^(12) There From The Start
Mattress
"Where's Rachel?" Kurt asked sharply.
"She's not here yet," Finn replied.
"Perfect." Kurt started. "Glee Club stands on a delicate precipice. We have all felt the cold humiliation of a slushie in the face. But as of right now, our relative anonymity as a club shields us from more persecution.. Swirlies. Patriotic wedgies."
"What the hell is that?" Mercedes asked.
Finn chimed in. "It's when they hoist you up the flag pole by your undies..."
"Strangely it did make me feel more American," Artie added.
Kurt continued. "Based on my investigation, I am of the opinion that a yearbook photo would only fuel the flames of of anti-glee club terror... I've done a little library research." He had a pile of old yearbooks and took one from the stack. "Peter Gellar. Glee club second tenor, 1998." He pointed to a picture of a boy where the face was scratched out. "Shortly after the yearbook came out, Mr. Gellar had a nervous breakdown. He's now the homeless man who sleeps in front of the public library."
"Patches?" Quinn asked.
"Patches," Kurt confirmed.
"He barks at my mom." Brittany murmured.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say that not having to pose for a yearbook photo might be a blessing in disguise."
"Not all of us," Blaine said from somewhere behind Puck. "So what, people vandalize yearbooks, it's what high schoolers do. I know that I actually want to come out in the yearbook with you guys. I want to remember this club when I'm older." Really, though, he wanted these days to be defined by what he accomplished in school and not by the mess he had going on at home.
"Luckily," Kurt said bitterly. "Nobody asked you."
Before Blaine could respond, Mr. She walked in. "Hey guys! Looking at old Thunderclaps?"
"It's really unsettling," Artie said.
Mr. Shue misunderstood him. "And totally unfair! This years volume is going to have a photo with every one of your smiling faces." He assured them. "You have my word on it."
As Mr. Shue waked to his office, everyone gave distasteful glances at each other, except Blaine who looked quite smug. "Say cheese." He mumbled.
XXX
Blaine paced back and forth in his room for what must've been the hundredth time, debating whether or not to pick up the phone that had been ringing with his fathers number flashing across the screen.
Finally, he answered the phone and put it to his ear, only to hang up again.
Just then, he noticed his brother standing by the door. "You know, phones work better when you actually speak into them."
"Fuck off," Blaine sat down at his desk and rubbed his palms over his eyes.
Cooper took a seat on his bed. "I invited him to your Sectionals..." He admitted.
Blaine sighed heavily. "Why?" He didn't even sound angry at this point, just defeated
"Because whether or not you forgive him, you need to face your demons once and for all..." Cooper shrugged. "His flight is that day, so he said he might not make it, just be prepared for either situation, okay squirt?"
He got up and rubbed his little brothers hair, an old habit of his. "See you tomorrow, Coop."
XXX
The next day, Mr. Shue walked in, particularly excited. "Great news!" He exclaimed. "Glee Club gets a photo in the Thunderclap!" He was met with unenthusiastic chatter. "But I had to compromise to do it... We only get a quarter page in back. Which means we have to pick two team captains. So we're going to put it to a vote."
"Well we're all here, so I guess we should vote right now," Mercedes suggested.
Rachel stood up. "With your permission, I have prepared a few words."
"I nominate Rachel," she said in monotone.
"Second," said Kurt. "And I nominate Blaine as well." Everyone, including Blaine, looked at him in shock. Kurt knew it was a crappy thing to do, considering what some people would do to his picture, but Blaine had made it very clear that he wanted to be in that yearbook, so who was he to stop him?
Santana shrugged. "I second." Better Bow-tie Blaine than her, right? Why risk it.
Will looked content. "Alright! Congratulations to the faces of this years Glee Club!"
XXX
Rachel and Blaine sat next to each other in front of a blue backdrop.
The photographer took two pictures then said. "Okay, we're done here."
"What that's it?" Rachel asked.
"Rachel, please." Blaine started.
"It's just that I practiced over 18 different poses for this shoot and I haven't even show you any of my over-the-left-shoulder poses!" She cried.
Blaine face-palmed. "Sorry kid, I gotta go, I have a casting session in half an hour."
"For what?" Blaine asked, intrigued.
"My brother in law is shooting a commercial for his store." The photographer said. "I'm directing it. I just do these school photos to get extra money."
Out of nowhere, Rachel started crying. The director looked alarmed, but Blaine rolled his eyes.
"No, no!" He cried. "I can take a couple more pictures—"
She suddenly stopped and looked up at him. "I can cry on demand." She said. "It's one of my many talents, I'm very versatile."
The photographer seemed taken aback. "You're very talented, but there's other speaking parts in this thing. I need a bunch of other actors too."
Both her and Blaine's eyes widened in excitement and he stood up. "We're a part of a club! We can find parts!" He exclaimed.
Rachel nodded in agreement.
The photographer shrugged. "Okay."
XXX
The owner of the mattress store stood in front of the choir. "Okay guys, we're very excited to have you here. We here at mattress land believe that mattresses aren't just for sleeping and fornicating anymore. We believe that buying an affordable mattress should be fun."
"Okay, let's go over the script, I think it's pretty brilliant, I wrote it myself," said the photographer. "Action!"
"Ah, me." Finn said overdramatically.
"What's wrong?" Asked Mercedes.
"We just lost our jobs." Said Puck. He paused. "At the factory. And we can't get a good night sleep."
"Chipper up!" Said Rachel so brightly that it was actually startling. "Come on down to mattress land! We've got near-wholesale prices to put your style and pocket book!"
She stopped. "I'm sorry Mr. Cusperberg. This script is brilliant, but we're in Glee and we should perform!" For once, she had a point.
Mr. Cusperberg pointed at her. "Perform the lines, as I wrote them," he said.
The owner stopped him. "Wait a minute, Dennis." He looked at Rachel. "What did you have in mind?"
Rachel smiled brightly and started giving directions immediately.
XXX
Ba ba ba ba da
Ba ba ba da da da da
I get up, and nothing gets me down
You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around
And I know, baby just how you feel
You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real
Oh can't you see me standing here
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen (aint the worst that youve seen)
Oh can't you see what I mean (cant you see what I mean)
Might as well jump, jump
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump, jump
Go ahead and jump
Jump!
XXX
Blaine was walking past Coach Sylvester's office when he heard Quinn's familiar voice coming from inside. "You are giving up one of the Cheerios six pages and you are giving it to the Glee Club free of charge." She said forcefully.
He stopped walking. Not that he was one to eavesdrop, but if it involved the Glee Club...
Quinn was almost out the door (nearly running in to Blaine) when she suddenly swiveled around. "You know what? I don't think I want to be a Cheerio after all. I don't wanna be on a team where I only appear to belong, I'd rather be a part of a club that's proud to have me. Like Glee Club."
She finally exited the door and Blaine started walking up to her. "What was that all about?" He asked.
"Don't act like you weren't listening to half of that conversation, Blaine." She smiled at him. "You're getting your yearbook page."
"Our yearbook page, he corrected." He paused. "I know you go for this royal bitch image, but you're at least trying to be a good person now, and I think that's all that matters."
She inhaled contently. "Thanks."
He smiled back at her but couldn't help but remember that she was carrying Puck's baby in that little belly of hers. He couldn't stop thinking about Finn and Puck and how they seemed to grow apart recently. His thoughts were interrupted by Artie's voice.
"But we don't wanna go to sectionals without you!" To Mr. Shue
"What's going on?" Blaine asked as he and Quinn walked into the Choir room
Will looked at them. "I can't go to Sectionals with you guys. I accepted the mattresses that you were paid with, which voided my amateur status... It's without me or not at all."
"He's taking the bullet for us," Puck said somberly.
"We worked too hard for you guys not to get your shot." He continued.
"We can't do this without you," Finn said. "Hell, we probably can't do it with you."
"That's not true... You guys are good. You're really good. You did Jump without me for that commercial, right?" The kids smiled at the bittersweet moment. "Look, the best teachers don't give you the answers. They just point the way and let you make your own choices. Your own mistakes. That way, you get all the glory. And you deserve it... If you can't win without me there, then I haven't done my job."
"We're really sorry," Rachel said.
"I know... I want you guys to go get gussied up, and take that Glee Club photo with pride. I want to see a smile on every one of your faces..."
XXX
A/N: this was basically a filler but I promised myself that I would do one chapter per episode!
I promise Sectionals is gonna be really good!
