A New Direction - SYOC CLOSED

by safeDbeginswiths

A second gen syoc! Please read details inside :)

8. Theater

A/N: Hi everyone! First of, as always, thank you all very much for your patience! Also as always, I of course have a few things to add before we get into it! The first is that this chapter, more than any of the others, dives into some weird, more adult topics, and while it's not super intense, I am sort of testing the waters just because I have planned down the road for a few heavier chapters, and wanted to see how I could handle writing songs that specifically deal with more serious issues, if that sort of makes sense?

Also, per usual, please leave a review or a PM to let me know if you're still reading! I have taken into account who's reached out to me one way or another to let me know they're still here, and like I mentioned several months back, these are the characters I have big plots for in the works! So letting me know your reading, the plots you like, the characters you like, etc. all really helps and helps me write more of your OC(s) in future! That said please enjoy this chapter, and I look forward to hearing from you guys! :)

TUESDAY MORNING

Joe stood in the kitchen, finishing up the few final touches on his kids' lunches. This was his routine as Sugar had a strict rule that she simply didn't get up for the day until at least 11:00, if not later.

"Good morning dad," Trina smiled as she wandered into the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the counter.

"Good morning sweetheart," Joe spoke up, his demeanor, per usual, almost blindingly positive. "Just wait a few moments for Sophie and we'll start our morning prayers."

Perfectly on cue, Sophie made her way into the kitchen, making like her sister before her, grabbing an apple.

"Good morning besties," She spoke sleepily.

"Good morning, Sophie!" Joe spoke enthusiastically, "Do you want to lead us in prayer this morning?"

"Sure thing," The young girl shrugged before uttering a few words of worship that were basically on autopilot at this point.

"Wow, that was great! I swear you two get better every day," Joe nodded happily, holding his coffee cup with two hands, slowly taking a long sip, "So what's on the agenda for glee today?"

"Theater songs, I think?" Trina spoke up, "It should be fine," She had contemplated telling her family about the falling out she had with Leah last week, but figured it was best to keep it quiet for now.

"Oh," Joe nodded for a second pensively, "Well I'll pray that you find the songs you need,"

"What about me?" Sophie pouted, "Do I get a prayer too?"

"Of course you do, honey," Joe smiled.

"Hell yeah," Sophie grinned, "Not that I really need it. I've already got a killer song in my back pocket."

"Sophie!" Trina called out at the 'hell yeah' from her sister.

"Sorry," Sophie murmured, though Joe couldn't help but laugh as he knew it was harmless.

"Alright, now take your lunches and have a great day today, okay? Oh, and don't forget," He paused, knowing what he was about to say was a somewhat touchy subject for everyone, "Jude's coming back tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, we know, dad," Trina nodded.

"We do, even if nobody will tell me where he went," Sophie murmured once more.

"A better place, don't worry," Joe nodded, smiling, not realizing how exactly that had come across.

"Alright dad," Trina shook her head, "We'll see you tonight, okay?"

The two girls each leaned in to give their father a hug as they made their way out the door, Joe calling "Have a righteous day, kids!"

TUESDAY MORNING NEW DIRECTIONS

"Alright everyone!" Mr. Schue entered, clapping his hands as he looked at the room. He knew tensions ended up being high last week and wanted things to go over as smoothly as possible. "As you know, this week we're working on some songs from musical theater, specifically Broadway. I know last week's 80s theme didn't go... exactly as planned, but I'm sure we can pull something off in time for sectionals."

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked curiously, "I thought we did well last week,"

"You guys did great!" Mr. Schue nodded, "But, I'm just not sure that's exactly the right song for us at sectionals."

"Huh?" Hazel questioned, confused, "So we're not doing Footloose?"

"I don't think so, no," Mr. Schue breathed out, already bracing for what would inevitably be a lot of criticism.

"So, we spent all week just goofing off?" Felix piped up, confused as everyone else was.

"We really aren't doing it?" Rey's eyebrows raised, feeling both somewhat disappointed and relieved since she had a key part in Footloose.

"No, and we weren't goofing off, we were-" Mr. Schue started but was cut off, as he expected to be.

"What? Learning to dance? Bonding as a team?" Delia challenged her father, "Because I don't think we accomplished either of these things."

"Delia, that's enough," Mr. Schue warned.

"She's right, though. Sectionals are two weeks away. We can't afford to spend a week goofing off," Naomi, unsurprisingly sided with Delia.

"Seriously. The both of you. That's enough," Mr. Schue had already grown tired of this conversation, "If you're seriously that upset, we can talk more about this later. I would, instead," he desperately tried to change the course of the conversation, "Like to ask if anyone's got a song prepared for theater week?"

"Oh, I actually do, Mr. Schue!" Sophie raised her hand up excitedly, earning her confused looks from many of the students, though Will was, of course, happy to let someone else take the stage.

"Well, then, whenever you're ready, Sophie! Which musical did you pick?" The coach asked her encouragingly.

"It's from the Heathers!" Sophie grinned proudly, her hands on her hips and her show face on.

"The Heathers?" Kyla's eyes widened, as she was not expecting Sophie to select a musical that Kyla knew of, and was also not expecting her to pick something so racy.

"I'm not sure that's entirely… appropriate," Mr. Schue spoke cautiously, not wanting to discourage Sophie, but also knowing how quickly this could go south.

"I mean," Savannah spoke up, "I love the Heathers. Not all of the songs are entirely inappropriate,"

"She's got a point," Lex agreed, he didn't really know the Heathers, but knew Savannah was usually right.

"Alright, fair enough," Will nodded smiling, "Go ahead, Sophie."

"Thank you!" She continued to grin, "This song reminds me of my relationship with God and how He loves me and rebirths me and gives me life. It's called Dead Girl Walking,"

Before anyone had a chance to protest or even really react, the music started, and soon after so did Sophie.

"The demon queen of high school has decreed it
She says Monday, 8AM, I will be deleted
They'll hunt me down in study hall
Stuff and mount me on the wall
Thirty hours to live
How shall I spend them?"

Sophie sang, and Will looked around the room to try to gauge everyone else's reactions. It was obvious that she sounded great – that wasn't the problem here. The problem was simply that this seemed to be one of the less appropriate songs from the musical.

"I don't have to stay and die like cattle
I could change my name and ride up to Seattle
But I don't own a motorbike
Wait—here's an option that I like:
Spend these thirty hours gettin' freaky
Yeah,"

As Sophie continued on, she placed her hands over her heart. While both Naomi and Kyla were trying not to laugh, Oscar and Simon exchanged what could only be described as a look of fear and Flora, not understanding what the song was really about, let out a small cheer in support of her friend.

"I need it hard
I'm a dead girl walkin'
I'm in your yard
I'm a dead girl walkin'"

As Sophie continued Naomi no longer held back her laughter, instead letting out a loud cheer in support of Sophie, simply not believing this was happening before her very eyes.

"Before they punch my clock
I'm snappin' off your window lock
Got no time to knock
I'm a dead girl walking,"

"Oh my God," Savannah snickered.

"I…I think she thinks that's the point," Lex spoke breathlessly, shaking his head.

"Come on, tonight I'm yours
I'm your dead girl walkin'
Get on all fours
Kiss this dead girl walkin'
Let's go, you know the drill,"

"Alright Sophie, that's enough," Mr. Schue spoke. He would have intervened before hand, but was genuinely in so much shock he forgot how to speak. He tried to stop her, but she, of course, felt the need to finish her chorus first.

"I'm hot and pissed and on the pill
Bow down to the will of a dead girl walking!"

"Sophie!" He called out once more, causing the band behind her to finally cease, "I said that's enough!"

"Okay," Sophie shrugged, "Thoughts? Pointers?"

"That was entirely unacceptable." Will shook his head, still in utter disbelief, "What made you think that would be okay?"

"I told you, it's about my relationship with God," Sophie did her best to explain, genuinely not knowing what she did wrong.

"Oh yeah," Felix laughed out loud, "I'm sure you and God are real close,"

"I don't appreciate you mocking my religion," Sophie crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"I don't think he was mocking," Kyla spoke up, "I wish I had a close relationship like that with anyone," which ultimately made Oscar choke on the water he had just taken a drink of.

"Either way," Mr. Schue spoke just as the bell rang, annoyed that he didn't have as much time to explain as he may have liked. "Please come back and think about… other theater songs you might like to do. And Sophie? I'd like to have a word with you at this afternoon's meeting."

While scattered mutters echoed throughout the choir room, everyone trying to process exactly what it was they had just witnessed, Savannah pulled Finley aside as soon as he walked out of the classroom.

"Hey you," She smiled. Since their performance last week, the two had managed to have two very successful dates over the course of just one weekend. While Savannah was still uncertain as to exactly where this was going, she knew she liked being around him, "I've got a proposition for you,"

"Proposition?" Finley raised an eyebrow, though he knew he wouldn't be able to say no to her, no matter what it was. "What kind of proposition?"

"I've got a song I want to sing this afternoon. How would you feel about singing it with me?" She grinned charmingly.

"I uh," Finley was still getting used to singing, especially singing in front of others. But they did crush it in Footloose, and Finley would easily take any excuse to hang out with her, "Yeah, that sounds great."

"Perfect," Savannah smirked, knowing deep down he would say yes, before pulling sheet music out from her bag, "Here, learn this,"

"Did you…" Finley chuckled slightly, "Just have this on you?"

"Yes. Can't wait for our duet, handsome," She winked, making her way to class, leaving Finley smiling to himself in the hallway.

THE TROUBLETONES

While Marley was still somewhat shook up over realizing that they'd spent all of the previous week fighting, and when they weren't fighting, practicing a song that they likely would not even be performing at sectionals, she was hopeful. Despite all of their differences they had managed to pull off what she thought was the best performance of all the groups. Which was good, she told herself, that meant she knew they could pull off an 80's group number. Which meant it was time to move onto one of the other sectionals themes.

"Who knows any musicals?" Marley smiled widely looking at her girls, not expecting them all to suddenly start speaking over each other about which musicals they did and did not like, "Woah, woah, slow down," she laughed.

"There are so many good ones out there though," Mia noted.

"Yeah, it's uh, gonna be tricky to narrow it down," Leah nodded in agreement.

"I beg to differ," Heather stood up suddenly.

"Oh god," Zoey rolled her eyes, "Here we go,"

"Let's hear her out," Tia looked at Zoey, though mostly, she just wanted to see the drama and/or Heather embarrassing herself.

"Thank you," Heather glared at Zoey, "Lucky for you bitches, I've got the perfect song already picked out,"

"Bitches?" Trina repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"Heather, don't use that language," Marley tried, though she knew Heather had never listened to her before.

"Is it gonna be anything like last time?" Nikki questioned almost excitedly, ignoring both her mother and Trina, "Cause that was hilarious,"

"Funny way of pronouncing brilliant, but I'll take it," Heather nodded pensively.

"Okay, well, what have you got?" Marley tried to be patient, knowing that, for Heather, this was trying.

"Obviously the best musical of all time. It was named after me, after all," Heather smirked, just before getting her music ready.

"Oh, this'll be good," Cay mused as the music started playing, a song that everyone except for Marley was familiar.

"I like lookin' hot," Heather began sort of talk singing, and for that reason, she sounded okay, "Buying stuff they cannot,"

While this song was certainly not a solo, Heather was certainly about to make it one. She made that very clear as she continued.

"I like
Drinkin' hard
Maxin' Dad's credit card
I like
Skippin' gym
Scaring her
Screwing him
I like!
Killer clothes
Kickin' nerds in the nose,"

Heather heavily emphasized the last sentence as she leaned more into singing than talk-singing, earning various reactions from her teammates. Marley, however, was sat with a horrified look on her face from both the words and the awful singing, courtesy of Heather.

"If you lack the balls, you can go play dolls," She continued to sing off tempo and off key, pausing directly in front of Leah as she sang out, "Let your mommy fix you a snack,"

This earned a laugh from Nikki, who seemed to have temporarily forgotten that she and Leah had the same mother.

Suddenly from their seats, Tia and Mia jumped in with a "Woah!" Before Heather took over again.

"Or you could come smoke
Pound some rum and coke
In my Porsche with the quarterback,"

While Audrey cheered for her friend, and Cay couldn't help but laugh at the awful singing, Zoey and Marley were equally unimpressed.

"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Tia and Mia sang out once more.

"Honey, whatchu waitin' for?
Welcome to my candy store
It's time for you to prove
You're not a loser anymore,"

Heather continued to confidently belt absolutely horrendously and completely oblivious to how she sounded as she sang out the last line to Zoey.

"Then step into my candy store," Heather's voice lowered as she winked at Mia.

Pausing dramatically she continued, "Honey, whatchu waiting fo..." she cut herself off before looking in the opposite direction as though she was having a conversation with herself, "Shut up Heather!" She turned back to face the audience as she attempted something between a belt and a riff that, at best, sounded like a goat in distress as she sang out, "Step into my candy store!"

As many of the girls covered their ears, Tia and Mia picked up the chorus once more.

"Time for you to prove
You're not a lame ass anymore!"

Finally, much to everyone's relief, Heather began wrapping up the song.

"Then step into my candy store!
It's my candy store
It's my candy
It's my candy store
It's my candy
It's my candy store,"

She paused dramatically before stretching her arms out to the sides as she called out one last, "It's my candy stoooreee!"

"That was the worst thing I have ever witnessed," Zoey rolled her eyes, "And I was there when Tia and Mia were born."

"What the hell, Zoey?" Tia shook her head, as that was a lot to process.

"Not my fault you can't handle the fact that I'm better than you," Heather sneered.

"It's not my fault that you're incapable of realizing your obvious faults," Zoey tilted her head to the side.

"Zoey, you are so god damn annoying," Heather groaned, "Have you considered that I don't give a shit about you or your opinions?"

"Woah, Heather," Mia shook her head, "Too far,"

"Oh, so we're all gonna let Zoey get away with being a bitch, but I can't?" Heather was clearly growing frustrated.

"Seriously, Heather, stop," Audrey held her hands up, though Zoey simply did not seem bothered. As the bell rang, most of the girls headed out quickly.

"Saved by the bell," Zoey walked up to Heather, easily invading her personal space, "Lucky you," She sneered.

"Why I oughta!" Heather raised a fist, just as Marley stood in front of her.

"Heather," She spoke with a nervous authority, "Can I have a word?"

"You just had like, five of them," Heather smirked, "What's up, teach?" She tried her best to calm down though was visibly still annoyed.

"I uh, I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to come see me a few extra days a week? Maybe work on your singing a bit?" Marley pulled Heather to the side of the classroom despite the fact that all of the other girls had already left.

"I," Heather breathed out, "Look, I know I'm not good. I pretend to think I am because it's funny. And it keeps things light and entertaining. But I didn't think I was that bad,"

"You're not!" Marley assured her, surprised by the honesty, "Just a little bit more practice and you'll be amazing, I swear."

"This isn't because of what that snot nosed asshole Zoey said, is it?" Heather groaned.

"No!" Marley spoke out with a certain haste, trying to not think too hard about the term 'snot nosed asshole,' "But that is the other thing… you need to start being nicer to people, Heather."

"I'm plenty nice to Mia. Usually Tia and Audrey too," Heather shrugged, genuinely not seeing a problem.

"You need to be nicer to everyone. Not just your girlfriend and your friends," Marley raised her eyebrows, but didn't want to push much further as she wasn't expecting to even get this far.

"And how exactly do you expect me to do that?" Heather pushed a stray piece of purple hair out of her eye.

"Maybe start with something simple. Like…" Marley paused to think of an example, "Stop calling people names! If you want to call someone a jerk or a meanie or a bad word maybe call them buddy or pal or something, instead?"

While Heather thought long and hard about arguing that nobody says 'meanie', she did realize Marley might have a point, "Alright," She nodded with a small smirk after a long moment of thinking, "I think I can do that."

"Oh, great!" Marley was surprised, "And thanks for talking to me, Heather. You know I'm always here! Now get to class, you don't want to be late,"

Heather once again surprised Marley by following her directions, leaving Marley to go sit at her desk, smiling, thinking she was finally getting a hang of this being a teacher thing.

THE WARBLERS

"Alright, gentlemen," Teddy spoke, desperately trying to gain the attention of the Warblers who were all talking among themselves, "It's time to talk theater songs,"

"Did anyone have any ideas?" Trent tried.

"I mean, we all talked about a few last week," Michael reminded the council, "But nothing really… stuck."

"Maybe that's because theater is lame and some of us don't even know where to start," Oliver spoke just loud enough to be heard.

"Theater is not lame," Sutton gasped, motioning to clutch his invisible pearls, "And here's why. I have a song!"

"What song?" Eric questioned curiously.

"It's a surprise!" Sutton spoke as though it was obvious.

"Respectfully," Teddy spoke, already exhausted from Sutton's shenanigans, "The point of this was to discuss it as a group,"

"But it's better if I just show you!" Sutton grinned wildly.

"Oh God," Ambrose muttered, shaking his head.

"Go ahead then, bestie!" Tommy gave him the okay, as Mack beside him, nodded in agreement.

"Alright, so," Sutton began monologuing before singing his song despite knowing they were on a time crunch as they would eventually have to get to class, "I have recently heard from my sister – Leah, not Nikki," he made sure to make the distinction, though very few people in the room even knew who both of those people were, "that as we speak someone in the Troubletones is performing the Heathers. Which is a musical I am also very fond of. And I simply can't have them outdoing me, or us, as a whole! So I handpicked a song from the Heathers that I personally believe will be easy enough for us to adapt to acapella, and also is a fun song that could really get the crowd going," He concluded with a proud smile, before a long silence followed him.

"Are you…" Mack started slowly, "Are you going to sing it?"

"Oh, right," Sutton laughed, knowing he'd forgotten something.

Clearing his throat he then wasted no time jumping right into singing acapella, his voice echoing around the room as he confidently sang out, "You make my balls so blue," he turned to sing to the boys around him, looking around the room, "You hurt them badly,"

"What?!" Was all Trent could find to say.

"Hell yeah, Sutton!" Zach cheered him on, Addison laughing loudly next to him, as Sutton continued singing out.

"You make my balls so blue
They're hangin' sadly
What did they do to you
That you hate them so?"

Teddy's face was scrunched up with what could only be described as an expression of pure horror and disgust, while Tommy swayed awkwardly to the non existent background music, and Mack smiled, not paying attention to the lyrics, just glad Sutton could carry a tune.

"Don't run from me
They're all beat up
Like a tackling dummy,"

"Alright, that's enough!" Teddy called out, finally breaking free from the shock that had overcome him. "We are not performing that song. Ever."

"What's wrong with it?" Sutton pouted.

"We're not singing about… that...at sectionals," Ambrose spoke up in defense of Teddy, unsure of why he even had to explain this, "Especially when we're competing against the Hipsters,"

"Those oldies would love it!" Sutton argued back.

"Sutton. It's a no." Teddy spoke firmly, "If you want to try to come up with anything else, please do. But nothing in that area."

"But…" Addison spoke up suddenly, "The Heathers is pretty rad. We could still maybe try to pull something from there?"

"Yeah, there's a couple of songs that could be fun," Frank tried.

"Yeah, fun!" Bob repeated, nodding.

"We'll think about it," Teddy spoke firmly, once again annoyed that he had absolutely no help from the rest of the council, just as the bell rang, "Alright, well, please try to think of some other songs that we can work on. As a team, preferably. We'll see you all this afternoon," He finished, rubbing his temples.

"You okay there, boss?" Trent wandered over to Teddy, acknowledging that the young man already had a stress headache and it was only 8:30 am.

"I just," Teddy breathed out, as all of the other Warblers left, leaving him alone with Trent, "I just wish some of these days were…easier, you know? I love the Warblers and love being on the council – if I didn't love it, I wouldn't do it. But some days it just feels like…they're really testing me."

"Believe me," Trent chuckled, "I get it. I was never on the council but... my council did make some incredibly questionable decisions that also really tested me. You've just gotta take it one day at a time. Which I know is easier said than done,"

"It just feels like I'm the only one who cares about winning or doing well," Teddy shook his head, "And I know that's not what it's all about, but if I don't stop them from singing songs like…that, then who will?"

"You're right," Trent paused, "It's not all about winning. Besides, Ambrose seemed to be a decent help to you earlier. But sometimes it's better to…loosen the reins. You'll get less headaches that way," Trent couldn't help but smile.

"I mean, I guess you're right," Teddy sighed out, "Thanks Trent. I gotta get to class, but I'll see you this afternoon," he slowly but surely made his way out of the room, having much to think about.

VOCAL ADRENALINE

Things were still somewhat tense with Vocal Adrenaline since the last week. However, it was not very long before this was addressed as all the kids sat in the auditorium, Sydney suddenly stood up to speak.

"Listen, I know some of you are still losers," she glared at the few of her teammates who'd bothered her last week, "But we've got to get our shit together. We need to focus in on musical theater as that is the only sectional's theme we still need to worry about."

"Uh," Emery, one of the aforementioned 'losers' spoke up, "We haven't touched duets yet, either."

"Well, obviously the duet is going to go to us," Anthony spoke up, gesturing to himself and Sydney, "Since, you know, we carried the whole team last time."

"Exactly," Sydney agreed.

"Okay, so," Kate spoke up, "Once Harmony and Unique get here…what are we meant to do? Just throw theater songs at them?"

"Well I don't know about you, but I've got one prepared," Sydney smiled smugly to herself.

"Ooh, yeah, I've got a great idea for a group number!" Xavier grinned and nodded.

"What is it?" Chloe asked lazily, though Xavier did not have a chance to answer.

"How do you guys always know what we're going to do before we say it?" Harmony spoke, her tone somewhere between surprised and angry.

"Lucky guess?" Steven tried.

"Well," Unique began, "Either way, yes we will be doing theater songs this week."

"From…any musical?" Sawyer verified.

"Yes, as long as it is…appropriate," Unique warned, "It can be a solo, a duet, a group number, whatever tickles your little fancies,"

"I've got one I can do now," Sydney raised her hand, "I'd like to perform it."

"Go ahead," Harmony waved her off, though by the time she did, Sydney was already halfway up the stairs.

"This is a song from one of my favorite musicals – The Heathers. I'd like to dedicate this song to my brother, Steven." Sydney announced.

"You're dedicating a song from The Heathers… to your brother?" Kendall laughed.

"Yes." Sydney spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world before the music started behind her.

"My boy's a homosexual," She began, already earning her confused and shocked looks from her teammates, especially her aforementioned brother, Steven. "And that don't scare me none,"

"I want the world to know
I love my dead gay son!"

While Dana danced along, the rest of the group looked at each other with shocked eyes.

"What the hell?" Leslie whispered, completely taken aback, but was only met with a shrug from Isaac who was equally as confused and somewhat offended.

"Well, the good Lord made the universe
The Lord created man
And I believe it's all a part of his gigantic plan
I know God has a reason-"

"Cut the music!" Unique called out.

"I'm trying to perform up here!" Sydney fought back.

"Sydney, what the hell was that?" Harmony's eyes narrowed as she was confused and annoyed once again by the senior.

"It was a great performance that was very rudely interrupted." Sydney stood with her hands on her hips.

"I'm not gay!" Steven was finally able to get his thoughts together and respond.

"You're not dead, either" Kate reminded him.

"Was this supposed to be a threat, Sydney?" Unique's eyes suddenly widened.

"Yes, was that not obvious?" Sydney was confused that it had even taken them this long to figure it out.

"You can't just…threaten people!" Harmony gasped.

"Well, why not?" Sydney continued to argue.

"Because that's my thing!" Harmony's voice was controlled but certainly had a sense of anger in it.

"You can't threaten people because it's not okay!" Unique called out, surprised, and frustrated that she had to explain that to both her student and he co-director.

"Fine," Sydney and Harmony shared a look as they said the same thing at the same time.

"Alright," Unique breathed out, "Sydney please go take your seat. And I'd like to see you after this meeting,"

"Ugh," Sydney mumbled.

"Okay, now I know that performance was not…exactly what we thought it would be," Harmony spoke up again, "But it did give me an idea. I want all of you on your breaks today to listen to Big Fun from the Heathers soundtrack. It has good potential for a group number," Harmony instructed just as the bell rang.

"But…mom," Xavier spoke up surprisingly shyly as the other kids began to slowly leave the auditorium.

"What is it, honey?" Harmony tried to be kind but was visibly bothered.

"I was coming up with an idea for a group number," Xavier admitted sheepishly.

"Fine. If you can get enough people to learn it by this afternoon, you can do it, okay?" Harmony tried to bargain with him, "And get your sister involved."

"Don't have to ask me twice!" Xavier's demeanor suddenly changed, eyes lighting up, as he ran to catch up with the rest of his club, getting ready to pitch his idea.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

NEW DIRECTIONS

"Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Schue," Sophie nodded, as her glee coach tried to explain to her why her song that morning was inappropriate, but sparing as many details as he could, "You've given me a lot to think about. But don't worry, I'm going to confession after school today, so God will forgive me."

"That's uh," Mr. Schue nodded, "That's great news, Sophie."

"You guys are never gonna guess what that song was about," Sophie laughed as Rey and Flora were the first people after Sophie to enter the room.

"I think they'll figure it out when they're older," Savannah snickered, walking in behind them.

"You're only…two years older than them," Hazel pointed out.

"Exactly," Savannah nodded knowingly, "I'm older,"

"I think we should drop the subject," Simon noted as he entered the room, "And instead talk about maybe some other songs we could do?"

"I agree," Oscar nodded, "I really only know a couple of musical theater songs and I know I could use all the help I can get,"

"Well, I'm down for anything," Flora piped up, also trying her best to move on from Sophie's performance.

"Well, let's hear some ideas then," Mr. Schue called out to the kids as the rest filed into the room and into their seats, "Did anyone get a chance to prepare any other songs? Anything else you guys want to do?"

"We've got one," Savannah smiled, motioning to Finley.

Though Naomi normally would have called Savannah out on trying to steal everyone else's spotlight, she was happy to see that she had somehow managed to get Finley involved.

"Well, what have you two got prepared?" Will was cautiously optimistic.

"It's um," Finley spoke nervously, "Another song from the Heathers?"

"Oh, this will be good," Kyla snickered.

"Are you guys that good in with God, too?" Felix raised his eyebrows.

"This song isn't about that," Savannah snapped back, clearly irritated.

"And you're sure it's school appropriate?" Mr. Schue raised his eyebrows. He did trust the kids in glee, but after this morning he could never be too sure.

"I swear it is," Savannah nodded.

"Alright," Will let out a deep sigh, motioning to the two students, "Whenever you're ready,"

"Fine, we're damaged, really damaged," Savannah started, and just like Sophie, sounded great. But Mr. Schue was not entirely familiar with this musical and wondered where it was going, "But that does not make us wise,"

"We're not special, we're not different
We don't choose who lives or dies
Let's be normal, see bad movies
Sneak a beer and watch TV
We'll bake brownies or go bowling
Don't you want a life with me?"

"Yeah! Go off Savannah!" Lex clapped happily and excitedly for his friend.

"Can't we be seventeen?
That's all I want to do
If you could let me in
I could be good with you,"

She got through the chorus beautifully, though Naomi was not surprised, but disappointed that Finley hadn't sung yet.

"People hurt us," Savannah continued to sing, turning to face Finley directly.

"Or they vanish," He sang in response to her and though it was only three words, he sounded great.

"And you're right, it really blows, but we let go," Savannah smiled, taking a small step towards her duet partner.

"Take a deep breath," Finley also took a small step, the two beginning to close the gap between them.

"Then go buy some summer clothes, we'll go camping," Savannah sang, not a note out of tune, once again showing off her strong vocal chops.

"Play some poker," Finley responded, almost as though they were having a conversation

"And we'll eat some chili fries," Savannah surprised herself when she felt herself smiling at the chemistry between them, "Maybe prom night,"

"Maybe dancing," Finley smiled right back after seeing Savannah's smile.

"Don't stop looking in my eyes," Savannah sang out beautifully, impressing herself and everyone else in the room.

"Your eyes," Finley repeated.

"Can't we be seventeen, is that so hard to do?" The two sang out together, surprising absolutely everyone in the room with just how good they sounded when they harmonized.

"If you could let me in,
I could be good with you,"

"Yeah, Finley!" Rowan called out in support of their brother.

"Let us be seventeen
If we've still got the right,"

Now standing directly in front of each other, Savannah leaned forwards, holding Finley's hands in her own as she sang it out, "So what's it gonna be? I wanna be with you,"

"I wanna be with you," Finley responded, singing, shocked by how he realized he meant the words as he sang them.

"Wanna be with you," Savannah nodded, giving his hands a slight squeeze, just like Finley, surprised to find she meant those words.

"Tonight," The two sang together, smiling as Finley, without thinking, leaned forward placing a small kiss on Savannah's forehead.

"Woah," Rowan raised their eyebrows, exchanging a look with their other siblings in the room, as none of them knew that Finley and Savannah were that close.

"Woah is right," Hazel let out a dry chuckle.

"Nice!" Lex called out, clapping loudly.

"Very well done, you two!" Mr. Schue was pleasantly surprised at the performance. "I think we just found a number for sectionals."

"What?" Naomi's eyes narrowed.

"Naomi, not now," Mr. Schue waved her off.

"Uh, no. I think now is a great time. I'm all for finding songs for sectionals. And letting new people sing there, sure. But you're not going to let anyone else even try?" Naomi shook her head.

"That's not what I meant-" Mr. Schue tried, but was unsurprised when he didn't get the chance to finish.

"What did you mean then?" Naomi placed her hands on her hips. "You said you found a number for sectionals. Great, fine. But you have no idea what anyone else has planned."

"Naomi," Mr. Schue's voice was low and dangerously cold, "You're pushing it."

"No," Naomi made her way to the door, knowing she had to leave the room before she got too upset. "You're pushing it. Even last year, I was one of the only kids you ever criticized. I'm not here for it,"

"Naomi, where do you think you're going?" Will was clearly angry.

"Anywhere but here," Naomi responded simply, leaving the room and leaving the loudest silence anybody in New Directions had heard.

"Should um," Simon spoke up meekly, "Should I go check if she's okay?"

"No, she made her decision, she'll be back." Mr. Schue spoke decisively.

"What if… she doesn't come back?" Rey questioned, afraid to know the answer.

"Don't worry. She will," Mr. Schue breathed out before turning to Savannah and Finley, "I'm sorry about that. You guys did great, and I'll be sure to keep this performance in mind when I think about the sectionals setlist."

While Finley was torn because he was proud of himself, he also loved Naomi. But this did feel out of line, even for her. Savannah, however, simply rolled her eyes.

"Maybe it's better if she's gone, the last thing we need right now is more drama," She smirked.

"She was an important player in this group," Delia spoke up suddenly.

"Guys, she's not gone, gone. She just needs time to cool off," Mr. Schue continued to reassure them. "Now, at lunch today I thought of another fun 80s song we could maybe do," He tried to divert the teen's attention. "Sophie and Rey? I thought you guys could be good on this song, do you want to come over here and learn it?"

While the two looked at each other nervously, they made their way over to Mr. Schue, just wanting this meeting to end.

"What about the rest of us?" Delia rolled her eyes, arms crossed.

"I'd like you guys to take some time to come up with some more theater songs if you can. Something fun and lighthearted would be good." Will explained before bringing his attention back to Sophie and Rey.

While the rest of New Directions exchanged a similar nervous look to Rey and Sophie previously, they all got to trying to figure out a song, and also trying to figure out what would happen with Naomi.

THE TROUBLETONES

"Hey babe," Heather said to Mia as she entered the classroom, smiling as she saw only Tia and Mia were there.

"Look at you with the pet names," Mia cooed, Heather was never the big romantic, but it was still somewhat nice to hear.

"Yeah, look at me go!" Heather grinned slightly, before turning to Tia, "Hey babe," she greeted the other twin.

"Huh?" Tia and Mia spoke in synch.

"Ooh, I love a good spooky twin moment," Nikki snickered as she walked in.

"Nikki! Hi babe," Heather smiled widely, proud of herself since she thought she was following Marley's instructions.

"What the hell did you just call me?" Nikki's eyes widened.

"Yeah, why did Heather just call you babe?" Leah laughed, though she was not entirely sure if she even wanted to know the answer.

"Because your mother," Heather paused for dramatic effect, "Told me I had to,"

"Oh no," Mia finally realized what was going on, as Heather had mentioned to her earlier that Marley had asked her to be nicer to everyone.

"Oh yes!" Heather pointed her index finger in the air.

"Someone's feeling enthusiastic," Marley smiled happily, remembering the chat they'd had that morning as she, Trina, Audrey, Cay and Zoey all entered in succession.

"Yeah, because you've got her calling everyone 'babe'," Tia wasn't sure if it was best to laugh or roll her eyes, so she decided to do both.

"She what?" Audrey laughed, though she was confused.

"I'm sorry?" Marley raised her eyebrows, not quite understanding.

"You told me to stop calling people mean names," Heather shrugged, "I know you're old but you can't be so old you already forgot this morning happened,"

"I'm going to ignore the old comment," Marley raised her eyebrows, "and I didn't necessarily mean you should call everyone 'babe'. Did you ask the girls if they're comfortable with that?"

"I don't mind it," Trina shrugged, knowing she rarely talked to Heather anyways.

"Yeah, I'm cool," Cay spoke, barely paying attention.

"I mind!" Zoey rolled her eyes, huffing out.

"Too bad, babe," Heather smirked, "Majority rules,"

"Alright, enough," Marley spoke, regretting what she thought earlier was a good teaching moment, "So I've got some not great news,"

"Is it that the other groups are also doing the Heathers?" Trina sighed out, "Cause Xavier told me this afternoon, they're doing a whole group number and everything."

"What?! No fair!" Heather cried out.

"Hey, now listen, there are plenty of other great musicals out there," Marley tried.

"I mean, Heather was, ironically, not great for the Heathers… but it did fit our vibe," Cay spoke up.

"It's about badass women, of course it would have worked for us," Tia practically whined.

"I think it's about more than that…" Leah spoke just loud enough to be heard.

"Lucky for you guys, I've got another musical about badass women," Nikki suddenly spoke up, ignoring her sister.

"You're going to do a song, Nikki?" Marley's eyes widened with excitement.

"I am! So if you could all sit down and shut your pie holes we could get this ball rolling," Nikki smirked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Maybe ask a little more politely next time?" Marley tried, though she was cautious as the last time she told someone to be nicer things did not exactly go as planned, "But whenever you're ready, Nikki!"

As the music started behind her, Nikki sang out loud and proud, her voice powerful and pleasing to the ear.

"Kept messaging me like every day
Couldn't be better then he sent me a letter
And who am I kidding
I was prête à manger,"

To Marley's surprise, a handful of the other Troubletones piped in singing "Ooh-ooh," though Nikki had them in a group chat and requested that they did it earlier on in the day.

"Sent a reply," Nikki paused to make dramatic faces, posing just as dramatically.

"Ooh-ooh," The rest of the girls joined in for this one.

"Just saying hi," Nikki's voice was falsely sweet as she waved her fingers in tune with the beat.

"Ooh-ooh," the group now swayed along out of sync with each other.

"You're a nice guy
I'll think about it maybe
XO baby"

Nikki sang directly to anyone who's eye she was able to meet, placing a hand on her hip just as the song picked up again.

"Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said
I'm just trying to have some fun
Don't worry, don't worry
Don't lose your head
I didn't mean to hurt anyone,"

While at first Marley was on board with the song, she did mean to tell the girls she wanted to do something more positive and wasn't entirely sure this was the energy she was looking for.

"LOL," Nikki continued singing confidently, "Say 'Oh, well!' Or go to hell,"

While she did march around the room a bit during the previous line, she took this moment to stand back in front of her teammates, finishing out her song.

"I'm sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said
Don't lose your head,"

While most of the girls were all for it, Marley had some hesitations. "Nikki! That was great, and I'm so proud of you for doing so well and doing your first solo! But I guess I was hoping for something more…positive! I meant to mention that earlier but got distracted by Heather's whole thing…"

"Whole thing?" Heather raised her eyebrows.

"I just mean, I think we should do something with a good message!" Marley tried "Something that gives nothing but good, positive vibes."

"Well that would have been good to know before bringing the house down with a song about a beheaded mistress," Nikki sighed out, "But I get it,"

"All of you girls are so talented, I'm sure you can come up with something!" Marley nodded, "Should we take a second to think?"

As all of the girls agreed to this, Marley almost didn't notice the student standing at her door. Though she was unsure of why she was there, it was a pleasant surprise.

"Hi!" Marley greeted the student with a friendly smile, though her voice was low as she didn't want to distract her girls, "Can I help you with something?"

"I heard you're still looking for girls to join the Troubletones?" Naomi questioned, peeking in to see how much fun all the other girls seemed to be having.

THE WARBLERS

"Absolutely not," Ambrose spoke firmly to Sutton who'd just asked him if it would be a good idea to keep practicing his song to show Teddy how good it could be.

"But why?" Sutton whined, "It's filled with so much passion!"

"Passion?" Ambrose raised his eyebrows. "You've got to be kidding me,"

"I'm not!" Sutton called out dramatically, as the two turned the corner walking into the glee meeting, being the first to arrive other than the council, "You should know better than anyone, since I was singing to you, buddy." He snickered, taking a seat, causing Ambrose to roll his eyes and let out what felt like his deepest sigh ever.

"You're not still talking about Blue are you?" Teddy questioned nervously.

"Yes! It's a great song and I can prove it to you!" Sutton tried to fight back.

"I think I speak for everyone," Oliver entered the room next, "When I say, please don't."

"Hey, I think it kind of slapped," Tommy shrugged.

"I too," Addison began speaking as he, Eric and Michael all came into the meeting, "Believe it slapped,"

"Once again," Teddy reminded the group, "It's not up for debate."

"I thought we liked taking votes, though?" Mack tried, once again remembering he was technically in charge.

"Normally we would, yes, but this song is just not appropriate for sectionals," Trent spoke up.

"So…Nationals?" Sutton tried.

"I think we should focus on getting to sectionals first," Eric laughed.

"And how do we do that?" Michael questioned, genuinely interested to see where this would go.

"With a killer song!" Zach entered the room with Frank and Bob, surprising his father with his enthusiasm.

"It's not more Heathers, right?" Tommy suddenly remembered the news he had to share with the group, "They're apparently doing it in New Directions and in Vocal Adrenaline. I have my siblings as sources, so you know it's true,"

"Why can't I have nice things?" Sutton groaned, sinking into the couch at the news which, he, in a way, already knew.

"No Heathers!" Zach smiled proudly, "It's actually from this kind of cool musical that like, I dunno, I feel like no other groups are going to do. Maybe have ever done!"

"Well, are you prepared at all to show us?" Trent silently prayed Zach was on to something, and this wasn't another waste of time.

"Hell yeah, I am!" Zach grinned, "I even got the Montgomery's here to help me!" He nodded towards the two boys he entered with.

"Well then," Teddy breathed out, "Show us what you got,"

All three standing in a row, Bob began beatboxing, as Frank started singing out.

"I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot,"

"This is the musical he thought nobody knew about?" Addison raised his eyebrows, his voice low as he laughed, only met with a shrug and similar stifled laugh from Eric.

"I'm 'a get a scholarship to King's College
I probably shouldn't brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish
The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish
I gotta holler just to be heard
With every word, I drop knowledge,"

Zach began rapping, which was, to most of the Warblers, unsurprising, but was not unwelcome, and was certainly better than Sutton's performance earlier.

"I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
Tryin' to reach my goal, my power of speech unimpeachable
Only nineteen but my mind is older
These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder
Every burden, every disadvantage
I have learned to manage, I don't have a gun to brandish
I walk these streets famished,"

Zach continued on, as a few of the Warblers now pitched in making similar sounding noises to fit in the instrumental, Trent relieved that they at least kind of looked like a team.

"Don't be shocked when your history book mentions me
I will lay down my life if it sets us free
Eventually, you'll see my ascendancy,"

Zach wrapped up his verse as he and Frank both took the chorus once more, the rest of the Warblers joining in on the backup.

"And I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot,"

As they wrapped up, they all smiled and cheered, though, at least a handful of them knew that wasn't the most viable option for sectionals.

"That was great, Zach! Frank and Bob, you both killed it! But I just, I think it's possible a lot of other groups might use something from that musical, if not that exact song," Trent tried to let them down gently.

"What do you mean?" Zach questioned, genuinely confused.

"Respectfully, Zach and co," Ambrose began, "Hamilton is one of the most accessible musicals out there. While the performance was passable, if we want to stand out at sectionals, we want to do something that also stands out. That song doesn't stand out,"

"So we can't do any well-known musicals?" Eric asked, confused.

"It's not that," Teddy shook his head, "More that if we're going to do one, we have to make sure we're all giving it 1000% our all. And while that performance was fine, we need something to put us over the top."

"But…I can rap," Zach sighed out sadly.

"And I'm sure we can find another way to use that, Sweetie," Trent smiled, "But I think we do need to focus in on a song we know we can absolutely nail, and that everyone can sort of take part in,"

"Fine," Zach shook his head, defeated.

"Let's have a think now, and see if we can't come up with anything this afternoon, yeah? I'm sure we'll find something that works to all of our strengths," Trent tried to encourage what, to most everyone in the room, looked like a group of very discouraged kids.

VOCAL ADRENALINE

"Who are you texting?" Emery scrunched their nose up, looking over Xavier's shoulder.

"No one!" Xavier suddenly put the phone away, but not before Emery saw the message and who it was from, "Don't worry about it," Xavier waved her off.

While Emery was surprised, they didn't have the chance to respond as Kendall marched in, demanding their attention.

"You ready for our big number?" She grinned at Xavier.

"You know it!" He smiled back, proud of himself for being able to throw this together at lunch.

"What big number?" Isaac asked curiously.

"I would also like to know," Sydney sneered, still angry that she didn't get to finish her song earlier.

"Just a little thing we threw together," Xavier waved it off.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Emery asked curiously, and somewhat offended that she wasn't asked to be a part of…whatever it was.

"It just didn't seem like your thing," Xavier shrugged, genuinely thinking he was doing her a favor.

"Nothing seems like her thing," Anthony laughed, referring to how Emery refused to dance last week.

"Jesus Christ," Emery mumbled, already regretting showing up to this meeting.

"Hey, let's try to be civil, okay?" Kate spoke up as she entered, "It's the only chance we have at getting good enough to win sectionals."

"We did just fine last week," Anthony spoke to her, "I don't need to remind you again that Sydney and I carried."

"Yeah, but we should still try to be a team," Leslie sighed out, coming to Kate's defense.

"One team, one dream baby!" Dana called out, surprising the group as this was the longest, most cohesive sentence they had ever put together.

"Speaking of team, did you find people for your number, Xavier?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah, he did, I'm in it," Chloe gave a side smile and a small head nod, as she, Sawyer and Steven filled out the rest of the seats.

"How do we always go in circles with these conversations?" Kendall shook her head.

"Circles?" Harmony questioned, confused, shaking her head.

"Don't indulge them," Unique whispered, speaking only loud enough that Harmony could hear.

"Alright!" Harmony clapped, gaining the attention of her glee club. "Xavier, I believe you had something to show us?"

"I do!" Xavier smiled proudly. "Chloe? Kendall, Kate, Dana? Would you care to join me on stage?"

The group followed Xavier up the stairs to the stage, leaving most of the audience confused as to where this could possibly be going.

Without much thought, Xavier and Chloe stood on the front of the stage, the other three waiting for their queues, Xavier already getting ready to absolutely ham it up.

"Give me a quarter!" He called out dramatically, looking at the audience before continuing his dramatics by looking at Chloe and pleading.

"Here in my hat!
Come on, Princeton!
It's as easy as that!
Helping others brings you
Closer to God
So give me a quarter,"

While Emery was between being confused, wanting to laugh, and still being offended that Xavier didn't think they'd want to be a part of this train wreck, Anthony, and Sydney both sat with jaws dropped and eyes wide.

"I don't have any change," Chloe responded in the most monotone voice anyone in the audience had heard.

"Hmmm... okay
Give me a dollar,"

Xavier continued giving the performance of his life, while Chloe once again, completely blank faced and monotoned responded with "That's not what I meant,"

The complete stone-cold difference between them was almost comical, which was proven by Isaac choking back a laugh at the performance.

"Give me a five," Xavier continued on

"The more you give
The more you get
That's being alive!
All I'm asking you
Is to do what
Jesus Christ would do
He'd give me a quarter
Why don't you?"

While Xavier was still performing like his life depended on it, he like Sydney earlier that morning was interrupted.

"Okay, we've seen enough," Harmony cut them off.

"What the hell?!" Kendall yelled, "We didn't even get to my part!"

"Neither did me or Dana," Kate spoke up, though she wasn't looking to fight, especially with Harmony.

"We're not performing a song where we beg for money," Harmony spoke, her voice confused and frustrated, "People are going to think we're poor and don't have funding."

"She…" Unique paused to think, "Actually has a point,"

"Which brings me back to my point from this morning. Everyone get on the stage, we're doing Big Fun," Harmony called out.

And so for the next while, the group tried to learn and perform the song. However, something about it just always felt…wrong. Besides the fact that many of the members were falling behind.

"I just don't think this song is us," Kate tried, once they all came to the consensus that something was off.

"No it's one of you," Sydney spoke matter-of-factly, "Probably a few of you. I'm doing perfectly,"

"You're doing alright," Harmony corrected her. "But there is always more work that can be done."

"I kind of agree with Kate," Leslie spoke up, "I think we need something that just…suits us better."

"What do you know?" Anthony sneered, "You just joined this glee club this year."

"So did you," Emery pointed out.

"If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it," Anthony remarked.

"Alright, enough," Unique put her hands up in defeat, "Let's just sit on this and…come back tomorrow. Think of some other song ideas you might want to try out."

"I've got one," Anthony and Leslie spoke in sync, exchanging a look.

"What song?" Harmony asked, though not to either of them specifically.

"I Dreamed a Dream," They spoke in sync again.

"Oh, no way," Anthony shook his head. "That song is for me. It's my birthright."

"You've performed so much already," Leslie pointed out, "Give someone else a shot,"

"No," Anthony shook his head, "Performing is in my blood and I am not about to back down."

"Here's an idea," Unique tried, "We'll have you both sing the song tomorrow morning. And then we'll decide how we feel about it. Deal?"

"Deal," The two said in sync.

"Alright! Vocal Adrenaline's first diva off!" Unique spoke excitedly, though she seemed to be the only one, as everyone else muttered among themselves, slowly filing out of the auditorium.

THURSDAY MORNING

NEW DIRECTIONS

"Audrey!" Lex called out to his friend, grabbing her just as she was about to turn to head into her glee meeting, "Hey!"

"Oh, hey, Lex!" She smiled kindly. She'd meant to reach out to him over the last week, but time had just seemed to slip away from her. That said, she was happy that he'd stopped her, as she did always enjoy seeing him, "What's up?"

"I uh," He swallowed hard, thinking about how he was still not entirely sure whether Audrey and Heather were together, "I was just wondering if you'd maybe want to hang out soon? After school or this weekend or something?"

"Aw, Lex," Audrey smiled, "I wish I could, I just," she deep sighed thinking about the performances she'd seen so far this week, shaking her head, "We've got a lot of work to do before sectionals. Like a lot of work. I just don't know if I've got much free time."

"Oh, sure," Lex nodded, pretending it didn't bother him, "Well if anything opens up, let me know yeah?" He flashed her a charming smile.

"Sure thing," Audrey nodded, feeling bad that this is the second time she had to blow him off.

"Are you coming, babe?" Heather popped her head out of the classroom, "Oh, hey Lex,"

"Hi, Heather," Lex awkwardly raised his hand, his heart sinking, not realizing that Heather was going through a phase where she called everyone babe, and that the two were not actually together.

"I've gotta go," Audrey tilted her head towards her classroom door, "But I'll text you later, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Lex nodded, slumping his way into the New Directions choir room where he was the last to arrive.

"Nice of you to join us," Savannah smirked, teasing her friend.

"Sorry, I got held up with something," Lex explained, trying to not let his inner pain show.

"No worries, you're here, and that's what matters," Mr. Schue smiled.

"Too bad we can't say the same thing for Naomi," Kyla muttered.

"Look, if she's not here, that's her choice," Mr. Schue grew visibly annoyed, "It's not our place to know where she is."

"Unless she quit, then it is our place to know," Delia tried, she cared less about where Naomi actually was, and more about knowing she was an important player on this team.

"Well? Jones'?" Felix raised his eyebrows, "Care to spill the beans?"

"We don't know either," Hazel shook her head, "Honestly, we don't,"

"We haven't really… talked to her - about glee - since Tuesday," Rowan explained, "Didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it,"

"It also didn't really feel like our place to ask," Finley shrugged.

"Simon?" Mr. Schue looked at Naomi's twin.

"Nope," Simon shook his head, lying in front of his glee club and in front of God, "I've got no idea,"

"Well, I guess it's best to just press on then," Mr. Schue breathed out, "Alright, does anyone have a song they want to do before you all head off to class?"

"I uh, have one," Felix shrugged, "But can I save it for the afternoon? I'd like time to perfect it," He shrugged.

"Sure thing, Felix," Mr. Schue nodded, happy that Felix was stepping up to the plate, nervous about what exactly he would be singing.

"Sick," Felix nodded, glad he was given the approval.

"I think I'll do the same," Lex sighed out, albeit, quite dramatically, "I've got a lot of thinking to do,"

"Uh, okay, we can save yours for the afternoon too, then," Mr. Schue furrowed his eyebrows, "But, are you okay, Lex?"

"Oh yeah," Lex nodded, "My heart's just been crushed into a million pieces,"

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Rey tried.

"Well, I don't want to hear about it, regardless," Delia spoke just loud enough to be heard.

"Delia," Her father raised his eyebrows at her, "Let's try to have some compassion,"

"Let's try," Delia spoke, though her voice and demeanor never strayed from it's calm professionalism, "To remember that we've got sectionals coming up. Lex, I'm sorry for whatever it is that you're going through, but we can't afford to have peer to peer counselling sessions when we're this close to the competition,"

"She has a point," Kyla lazily responded, "No offence, Lex,"

"None taken," Lex shrugged just as the bell rang.

"Alright, well, uh, looking forward to seeing your performances this afternoon!" Will called out but was actively ignored as all of the teens made their way to class.

THE TROUBLETONES

"What did he want?" Heather questioned Audrey, referring to how Lex had stopped her in the hallway.

"He uh," Audrey started, "Just wanted to say hi. It's been a while since we've seen each other or hung out and I think he was hoping to plan something. I mean, I guess I was kind of too, I dunno, I really miss him," She thought out loud, not realizing that she was rambling.

"Woah, too much information," Heather shook her head, laughing, "If I wanted to know about your weirdo crush on weirdo boy I would have asked about that instead."

"What?!" Audrey's face suddenly turned bright red, "I don't…I don't have a crush on Lex."

"Yeah, okay," Tia rolled her eyes, laughing as she and Mia entered the room, Mia laughing along with her.

"Sure, Audrey, whatever helps you sleep at night," Zoey agreed, rolling her eyes the same way Tia did just moments ago.

"In fairness," Naomi spoke hesitantly as she entered the room, not trying to step on anyone's toes, but also wanting to be involved with the gossip, "Lex talks about her just as much. Maybe more,"

"Ooh, this is an interesting development," Heather raised her eyebrows, "Naomi you're like our little spy! You can tell us everything that Lex said about her," she laughed, momentarily forgetting her brother was also in New Directions and could easily do the same thing.

"Lex says what about who?" Leah questioned, joining the other girls.

"Is it Audrey?" Trina questioned, "Since you know, her and Lex are like…not a thing but not not a thing,"

"We're not a thing!" Audrey cried out defensively.

"Sounds suspiciously like something you'd say if you were a thing," Cay smirked as she and Nikki entered the room together.

"Come on, Audrey, it's so obvious," Nikki shrugged.

"What is?!" Audrey was almost scared to hear the answer.

"How you and Lex basically live up each other's asses," Nikki snickered.

"Nikki!" Marley - who'd only caught the second half of the conversation - suddenly intervened, "Watch your language!"

"Don't censor me," Nikki fought back.

"Enough," Marley laughed, shaking her head, "It's time to get to work. Although, Audrey, Lex is such a lovely boy," She couldn't help but tease her niece about her crush.

"Oh my god," Audrey shook her head, taking a seat and burying her head in her hands.

"Alright," Marley stifled a giggle, regaining the attention of the girls in the room, "Did anyone have a song they wanted to quickly run through this morning?"

"We do," Zoey and Tia spoke in sync, as Heather and Mia exchanged a look as this was news to them.

"Well then, take it away, ladies!" Marley encouraged them, hoping their song would be somewhat in the happier, more upbeat area she was looking for.

Taking front and center first, Tia began singing, her voice in just a slightly lower range than she was used to, though her strength and talent never faltered.

"All their eyes say, 'Don't attack me'
Watch them sweat and pant and shake
Every food chain has its acme
Regina George eats steak,"

"Who's Regina George?" Nikki scrunched her nose up.

"You're kidding, right?" Cay's eyes widened as she responded to Nikki.

"She's the queen of beasts
She can smell your fear
In this biosphere
She's the apex predator,"

"Hell yeah, babe!" Heather cheered Tia on, and while Mia was still annoyed with Heather calling absolutely everyone babe, she was equally as excited for Tia, cheering out with just as much enthusiasm.

"Like a lioness
Only with less fur
Do not mess with her
She's the apex predator,"

Stepping slightly to the side, Tia let Zoey now take center stage, taking her part.

"See us mark our territory
As I follow in her train
I was victim, I was quarry
Now I shake my mane"

Zoey's voice was starkly different to Tia's but in a way that made them somehow come across as even more powerful, as she easily sang out the words.

"She's the queen of beasts
And I'm in her pride
I have hitched a ride
With the apex predator,"

Zoey sang to all the girls in the room, making special eye contact with Heather, almost as if to assert dominance before she continued on, her voice still just as beautiful and strong as it always was.

"And it's kinda fun
When she bares her claws
When I'm safe because
I'm with the apex predator,"

Both now standing front and center, they really let the room see just how much raw talent they both possessed, somehow getting their voices to mesh perfectly, creating a beautiful harmony as they sang out the end of their song.

"Will she braid your hair
Will she eat your heart
How can you outsmart
The apex predator,"

They concluded with a loud round of applause from the room, everyone impressed not only by how they did on their own, but how unbelievably good they were together.

"Wow, ladies, that was…incredible!" Marley cooed, "But you know, I was hoping for something a little more… like what we talked about on Tuesday."

"Which was what?" Naomi asked cautiously but curiously.

"Something more 'lighthearted and positive'," Leah explained.

"And while you both are so talented," Marley turned her attention back to Tia and Zoey, "I was just hoping for something a little different," she finished just as the bell rang, "Alright girls, we'll see you this afternoon! And remember! Think positively!"

THE WARBLERS

"So you all understand your parts, yes?" Tommy spoke to the small group of boys before him.

"Aye, aye captain!" Addison gave a small salute despite knowing he'd helped Tommy come up with the idea for this number.

"Aye, aye!" Bob repeated, just happy to have been asked to be a part of two numbers so far.

"I… think so?" Mack tried, as he was recruited for the number very last minute.

"Great!" Tommy spoke happily as Teddy and Trent entered the room.

"What's…all this about?" Trent asked, cautiously optimistic.

"We've put a song together!" Tommy smiled proudly.

"What kind of song?" The nervousness in Teddy's voice was made completely evident as he made his way to sit at the council table alone since the only other two councilmen were standing before him.

"A good one!" Addison grinned, not answering Teddy's question.

"Ooh, what musical are you doing?" Eric questioned curiously as he and Michael walked into see the four boys preparing themselves.

"I would say it's an instant classic," Tommy, much like Addison, didn't really answer the question.

"You guys better not be singing Blue," Sutton warned, "I've been practicing!"

"Why?" Ambrose was clearly frustrated with Sutton, "Why have you been practicing?"

"To prove you wrong, mostly," Sutton smirked.

"We're not doing Blue!" Teddy and Trent surprised each other by speaking in sync.

"And thank god for that," Oliver muttered.

"So what song are we doing?" Zach questioned curiously, not too far behind Oliver.

"Well we," Addison gestured to himself, Tommy, Mack and Bob, "Are just trying out a little diddy."

"Look at you Bob!" Frank smiled at his brother, "You're so involved!"

"Alright," Teddy sighed out, "Now that everyone's here…what have you got?"

"I am so glad you asked!" Tommy smiled wide, as all four boys took position, Tommy starting the song out.

"Hello!," He started happily, "My name is Elder Price and I would like to share with you the most amazing book,"

Stepping up, Addison took the next part, his show face on, and his smile wide, "Hello!" He also sang out, "My name is Elder Grant, it's a book about America, a long, long time ago,"

While the two boys sounded great, Teddy was not entirely sure that this was the image they wanted to go into sectionals with. Despite this though, he continued listening politely as Tommy began singing again.

"It has so many awesome parts
You simply won't believe how much
This book can change your life,"

"Hello!" Mack took his turn signing, "My name is Elder Young,"

Bob pied in with a "Hello!"

"Did you know that Jesus lived here in the USA?" Mack continued singing as the rest of the Warblers looked at each other trying to figure out how they felt about the song.

All moving around the room now, the boys tried to take turn singing lines though it coming across as more chaotic and unplanned then, well, good as they ended up just singing on top of each other

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

"Ding dong!"

"Heigh ho!"

"Just take this book!"

"It's free!"

"For you!"

"For me!"

While the four boys exchanged looks, trying to get their rhythm and sync back, they eventually found it to close out the song together.

"You're gonna die someday
But if you read this book you'll see
That there's another way
Spend eternity with friends and family
We can fully guarantee you that
This book will change your life
This book will change your life
This book will change your life
This book will change your life
The Book of Mormon
Hello!"

They finished, all standing in a row giving show face and jazz hands, earning awkward, sporadic applause from the audience.

"Well, what are your thoughts, fellas?" Addison asked hopefully.

"It was…very fun," Eric nodded, not wanting to hurt their feelings by saying that it truly just felt all over the place.

"I just don't think it's right for sectionals," Teddy shook his head, "It was, like Zach's performance, fine, but not what we're looking for,"

"What exactly…are we looking for?" Michael questioned.

"I'll know it when I see it," Teddy shook his head.

"I mean…" Mack surprised the room by actually speaking up, "That's fair, but what if you never see it?"

"Maybe if I had councilmen to actually help me, it wouldn't be such a chore to find it on my own," Teddy snapped, immediately regretting the words that came out.

"Teddy," Tommy immediately intervened, "I understand you're stressed but… that was a little harsh,"

"I-" Teddy tried to speak, but was interrupted by the bell, "I didn't…" He tried to find his words but they just didn't come.

Looking at each other awkwardly, the group slowly but surely made their way out, no sound to be heard except a small "yikes" from Sutton as Teddy was, once again, left alone at the council table.

VOCAL ADRENALINE

"Alright everyone!" Unique smiled, clapping her hands together, "Welcome to our first official diva off!"

"Just because you keep calling it that doesn't mean that we're going to," Sydney spoke absentmindedly, looking at something on her phone instead of the stage.

"I think it's fun!" Steven smiled, sitting next to his sister.

"Don't forget about my song," Sydney gave him side eyes, annoyed that he went against her.

"We'll do a coin toss to decide who will go first," Harmony explained, actively ignoring Sydney, "Leslie will call it."

"What? Why?" Anthony's eyes widened.

"Because she bothers me less than you do," Harmony explained, who, much like Sydney, was barely paying attention.

"Harmony, please," Unique shook her head, though, of course, was happy Leslie got to call it. "Whenever you're ready Leslie,"

"Tails," Leslie called just seconds before Unique flipped the coin.

"Heads," Unique sighed out, "Alright Anthony, take it away,"

Clearing his throat confidently, Anthony stepped to the front of the stage getting ready to give a show stopping performance - right after he monologued.

"Alright, folks, this is my performance of a song I have literally been singing since before I could walk. Leslie, if you decide not to perform after me, I don't think anyone would blame you. In fact-"

"God, can you just get on with it?" Kendall called out, much like everyone else, bored and not even really wanting to be here.

"Fine," Anthony stood up straight, "Hit it," He commanded the band, immediately lifting an emotional hand up, singing out dramatically.

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by," He began, despite his obvious dramatics, his voice, per usual, was absolutely remarkable.

"He's really good," Sawyer noted.

"No kidding," Kate agreed with a small nod

"When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving,"

His voice was absolutely stunning. However, what he, and the rest of the Vocal Adrenaline was, for some reason, not expecting, was that Leslie's was just as good as she too, sang out, the emotion in her voice evident and aided her in selling the song.

"Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted,"

"Go get 'em Leslie!" Kendall called out in support.

"Woo!" Dana called out, clapping.

"There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted,"

Leslie sang, smiling at the bit of support she got.

Anthony was still, however, able to prove that he knew this song inside and out and could absolutely kill it on the bridge.

"But the tigers come at night," He sang beautifully, "With their voices soft as thunder,"

"It's gonna be a tight race," Xavier noted as he was only met with half hearted nods from both Chloe and Emery.

"As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame,"

He held the last note for as long as possible, earning a "holy crap" from Isaac.

Leslie was not going to give up without a fight though, as she sang out, truly from the heart as her mother had instructed her to do at home that morning.

"I had a dream my life would be," She began belting, pleasantly surprising the group

"So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed,"

Much like Anthony, she held the note for a while, suddenly bringing her voice down, sounding the most emotional and connected to the material either of them had so far.

"Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed,"

Both teens got loud rounds of applause, making it impossible to tell who the preferred performer was. This however, did not bother Harmony one bit.

"While both of those performances were cute," She began, "not good enough for sectionals. We're sticking with Big Fun and that's it."

"Then… what was the point of all that?" Sydney questioned, visibly annoyed.

"I don't know. Building rapport or something? Ask Unique, it was her idea," Harmony rolled her eyes.

Although Sydney was going to take her up on that, the bell rang, dismissing them. "Alright," Unique called out, "We'll see you this afternoon then."

As the kids filed out, Unique pulled Harmony to the side, "We need to figure out what the hell we're doing," She spoke, point blank.

"I know what I'm doing," Harmony spoke back, refusing to take any blame.

"That's great. But in case you forgot, we are a 'we' now," Unique gestured between them, "And we need to get our shit together. And I think that starts with admitting that Big Fun just…isn't for us."

"But if we don't have that, then what do we have?" Harmony whined.

"We've got the kids," Unique smiled, "Let them figure out what they want to do. We'll just have to follow their lead. Besides, apparently lots of groups are doing the Heathers. So that can be our out."

"Fine," Harmony eventually conceded, "But I'm not happy about it,"

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

NEW DIRECTIONS

"Alright everyone," Mr. Schue spoke out, already seeming somewhat defeated, "I've got some not so great news,"

"Is it about Naomi?" Felix piped up, "And how she abandoned us for the Troubletones?"

"What?!" Finley's eyes widened.

"She can't just leave, can she?" Rowan shook their head.

"She can, and she did, we can't force her to stay here though," Will breathed out, "Felix, how long have you known about this?"

"And how exactly did you find out?" Delia raised her eyebrows.

"I've got connections in the Troubletones," Felix shrugged, referring to Tia, Mia, Zoey, and of course, his sister, Heather, "They told me about at lunch today,"

"I…I can't believe this," Simon spoke, pretending to be shocked, but relieved he didn't have to hold the secret in anymore.

"Well, we've still got 13 people, so in terms of numbers, we'll be fine," Mr. Schue tried his best to remind the kids that this wasn't the end of the world.

"And it's not like we had any numbers super set in stone or anything, right?" Oscar spoke, half trying to help, half reminding his glee coach that they had nothing prepared.

"Right," Mr. Schue nodded, thinking long and hard, "Well, either way, it's like Delia said this morning, best to think about sectionals. I believe a few of you had some songs to share. Lex? Felix? Who'd like to go first?"

"You go ahead, buddy," Felix nodded towards Lex, remembering last week when Rey said 'first is the worst, second is the best,'

"Sure," Lex nodded, swallowing hard as he made his way to the front of the class. "So, uh, as you all know from this morning, I've had some, uh, disappointment in my life lately. But the good news is, I found a song that fits how I'm feeling! So uh, here it goes?"

A soft song began playing behind him as he thought back to that morning, and basically every other time he and Audrey had interacted, just to be interrupted by Heather.

"Hands touch, eyes meet," Lex started, a few of the students in the audience being familiar with the song, "Sudden silence, sudden heat,"

Despite a slower tempo than Lex usually sang, he sounded very pretty. Though of course, many of the students had to wonder what this was about.

"Hearts leap in a giddy whirl
He could be that boy
But I'm not that girl,"

Suddenly placing an emotional hand up slightly, Lex continued to sing out, while Rey, Sophie, and Flora all exchanged looks trying to see if they could come up with the meaning behind the song choice.

"Don't dream too far
Don't lose sight of who you are
Don't remember that rush of joy
He could be that boy
I'm not that girl,"

Placing his hands over his heart, he looked off into the distance wistfully.

"Every so often we long to steal
To the land of what-might-have-been
But that doesn't soften the ache we feel
When reality sets back in,"

While it was an absolutely beautiful performance, Felix couldn't help himself from laughing as he made all the connections in his head to what this about, which he, once again, had heard from his 'connections' in the Troubletones. Of course, Lex was not expecting sudden laughter, so while it did throw him off slightly, he finished the song with as much poise, grace and dramatic flare as he had performed the rest of the song with.

"Don't wish, don't start
Wishing only wounds the heart
I wasn't born for the rose and pearl
There's a girl I know
She loves her so
I'm not that girl,"

Lex was pleasantly surprised at all of the applause he received, Savannah making sure to cheer louder than the rest, as she also was starting to put the pieces together, and wanted to remain Lex's closest ally.

"Wow, what an emotional performance, Lex," Mr. Schue nodded, "I did suggest some more lighthearted songs, but uh, I'm glad you found something that worked for you. Alright, Felix, you've got something too right?"

"That I do!" Felix stood up, still somewhat laughing to himself about what he'd just witnessed which earned him a look of confusion from Lex and a death glare from Savannah.

"Alright, well, uh, let's see it then!" Mr. Schue encouraged, still somewhat nervous as he'd only really seen Felix perform a handful of other times, and one of them was in the infamous fortnite group number.

"Hit it!" Felix called out to the band, who, as requested, did hit it. A fun and familiar beat started behind him as Sophie, Rey, and Flora all ran out, surprising the rest of the group by coming up behind him, with full choreography as he began singing.

"Hey little girl, with the cash to burn," Felix moved around, immediately grabbing the rest of the clubs' attention as he sang out confidently.

While the freshman behind him continued their choreography, and singing various 'do do's, Felix continued singing out, his voice almost as impressive as his charisma.

"Well, I'm selling something you won't return
Hey little girl, take me off the shelf
Cause it's hard having fun playing with yourself,"

While Mr. Schue was not entirely happy with the appropriateness of the song choice, and especially the last line Felix sang out, he couldn't argue this was the most engaged the glee club had been so far this week, as they swayed, hummed and clapped along.

"Once you browse through the whole selection," Felix pointed a finger directly to his glee teacher, before shaking erratically, "Shake those hips in my direction,"

"Woah!" Felix practically screamed out, earning him loud laughter and cheers from virtually everyone in the room, including his trio of backup dancers, before he continued on.

"Hey little girl, on a spending spree,
I don't come cheap but the kisses come free
On closer inspection, I'm sure that you'll agree,"

Felix then proceeded to fall directly on his knees, just like he did during his audition as Rey, Sophie, and Flora all moved to be more spaced out, but now evenly behind him, both Flora and Rey trying to keep up with Sophie's choreography, continuing their back up singing.

"Oh, hey little girl, listen to my plea
I come with a lifetime guarantee
One day maybe you will find the baby makes three,"

The senior student stood up, mimicking the three girls' dancing as he wrapped up the song, singing to and at anyone who dared to make eye contact with him.

"It's the ladies' choice, I'm the ladies' choice
The ladies' choice, I'm the ladies' choice, choice, choice
I'm the ladies' choice,"

He concluded with what could only be described as a smile that was somewhere between a smirk and a smolder, the three freshmen behind him bowing, the room roaring with applause and laughter.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Mr. Schue cheered and laughed. "Now, maybe not that song exactly, but, either way, phenomenal work!"

While Felix was annoyed since he - and all the other students - heard the Toxic and Blurred Lines rumors, he accepted that he at least did a good job, moving to high five the trio of dancers who'd helped make the performance as great as it was.

"Alright," Mr. Schue directed, "Get to thinking about what songs you'd like to do sort of like this. Think of some duets, too!"

As the club scattered to discuss potential songs with their friends and teammates, Felix felt a small tap on his shoulder.

"Why'd you laugh?" Lex asked quietly, but pouted.

"At what?" Felix spoke, already forgetting most of what happened at this glee meeting.

"My song! I'm really going through something here, I thought we were, you know, getting to be friends," Lex sighed out.

"Because," Felix placed a firm hand on Lex's shoulder, "If my sources are correct you've got a thing for Audrey-"

"Can you keep your voice down?" Lex spoke in hushed tones.

"And you think she's dating my sister," Felix continued, making no change to the volume or tone of his voice, "But the fact of the matter is Heather's dating Tia. Or maybe Mia. I don't remember. Either way it's not Audrey, I can tell you that much for free."

"So why didn't you? Tell me, I mean," Lex shook his head.

"I didn't realize you were down this bad," Felix couldn't help but chuckle. "But hey, Audrey might not be your girl, but she's not anyone else's either."

"Oh, well," Lex suddenly felt embarrassed about his dramatic performance, "Thanks for telling me, Felix. I appreciate it," is

"You got it, buddy," Felix smirked, nodding.

As glee began to wrap up, Oscar was the last to leave, jumping at the man who jumped out from behind the door at him.

"Jesus!" Oscar cried out, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Ah, you don't gotta call me Jesus, just Bryce'll do," The much taller male chuckled, "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about old Brycey here,"

"I was trying to," Oscar muttered, "Things were so peaceful," he shook his head before looking up at the other male, "Wait, why are you here? Were you eavesdropping on glee?"

"No," Bryce blatantly lied, "Though if I were, I'd ask you why you hadn't professed your love to that weird tall girl you like," he referenced Kyla, "Come on isn't that what glee's all about?"

"No, and I'm leaving this conversation," Oscar sighed out, shaking his head.

"Oh, wait!" Bryce called out, "You can't. Your dad asked if I could drive you home."

"You know Zach isn't my dad, right?" Oscar raised his eyebrows.

"No, your dad dad. Trent. Said something about the Warblers meeting going long or something?" Bryce shrugged, "Either way, you're stuck with me, kiddo."

"You're a year older than me," Oscar sighed out once more, "We're in the same grade,"

"Doesn't matter! Now come on, we can stop for ice cream on the way," Bryce smiled wide, dangling his keys in front of Oscar's face.

"Fine," Oscar reluctantly agreed after a few long moments. "But only if we stop for ice cream,"

THE TROUBLETONES

So what songs do New Directions have planned?" Mia asked Naomi curiously as they, Tia, Heather, and Audrey all sat in the choir room, waiting for Marley and the other girls to arrive.

"I honestly wish I had answers," Naomi shook her head, "Mr. Schue keeps changing plans on what songs he wants to do. They're kind of… a mess right now,"

"That's good news for us," Zoey smirked, entering the room.

"It's not like we have a song, either," Tia reminded her cousin.

"Not my fault you all could not handle my raw Heather power," Heather snickered.

"I heard you guys did The Heathers too," Naomi nodded, "Rumor has it a lot of the groups are doing it."

"Even the Warblers were considering it at a point," Leah spoke up, "Sutton tried to sing Blue, got told no, and so I had to spend all week listening to him practice it so he could try and prove it was a worthy song for sectionals. I can't unhear that now," she laughed.

"It was probably Teddy who told him no, so I'm sorry, but also, you're welcome," Cay smirked.

"I will say, your sister," Naomi turned to face Trina, "Gave the most memorable performance of Dead Girl Walking I think I'd ever seen,"

"That's the song she chose?!" Trina gasped.

"You didn't know?" Audrey laughed.

"She told me I wasn't allowed to. Something about how it tore her apart because of how much she loved me, but that I was the enemy?" Trina shook her head.

"God, siblings are the worst," Nikki shook her head, "Right, Leah?"

Before Leah had the chance to respond, Marley entered the room, smiling, "Look at you all getting along,"

"It's not that rare," Audrey blatantly lied out of fear of scaring Naomi off.

"Heather and I almost killed each other two days ago," Zoey pointed out, "And that's tame for us,"

"Listen," Naomi laughed, "I have four siblings and we were all in New Directions together. I get arguing, in fact, I can't get away from it,"

"Be that as it may," Marley started, "We're going to try to. Did anyone have a song to try this afternoon? Or any suggestions?"

"I have one," Cay spoke, surprising most of the rest of the glee club as, much like Nikki, she hadn't really performed other than in groups.

"I can't wait to hear it!" Marley spoke ecstatically, just hoping and praying it would be somewhat more uplifting than what she'd heard so far.

"It's not easy to know
I'm not anything like I used to be
Although it's true
I was never attention's sweet center
I still remember that girl,"

Cay began singing, immediately earning her the undivided attention of everyone in the room, surprised by both how she sang pretty decently and also the emotion the young girl was able to manifest for this performance.

"She's imperfect, but she tries
She is good, but she lies
She is hard on herself
She is broken and won't ask for help,"

"Go Cay!" Nikki clapped out cheering loudly, proud of who was, admittedly, her closest friend in the glee club

"She is messy, but she's kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up
And baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine,"

While her vocals remained beautiful against the slow music, it was once again her ability to connect to sell the performance that made the rest of her glee club in awe of her, before letting her voice grow softer as she started to wrap up the song.

"She is messy, but she's kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up
And baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine,"

As she earned loud applause from the room around her, Cay suddenly appeared almost timid, not expecting this sort of reaction.

"Cay, that was…" Marley was speechless, "Absolutely beautiful. Seriously, so, so well done."

"Thanks," Cay nodded, smiling slightly as she made her way back to her seat, switching seats with Marley who got up in front of the kids again.

"But, as beautiful as it was-" She started but was cut off.

"We know. You want the sugary sweet crap," Zoey rolled her eyes.

"No, I just want you girls to keep it positive!" Marley cried out.

"Marley," Tia suddenly spoke, visibly lost in thought, "I might have an idea. For a group number. That kind of… checks all of our boxes?"

The girls got excited about this new song, just before getting prepared to leave.

"Hey!" Nikki called after Cay, grabbing her before she left. "I just wanted to say…your performance today was actually really good,"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Cay questioned. While she wasn't opposed to it, she also wasn't great at letting people in.

"Am I normally not nice to you?" Nikki couldn't help but laugh, "I just thought you did a good performance. It's not that deep,"

"Oh," Cay nodded, "Well, thanks. Honestly. It, you know, means a lot to me that you'd say that. Your performance was pretty great too,"

"Well now you're just trying to butter me up," Nikki laughed, "It's working though, and you're not wrong. Hey," she suddenly thought, "We've got a couple classes in common. We should hang out to study sometime. You could come over to my house since you already know my mom and you can see the absolute buffoonery I have to put up every day,"

"Seriously?" Cay raised her eyebrows, it took her aback, but in a good way, "Yeah, that sounds cool,"

"Sweet! Here, give me your number and we'll sort out the details," Nikki smiled as they exchanged numbers.

Meanwhile, Naomi was hoping to squeeze out of the halls without meeting any of her family. However, this did not go as planned.

"Naomi?" Hazel stood just a few feet away, though it felt like a mile for both of them.

"Hey, Hazel," Naomi took a deep breath, "I guess you're here to scold me about leaving?"

"Not at all," Hazel shook her head, "I'm just wondering why you didn't tell us,"

"Excuse me?" Naomi raised her eyebrows.

"It was just… not great having to find out that you weren't coming back the same time everyone else did," Hazel breathed out, "I just thought we were maybe on the road to finally getting kind of close,"

"Oh, so I embarrassed you in front of glee club? Hm, how funny," Naomi suddenly got defensive, "Nothing like you when you sang that song without telling us,"

"Naomi, you know that's not the same," Hazel breathed out heavily.

"You're right. It's not. But I needed something just for me. To myself. I needed this to be for me and to not get anyone else involved," Naomi tried to explain, "I thought you of all people would understand that,"

"I do understand, I just-" Hazel tried, but was cut off.

"Clearly you don't," Naomi shook her head, "I'll see you at home?"

And just like that Hazel was left watching her sister walk off in the hallway, just as Simon, Finley, and Rowan all showed up behind her to watch it happen.

THE WARBLERS

Things were awkward with the council since things had heated up that morning. The Warblers, like everyone, disagreed from time to time, but they hadn't really seen anyone snap like that.

"I owe you both an apology," Teddy spoke to Mack and Tommy, "What I said this morning was out of line, and while I am stressed, it was not right to take it out on you."

"It's honestly fine," Mack nodded, neglecting to mention that he cried the second he left the room that morning, "I just wish, I dunno, if you had a problem with me or with us you would have said something before,"

"I just, you know, didn't want to upset you guys," Teddy sighed out.

"So yelling at Mack this morning was better?" Tommy laughed.

"No, but," Teddy paused trying to think of the best way to go about this, "It does feel like I'm making a lot of the decisions myself,"

"I could see that," Mack nodded, "I just feel bad that we wasted this whole week not being able to find a good song,"

"I mean… there is one more option," Trent sighed out as he entered the room, "But I don't think the Warblers are going to like it very much."

"I'm afraid we might be thinking the same thing," Teddy let out a dry chuckle, "I was going to suggest everyone performs a song, and we narrow it down from there,"

"Teddy, I swear it's like you're in my head," Trent laughed.

"So…everyone just sings a song, and we go from there?" Mack tried to understand and actively take part.

"Sounds like a fun afternoon!" Tommy shrugged, "I love songs!"

"So…" Ambrose entered the room, speaking slowly, "Everything's all good in here?"

"Yeah!" Mack nodded, smiling.

"Thank God," Sutton breathed out, "Alright guys, come on in," he waved the rest of the Warblers into the room.

"Were you all just…waiting in the hallway?" Teddy questioned.

"Yeah," Addison shrugged, "We thought you guys might be fighting,"

"Well, nobody's fighting," Trent assured his boys, "However we do have some news,"

"What kind of news?" Eric questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"We've decided," Mack looked at Teddy, knowing he wouldn't mind taking the fall for this one, "That we'd like you all to sing a song! So we can see our choices!"

"Won't that take…I dunno…literally forever?" Oliver raised his eyebrows.

"It will take a few hours at absolute worst," Trent spoke calmly, "But yes, it might take a while. Please let your parents know where you are, and then we'll get started."

As the boys sorted themselves out arranging carpools among themselves, they finally settled into the room.

"Alright," Teddy spoke calmly, though more friendly than the group had been anticipating, "Who wants to go first?"

"I uh," Oliver surprised the group by speaking up, "Actually might have something?"

"You know just because you go first doesn't mean you get to leave first right?" Sutton laughed.

"Yeah, but," Oliver sighed out, "I've seen like, one musical, and I wanted to grab this song before anyone else did. I'm sure you all know it, and you all love jumping in, so just like, go ahead and do that I guess?"

"Well," Trent was glad they were getting the ball rolling but was not entirely sure where this was going to go, "Please, whenever you feel you're ready, go right ahead!"

Coughing awkwardly, Oliver slowly began the song.

"We'll get some overhead lifters and some four-barrel quads, oh yeah," He sang out, while he was not the most confident singer, his voice was strong and sounded good enough that nobody seemed to mind.

Recognizing the song immediately, Sutton leaped from his seat, singing out loud and proud, "Keep talking, whoa keep talking,"

The two boys shared a knowing look and small smile as one by one, the other Warblers hopped in with backing noises, Oliver singing out once more.

"A fuel injection cut-off and chrome plated rods, oh yeah," He smiled to himself as Sutton sang after him once more.

"I'll get the money I'll kill to get the money," Sutton smiled, as Tommy made up some impromptu choreography, all the boys doing their best to follow it, and to Trent's surprise, most of them were able to.

"With a four speed on the floor they'll be waiting at the door
You know that ain't no crap we'll be getting lots of that
In Grease Lightning,"

Oliver surprised the group with his lower range throughout but surprised himself the most with how not awful he sounded.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go," the boys around him all chanted.

"Go grease lightning, you're burning up the quarter mile," Oliver sang out, his confidence suddenly growing stronger.

"Grease lightning, go grease lightning," Half of the boys chanted around him, while the other half continued on with making the instrumental.

"Go grease lightning you're coasting through the heat lap trial," Oliver continued, actually enjoying himself.

"Grease lightning, go grease lightning," The Warblers repeated once more.

"You are supreme," Oliver surprised himself once more as he found himself trying to follow the choreography as the song wrapped up, "the chicks'll scream for grease lightning,"

All of the Warblers struck a dramatic pose, cheering happily.

"That is certainly a contender," Teddy smiled, nodding, "While Tommy, your on the fly choreography was good, this is a song that relies heavily on it, and as I'm sure we all know, choreography is not our strong suit. But definitely a song to keep in our back pocket,"

"Okay, moving on then," Trent wanted things to go as quickly as possible, "Who's next?"

While Zach tried to do another Hamilton song, Addison suggested something from Newsies, Tommy suggested more Book of Mormon, and of course, Sutton got one line through Blue before being told to sit down. While it seemed like this went on forever, Eric was the last to go.

"The song I have is uh, kind of the opposite of what you suggested," he admitted sheepishly, "It's a solo, and a fairly accessible song. But I think whoever would hypothetically sing it at sectionals – whether it's me or someone else – if they could really get into it, I feel like it could be a possible contender?"

"Sure, Eric," Teddy nodded, just wanting the last performance to be over and done with, "Whenever you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, Eric began to sing out, nervously at first.

"I've learned to slam on the brake
Before I even turn the key
Before I make the mistake
Before I lead with the worst of me,"

While it took not just the council, but most of the group by surprise, the song was a good choice – it suited Eric's voice, and so far, he was really delivering it.

"Give them no reason to stare
No slipping up if you slip away
So I got nothing to share
No, I got nothing to say,"

His voice had a lower range that most of the club didn't realize he had, and as he picked up the next part of the song, it showed just how well he could deliver it.

"Step out, step out of the sun if you keep getting burned,"

VOCAL ADRENALINE

"Step out step out of the sun, because you've learned, because you've learned," Steven sang out, completely unaware that in another glee club someone was singing the exact same song.

"He's…pretty good," Kate noted to Sydney.

"We're related, what did you expect?" Sydney rolled her eyes despite knowing Kate was right.

"On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I've always been?
'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass
I'm waving through a window,"

His voice was pretty and strong, and Unique and Harmony exchanged a look knowing that, somehow, within hours of them canning their old song, Steven gave them a new one.

"I try to speak, but nobody can hear
So I wait around for an answer to appear
While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass
I'm waving through a window, oh
Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me?"

He smiled, as Sawyer cheered loudly for their friend, prepping himself to end on a great note.

"Is anybody waving?" His belt was surprisingly strong, confident, and shockingly pleasant to listen to, "Waving, waving...oh,"

He finished, taking a small bow as he smiled at the uproar of applause he was given.

"Yee haw!" Dana called out excitedly.

"Steven, I think I speak for everyone when I say…you blew us away," Unique smiled kindly.

"He was alright," Sydney rolled her eyes.

"He might be more talented than you," Anthony smirked, not entirely believing it but wanting to get a rise out of her.

"Shut up, Anthony," Sydney groaned.

"I think," Harmony stood up, turning to face the kids in the audience as Steven rejoined them, "We may have just found our song for sectionals,"

"What?" Leslie asked, confused.

"What happened to Big Fun?" Kendall raised her eyebrows.

"You guys were right," Unique nodded, "It's just…not us."

"Besides," Harmony added on, "There's been a mess of groups trying to do the Heathers and we don't want to be caught up in that,"

"Warblers are doing Blue," Dana nodded, smiling, thinking this was accurate, insider information.

"They're… what?" Kate shook her head in disbelief.

"Regardless of what they're doing," Unique spoke up, "I think we can all agree – no more Heathers?"

"That's too bad," a voice from the back of the theater echoed before anyone else had the chance to respond, "The only song I brought with me is Heathers,"

"JUDE!" Xavier called out excitedly, literally climbing over everyone who was in his way, rushing to give his friend a hug, and for the first time in his life, he had it reciprocated.

"Hey buddy," Jude laughed.

"Who the hell is that?" Anthony whispered, being only met with head shakes from the rest of his team.

"Jude! Glad to see you back," Unique smiled, "We weren't expecting to see you so soon,"

"Yeah, I uh, wasn't expecting to be back so soon," Jude admitted, "But things, you know, health wise got better so, uh I'm here,"

"Were you serious about having a song?" Chloe questioned, also somewhat trying to figure out exactly who it was and also where she was.

"I was, but uh, only if it's cool with you guys?" Jude asked.

"I've got no problem with it," Harmony shrugged, "Go on, I guess,"

While it was strange to be back, it also felt nice. Whether or not he was ready to admit it, he missed this group. Some more than others, but at the end of the day, they were sort of like another, small, annoying family.

"So uh," Jude started anxiously fiddling with the guitar he'd brought in with him, "Like I said, this is, from the Heathers?" he shrugged not knowing what else to really say as he began strumming.

"I don't learn the names," He began slowly, his low, edgier voice standing out as it was different from most others in Vocal Adrenaline, "Don't bother with faces,"

"YES JUDE!" Xavier called out, overwhelmed with happiness at him being back, despite being the one person in the room who knew he was coming back.

"All I can trust is this concrete oasis
Seems every time I'm about to despair
There's a 7-Eleven right there
Each store is the same
From Las Vegas to Boston
Linoleum aisles that I love
To get lost in
I pray at my altar of slush
Yeah I live for that sweet frozen rush,"

He continued to sing out. While Kate and Sydney were mentally trying to figure out if this song had anything to do with why he was gone or if he simply liked this one song from the Heathers, Dana, Steven and Sawyer were all happy to just sway along.

"Freeze your brain
Suck on that straw
Get lost in the pain,"

Jude began to wrap up the song despite only playing a small chunk of it as he didn't want to take up too much of everyone's time.

"Happiness comes
When everything numbs
Who needs cocaine?
Freeze your brain
Freeze your brain,"

While Sydney and Anthony skeptically applauded, everyone else seemed happy to just have another member back on board.

"Very well done, Jude," Unique applauded him, opting to ignore the lyrics in the song, "It's great to see you back and performing with us again."

"If that's all," Sydney spoke up, making her boredom known, "Can we go home?"

"I mean," Harmony threw her hands in the air, "I guess!"

"We'll touch base again next week," Unique smiled, as everyone began to slowly pack up their things.

While a few of the students swarmed Jude to either compliment him on the performance or welcome him back, he very quickly excused himself to speak to someone else.

"Em!" He called out, noticing she was leaving without saying hi to him.

"Did you know you're the only person in the world who calls me that?" Emery raised her eyebrows, turning around to face Jude.

"I do now, " he smirked, "I uh, I just wanted to say hi. Since you uh, you know it's been a minute," Jude spoke, suddenly realizing he had no real reason for stopping them, other than wanting to talk to them.

"Yeah," Emery nodded, "It has been,"

"I just, I don't know, wanted to see you? I guess? I mean I missed you- I mean," he paused, surprised to find himself rambling, "It's just, uh good to see you. And I thought it was just, kind of strange that you didn't even, you know, really acknowledge me returning," he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I mean, I found it kind of strange that you didn't tell me you were coming back," Emery shrugged.

"I didn't have my phone," Jude tried to explain.

"Is that why you texted Xavier about coming back?" Emery asked, "I saw him texting you on Tuesday."

"I didn't know what to say," Jude shook his head.

"I know it's not my place to ask where you were or when you were coming back but," Emery breathed out, "It's been a weird week for me and I just thought we were closer than me having to find out you were coming back the same time Sydney did,"

"We are close, Em, it's just…complicated," Jude sighed out.

"Are we? We had this weird secret pact to watch out for each other and then you just disappear? I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you're okay but…it's just a lot. I'll see you next glee meeting, okay?" Emery took her turn sighing out before turning to leave once more.

While Jude was stood there dumbfounded for a long moment, he only turned when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

"Are you…okay?" Kate asked, "I can't even imagine how overwhelming this must all be,"

"It is yeah," Jude let out a sort of half laugh, "But I'm good, Kate. Thanks. Catch me up on what we're doing for sectionals?" He asked, desperately looking for a distraction as Xavier caught up with them, completely ready to dish on everything that had happened the last three weeks.

THURSDAY EVENING

"Sophie," Sugar spoke as she watched all three of her kids enter their house at the same time, her hands on her hips, "Mr…," she paused, turning to Joe to ask, "What's his name?"

"Schue," Joe nodded with a smile.

"Right," Sugar spoke, though she knew she'd never remember that, despite him being their old glee coach, "Anyways, he called me and said he wasn't happy with your performance on Tuesday? Or something?"

"He just didn't get my song," Sophie sighed out deeply, "I thought it was pretty good,"

"I figured that was the case," Sugar nodded decisively, "What's his problem, anyways?"

"Maybe it's because you sang Dead Girl Walking," Trina laughed, "Not everyone sees that song the same way you do,"

"How did you find out?!" Sophie gasped, completely oblivious to the fact that word got around McKinley way too quickly, "You should have found out from me! I am so sorry, I owe you my life."

"You sang Dead Girl Walking?" Jude's eyebrows raised, "Nice," he high-fived his youngest sister.

"Don't encourage her," Trina sighed out,

"Shut up," Was Jude's only response.

"Hey, no fighting," Joe put his hands up, "God wouldn't want us to argue with each other,"

"Jesus Christ," Jude grumbled, clearly not missing the religious talk.

"Exactly!" Joe smiled widely, "Now you're getting it!"

"Alright, alright," Sugar spoke up, realizing the attention was no longer on her, "Mr. Schue's poor taste aside, how was glee for everyone?"

"It… actually wasn't bad," Trina noted, "We finally got through a whole week without too much fighting. And we got another member,"

"Who?" Sophie asked curiously.

"Uh, Naomi, she came from New Directions," Trina admitted, not sure how Sophie would take it.

"Oh," Sophie thought for a moment, "Cool! Glad she's vibing,"

"How about you, Jude?" Joe tried to bring his son back into the conversation, "Did you end up making it to glee?"

"No," He blatantly lied, just because he didn't feel like having Xavier brought up as once he did, the conversation would not drop, "Didn't have time. Lots of school work to get caught up on,"

"That's not what Xavier said," Trina raised her eyebrows.

"Fuck," Jude muttered, knowing he should have figured Xavier would snitch.

"Hey! Language!" Sugar called out obnoxiously, "'Shit' is much more appropriate when Sophie's in the room,"

"God doesn't like it when we curse," Joe tried to point out.

"Not if we confess after!" Sophie brought up, "Then we're home free,"

"Fair point," Joe nodded.

"See!" Sugar raised her hands in the air, "Compromise!"

A/N: Hi besties as always, thank you for reading this far! I'd like to take another quick moment to remind you to just give me a shout via review or PM to let me know you're still reading! That said I've already started working on the next chapter which is going to be a big one, so I'll see you all in a few weeks! And as always here's the list of songs used in this chapter!

Dead Girl Walking - The Heathers
Candy Store - The Heathers
Blue - The Heathers
My Dead Gay Son - The Heathers
Seventeen - The Heathers
Don't Lose Ur Head - Six
My Shot - Hamilton
The Money Song - Avenue Q
Apex Predator - Mean Girls
Hello! - Book of Mormon
I Dreamed a Dream - Les Misérables
I'm Not That Girl - Wicked
Ladies Choice - Hairspray
She Used To Be Mine - Waitress
Greased Lightnin' - Grease
Waving Through a Window - Dear Evan Hansen
Freeze Your Brain - The Heathers