Hey there everybody! As promised, here's a new update! I hope you all enjoy, read, and review! In this chapter, Raj sets himself on the path to redeeming himself when he gets hard at work in helping two good friends of his that are in desperate need (from a certain point of view) of help. And later on, when one of those said friends ends up in a near fatal situation with McKinley High's resident autistic, Raj once again steps in and forces the friend into confronting his own insecurities about forming a relationship with a love interest he's not entirely sure he wants to date. Like I said, here's to hoping you enjoy!

But first, the mailbag:

GarethGlee14: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, and hope that you continue to enjoy this story. As for your other question, the New Directions alumni will be making their next appearance in chapter 55.

Cookie05: I'm happy to know that you thought that way about the previous chapter. As for your other question, I'm not entirely sure/familiar about those details either (even though I am American). And this chapter might also be a little longer than you typically prefer from me, so please don't criticize me for that.

FinchelFan728: Those moments were certainly enjoyable, that's for sure.

Cazred11: I'm glad you had so much to say! Keep it up :)

Once again, I do not own Glee, or any songs used in this story.

Chapter 50:

Friends in Need

Raj Patel sighed as he walked through the hallways of McKinley High during recess that Thursday. Even after the current amount of time that had passed since his rejoining the glee club at the end of the Elvis Presley week, he still felt slightly uncomfortable and uneasy in his head around Bailey and Cody. "This is ridiculous," he thought to himself. "Why can't I just be a man and grow the balls to just accept my past behavior and move on?"

Raj groaned as he thought about how he'd noticed how his behavior seemed to be subconsciously affecting the two friends in question as well. He'd seen the slightly relieved, yet also disappointed and longing, looks they'd sent his way. He'd noticed how very careful, yet hopeful, they'd been around him whenever they'd talked with him or just been in the same general area as him period. He knew that they were just trying to be careful and not influence him unfairly, but he had to admit that, in all honesty, their actions were not helping him get over his emotional disarray in regard to them. "What can I do?" he thought to himself.

At that moment, Raj heard what sounded like screaming and desperate begging coming from a side hallway a few feet away from him. He listened carefully, and noticed that the screams sounded awfully familiar. His eyes widened as he realized who the screamer sounded like, and he rushed over to the hallway he heard the noises coming from.

Sure enough, as Raj had suspected, the person screaming was none other than his friend Sid Webber. And sure enough, Sid was currently being harassed by two girls wearing the distinctive uniform of the cheerios. To be precise, the two cheerios, one of them a blonde and the other a Chinese American, were each gripping Sid tightly by one of his wrists as they attempted to drag him into the girls' bathroom. Sid, meanwhile, was leaning backward and dragging his feet in a backwards direction as well as he attempted stubbornly to keep himself out of the dreaded area.

"Let go of me!" Sid screamed desperately as he continued to struggle.

"Not gonna happen," said the blonde. "You have work to do."

"I've already told you," yelled Sid. "I'm just the cheerios' personal water boy! I'm not a slave to the cheerios' every demand and petty chore! Now please let go of me, I may be your water boy, but I'm not going in there to clean up whatever damn mess you claim to have made in there!"

"Oh yes you are," stated the Chinese American cheerio arrogantly. "And besides, it's really unbecoming of you to resist like this. You should be rejoicing in your head to have the opportunity to spend quality time inside the girl's room you little faggot!"

That last word was all Raj needed to hear, and he bulled his way over to the scene and yelled "Hey!"

Sid and the two cheerios turned their heads in shock upon hearing this unexpected voice.

Raj slid to a stop a foot or two away, growled angrily, and then pointed at the two cheerios before yelling, "Let him go! The fact that he's your water boy doesn't mean that it's his job to clean up messes around here! That's the janitor's job! Learn to tell the difference!"

The two cheerios glared at the Indian American boy.

"Screw you Gandhi!" yelled the blonde. "This is cheerios business! Stay out of it!"

"Yeah!" shouted the Chinese American cheerio. "Besides, it's unbecoming of you to stand up for this rotten fruit! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you're straight and he's a fag!"

"Just because I'm straight doesn't mean I can't be friends with a gay person!" Raj shouted. "And if you don't leave him alone in the next few seconds, then so help me, I will blow the whistle on you!"

"Oh I'm so terrified," hissed the blonde girl. "Do you really expect us to leave Mr. Faggy Pants alone to avoid being told on to Mr. Schuester? Honestly, he wouldn't dare lift a finger against us!"

"He's not the person I'll be telling about this you assholes!" Raj roared. "I'll be telling this to Coach Sylvester!"

At the sound of that last phrase, the two cheerios' faces abruptly took on a stunned and horrified look. For a moment, they were unsure of whether or not Raj might be joking. But then they looked closely at Raj, saw the way his finger was pointed at them, and noticed the hard-eyed glare on his face. The two cheerios gulped, for they could tell from Raj's body language and facial expression that he was serious. In a flash, the two girls let go of Sid, who promptly fell right on his backside.

"Come on, let's get out of here before he tells Coach Sylvester," the Chinese American cheerio said before turning around and running away from Raj and Sid. Her blonde companion promptly followed close behind her.

"Yeah you'd better run!" Raj growled.

Sid snorted, and glared in the direction his two would be torturers were running. "Serves them right," he growled to himself in his mind.

The instant the two cheerios were no longer in sight, Raj leaned over with his hand extended. Sid gratefully grabbed onto it and allowed Raj to help him get back up on his feet.

"Thanks man," said Sid. "I don't even want to know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived and saved me."

"Don't mention it," said Raj. "Did you really think I'd let a friend of mine get humiliated and abused like that? I don't think so."

"Damn right," said Sid. The gay boy sighed, and then stated, "I still really wish that they wouldn't do that kind of thing."

"You could still tell Coach Sylvester yourself about what her 'precious cheerios' are doing to you," said Raj. "I'm sure she'd put a stop to it if she knew."

Sid sighed, and responded, "Well I'm not entirely sure if my life would be entirely for the better even if I did tell Coach Sylvester. God knows how often I've asked to be retired or to take a leave of absence."

Raj raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been told about this. "You've asked for breaks and leaves of absence?"

Sid nodded. "Indeed I have," he then said before looking at Raj once again and saying, "Did you know that I haven't been able to be there to take part in a single one of the concerts or other events that the symphonic band at this school takes part in? If it weren't for Coach Sylvester, I'd have been right there with the rest of my peers in that class. But no, I always have to stay and give her God damn precious cheerios their God damn precious water, and she won't let me take any days off. Hell, if she had the authority, I doubt that she'd let me have a minute off."

Raj gulped, and hung his head. He had not realized just how tyrannical a situation Sid had been in as the Cheerios' water boy. "You should have told me about this," said Raj. "I would have definitely done something if I'd known."

Sid glared, and said, "Oh you're saying that you know about my situation now? After the thirteenth time I've tried to tell you about it?"

Raj gaped at Sid, stunned by what he'd just heard. "Thirteenth time?"

"Hell yeah!" Sid shouted. "I've been telling you about it again and again ever since the day after you joined the glee club, but I'm guessing you must have not heard me. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that considering how you were all swoony and love-drunk over Bailey, the girl who broke up with you after seeing you cheat on her with our dear beloved friend Kimberly."

Upon hearing all this, Raj gulped, and hung his head, suitably chastened. "Damn, my unhealthy obsession blinded me even more than I thought," he thought to himself.

Sid rolled his eyes upon seeing Raj's current facial expression and posture. "And I'm not the only one who's suffered under Coach Sylvester's jackboot tyranny either. You should see how it's been affecting Kimberly's life lately."

Raj looked up immediately, his face taking on a concerned look. "Kimberly's suffering to?"

Sid gaped at Raj. "Boy if Kimberly heard you say that, she'd be so heartbroken. She's always gushed on and on about how you've always remained such a good friend to her and I even in the midst of your dating Bailey and attempting to get her back. It seems you weren't quite as good of a friend as she thought."

"What's been going on?" said Raj.

Sid groaned, rolled his eyes, and responded, "Need I answer? Same situation as me dude. Ever since the Cheerios' just barely managed to win Nationals last year, Coach Sylvester's been extra strict on the Cheerios' schedules. Apart from her precious Queen Douchebag, she won't let any of them have a day off from practice. And that hasn't affected any of the other cheerios' schedules nearly as drastically as it has Kimberly's. It's damn near been a month since the last time Coach Sylvester declared a Cheerios practice session to be over with enough time left for Kimberly to even spend a second in a chorus club session before it ended. And that probably doesn't matter anyway; especially considering how she doesn't appear to be planning on letting her join the rest of the members of that club for their Nationals performance anytime soon. God knows how much Kimberly has begged, offered compromises, and even tried to bribe Coach Sylvester into letting her go for at least just that once this year. But no, apparently in Coach Sylvester's high and mighty mind, cheer leading trumps out all other obligations, and only glee club is a worthy enough replacement for cheer leading competitions."

Raj gaped at Sid, stunned and horrified by what he was hearing. "That's not fair," he said. "Kimberly loves chorus club; I've never seen her more alive than when she's taking part in that club. She puts all her heart into it and everything. It's almost like me and the other gleeks when we take part in competitions and glee club sessions!"

Immediately after Raj said this, he remembered something else. "And this is Kimberly's last year of high school! This is her last chance to leave her mark, and she should be allowed to take part in a competition for the chorus club at least once during this time!"

"You think she hasn't told Coach Sylvester that!?" Sid yelled indignantly. "You think I haven't?! You think every single other student in the chorus club hasn't!? Hell, do you think the chorus club director hasn't?! Well we all have, and Coach Sylvester won't relent at all! God knows how stubborn that woman is."

Sid sighed, and then continued, "And you might as well also join the same club on the flip side for me! God knows how many times Coach Sylvester's been asked by me, Kimberly, and everybody involved in the symphonic band to let me off so I can take part in more than just their class meetings during school!"

Raj gulped after hearing all this. "Damn, and I thought I was a bad enough person after seeing how my actions had affected Cody and Bailey," he thought to himself. Now, after hearing what Sid had said, it seemed as if his unhealthy obsession over getting Bailey back had made him an even worse person than he'd realized. "God curse me," he thought to himself. "How could I have let all this happen to Sid and Kimberly and not even know?!"

Sid snorted, turned away from Raj, and then punched a locker. Growling, he looked back at Raj, pointing his finger in an almost accusatory position, and shouted, "And you know what?! That little incident you managed to break up with those two Cheerios trying to drag me into the girls' room to clean up their mess? That wasn't the first time the Cheerios have bullied me either! They've been harassing me nonstop since freshman year! And this time was the first time that anyone apart from Kimberly has tried to stop them, not to mention the first time anyone's actually succeeded in stopping them!"

Raj hung his head, now feeling really guilty, and said, "Sid I . . ."

"Screw you and your damn excuses!" Sid yelled. "I don't want excuses! I want answers! Where were you during all this time?! When we first met and befriended each other over the summer between my graduation from middle school and the beginning of my freshman year here, you and Kimberly promised that you'd always be there for me! But here you are, not having lifted a finger to help me until it's almost time for you and Kimberly to leave this sorry dump and go to damn college and leave me behind! Where were you when I needed you?! And believe me, I needed you! I needed my friend!"

Raj winced, raised his hands in a placatory gesture, and said, "Sid, I'll admit, I should not have abandoned you like I did. Hell, I didn't even realize how bad things were, honest I didn't. And I'm sorry, really I am. If I hadn't been so focused on Bailey, I would have done something I swear."

Sid tensed up, his eyebrows raised, and glared at Raj suspiciously. Eventually, after getting a good long look at Raj's bodily posture and facial expression, he decided that Raj was indeed being sincere, and he calmed down. Sighing, Sid then said, "I just hope that it isn't too late for any difference to be made. I mean, on the bright side, Coach Sylvester has promised to let me retire immediately after this year's cheer leading Nationals championship at the very latest, and I at least have two more years after this year to take part in symphonic band concerts. But like I said, this is Kimberly's last year, and like you said, it really isn't fair how Sue's keeping Kimberly's truly chorus oriented heart locked up without a voice and unable to fly free the way it should be doing."

Upon hearing this, Raj looked up, a hard eyed and determined look on his face. "Well it won't be that way for long," he growled. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Sid looked at Raj with a slightly amused look on his face and his eyebrows raised. "And how may I ask would you be able to put an end to Sue's tyranny over Kimberly?"

"Trust me," said Raj. "I have a plan; and if it works, Kimberly will be right there in Orlando with the rest of the chorus club at their Nationals competition at the exact same time that the New Directions are in New York for their Nationals competition and the Cheerios are in Cleveland for theirs. And not only will she be free, but so will you. That's right Sid, I'm going to have you get released to. You deserve the right to take part in at least one concert with the symphonic band this year before your junior year begins and you have to take a different class to replace it, and I'm going to make sure you get that chance."

Raj turned his head to face the area behind him. "But first," he then said. "I need to find Kimberly."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard," said Sid with a smile on his face. Raj turned his head to look at him, and Sid pointed towards the hallway that Raj had been in before coming into the current hallway he was in. "Just go right back into the hallway you were in before you came here to save me," said Sid " and head to the right, and you should reach the chorus room. Odds are, you'll find her there. She often spends time there by herself and sings there privately during recess."

Raj smiled, gave Sid a thumbs-up, and then turned to head off to the chorus club room.

However, right as Raj was about to leave, Sid grabbed onto him by the arm and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I would like to at least know what your plan entails in advance."

Raj turned his head to face Sid, a grin on his face, and replied, "You know how the other New Directions members and I will be performing at prom this Friday?"

"Yeah, I do," said Sid. "Everyone at school has been talking about it nonstop."

Raj's grin widened, and the Indian American boy said, "Well I can tell you right now that, with Coach Sylvester's permission, and a couple of behind the scenes work, I could arrange for you and Kimberly to perform alongside me when I do my big performance that's scheduled to occur after the winners of the prom court campaign have been announced."

Sid's brown eyes widened upon hearing this. "You really could do that?"

"You bet," said Raj. "All I have to do is somehow gain permission from Coach Sylvester, and the rest will be a piece of cake."

Sid smiled, only for his smile to fade as he remembered something. "Ok your plan does sound like a really good one," said Sid. "But there is one little problem in my regard."

"What's that?" Raj asked.

Sid gave a nervous half smile, and responded, "I kind of have a strict policy for myself in which I absolutely do not attend prom without a date, and I'm currently dateless."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard to remedy," said Raj. "Just ask out Cameron. He's good looking, on your team, and God knows how much you two obviously dig each other."

Sid looked down at his feet, looking uncertain about Raj's suggestion. "Well, I'm not entirely sure if I want to ask him out. I'll need some time to think about your suggestion."

"That's fine," said Raj. "You've still got time before Friday night to ask out Cameron or whoever you choose."

Upon saying this, Raj turned around, but then turned right back around to face Sid again. "Though I'd better warn you," said Raj. "I very much recommend that you do not, and I mean do not, ask out any of the guys from the glee club, and especially not Calvin. A: they're all straight, B: they all already have dates, C: they're very clear about their sexuality and territorial when it comes to their romantic partners, D: so are their girlfriends, and E: when they have their minds set on something, they will not waiver in their judgment. Trust me; don't even think of asking any of them out. You'll seriously regret it if you do."

After finishing this, Raj turned away from Sid and proceeded to head in the direction that Sid had told him to go in to find Kimberly.

Unfortunately, immediately after Raj left, Sid turned around to face the hallway he was in from the direction he'd seen the cheerios previously tormenting him run in. As he did so, he thought hard about what Raj had just said to him before leaving, and then let a wolfish grin cross his face. "Challenge accepted," Sid then stated before he resolutely marched down the hallway to search for the other gleeks, and in particular, the ones who were boys.

. . . . .

In the chorus club room, Kimberly sighed as she sat down on the center of the floor with her chin in her hands. She stared longingly at the microphone standing in front of her, thinking of how much she missed taking part in chorus club meetings, and of how much she so desperately wanted more than anything to accompany her peers in the club to Orlando, Florida for Nationals.

"It's not fair," she thought to herself. And indeed it wasn't. "How come queen bitch gets to have special treatment while the rest of us have to give up all our other obligations? Oh that's right, she's the head cheerio and we're just the lowly underlings."

As she thought of this, she angrily got up, her fists clenched, and then grabbed the microphone stand. With an angry growl, she lifted it up with the microphone still attached and hurled it at the wall behind her. The microphone stand slammed into the wall with a crash before falling to the floor, dislodging the microphone and sending it rolling underneath some chairs nearby. Kimberly growled, clenched her fists, and stomped her foot down on the floor angrily several times.

"It's not fair!" she shouted.

Kimberly then heard footsteps rushing away from the door, and she whipped her head around to face the open door to the chorus club room angrily. "Who's there!?" she shouted furiously.

In a flash, none other than Brooke Manning and Mary Tyler came out from hiding. In an obvious reaction to the tone of Kimberly's voice, they had nervous looks on their faces and their hands upraised in a gesture of surrender. At the sight of this, Kimberly sighed, hung her head, and said, "Hey guys."

"Hey there Kim," said Brooke, who then nervously looked around the chorus room before slowly entering it alongside Mary.

Upon entry, Mary looked around the room along with her ginger haired companion and said "Wow, so this is where the chorus club meets. I dare say, I like the look of it."

"Good to know," said Kimberly bitterly.

At the sound of this, Mary and Brooke looked at Kimberly with concerned looks on their faces. "Is everything ok?" Brooke asked.

Kimberly sighed. "No. It isn't. And it's all Coach Sylvester's fault."

Kimberly looked up at the framed yearbook picture of the chorus club for that year on the wall longingly, sighed, and then explained. "It's been nearly a month since Coach Sylvester has ever called a cheerios practice session to be over with enough time left for me to spend any time in chorus club meetings whatsoever. And to top it all off, due to how she's made it mandatory for all cheerios apart from Empress Douchebag to be there to take part in cheerleading Nationals this year, I'm practically forbidden from accompanying my fellow chorus club members to Orlando for Nationals this year. And that's not fair because not only is this club the one thing that truly makes me feel happy and alive at this sorry dump of a school, but this year is also my last year here, and I should be allowed to shine in chorus club at least once during that time."

Sighing, Kimberly walked over to a chair, sat down, and placed her head in her hands before saying, "It's just not fair!"

Feeling sorry for their friend, Brooke and Mary walked up to where Kimberly was, took seats on either side of her, and each put a hand on one of her shoulders.

"It's ok Kimberly," said Brooke. "I know it's hard."

"Yeah," said Mary. "And besides, if you want, we could go ahead and talk to Coach Sylvester about it right now. I'm sure she'd be more understanding and would let you go if we told her everything about this."

"Don't you get it?" Kimberly asked. "I have told her about this! I've given her all my complaints! Hell, I've begged, offered compromises, and even attempted to bribe her! And not only that, but Sid, all my peers in the chorus club, and even the chorus club director have filed complaints to! And she still won't let me go! Hell, that's not even the worst of it! Even after all I've done, I still know I could potentially win myself the freedom to go to Nationals if I just had the guts to try harder than I already have and actually stand up to her!"

At this point, Kimberly completely lost it, and she started crying.

Saddened by the sight, Brooke and Mary proceeded to hug Kimberly. Kimberly continued to cry as she gratefully accepted the comfort offered by her two friends. Mary and Brooke offered words of comfort and reassurance nonstop the entire time.

When Kimberly finally managed to calm down and cheer up, she tapped her friends on the shoulders, and they let go. Wiping the remaining moisture from her eyes, Kimberly sniffed, and said, "Thanks. I really needed that."

"You're welcome," said Brooke. "To be honest, I know how you feel."

"You do?" Kimberly asked.

Brooke nodded. "I've sometimes found myself wishing that either I could be brave enough to try harder in my efforts to get my sister to be braver in her efforts to resist the blackmail she sometimes receives from Silena, or that she herself could be that brave without my help."

"Similar situation with me," said Mary. "Brooke's sister is dating my cousin, and I've seen how he's been blackmailed and peer pressured at times by that asshole, Becket Nelson. And I often wish that either I or Donovan could have the bravery needed to somehow put a stop to it."

Kimberly gulped upon hearing this. "Wow," she said. "The three of us have more in common than we realized."

At that moment, Kimberly got an idea, and she smiled as she got up from her chair, picked up three microphones, and drew out her IPod.

As Kimberly proceeded to hand two of the microphones she was holding to Brooke and Mary, the two fellow low ranking cheerios stared at their Korean American friend with confused expressions.

"What's going on?" Brooke asked in confusion.

Kimberly chuckled, beckoned for her two friends to get up, and said, "Come on. I know just the thing for us to do right now. I'm going to go ahead and sing a song that captures my current feelings of wishing to be braver perfectly, and you're free to join in if you wish."

Upon hearing this, Brooke and Mary briefly raised their eyebrows uncomprehendingly, and then both made a silent 'oh' as they realized what was going on. Giggling, they gripped tightly onto their respective microphones and got up to join their friend. Smiling Kimberly selected an instrumental tune on her IPod and then placed her IPod on the chair she'd been sitting on. Immediately after the IPod had been placed down on the chair, the tune Kimberly had selected began to play. When the time was right, the performance that followed went like this:

(Kimberly)

You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
(Brooke)
Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle 'neath your skin
(Mary)

Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes the shadow wins
(Brooke and Mary)

But I wonder what would happen if you
(All)
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
(Brooke: Honestly)
I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
(Mary: Honestly)
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh

I wanna see you be brave
(Scene Break: Imaginary sequence in which Kimberly, Brooke and Mary are on the stage in the auditorium dressed in their prom dresses (Kimberly's is blue, Brooke's is red, and Mary's is yellow))

(Mary)
Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down
By the enemy
(Brooke)

Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing
Bow down to the mighty
(Brooke and Mary)

Don't run, stop holding your tongue
(Kimberly)
Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live
(All)

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
(Mary: Honestly)
I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
(Brooke: Honestly)
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I just wanna see you, ooh ooh
I wanna see you be brave
(Kimberly (with Brooke and Mary))

Innocence, your history of silence
(Won't do you any good)
(Did you think it would?)
(Brooke and Mary)
Let your words be anything but empty
(All)
Why don't you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly
(Mary)
I wanna see you be brave!

(Kimberly (with Brook and Mary))
(I just wanna see you)
(I just wanna see you)
(I just wanna see you)
I wanna see you be brave!
(Brooke and Mary)
I just wanna see you (Kimberly: Yeah)
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
(All)
I just want to see you be brave!
(Brooke and Mary)
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you (Kimberly: Oh, oh)
I just wanna see you
(All)
I wanna see you be brave

(Scene Break: back in the chorus club room with Kimberly, Brooke, and Mary back in their cheerios uniforms)

The instant the performance was finished, the three low ranking cheerios looked each other in the eyes, and then chuckled as they realized how good of a job they'd done. Laughing in shared pleasure, they gave each other a large group hug.

"That was fun!" said Brooke.

"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Mary agreed.

Kimberly chuckled, tapped her two friends on the shoulders, and then said, "I daresay, you two would certainly make pretty good additions to the chorus club next year, or any other music/singing related club around here."

"Aw thanks Kimberly," said Brooke and Mary.

Kimberly smiled, and said, "You're welcome. It was nice having you hear with me."

Brooke and Mary smiled back, and then checked their watches.

"Oh God," they both said before they looked at Kimberly and then rushed over to the door to the chorus club room.

"Sorry Kim, but I've got to go," said Brooke. "Miles is probably wondering where I am."

"Same thing with me," said Mary. "I think John's been kept waiting for me long enough. See you later!"

"It's ok," said Kimberly happily. "Have fun! See you after school!"

After her two friends left, Kimberly sighed in a mixture of depression as she thought of how she'd be going to cheerios practice yet again after school that day and happiness as she thought of how much fun she'd had singing alongside her fellow low ranking cheerios.

"That was a very good performance."

Stunned by the sound of the unexpected voice, Kimberly turned around to face the open doorway to the chorus club room, and saw none other than Raj Patel standing right there.

"Oh hey Raj," said Kimberly. After letting out a nervous chuckle, she asked, "How did you know that I'd be here? How'd you hear my performance with Brooke and Mary?"

"Sid told me that you often spent time here during recess, and I was a foot or so away from the door when I heard the music you used start to play. I waited until it was over and Brooke and Mary left before coming the rest of the way here."

Kimberly smiled. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed what you heard."

Raj smiled back, and then looked down at the floor before looking back up towards Kimberly with a serious face on. "Kimberly, the original reason I came over here to find you is because there's something important I wanted to talk to you about. And I've already talked about it with Sid after I saved him from two cheerios who were trying to drag him into the girls' bathroom and make him clean up some mess they claimed to have made in there."

Kimberly groaned as she heard Raj say this. "Let me guess," said Kimberly. "One of them had blonde hair that she wore in a bun and the other was a Chinese American with moon-shaped earrings?"

"Yeah," said Raj with a clearly surprised tone of voice. "How'd you know?"

"Because I've ended up having to try to save Sid from them too," Kimberly responded "The blonde girl is Abigail Larson and the Chinese girl is Joanna Fu. I definitely need to remember to inform Coach Sylvester about what they've been doing."

"Well it's good to know that we agree on that," said Raj. "However, I still need to mention something. Sid's also told me about how tyrannical Coach Sylvester's been to you and him. And it's time we put a stop to it."

"How?" Kimberly asked. "Sid and I have tried everything, and so have all the people involved in our respective groups. Trust me, while I appreciate the help and sentiment you're offering, I really have a feeling you might just be wasting your time."

"Trust me Kimberly," said Raj. "This will work out differently."

Kimberly looked at Raj, saw the look on his face, and then asked, "What is it that you've got planned that you're so confident will get Coach Sylvester to back down and let me and Sid go?"

"Well why don't you come with me to Coach Sylvester's office and find out?" Raj asked as he extended his hand out towards Kimberly, a smile on his face.

Kimberly thought to herself, looked at Raj, and then thought, "Well I guess it's worth a shot to see what he's up to." And so, with her mind made up, she clasped Raj's hand with her own, and the two Asian Americans left the chorus club room and made their way over to Coach Sylvester's office.

"This plan is going to work," Raj thought to himself as he and Kimberly walked down the hallway. "I just know it. There's no way Coach Sylvester won't allow it when I'm done talking to her."

. . . . .

"I will not allow it," said Sue Sylvester.

Raj face-palmed, groaning in irritation. "Do. I. Need. To. Explain. This. Plan. Again?" Raj asked pointedly.

"No you don't," Sue responded. "I already understand perfectly well what you're suggesting, and I will not allow any cheerios, and especially not their water boy, to put anything before their responsibilities to the cheerios. My chances at winning Nationals this year heavily depend on having as many cheerios being there to do their part as possible."

"Hypocrite," shouted Kimberly. "You're letting Charlotte off the hook so that she can take part in glee club nationals with the other members of the New Directions! How's that any different from what Raj is suggesting?"

"Charlotte is a special case. A: she's the head cheerio, and B: I'm on good terms with her secondary extra-curricular club. In fact, since Charlotte will not be with us in cheerios nationals this year, it is of the utmost importance that all other cheerios are able to take part, because we need as many skilled members to be there as possible in order to make up for Charlotte's absence."

"Well if your chances of victory are so reliant on the presence of large numbers of skilled members," said Raj. "Then why is it so important for you to have low ranking cheerios like Kimberly there? Surely your chances of victory would be increased if you only brought along the most skilled members of your troupe?"

"Wrong," said Sue. "On the contrary, A: if I did that, I'd be accused of showing favoritism, B: depending on how many cheerios turn out to truly qualify as best of the best, I could end up not having enough members present for us to qualify if I exclude the cheerios who don't qualify for that category, and C: I need as many members as possible to be doubly sure we don't either get a repeat of last year or worse now that Charlotte will not be taking part in the cheerios Nationals competition this year."

"And the incident that nearly cost the cheerios the championship last year is related to Kimberly not being there to take part that time how?" Raj asked.

Sue sighed in exasperation, clenched onto her desk with such a vice-like grip that it was as if she were clawing into the material, and let out a series of heavy breaths as she tried her best to cool down sufficiently enough to give a proper answer to Raj's question.

"Since Kimberly was at the Nationals competition for the chorus club last year, I had to have Brooke take her usual position on the pyramid last year. Since Kimberly is stronger and more athletically suited, she would have been less likely to nearly falter in her position and almost cause the whole pyramid to topple. This year, in order to avoid any similar incidents, and especially since Charlotte won't be taking part in the Nationals competition for the cheerios, I need to have as many of the other cheerios at the competition as possible in order to cohesively make a good enough team so that there won't be any costly screw-ups or mistakes."

Raj thought to himself. The coach had certainly put up a powerful argument with those last few comments. Then he thought up another sales pitch. "You say that you need as many members as possible," said Raj. "But wouldn't your chances of success also rely on how lively the cheerios are?"

Sue thought to herself. "Yes," she eventually replied. "That is true."

"Well in that case," said Raj "Kimberly would potentially be an Achilles' heel for the cheerios if she were to take part under the current circumstances you've placed her under. Tell me, when was the last time you saw Kimberly at cheerios practice in which she even remotely looked lively in the midst of it?"

Sue was about to respond instantly with the session from the previous day, but then she paused as she realized just what Raj had said. After a few minutes, Sue realized that, like it or not, the Indian American boy actually had a point. From the very first day of school that year till today, Kimberly had been consistently acting very detached and lifeless in the midst of cheerios practice sessions. To put it simply, it was if she'd lost the will and energy to even try to do good during cheerios practice.

Raj noticed the cheerio coach's long pause, and smiled as he realized that he'd scored a major point in his efforts to free Kimberly and Sid from Sue's tyranny. "You haven't seen her like that during cheerios practice at all this year have you? No you haven't, and that's because her reason for liveliness at school is gone. Why's that? You took it away from her."

Coach Sylvester was about to make an indignant remark, but Raj said, "Chorus club isn't just an extra-curricular activity for Kimberly. It's her life, her soul, and her heart. And you have ripped it away from her and locked it up like an animal in favor of supposedly higher chances of victory for the cheerios at Nationals this year. Well guess what, in doing so, you've only succeeded in putting a terrible chink in the cheerios' armor. All it will take is for the judges to see how detached and lifeless Kimberly is, and you'll lose an awful lot of points that you could have won without even having earned them. Trust me, by keeping Kimberly in the cheerios and forbidding her to take part in anything else extra-curricular, you're only setting up the cheerios for last place. The cheerios at Nationals with Kimberly among them is a disaster waiting to happen.

"Therefore," Raj continued. "What you need to do is to let Kimberly off the hook and allow her to accompany the other chorus club people to their Nationals competition in Orlando. If you want the cheerios to have their absolute highest chances of victory, then you need to let Kimberly go."

After hearing all this, Sue remained seated in her chair, speechless from what she'd heard Raj say. For a few minutes, she clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly as she tried to think of something to say to combat against Raj's powerful play. But after a while, she realized that she couldn't. Raj's argument was just too powerful. "Not to mention what he said does make sense," she thought to herself reluctantly.

"And while we're at it," said Raj. "Sid needs to be released to. I know you're probably going to try to say nay to that to, but honestly, water boys are easily replaced. And besides, he deserves better than to just be a lifeless water boy that constantly gets manhandled and forced into doing tasks that don't fit his job description by the other cheerios."

"My cheerios do what?" Sue asked.

"Ever since he was recruited as the water boy and they found out he was gay, the majority of the other cheerios, particularly Abby and Joanna, have been bullying him and trying to force him to take care of every single one of their petty chores," Kimberly explained.

Sue's disgusted look made it very obvious that she had indeed not been aware of this.

"Kimberly's right," said Raj. "And he does deserve better than that; in particular, he deserves to be allowed to both take a leave of absence; Hell, maybe even retire permanently if necessary; and take part in the last few concerts and similar events that the McKinley High symphonic band is involved in. Seeing him in just the symphonic band class is like seeing Kimberly in chorus and me and the other gleeks in glee club. Like Kimberly, his soul, life, and heart have been caged up, and they need to be released and given back to him."

After hearing all this, Sue thought to herself about what Raj had offered. Truth be told, she was actually seeing the sense in the idea after all she'd heard Raj say and being given the ability to see the situation from a new perspective as a result. She was now seriously considering going ahead and letting Kimberly and Sid go. Still, she wasn't one to just immediately agree to something that easily.

"I still need proof that what you're suggesting will truly turn out to be for the best for all parties involved, and especially for Kimberly and Sid," Sue stated.

"And that's where what I'm asking your permission for comes into play," Raj responded almost instantaneously.

Raj stood up from his chair and said, "As you know, the other gleeks and I will be performing at prom tomorrow. That being said, all I need is your permission to allow them to have the chance, and I can very easily set things up so that Kimberly and Sid will have a slot in the performances scheduled for prom. In particular, I'm planning for them to serve as my backup singers in the performance that I've been assigned to do in accompaniment with the dance that follows the announcement of who wins the prom court elections. With that done, all you need to do is be there at prom when this happens and watch them performing alongside me, and you'll have all the proof you need."

Sue thought long and hard as she considered what Raj had said. Raj and Kimberly held their breath as they waited for what Sue would say next. After what seemed like an eternity, Sue pointed at Raj and said, "One chance. I'll give you that. Just this once, I'll give Kimberly and Sid the benefit of the doubt. You have my permission for this plan you have. But like I said, this is the only chance you get. If this doesn't work the way you hope, Kimberly and Sid are back on the roster for people coming to the cheerios Nationals championship in Cleveland. One chance, that's all."

"And that's all that will be needed," said Raj as he leaned forward in a bow with his hands clasped together. "Thank you very much Coach Sylvester. You have no idea how much this will mean to Sid and Kimberly."

"You're welcome," said Sue. "But again, I warn you, if this doesn't give me the proof I need, you, Kimberly, and Sid will be sorry."

"Don't you worry," said Raj. "You won't be disappointed. Believe me, you won't."

Smiling, Raj turned his head to Kimberly and said, "Come on Kimberly, we need to find Sid and tell him the good news."

Smiling joyously in reply, Kimberly got up from her seat and followed close behind Raj as he exited Coach Sylvester's office. As the two Asian Americans walked through the hallway away from the office they'd been in, Kimberly couldn't contain her joy and excitement. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore, and she jumped in the air. "Yes!" she yelled. "I can't believe this! Your plan's actually working!"

Raj chuckled, smiled warmly at Kimberly, and responded, "Thanks, I'm happy to help."

Kimberly chuckled, looked down the hallway in the direction they were walking, and eventually said, "Oh Sid's going to be so happy and excited. I can't wait to perform alongside him and you at prom tomorrow! Oh God I need to rehearse! What song are you performing? Will we need anyone to back us up with instruments? Is it acapella? Oh God what if we mess up? What if Coach Sylvester isn't there to see us perform? What if . . . ?"

"Easy Kim," Raj said putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Trust me, everything will go perfectly fine. I promise."

At the sound of this, Kimberly looked at Raj, saw that he really meant what he said, and took a deep breath, calming herself down. After she'd sufficiently calmed down, she found herself blushing as she realized that Raj had called her Kim. When most people called her by that shortened version of her name, it didn't mean much. However, with Raj, this held a more intimate meaning.

At that moment, she realized an important detail, and she found herself muttering out loud without realizing, "I wonder if he has a date."

"You're wondering if who has a date?" Raj asked.

"What?" Kimberly asked in surprise. Then she realized what she'd said, and then said in embarrassment, "Never mind, forget it, I'm just talking nonsense."

"I am still single if that's what you're wondering," said Raj.

Kimberly turned around to face Raj. "You really had to go ahead and keep digging there didn't you?"

Raj chuckled, and said, "Trust me, I'm perfectly willing to have you as my prom date; perhaps maybe even more." He said the last bit with his eyebrows rising up suggestively as if to hint that he was thinking of being her boyfriend.

Kimberly blushed in embarrassment, turned away, and said, "Are you really sure about that? I mean, come on, it's only been at least four or five weeks since you finally stopped being so hung up on Bailey."

Raj sighed as he was reminded once again about how far he'd gone down in his addiction to attempting to get Bailey back with him after their breakup. "Kim," he said. "Look, I get it, I know that I still will never entirely stop loving her after our history. But believe me, what we had, it's over. All that time I spent trying to get her back . . . that was just me being in denial about our relationship being over and us not being meant to be. And I'll admit, I still need to somehow apologize in a meaningful way that will allow the past between me, Cody, and her to fully be put to rest and allow us to truly reconnect to the way we used to be. But trust me, I know for a fact now that I'm ready to move on. And to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if you've been waiting for me all this time; Hell, I'm surprised that I even ended up dating Bailey at all considering the way things were between us long before I met Cody and Bailey."

Upon hearing all this, Kimberly looked intently at Raj with her eyebrow raised, considered what he'd said, and then smiled as she realized that Raj truly was being sincere in what he was saying.

"Hmm," said Kimberly. "In that case, I guess it's worth a shot. Very well, you've got yourself a prom date, and a new girlfriend."

Raj smiled, clasped onto Kimberly's hand with his own, and said, "Well thank goodness for that."

Kimberly chuckled, grabbed Raj by his shoulders, and proceeded to position him so that he was up against some nearby lockers and she was standing in front of him. Upon getting her and Raj into these positions, she and Raj smiled at each other seductively.

"In fact," said Kimberly. "I say it's about damn time we got something serious going on between us. God knows how long we've been putting it off."

Raj chuckled, and he and Kimberly proceeded to kiss and start making out right there in the hallway.

However, they hadn't gotten very far in their impromptu make out session when they were untimely interrupted by none other than Brooke, who slid to a stop not too far away from the couple and yelled, "Kimberly! We need your help now!"

Almost immediately after she said this, Brooke noticed what she'd just walked in on, and awkwardly stated, "Err, sorry. Probably didn't need to see this."

Kimberly and Raj turned their heads toward the ginger haired low ranking cheerio and glared at her. They were definitely not happy with how Brooke had just interrupted their tender moment.

"You'd better have a good reason for barging in on me and Raj right now," Kimberly stated with the acid clearly showing in her voice.

"The water boy's in trouble," Brooke responded.

For a moment, Raj and Kimberly raised their eyebrows in confusion. Then the full import of what Brooke had said hit them, and they groaned.

"Damn it Sid!" Raj yelled. He looked intently at Brooke and said, "Alright, what are the cheerios doing to him now?"

"He's not being harassed by the cheerios," Brooke replied.

"Well who else could be endangering him?" Raj asked.

Brooke was just about to reply when the silence was shattered by the sound of a nightmare-making roar that sounded so realistically like a tyrannosaurus-rex that Kimberly, Brooke, and Raj had to briefly fight to keep themselves from suffering a heart attack.

"What was that?!" Kimberly yelled. She looked at Raj and said, "Any idea what that was? I hope you do; because if I didn't know better, I could have sworn that there's a t-rex in McKinley High!"

Raj gulped, looked meaningfully at Kimberly, and replied, "I have a bad feeling that I do know the source of that noise; and if I'm correct, it's not a what, it's a who." And indeed, Raj had a very bad feeling indeed who was currently in the midst of terrorizing Sid this time; for there was only one person he knew who could pull off such a lifelike imitation of a t-rex.

. . . . .

Half an hour earlier, Sid Webber was calmly walking through the hallways of McKinley High as he searched for the boy members of the New Directions. Sid smiled confidently as he made his way through the hallway. He had a confident smile on his face as he thought of what he hoped would result from his upcoming endeavors. "I am going to get one of those boys as my prom date," Sid thought cockily to himself. "Just you wait and see Raj."

He turned a corner, and his smile widened as he saw his quarry standing right there in the hallway he'd just entered. Admittedly, the girls that had been claimed as their 'girlfriends' were there with them. Sid, however, was confident that at least one of these boys would turn out to be either bisexual, or just using the girl they were with as a beard.

The first boy he decided to attempt to seduce was Cody, who was currently having a very friendly chat indeed with Bailey. Smiling, he walked up to Cody and tapped him on the shoulder. The Korean American boy turned his head, his eyebrows raised as he looked at the person behind him and recognized him.

"Sid?" Cody asked. "What are you doing here? And whatever the reason you have for interrupting me and Bailey right now is, it had better be important."

Unabashed by the hidden threat in Cody's statement, Sid said, "Good morning Cody. Say, you do remember that prom is tomorrow right?"

"Uh huh," Cody said with his voice very clearly laced with suspicion.

Sid noticed this, and his confidence lowered a little, and he nervously said, "Well, I was wondering if . . . well you see I . . ."

"Are you trying to ask me to be your date?"

Sid gulped. "Well . . . I . . . uh . . ."

"I'm sorry Sid," said Cody. "But first off, I already have a date, and she's my girlfriend. And second, I only swing one way, and that's the straight way. So I'm sorry but, you'll have to find someone else; and preferably someone on your team."

"Ok, sorry," said Sid with an embarrassed self-deprecating smile on his face.

"It's ok," said Cody. "I know it can be hard finding the people on the same team as you here. Just be a little more careful in your search next time."

Sid nodded, and with a final apology and a wave, he made his way further down the hall, where he could already see Darren and Amber standing by their lockers, looking through something on Darren's cellphone.

His confident smile back on his face, Sid walked up to the couple and shouted, "Hey Darren!"

Darren and Amber looked up, and their eyebrows rose at the sight of Sid. Considering how prom was the next day, the fact that Sid was single, and the fact that he was gay, they were very suspicious indeed as to why Sid was currently approaching them, and in particular, Darren.

Still smiling, Sid said, "So Darren, I was wondering if perhaps . . ."

"Ok I'm gonna stop you right there," Darren interrupted. "I'm straight. S. T. R. A. I. G. H. T. Get it? Got it? Good. Now buzz off. I've already got a girlfriend, and yes she's my prom date, and yes she's not a beard. I'm truly straight. If you want to go to prom, find someone else to date."

Upon finishing this, Darren and Amber resumed their looking through whatever it was they'd been looking at on Darren's phone before Sid's interruption.

Sid pouted, and turned away from Darren and Amber, just in time to see Dunlap and Naomi standing a few feet or so away.

Sid promptly made his way over to them, positioned himself so that he was standing next to Dunlap, and placed his hand on the albino boy's shoulder.

Stunned at the sudden invasion of privacy, Dunlap turned his head to face the direction he'd felt the invasive presence on his shoulder, and his eyes widened briefly in shock at the sight of Sid before narrowing in suspicion upon recognizing Sid.

Sid smiled seductively, and then said, "Hey there Dunlap."

"What do you want?" Dunlap asked, almost growling.

"I know you already have a date to the prom, and that this date is reportedly your 'girlfriend,' but to be honest, don't you think it would be better for you to dance at prom with someone who can actually see?"

At the sound of that insensitive remark from Sid, Dunlap gaped at Sid in horror. Seconds later, Dunlap growled angrily at Sid, his red eyes hardening into a furious glare, and his snow white hands clenching into fists.

At the sight and sound of this, Sid gulped, and promptly let go of Dunlap's shoulder as he started to back away with his hands raised in a placatory gesture. "Whoa, I'm so sorry Dunlap, I didn't mean to . . ."

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Dunlap shouted. "I would never dare abandon Naomi in a million years for anyone! I don't care how many girls there are out there who have 20/20 vision! I would rather die than blow off Naomi for any of them! And for that matter, I sure as Hell wouldn't blow her off for a monster like you! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that I'm straight and you're gay! Now you'd better get away from me and Naomi within the next 30 seconds, or so help me, either I will trip you up and crush your throat with a footstep from my metal legs, or Naomi will bash your face in with her cane! You hear me?! Get away from me and Naomi now!"

Sid gulped, took one last look at the nightmare-making look on Dunlap's face, and promptly bolted further down the hall past Dunlap and Naomi. In his haste to get as far away from Dunlap as possible, he forgot to watch where he was going, and he found himself accidentally crashing into someone. He fell to the floor, and when he looked up, he saw the stunned faces of none other than Zack and Charlotte looking down towards him.

Smiling in embarrassment, Sid said, "Oops, sorry."

"It's ok," Charlotte said as she proceeded to help Sid up.

"Thanks," said Sid, who was genuinely surprised that Charlotte had helped him up.

"You're welcome," Charlotte replied, a smile on her face. "I'm happy to help."

Sid chuckled, then looked at Zack and remembered that he was in the glee club. "Hey Charlotte," he then said. "Mind if I ask Zack something?"

"Dude," said Zack. "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty damn open about myself. If I were on your team, don't you think everyone would know by now? Besides, I already have a girlfriend, who is indeed an actual girlfriend as opposed to a beard, and I'm taking her to prom, and we've got a very strong romance going between us. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find someone else. If I were on your team, then maybe I would go to prom with you. But since I'm straight, I'm afraid it just wouldn't work."

Sid gaped incredulously at Zack. "How'd you know I was about to ask about that?"

"Dude," said Zack. "You're gay, you're single, prom's coming up, and you were about to ask me, a guy, something. Don't you think it's obvious?"

At the sound of this, Sid gulped, and hung his head in clear embarrassment.

Zack placed his hand on Sid's shoulder. "It's ok," said Zack. "I know it's hard being the kind of person you are. Trust me, I'm sure you'll find someone to date and take to prom; but that person just isn't me."

"Ok," said Sid.

Smiling, Zack and Charlotte proceeded to walk past Sid and go down the hallway in the opposite direction. As Sid watched, he noticed that Zack and Charlotte were even now watching the people who were gathering around their prom campaign posters.

Only a few minutes passed afterward before Sid promptly found himself setting his sights on Daniel, who he now standing alongside Diana in front of one of the prom court campaign posters that applied to him and Diana, talking animatedly with a small group of students who'd gathered around in front of them.

Sid quickly walked up to the location, made his way up so that he could get a clear shot at talking to Daniel, and then reached over some of the other students in the group and tapped Daniel on the shoulder.

Daniel groaned as he saw Sid out of the corner of his eye, and then turned his head to face him before saying, "What do you want?"

"Hey Daniel, you do remember that prom's tomorrow right?"

"Considering the fact that I'm A: a nominee for prom king and B: going there with the girl of my dreams, I'm pretty sure that it would be pretty obvious that I do know that information."

"Well ok, I'll admit, that was a stupid question. But I wanted to ask if . . ."

"Not gonna happen. I'm straight, and I already have a date."

"Are you absolutely sure you're straight? I mean come on, surely it wouldn't hurt to experiment . . ."

"I know where you're going with this Sid. The answer is no. I know, for a fact, that I'm straight. And not only that, but I'm already both dating and going to prom with Diana, who I know without a doubt to be the love of my life. Now get lost, I'm busy."

Upon finishing this, Daniel turned his head away from Sid and resumed his talking with the other students already gathered in front of him and Diana.

Sighing, Sid walked dejectedly past the small gathering of students in front of Daniel and Diana. "This is definitely proving way harder than I thought it would," he thought to himself.

However, no sooner had he thought about this, when he saw Calvin, Susan, and Hobbes standing in front of one of their campaign posters near the end of the hall. Hobbes was sitting on his haunches and panting happily as Calvin and Susan each handed over a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter cups to Miles and Brooke respectively.

"Thanks for the candy dude," said Miles, who was happily smiling at Calvin.

"You're welcome," said Calvin, who chuckled and said, "Just remember to vote for me and Susan."

"You heard him," said Susan. "Vote for Martaway all the way."

"Don't you worry Susan," said Brooke. "We will. Won't we Miles?"

Miles chuckled, rubbed his fingers through Brooke's hair, and said, "Darling, of course we will."

Brooke giggled at this, and Miles smiled. So did Calvin and Susan.

At the sight of this, Sid, now desperate to prove Raj wrong and complete what he perceived to be a challenge from Raj, rushed towards Calvin and Susan.

"Calvin!" Sid yelled.

At the sound of this, Calvin, Susan, Miles, Brooke, and Hobbes turned their heads towards Sid.

Sid came to a stop right in front of Calvin, and then bent over with his hands on his knees, panting as he tried to catch his breath. As they watched Sid like this, Calvin and Susan raised their eyebrows in suspicion. Hobbes also looked suspiciously at Sid, and tensed up as if preparing himself to get out of his seated position and pounce. His animal instincts were telling him that Sid had the potential to cause trouble for his master.

After he'd gotten his breath back, Sid straightened up, raised his hands up, and said, "Calvin, I'd like to ask you right now, would you be willing to . . . ?"

"I'm straight and already have a date," Calvin replied before Sid could finish. Susan smiled, and linked her arm around Calvin's, looking at her boyfriend lovingly. Hobbes, meanwhile, looked at Sid with the canine equivalent of a smirk.

Sid groaned, grabbed his hair with his hands, and said, "Calvin. Please. Surely you don't think it would hurt to at least experiment and test whether or not you're truly straight before you shoot me down like that?"

"I'm straight and already have a date." Calvin responded.

"Calvin, are you absolutely positive that you're really straight?"

"I'm straight and already have a date."

At the sound of this, Miles looked at Sid with amusement. Brooke, however, looked very nervous. She was starting to get a feeling that something really bad was about to happen unless Sid stopped.

Sid groaned in exasperation, and said to Calvin. "Calvin please, just be honest with me. Is the reason you keep on shooting me down like this right now truly that you're straight? Or are you just afraid to come out of the closet?"

"I'm straight and already have a date," Calvin responded testily, now very clearly starting to lose patience and get annoyed by Sid. Susan, sensing her boyfriend's irritation and discomfort, positioned herself so that she had both hands on Calvin's shoulders, and glared at Sid as if to say, 'Hands off.' Hobbes, meanwhile, growled menacingly at Sid, who he was really starting to get angry with for daring to continue discomforting his master.

"Come on Calvin," said Sid. "Please at least just go ahead and do a quick experiment so that you can know for sure about your sexuality."

"Again, I'm straight and already have a date," Calvin hissed.

"Calvin, is it really too much to ask?" Sid asked mulishly, completely disregarding how increasingly irritated Calvin was starting to get. "All you have to do is just take part in one tiny little experiment and prove to me for sure that you're 100% straight, and I'll leave you alone. Savvy?"

"I've already told you, I'm straight and already have a date," Calvin damn near growled.

"He's telling the truth creep," said Susan. "He's straight, and he's already dating me, and yes I'm actually his girlfriend, not his beard. Now leave us alone."

At this point, even Miles had noticed that things were starting to get bad, and since he'd had experience with what Calvin was like in situations like this, he decided to try to help out and keep Sid from having to find out the hard way what it would be like to be on the receiving end of Calvin's wrath.

"Look dude," said Miles. "I'll admit, I found your attempts amusing at first, but you need to stop now. Calvin's already turned you down six times now, and if you don't stop, he's going to go berserk. So I suggest you back off if you want to get out of this with all four of your limbs still attached."

"Miles is telling the truth Sid," said Brooke. "Really we all are, just let it be."

Unfortunately, Sid was so desperate to try to successfully achieve what he still perceived to be a challenge from Raj, completely ignored them all and said, "Please Calvin, just kiss me or something! It's that simple! Just take part in this little experiment and prove without a doubt . . ."

That was as far as he got before Calvin grabbed onto his throat with both hands and slammed him up against the lockers he was standing next to.

Sid just had time to gasp for breath three times before Calvin stared him right in the face and savagely roared, "WHAT PART OF I'M STRAIGHT AND ALREADY HAVE A DATE DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!"

Upon the sight of Calvin's furious face and the sound of his enraged shout, Sid gaped in horror at Calvin. As he stared at the look on Calvin's face, and in particular, the wolf-like snarl and jet black eyes that now looked like black holes boring straight into his soul, he gulped, for he'd seen that kind of look and heard the kind of voice tone Calvin had spoken to him with before. In fact, Sid had experienced this kind of situation so many times that he now knew that there was no doubt about it. Calvin's voice tone and the way he was acting was not the insecure self-guilt ridden fear of a closeted homosexual. It was the righteous and perfectly justifiable indignation of a straight boy. And this straight boy was furious.

Terrified, Sid opened his mouth, and he was about to try to apologize and placate Calvin when Calvin yelled, "What is your problem!? Are you so damn horny and desperate to find a boyfriend that you're willing to turn predatory and prey on boys like me and the other gleeks who are so obviously straight that a deaf and blind granny would be able to realize it?! Well I'm telling you right now to stop it! I don't know what your game is, but it ends now! Now go bother someone who's actually on your team, or so help me, I will kill you! You understand me?!"

Sid gulped, for he could tell that Calvin was serious. Calvin snorted, threw Sid down to the floor, and he grasped onto Susan's hand before the couple started to walk away with Hobbes close by Calvin's side.

All would have ended well right then and there if Sid had only had the sense to get out of the area. Unfortunately, Sid felt so strongly that he needed to at least attempt to apologize to Calvin that he ran right up towards him and said, "Calvin I'm sorry! Really I am . . ."

Unfortunately, as he said this, Sid ended up slipping and falling forward towards Calvin as a result of his haste to catch up with Calvin in order to apologize. As he fell, his hands flew out towards Calvin, and he managed to break his fall when his hands latched onto the sides of Calvin's abdomen.

Seconds later, Sid's eyes widened in horror as he realized what he'd just done, and thus realized that he was now in even bigger trouble than before. Not only had he just now touched Calvin in a way that severely invaded the already angry autistic boy's personal space, but he'd also very narrowly avoided grasping him right on the backside.

Calvin had obviously realized this information as well, for he shouted, "GET YOUR FLEA-PICKING HANDS OFF ME!" before rapidly causing himself to turn around in a way that both freed him from Sid's grasp and also sent Sid flying backward as a result of Calvin's right hand striking him in the face with a vicious backhander.

Sid landed hard on the floor. Groaning in pain, he managed to get back up on his feet and look at the area where Calvin was standing just in time to see that the autistic boy was now positioned in a threatening way that looked very much like the way a t-rex was typically depicted to be positioned when it came to bodily posture, and had a furious glare on his face. Sid gulped, and raised his hands in a placatory gesture, desperately trying to diffuse the situation and appease Calvin.

Calvin growled ominously like the very creature he now appeared to be imitating, and said, "You just couldn't leave well enough alone could you?"

"Calvin, that was an accident; I didn't mean to touch you there," Sid said fearfully.

"Well I've had enough of your predatory psychopathy," Calvin hissed. "As of a few seconds ago, Mr. Nice Boy has left the building; and I'm warning you now that you'd better prepare to meet your maker."

"Help," said Sid.

Miles and Brooke took pity on Sid, and turned around to face Calvin from the side.

"Dude, please calm down," said Miles. "He's telling the truth. He didn't mean to touch you there."

"Calvin please; don't hurt him," Brooke begged. She turned her head to Susan, knowing that she was practically a foolproof way to get Calvin to calm down, and begged, "Susan, calm him down, please."

Susan glared at Brooke, and shook her head from side to side. "No way," said Susan. She pointed at Sid and said, "That creeper tried to seduce and steal my boyfriend, who is so straight that a germ would be able to tell the difference between him and that animal in regard to sexuality. And for that matter, he also nearly groped Calvin on the backside. He needs to be taught a lesson, and Calvin is just the person to teach it to him."

Immediately after saying this, Susan looked intently at Calvin, who was still positioned as if in preparation for running after Sid and awaiting some sort of command to do so, pawing his left foot back and forth like a bull. She pointed at Sid, and then said, "Sic him."

"No, no, no!" Sid yelled in terror.

"RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!" Calvin roared, once again sounding flawlessly like a t-rex, before barreling straight towards Sid.

Screaming in panic, Sid turned around and bolted down the hallway with the furious Calvin in hot pursuit. For the next few minutes, Sid ran back down the hallway in the direction he'd come from, screaming desperately for help. And throughout the entire time, Calvin remained close behind him, his face blazing with a murderous fury, snapping his teeth, and roaring in bloodlust. Meanwhile, Hobbes followed close behind Calvin, splitting the air with a cacophony of continuous enraged barks. Susan also followed close behind Hobbes, shaking her fist and yelling encouragement to Calvin as her boyfriend continued chasing after Sid. No one noticed Brooke, exit the hallway through the exit that she, Miles, Calvin, and Susan had been standing by to take an alternate route through the hallways to avoid the scene of the commotion and hopefully find someone who could help. And throughout this entire time, not a single student in the hallway bothered to try to intervene. For the sake of the students who weren't gleeks, it was due to either prejudiced views of Sid and people who shared his sexuality, or being too afraid of Calvin to dare try to save Sid. As for the gleeks, they all still felt unhappy with Sid for his earlier actions towards them and felt that Sid almost certainly deserved what he was getting.

In fact, right as Sid was about to run past Dunlap and Naomi, the albino boy stuck his left leg out in the area where Sid was about to run while the blind girl proceeded to do the same with her cane. As a result, Sid was tripped and sent flying through the air before landing on his belly two feet or so from the exit from the current hallway he was in. He had just gotten himself positioned so that he was on his hands and knees when he heard running feet coming dangerously close to him, and he turned his head. His eyes opened wide as he saw that Calvin was mere seconds away from catching up to him, and he screamed in horror. Calvin, his eyes blazing with both fury and triumph, let out another t-rex-like roar that Sid could have sworn sounded 10 times louder than the one he'd unleashed directly before beginning to chase after him.

Desperate to escape, Sid quickly tried to get himself straightened back up again. Unfortunately, he had only just managed to get himself positioned so that he was on one knee when Calvin caught up to him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and slammed him hard against the lockers nearby.

Upon sight of the cold and furious look on Calvin's face, Sid stuttered, and nervously pleaded, "Calvin please, have mercy I beg you."

Calvin roared angrily like a lion, drew his right fist back, and proceeded to start punching Sid mercilessly in the face, roaring like a lion with every strike.

It was around this time that Brooke returned to the hallway where the whole scene was unfolding with Raj and Kimberly in tow. Upon sight of Calvin beating the snot out of Sid, Raj rushed over to Calvin. Right as Calvin had drawn his fist back to punch Sid for the thirteenth time, Raj grabbed Calvin by the wrist and pulled with all his might while Calvin struggled against Raj's grip.

"Run Sid!" Raj yelled.

Immediately after Raj yelled this, Calvin gave a mighty jerk with his hand that snapped his hand free from Raj's grip. While Raj was still off balance from this action, Calvin turned around so that he was facing Raj, grabbed onto two open locker doors, one on each side of him, lifted himself up so that his feet were dangling above the ground, and proceeded to give Raj a powerful kangaroo-style kick to the chest that sent him stumbling backward, crashing painfully into the lockers behind him. Raj crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain.

Calvin snorted like a rhino, turned his head back towards Sid, and was about to start punching him again when Susan said, "Stop."

Calvin looked at Susan, who explained, "I think Raj would like to have a truce session before you continue."

Calvin thought to himself, and then conceded with what Susan had said. He turned around to face Raj, who'd just gotten back up on his feet, and said, "Whatever it is you want to talk to me about right now, it had better be quick. I have a brat to punish."

Sid winced upon hearing Calvin call him a brat.

"What are you talking about?" Kimberly asked. "He never did anything to you!"

"Bull!" Calvin howled. He pointed at Raj and shouted, "Mowgli over there is the only guy in the glee club that spider boy over here hasn't tried to seduce into becoming his God damn prom date!"

At the sound of this, Raj groaned mentally. His suspicions had been proven correct.

Stunned, Kimberly looked at Sid with an incredulous look on her face, and asked, "Is this true?"

Sid winced, and nodded his head up and down. "Yes Kimberly," he said guiltily. "It's true. I asked every single one of the guys in the glee club apart from Raj. Calvin was the last person I attempted to ask out, and one thing led to another, and here we are with him rightfully punishing me."

"And he did more than attempt to seduce me," Calvin hissed. "He damn near grabbed me on the backside to!"

"You did what?!" Raj shouted incredulously at Sid.

Sid winced again, and said, "That was an accident. I was trying to run up to him and apologize after the drama that unfolded before the chase, and I slipped and ended up breaking my fall by accidentally grabbing him by the abdomen."

Raj groaned, rolled his eyes, and then turned to Calvin before saying, "Calvin, I get it, Sid was out of line, but honest to God, it's all a misunderstanding. You don't have to beat him up like this."

"Well I should!" Calvin roared. "He had the nerve to dare ask us out to prom, right in front of our girlfriends, as if he could somehow magically transform us from straight people into gay people! And he had the nerve to doubt me when I told him six times that I was straight and already have a date! I know my own sexuality, and no one can change what you're born with, least of all sexuality!"

Immediately after shouting this, he pointed at Sid and angrily growled, "And he of all people should know that!"

Sid winced when he heard that last statement.

Raj raised his hands in a placatory gesture and said, "Calvin, I get it, what Sid did was extremely out of line, but trust me, it was all a result of a misunderstanding. Let me talk with him, and I promise, it won't happen again."

Calvin growled, and was about to hiss out a corrosive retort when he saw Susan shake her head side to side as if to say, "You've done enough."

Having seen this, Calvin took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and then glared at Raj before saying, "Fine. I'll leave the little twerp alone this time. But mark my words, he'd better stay away from us gleeks apart from you for the rest of the day, or he'll be sorry."

Calvin turned around, and was just starting to walk away when he stopped, turned his head to face Raj, and shouted, "And for that matter, tell him to pick on someone his own sexuality! And if he refuses to do so, then by God, he can go to Hell!"

Upon finishing that parting call, he turned his head to face the area in front of him, and proceeded to storm down the hall, roaring furiously like a lion throughout the way.

Sid gulped upon seeing Calvin storming away. "Damn," he thought. "I really pissed him off bad." He was just starting to get up when Susan stomped down on the floor, right in the area directly between his legs that was inches away from her stepping on his privates. Sid flinched, and Susan glared at him.

As Sid watched her face after this, he saw her point in Calvin's direction, lift up her finger, and then motion it in a way that resembled an imaginary knife slitting her throat. The message was clear; "Go after my boyfriend again, and you'll be sorry."

Snorting angrily, Susan turned away from Sid and stormed down the hallway after her boyfriend with her fists clenched.

Gulping, Sid was about to try to get up again, when Hobbes abruptly leaned forward so that his face was inches away from Sid's face and growled threateningly. Sid squealed as he saw Hobbes's snarling face directly in front of him. Hobbes growled, and gave Sid a mean look that Sid was almost positive was the canine equivalent of a glare. The message in Hobbes's facial expression was clear; "Give my master grief again, and you're dead."

With one final threatening growl, Hobbes turned away from Sid and loped down the hall to follow Susan and Calvin, snarling irritably. All the other students in the hallway waited until Calvin, Susan, and Hobbes had left the hallway before proceeding to get right back to what they'd been doing before all the drama that had unfolded.

Sid got back up onto his feet, took one look at Raj and Kimberly, and promptly shut his mouth and hung his head after seeing the clear looks of disapproval on their faces. Sighing, he said, "I'm sorry."

Raj shook his head side to side, looked at Kimberly, and said, "Kim, mind if you wait here? I'm going to take Sid off to a private spot. It's time I had a little talk with him."

"You go on ahead," said Kimberly.

Sid gulped, for he now had a feeling that he had really crossed the line this time. And so, when Raj grabbed him by the shoulder and proceeded to drag him off to the hallway nearby that was empty, Sid didn't even try to resist and only stopped walking when Raj did.

Immediately after Raj let go of his shoulder, Sid said, "Raj I'm sorry."

"I can't believe you Sid!" Raj yelled. "Even though I specifically told you not to ask out any of the boys in the glee club, least of all Calvin, you went ahead and did exactly that behind my back!"

"I was just trying to achieve your challenge," Sid began.

"It wasn't a challenge you God damn idiot!" Raj roared. "It was a warning! Do I have to spell out the difference for you?!"

He placed his hands on his head, clenching his fingers through his hair as if he were about to try to tear his hair out, and said, "God in heaven, why must you rebel against even the simplest of orders? I give you a genuine warning for your safety, and you take it as a freaking challenge! What is wrong with you?!"

"Raj I . . ." Sid began.

"You know what?" Raj yelled with his finger raised in a way that brooked no argument. "That's it. You are going to either go to prom with Cameron, or not go to the prom at all!"

"Raj please," Sid began.

"No," said Raj. "You are going to take Cameron as your date to the prom or not go to prom at all. That is final! You show up to prom without Cameron, and I will make sure that you are turned away!"

"Raj please," Sid begged. "You don't have to do this . . ."

"The Hell I don't! Either you're going to prom with Cameron, or you're going to spend the rest of this year, and potentially your entire remaining time at McKinley as a lifeless water boy under the cruel jackboot of Sue Sylvester! And it would be a real pity if the latter ended up happening after all the effort I've just now put in to get Sue Sylvester to give me the permission I needed to set up the remainder of the plot that could get you and Kimberly free!"

Growling angrily, Raj turned away from Sid, started walking back to where he'd left Kimberly behind, and then turned his head back to Sid and shouted, "Honestly, God knows how compatible you and Cameron are together! Hell, even the people who slander you two agree that you would make a good couple! Just go ahead, take him to prom, and start up a relationship with him already!"

After that parting call, Raj turned his head away from Sid once more and proceeded to go back into the hallway where Kimberly was waiting.

As Sid stared dejectedly in the direction he'd seen Raj leave, he sighed, hung his head, and said, "The fact that everybody agrees with that sentiment is precisely why I don't want to date him."

. . . . .

That afternoon, after school was over, Sid walked forlornly through the hallways to get to where the symphonic band classroom was located. Raj had already set things up so that Cameron would meet him there and the whole unpleasant business could be gotten over with. In fact, not only that, but as per the current deal she had with Raj, Sue Sylvester had allowed Sid and Kimberly to be exempted from their duties to the cheerios this afternoon.

And so, while Kimberly was almost certainly now in the midst of having the time of her life in the first chorus club meeting she'd attended in nearly a month, and Raj and the other gleeks were likely also having fun practicing for their upcoming performances at prom, Sid was now, the way he saw it, on his way to set himself up on a date with misery. Sighing, he eventually reached the door to the symphonic band class room, and bracing himself to just get the inevitable task at hand over with, he knocked thrice on the door.

"Enter," said a familiar voice from behind the door.

Sighing, Sid opened the door, and walked in. As he expected, there was Cameron Michaels himself sitting right on the seat in front of the large grand piano near the back of the room. Upon sight of Sid, Cameron smiled, his yellowish hazel eyes gleaming with pleasure at the sight of his fellow gay boy, and said, "Yo! Wassup man!?"

Sid sighed, looked at Cameron, once again noticing how Cameron's eyes seemed to glimmer like the sun, how his spiked up ash blonde hair seemed to glow when the light touched it just right, and also how he bore an astonishing resemblance to Mitch Hewer, and eventually said, "Nothing much."

Upon hearing this, Cameron chuckled, got up from where he was sitting, and said, "Well good thing you've come here! Ever since Raj told me at lunch that you'd be meeting up with me here after school, you wouldn't believe how torturous it was to wait for the time between then and now to pass by!"

Sid sighed to himself as he heard all this. "There you are wishing the time away while I was wishing it would last longer," he thought to himself.

Oblivious to Sid's sigh and current apparent mood, Sid stepped aside, placed some sheet music on the piano's music stand, and gestured for Sid to sit down. "Come on man," said Sid. "I've always wanted to perform this song with you and now's as good a time as any!"

"Cameron I . . ." Sid began.

"Oh come on dude! It will be fun!"

Sighing, Sid walked up to the piano, sat down on the seat, and positioned his hands in the proper way for playing the piano, and in particular, the song he now noticed was on the sheet music. Chuckling in anticipation, Cameron ran over to a set of cabinets where some other musical instruments were kept, drew out a harmonica, and ran right back to the piano. Upon returning to where the piano was, Cameron positioned himself so that he was sitting on the piano with his legs hanging over the side, lifted the harmonica up to his mouth, and then winked at Sid in an obvious signal that it was now ok to begin playing.

Sid sighed, took a deep breath, exhaled, and then reluctantly started playing the opening notes to the song that Cameron had chosen. When the time was right, Cameron joined in with the harmonica, and when the time came for actual singing, the resulting performance that followed, with Sid playing the piano and Cameron playing the harmonica, went like this:

(Sid)

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin
He says, Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes
(Sid and Cameron)

La la la de de da
La la de de da da dum

(Sid)
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright
Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be
And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone
(Brief piano solo followed by harmonica opening for next lines)

The piano! It sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say "Man, what are you doin' here?", oh
(Sid and Cameron)

La la la de de da
La la de de da da dum
(Sid)

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

Directly after Sid finished singing the last notes, he played the finishing piano notes, and Cameron perfectly timed his own finishing notes on the harmonica. With the performance finished, there was a very noticeable difference between how Sid and Cameron applauded themselves. While Cameron was very obviously happy with himself and clapping rapidly for himself, Sid was slowly clapping his hands with a stony look on his face.

"Woohoo!" Cameron yelled. "Wasn't that fun?!"

Sid rolled his eyes, looked at Cameron with a deadpan expression, and dryly responded, "Sure."

At the sound of that, Cameron's hazel eyes narrowed, and he glared at Sid before saying testily, "Is something wrong?"

Sid sighed, turned his head to stare at the Piano Man sheet music, and responded, "As Raj potentially may have already told you, I have to take you to prom in order to successfully gain the chance I need to potentially be able to be cut from all my cheerio obligations and take part in the remaining activities and events that you and the other symphonic band members are taking part in."

Cameron smiled at the mention of that, and responded, "He sure did. Isn't that awesome!? I say Hell yeah! God knows we've put this off long enough and that it's about time we got together! Hell, even the douchebags who slander us agree that we'd make a good couple!"

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Sid.

Cameron raised his eyebrows at Sid in curiosity. "And the fact that so many people have noticed our undeniable chemistry and romantic potential that even those who slander us agree with them terrifies you why?"

Sid sighed, looked back at Cameron, and replied, "Well first off, I don't want to date someone specifically because everyone else agrees that he and I would be perfect together."

After saying this, Sid turned around so that his back was facing the piano, and continued, "Also, that first bit of information is related to my second reason. Nearly everybody at this school says not only that we will in fact become a couple during our high school years, but that we'll both end up suffering together throughout our lives in ways I still don't want to talk about. And I'm afraid that if we were to become boyfriends while still in high school, or even become boyfriends at all, then it would only be the first step to proving them all right."

Cameron thought to himself, and then found himself nodding as he realized that Sid had brought up a valid point. Now understanding why Sid was uncertain, he said, "Well in that case, you have practically already proven them wrong. They said, and I quote, 'those two boys will be a couple the very first day of Freshman year.' It's almost the end of our sophomore year now. And if we ever end up going through too much trouble in any relationship we get into, we can always just break up and wait until things smooth over before eventually trying again. No harm, no foul."

"It's not that easy Cameron," said Sid.

"I know that," said Cameron. "Still, I'm sure that the good parts that come before any bad parts will prove worthwhile. Besides, it's not like those haters are clairvoyant. Who cares what they say? I say we just screw their comments and just get on with it already. God knows how long we've both been waiting for this to happen."

"Well I do care about what happens and what people say about it!" Sid yelled angrily. He got up from the piano seat, turned to face Cameron and shouted, "Why is it that you're so willing to just accept what everybody says about us and potentially prove all their predictions right?! Why are you always so agreeable and willing to follow expectations?! Why is it that you never even consider rebelling or trying to prove expectations about you wrong?!"

"Why is it that you never even consider taking a damn risk!?" Cameron roared furiously.

Cameron's enraged retort caught Sid completely off guard, and he gaped in shock with his dark eyes opened wide. Gone was the cheerful and laid back boy he knew so well. Standing in his place was a furious and rage-fueled war-machine that only surfaced when Cameron was angry. Cameron glared at Sid, his hazel eyes seeming to glow amber-yellow like a cat's, and shouted, "Why must you make this so difficult Sid?! Here I am, practically begging for us to finally become boyfriends, and you still refuse to ask me out or let me initiate a relationship with you myself! What's wrong with you!? Why must you be such a damn coward?!"

"I'm not a coward," Sid responded nervously. "I am perfectly capable of taking risks."

"Then prove it!" Cameron roared. Breathing heavily, Cameron continued, "So what if becoming my boyfriend comes with such terrible risks?! Well guess what!? Life is always full of risks! It's the natural way of the entire God damn world! But what people can choose is whether or not to cower in fear of them for their entire lives like mice or to face them head on roaring like a lion! I've waited years now for you to develop the guts to get out of your shell and accept that we're destined for each other, and I'm sick of it now! I wish you'd just stop acting like such a mother freaking woman and grow the balls to finally ask me out! Sometimes, life's just not going to be good for you unless you take the damn risk for it to be terrible! What do you want to be Sid?! Safe, boring, and alone, or living a life that actually means something!?"

The instant Cameron finished this tirade, he took a deep breath, his fists clenched, and then exhaled heavily. Upon finishing this, he looked back up at Sid, his face still showing lingering signs of his earlier fury. Sid could at first only gape in shocked awe at Cameron. Even during the times he'd seen Cameron angry in the past, he'd never before see Cameron explode like this before.

Eventually, the full extent of what Cameron had said reached him, and Sid hung his head as he realized that Cameron had brought up a valid point. "Damn," he thought to himself. "I really am a coward."

Upon realizing this, he looked back up at Cameron, and then said, "You're right."

Cameron gaped at Sid in shock. He had not been expecting Sid to agree so quickly. "What?"

"You're right," said Sid. "I have been acting like a coward by not having the balls to take the risks that could come with letting you be my boyfriend. I've been so busy trying to prove all the people who've been slandering us and predicting terrible futures about us wrong that I didn't even think of considering what you thought. For that, I am sorry; and I guess, maybe it's about time I gave you a chance to prove me wrong."

Upon hearing all this, and understanding the full meaning behind it all, Cameron grinned, and said, "So does this mean . . . ?"

"Yes," said Sid. "I will definitely now accept Raj's command for us to go to prom together, and if that works out, then maybe we'll take this a step further and become boyfriend and boyfriend."

"Well it's about time I heard that," said Cameron. He rubbed his fingers through his hair, chuckled, and said, "I mean come on, dating me, a 100% and out and proud confirmed gay like yourself is definitely better than getting the snot beaten out of you by every other straight guy you attempt to seduce and steal away from their girlfriend."

Sid groaned. "Raj told you about all that too didn't he?"

Cameron chuckled, and responded, "I dare say that you definitely look pretty handsome right now for a guy who took a beating from the resident beast king and lived to tell the tale."

"I will never live any of that down will I?" asked Sid.

"Oh I'm just getting started," said Cameron, who then chuckled, and continued, "But further ribbing about your past attempts at seduction of straight glee boys can probably wait until after prom. For that matter, perhaps you could tell me the name of the song you, Kimberly, and Raj are supposed to be performing? I have a feeling that depending on the song choice you guys make, you might need me around to provide some kick-ass instrumental accompaniment."

And there you have it people! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave lots of reviews! I also hope you enjoyed Kimberly and Sid's reappearance in this chapter, not to mention my newly introduced OC, Cameron Michaels. On another note, I apologize in advance to anyone who might have taken offense to what happened to Sid in this chapter. I swear right now, that none of the gleeks are homophobic, and neither am I. Calvin was just already annoyed and let his anger get the better of him. Susan likewise got irritated and angry. Daniel was just sick of people trying to get between him and Diana after his experiences with Charlotte. Darren just wanted Sid to truly get the point driven across to him about his sexuality and status with Amber. Finally, Dunlap and Naomi were just plain furious with him because of the blind bashing comments he made. Again, I apologize for any offending actions I may have made in writing this chapter. Anyway, like I said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave a large number of reviews! :)

Coming up next: Prom night has finally come to McKinley High. And before long, the party gets started in full.