Hello! So here's the 3rd episode! Now I need suggestions for like tribute episodes or something in the midst. So just PM me or review ideas you may have. Oh and DolphinsareGayShark's OC Emmet Brady is now Hayden Bryant. Oh and TheGreatWritter has a new story! It's called, The new New Directions! It's and OC story so submit one for her please? Okay onto to the third episodio!

Emma Schuester rubbed her protruding stomach, smiling happily before picking up her scrub brush and continuing her project of cleaning the baby mobile. She loved the way the light danced off of the colorful musical notes that hung by the strings. Now she just had to make sure it was clean…

The front door of the apartment opened and she heard her husband call her name from the entryway.

"In here Will," she replied, putting aside her supplies and hastily replacing the mobile to its hook. She'd told her husband that she could handle motherhood when she'd first given him the news she was pregnant, despite it happening so quickly after their wedding. And even the engagement had been short, as Will and Emma both wanted all of his students—his second family really—to be at the wedding. Truthfully, everything had seemed to move very quickly considering how long it had taken for Will to propose in the first place.

However, she had assured him that she was progressing far enough in controlling her disease that she very much wanted to keep the baby, and he'd been so excited she wouldn't have said otherwise for the entire world. So she kept the little slips—things that just had to be done—to herself, and simply continued to work her way slowly, handling all of the changes as best as she could day-by-day.

She smiled at the curly-haired man now stepping into the room that would be the nursery, grinning ear to ear as he embraced and kissed her happily.

"I have some great news!" he told her. "I talked to my mom last week, and asked her to send some of my old things for the baby, and this arrived today!"

Will's face lit up in excitement as he reached around the corner and brought a large dusty box into Emma's line of sight.

The counselor's eyes widened in shock; however, her husband was already ripping into the cardboard to show off some of its contents.

"Oh Will, they're…lovely," she finally managed, barely keeping a pleasant smile on her face as he looked up at her. "But don't we have enough toys for him already?" She asked, gaze lingering on a bright new plush giraffe with a bow tie lying in the bassinette. Clean toys? She added to herself.

"Yeah, but I just think it'd be really amazing if our son got the chance to see share some of the experiences I had with these guys. I mean, aren't they great?" he asked, pulling out his childhood memories. "We've got some old Star Wars action figures…and a pull-string Bernard Bear…train set…hah! My old Wrestling Buddy—wow, that's kind of embarrassing…" he laughed as he looked over at Emma sheepishly. "And—"

"Oh!" The terrified gasp escaped the redhead as she watched him pull out the creepiest looking creature she'd ever seen.

The teacher, oblivious as ever, grinned as he showed her the toy, mistaking her horror for mere surprise. "I know, right? Zippy the Chimp—and he's still in great shape." The man sighed. "The adventures me and this guy had—"he paused, eyes gazing distantly. "Well, I'm sure our son will love him too."

He finally seemed to notice the worry in Emma's speechless face. "Don't worry," he told her. "I know they're a little dusty, but I promise I'll keep them out of the bedroom and nursery until I can get them properly cleaned up." He grinned again. "How's that sound?"

Emma had no way of telling her husband that she didn't think she'd be able to enter the nursery if some of those toys resided there—even if Zippy had all of his fur replaced and his clothes were cleaned with industrial-strength bleach—so she simply forced her face into a smile and bobbed her head as much as she could muster.

Hayley walked to her locker and absently spun the combination. She'd joined Art Club, and had actually fit in almost immediately—granted, people were still wary of her, and over half of the club wouldn't make eye contact, but still…

She opened the metal door, and was accosted by dozens of plastic figures avalanching onto her. The streaked sophomore took a closer look at the offending items as people began to stare and realized with surprise that they were tiny plastic flamingoes. The animals had also been taped to all of the walls of her locker, with all other contents were removed from the space except a cardboard notecard informing her "You've Been Flamed!"

Hayley heard a scoffing laugh, and turned to see Stassi standing a few rows down with Jennifer Johnson, with both staring at her with equal looks of amusement.

She slammed her locker shut and stomped over to the Cheerio. "You have something to say to me?" she demanded.

Stassi snickered, replying, "Apparently someone does—I'm just enjoying the fallout."

The sophomore's eyes darkened. "You know, for someone who claims to be a Superbitch, the fact that you don't have the balls to fess up to a prank is kind of sad." She scoffed. "Not that I blame you—it's kind of pathetic really, but still—"

Stassi stopped laughing. "I told you: it's not my work, and for someone so obsessed with playing Puck, you sure seem to have a problem when the tables are turned."

"Hey, I've got no problem with a respectable competition," Hayley responded acidly. "But honorable wars should have declaration—this isn't 'Nam. Although, with this level of amateurism—"

"It's not my prank."

"Fine Lackie—Hardy's prank then; still pathetic to just sit around at the scene of the crime and not accept the consequences." She took another step into Stassi's space.

"Back off Drizzle," the junior retorted, no trace of pleasure on her face. "You think I need Nikki around to sit on the top tier? That I'd be afraid of anything you could dish out? I beat your sorry ass once—"

"You beat me?" Hayley repeated dubiously. "The only reason you didn't end up in the hospital was because you had to bring Medusa and Schuester into it—"

"Oh yeah? I'll pound your sorry face right now—"Stassi yelled, causing Jennifer to move quickly to pull the Cheerio away. Unlike her friend, she believed the worst of the rumors that floated around about the rebellious sophomore.

Hayley would've put up more of a fight, but the arm pulling on her favorite leather jacket, while not strong, was also chuckling quietly behind her.

The girl whirled around lividly and came face-to-face (well, more face-to-chest) with Liam. "Are you, like, stalking me?" she asked, yanking her clothing free of his grip.

"Not stalking," he replied, still smirking. "Teaching."

"Teaching?" She repeated, puzzled.

"Remember what I said about discretion and subtlety?"

Hayley stared at him for a moment, her brain whirring at top speed as she finally understood what he was telling her, and her look turned skeptical. "You flamed my locker?"

He grinned, picking up a paper bag sitting next to the wall and handing it to her. She glanced inside to see all of her things. "Subtlety," he reminded her, and turned to walk away.

She watched him walk away and grinned—it was on.

Teddy made his way down the corridors of the school, finally turning into Mr. Schuester's office.

"Hey Mr—"He stopped midsentence, mouth open in disbelief at the…thing in his teacher's hand.

Will looked up happily. "Hey Teddy," he greeted the student. "What can I do for you?"
"I was looking to get your sign-off for this project," Teddy said distractedly, pointing at the creepy stuffed toy. "What is that?"

The teacher grinned even wider. "Oh, Mrs. Schuester and I were just going through some of my old toys—this is Zippy the Chimp. He's pretty cool, huh?"

The boy's eyebrow arched upwards. "He's definitely something," he finally said. "It kind of reminds me of a movie I saw with Artie when I was little…" Teddy decided he didn't need to mention the movie had been Chucky.

Will's face suddenly lit up in an epiphany. "Teddy, you just gave me an idea." He held up a finger and strode toward out the door.

Teddy stood alone in the room with the Chimp. "I hear Tom Wolfe's speaking at Lincoln Center," he quoted in his best British accent to the creepy animal.

That afternoon, Will faced his kids, the words Childhood Memories written on the board behind him.

"Okay you guys," he told them. "This week's assignment is all about being a kid. I want you to use songs you remember while you were growing up that affected who you were then and who you are now."

The group tittered as they talked about movies and songs they remembered from their youth, while Caroline fidgeted uncomfortably—she wasn't particularly comfortable with the assignment.

"To start us off," he continued, pulling out sheet music from his bag, "I decided to use a group number from one of my favorite old television show growing up: The Muppet Show." He finished passing out the music and gestured to Brad. "Hit it!"

Caroline sang out Life is a funny thing

Sometimes you laugh and sing

Teddy shuffled toward her Sometimes you grumble and fuss

But either way what do we care? She smiled happily at having the blonde next to her as they harmonized the next line: We got us

We have our ups and downs, Roxie took over, glancing over at Dalton uneasily

Our share of smiles and frowns

Annie laughed But through it all we don't fuss

But through it all we don't fuss, Dylan intoned as he put his arm around her shoulder

Caroline continued 'Cause we got a special thing goin'

We got us, the group sang in unison

Hayley stepped out, weaving through the team. Some people like to go

Through their life single, Aw

That wouldn't suit us at all

Liam sidled up next to her, and spun her around Why sing a melody

As a soliloquy

When it's more fun to be

The group called out Harmonizing?

The group formed a line of partners as they continued People they say we are

Crazy the way we are

That we won't even discuss
'Cause what we got they can't smother
We'd trade our life for no other
They've only got one another
But we got us!

The entirety of New Directions laughed as they finished, clapping and falling into their chairs.

"Wow," Michelle said. "I never realized the Muppets were as old as you, Mr. Schue."

"I'd say the only difference looks like staying power," Stassi snickered.

Stassi could say what she wanted though; because all Will saw was the excited faces of everyone on his team.

Dylan held back a moment as the rest of the team filed through the door. He waited while Caroline and the Cheerios said their goodbyes: it was hard enough talking to Caroline in the first place; he wasn't sure he could approach her with the others in earshot.

Finally, she was left alone to pick up her bag and make her way toward the exit.

"Hey Caroline—wait up," he called out, summoning up his courage as he closed the distance between them. "I…"

The words lodged in his throat, leaving the girl staring at him expectantly.

"I was thinking—wondering—hoping," he finally got out. "Hoping that you could help me with something." The girl gave him an encouraging smile, so he continued. "I know you're friends with, um, Katie Bennett, and…"

"Yeah," Caroline spoke up. "You know, we are both so grateful that you were around when that whole thing went down. I mean, she talks about you all the time now—you're like a hero to her." She grinned. "Oh my gosh, I have such a great idea—you should totally ask her out!" She bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly.

"Really?" Dylan asked, stunned.

"Totally!" she replied. "I mean, you could do one date, right?"

"Uh, yeah—sure," he answered, smiling, dumbfounded, at his good luck.

The brunette clapped her hands together. "Eke! This will be so much fun!" she squealed. "I will walk you through the whole thing: it'll be so great. I know everything about her—I bet you didn't know that she's a forensics fanatic? Loves criminology—has got a factoid for, like, everything. And—oh! I just had the cutest idea for what you should give her when you ask her out!" She led him away from the room, going a mile a minute about the ideas rolling in her head.

The last words echoed as they exited the school: "How attached are you to your wardrobe?"

"Dad?" Roxie called, placing her keys on the hook as she came in the door. She had the day off today, and was thinking about taking a bath to soothe her sore body from rehearsal.

"Hey Titch," a deep voice replied, and moments later Patrick Lovely met his daughter in the entryway. He gently wrapped his arms around his little girl. "How was the day?"

"Good," she told him. "I just wanted to check in before I go take a bath upstairs."

"Still sore then, love?" he asked, British accent dancing on his tongue. "Should I ring the doctor?"

"No, it's just practice," she reassured him.

"Do you really think it's a good idea then—all this running and dancing about?" he asked, and the tiny girl tried to maintain her strength to mask the ache she felt.

"I really love it Dad," Roxie told him. "And it's not so hard really." Although Glee was hard on her with all of the choreography she wanted so badly to show that she had what it took to make it onstage; and though Mr. Schuester must have noticed she struggled to keep up, she hoped he assumed it just meant she wasn't much of a dancer. After all, there had been a lot of those in the original New Directions, and she certainly wasn't the worst in the current incarnation.

Her father looked at her, lovingly grazing his hand down her hair and across her sharp jawline. "If you're sure," he said reluctantly, and seemed to relax a little as she nodded. "Just like your mother—such a stubborn thing."

Roxie smiled—she loved it when her dad compared the two of them. "What else was she like?" she asked curiously. Mrs. Lovely had died when her daughter was almost seven, just before her diagnosis, which made the tiny girl happy because despite her mother worrying about her daughter's discomfort, she'd never had to know the extent of her problems. However, it also had made it so Roxie only had a few memories of the beautiful woman, memories that she clung to desperately. She asked her father for more information as much as she dared, but she could tell it hurt him to dredge up the past.

Sure enough, a flash of pain showed in his face, and his eyes glistened a bit as he paused. "She was smart bird, like you," he told her with a small smile. "And talented—danced in circles around every other girl in town, and sung brilliant as well." He placed an arm around her again. "She was a hell of a woman, Titch; and I swear you're becoming more and more like her every time I turn around."

"Thanks Dad," she replied with a small smile, excusing herself to her room before it became too painful for both of them.

She closed the door and glanced around the room, stopping in front of her desk to pick up a picture of a six-year old brunette with her mother huddled over a table with big grins as they finger-painted together.

For a moment, she sighed, allowing herself to be jealous of the ease everyone else would be having with this project.

Dear Journal, Sue wrote from her office.

I'll admit that my first response to Moran going against my wishes and cavorting with Cheer Asian in between filming Keeping Up With The Schuester Rejects made me consider sending in my lethal Pomeranians who are trained to call Homeland Security with Anonymous tips about potential terrorists to drag her sorry butt off to Quantico. However, Sue Sylvester is always able to turn a pure and utter betrayal into positive. What could be construed as a potential flaw, Sue Sylvester will modify into a more brilliant strategic move than when that Super Computer copied my own strategy of outwitting a chess geek using a pawn and an utter lack of human emotion.

"I want to know everything that is going on between you and the most lifelike Kardashian," Sue demanded of Nikki as they sat alone in her office Tuesday. The girl's eyes widened in surprise, and the coach elaborated. "I already know that the two of you are feuding publicly, because I was the one that purposely drove the wedge between you." The junior's jaw dropped slightly in astonishment, but the woman continued, "I also know that, despite my specific instructions to sever all ties, you two are meeting secretly around campus like a pair of Shakespearean characters. Personally, I don't hold with men who dress in frilly girl clothes with collars to keep him from scratching, so if you have something interesting to spill, it might save both of you from losing your uniforms."

Nikki didn't pause in her report. "A isn't happy being in Glee Club, she's going to try to manipulate mini-Quinn into quitting because she thinks everyone there is a loser."

Sue sat back thoughtfully in her chair. "Well, the former Soviet citizen isn't wrong about that," she murmured. She pursed her lips in thought, then finally leaned forward, staring intently at the Head Cheerio.

"Okay Hardy, I'm going to be honest with you: I need a Nationals Championship under my belt this year, and I haven't had one since Quinn Fabray quit my team two years ago. You've been bringing my Cheerios down since your Rave-striped hair bound itself into my leadership position. Originally I sent Moran out to destroy you, but I've decided this actually could work to my advantage in my eternal quest to destroy the Who's down in Schuester's Whoville once and for all.

"You will continue your public feud with Fabray 2.0, steering well clear of Schuester and his tallow-producing hair. And you will continue your secret fraternization with Moran," Coach Sylvester instructed. "Under my instruction, you will manipulate your way into the girl's mind and convince her to tear down the Glee Club doing whatever it takes." She paused to let the orders sink in. "In return I will promise you reinstatement on the Wolf Wall, as well as a guaranteed position as my Co-Captain once the entirety of my plans unfolds."

"Primary Co-Captain," Nikki edged. If her guess was right about who the other captain was going to be, she wanted to make sure she still maintained the upper hand.

"Deal," Sue agreed, both giving a minute nod. "Let's get to work."

As the Cheerio Coach began talking, Nikki began feeling more like her old self than ever before, and a devious smile began to creep its way onto her face.

Dylan stepped through the halls of McKinley with determination set in his face: he had a target, he had a plan—and he had a knot the size of Cleveland in his stomach…

The freshman stumbled a little as he caught sight of who he was looking for, and fidgeted with the material on his shirt. It was one of the few shirts he owned that didn't sit loosely on him, and Caroline had picked it out herself after insisting that she search his entire wardrobe.

While talking to the girl had been a feat in and of itself, Dylan found that to be nothing compared to the utter exhaustion of conspiring with a match-making Caroline. She was incredibly enthusiastic about his interest in her friend, rambling on a mile a minute about what he should say and do and what she might say and do in reaction. Additionally, the girl was equally eager to make him "more presentable", insisting that since he wasn't a shoplifting white urban wannabe, he therefore had no need for the ridiculous and out-of-date baggy clothing he'd come to adopt. Then she'd spent the better part of an hour trying to tame his hair—an act more easily said than done—and coaching the boy to hold himself up with more confidence, telling him that girls didn't trust guys that couldn't make eye contact.

Finally, she'd declared him more or less ready, pushing him toward the halls of McKinley the next day with a happy, "And if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and stick your head on a spear," as she happily bounced off to her classes.

However, besides insulting his outer appearance and mannerisms, the brunette had been really helpful: he was going in with almost a full script about what to say that would guarantee him a positive response, along with an additional offering to convince her of his intentions.

He spotted his target rummaging through her locker, up on tip-toe in a ruffled purple dress. The brunette's chest tightened, but he tugged his shirt away from his body once more and forced himself forward.

"H-hey Katie," he greeted her.

The blonde smiled as she turned to face him. "Hey Dylan!" she replied happily. "I like your shirt—is it new?"

"Um, sort of…I…um…" he floundered, trying to remember the script Caroline had given him the night before while simultaneously keeping from fidgeting with the collar of the top. He'd had the speech down flat earlier, but the girl's bubbly personality and the fact that her hair smelled like peaches threw the words into a massive jumble in his head. "I just wanted to check on you, I guess—make sure Medusa was still after you—wasn't still after you," he corrected hastily, turning red. This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped.

Katie, however, looked touched by the gesture. "I'm alright," she told him. "I don't think she was ever really after me; more like I was just conveniently around, you know?" She said with a laugh.

Dylan echoed her weakly, still trying to salvage his script. "Well yeah, but still, got to be, you know, hard," he continued. "I thought, that, well, maybe you could use something to take your mind off of the whole thing?"

Katie grinned. "Really?" she asked, giving Dylan a little more courage.

"Yeah," he told her. "There's a marathon—a movie marathon—of Sherlock Holmes flicks at the Bradshaw Theater on Wednesday," he told her.

"Movie mysteries? Sounds fun," Katie said.

"Yeah, I mean, the new one's even got some weird forensic factoids thrown in to stir up the pot," the boy replied, finally getting comfortable in his script. "Like about the evidence left on corpses from paralytics and stuff."

"I love that kind of stuff!" she gushed happily, tilting her head as she smiled up at him. "I didn't know you were such a forensic savant."

"Oh yeah; lo-love it," he stumbled in agreement, not quite comfortable lying, but certain that having common interests with the blonde was his best shot. "Oh! And I got you this," he told her, bringing out his secret weapon.

Katie's face lit up in amazement as she stared at the Twizzlers wrapped into what looked like a bouquet of flowers. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "That is so sweet! How did you know that I'm obsessed with these things?" He shrugged awkwardly, face turning crimson. "Thank you" she repeated.

"So, tomorrow then?" she finally asked, flashing a bright smile, and he bobbed his head. "Excellent; then it's a date," and Dylan felt his jaw go slack at the statement.

Suddenly the bell rang, and the girl hastily slammed her locker shut. "Shoot—I've got to go," she told him. "I'll see you tomorrow night at seven, okay?" She squeezed his arm and spun off.

"Yeah—seven," Dylan confirmed to the space where Katie had just been. "Right."

It was a rare moment for Caroline as she sat by herself in the library. There had been a substitute in her class, and so the freshman had decided to take some time to work on her Glee Club assignment.

Of course, as soon as she got there and began looking through the collections, she realized she had no idea what she could possibly use. The songs that defined her childhood were written by Tchaikovsky and Bach, or some crazy dance remixes that she could barely remember because they were inconsequential to the routines that she used them for. Caroline's childhood had been school and sports and the fashion world, and while she didn't regret it, it did leave something to be desired in her memories of the past.

"Hey there Care," a voice whispered behind her, and she whirled around to find herself surrounded by Liam, Andrew, and Teddy.

"Hey guys," she replied, her heart skipping a beat as she watched the junior push his straw-colored hair from his face as he smiled at her. "What's up?"
"Well," Liam said as he sat down in front of her, and Teddy and Andrew flanking either side. "We're a team, and as a team, we notice when teammates are out of sorts."

"You didn't really look happy about the lesson," Andrew added.

"And your enthusiasm to the music library is leaving a little something to be desired," Teddy said, gesturing to her small pile of folders with a sympathetic smile.

"Oh," she replied in surprise, truthfully a little amazed that the guys noticed her. "It's nothing really," she told them. "Just—with the whole religious boarding school and strict training regimen for sports and everything, I kind of feel a little out of place for this one."

"What, like you didn't get a chance to play with Barbie's?" Liam asked skeptically.

"She was deemed immoral and thus contraband, plus the nuns said she was a whore so if we played with her, we would turn into one." Caroline replied with a smirk. Susan Renolds had a Barbie the first day she arrived and the nuns made her burn the doll so god could "forgive her of her sins". "Any doll or accessories found were eight demerits."

"Seriously?" Teddy asked. "What about movies? Like Shrek and Cars and stuff?"

"Most movies were considered off-limits due to their corrosive and suggestive nature," the girl told them. Like when her sister Frannie sent the movie Beauty and the Beast when she was 8, the nuns quickly took it away; claiming that the beast was the devil trying to corrupt their innocent minds.

"Suggestive nature?" Andrew repeated. "How is The Lion King suggestive?"

"According to the school? For one thing, every time the male and female protagonist lions fight, they end up in a lewd and sexually evocative position," Caroline answered—or at least that's what Kelly Matisse had been told when she'd been caught with the video. "Plus some of the songs were written by—horrors!—a homosexual!" she mock gasped. The dean had been especially upset by that piece of information: he'd actually said listening to Elton John encouraged homosexual behavior.

Liam stood up. "That's it: I've heard enough," he told her covering his ears in distaste. "For the next three nights you are meeting us here for a study session."

"Study session?" Caroline asked in confusion.

"We are going to catch you up on everything you missed in your childhood, starting with a cartoon movie marathon," Liam told her.

"We'd go longer, but we've got some of our own film work to catch up on," Teddy said apologetically.

"Seriously?" despite the fact that it did sound kind of fun, the brunette was a little embarrassed that they were going through all of this as if she was incompetent as a teenager without it.

Andrew placed a hand on her shoulder. "No child left behind, Caroline," he told her. "Every little girl should know all of her Disney Princesses, if for no other reason than so she can disregard the gender stereotypes and decide to be Mater for Halloween instead."

"Mater?" she asked.

Liam patted her head patronizingly. "We'll get there," he told her. "Tonight after Glee—Media Room, don't forget your popcorn."

The boys gathered their bags and slowly dispersed, and Caroline felt herself beaming happily as she hugged her book bag to her chest. Maybe this assignment wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Ash, where are we going?" Emma asked, feeling very uncomfortable as she brushed up against the multitudes of students in the hall while wearing a blindfold and depending on the leadership skills of her boyfriend to keep her from hurting herself.

"Still a surprise Emms," he told her for the tenth time. When the lunch bell had rung, he'd grabbed her up before she could make her way to the cafeteria to sit with the jocks and Cheerios, instead throwing a bandana across her eyes and insisting he follow her.

"We're at least staying on campus, right?" the girl asked half-jokingly as he led her through a door, still squinting as she tried to look through the material covering her eyes.

Suddenly she found herself brought to a stop, and the material was removed from her face as she realized they were in the auditorium.

"What is this?" she asked, looking at his proud grin in puzzlement.

"This," he told her, leading her up to the darkened stage and leaving her next to the curtains. "Is my way of getting a moment alone."

The lights turned on, and Emma stared in awe at the picnic spread set up next to the piano. She looked back at her boyfriend in wonder.

"Ash, this is so sweet," she gushed as he led her to the blanket, helping her to her seat and pulling out food from the basket.

"Not as great as it could be—Mum made the meal, so it's all curry and naan," he told her apologetically, but Emma just grinned and took the Tupperware from his hands, helping herself.

"This has got to be our sweetest date ever," she told him.

"Not terribly hard, considering how many dates we've had," the boy muttered, causing Emma to frown. But he put on a smile as he passed her some tandoori chicken. "So how is everything going?"

"Things are good," she replied, licking the sauce from her fingers with a laugh. "The paper is actually ahead of the game, thank goodness, and Student Council is taking a week off to rest up for the mess that comes with planning for the holidays. Swim club had its last meet last Sunday, and that girl I was training—Vera?-made it to Sectionals." She smiled. "So all I really have to worry about now is Glee's assignment."

"Which is?"

Emma sighed. "Oh, we have to sing a song that reminds us of our childhood, how it affected us and such. I'm just kind of lost about what to use."

The brown-skinned boy smiled. "I wouldn't be if I were you," he replied with a grin.

"What?" she asked skeptically. "You think you know me so well that you could just pick a song out of thin air that described me?"

"Easily." She looked at him incredulously, and he scoffed. "I remember exactly the kind of girl you were—still are. You're the girl that wants to make a difference. You want to change lives, even if in the smallest way, because you know that even the smallest change for good can have a huge effect on the world."

He walked over to the piano and nodded to Brad, who had magically appeared and started an intro.

I saw a starfish on the ground, he sang gently, smiling at his girlfriend and causing her to mirror the expression

He was half buried in the sand

Just so out of place

and ahh, the two harmonized as Emma's voice joined him.

Ashwin pulled her up off the blanket; He was a long, long way from home

Emma laughed, taking the lead; I was a long, long way from home

And so we talked a little while

Then I shook his hands

and I they sang again

I was a long, long way from home

Her boyfriend pulled her close, rocking them together as they sang, And everything is wonderful
When everything's alright

So alright
There we were
One less star tonight

They began a simple samba, careful not to disrupt their picnic, Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na

Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na

Emma began again as Ashwin clapped a drumbeat I saw a starfish on the ground
The boy put out his hand, Oh, he was still buried in the sand
Now he's not so all alone Emma sang out
And he's finally going home
So I smiled and I shook his hands

and we were singin'

Na na na na na na na the couple dueted
Na na na na na na

Yeah, Yeah, we were singing Emma called out
Ashwin's baritenor joined her again, Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na

The moved together, and she stared happily into his eyes. There we were one less star tonight
Brad cut off, and together they finished acapella There we were one more star tonight

She grinned happily: that was a great choice. And she'd forgotten how much she liked the sound of Ashwin's voice; he rarely sang, except during Bollywood class, but his rich voice always made her glow.

"You know what?" she told him with a soft peck.

"What?"

"You should join Glee Club," she told him, surprised when his happy face turned down. "What? You are really good, and I think you'd have a lot of fun."

"Well, what if I don't want to be in Glee Club?" he asked.

"I thought you said you thought we were good," she asked, hurt at his sudden anger.

"You are good Emma," he replied. "I don't think I've ever seen you do anything that you weren't good at—you're a regular child prodigy. But did it ever occur to you that you've got enough on your plate, and we see each other so little as it is?"

She arched her eyebrow at him. "But if you joined, we'd be able to see each other more—"

"In a school setting," he scoffed. "Great—because that's not the only time we see each other now anyways."

"Don't put that on me," she retorted angrily, suddenly very much on the defensive. "You're just as stretched as I am, always with your dad, sticking your hands up god knows—"

"Exactly!" he countered. "We're both already scheduled so tight that we barely see each other—don't you think that's a sign to work harder to make this work? Not go running off to join yet another extra-curricular?"

"I can't believe you right now!" she shouted angrily. "I am trying as hard as I can—"

"To do what exactly? To avoid me as much as possible so when we break up I won't know the difference?"

She stared at him, shocked. "You want to break up?"

He regretted his words instantly. "No—"he insisted.

"No, you know what?" she told him, gathering her things. "I don't want to talk about this at all right now, because if I do, I know this isn't going to end well."

"Emms," Ashwin called as she stormed down the stairs and out the back entrance. "Emma!"

She didn't let any tears show until she made it to the bathroom. And as she dabbed her eyes gently, she'd never been so grateful that her afternoon was completely booked so she wouldn't have to think about that jerk at all.

A/N: Songs used were The Muppets "We Got Us", and Sister Hazel "Starfish"

A/A/N: Seriously, look up Zippy the Chimp—creepiest non-clown toy ever