"Ballad, derived from Old English. Who knows what this word means?" Mr. Schue asked.
"It's a male duck." Brittany answered. No that was a mallard.
"A ballad is a love song." Kurt declared.
"No, it's a slow song that allows the singer to emote." I explained. Everyone looked at me. "What?"
"Faith's right." Mr. Schue declared. "Ballads are the perfect storm of self-expression. Now this year at Sectionals, we have to sing a ballad."
"It looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio Show Choir Competition Committee paid off." Rachel replied. It could have been that wants variations in our sets.
"So here's our assignment for the week." Mr. Schue replied. "I'm gonna pair you off and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner."
"I pick Faith." Lucy declared.
"No, too easy, your partners will choice by the hat of fate." He explained as he pulled out a hat. "All of your names are in here."
"But Matt went home because he had a spider in his ear." Santana explained. I hoped his ear would be okay.
"I guess I'll put my name in the hat then." He declared before he inserted it in there. I could tell there was the potential for that to go horribly, horribly wrong.
Puck went up first and picked Mercedes, followed Tina getting Mike (or other Asian), Santana getting Brittany, Lucy getting Kurt and finally Artie getting me. That left Rachel with Mr. Schue. He was probably trying to avoid that situation.
"So I guess that leaves me and you, Mr. Schue." Rachel declared.
"Maybe we should wait for Matt." He declared.
"That hat has spoken, Mr. Schue." I remarked.
"So can we get a demonstration?" Artie asked.
The two of them began to sing "Endless Love" by…honestly I didn't know who it was by because it had been covered so many times. As they were singing, I noticed that Lucy was staring at Rachel's butt. I decided to take her to the dancefloor so we could move to the music and keep her eyes on me.
After school, I was with my mom, trying on my dress for the chastity ball. I was wearing virgin white.
"Sweetie, I am so proud of you." She declared as she sipped her drink. I wasn't sure why she was drinking this early. "The chastity ball is so important to your father."
There was just one problem: it didn't fit. The zipper wouldn't zip.
"That's odd. We had this custom made a month ago." She commented.
"I probably just need to lay off the ice cream sandwiches." I lied.
"Okay, I'll take it down to the tailor and we'll let it out a little." She declared as she leaned over my shoulder. "You know I don't think you've been exercising enough since quitting the Cheerios."
"Yes, that is true too." I declared as she began to measure my waist.
"Now you spend all your time singing show tunes in the dark." She added.
"I only did that once." I responded.
"The point is you don't burn calories singing." She said as she grabbed my chin.
"Judy, Glenn Beck is on." My dad declared. He then noticed me and covered his eyes. "Wait, I don't wanna see."
"Daddy, I'm not getting married." I replied.
"Oh look at you." He replied. "Speaking of getting married, are there any boys at your school you like?"
"No, not at the moment." I answered.
"Well you don't need anyone to tempt you." He declared. "Anyway, your mother said that you wanted to have a friend over for dinner. How about Sunday?"
I knew that I needed to tell her about it. I also needed to stress that she was coming as my friend, not my girlfriend.
The following day I was with Artie in the choir room. We had all split up.
"So I don't really know what to sing." I admitted.
"Well singing a love song probably wouldn't be the best idea." He declared. "We could sing a breakup song. Think of me as someone that broke your heart."
"Okay." I declared before I took a seat at the piano and began to play. I hadn't played in a while, but I still knew the song's chords.
I miss those blue eyes, how you kiss me at night
I miss the way we sleep
Like there's no sunrise, like the taste of your smile
I miss the way we breathe
But I never told you what I should've said
No I never told you I just held it in
And now I miss everything about you
Can't believe that I still want you
After all the things we've been through
I miss about everything about you without you
I see your blue eyes every time I close mine
You make it hard to see
Where I belong to when I'm not around you
It's like I'm not with me
But I never told you what I should've said
No I never told you I just held it in
And now I miss everything about you
Can't believe that I still want you
After all the things we've been through
I miss about everything about you without you
"Okay, that wasn't what I meant, but it'll work." He declared. "I didn't know that you played."
"If I tell you someone, do you promise to keep it in this room?" I asked. "You can't tell anyone this, especially not Lucy."
"Okay, my lips are sealed." He stated.
"I do know who the father of the baby is." I answered. "It's Puck. I got drunk and slept with him. Please don't tell Lucy."
I was still going to keep my promise when it came to the one part.
"I don't understand why you don't want her to know." He admitted.
"It's because she and Puck have been friends for a long time. It will kill her to know that I betrayed her like I did." I explained. "You promised you wouldn't tell her."
"Okay, I won't, but I don't think that anything good will come out of you keeping it a secret from her." He opined.
"I just wish that it never happened." I admitted. "I love Lucy more than anything, and I made a mistake. I don't want to lose her."
"Okay, I really think that you need to sing something to her." He stated. "You need to get her alone and pour your heart out to her. Whether you tell her the truth is up to you, but that kind of love needs to be expressed aloud."
"I'll sing something to her." I agreed. "You know I never knew this before, but you're a really nice guy."
The next day I went to tell Lucy about the invitation.
"So my parents want you to come over for dinner on Sunday night." I explained.
"Did you come out to them?" She asked hopefully.
"I told them that you were my friend." I replied. "You need to make sure that you wear a nice dress, something that you would wear to church."
"Okay." She agreed. It was at that moment that I noticed that she had a strange look in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" I questioned.
"My mom kind of knows that you're pregnant and that you're my girlfriend." She admitted. "She caught me singing to a sonogram and I couldn't say that I was pregnant."
"What the fuck were you doing singing a sonogram?" I yelled. "If your mom knows that I'm pregnant, my mom could find out and then my dad would."
"My mom doesn't know your mom." She pointed out.
"That still doesn't explain why you thought it was a good idea to sing to a picture of my baby." I shouted. "What were you thinking?"
"Kurt suggested that I sing to her." She replied. "I wanted to sing a song to little Melody."
"Melody?" I asked.
"I was just going through baby names." Lucy stated. "It sounds perfect."
"I'm still pissed at you." I remarked. "When you come over on Sunday, do not say anything about the baby, and especially don't mention that you're my girlfriend or that you're even a lesbian. They won't want me to be friends with you if they know. Just do what I say."
I then walked away. I couldn't help but think that I really liked the name Melody. It sounded perfect because music was what brought me and Lucy together. If I decided to keep her, I would have to consider naming her that. I just didn't know if I could keep her. My parents were going to find out eventually and I was pretty sure that hell would break loose. As I walked down the hall, I began to sing a ballad to myself. It was a traditional folk ballad that had been made popular by a rock band and also one of my favorite songs. Frannie was the one who had taught it to me as a kid.
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the rising sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one
My mother was a tailor
Sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gambling man
Down in New Orleans
Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drug
Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your life in sin and misery
In the house of the rising sun
Well I've got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I'm going back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain
Well there is a house in New Orleans
They call the rising sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one
And God I know I'm one
And God I know I'm one
On Sunday, I prepared for the dinner. I wore a white cardigan with a baby blue dress and white tights with a blue headband and flats. I really wanted for my parents to get to know her and maybe I would be able to ease them into the idea that we were dating.
"So, Lucy, how did you and Faith meet?" Dad asked her.
"We met in Glee club." I answered.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Mom asked.
"No, I'm not a fan of boys." She remarked. I cleared my throat. "Because all they want is sex. I want to find someone who will love me."
"I'm gonna show Lucy my room." I declared once dinner was over. I felt that if she kept talking to them something was going to slip out.
"So I have something I wanna sing to you." She stated once we were in my room.
Oh thinking about our younger years
It was only you and me we were young and wild and free
Now nothing can take you away from me
We've been down that road before but that's over now, you keep me coming back for more
Baby you're all that I want when you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe we're in heaven
And love is all that I need and I found it there in your heart
It isn't too hard to see we're in heaven
I've been waiting for so long for something to arrive
For love to come along
Now our dreams are coming true through the good times and the bad
Yeah, I'll be standing there by you
And Baby you're all that I want when you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe we're in heaven
And love is all that I need and I found it there in your heart
It isn't too hard to see we're in heaven
That was one of the most romantic songs ever. I couldn't help but kiss her. So I did…right as the door opened.
"What the heck is going on here?" Dad asked. I held onto Lucy tightly, but he ripped me away.
"She's pregnant, Asshole!" Lucy blurted out. She then covered her mouth and I saw him turn red. That made things a lot worse.
"So not only are you committing the sin of homosexuality, but you're also pregnant out of wedlock." He remarked. "Do you anything to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry." I apologized with tears in my eyes, even though I knew I didn't have anything to be sorry for.
"I don't know who you are anymore." He replied. "I can't even look at you. I want both out of my house."
"Daddy, you can't do this!" I cried. "Daddy, please. Mom, please do something. Say something."
As I looked at her, I figured that she wasn't going to do anything.
"Of course you won't." I replied. "You knew I was pregnant. I needed you. I needed my mom. It doesn't matter that I'm not your daughter. You're the only mom I've ever known, but you pushed it aside. It's what we do with everything in this house that we don't like."
"DO NOT TURN THIS ON US." Dad shouted. "YOU ARE THE DISAPPOINT."
"Why because I'm better than you?" I asked. "I'm your daughter who loves you and I just want to know that you love me too. Please."
He said nothing and walked away. I packed a small bag and took my keys. I handed them to Lucy.
"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I didn't think it was this bad. You can stay with me. My mom would love to meet you."
"It looks like you're all I have." I admitted before she drove us to her house. Her mom was in the basement doing laundry.
"Mom, this is Faith, my girlfriend." She introduced. "Her parents kicked her out. Can she stay here a little while?
"Of course." The woman replied. "I'm Carole. It's nice to finally meet you."
After we were changed for bed, I went over to her room.
"You know I loved how you sang to me." I admitted. "I figured that I should return the favor."
Is this a dream if it is please don't wake me from this high
I've become comfortably numb until you opened up my eyes
To what it's like when everything's right I can't believe
You found me when no one else was looking, how did you know just where I would be
Yeah, you broke through all of my confusionthe ups and the downs and you still didn't leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could see
You found me, you found me
And I was hurting till you came along
And showed me where I belong
You found me when no one else was looking
How did you know, how did you know
You found me when no one else was lookinghow did you know just where I would be
Yeah, you broke through all of my confusionthe ups and the downs and you still didn't leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could seethe good and the bad and the things in between
You found me, you found me
Just before I was going to sleep, my phone went off. It was Frannie.
"Is it true?" She asked. "Did Mom and Dad kick you out?"
"Yes." I replied.
"I want you to come live me." She replied. "Don't worry about my husband because I will make sure that he's okay with it."
"I can't do that, Frannie." I explained. "If you lived here, I would I be glad to, but I can't leave Lima and I can't leave Lucy."
The following day, Lucy and I were brought into the choir room.
"So your fellow Glee club members have put together a special performance for you." Mr. Schue declared before they began to sing "Lean On Me". It was really touching. It was nice to have people who cared.
So we got to see Faith with Artie. She actually told him. And she got kicked out. The songs are "I Never Told You" by Colbie Caillat", "House of the Rising Sun", "Heaven" by Bryan Adams, and "You Found Me" by Kelly Clarkson. Please don't forget to review.