There's nods and references to the actual episode. But, this entire chapter is 99 percent original content. I hope it's not too jarring or full of suck. It's a little on the short side, too.
GLEE: A Different Point of View
Chapter 12- "Hairography"
It was shocking just how different he felt. Such a difference. Whether it was a better change or not remained to be seen, but Mitchell wasn't expecting positive results. He was simply just noting to himself that it was almost as if he were transformed into an entirely different person. Walking down the halls of McKinley, none of the jocks or other bullies bothered with him anymore. Not because he was popular or well-liked, either. It was just like he was literally invisible.
Which, to be honest, wasn't as bad a feeling as most people made it out to be.
Kurt, Mitchell and Rachel walked down the halls of McKinley when suddenly they were the victims of a slushee facial. Well, Kurt and Rachel were. Oddly fascinating, considering Mitchell was in-between them and didn't get so much as one tiny little piece of flavored ice on himself at all.
Yeah, invisible wasn't so bad.
Another thing that he noticed is that he wasn't so consumed by his feelings for Santana and Quinn. Well, to be fair, the Santana feelings were destroyed before the invisibility, though. He did think of Quinn and the crush was still very much burning inside of his heart. But, it just wasn't as distracting as it was before. On a side note, he did feel really bad about her parents kicking her out. At least Finn's mom was cool enough to let her stay with them.
No matter what they did, how could you basically evict your own flesh and blood?
One last interesting piece of information regarding the changes made. This girl he was sitting next to in Art Class. This... Michelle. She was attractive, but she wasn't a girly-girl. She was kinda like one of the guys. Which, okay, did that make him a little gay that he liked that about her? Yes? No? Maybe kinda sorta, but not really?
Mitchell stopped at Ms. Pillsbury's office door. After apologizing the day he returned, he then promised her he would check in every few days. She claimed to be worried about him. He still felt guilty for yelling at her.
"Hello, Mitchell," she greeted kindly as he entered the room and took a seat, "I'm glad you decided to stop in."
He nodded.
"So, how have things been?"
"It's wierd," he began, "It feels... It feels like I'm invisible."
She immediately took that as a complaint or hint of sadness. She couldn't have been more wrong.
"No," he assured her, "I'm fine with it, actually. It feels... good. Is it normal for that to feel good?"
"You've been through a lot of stressful situations lately," she answered through analysis, "Normally, I would say that even though it feels good, it really isn't. But, given your circumstances, I think this could be a good thing. It can give you a break."
"Yeah."
"How about Art Class?"
Images of Michelle flashed in his mind briefly, "Good."
"That's good," Emma nodded, "Umm... Have you made anything interesting?"
He shook his head, "No, not really. I'm not... I don't really have the patience. I just kind of scribble. I didn't expect there to be so much drawing."
"Mr. Grunch loves drawings," Ms. Pillsbury explained, "Funny you should mention that, because he's been in a little hot water for not offering more diversity in his assignments."
"I wish I could do like... a drawing of Qu... uhh... the glee club. The entire glee club. Everybody."
"How have you been doing with that?"
"I suck at drawing, so not too good."
"Oh," Emma chuckled, "I actually meant... How have you been doing with being away from glee club?"
Mitchell shrugged, "It's... I'm good."
"Mitchell, there's no need to hide here," Emma wanted him to let it go, "Glee club meant a lot to you. You made friends, it was a lot of fun. It has to affect you in some way."
It did affect him. He just didn't feel like getting into a big thing about it. Talking about what made him sad would only make him feel more so. And right now, he didn't want that. He wanted to stay invisible, he wanted to be able to move on like the rest of New Directions. Ugh, why was he thinking like that? You couldn't say rest of, when you weren't part of it any longer.
:::Glee Club:::
Rachel wasn't comfortable. She hadn't been ever since Mitchell was booted out of New Directions because of Sue's actions. But, it wasn't because she was personally distracted. No. It was due to the fact of how distracted everyone else seemed to be. There was just something in the air and it would drag them all down if they didn't get their acts together.
"Everyone sit down," Rachel had gathered them all together for an emergency meeting, "We need to talk."
Puck scoffed, taking a seat, "We need to make a rule that only Mr. Schuester can call meetings."
"Noah, I'm serious," evidenced by Rachel's decision to use his first name, "This is important."
"If this is heading in the direction I'm assuming it is, then I agree with the importance." Jack supported Rachel, as always.
Which annoyed Finn, "Is it really neccesarry to follow her like a puppy dog?"
"Excusme?" Jack questioned.
"It's really annoying," Finn spoke up, "Every damn thing she says, you're right there agreeing with her."
"Mitchell," Quinn managed to get everyone focused on the matter at hand, "Let's focus on him. We're not the same without him."
"You weren't the same without me and you moved along just fine." a fact that hurt Rachel's feelings now more than ever.
"That wasn't the same," Quinn saw it differently than the diva, "To be honest, if Mitchell was gone and you weren't, we would have gotten along just fine."
"So," Rachel took a chance, "If I was to walk out that door right now, you would all be heartbroken to see me leave?"
"I would." Jack and Finn accidentally spoke in unison, warranting a glare to each other from one another.
"I'm not sure." Kurt made it seem as if he was deep in thought.
"It would be quieter." Brittany's contribution.
"A lot quieter, actually," Santana liked the thought, "Damn, why couldn't Coach Sylvester talk to your dads instead?"
Puck scoffed, head going back, eyes to the ceiling for a moment, "This officially sucks!"
"Someone's in a bad mood." Artie mumbled.
"Who?" Brittany was confused.
"This is just so stupid," Puck stood up, "Mitchell's gone. Okay? Let's move on. There's no point in stressing about things we can't change."
"You're just pissed because you don't wanna be here." Finn pointed out.
"Damn right, I don't." Puck confirmed it.
"Look at us," Mercedes jumped in, "All we're doing is either going in circles or getting distracted. I have to agree with what Puck said, even though he didn't actually mean it. Mitchell's gone, guys. Like Rachel said before, we have to move on."
Quinn sighed, crossing her arms and sitting back in the chair.
:::In The Halls:::
Mitchell and Karofsky crossed paths while MMMwas on his way to Art. Dude didn't even see him. It was like he was the Invisible Girl. Ya know... without being a chick. Agh, that was stupid. Why was he always thinking of stupid things? Nonetheless, Mitchell entered the class room on-time and took his seat just before Mr. Grunch entered as well.
"How goes it?" Michelle asked.
Mitchell shrugged, setting his backpack down.
"EXPRESSION," Mr. Grunch slammed the door behind him, getting everyone's attention, "Specifically, artistic expression. Who can tell me what expression means? Yes, you in the back."
"When you go really fast? Like, one of those 12 items or less check-out lines at the store."
Wow, that was really dumb. To be honest, though, Mitchell was half surprised he wasn't the one responsible for that answer.
Another student was called on, and this one then began smiling, frowning, moving their eyebrows around and then looking confused.
"Okay," Mr. Grunch was annoyed, aggravated, impatient, "Mitchell Mason, save us here."
"Expression is like... showing on the outside what you have on the inside." hopefully that was a good enough answer.
"Good enough."
Ah, sweet!
"Artistic Expression," Mr. Grunch wrote it on the chalkboard, "As I see it; A means in which to show the world the real you through art. Whether that be through pictures, photographs, Popsicle sticks glued together, it doesn't really matter. Just as long as your emotions, feelings, and what lies inside your heart is put on display."
"Examples;" he continued, "A little child paints scary pictures of nightmares. Someone has a secret, so they make something that is skeletons trying to escape a closet. Someone is afraid to die, so they create something that represents eternal life. Perhaps, a loved one dies, so you take a photograph of yourself next to an empty chair or..."
"I did something like this in Glee," Mitchell spoke up, instantly wishing he hadn't, but finding relief when the teacher gestured for him to explain, "Last month, we were all pretty uptight about popularity. So, I did this thing where I took, like, a lot of different photographs and things... And made this, like, shrine thing."
"Why? Mr. Grunch was impressed, but he wanted to dig a little deeper into Mitchell's emotion behind the piece.
"Kind of... For solidarity, I guess," Mitchell answered, "To make everyone see that we were something special, and all that mattered was staying true to ourselves. The kind of people we really were, even if our actions didn't always reflect that."
Damn it, why couldn't he have come up with that magic when he presented the thing originally?
Mr. Grunch liked that, "See, people? That is artistic expression. That is the very definition of reaching inside of oneself and pulling something personal out to put on display. Mitchell, thank you for the enlightenment."
"You really did that?" Michelle asked as the teacher kept going on and on about artistic expression.
"Yeah."
"Musta been cool," she said, "So, what's it like being in Glee?"
Mitchell sighed before responding, "It used to be great."
Michelle took the cue. Man, always opening her big mouth. It was one extreme to the next for her. It always seemed like she either wasn't thinking at all, or she was so deep in thought that she was drowning in her own damn mind. If that made any sense. Probably didn't, actually. Why did she always have to analyze things? Why was she always...
"You okay?" Mitchell's query took her away from her thoughts.
"Did you say something?"
"Nah," he assured her, "You just seemed... off."
Oh sweet Jesus, did he look like that when he was drowning in his own thoughts? Hopefully, he didn't. The blank face, the bottom lip just kinda hanging there, the far-off look to the eyes? That wasn't him, right? He didn't look like that big of an idiot did he? Not that he thought Michelle was an idiot. Just... Well... He really hoped he didn't look like that when he...
"Dude," Michelle's voice, "Where are you right now?"
"The Twilight Zone." he spoke in a very hushed and fearful tone of voice.
"So," Mr. Grunch clapped his hands together, "That's your assignment for the week. Any questions?"
Mitchell and Michelle each glanced to the other one with a look of worry before raising their hands and speaking out at the exact same nano-second...
"What was the assignment again?"
:::The Hospital:::
Quinn had finished up with her doctor's appointment a little sooner than she anticipated. This gave her a bit of unexpected free time, as well as a nifty little idea. At least, she hoped it was nifty. It could have prove to be disastrous, but negative thinking never got anyone anywhere. Okay, maybe it did some times. But, ugh, you get the picture.
"I know this might be stupid, but I have to try something. Maybe I don't so much have to as I want to. Glee is different without Mitchell. Too different, in my opinion. I miss having him around. I'm not sure why exactly, but I do. I went to visit him at the Shop, but his boss said that he had the week off. Then I remembered that his father worked here."
"It was a long-shot, but one that I felt I needed to take. So, after my appointment, I decided to pay him a visit."
Quinn found the door that had a gold-plated plaque in the centre that read Norwell Mason, M.D.. She cocked a curious brow at his first name, before taking one last breath to gain a little courage and opened the door, letting it shut quietly behind her. The waiting room portion of Dr. Mason's office was small. Maybe, cozy was a better term to label it as.
Quinn stepped softly to the sliding glass window, seeing a silhoutte on the other side. She waited a moment or two before it was opened.
"How may I help you, dear?" the receptionist smiled cheerfully, but not in a sickening way.
"Umm," she suddenly found herself feeling shy, "I don't have an appointment, but I'm a friend of Dr. Mason's son from McKinley High School, and I was wondering if there's any chance that I could speak with him?"
"I'll have to ask him."
"It won't be long."
"Time isn't an issue," the receptionist explained, "He doesn't have anymore patients today. He's just going through paperwork in his office."
The sliding window slid shut. Quinn took a seat and waited. A couple minutes later, she got her answer when the door opened and she was lead into an exam room. She felt a little awkward, but realized it wouldn't be proper to talk in his personal office. Only a few seconds after that, Mitchell's dad walked in, shutting door behind him.
Quinn could see a resemblance, though the older man lacked the boyish charm that seemed to radiate from Mitchell.
"Hi, Dr. Mason, my name is Quinn Fabray, I'm friends with your son."
"So I hear," he wasn't in the greatest of moods, "This can't be long, I have work to finish up before I get home."
"Thank you for talking to me," Quinn was grateful, "I won't keep you, I just wanted to tell you something."
"Okay." he was listening.
"You were manipulated into having Mitchell leave glee club," she could sense his irritation, "I know that sounds crazy, but it really is the truth. Sue Sylvester is vindictive and manipulative and she'll do whatever she can to sabotage the club because she hates Mr. Schuester. It's a proven fact."
"I realize you want your friend back in the club," Dr. Mason did sympathize, "But, Mitchell's mother and I can't let him slip. And the proof is there. He never got into this sort of trouble - if any at all - at his old school. He always had good grades and we never received one single phone call."
"I understand, but with all due respect, it isn't glee club's fault. And, I don't believe that anything he did was all that terrible, either."
"I'm happy that Mitchell has a friend willing to do this for him, it's admirable. But, Mitchell's been having these problems that are all rooted in glee club. The so-called Slushee incidents, the trouble with Santana. I find it surprising that glee had such a negative effect on him."
This wasn't going as well as Quinn would have hoped, "Mr. Mason, please re-consider your decision."
"You really came all the way here just for him?" was this the good doctor starting to soften?
"Yes," Quinn nodded then accidentally dove into details, "I-I was actually already... Uhh... I... Well, I had an appointment today."
"Oh. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm just... kind of... pregnant."
Both brows raised, "A pregnant girl in the glee club?"
Didn't look great, did it? Well, judging on your views of teen pregnancy, Quinn supposed.
"I know how it looks," she said, "But, I'm taking responsibility for my actions. And, to be honest, Mitchell has helped me a lot."
"He has?"
Quinn nodded, "I see him often here."
"Sue mentioned how it would be wise to keep Mitchell away from the glee club," he said aloud, though it was mostly to himself, "In and out of school."
A quick and sharp jab inside of Quinn, "No, listen, Sue is lying to you. Mitchell's just having trouble fitting in and he's been..."
"I have to be going," he opened the door, "I'm sorry... Oh, I didn't catch your name."
"Quinn Fabray."
"Quinn," he spoke, "I'm sorry, but for now... Mitchell won't be a part of the glee club. His education and well-being in school come first. And, with all due respect, I think it would be for the best if the two of you didn't see each other here."
Oh no, this had gone horribly wrong.
:::In The Halls:::
The next day had come. And it was obvious by how he walked that something was bothering Mitchell. Something that was in need of a little sorting out. He quickly found Quinn in the halls and approached her, the look on his face telling the tale...
"What did you say to him?" he asked, frustrated, "He specifically told me not to talk to Quinn Fabray anymore."
"I was trying to help," she defended herself, "I didn't realize how tight he's wrapped around Sue's fingers."
"You know the type of parents that only listen to other adults?" he asked, she nodded, "Yeah, that's how my parents are. They're cool, they treat me good, but kids are just kids in their eyes, nothing more. To them, I don't know what's best for myself. And, I realize, that yeah, I probably don't know what's best for myself. But... uhhh... crap, I lost my train of thought."
"So, is this goodbye for now?" Quinn wondered.
"No," he shook his head, "Nobody's going to tell me to stay away from you. I mean... Ugh... That sounded like I'm a stalker. You know what I mean, right?"
She smiled partly, "Yes. But, if I were you, I wouldn't run the risk of making this any worse."
"Huh?"
"Don't talk to any of us for a while," she explained, seeing the hurt on Mitchell's face, "Sue has eyes and ears all over this school. And, she doesn't need any more fuel. I'll try and think of something. We all will. And once we do, we'll use it to help you back into glee."
Mitchell sighed.
"You do want to come back, right?"
"Of course."
"Okay," it was agreed upon, "Then, let us handle it."
:::Art Class:::
Mr. Grunch wasn't happy with Mitchell. Sadly, the student couldn't blame him. After everything he said the day before, Mr. Grunch was expecting big things from Mitchell. However, there was zero progress for Mitchell's first official art assignment for the class. It was this that lead the teacher to keeping Mitchell after class had ended.
"Where is it, Mr. Mason?" he asked, sitting at his desk.
"I was thinking I had until the end of the week."
"You do," Mr. Grunch agreed, "But, you had such enthusiasm yesterday. It was flowing from you like energy, I saw passion. I saw someone lighting up before me. You know, I spoke to Schuester yesterday and he told me about that piece of art that you described. He had nothing but good things to say."
"I don't know... What to make." Mitchell explained honestly.
The assignment was to create something... anything... that honestly expressed what was inside. Mr. Grunch had asked the question; What is inside of you? And the answer would be a physical representation of that. A passion, a love, a fear, anything that you felt strongly about.
"What do you feel passionate about?"
Quinn Fabray.
"What do you love?"
Quinn Fabray.
"What do you fear?"
Quinn Fabray.
"What do you feel strongly about?"
Quinn Fabray.
"Mitchell?"
The boy was lost to his thoughts.
"I struck a nerve, did I?" Mr. Grunch pointed, "Whatever it is you are now thinking about, that is what I want you to use as inspiration for the assignment."
Quinn filling his mind to the brink, Mitchell looked to Mr. Grunch before leaving the room.
To his surprise, waiting outside of the room was Michelle, hood up for some reason, "Grunch is a big take the bull by the horns kind of dude," Michelle explained as they walked, Mitchell seeming distracted, "Nothing personal, he just hates it when we don't start on our assignments right away. Little known fact, the only possible way to score an A from him is to hand in your work a day early."
"Good to know," Mitchell made a mental note, "So, what's yours gonna be?"
Michelle shrugged, "Something stupid."
"Why do you say that?"
She shrugged again, this time changing the subject, "Hey, do you have A.D.D.?"
"Huh?" where the hell did that come from?
"Oh, sorry," she cringed briefly, "Just... I have it and I pride myself on telling if other people do. And... you're like a prime candidate."
"No," he shook his head, "I just... ya know... Think too much. I have a tendency to live inside my head."
She listened.
"It's kinda a bad habit, actually."
They rounded a corner, "I do that too. A lot. Hence, embarrassing myself by asking if you have..."
"No worries," he smiled briefly, "You're not the first person to ask me, anyway."
Mitchell spotted Rachel and Jack walking together. Instinct told him to say hi, but better judgement said no when he remembered what Quinn had told him. As luck would have it, he and Rachel made eye contact, prompting a sad frown from the tiny little diva. Jack just gave a fleeting glance. Mitchell sighed, trying to block out how much he missed being in New Directions.
"You miss it." Michelle commented when Jack and Rachel were out of sight.
Mitchell simply nodded sadly.
:::That Night:::
Mitchell sat on the floor in his bedroom, a large drawing pad in front of him. He was going to take Mr. Grunch's advice to an extent. He didn't feel comfortable singling out Quinn in his artwork, so he was going to attempt to draw everyone else. The piece wasn't going to be portrait material, though. He wanted to make them all look like they were in a comic book.
But, as he put pencil to paper, he found himself unable to do it. It was like writer's block or something, Or, at the very least, a form of it. Maybe not, actually. What was holding him back? What was wrong with him? Why did everything always have to feel so difficult? It wasn't just being a teenager, right? He hated to even think he was just being a whiny teenager.
This sucked.
His career in Glee was over. Trying to put it into his art assignment was only pouring salt in the wounds that were still pretty fresh. He didn't want to draw New Directions. He was frustrated, angry, impatient. But, he didn't want to make something emo or moody. What could he do? What was inside of him? What was something that he could be honest about and put on display for everyone to see?
What didn't have anything to do with Glee?
How about Sue Sylvester in a Hitler costume?
No, too controversial.
Damn, he had to stop thinking. Had to let the inspiration flow. Not second-guessing the decision, Mitchell touched the led to the paper and drew the very next thing that came to mind.
:::McKinley High School:::
A day early, the time had come to hand in all their assignments. Mr. Grunch was pleased to find that every student in this particular bunch had theirs ready and waiting to be graded. A little surprising, though not very much, the teacher had decided to have them show theirs to the entire class. Well, as many as time would allow.
It was Michelle's turn.
Slowly but surely, she shyly made her way to the head of the class in front of Grunch's desk. When ready, she showed everyone what she had been working on. It was an incredible drawing of Ezio Auditore da Firenze from the Assassin's Creed series of video games. This version in particular was what he looked like in the Brotherhood game.
The other students, including Mitchell, were a little surprised and saw it as a joke. Mr. Grunch didn't seem to know who it was supposed to be, so he quieted the class and gave Michelle the opportunity to explain the significance of it...
"Ezio Auditore da Firenze!" she spoke the name in a decent Italian accent, "One of - If not the single greatest Assassins there has ever been. Be warned; If you should find yourselves being hunted by Ezio, you will never see him coming, never hear him coming. You..."
"Mr. Grunch?" a random student interrupted, "She drew a picture of a video game character."
"Ms. Watson?" Mr. Grunch asked, "The assignment wasn't to draw your favorite video game."
"I love Ezio!" she blurted, "He's the perfect man."
And here Mitchell was thinking he was weird for always having an attraction to Harley Quinn.
"Next!" Mr. Grunch wanted things to move along, "Mr. Mason? What do you have your us."
"I just drew something," Mitchell made the walk, passing Michelle along the way, "That's okay, right?"
"Expression is expression."
Mitchell took a deep breath then showed everyone what he had done. It was a picture of him walking with his head down and hands in his pockets away from a door labeled New Directions. Through the window, you could see a certain blonde former head cheerleader if you looked closely enough.
"Walking away from New Directions sucks," he explained, "It actually really hurts. I miss my friends, I miss singing. I miss everything about it. And, ever since I've been away, I've felt like something's missing, like it was stolen from me."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "I wish there was some way that I could go back."
:::Glee Club:::
New Directions had just finished singing with Haverbrook Deaf Choir. What an experience, it had brought them all to tears. Well, almost all of them...
"I feel so uncomfortable." Jack mentioned.
Will was smiling, "I am so proud of you guys. Not only was it a nice gesture, but it was just really great. Not to mention, you all did a good job."
Everyone started gathering their things, ready to call it a day, when Rachel and Jack walked to the head of the room. Well, Jack was kind of being pulled along by Rachel. But, still...
"I have something that I'd like to share with all of you." Rachel announced with a bright smile.
"Herpes?" Santana's cue.
"No," Rachel shook her head, "Not herpes."
"Why would you even answer that?" Puck cringed.
"You two are dating?" Kurt wondered about Rachel and Jack.
"Wait, yeah," it made sense to Quinn, "You two have been inseparable for a long time now."
"Basically ever since they met." Kurt followed.
Finn waited to hear a response.
"Their name could be Rack." Brittany snickered.
"Get control of 'em." Jack whispered.
"It's about Mitchell," Rachel spoke up, "I had an idea, and I've asked Jack to help me. But..."
"Well, naturally you'd ask him first," Artie, "Considering the two of you are dating."
Jack was amused by everyone jumping to conclusions, but Rachel wasn't, "We're not dating!"
Finn smiled inside. Jack actually felt a sharp little pain in his chest. Fleeting and faint, but still there.
"I know how we can convince Mitchell's parents to let him back into glee club." Rachel explained.
"I thought you were all for moving on without him?" Quinn was a little confused.
"I saw him in the hall a couple days ago," she recalled the recent memory, "He looked... lost. I remember how lost I felt and how I was hoping every night that one of you would save me. I want to do that for Mitchell."
"That's a great idea, Rachel," Will stepped in, "But, his parents are pretty set in their decision."
"Yeah, how are we supposed to change their minds?" Finn wondered.
"The only way that we know how." Rachel said with a smile.
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And Hairography is done! I know it's not the most exciting chapter, but hopefully enjoyable. The main idea is just how much Mitchell misses being in New Directions, and how they don't feel the same without him. The next chapter is a lot of fun and Sectionals chapter is HUGE.A lot of earth-shattering type business goes down in chapter 14.
