"Sorry, Will, but my hands are tied." Principal Figgins rounded his desk and took a seat. "We just simply don't have enough money in the budget right now."
"It's just… not fair that the rest of the clubs get a photo but we're the only ones being left out!" Mr. Schue slammed his hands on the older mans desk.
"Fine," Principal Figgins huffed, leaning back in his chair. "I'll give the Glee Club a photo..."
"Thank you."
"For $1000."
"What!" Schue yelled. "Where are we supposed to get that kind of cash?"
"That's not my problem, Will. Like I said, my hands are tied." the principal finished as he returned to his work, gesturing for Mr. Schue to leave.
Later that day during Glee rehearsal, Mr. Schuester was trying to find a way to break it to the kids that they wouldn't have a page in the yearbook. He knew that most of them couldn't care less, but one specific girl couldn't care more.
"Alright guys, take some seats. I have an announcement to make." the older man said, rubbing his brow. "Due to budget cut backs, Glee Club wont be having a photo in the yearbook this year."
"We had our picture taken last year?" Finn said, confused.
"Mr. Schue, this is outrageous!" Rachel marched up to him. "I've had my photo taken with every club that this school has, with the exception of Fathers of the Future, which I still think that was just blatant gender discrimination…"
"Okay, okay." Will shook his hands. "The only way we can get a photo is if we find a way to get $1000 by next month."
"The same time we're getting ready for Regionals?" Mercedes frowned.
"Oh, we should do a fundraising concert!" Rachel suggested as her eyes lit up. "It would help us practice for our competition and get us the money we need."
"We don't have enough time to advertise for a concert…" Will sighed.
"How about a fashion show?" Kurt clapped excitedly. "Or a bake sale!"
Puck chimed in. "I can dig a bake sale."
One by one, the other members agreed that they could try a bake sale at the school. "Alright, well… Kurt, Rachel, do you two want to be in charge of it then?"
Rachel nodded happily and bounced over to Kurt, whispering with him about the different kinds of foods they could make. Quinn sat quietly as she thought back to the previous year. She remembered a few of the other clubs having two pages and the Cheerios having at least six. Something wasn't quite right about what Mr. Schue had told them about the conversation he had with Principal Figgins.
x
A few weeks passed and the Glee Club raised plenty of money to buy a full page in the yearbook, thanks to a recipe Puck said he got from his grandmother. With that task out of their minds, the kids were pumped up about their performance for Regionals.
Mr. Schue was so impressed with the performances from his assignment that he chose multiple soloists for the competition. Finn and Rachel were picked to open with Faithfully, followed by Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Puck performing Don't Stop Believing and closing with Sam and Quinn singing The Time Of My Life. The older man thought it was a brilliant showcase for the many talents he had in the group and knew that Nationals was within reach. Besides, they couldn't go wrong with Journey songs in their set list.
After their performance was over, the Glee Club was on their way to their dressing rooms when Quinn heard her name coming from the lobby. She turned around and saw her mother walking over toward her.
"Mom… What are you doing here?" Quinn said loudly, surprised to see her mom for the first time in two months.
"I came to hear you sing, Quinnie." her mother smiled, lifting her hand to the girls face. "You were wonderful." Quinn moved away at her mothers touch and crossed her arms. "I-I know I missed a lot of your performances, but I promise I'll make every single one from now on..."
Judy noticed Quinn nervously looking around while she spoke. "He's not here." Mrs. Fabray said. "I left your father."
"You left him?" Quinn breathed out in disbelief.
"Well, not exactly. I kicked him out…" Judy straightened her posture. "Quinnie, I want you to come home."
Quinn collapsed into her mothers arms as her eyes began to cloud with tears. She was happy her mother finally stood up for herself, but she was sad and hurt that her father couldn't change for his family.
Standing a few feet away, Rachel was trying to drown out Finn's voice and listen in on the conversation Quinn was having with her mother. The brunette wanted to know why Quinn was crying and what Mrs. Fabray meant by telling Quinn she could come home. I thought she wasn't staying with Brittany anymore? Rachel thought to herself as the alert bell signaled that all the groups were to return to the stage.
Huddled together and awaiting the results of the competition, Rachel glanced beside her to Quinn. The blonde was nervously biting her lip and fidgeting with her dress. Rachel reached over and grabbed Quinn's hand, startling her at first, but she eventually relaxed and clenched the brunettes as the placement order was being called.
Aural Intensity were called as the runner-up. Rachel's heart began to race and she looked over to the other members of the Glee Club. She knew that New Directions performed better than them and that they had first place in the bag. Mentally preparing herself for the speech she would give once they won, Rachel proudly stiffened her body and squeezed Quinn's hand.
And the winners are… Vocal Adrenaline!
Rachel smiled from ear to ear for a brief moment before she realized that their name was not the one called. Every ounce of excitement drained from her face. She released her grasp on Quinn, causing the blonde to look down at her empty hand and back up to the defeated girl. Before she got a chance to say anything, Rachel stormed off stage with her face shielded.
x
Mr. Schuester was standing at the piano, packing sheet music into the many boxes on the floor when members of the Glee Club started filing in. They moved slowly and didn't speak to each other when they sat down.
"I'm sorry you guys are still upset about Regionals last weekend…" the older man offered, stepping out from behind the piano.
"At least we still get our picture…" Rachel mumbled, shrugging her shoulders heavily.
"Actually, I need to talk to you all about that." Mr. Schue began, getting everyone's attention. He sighed, knowing that what he was about to say wasn't going to go over well. "Principal Figgins informed me that only groups, who take part in competitions and place, will get pictures in the yearbook."
Rachel's mouth fell open and her face grew red. Puck burst out of his chair. "That's total bullshit, Mr. S! Do you know how much money I spent on the…uh… ingredients?!"
"He's going to still give us a quarter of a page and list our names in the-"
"That's not enough!" Kurt yelled.
"Doesn't he realize how hard we've all worked?" Quinn pleaded, looking over the other kids in the room and resting her eyes on Rachel.
"I'm sorry…" Mr. Schuester frowned. "He's also said that we can still meet next year, but we lost the rest of our budget for transportation and competition fees."
"No!" Rachel screamed as she stood up quickly and stormed out of the choir room. The other members got up slowly, murmuring to each other as they left as well. They were all disappointed that, with how hard they worked, there was nothing Mr. Schue tried to do to keep their budget or help raise more money. Quinn was beyond annoyed with the way he handled the whole situation and was determined to fix it herself. She did not go through all the extra pain and emotional stress for nothing.
The blonde broke from the group once they reached the hallway and headed toward Coach's office. Without knocking, Quinn turned the knob and threw the door open, startling Sue.
"You're a hypocrite!" Quinn seethed.
"Excuse me?" the older woman chuckled.
"I know what you're doing and I'm not going to let you get away with it."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sue shrugged, turning back to her trophy case.
"Yes, you do!" Quinn slammed her hands on the woman's desk. "You have more than enough money in the Cheerios budget and from private donors to give us park season passes, spa days, confetti canons for pep rallies... I'm not entirely sure how you managed to do it, but I know you got Principal Figgins to pull all the funding for Glee Club! He may not know exactly how large your account is, but I can assure you, he'll get an anonymous tip on his desk tomorrow morning and YOUR funding will be pulled."
"What do you want?"
"Glee Club gets a full page photo." Quinn put her hands on her hips, staring the older woman directly in her eyes.
"That's not up to me." Sue shrugged her shoulders and put her glasses back on.
"You are giving up one of the Cheerios six pages and you are giving it to the Glee Club for free." The Cheerio ordered. "And in addition, you are going to use money from the cheerleading budget to fund Glee Club for a full year."
Sue crossed her fingers in front of her and studied the Cheerio. "You know, Q… I've forgotten just how ruthless you really are. You're like a young Sue Sylvester." Quinn rolled her eyes at the comment. "But these threats from you people are getting far too common. Now get out of my office."
Confused as to who else would have threatened Coach and what the older woman meant by you people, Quinn left and headed for her car.
x
"Hey guys, thanks for coming." Mr. Schue said as he walked briskly into the choir room. He had called for an emergency meeting to announce some big news. "Yesterday I told you guys that Principal Figgins was restricting our yearbook space to a corner and that our competition budget would be cut."
"Please do not tell me you brought us all here to just remind us of our repeated failures and shortcomings…" Rachel slumped into her chair.
"No, I called you all here because…" the older man's smile grew wider. "We have our funding back for next year!"
"What?" Kurt squealed.
"Mr. Schuester, if this is some kind of sick joke, I really don't appreciate-" Rachel began.
"Guys, I'm serious! Principal Figgins approached me this morning saying that he got a generous donation to our club-"
"From who?" Finn asked.
"It was anonymous." Will shrugged. "But he said it was enough to not only cover next year, but a whole page in the yearbook!"
The rest of the members began clapping and talking amongst themselves for a moment before the older man interrupted them again. "Now, the clubs with a full page have a leader photo as well as a group one. So, we'll need to choose a Captain."
"Mr. Schue!" Rachel stood up and marched toward him. "I'd like to nominate myself as Glee Club Captain." she said proudly.
"Uh, a-alright. I was going to have people vote and put it in my hat…" Will shrugged again as he threw his fedora back on the piano. "Anyone want to second her nomination?"
"Don't you think I should give a speech as to why I think I'll do this club a great service and list my-"
"I will." said a quiet voice. Rachel turned around and saw Quinn standing up. "I second the nomination for Rachel to be Captain." the Cheerio repeated, offering a gentle smile to the brunette.
"Okay… All those in favor of Rachel being Glee Club's Captain, raise your hand." Mr. Schue instructed. One by one, each member raised their hand. "Looks like everyone votes Rachel," the older man said, turning to face the girl, who was also holding up her hand. "Even Rachel." he laughed.
The new Captain smiled as wide as she could, biting her lip to contain some of her excitement. She was in countless clubs already, although she wasn't the captain of any of them. No one ever wanted her in charge or saw her as a leader before, but the kids in Glee Club just chose her.
"If I may, I'd like to say a few words." Rachel said quietly and not in her normally rushed, annoying tone. Mr. Schue gestured her to have the floor. "You all… don't understand how much this means to me." she began, already chocked up.
"I've always felt like the girl who never gets the brass ring and maybe I never will, but the way you guys are taking a chance with me… All I ever wanted was to feel special and to feel chosen and I just wanted to thank you guys so much for giving me that."
Mr. Schue put his hand on the young girls shoulder, offering her a smile. Rachel wiped away the stray tear making it's way down her cheek. Kurt and Finn stood up first and walked over to the brunette and gave her a hug. The rest of the Glee club got up and followed the boys lead, forming around Rachel, hugging and celebrating.
As the new Captain let out a laugh, she watched everyone's excitement. While she was looking around, Quinn's eyes caught her gaze and the two shared a brief moment. The blonde smiling softly to Rachel; Rachel blushing slightly as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Rachel felt so much happiness and pride that she needed to express herself or she felt like she was going to explode from all the emotions. Sensing that the rest of the Glee Club was in the mood to sing a celebratory number, the brunette hushed her insubordinates.
"As your new Captain, I have my very first suggestion." Rachel exclaimed.
Santana rolled her eyes and huffed.. "Don't make me already regret voting for you…" Brittany nudged the Latina and Quinn glared at her.
"I-I was thinking that we should perform a group number." Rachel continued. "I know the perfect song we could all sing together and, well, just have fun with it, really…"
"What song were you thinking?" Artie asked.
"Well, how about one of the hits from the Tony Award winning classic Hairspray?" Rachel smiled and clasped her hands together. Most of the other members nodded their heads, excited about what song choice the girl had in mind.
"Isn't that, like, a product for your hair?" Finn questioned.
"God, how are you even here?" Santana huffed.
"I think that's a great idea, Rachel." Mr. Schue interrupted before Santana tried to kick sense into Finn. "Which song?"
"You Can't Stop The Beat." the brunette said proudly.
x
On the last week of school, the students packed the hallway cleaning out their lockers before summer break began. Brittany and Santana were laughing about something they found at the bottom of Brittany's locker when Quinn walked up to them.
"So, whose car are we taking to Breadstix after school?" the shorter blonde asked.
"Mine!" Santana laughed. "I am not crawling in the back of your little sorry excuse for a car!"
"Hey!" Quinn nudged the Latina. "At least it's not my moms mini van."
"Don't hate." San turned back to her locker. "I can't believe Coach is taking us out to eat. I didn't think she wanted any of us to do that."
"Well, we did basically hand her another consecutive Nationals title." Brittany gushed. "We couldn't have done it with our Captain, though!" The taller blonde threw her arms around Quinn and planted a smooch on her cheek.
Quinn blushed and tried to cover her face, but to no avail. "O-Okay, that's enough!" she laughed, squirming away from Brittany. "I'll meet you guys in the parking lot after school."
The Cheerio continued walking down the hallway. She needed to return a few books she borrowed from Ms. Pillsbury. Turning the corner, the blonde bumped into someone, causing their box to fall on the floor. Quinn quickly apologized and went to help clean it up when she realized that the person she bumped into was Rachel Berry.
"Congrats on Nationals, by the way." The brunette smiled. "Rumor has it you were the reason the Cheerios won."
"It was obviously a team effort," Quinn began, blushing again. "They only give me credit because I'm the Captain…"
Rachel grabbed ahold of her box with all the contents in it again. "Well, you're a natural. I couldn't picture anyone else doing it." The shorter girl shyly lowed her eyes.
"I could say the same for you." Quinn stated, causing Rachel's gaze to meet the other girls. They stayed silent for a moment, but the blonde gestured to her handful of books. "I-I have to return these to-"
"Oh! Yeah… I have to go too." Rachel shook her head. "S-See you around?"
The blonde nodded as the two girls parted ways. At the end of the wing, Sam stood there watching their interaction. Quinn looked up and noticed the boy's presence.
"Don't even…" she shyly laughed, brushing past him. He started to walk beside her.
"Are you ever going to tell her?" he asked.
"I-I…" Quinn stammered, but sighed heavily. "I don't see why I would. Besides, what exactly would I tell her?"
"Just, if you actually think you might like-like her, don't let someone else beat you there." Sam touched her shoulder lightly, stopping her and facing her toward him. His face was mixed with serious and sad emotions.
"Why are you getting all sensitive on me?" Quinn looked concerned. "Is everything alright?"
"No." Sam looked down for a moment and mumbled. "I-I'm leaving."
"You're what?" she heard what he said, but didn't want to.
"My dad… He lost his job and he just got hired by this company in Kentucky three weeks ago." Sam breathed deeply. "The distance has been hard on him, so last weekend him and my mom went to look at a house and they found one, so we're moving."
Quinn stared at him in shock. They hadn't been very close since Regionals because of Cheerio practice six times a week, two times a day, but she still cared for him and didn't want him to leave.
"Anyway, I was hoping I'd run into you to say goodbye." Sam opened his arms and Quinn leaned in, hugging him tightly. "Don't worry, I'll come see as many of your performances as I can, and I'll save you a ticket for my graduation if you save me one of yours, deal?"
Brushing the tears from her eyes, Quinn nodded. "Deal."
x
