Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any songs performed in this story. This is purely a work of fiction.
Mr. Schue announced movie week to a roar of excitement. Even Paige felt that this assignment was a good one. "You'll be doing mashups and it's boys versus girls!" Plus the winning team would be featured in a project that Artie was working on. Paige could care less about the competition or the mashup part. She just wanted to sing songs from her favorite movies, even if she sang them alone in her room. She thought it might help distract her from all the stress over Rachel's problem and regionals.
"You're going down!" Ryder teased as they left school. "Can't go down if I'm not really fighting," Paige replied, shrugging. "What? Come on! This is going to be...epic," he said. "Ha! Doubt it. Besides, I'm way too stressed out to worry about some lame competition in glee. I plan on doing just what's necessary for glee and anything else is just for me," she told him as they reached his truck. He smiled a little. "That rhymed," he said. She laughed. "Yep, definitely a dork," she teased. "Says the girl who sits alone at lunch and reads books," he scolded. "You said you'd think about sitting with us..." He pouted unintentionally. "Oh, jeez, I'm sorry. I totally forgot. Kinda been going through some stuff this weekend," she said. "I'll give it a trial period, how about that? Three days. If I don't like it, it's back to my sweet solitude. If it turns out that it's not so bad, I'll stay." Ryder frowned but gave in. "Fine," he sighed, "that seems fair."
"So, what are you going to sing?" Ryder asked, stopping at a light. Paige shrugged. "I don't know yet. I like a lot of movies," she said.
Paige was glad to have this week be something entirely different. She was sick of rehearsing for regionals and she desperately needed a distraction from waiting on Rachel to find out whether or not she really was pregnant. On the other hand, the other girls were becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with. Kitty wanted to run the world, Sugar couldn't sing, Marley was a pushover, Tina was still being a little bit of a diva, and Unique was pretty much always a diva.
The next day Ryder told her what the boys were doing. "It's gonna be amazing," he said. She smiled in spite of herself. "You really have no shame, do you?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Paige rolled her eyes playfully. "First you pose for a calender in your underwear and now you plan on performing in front of the whole glee club on Friday in your underwear. What's next? Full frontal?" she teased. He laughed. "Probably not, but you just never know," he replied.
They walked to first period together as usual and talked about Rachel. "So, any word from your sister?" Ryder asked. "No, she made a doctor's appointment for Thursday so I won't know until then. All I can do is pray for the best." She frowned. Santana had called her to talk about Brody, but she didn't feel like telling Ryder about all of that right then. Santana was convinced there was something not right about him and Paige agreed. Still, she didn't have any proof and he was Rachel's boyfriend. Rachel tended to be blind when it came to boys, which gave Paige and Santana all the more reason to worry.
Paige skipped glee that afternoon and walked home. She was in her room when Ryder texted.
'Where wer you?'
'Too much homework. Went home right after school.'
He didn't respond, which was weird but Paige shrugged it off. In truth, she did have a lot of homework and it wasn't getting done while she texted with Ryder. So she put her head down and got through most of it before dinner.
Dinner was an awkward affair, with both of her dads and her brother asking about Ryder. "Everything's fine," she told them, turning a nasty shade of pink. "Good, good." "How come you didn't go to glee club?" Cam asked, shoveling a forkful of potatoes into his mouth. "I had too much homework," Paige answered. "How are rehearsals for regionals going?" her Papa asked. "Good. We're taking a break right now and doing movie week," she told him. "Oh! That sounds fun! What number are you doing?" her Dad asked. "Oh, I don't know. It's kind of a competition. Boys against girls. It's actually really stupid, but the winning team gets to be in some movie thing Artie is working on," she said, shrugging.
"Well, I think that sounds fun," her Papa said. "It won't be. And the boys will probably win," she replied. "Why do you say that?" Cam asked. "The girls are doing 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend' from Moulin Rouge, which is cool, but the boys are doing a mashup of 'Old Time Rock N Roll' from Risky Business and 'Danger Zone' from Top Gun so..." Her dads exchanged an impressed look. "I won't be participating," Paige declared. "Well, why not?" her Papa asked. "Because they want me to wear a ridiculous pink dress from the 80s complete with hot pink gloves and gigantic hair. So not happening," she answered.
After dinner Paige went back up to her room to finish her homework. It didn't take that long and when she finished, she sat up for a while listening to her iPod. As she was humming along to one of her favorite songs from Pitch Perfect, it hit her. She knew exactly what she was going to sing for glee.
Ryder was up later than he should have been talking to a girl who had accidentally friended him on Facebook. She was so easy to talk to, he felt like he'd known her forever. She was funny, awesome, and gave him good advice. He had told her about Paige and how she had been going through some stuff with her sister and it was making her even more distant than usual. He didn't get too specific, but he told her everything. In turn she had offered him kind words and wisdom.
'You just have to be there for her. Understand that she has problems right now but that she does care.'
He bit his lip.
'She's been kind of distent from the begining. She dosen't want to get to klos. She dosen't want to take to big of a chanc with me.'
He waited for her reply.
'She told you that?'
'She has big dreams and I think she beleives I will holde her back.'
There was a long pause before Katie replied.
'Then you can do better.'
Ryder had no words. His mouth hung open stupidly and he didn't know whether to be angry or just ignore it. He did love her after all.
'I love her.'
'Or you think you do.'
There was another long pause, this time because Ryder had no idea what to say. He had waited a long time for Paige to notice him and he knew he could have to wait forever for her to love him. But these things worked out it in the end. The good guy always gets the girl. But with Paige, he wasn't so sure about that.
The next afternoon, Paige was the first one in the choir room. She actually looked excited, which Ryder had been curious about all day. She had told him she'd tell him later, but she still hadn't yet. Mr. Schue and Finn came in a few minutes later. Paige shot her hand up. "I have a movie song!" she said. "Oh...okay...go ahead," Mr. Schue said, grinning as he sat down next to Finn.
Everyone watched as Paige went to the front and sat down in the floor. She dug in her bag and pulled out a red solo cup. A few people were smiling, seemingly already in on what was going on. With no introduction, Paige used the cup to make the beat.
"I got my ticket for the long way round
Two bottles of whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leaving tomorrow what d'ya say?
When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone..."
She kept her eyes on the cup, drumming on it and twisting it around to make the sounds she wanted it to make.
"I got my ticket for the long way round
The one with the prettiest of views
It's got mountains
It's got rivers
It's got sights to give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you
When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone..."
The whole room applauded wildly. Everyone was impressed with the way she had made the music herself. She stood up and came back to her seat beaming. "Amazing job, Paige," Mr. Schue said, clapping with the rest. "Thanks," she said shyly.
As Ryder and Paige walked to his truck after glee, Ryder took Paige's hand. She entwined her fingers with his. "So that was totally amazing," he said, smiling. "You think so? I messed it up a little, but I didn't have a ton of time to practice. I had to go on memory from how Anna Kendrick did it in the movie," she said. "Which movie is that?" Ryder asked. "Seriously? Pitch Perfect. Haven't you seen it?" He shook his head. "What? Oh my God, it's like, my third favorite movie!" she said. "Your first two being..." "Juno and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves respectively." He smiled.
Paige woke up feeling too nervous to eat on Thursday morning. Rachel had asked Santana to take her to the doctor for her appointment and Santana had said she was happy to go with her. Rachel told Paige she would text her when she found out. They were both nervous and terrified.
Paige barely talked to Ryder all morning. She sat alone in the bathroom at lunch, waiting for the text she knew would come soon. As soon as her phone alerted her, she felt sick. She looked at the message and sighed with relief.
'False alarm. Talk to you tonight. Love you.'
"Oh, thank God," she breathed. She sent a quick reply and walked into the cafeteria. She sat down with the rest of the glee club for her last trial day. She hadn't decided what she was going to do after that. Ryder gave her a look and she gave him a discreet thumbs up. She ate her lunch as quickly as possible before the bell rang and she was forced to go to her next class.
Later that afternoon, Ryder convinced her to go with the rest of them to find Ms. Pillsbury. "Come on. We sing one song and we're out. Maybe we can catch a movie or something," he said. "Fine, I'll go, but I have to go home after. My sister is supposed to call me," she said. Ryder frowned. "I thought she texted you," he said. "Well, yeah, but...I'm pretty sure you don't go through something like that and not have major feelings about it that you need to unload on someone you trust." Ryder nodded, unsmiling. "We can do something this weekend, though, if you're not busy." That seemed to appease him. "Sure. Breadstix on Saturday?" "It's a date," Paige replied.
On Friday afternoon, the girls were supposed to do their number first. Paige had opted to help judge, though Mr. Schue had wanted her to perform. "I think that without a girl on the judging panel, your judgement will be biased. Plus I am not wearing a hot pink dress or teasing my hair to make me a foot taller," she said stubbornly. He and Finn exchanged a look. Finn shrugged and Mr. Schue caved. "You make a fair point," he said. "Of course I do."
The girls took center stage and the music started up. Unique and Marley took the leads. Paige felt their vocals were wonderful, the choreography was fine, but their hair looked ridiculous. She was glad she had chosen not to perform. Overall she gave them a high score, hoping that the boys would be more fun to watch.
She got her wish. Artie, Blaine, and Joe started the mashup off dressed as fighter pilots singing 'Danger Zone' from the movie Top Gun. Blaine took the lead. They used Artie's chair to make interesting choreography. Less than a minute into 'Danger Zone' Sam, Ryder, and Jake burst in wearing white button down shirts, whitet tighties, socks, and sunglasses. They slid around on their socks as Sam started singing. They all slid past the girls, who were enjoying the performance immensely. Ryder winked at Paige who turned brick red as Finn grinned at her. The boys' mashup was smoothly done and they were interesting to watch, even if they'd been wearing pants. Paige had not been disappointed with their performance and felt they were the clear winners.
After the performances, Mr. Schue stood to announce the winner. "He didn't consult us..." Paige whispered. Finn just smiled at her knowingly. "Everyone wins!" "Seriously," Paige groaned. She turned to Finn. "The boys were clearly better," she said. He grinned. "Not because...ugh...whatever." She gave up. Artie rolled himself beside Mr. Schue while the others complained. "I realized I needed a lot of talent for my film," he told them. Whatever the reasoning, the outcome was lame and Paige was just glad it was over.
That night she talked to Rachel for two hours. "Santana still thinks I should leave Brody," she said. Paige sighed. "I'm not going to talk about him with you," she said. "Why not?" Rachel asked, her pout audible in her tone. "Because. You never listen. You think the sun shines out of Brody's butt and every time he opens his mouth rainbows and flowers come out. Even though Santana and I only say anything because we care, you care about Brody more than our opinions." "Because that's just what they are! Opinions! You don't know him like I do," Rachel huffed. "Don't get so defensive. I just said I wasn't going to argue with you."
Eventually the argument was forgotten and Rachel thanked Paige for letting her unload. "I miss you," she told her. "I miss you, too," Paige replied. "What would you say to spring break in New York?" Rachel asked. "If you can convince our dads, I would kill to hang out with you and Kurt and Santana all spring break!" Paige said. "I'll see what I can do. Ask Cam if he wants to come," Rachel said. "I'll talk to him," Paige promised. "Good. I'll talk to you soon," Rachel said. "Okay," Paige replied.
Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long to write. Thank you to RHatch89, Damnitsnoelle, and Ali for your reviews. :)
Song:
"Cups" - Pitch Perfect (Originally I believe it's by Lulu and the Lampshades but I'm not entirely sure.)
