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Chapter 11
Outside of school and home, the Church of Nazarene in Fairfall was the place that Tyler spent the most time in. His family were active in the church and he was a faithful member of the youth group.
Daniel and Patricia McBride were the most feared parents in the whole of Fairfall. Daniel was a lawyer, one of the best and fiercest, known for being completely ruthless and brilliant when it came to defending clients. Patricia was a former debutante (yes, still a thing), who was now head of the school board and probably the only person that Vice Principal Jenkins actually listened to.
Annabelle was his sister, a nine year old who was probably the most spoiled child he'd ever met. He loved her, but he didn't like her. It was embarrassing how much she was pampered; his parents would have never let the golden son be like that.
They portrayed themselves as moderate New England Republicans, more George Bush Sr than Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Hell, they even supported Democrats sometimes, like voting for Hillary Clinton. The McBrides weren't gun crazy, gay haters- or at least that's what they portrayed themselves as. Still, Tyler knew the score. He'd be expected to marry an upper class white woman from a family of similar breeding. Anyone with the tiniest bit of ethnicity need not apply.
They weren't the types who protested at Pride events, but they had a dim view of the LGBT community. Every so often, both McBride parents would make snarky comments about how they were immoral and not normal. None of their friends were LGBT, though they lived in an area with not many openly gay people, only a handful he could think of.
Maddie's outing had got him thinking. He'd been raised to think lesser of LGBT folks, that they were not the same as the rest of them. Maddie was his friend though, she wasn't a bad person. The only thing that was different about her was her sexuality; she liked girls like he did. Maddie was kind and gentle, not the she-devil that Tyler expected from lesbians.
Tyler would always believe in God, he loved Him more than any other thing. He just didn't want to follow someone he believed hateful. The Bible was clear that a man should not lie with another man, but it also taught us not to judge. Many things in the Bible were questionable, like slavery and concubines. He always thought the stories were not to be recreated, but that they should be used as a moral lesson. His parents' idea of religion was looking good and being superior to others. Tyler liked the idea of being good and righteous, that was what a true Christian could be.
He could often judge, he actually nearly always did. That was the thing he struggled with.
There was one thing- the Fifth Commandment was 'honour thy father and thy mother.' Tyler always tried. He wanted to be the perfect son. All of his life, he imagined meeting another upper class white girl at Harvard or Yale, then marrying her after law school. Yet, he didn't get why his parents were so upset with race and class.
Melrose wasn't rich and she wasn't white. She was a foster kid and barely religious.
Tyler couldn't stop thinking about her. She didn't like him and he wasn't going to push it. He was used to getting what he wanted, but he wouldn't be that guy. Still, he wanted her to like him as a friend at least. Melrose was quite feisty and with bite, she wasn't friendly with other people but she seemed to have a strong dislike for him.
She was hot though, he couldn't deny it.
As he wondered about his faith, one song came in his head.
Oh, life is bigger
It's bigger
Than you and you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up
That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
He was interrupted when the pastor called them to stand. This was something that Tyler knew wouldn't be going away anytime soon.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE-
The Glee club was in a good mood. Sectionals were only a couple of weeks away and things seemed to be going their way for once.
Things had died down for Maddie and she was slowly feeling better, though she knew that she would never truly recovered from being outed against her wishes. The jocks had backed off a little, but the comments were still there. Maddie knew it wouldn't be a perfect world and probably never would be, but she at least knew she'd be striving to make sure she'd be part of the change.
"Good afternoon everyone," Tess entered, "Now Sectionals is coming thick and fast, so we are going to be preparing for that soon. We'll select the songs together and also work out who are going to be featured as soloists in the competition. At the end of the week, we'll do one last group number before we start practicing for the competition. Our song will be 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' by The Verve and the theme for this week is the 90s."
That immediately got everyone talking.
"I'm glad that you're all enjoying it. Does anybody have any 90s songs they'd like to start us off with?"
Melrose raised her hand politely, but Diana was on the choir room floor like a bat out of hell.
"I want to start the week with one of my favourite songs."
"Go ahead," Tess told her, having not seen Melrose's indication that she liked to sing.
A scrub is a guy that thinks he's fly
And is also known as a buster
Always talkin' about what he wants
And just sits on his broke ass
So, no
I don't want your number, no.
I don't want to give you mine and, no,
I don't want to meet you nowhere, no.
I don't want none of your time and, no,
It was a good song that most of them liked, but none of them particularly wanted to show Diana appreciation. Libby was the only one that moved around musically, flashing an appreciative smile at Diana like any faithful lackey should.
Once it was done, there was a lacklustre round of applause.
"Thank you Diana, that was wonderful," Tess clapped.
"I'd like to see any of you follow that," Diana tossed her long auburn hair back and headed back to her seat, wallowing in her self-made victory.
"Would anyone like to?" Tess asked.
"I'd like to sing a song by the iconic Queen B," Melrose raised her hand again.
"Fantastic Melrose, you have the floor."
Ladies leave your man at home
The club is full of ballers and their pockets full grown
And all you fellas leave your girl with her friends
'Cause it's eleven thirty and the club is jumpin', jumpin'
Though he say he got a girl
Yeah it's true you got a man
But the party ain't gon' stop
So let's make it hot, hot
Everyone immediately got into the mood, dancing around in their seats and mouthing the words. Diana looked pissed at that. It wasn't just Melrose's voice; it was her incredible dance moves. It was clear to everyone in the room that she was the best dancer, even better than any of the Cheerios. They could totally see her fronting a Destiny's Child like band in the future.
When the 'bounce baby' lyrics came up, Melrose pulled Adelina and Addison up from their seats. Laughing, they moved along with her as backing dancers.
Once it was done, everyone bar Diana stood up and applauded. Melrose looked genuinely happy for once, Adelina even accepted a sudden side hug from Addison.
"Melrose that was spectacular," Tess beamed, "I really felt that R&B style, from the dance moves to the singing. That is something I'd like to incorporate in our Sectionals set list."
"We're a show choir, not a dance troupe," Diana bitterly reminded them from the side.
"It doesn't mean we have to sit on stools, they're looking for theatricality as well," Tess chided, "I'd hope you'd be a better teammate, we should be congratulating Melrose on doing so well. Now does anybody else have anything to perform?"
No one raised a hand.
"Ok, everybody up, let's get practicing for our end of week performance."
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE-
Deacon was delighted when his mother and sister would be arriving in the evening. He knew what it must mean- they had to be getting back together. They'd realise that separating hadn't worked and decided to move forward.
He eagerly sat at the dining room table, hands knotted together. He was really nervous, but also really excited. His family would be back together again. Maybe this would straighten Hayley out and turn out to be the cause of her teenage angst.
The doorbell rang, the housekeeper going to get it.
Deacon stood up as his mom and sister entered.
"Mom!"
"Hi sweetie," she smiled, hugging him tightly, "It's good to see you again darling, I wish we could have seen more of each other in the past few weeks."
"No bother," Deacon cheerily replied, "Hi squirt."
Hayley, who was on her phone, rolled her eyes.
The tension came first as William entered the room. He and Rebecca looked straight at one another, eyes cold and face impassive. William went to hug Hayley, but she held up a hand.
"Ignore her, she's a teenager," Deacon joked. He was the only one who laughed though.
Deacon thought it was inevitable that they come back together. William had worked his way up to the top from the working classes, yet Rebecca had fallen in love with him anyway. They had the most successful law firm in town together, it was practically perfect. They'd always been the happiest couple in the room.
The Dawsons would be a team once again.
"Ok kids," William started the conversation in his authorative tone, "You'll be wondering why we've all been gathered here. I imagine that the separation has been hard for you, especially since it came so out of the blue. Now, your mother and I have reached a decision."
Deacon leaned in, nearly wetting himself with excitement.
"We have decided that we will be divorcing."
There was a twenty second silence, the clock ticking away behind them.
"Ok," Hayley shrugged, "I thought it might happen, so ok, best that it's definite."
"What do you mean ok?!" Deacon yelped, "Mom, dad, you can't do this. I know relationships aren't perfect and that sometimes they break down, but you've been happy together for over twenty years. You can't just give up now. Come on, there has to be marriage counselling or something. There's mediation."
"We've tried that son, it just didn't work," William told him sadly, "It doesn't mean that your mother and I love you any less, it's just that we don't want to remain married to one another. We've had the separation; it'll just be an extra step."
"I don't understand."
"We can sort out everything like custody later on, honey; just now understand that we aren't going to get back together. When couples get counselling, a relationship is usually on its last legs anyway. It's not like we didn't try, we really did. This is going to be so easy," Rebecca assured him, "We have an idea of how we're going to split assets and other things, we won't be fighting over every little detail. You and Hayley can have input on where you live, of course. We'll both be staying in Fairfall so it won't affect school. Deacon, you have your car, you can visit the other parent in a second."
"I don't want you to get a divorce."
"Stop being petulant Deacon, they've decided this," Hayley piped up.
"How are you so calm about this? Don't you care? Why are you so cool?"
Hayley opened her mouth for a millisecond, but shut it before continuing.
"I'm 14; I know how the world works. Look, mom and dad have said it's going to be easy. We're all in Fairfall and we can sort out custody pretty easily. It's not great but no one's dying or anything. You just need to accept it."
Deacon stood up, his chair thrown backwards, and stormed out of the room.
Rebecca sighed, massaging her temples, whilst William went to get a scotch. Hayley looked to her mother, who nodded slightly to indicate that she go after her brother.
The younger girl raced off to find Deacon on the back porch, pacing and cursing.
"Deacon, calm the hell down, you're being super immature here."
"What happened to you Hayley?!" Deacon rounded on his little sister, "You used to be all plaids and drawing, then summer hit and you became another spoiled brat. The Hayley I knew would have been as devastated as I was about this, maybe even more so. You've become obsessed with your phone, hair and being popular. Our parents are divorcing and you're not thinking about the impact this has on us. They can't work together anymore and you're just so blasé about it."
"Maybe I'm just growing up," Hayley snapped back, "Deacon, PEOPLE GET DIVORCED. It's common, like 50% of marriages end in it. Half our friends at school have divorced parents, step families and everything inbetween. This isn't about you. If mom and dad aren't happy, then they shouldn't have to stay together just because you stamp your feet and throw a temper tantrum. Look, just accept it and you'll feel better. You've stayed with dad for months, it's not like it's a major issue."
"Well forgive me if I want my family to be together."
"Would you rather have a happy separated family or a miserable together one?"
"They can be happy! They've been happy together for over twenty years," Deacon nearly screamed.
"Things change. People fall out of love. Mom and dad have just grown apart or whatever, I don't know why," Hayley lied.
"They can't end like this."
Before Hayley could respond, Rebecca arrived at the back door.
"Come on darling, we're leaving."
She didn't have to tell Hayley twice, the blonde following on command.
"Mom-ʺ Deacon called out.
"We'll talk about it later, I'm so sorry," Rebecca looked him pitifully as Hayley went back into the house.
Deacon watched sadly as his mom and sister walked away, neither looking back at him. Right now, he felt the weight of the world crushing him like a bug. A single tear slid down his eye, but he quickly wiped it away, he didn't want his father seeing it.
He had to convince them, he had to. Deep down, Deacon knew that they weren't going to get back together, but the naivety in him made him believe he could make it work.
"Deacon!"
Sliding the door closed behind him, he headed into the lounge to see his father. So far, his life had been everything he wanted. Now, his beloved parents were getting divorced and he didn't even know why it was happening. The younger sister he'd always believed in was now a petty bully who cared more about being like the older cheerleaders.
He'd get to the bottom of this, he'd just have to.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE-
Oliver walked down the halls of the school, having been using the gym to practice his boxing. As he walked past the dance room, he noticed a small figure leaning against one of the bars. Looking closer, he saw it was Adelina.
He entered, but she was too engrossed in her book to realise.
"Hello Parker."
Adelina jumped out of her skin, clutching the book to her chest, "Oh gosh, you scared me Oliver."
"Oh gosh? What are you, some character from a Jane Austen novel?"
"Excuse me if I don't use rude language."
"What are you reading anyway?"
"Hemingway."
"For fun or for school?"
"For fun."
"Why?"
"Because I like to read and I like Hemingway," Adelina answered curtly, almost offended at Oliver's jibing.
"What else do you do?"
"Piano and ballet."
"Jesus, what's the name of your finishing school?"
"Just because I like to do things that you consider boring and staid doesn't mean I'm from the 19th century," Adelina snapped, "If you're going to be a jerk, then leave me alone and go buy another leather jacket or something."
Oliver guffawed, Adelina continuing to glare at him.
"That was witty for you."
"Whatever Grant, I'm not playing with you."
"Ok fine, sorry" Oliver raised his hand, "Are you going to come back to the boxing gym?"
"No thank you."
"Why?" Oliver asked, secretly hurt. He liked having Adelina come to his gym; he felt he performed a better game when she was smiling from the audience. A chance to spend extra time with her was something he wouldn't say no to.
"It's not really my thing," she shrugged, "It's a bit...erm, dingy."
"Well your presence lights it up."
Adelina hid a smile on her lips.
"Well maybe I could teach you at the school? It'll be good for self defence."
"That's nice of you, but no thanks."
Oliver frowned.
"Why don't you want to hang out with me?"
"You're kind of an ass," Adelina admitted, "Every time I say I like something, you mock it."
"Don't take it personally, Lina, I'm like that to everyone. You're just the one who fights back the most. That finishing school princess vibe you have has a certain charm to it."
She widened her eyes disapprovingly.
"See, that's what I mean, it's stuff like that."
"I'm just trying to get you off of your high horse."
Adelina stood up, "Just because I enjoy different things to you doesn't mean I'm a snob."
"I never said that."
"But it's what you think."
"I just think you need to loosen up," Oliver got out his phone, "It's 90s week in Glee club, right? Well, maybe I can show you how it could be if we hung out. I think you know this song, most people do."
He twirled around and pointed his fingers at Adelina.
Are you ready?
Free, free, baby,
Boy, when you look at me,
Do you judge me by my cover?
Got to be kiddin' me, to think that I'm that kind of lover
I don't mean to disagree, sorry, you can't buy my kisses
Open your eyes and see,
True love comes for free
He moved around in his terrible dancing way, as an incredulous Adelina watched him from the side. Oliver continued to sing along as she watched him, trying to entice her to join him.
Eventually, Adelina cracked.
No more than you're willing to give
'Cause you won't pay nothin' for this good lovin', it's for free
And I won't make you promises,
I'll just do all I can to be your lover 'cause I understand
They eventually started dancing together and singing. For the first time in a long time, Adelina had a true smile on her face, not one of the fake ones she had mastered so well.
The best things in life are free,
Now that I've discovered what you mean to me
The best things in life are free,
Now that we've got each other
The best things in life are free
Don't ya know, don't ya know,
The very best love in life is free,
And I'm free, yeah
They finished, their faces millimetres apart from each other. Adelina hate how Oliver made her heart race like that. He felt it too, looking into her eyes. There was something about Adelina Parker that made him think about her all the time.
"See, wasn't so bad," he grinned, trying to hide his feelings.
"I guess not," she shrugged lightly.
"So, boxing gym again?"
"I'll think about it," she told him, "I gotta go now. See you in Glee."
"Bye Parker."
Oliver watched her leave, Adelina turning around for a second to smile at him. To him, that smile meant that maybe Adelina didn't hate him after all.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE-
"Ok, whenever you're ready," Tess spoke into the microphone.
Amber went forward, leading the song.
Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life
Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die.
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah.
Jason then stood next to her.
No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,
But I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold.
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
They moved around with elegance and grace, everyone's harmonies collective perfectly. Some of them still weren't the best dancers, but Tess planned to feature the better movers like Melrose and Jay at the front anyway.
As Tess watched them, she felt better about everything.
Once they were done, she stood up and applauded.
"Great job guys, real great. Now, I have some individual feedback which I'd like to go through with you. After I've spoken to each of you in turn, I will start discussing plans for Sectionals! We're only a couple of weeks away from it, so I'm ready to announce songs and soloists. Now, let's start with surnames alphabetically, so Jay when you're ready. Everyone else, practice vocal runs."
Jay hopped drown from the stage and everyone else did as Tess asked.
Sectionals, we're going to kick your ass, she told herself.
Hi all, hope you enjoyed it! Only one chapter before Sectionals.
Next Time: Jack is shaken when he's the victim of a crime, whilst a party has unintended consequences for Jay, Hayley and Libby.
Questions:
Will Tyler break free of his parents' influence?
When will Deacon find out the truth about the divorce?
Is it going to get more intense between Oliver and Adelina?
Is Jack going to be ok?
What's going to happen to Jay, Hayley and Libby?
Thanks again, hope to see you next time and don't forget to review xxx