The rest of the school day seemed to fly by, which was surprising. Penny expected it to drag. Finn finally showed up again just before her last class. He didn't look too happy. Now that she was in a better mood, Penny felt like she could say something.
"You alright, Finn? You look a bit depressed."
"Yeah." Finn sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"It's just Rachel, you know? She's so bossy and nit-picky. But I can't stop thinking about her." Finn paused, realizing he was talking out loud. "You don't even know Rachel, do you?"
Penny shook her head. For someone she didn't know, she sure heard the name a lot.
"Rachel's my girlfriend." Finn did a half-goofy grin, which quickly disappeared. "Well, she was until we broke up this morning."
"Did she break up with you?" Penny said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she hadn't said them.
"No. Yeah. I'm not sure." Finn replied. "We were fighting, and I said something like 'Maybe I don't want to be with a girl whose always telling me what to do!' and she replied with 'Well maybe I don't want to be with a man that can't stand up for what he believes in' or something like that. Then we both stormed off."
"I don't think that's breaking up." Penny said. "It sounds like a fight."
"I don't know. She won't talk to me."
"Just tell her you're sorry." Penny tried to shrug, but her bag was too heavy. "Girls like that."
"I guess." Finn sighed. "The worst part is, she's in glee."
The worst part? Penny couldn't for the life of her figure out why that was a bad thing. That would give Finn a chance to go talk with the girl. She didn't have time to say anything as they entered the classroom and took their seats.
After Spanish, Penny looked down at her day planner. She had a mountain of homework and no idea how she was going to fit it all in. If only she had some sort of time turner, or a spell to keep her awake all night.
"Ready?" Finn asked, getting to his feet.
"Yeah." Penny sighed, slamming her planner shut. She'd deal with homework later. For now she was just going to enjoy her wonderful afternoon.
"I'm so excited!" Kurt clapped his hands, appearing to the side of Penny's desk. "Mercedes and I have already made a list of the best stores to go to. We're thinking India meets Cowgirl. It's going to be a challenge, but I must say we are looking forward to it."
"Yay." Penny forced a grin. While she was looking forward to spending time with them, the idea of changing her look was a bit daunting. All the more to fit in.
The three of them made their way to the glee room. Most of the kids were already there. Penny noticed a girl she didn't recognize standing next to the piano. As they entered, the girl glared at them, then went back to looking at the sheet music she was holding. Finn raced over towards her.
'Must be Rachel.' Penny thought. At least now Finn could apologize to her. That would be good.
"Is that her?" The girl screeched.
Penny looked towards her, only because of the loud noise that seemed to erupt from nothing, when she noticed Rachel was staring at her.
"Rach, don't." Finn grabbed her arm, but Rachel shoved it away.
Penny looked behind her, then back at Rachel. Sh was definetly looking at her.
Rachel marched over to Penny and put her finger on her chest. "You stay away from my man, you got it?"
"What?" Penny said.
"Rachel, I was only helping her find her classrooms." Finn said.
"I was sick one day, and I come back to find out that you've been spending all your time with some red-headed flousy!" Rachel snapped back at him. "Don't think for one second that I didn't notice you were spending time with her between classes again today."
"Yeah, after you stopped talking to me." Finn grumbled.
Penny took a step backwards. This was something she didn't want to get in the middle of.
"Just stay away, alright?" Rachel glanced at Penny, looking her over.
"Leave her alone." Kurt sighed. "She's only been here two days. I highly doubt she has any interest in 'your man'."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Rachel frowned at Kurt. "You don't think I know? All the girls are after him. I have to work hard to keep them away."
Mercedes, who was already sitting in the back, snorted.
Kurt put his hand up before Rachel could say anything else. "Rachel, relax. Penny, do you like Finn?"
Penny shifted at the attention was brought back to her. "He's nice."
"See!" Rachel shouted.
"I mean like-like." Kurt said.
"Oh, no." Penny laughed nervously. "I've only been here two days. I don't really know anyone yet."
"Now, will you just relax?" Kurt said.
"Rachel, come on." Finn put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them slightly. "Let's go talk in the hall for a minute, okay?"
While Finn lead Rachel away, Kurt brought Penny towards Mercedes. As they walked, they passed by Artie. Penny grinned at him and he smiled back. Good. At least he wasn't acting mad at her anymore. Ginny was right. The idea of knowing a secret was powerful indeed. That thought only brought about the ping of guilt. She wasn't really using him though, right? Artie was a nice guy and her neighbor. He'd keep her secret, of that she didn't worry. Besides, in all reality a pet owl wasn't too cooky on the muggle meter. Not enough to start going around raising suspicion.
"You ready, girl?" Mercedes winked at Penny.
"How to you get ready for two strangers to completely change your external appearance?" Penny asked, only half paying attention. Her focus lingered on Artie.
"Good question." Kurt said, sitting down. "Don't worry. We're professionals."
"Alright! We all here?" Mr. Schue waltzed into the room, rubbing his hands together.
"Finn and Rachel are out in the hall." A blond cheerleader spoke up. Penny didn't remember her name, but she remembered it rhymed with Finn's. Ginn? No she could have remembered that. Kinn? Lynn?
"Oh, should we wait for them? Mr. Schue asked.
"No." Kurt spoke up. "They have issues they need to deal with first. They'll be in in a minute."
"Well," Mr. Schue said. "I'm glad to see you back, Penny. Are you excited?"
"Sure?" Penny shrugged.
"She's ecstatic." Kurt leaned over and put his hands on Penny's shoulder.
"Right." Mr. Schue said, looking as confused as Penny felt by Kurt's comment.
"Mr. Schue!" Rachel came storming into the room.
"Oh, bother." Kurt groaned.
"Yes, Rachel?" Mr. Schue said.
"I demand that Penny sing today." She looked smug. "After all, as you all know, I was sick yesterday and couldn't make it to glee. I spent all night preparing something very special for you guys, but if she isn't talented enough to hear what I have to say then I don't feel I should have to sing it to her as well."
"Huh?" Penny blinked.
"She's crazy." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Penny already went yesterday." Artie said.
"It's ok." Mr. Schue said. "This is glee club. It should be an honor to sing. Right, Penny?"
Penny swallowed. No, it wasn't an honor. So far the kids in glee were nice to her, save Rachel, but she didn't want to go singing in front of them again. She knew it was blending in, but it still made her feel awkward to have the spotlight for an allotted amount of time. It felt like, even for those few minutes, people could see her. See she was lying.
That, and she couldn't sing with an American accent.
Kurt leaned over. "Penny Lane?" He joked.
Penny didn't smile. "I'm not so sure." She announced to the room. "I'm a bit nervous."
"It's fine." Rachel said. "We're all friend here, right?" She glared over at Finn.
Penny didn't feel like she was wanting to be friendly.
"She's not as good as you, Rachel." Artie spoke up. "If that's why you're making her do this, then stop."
"I know that." Rachel smiled. "That's not the reason. I didn't hear her yesterday is all. I want my chance to listen to her."
"Rachel." Finn tried to motion for her to sit down, but the girl wouldn't budge.
"Just do it, already!" One of the cheerleaders with dark hair yelled out. "Sitting around here is incredibly boring!"
"Just go." Kurt whispered. "It'll be fine."
"I can't do this alone." Penny whispered back.
"Of course you can." Kurt smiled at her, but she didn't feel any better.
"Come on up here, Penny!" Mr. Schue clapped his hands together.
Penny slowly got to her feet and dragged herself to the front of the room. She had no idea what she was going to do. She could barely keep her American accent when speaking. There was no way she could actually sing without letting it slip. She cleared her throat, racing through all the Brittish songs she could.
"I uh... I'll be singing...um." Penny licked her lips. She could feel everyone staring at her. Kurt wasn't up here to steal away some of the attention. It was all just her. Nervous, scared, silly Penny. Her eyes dropped down to the ground, searching for a hint of what to do at her feet. There were no answers on the floor, she she looked back up, hoping to see something magically appear in the air above her.
That's when she noticed him. Artie. He was watching her, just like everyone else was, but he was smiling. That small simple act turned on a light inside Penny. She was still afraid and nervous, but she wasn't as bad as she had been a moment ago. If he wasn't mad at her, then she could do this. Somehow, she knew she could.
"Singing what?" The annoyed dark haired cheerleader said again.
An idea came to Penny. She wasn't great with an American accent while singing, but she could sing with a French accent. In fact, she could sing in French! How perfect was that! If her accent was off, it wouldn't strange or odd in any way. "I'll be singing Mon Histoire."
"Really?" Rachel gasped. "In French?"
Penny nodded.
"That's 'On My Own' from the broadway hit musical 'Les Miserable' for those of you that don't know." Rachel said, her voice sounding a little more matter-of-factly than someone who was just trying to inform.
Penny shuddered, then opened her mouth.
Je suis toute seule encore une fois
Sans une ami, sans rien à faire
Je suis pas pressée de retrouver
Ma solitude et ma misère
J'attends que vienne le soir
Pour l'évoquer dans ma mémoire
She continued singing, letting herself get a little more carried away by the lyrics than she intended. Though she wasn't fluent in French, she knew enough to understand at least most of the lyrics. The song was so much deeper in French, she felt.
Mon histoire
C'est un rêve qui commence
Dans les pages
D'un conte de mon enfance
By the time she finished, she hadn't even noticed the pianist had joined in with her. Penny froze as she realized everyone was staring at her. Shit. Now she's done it. Everyone knows, don't they?
"Wow." Mr. Schue said. "That was amazing."
"Well," Rachel shrugged. "Her voice wasn't that great, really. I think she messed up a few of the French words as well."
Penny looked over at her, surprised that Rachel was suggesting her French was wrong. She knew that song very specifically. Her French wasn't wrong at all.
"Still, I suppose she's good enough for glee." Rachel sighed.
The strange quietness seemed to lift from the room at Rachel's approval. People started to talk to eachother again, and Penny hurried to her seat before the conversation could steer back to her.
"Where did you learn French?" Kurt leaned over. He looked shocked.
"Oh, uh," Penny felt her face go red as she tried to think of an answer that fit her mother's history she made up. "I don't. You heard Rachel, I even messed up some of the words." She put on a goofy smile to try and look embarrassed. "I just listen to the song a lot."
"It sounded great." Mercedes said. "I've never heard the French version before."
Penny bit her lip and looked towards the front. Artie caught her eye. He was still grinned at her. Penny felt her heart swell. She wasn't a great singer, she knew that, but it didn't seem to matter here. It was like glee was a place to sing as you could. She really liked that idea.
"Mr. Schue." Rachel jumped up to her feet and crossed to the front of the room before he could answer. "I'd like to sing what I've prepared for the class today."
"Go ahead, Rachel." Mr. Schue said, leaning back into his chair.
"I wanted to sing something that would inspire all of us to sing as best we can. Especially with Regionals coming up soon."
"What are regionals?" Penny leaned over and whispered to Kurt.
"There are two performances. If we win at Regionals, we go to compete at Sectionals." Kurt wispered back.
"Oh." Penny shuddered. Two public performances? That was a lot. She knew it still wouldn't bring too much attention to her, this was glee after all. It's not like she was helping to win the football state championships. Still, if they did win, that might be bad. That might be too much attention. Of course, the next question would be how does one person make sure the whole team loses?
Rachel started singing something, but Penny didn't even pay attention to it. Her thoughts wondered back to the photograph in Artie's room. Everyone was so happy. Could one simple competition like that really bring about that much happiness? If Penny threw the competition, they wouldn't be that happy. Could she really do that to them? She didn't know them that well, or even some of them at all, but the idea of ruining something they work so hard for felt wrong. Really wrong. Like something Malfoy would do.
Penny shook her head. She couldn't throw it. This was just a singing competition anyway. There was no way she'd draw attention from it. No, she didn't need to ruin it. Her eyes looked down at Artie, whose head was bopping along with Rachel's song. Artie was so happy in that photo. Obviously glee was a big part of his life. There was no way she could take that away from him. They won Regionals last year and obviously they still aren't noticed any more in school. Penny let out her breath she didn't even realize she'd be holding. She didn't have to ruin the competition. It would be okay.
Rachel finished singing then sat back down. Penny didn't even listen to a word the girl sang. She hadn't even paid attention to the fact that Rachel had an amazing voice. Her smile was from something completely different.
"That's why we are going to win at Sectionals this year." Mr. Schue said, mouth agap. "Wonderful job, Rachel."
"I know." Rachel grinned. "Thank you."
Ok, so that was a long one, right? Yay! Lyrics were found on "." since I cannot speak French.
The next one will be a bit long as well, but the one AFTER that will have ACTION! Yay for action! I'm dieing to start writing out a war here. We'll have to see how it goes.