards. "If you don't, then you better hope that you run faster than your shit brain works!"

Tammy tutted, ignoring the dark-haired teenagers as everyone else giggled and laughed. "What do you know? The freak has shitty clothes as well..." She held up Meggie's jumper with her free hand. "I mean, what the hell!? Not even my grandmother would wear these!"

"Give them back!" Meggie cried, close to tears and clutching the towel Pepper had given to her around herself. "Come on, Tammy. This isn't funny."

"You can have them back," Tammy agreed, nodding and smirking. "Sure. If you really want them, that is..."

With that, she threw them onto the damp floor of one of the showers.

Pepper started to charge forwards. "You fucking-"

"I think, to say sorry, I should clean them," The blonde continued, reaching into the shower and turning on the tap. "Hey, maybe it'll wash the ugly away! Shame that the same can't be said for your face, Hummel-Anderson."

That was it. Meggie burst into tears, collapsing to the floor in a heap and burying her face in her arms. Pepper narrowed her eyes, enraged and seething. "You better FUCKING run, Tammy, because if I catch you then...then I'm going to make sure that you can't ever cheer or dance again!"

It was useless; Tammy was laughing, leaving with her group close behind. The other girls who had been changing - not on Tammy's side but not on Meggie's either - finished changing and also left without another word, leaving the two teenage girls on their own.

Pepper went over to the shower to retrieve the wet clothes for her friend; when she turned around, Meggie was still sobbing. "Meggie..."

She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes. "Just g-give me the clothes and go away, Pepper. I want to be alone."

"I'm not leaving you on your own," Pepper disagreed, looking at the soggy mess of clothes in her arms. "Don't worry about these; I probably have something in my bag that you can wear until you get home...I've got a plastic bag from lunch as well, so you can put these in it."

While she set to work, Meggie finished her crying and rubbed at her eyes with the corner of the towel she was using. "I hate her...I hate this school...I hate being me."

"Shut up," Her friend advised kindly. "Look, it's going to be okay; we'll tell the principal and your parents, and then they'll punish her - she might even be kicked off of the team-"

"I'm not telling them," Meggie interrupted, sniffing and looking at her legs miserably.

Pepper stopped moving immediately, completely shocked. "Why?! Meggie, you have to tell someone - you can't just let this bitch get away with it!"

"I'm not telling anyone about this," She continued, shaking her head firmly. "It's too embarrassing, Pepper, especially if I tell my dads... Besides, imagine what Tammy and her group would do to me if I told. They'd flat-out murder me."

"Not if I have anything to do about it," Her friend insisted, crouching down so that they were level. "At least tell Thomas and Brodie - they'll throw a frickin' fit! They'll...they'll.. They'll kill her or something..."

Meggie snorted. "Yeah, right! As if I'm going to tell the two of them - two boys - what's just happened." She gave a heavy sigh. "Look, let's just leave it, Pepper - and you can't tell anyone," She added seriously, giving her best friend a slight glare. "I mean it - if you tell, then we can't be friends anymore."

Pepper was silent, hesitating before reluctantly nodding. "Okay," She agreed softly. "I won't tell, I swear... But I still think that you should."

Meggie had no intentions, whatsoever, to ever speak of this incident again. No, she'd deal with it her way - she had hidden her blades in a handbag at home, and she could deal with the pain then.

"Come on," She said quietly, shakily standing up. "We need to get to those Glee auditions."


By the time Meggie and Pepper had reached the auditorium, the auditions had only just started; they took a couple of seats next to Cassie and Mr Garretts and immediately started to watch.

The teenager currently on stage was one that Meggie vaguely recognized; he had quite curly but short brown hair and brown eyes, and he was currently rapping to a catchy song that Meggie hadn't heard before but decided that she liked it.

When he was done, Mr Garretts clapped; the three girls did so a second later, realizing that they had to be polite. "That was pretty good," Garretts stated, sending him a grin. "What did you say your name was?"

"Eddie," The teen said, shuffling on stage a little. "Well, Edward Meyers, but everyone calls me Eddie."

"Eddie... Well done, Eddie," Garretts congratulated. "The final list will be up in a couple of days. Thanks for auditioning."

Eddie grinned. "It's cool. Thanks."

As Eddie left, the teacher turned to the three girls sitting near him. "So? What do you guys think?"

Meggie shrugged. "Not bad, for a rapper. He seems like a nice guy as well."

"I liked him," Cassie agreed, nodding her head. "Besides, even if we never have to rap, I'm pretty sure that with some training he'd be good."

Pepper just smiled. "I know Eddie from my Math class," She stated, causing the other three to look at her. "He's hilarious, Mr Garretts - he'd be awesome to have."

Their teacher nodded, scribbling down some notes. "Yeah, I suppose comedy could be good if used in a performance - it'd give us a little added something." He shuffled his papers. "Okay...Mr Ryans will be here in about half an hour, he has a study session for the seniors at the minute... And next we have...Brodie Thompson."

"WHAT?!"

The three teenage girls could only gape as a familiar boy walked on stage, hair tousled and mouth set in a firm grin; his hands were tucked in his pockets casually, and his eyes lingered on his friends sitting across the hall. "Hey."

"Brodie, right?" Brodie nodded and Garretts continued. "Great. Okay. So, what are you doing today, Brodie?"

"I'm gonna sing," Brodie answered, and Meggie felt her insides go wobbly as she picked up that accent she loved so much. "Actually, could I maybe borrow a guitar? There's a stand over there full of them."

Garretts blinked but seemed overall pleased. "Of course, yeah! Just make sure to put it back!"

The British teenager quickly picked up one of the instruments, strumming a few strings to check that it was in-tune. "Alright then. I'll be singing 'Jailhouse Rock' by Elvis Presley."

As soon as he started playing, everyone in the auditorium were captivated; he clearly knew how to play a guitar, and he was surprisingly good - so good that Meggie and Pepper weren't even sure if it even was their friend on stage and not some doppelganger.

And when he opened his mouth... Well, Meggie couldn't believe he'd managed to hide his voice for so long from them.

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing.
You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Brodie's voice was silky smooth and sweet; childlike and yet it was also appealing in an odd way as well. Meggie and Pepper gave each other surprised but pleased looks, both grinning like Cheshire cats as their friend continued; they were both clearly thinking the same thing about his voice and how well his audition was going.

Number forty-seven said to number three:
"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see".

Here he winked in the direction of Meggie, and she felt herself go bright red; she already liked the original version of this song but Brodie's version...well, she did admittedly have a slight crush on him, so maybe that was why she was in love with it.

Let's rock, everybody, let's rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock!

As soon as he'd strung the final chord, the teacher and three girls were on their feet applauding and cheering. Brodie went pink but smiled gratefully at them as he went to replace the guitar in its place. "Err...thanks, I guess."

"That was one of the strongest auditions I've ever seen," Mr Garretts said, looking extremely impressed. "You're only a Freshmen? And how long have you been playing guitar and singing for?"

"Since I was five," Brodie answered, shrugging to himself. "I've always liked music really...I only started doing it for fun after I had to do a school concert back in England. When we moved, though, I kind of just stopped playing." His eyes flickered to Pepper and Meggie for a few seconds. "But then a couple of friends got me back into it."

Garretts turned to the two girls, looking vaguely surprised. "You know him?"

Pepper nodded. "He's one of our best friends."

"Well, what a talented friendship group!" Garretts joked, grinning at them so that they smiled nervously. "Say, if you've got any other talented friends tell them to join - the more the better! Anyway," He turned back to Brodie and gave him a thumbs up. "Great job! The final list will be up in a few days - although I think your two friends here might tell you in advance."

Sending their friend grins, Meggie and Pepper sat back in their seats looking utterly amazed as they started to converse with Cassie.

"He was amazing!" The blonde exclaimed, eyes wide.

Pepper nodded enthusiastically. "He is! And it'll be so cool if he gets in - which he must after that audition - 'cause then we'll all be together and stuff!"

Meggie just smiled in agreement - her mind was on another matter now; it seemed slightly mean that, out of their group of four, Thomas would be left out...She knew it was useless trying to ask him to audition, considering how much he hated clubs and having to speak to other people (it was probably because he felt uncomfortable, and Meggie didn't really blame him) - and, besides, he didn't even sing or dance. Why would he be interested in joining a Glee Club?

"Next...Tammy Tomlinson!"

Just like that, the laughter amongst the girls died down as they watched a familiar blonde girl stroll onto the stage.

Pepper immediately rose from her seat, pointing down at Tammy frantically. "No. No! Absolutely not, Mr Garretts!" She snapped, glaring at the other teenage girl. "I refuse to be in another club with this...this... I'm not doing it!"

Meggie felt her stomach start to roll - what the hell was Tammy doing auditioning? Then again, she vaguely remembered that she was trained in dance and it wouldn't much surprise her if that alone managed to get her into the club.

Mr Garretts frowned at Pepper. "That's rude, Pepper; what's the matter with you?"

"I'm not doing it!" The tall teenager stated defiantly. "And you know what? If she does it, then I'm taking Meggie and Brodie with me because she is... Excuse me, sir, but she's a vile bitch!"

Cassie looked alarmed. "She is? Well then screw it; I don't wanna be in a club with someone who'll bully everyone else!"

"She deserves a chance, just like everyone else," Garretts disagreed calmly before lowering his voice so that only the three girls could hear him. "Look, you may not like everyone that joins this club - it's not just for you and your friends you know. The thing is that we need as many voices as possible, and if she can sing - or dance - then we will consider her."

"A chance?!" Pepper hissed incredously. "She stole Meggie's clothes not one hour ago and soaked them! Look, she's wearing my gym clothes because hers are ruined! She doesn't deserve a chance!"

Meggie elbowed Pepper in the side. "Just leave it." When the other two looked at her in shock, she gave an annoyed sigh and continued to whisper to them. "I don't care anymore, okay? We need people for this club, and if she can sing...then fine. Besides, maybe it'll...I dunno...make her less of a bitch to us."

Pepper and Cassie didn't look too convinced but Pepper sat back down (albeit red in the face and looking like she'd been kicked in the face) and Cassie crossed her arms as she leaned back in her seat. They looked at the teacher pointedly, waiting for him to get on with it.

"Okay then, Tammy," Mr Garretts said, regaining control over the situation. "Whenever you're ready."


"Oh God."

Blaine looked up from the television at his husband as he put the phone down. "Let me guess: that was Liam's school and he's either beaten up another kid or yelled at a teacher."

Kurt sighed, running a hand down his face. "Nope, not this time; now he's skipping lessons."

"You're kidding," Blaine muttered in disbelief, turning off the television with the remote as Kurt sat down next to him on the couch. "Skipping lessons?! What do they mean, 'skipping lessons'?"

"As in: he hasn't turned up to half of his lessons this morning," Kurt gritted out impatiently, shaking his head to himself. "Instead they found him outside playing a game on his phone and drinking soda from a store across the street."

Blaine blinked. "Soda... And that's bad because...?"

"It had caffeine in it...School policy states that students aren't to bring in any drinks containing caffeine," The countertenor explained. "That's not the worst of it though. When they went over to him and asked him to go to his lessons, he told them to..." He coughed. "Fuck off."

The other man's mouth fell open in shock. "Where the hell does a twelve year old learn that word or how to use it?"

"Yes, well...the teachers tried again and then he...well..." Kurt covered his face with his hands, ashamed of their son's behaviour. "He pulled out a lighter on them."

"A LIGHTER?! As in-"

"Yup," Kurt sighed miserably. "And now the school is considering calling the cops to come and investigate it - they think he might be a danger to the other students if he carries on."

Blaine put a hand on his husband's, looking quite shocked and worried. "The cops? Does that mean that...juvie might be considered or something?" When Kurt nodded, the shorter man bit his lip and squeezed his hand tighter with his husband's. "Let me guess; now we have to go up to the school to sort out what's going to happen next?"

"Uh-huh," Kurt mumbled, and it was only then apparent to Blaine that his husband was sniffling to himself. "Blaine...what did we do wrong? What happened to him? I-I mean, one minute he was a cute and innocent little boy, a-a-and now he's s-swearing and carrying d-dangerous things on him..."

"We didn't do anything," Blaine tried to assure him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "These things...they happen, Kurt. The best we can do right now is just try and stop him from doing anything else..." He pressed a kiss to the side of Kurt's head. "He...He'll be fine in the end. Maybe it's just a teenage rebellion phase he's going through right now - he'll probably grow out of it."

Kurt nodded slowly, trying to take in these words of advice. "Yeah. That's probably it." And then he sighed. "Well, I suppose we better go down to the school and figure out what to do."

Whoo! Update! :D

The vast majority of you seemed quite enthusiastic about the whole rebel!Liam thing so...let's see where this goes, shall we? ;)

Review please? Thanks!